Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 202 - 202 Fifty-nine

202: Fifty-nine.

Transfer Wood House 202: Fifty-nine.

Transfer Wood House Woooo—

A sharp howling sound enveloped the cabin.

The wind, sneaking through the broken window, caused the fire to flicker slightly.

The cabin trembled violently under the raging hurricane, seeming as if it might be swept up into the sky at any moment.

Since books were not brought on the trip to the marsh, Anna found herself with nothing to do.

Occasionally, she threw a log into the fire, then, propping her chin, observed Lu Li, which was now her only source of amusement.

After returning to the cabin, Lu Li displayed a liveliness quite unlike his usual calm demeanor.

He still sat in front of the fire, but his face looked around as if observing something or following something moving, even though there was nothing there but ordinary walls or a table.

Gradually, his black eyes fixed on Anna.

Anna blinked, subconsciously straightened up a bit, and looked at Lu Li with an inquisitive gaze.

“…?”

The black eyes shifted slightly, their focus landing on Anna.

“Illusions,”

Lu Li explained briefly, watching a butterfly phantom flutter out of Anna’s body, winging its way toward the outside and passing through the walls of the cabin.

He looked away, adding, “Extended contact with the Spirit-Calling Gun has caused my Sanity Value to fall to a dangerous level.

I now occasionally observe some presences from the Inner World.”

“Is it severe?”

“Not a big problem.”

Lu Li had just entered this phase, and the illusions it produced were extremely mild.

Although the constant illusions could lead to misjudgments by him, it wasn’t without benefits.

At least Lu Li could gain a deeper understanding of these projections from the Inner World.

This was something Lu Li always wanted to know.

“Too bad I can’t see it,”

Anna felt somewhat relieved yet also a bit regretful.

She believed she might be missing out on something very interesting.

For most people, these illusions would be enough to drive them to insanity.

The Inner World wasn’t just a single layer with all its weird beings within—it was more like a multitude of spaces parasitic on the primary world.

Anna was in the Inner World, but she couldn’t perceive the butterfly phantom.

The butterfly phantom was also in the Inner World, and it likewise couldn’t perceive Anna.

There was no interaction between them.

Only someone in the primary world could observe all existences of the Inner World simultaneously, but only if their Sanity Value fell to a certain level.

Ignorance Phase, Illusory Phase, True Period.

These were the three stages of Sanity Value that Lu Li knew.

Perhaps beyond the True Period there were other stages, but Night Watchman Joel had not mentioned them; they were not to be considered.

The Ignorance Phase was the normal state, like a shallow area—very calm, very safe.

Most ordinary people in the world were in this state.

Unless a major abnormality like the Night Calamity occurred, they would not know much about the deeper regions.

Beings living in the Inner World would also not discover them.

The Illusory Phase was a problematic state, like a deep water area—not very safe but not too bad.

Lu Li was just entering this stage.

He would randomly observe some projections of Inner World presences, like a radio receiver.

Lu Li’s receiver could jump randomly to various frequencies, catching messages from those frequencies.

This reception was one-way; Lu Li could listen to them, but they couldn’t listen to him.

The True Period was a distorted state, like an abyss—very bad, very troublesome, a stage whose name alone could send chills down one’s spine.

Observations in this stage were no longer one-way, and the analogy of the radio receiver no longer held—because when a person with a distorted Sanity Value saw a certain projection, that projection also saw the person.

Observation became mutual, for as you looked into the abyss, the abyss also looked back at you.

This was the root of the saying “The more you know, the quicker you die.”

However, this saying was about to be twisted into its literal meaning by some foolish opponents of industry: knowing too much will kill you.

The only piece of good news was that while the projections could see you, they couldn’t touch you until… the next stage.

Lu Li speculated there was one final phase of Sanity Value.

If a person in the distorted state hadn’t gone mad, and their Sanity Value continued to decline, they would reach this stage—

“They’ve heard you, they’ve seen you.

Now, they can touch you.”

Lu Li’s wandering thoughts once again drifted to the Blood-Colored Tentacles and the door.

Were they that kind of oddity?

Could they also be classified under Sanity Value?

He decided to test his Sanity Value after returning.

The roaring of the hurricane outside the house never ceased, and some water had seeped under the door, blocked by a bedsheet Anna had thrown down.

Lu Li needed to know the exact time to ensure they evacuated before it got dark.

Anna, who could phase through walls due to her incorporeal form, periodically checked the outside weather, but unfortunately, the sky was overcast with dark clouds as if it were deep night, making it impossible to determine the time.

Unable to ascertain the time, Lu Li simply decided that as soon as the hurricane outside diminished, they would attempt to leave the swamp immediately.

In anxious waiting, minutes and seconds passed.

The hurricane outside raged on, showing no signs of weakening.

One hour.

Two hours.

Three hours.

After the third hour had passed, Lu Li began putting on his boots, tying the laces tightly to prevent rainwater from seeping into his shoes.

They could wait no longer.

They had arrived at the cabin around 9 AM, dealt with a family of three, and rested for approximately 4 to 5 hours, plus the three hours they had waited now…

It might now be very close to dusk, around 6 PM, when night was about to fall.

But at that moment, there came a rapid knocking on the door of the cabin.

Anna suddenly looked up, and before she could react, a faint shout dissolved into the wind and entered the room.

“Quick, open the door!”

It was a human.

Lu Li walked to the door, moved the dining table away, and opened the door, whereupon a sudden strong force came from behind it, followed by the figure wearing a Bird Beak Mask stumbling into the cabin.

She was carrying someone on her back.

The fierce wind howled, the fire was nearly blown out.

In the dim light, Lu Li forcefully shut the door, sealing off the outside wind and rain.

The cabin was brightly lit again.

“I guessed it was you.”

The Seeker gasped heavily, lying behind the figure in the Bird Beak Mask.

Lu Li noticed that the Seeker’s right lower leg had a torn wound, and the suitcase had also disappeared.

The figure in the Bird Beak Mask set the Seeker down by the fire, then turned to face Lu Li.

Lu Li did not ask why the invitation and the Seeker were here, because it was pointless.

He had something else he wanted to know, “What time is it now?”

As the figure in the Bird Beak Mask set the Seeker down, straining his wound, he lifted his right leg, grimaced, looked at nothing, yet accurately stated the current time, “5:40 PM, why?”

Lu Li did not speak, just looked at the figure in the Bird Beak Mask.

“That’s correct.”

The hoarse female voice was as brief as ever.

Lu Li nodded, picked up his backpack and oil lamp, and turned his head to Anna.

“Get ready to leave.”