Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 191 - 191 Forty-eight

191: Forty-eight.

Six-legged Savages 191: Forty-eight.

Six-legged Savages Anna instantly understood Lu Li’s intention, her half-translucent soul body gradually vanished, hiding inside the Inner World, observing behind the trees where the noise was coming from.

Using his staff to probe the ground in front of him, Lu Li continued to walk forward as if he hadn’t heard the commotion behind him, completely unguarded.

Rustle—

At the edge of the gnarled tree roots, a few fallen leaves lifted at the edges.

Anna’s eyes widened slightly, positioning herself behind Lu Li, ready for the imminent attack.

The hidden being didn’t keep Anna and Lu Li waiting for long.

The disquiet caused by Lu Li’s departure made it restless, and after a few seconds, a figure caked in mud sprang out from behind the tree, rapidily crawling towards Lu Li with all six limbs!

Rustle rustle rustle—

The sound of urgent scuttling approached from behind, and although Lu Li heard it, he still didn’t turn around.

“Ha!”

Anna, who had been on guard for some time, let out a light shout, extending her palms towards the approaching figure; a large web of telekinetic force spread forward, creating a barrier.

The crawling being ran into the telekinetic net set up by Anna; the resistance it met head-on slowed its movements dramatically until it was almost motionless behind Lu Li.

As the creature stepped into the trap, Lu Li turned around at that moment, the Spirit-Calling Gun drawn from its holster and leveled at its forehead.

“Six hands…

Is it one of the Six-legged Savages…?”

Anna had just recognized the being from the rumors, got somewhat frightened and immediately lost her valorous facade, reverting back to the timid noblewoman she was.

Finger hooked on the trigger, yet he didn’t pull it.

Lu Li was sizing up this creature of long-standing rumors.

It was somewhat humanoid in build, hairless, its body surface covered in a layer of filthy swamp muck, and its waist wrapped in tattered cloth, a disguise that almost blended it with the swamp itself.

Its upper body was what drew the attention; in addition to the regular pair of arms, it had another pair at the waist level of humans.

The legs remained legs, not as the rumors had said, that ‘all six were hands’.

However, that was understandable; a four-armed, two-legged savage didn’t sound as terrifying as a Six-legged Savage.

It wasn’t just its anatomy that was non-human; its joints resembled those of arthropods, with the upper and lower parts of the legs and arms being of equal length, a design that allowed it to crawl faster but prevented it from standing upright like a human.

There was nothing in the place of eyes on its face, just a pair of mouths that took up half of its visage.

Did it rely on sound to navigate?

The Six-legged Savage before them was bound by Anna and couldn’t move.

After struggling for a few moments, it suddenly split its cheeks, its mouth filled with rows of serrated fangs grinding together rapidly, emitting a sharp friction noise, as if to threaten.

It could also be calling for its companions or marking Lu Li.

This would have been the moment to pull the trigger and deal with the Six-legged Savage, yet Lu Li put away his Flintlock Pistol.

The holster muffled the whispering emanations from the Spirit-Calling Gun, but the chilling sensation on his flesh couldn’t be dispelled so quickly.

Lu Li raised his staff and tapped it lightly on the shoulder of the Six-legged Savage, giving a slight push.

The pleasant force applied on it dissipated instantly, and the Six-legged Savage stopped its teeth grinding and turned to quickly flee back the way it came.

“Why didn’t you shoot?” Anna looked at the retreating Six-legged Savage, puzzled.

“This is their home; we are the intruders,” Lu Li said, passing his staff from the left hand to the right.

“And don’t forget the Seeker’s warning.”

“The swamp can hear things that don’t belong to it?” Anna recalled those words.

“But isn’t that false?”

“Just in case.”

Lu Li answered.

The issue of truth versus falsehood was too great; the former carried fatal flaws, and so did the latter, preventing Lu Li from discerning which one was correct.

More so, the tattered cloth wrapped around the waist of the Six-legged Savage caught Lu Li’s attention.

Was it mimicking human behavior, or was it born out of intelligence?

Lu Li turned around, preparing to continue forward.

Suddenly, a dull sound of something hitting the water came from behind.

“Crackling—”

A faint grinding sound arose from behind the tree roots, clearer and more urgent than before.

Anna, sensing a kind of urgency in the grinding noise, looked at Lu Li with an inquiring gaze.

“Let’s go and see.”

Lu Li and Anna went back behind the tree roots, where they saw a Six-legged Savage deeply trapped in the water bubble Lu Li had previously circumvented.

The creature thrashed its six limbs in the viscous swamp, trying not to sink completely in.

The loud grinding noise came from its half-face occupying mouth.

“Stepped on a trap in its own home?

Pfft…” Anna covered her mouth, letting out muffled giggles.

At the sound, the struggling Six-legged Savage turned its face.

That face had nothing but a mouth, yet it conveyed to Lu Li and Anna its current agony.

“It probably didn’t pay attention while trying to get away from us.”

Regardless, this scene reduced much of the mystery and danger previously surrounding the Six-legged Savage.

At least, Anna was now able to face it directly.

The savage’s struggles grew lethargic; after four of its limbs had completely sunk into the swamp, it lacked the strength to struggle any further, sinking even faster, with only its chest and two frenetically waving arms above the mire.

A gust of wind passed abruptly over its head, stopping in front of its face.

Sensing a lifeline, the Six-legged Savage stretched out its only remaining two arms, its sharp hands grabbing a staff to drag its body outward.

Lu Li stepped back with his right foot, shifting his weight backward, and gradually pulled the Six-legged Savage out of the water bubble.

There was no thanks, nor any gesture similar to gratitude.

The Six-legged Savage, wary as a wild beast toward humans, dragged its weary body away to one side in the moment it was pulled out, the faint sound of its departure getting lost as it fled into the depths of the jungle.

“Hey!

Ow…” Anna, having been knocked by Lu Li with the butt of his gun, clutched her head, not daring to shout loudly anymore, and murmured softly towards the retreating figure of the Six-legged Savage, “Don’t step into another puddle…”

She was somewhat dissatisfied with the creature leaving without any gesture, especially as it caused her to be hit by Lu Li for the first time, and she pouted, “Why save it?”

“Saved it because I wanted to.”

Lu Li shook off the mud left by the Six-legged Savage from the bottom of the staff and turned to move on.

Anna was somewhat dazed as she stared at Lu Li’s receding figure, then suddenly recalled his distinct attitude towards her and the ghost, compared to other people.

Her eyes curved up slightly, thinking what a man he was, hiding unexpected tenderness beneath a cold exterior…

“Hurry up and follow.

Let’s find the target before it starts raining.”

A calm voice came from ahead.

“Oh.”

Anna snapped out of her daze and floated up to follow him.

…

Half an hour later, accompanying Lu Li and Anna as they moved closer to the Blood-Colored Tentacles in the swamp was an additional follower.

The stealthily following Six-legged Savage was still not completely dry of mud, keeping a distance behind Lu Li and Anna.

“Could it be following us to repay the favor?”

The girl’s mind always harbored a kind of naively romantic sentiment.

“Hopefully.”

Lu Li chose to protect instead of bursting the bubble.