Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 213 - 213 Seventy

213: Seventy.

Test failed 213: Seventy.

Test failed “Can you be more specific?” Lu Li did not immediately answer the question.

This information was exactly what Lu Li wanted to know.

“These things are not free,” the old man said, seeing Lu Li’s thirst for knowledge, chuckling as only Hades would.

He continued, speaking words only Hades would say.

“What do you want?” Lu Li asked calmly.

“I want nothing, I just don’t feel like helping others solve their puzzles,” the old man showed his unpleasant side.

“…” Lu Li looked towards Old Pique.

“I don’t know much,” Old Pique, who was also bizarre in demeanor but appeared so kind in comparison, said.

“I can only tell you what I know.

The Malevolent Spirit System consists of ghosts, resentful spirits, and malevolent spirits.

They are the souls of humans or something else’s souls.

The Evil God System comprises evil gods, birthed naturally or through sacrificial rites.

The Evil Spirit System, uh…

I’ve forgotten, they are too mysterious, and you hardly ever encounter them.

The Strange System is as common as the Malevolent Spirit System.

They generally have a physical form, being a type of creature or noncreature, most often with an outward appearance readily identifying them as vile, or an incomprehensible form.”

“No,” Lu Li said.

“What?” Old Pique was startled.

Lu Li said, “The answer to the earlier question.”

Mother of the Marsh could correspond to an Evil God, Blood-Colored Tentacles and the door might be Strange…

“Alright, I’ll continue,” said Old Pique, who took several seconds to react, glanced at the old man who had resumed his skewed sitting position beside him, and asked, “If someone offers you a fee to kill a living person for them, would you agree?”

“No.”

“If someone threatened the safety of your family to make you kill a living person for them, would you agree?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“I have no family.”

“…” An eerie silence lingered for seconds: “Your friends.”

“No.”

“Why is that?”

“I have no friends.”

Old Pique pursed his lips, his wrinkled old face twitched, then he continued, “What is your definition of a human?”

Lu Li sensed the question was gradually straying: “This can’t be answered with a yes or no.”

“That’s alright, it’s listening,” Old Pique tapped the tabletop, meaningfully.

Lu Li thought for a few seconds: “Having a sense of belonging to humanity.”

The old man and Old Pique exchanged a look, seeing the astonishment in each other’s eyes.

Old Pique sat up straighter, “Can you elaborate on that?”

“Here?”

Lu Li looked around.

The residents were talking loudly, discussing such a topic in a shop as noisy as a tavern, always had a sense of unreality and contrast.

“Here.”

Lu Li did not answer but continued to ask, “Can these questions determine the Sanity Value data?”

“Everyone does this,” Old Pique replied.

Lu Li noticed he did not directly answer his question: “So?”

“It cannot,” Old Pique said unexpectedly.

Before Lu Li could respond, Old Pique added, “But it can please the malevolent spirits, getting their evaluation of you.”

“Evaluation?”

Lu Li felt he was getting to know the malevolent spirit.

“It’s that the malevolent spirits will manifest your Sanity Value.”

Lu Li asked again, “What else?”

Old Pick paused, looking at Lu Li in surprise, “You figured it out?”

This statement all but confirmed Lu Li’s previous guess.

He nodded, “Your issue’s bias was too obvious.”

“And finding suitable members.” The old man answered for Old Pick.

No longer indifferent, his expression serious, “Kid, are you interested in joining us?”

“Who are you?” Lu Li countered.

“Exorcist Association, Night Watch, Investigators, the Alliance can call us whatever.”

This response slightly startled Lu Li.

But the truth wasn’t what Lu Li had imagined as an “alliance formed by three major organizations.” Even though the Investigators and Night Watch closely collaborated due to official backing, the Exorcist Association always remained mysterious.

The old man was a member of the “Alliance,” a peripheral organization born from the three major organizations.

They navigated between these three groups, transmitting information and resources and providing assistance to Exorcists.

An auxiliary, service-focused loose organization without even a name of its own.

But it was better than a scattered group of Exorcists.

The Sanity Value testing facility disguised as a laundry shop was one of their achievements.

Lu Li’s inquiring gaze turned to Old Pick.

The old man was a member of the Alliance — but what about Old Pick?

Old Pick answered, “Don’t overthink it, I’m just an ordinary person.”

The Alliance proactively contacted laundry shops and then cooperated with those interested in partnership — the laundry shops were not part of the Alliance but merely places that offered testing of Sanity Values for people.

The cooperation with Old Pick Laundry traced back to fifty or sixty years ago when the elder Old Pick was still young.

“But why?

Because of my answer?” Lu Li wanted to know the reason behind the old man’s invitation.

The old man waved his hand, “The answer isn’t important, that was just fodder for malevolent spirits.

I’m not interested in you, but because you saw through the truth, you obtained this invitation.”

The Sanity Value test questions were provided collectively by the Exorcist Association, Night Watch, and Investigators.

They embedded certain flaws within the questions to filter out the Exorcists who spotted the flaws yet were not part of the three big organizations.

Lu Li was the guy who had spotted the flaws in the questions.

“Tell me my Sanity Value first.” Lu Li neither agreed nor refused.

“Alright.”

The old man pulled out a leaf from his pocket and placed it in front of Lu Li on the table.

An obscure aura surged subtly with the appearance of the leaf, becoming thicker.

The next moment, the leaf visibly yellowed and withered at a visible pace.

Rip—

A tiny, knife-like crack appeared on the withered leaf.

The old man explained, “The more cracks that appear, the more psychological flaws you have, the lower your Sanity Value.”

Rip—rip—

A shocking scene unfolded as cracks rapidly multiplied, soon covering the entire leaf.

A cold breeze surged in from the door, and the barely intact withered leaf crumbled into pieces, scattered by the wind.

“What does this represent?” Lu Li looked up, his gaze towards the frowning old man.

The old man exhaled a breath of murky air, staring at Lu Li as if he’d seen a ghost, “The test failed… your Sanity Value is very low?”

“Perhaps it is.”

“I am powerless, only a more detailed test might help… I can apply for you to enter a test for Sanity Value by the three big organizations; which organization are you more interested in?”

Lu Li was aware of his situation; the leaf crumbling was unexpected yet not entirely so.

He didn’t immediately answer Old Pick’s question, instead he took out a flashlight and placed it on the table, “Have you seen this before?”

The old man displayed an expression more astonished than upon seeing the leaf crumble, “How did you come to possess this kind of thing??”

“Someone gave it to me.”

The old man showed an expression of realization, staring at Lu Li as he spoke.

“It seems someone has already chosen for you.”