Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 359 - 359 216

359: 216.

Eternal Dreamer 359: 216.

Eternal Dreamer The carriage was returned to Belfast and Company’s carriage house, and coming out, the brightness outside finally didn’t require the aid of an oil lamp for illumination.

Unless something had fallen on the ground.

On the way back, they passed through the marketplace, where a bustling crowd brought a hint of liveliness to the bleak rainy day, but most faces were etched with distinct despair—food prices had begun to skyrocket, the money that could buy 10 pounds of flour three days ago couldn’t even fetch 6 pounds today.

Only a small portion of people were bargaining with the sellers, and those who made up their minds to purchase directly accounted for an even smaller part.

If the city council did not step in to control prices soon, they would continue to rise.

Fortunately, Belfast was by the sea, and in the absence of food, one could go to the bay to fish.

Although it was hard to feel full, it was just enough to keep from starving.

Belfast was enveloped in rain, visibility was poor, and the bay was not visible.

It could be assumed that there were already many poor people braving the rain at the seaside to look for food and venturing out in small boats to fish.

After purchasing ingredients for the next few days at the market, which cost 1.5 times more than usual, Lu Li turned to the grocery store, where he used the 2000-plus Shillings he had carried from home to buy two boxes of canned beef.

The owner had promised Lu Li a discount last time, which was 5% off.

This discount allowed Lu Li to buy food at the same price as before.

In the midst of the owner, clerks, and customers’ astonished gazes, Lu Li very effortlessly “picked up” the 40-pound boxes of canned goods and left the grocery store.

The one actually carrying them was Anna; Lu Li was just pretending.

With the two boxes of canned goods, they returned to the Long House where the smell of damp wood was pervasive.

In the gloom, a haggard man leaned against the wall.

Lu Li passed by him and entered the Detective Agency.

Anna, wearing an apron, went to the kitchen to prepare her specialty dish, while Lu Li picked up the three newspapers from under the door, placed them on the desk, took off his black coat, and rolled up his sleeves to wash up in the kitchen.

A short while later, Lu Li came out of the kitchen and walked directly to the desk.

Knock, knock, knock—

Suddenly, the sound of the door echoed, and Lu Li turned towards the entrance.

Standing outside was a woman, with whom Lu Li was slightly acquainted—she lived across from him.

She told Lu Li that earlier in the morning, a man in a hurry had been looking for him, seemingly very anxious, and had waited by the door since he knew you were not in.

Lu Li thought of the haggard man in the hallway.

After thanking her, Lu Li planned to go see him, but the kind-hearted woman had brought the man over.

He had been waiting here for a very long time.

The oil lamp in his hand revealed some of that.

Gesturing for the man to come in, Lu Li closed the door and seated himself at the desk.

The man had come unsheltered from the rain; he was drenched, and even after spending a long time in the corridor, his clothes were not half dry.

Brown hair hung over his forehead, occasionally dripping rain from his trouser legs.

He seemed unconcerned, his head slightly bowed, his eyes hidden in the shadows, his pale lips slightly parted and trembling as he asked Lu Li, “Are you the Exorcist…”

“Yes,” Lu Li responded.

“I have a matter I would like to entrust…”

Lu Li hadn’t taken a case in a long time; the few to several hundred of Shillings it paid were one reason, and the time it consumed was another reason.

Therefore, Lu Li asked directly, “How much can you pay for this task?”

The man sharply lifted his head, his crimson pupils filled with bloodshot veins, “I can give you whatever you want!”

“Be more specific.”

“In cash… around five to six hundred Shillings!”

It wasn’t much, but it wasn’t too little either.

Lu Li planned to listen to his detailed situation, and if it wouldn’t take too much time, he would accept the commission.

“Tell me what you’ve encountered.”

An wooden chair was placed beside him, but the man didn’t intend to sit down, he slightly stooped, shivering from the cold.

He even forgot to tell Lu Li his name, and began to speak slowly.

The incident happened a few years ago… or rather, a few days ago.

After nightfall, he entered a sleep filled with dreams, he told Lu Li it was an exceptionally realistic dream, but didn’t reveal the specific content of the dream to Lu Li.

The next day, his dreams were similarly exceptionally realistic, and slightly different from the last time, this time, his dream lasted an entire day.

However, when he woke up, there was no difference from the usual waking time.

The prolonged dreams did not affect his reality.

At that time, the man hadn’t realized the problem, and continued his work and rest as usual.

Until the third night’s dream.

This time, he spent an entire week in his dream.

When he opened his eyes, only one night had passed in the real world.

He started to realize that this was not normal, and as the increasingly lengthy dreams began to affect his life, he tried to reduce his resting time, or not to rest at all, but to no avail.

Two days later, utterly exhausted, he dozed off for a while, and that moment lasted nearly a month—dream time.

In reality, he had only slept a few hours, even experiencing some headaches due to the short rest time.

But in the dream, he lived for nearly a month.

The prolonged dreams made him forget many recent real-life events, such as what he had eaten the day before and what he had said to his colleagues.

He even got scolded at work because of his unfamiliarity.

After all, for him, yesterday’s events occurred a month ago.

He began to fear, desperately trying to prevent himself from sleeping, while also seeking medical treatment.

He worried that the next dream would last years.

But just as he was on his way to the clinic, waiting for the doctor, he accidentally dozed off.

This time, it was for two years.

The long passage of time erased most of his hard-to-remember memories, everything here felt like it happened two years ago—he even failed to remember why he was there, until the smell of disinfectant entered his nose, and a nurse in a white dress approached him to tell him it was his turn to see the doctor.

Only then did he remember he came for treatment.

His eyes red, he rushed into the doctor’s office and told him about his symptoms.

At this point, the man’s tone was thick with despair, “The doctor told me this wasn’t a disease, and advised me to find an Exorcist.”

Lu Li remained silent.

The medical standards here were limited, which was understandable.

“Have you contacted a psychiatrist?” Lu Li asked.

The man’s eyes blazed as he bellowed, “I am not insane!”

In this world, being tagged as insane was a terrible thing—it meant they would lose their basic human rights, be confined in a psychiatric hospital akin to a prison, and undergo horrendous treatment: like forced hospitalization and routine corporal punishment.

“Mental illness and psychological issues are not—”

Lu Li abruptly stopped speaking.

He realized that reason never took effect by preaching.

Even in the Earth era, countless educated people resisted psychiatrists, equating mental health issues with insanity, let alone here.

Explaining was pointless.