Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 185 - 185 Forty-two

185: Forty-two.

In the darkness 185: Forty-two.

In the darkness “Ah!”

“Be quiet.”

Anna’s scream was stifled back into her throat by a calm voice.

In the dense blackness where you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face, Lu Li quickly walked towards the dining table, guided by the positioning in his memory,

Bang!

Squeak—

The dining table was jostled askew, and something on it fell over.

Ignoring the overturned oil lamp for the moment, Lu Li reached out to grab the curtain and yanked it aside hard, attempting to allow the streetlight to shine into the room and dispel the darkness that was entwining.

Whoosh—

The curtain was pulled back, and outside the pitch-black room… was a similar pitch-blackness.

This obviously wasn’t right; the lights of the town couldn’t all be gone.

Even if that happened, the town wouldn’t be completely silent like it was now.

“Can you see anything around us?” Lu Li asked quickly.

He had already felt something terrifying and bizarre growing in the darkness surrounding them.

“I can’t see anything.” Anna’s voice carried a hint of panic, and she heard the sound of Lu Li pulling open the curtains, but likewise, not a single ray of light appeared in the room.

Strange, low whispering noises began to emerge all around them, their sources indistinguishable.

It was as if the coldness that touched the Spirit-Calling Gun enveloped the room, something unseen was approaching from a corner.

“Hide in the Inner World.”

Lu Li spoke decisively, his voice as steady as ever, though quicker than usual.

As he spoke, Lu Li reached for his waist and drew the Spirit-Calling Gun, aiming it at the ceiling.

“Ready?”

Before pulling the trigger, Lu Li asked.

Rustle rustle—

The murmuring sounds around them became clearer than before.

“Ready!”

Anna’s voice rang out next to his ear.

The next instant, Lu Li pulled the trigger.

Bang!!!

The sound of a dragon’s roar echoed through the void, gunpowder painting the smoke red like thick blood.

The entire room quivered and buzzed as if in an earthquake, with the floor, the windows, and the dining table trembling with the dragon’s roar.

In the sudden flash of gunfire, the surroundings flickered momentarily.

Lu Li saw the position of the door and also witnessed a slender, pitch-black ghostly claw appear on the dining table, reaching for him, then retracting back into the darkness at the edge of the light.

“Can you see me?”

The surroundings plunged into darkness once more, and Lu Li headed towards the door while simultaneously opening the gun chamber to eject the spent casing.

Amid the distinct sound of the casing hitting the floor, he reached into his pocket and loaded a silver-plated bullet.

“I can’t see… but I can sense you.”

Click—

The gun chamber snapped shut, and the hammer was cocked, ready to fire at a moment’s notice.

He didn’t put the Spirit-Calling Gun away to avoid losing Sanity Value; the danger that surrounded them was far more severe than the gun itself.

With his left hand on the cool doorknob and without turning his head, Lu Li said, “Follow closely behind me.”

Suddenly pulling open the door, Lu Li stepped out of the room and entered the corridor, which was still so dark that it was impossible to see anything.

Bang!!!

A second gunshot reverberated down the entire hallway, and by the fleeting spark of the gunfire, Lu Li quickly headed towards the staircase at the end of the corridor.

Clang—

The casing fell to the ground, bouncing and rolling into the darkness.

Lu Li’s hand reached into his pocket, preparing to load the third bullet.

But at that moment, he suddenly felt emptiness beneath his feet—

Lu Li, who had already reached the edge of the staircase, uncontrollably lurched forward.

In an instant, he bent his leg to minimize the risk of turning his ankle, and at the same time, a gentle force suddenly supported him until his suspended right leg touched down on the wooden step.

Lu Li loaded his bullets without a word and quickly descended the steps, gauging the distance between them from memory while silently counting the intervals.

“Four…

Five…

Six.”

On the sixth second, Lu Li completed the last step and stood on the wooden floor.

According to his memory, this position was to the right of the bar, where he could survey the entire hall.

Lu Li raised his right arm once more, firing the Spirit-Calling Gun he gripped tightly in his hand.

With the burst of flame, Lu Li took in everything around him in the brief light and, inevitably, a chill surged up from the pit of his stomach.

Behind pillars, inside the bar, beneath stairs, by dining tables, outside windows…

Shadowy figures stood in every spot like pitch-black silhouettes, quietly enveloping Lu Li who stood before the staircase.

As the light from the gunpowder faded, the indistinct presences retreated once more into the dense darkness, concealing their forms.

Shadow Figures?

The image of the old woman from the tavern and the article she mentioned both flickered into his mind.

Lu Li intended to do something.

It had to be clear whether the terror that had unfolded was the handiwork of the townsfolk or something truly real…

Firing the trigger would reveal everything.

“Protect me with telekinesis.”

He whispered to Anna, immediately halting his steps to begin a new round of counting and loading ammunition.

“One…

Two…

Three…”

By the third second, whispers like secretive murmurs began emerging from the darkness, and around the darkness, some presence started to stir, growing more eager as time plunged deeper into the darkness.

“Four…

Five…”

On the fifth second, the whispers became clearer, and at the same time, Lu Li finished loading his bullets.

Click—

He snapped the gun chamber closed; this time, Lu Li didn’t aim the gun upwards but held out his arm level, pointing at the spot where he remembered a Shadow Figure standing.

The finger on the trigger began to hook upwards.

Suddenly, a tumult of hurried footsteps approached from behind, down the stairs.

Turning his gaze, a firefly-like glow was rushing closer, intermittently revealing the set of palms that cradled it—

The one carrying the light source reached the bottom of the stairs, and in the next moment, Lu Li felt a hand grasp his arm, diverting it away from the front.

“Shh…

Be careful, don’t provoke them.”

A hushed, urgent voice sounded in his ear— it was the mysterious man from next door.

Feeling the gun pulled away from the Shadow Figure, Lu Li’s dark eyes momentarily deepened, but he lowered the Spirit-Calling Gun and replied softly, “Aren’t they already causing us trouble?”

The mysterious man withdrew his hand and brought the light source closer to Lu Li.

It was a match, which surprisingly hadn’t gone out during the preceding run.

“It’s the spirits attacking us, not these offspring of the marsh.”

Offspring of the marsh?

Now wasn’t the time for questions.

Lu Li pushed his inquiry aside and looked around, “Do you know what’s going on?”

The match could only illuminate about a meter around them; beyond that everything was still in darkness, barely revealing something standing in the gloom.

The mysterious man didn’t answer Lu Li’s question.

“First you have to tell me what you’ve encountered.”

“You mean us?”

“Isn’t that ghost following you?”

Could he sense Anna?

Lu Li didn’t say anything more and turned his head to look beyond the light.

The mysterious man explained, “Don’t worry about them; they only follow sounds and movement.

As long as you don’t make noise, and don’t move quickly…”

Lu Li still observed his surroundings, “Half a minute ago, a shadowy black claw extinguished the oil lamp, and then I pulled back the curtain, only to find that outside the window was also plunged into darkness—”

The mysterious man interrupted Lu Li, “A black claw?

Wait, are you saying a black hand put out the oil lamp?”

“Yes.”

The mysterious man cursed softly, his expression turning quite grim.

“Damn!

We’ve actually stumbled upon two evil spirits!”