Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 317 - 317 174

317: 174.

Himfaust 317: 174.

Himfaust All content ends here.

The three segments about the Bottomless Abyss became coherent.

Lu Li, who came two months later, knew about the last whereabouts of Investigator Nightingale, and the word “deceased” written in parentheses after her name was glaringly intrusive.

He also understood why the Bottomless Abyss, initially classified as a common event, turned difficult and then from difficult to a nightmare.

The Bottomless Abyss case told Lu Li that even as an investigator, one is treading on thin ice when facing the strangeness of this world.

No matter how cautious or resolute they are, they are nothing but vulnerable flesh and blood.

After finishing reading the remaining contents of the three weekly reports, Lu Li did not forget his purpose.

He compared the differences within the four months—the strangeness was indeed increasing noticeably.

The remote and desolate villages far from populated areas were disappearing quickly, as if they had never existed.

The wilderness was gradually becoming unwelcoming to humans.

Besides that, Lu Li took note of the layout of the investigators’ weekly report.

Usually, newspapers are divided into three sections: news, new events, and strange events.

Revelations in the Forecast, due to its limited length, were not included in these sections.

If Lu Li wanted to earn manuscript fees, he had to start with these three sections.

Putting away the newspaper, Lu Li looked outside the carriage.

After half an hour of bumping around, they were nearing the foot of the mountain, and a few dozen meters ahead, several carriages were slowly progressing.

As the most bustling and well-known commercial port city on the Ailen Peninsula, Belfast and its surroundings were relatively stable in terms of security.

This was also Lu Li’s bottom line.

If one day a large-scale deadly incident or an overflow of the bizarre were to happen in Belfast, he would have to prepare to leave this place and move to a refuge.

After extinguishing the oil lamp, the carriage grew dim.

Feeling the change in light, Anna turned her head, “Done reading?”

“Yes.”

Lu Li shifted towards the outside of the carriage, ready to take over the reins.

“I’ll do it.

It’s raining anyway, no one can tell,” Anna insisted on not giving up the temporary job as a coachman.

She wanted to do something for Lu Li, no matter how trivial it was.

“Alright.”

Lu Li, who never knew what it was to be polite, nodded and settled back into the carriage.

The carriage bumped slightly, and Lu Li, seated on a layer of wool blanket, closed his eyes for a brief rest.

The journey was dreary and dull, with no way to pass the time, Lu Li could only doze off in the swaying carriage, waiting for the time to pass.

In the intermittent sleep that he would wake from every so often, at a certain moment, the shaking of the carriage underneath him suddenly ceased, and the slightly noisy sound of the carriage rolling over ruts also disappeared.

In the sudden quiet, Lu Li opened his eyes, and after a brief lingering silence, he looked towards the front of the carriage.

Anna was crouching behind the curtain, only half her cheek visible.

Through her translucent, ghostly nape, Lu Li looked outside to see a row of vehicles blocked ahead, with the edges of buildings silhouetted.

“Have we arrived?”

“Yes,” Anna said with emotion and nostalgia in her voice, “Himfast…

the city where I grew up.”

Lu Li reached out to pull back the curtain, and light squeezed into the carriage, dispelling the dimness.

Lu Li saw in full view the city standing on the plain ahead.

Belfast had no walls, nor did Himfast, all cities on the Ailen Peninsula lacked walls.

This was not only because building walls was time-consuming, labor-intensive, and expensive.

McDonald I had decided to get rid of the city walls with a wave of his hand also because the mainland situation had stabilized by the time of the colonial development, and the never-ending oddities forced humans to band together.

Although gaps and contradictions still existed, they were all on a small scale.

“Do you still recognize the way?”

Lu Li asked.

Himfast on the map of the Ailen Peninsula was merely a city icon and a line of text.

“Of course…

I used to stroll through every street of this city with my mother, and I still remember them…

if they haven’t changed.”

Anna hadn’t been away from Himfast for too long, and the sadness she felt now seemed more like a lament for the changes in people and objects than anything else.

“I’ll drive next, you tell me the direction,” came a flat voice from behind that broke the sentimental mood.

Lu Li’s voice was not warm or sunny, giving the impression that if those things known as industrial marvels—one day started to speak, they would sound just like him.

But to Anna, this voice was reassuring, like her mother’s gentle humming after nightfall.

“Oh.”

Regaining her composure, Anna obediently responded and slipped back inside the carriage, letting go of the reins.

Lu Li bent down to get out of the carriage and took the reins.

However, it wasn’t necessary for him to do much, as the old horse pulling the carriage knew to slowly move forward along with the convoy.

It took a few minutes for the carriage to enter the city.

In contrast to the relatively practical architecture of Belfast, the buildings here were more beautiful; the towering Gothic spires seemed to pierce the dense clouds overhead, and, without exception, each intersection featured an exquisitely carved stone sculpture.

The city emblem of Himfast, a 34-meter-high bell tower, chimed melodiously.

This 98-year-old structure’s long tolls wafted over the entire city.

The bell struck four times, and Anna told Lu Li it meant it was four in the afternoon.

The sky would not darken until six, giving them plenty of time to search for the treasure.

Lu Li drove the carriage in the direction Anna pointed out, while simultaneously observing the shops on both sides of the expansive street.

There were more galleries and sculpture halls here than Lu Li had imagined, almost one or two on every street, with windows displaying paintings or sculptures of various styles.

Benjamin, who took over Madam Anne’s Art Gallery, had made a very wise decision in moving away from Himfast.

“This city is no longer as prosperous.

The oddities and disasters have left people with no desire to appreciate true art.”

Anna’s whisper suddenly arose from behind, clearly out of character for her.

Before Lu Li could turn his head, Anna continued reciting, “Falsehoods are hung high, praised, while reality is neglected, treasures gather dust.

These paintings I once cherished I will keep no more, each oil painting only 50 shillings…”

Following Anna’s gaze, she was reading the words written on a stall by the road, beside which lay a dozen or so portraits and an old man who looked cynical.

“Is the stuff real?” Lu Li asked.

“Fake.

It’s a trick unique to Himfast, aimed at cheating those who come here for the first time and who are drawn by its reputation.”

Anna’s lips curled into a smile.

“But the paintings are really drawn, there’s an art gallery on Hualan Street ahead; their apprentices sell each painting for only 6 shillings, or 4 for acquaintances.”

Just like how Belfast’s colorful shells always welcome outsiders, who also think a shell for one shilling is a bargain—yet, these can be gathered by the basket at the seaside within an hour.

“I thought the City of Art was where everyone had an artistic temperament.”

“How could that be?” Anna laughed, gently poking Lu Li’s back with her finger.

“Himfast has its thieves and ruffians too, it’s just that there are more people engaged in art here, like there are more fishermen in Belfast.”