Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 219 - 219 76

219: 76.

Strengthen Anna 219: 76.

Strengthen Anna Cold, tired, and hungry, Senge huddled in front of the dining table, perching on just half of the chair.

He didn’t dare sit down fully, as the sudden onslaught of cold would make him reminisce about his past, as if on his deathbed.

He turned towards the window, where the faces of passersby were reflected on the glass, including his own gaunt face.

The reflection, which once tormented him sleepless, now seemed less frightening…

Lu Li’s calmness had infected him.

One to three, counting himself, four in total, the odds of winning seemed good.

Plus, the detective appeared very capable…

Senge thought to himself when suddenly an additional figure appeared in the reflection on the window.

Lu Li approached the dining table and placed down the meat soup, “It can replenish the energy and vitality you’ve lost these past few days.”

Special Exorcism Meal?

Senge guessed, picking up the spoon ready to enjoy this seemingly delicious meal, although it had already cooled.

“It’s not free.”

“Ah?”

Lu Li returned to the kitchen, washed the chopping board and knife and leaned them against the wall, Anna’s complaint echoing in his ear, “Why do you give my cooking to others?”

Lu Li remained silent, looking towards the dining room, where Senge sat frowning in pain yet swallowing vigorously.

She didn’t realize anything at all.

Lu Li grabbed the bag Anna mistook for salt, sugar, and threw it in the trash.

Lu Li tended to furrow his brows when encountering issues; the breakfast from a few hours ago had kept his brows knitted ever since.

That was enough to say something.

…

By five in the afternoon, the Detective Agency began to darken.

Anna lit an oil lamp and placed it on the desk, dispelling the uncomfortable gloom.

As the time approached, nervousness and fear re-emerged in Senge.

According to Senge, the demon in the mirror would appear around this time.

Lu Li picked up the mirror, faced it down, and handed it to Senge.

Senge trembled as he took it, hesitating as he looked up at Lu Li, “Do we really have to do this?”

Lu Li replied, “You don’t need to be afraid, ghosts aren’t as scary as you think.

They were all once human; you have no reason to fear them.”

But that doesn’t apply to the vengeful and evil spirits beyond ordinary ghosts.

“I know…but I’m still scared…” Senge forced out an ugly, sob-like smile.

Without experiencing certain things firsthand, it’s hard for ordinary people, who are stubborn in their beliefs, to believe that ghosts are not scary.

“What if it comes out and takes my place…?”

“That would just be your bad luck.”

“What…?”

Shocked, he lifted his head, looking at Lu Li’s silhouette cast on a bookshelf behind him, one half of his face illuminated by the oil lamp and the other half shrouded in shadow, trembling as he said, “Then I…I…am starting…you must protect…protect me…”

Senge, with hands as shaky as his voice, slowly flipped the dressing mirror to its front.

His face reflected in the mirror, and he instantly shut his eyes tight, refusing to open them.

“Shall we start now?” Anna asked quietly.

“Not yet.” Lu Li answered.

If the ghost as Senge described attempted to replace him, it would definitely wait for an opportunity to emerge from the mirror.

“It’s here!

It’s appeared!”

Sneaking a peek, Senge shut his eyes again, shouting loudly, his palms shaking along with the chaotic reflections in the mirror.

Lu Li stayed silent, maintaining his quiet.

A faint, chilly aura began to emanate from Senge, spreading outwards.

Different from the daytime, the mirror seemed to respond by oozing the same aura.

“Don’t replace me, don’t replace me, don’t replace me…”

Senge sensed something and murmured softly as his hands trembled more violently.

The shaking mirror reflected the same face.

As time moved backward, the two cold auras overlapped, indistinguishable from each other, and the scenes inside and outside the mirror changed at this moment.

Senge’s raised arms continued to shake, and the mirror’s reflection should have been trembling too, but the moment the auras merged, the image in the mirror stopped shaking with his hands.

Senge’s face clearly appeared in the mirror, corners of his mouth curling up into a creepy smile— the real Senge had his eyes closed, his face deathly pale.

The ghost appeared.

The ghost in the mirror seemed not to notice anyone else.

As Lu Li and Anna watched from the side, it gradually approached the mirror surface, with that weird smiling face pressing closer to the glass, and then—

Its face was trapped by the small mirror, only as big as a palm.

Anna, hiding behind the desk with Lu Li, painfully pursed her lips, struggling to hold back her laughter.

The ghost in the mirror quickly realized this approach was futile.

Its face, the same as Senge’s, moved away from the mirror, and instead, it stretched its hand towards the mirror.

The mirror’s surface rippled like water, and a pale, transparent arm stretched out from the mirror, reaching for the murmuring, eyes-closed Senge.

Lu Li still sat behind the desk, motionless.

This assignment was prepared by Lu Li for Anna.

Only if she performed the exorcism herself would she absorb that power.

The arm that had appeared from the mirror in reality was now fully extended, its fingertips only inches away from the trembling Senge.

In that instant, Anna left Lu Li’s side.

She floated to the side of the mirror and grabbed the ghost’s arm.

Unable to finely control her power, she gathered all her strength, as she always did, and struck!

Rip—

With all her strength, Anna tore off the pale arm extending from the mirror, dissipating it into the air.

“Ahhh!!!!”

A sharp scream emitted from the mirror, Anna’s skirt fluttering as she gathered her energy again and struck at the mirror!

Startled by the scream, Senge shuddered and threw the mirror away, clutching his head.

The mirror flew up, and the echoing scream abruptly stopped mid-air.

Before hitting the ground, the mirror surface displayed a web of dense cracks and a fleeting, miserable figure.

Crash—

The mirror smashed on the floor, shattering into countless pieces.

Senge, who jumped aside clutching his head, opened his eyes, panting heavily and exclaimed, “That scream…

was my…

no, his voice!

Did you deal with it?!”

“Hmm.”

Lu Li’s gaze fell on the empty space beside him, feeling Anna’s presence there, her aura rising.

She had succeeded.

“Now let’s talk about the fee for the assignment, and that meat soup.”

Lu Li paused as he spoke, looking at the floor behind Senge.

“And the shattered mirror.”

…

After watching Senge leave, Lu Li got up from his seat and stood behind the window.

On the gloomy, dim street, passersby hurried along.

He saw Senge walk out of the Long House, standing in front of the door.

His back was no longer hunched, his panic no longer visible, his felt hat perched on his head.

Before leaving, as if sensing something, he half-turned, confronting Lu Li behind the window.

There was no expected gratitude or astonishment; instead, Senge’s eyes mirrored Lu Li’s calmness.

He was like a gentleman bidding farewell to a friend, smiling, lifting his hat to his chest in a bow, then putting it back on, turning, and vanishing into the crowd.