Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 259 - 259 One hundred and sixteen

259: One hundred and sixteen.

One after another.

259: One hundred and sixteen.

One after another.

Another night had arrived.

Since discovering that his True Sanity Value was hard to recover, Lu Li no longer used the method of briefly touching the Spirit-Calling Gun to sense his surroundings.

Sanity Value diminished bit by bit.

Anna took over the task of scouting, and although it was not very effective, it was better than nothing.

The curtains of the kitchen and living room were drawn in succession, leaving only the dim yellow light of the living room and bedroom’s oil lamps in the Detective Agency.

Anna held a book in bed, engrossed in reading.

Reading in dim light was bad for one’s eyes—except for ghosts.

At 9:30 p.m., nearing bedtime, Anna listened to the sound of Lu Li leaving the house, then returning a few minutes later, removing his overcoat and going into the kitchen to wash up.

The sound of running water lasted for a while before stopping, and footsteps moved towards the living room, followed by the sound of the leather sofa creaking and the rustling of clothes.

Lu Li lay on the sofa, covered by a wool overcoat, his arms over his forehead, his eyes hidden in the shadow, making them hard to discern.

Tick-tock—tick-tock—

In the silence, the ticking of the clock on the desk was faintly audible.

Occasionally, a strange cry came from outside the window.

Beneath the sofa, the resentful, pus-yellow compound eyes flashed briefly.

Outside the Detective Agency, scaly claws quietly stretched in from under the door in the corridor.

“Good night,” Anna said to the silent outdoors.

No response.

Stillness flowed through the room.

…

July 11, 5 a.m.

The gloomy sky over the sea gradually brightened, dispelling the darkness of the whole night.

Along with the light on the horizon, the faint sounds of the neighbor waking up were audible.

Anna, who had been reading all night, flicked her ears and looked towards the living room.

The vibrations of the neighbor opening the door echoed through the outside corridor.

The morning arrived, and the residents awakened to start cooking.

Shhhh—

The sound of frying from outside the corridor was faint, but these signs of daily life were what Anna yearned for.

She listened quietly for a while before remembering something, buckled the book, jumped off the bed, staggered slightly, and ran barefoot and silently into the living room.

Lu Li lay on the sofa, eyes closed and breathing evenly, not yet awake.

Confirming Lu Li was still asleep, Anna, as usual, tiptoed to turn off the two oil lamps and then approached the sofa to pull the curtains.

Whoosh—

The sound of the curtains being pulled was somewhat loud, and Anna covertly glanced at Lu Li on the sofa below.

Seeing his eyes had opened, she pretended to know nothing and continued to slowly draw the curtains.

Ten seconds passed, twenty seconds passed, thirty seconds passed…

Anna pulled the curtains slowly, centimeter by centimeter, as if time flowed differently for her compared to her surroundings.

“I plan to get up.”

After waiting quietly for a minute, Lu Li spoke.

“Ah?

Oh…”

An odd mixture of shyness and loss appeared on Anna’s face as she quickly finished opening the rest of the curtains and slowly moved away from above the sofa.

Lu Li sat up, removed the overcoat from his body, put on his shoes, and opened the door.

The noise in the corridor suddenly intensified, with the sounds of cooking and children talking loudly briefly entering the Detective Agency before being cut off by the closing door.

Soon, Lu Li returned, finished washing up in the kitchen, and sat down behind the desk.

Seeing the book by the bed, he asked Anna, who was now watering the flowers on the windowsill and lying on the sofa, “Did you stay up all night again?”

“It’s quite dangerous at night, and you were resting.

To protect you, I obviously had to stay awake,” Anna replied, nearly having “quick, praise me” written all over her face.

Lu Li nodded, expecting no follow-up response.

Anna, used to it, didn’t mind and continued watering the flower pot.

The tulip Lu Li had left behind had long withered, and Anna had been upset for a while, Then, she poured all her energy into the flower pot.

She even had Lu Li buy various seeds, including but not limited to weeds, flowers, tree seeds, and vegetables, in order to grow something in it.

Yet, to this day, not even a single tender shoot had emerged from the soil.

The beautiful scene of the girl quietly watering the plants by the window was so lovely that passersby couldn’t help but smile.

The reflection on the glass made it hard for them to notice that the girl’s figure behind the window was transparent.

Suddenly, a black shadow flew down from the sky, slamming into the window.

Startled, Anna fell backward to the floor, screaming.

Lu Li lifted his dark eyes and saw Anna’s terrified face, pointing out the window, “There’s a crow!”

…

Click—

The long-sealed window was opened by Lu Li, allowing the cold wind and rain outside to blow dust into the Detective Agency, along with the crow that jumped onto the windowsill.

The gust of dust made Anna squint instinctively.

Lu Li closed the window again, and the Detective Agency calmed down.

The crow was as black as coal, its claws grasping the edge of the pot were deep brown.

Its feathers, drenched in morning dew and rain, glistened with an oily sheen, and it had a message tube tied around its leg.

The investigator’s companion, the crow.

Lu Li reached out, and the crow didn’t dodge, allowing him to remove the rolled-up slip of paper from the message tube.

[The situation concerning the strange occurrence at the True Library in the Belfast area has now been clarified]

[The anomaly appearing at the True Library on July 10th was a new kind of Evil Spirit not yet identified.

The Exorcist went to handle it but it had already left, and traces of the anomaly were found at the True Library, confirming its presence.]

[This information has been recorded.

Lu Li, as the discoverer of this anomaly, you will receive the internal reward ‘Contribution*50′ from the investigators’ organization.

You may choose to give the specific information about this encounter either through the investigators’ base or the Black Crow to the investigators’ organization, which will give you the corresponding contribution reward based on the information.]

The actions of the investigators’ department were unexpectedly quick.

“Wait a moment,” Lu Li said to the crow as he folded the note, turning to walk to his desk where he tore a page from his notebook.

He planned to follow the suggestion in the note and hand over the information he knew to the investigators.

Anna didn’t move away from the window.

She stared unblinkingly at the black crow and, tilting her head slightly towards the desk, she whispered, “Lu Lili~ what do crows eat?”

“They’re omnivores, they can eat anything people can,”

Lu Li said without lifting his head.

“Bread?”

“That works.”

Anna excitedly slipped into the kitchen and shortly returned with the bread left over from last night, breaking off a small piece and holding it in her palm, hesitantly stretching it towards the crow.

Anna appeared both eager to make contact and afraid of being pecked by the crow, which added a cute touch to her demeanor.

The crow standing on the edge of the pot turned its head, its throat moved, and its black eyes shifted towards Anna.

Anna paused her motion, ultimately unable to overcome her fear of being pecked, and placed the breadcrumbs on the nearby dining table.

The crow cocked its head for a while, then hopped from the pot to the back of the sofa, and with damp paw prints, it jumped onto the dining table and started pecking the breadcrumbs to eat.

“Oh—” Anna’s eyes gleamed with excitement.