Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 436 - 436 Two hundred ninety-three

436: Two hundred ninety-three.

Jojo’s Trace 436: Two hundred ninety-three.

Jojo’s Trace “`

Whoosh—

The cold of the torrential rain seemed to penetrate into the marrow.

Jojo walked quickly towards the direction where the carriage had departed, her belly under the rain cloak bulging, supporting it with her palm underneath.

Only by doing this could she prevent the leather paper and food from getting soaked by the downpour.

Cold steak wouldn’t taste good.

“23, 25, 27…”

With the help of the streetlight’s halo, Jojo walked forward, peering at the reflective numbers on the buildings to her side.

There was not a single person on the streets, and the sound of rain and the sharp whistling of the wind scraping over the rooftops filled her ears, raindrops pattering hard against the rain cloak.

“31, 33, 3…”

The streetlight beside her flickered a few times, preventing Jojo from making out the numbers on the wall clearly.

Jojo could guess what they were and walked straight past, continuing forward, but a few seconds later, her steps suddenly halted.

Fifty meters ahead, a row of streetlights went out abruptly, like candles snuffed out.

Jojo stood still, looking towards the street ahead with a tinge of doubt.

This wasn’t a coincidence or an electrical fault.

Following that, the second row of streetlights went out, then the third…

and the fourth.

It was as if some entity was approaching Jojo.

Without a second thought, Jojo immediately turned and ran back the way she came.

The darkness spread faster than her running, row after row of extinguishing lights as if the darkness turned tangible, swallowing up Jojo’s retreating figure.

Jojo glanced back in haste and saw the darkness spreading rapidly toward her, knowing she wouldn’t make it back to the restaurant before the darkness enveloped her.

It seemed as though something was churning within the dense darkness.

Jojo bit her pale lips and reached into her pocket to grab a newspaper, turning her head to fling it behind her.

She knew Lu Li’s style well.

If she didn’t return for a long time, Lu Li would sense something was wrong, and he would certainly come looking for her.

Glancing back in an instant, Jojo saw a row of lights extinguish behind her, as the darkness devoured the space she’d just left.

Clenching her teeth, Jojo quickened her pace towards another row of streetlights just a few meters ahead.

Step—

Just as she was about to reach the new circle of light, the darkness caught up with her, and Jojo’s figure, along with the sounds of her running, were engulfed by the black.

The street in the torrential rain returned to calm, the flickering streetlights once again shone brightly, as if nothing had ever happened.

…

Step—

A dropped shoe splashed water all around.

The dim, hazy light reflected countless broken worlds in the puddles, and the pale newspaper on the ground gleamed in the light.

A slender hand scooped up the newspaper from the water.

The newspaper tore apart like shreds, carried away by the flow into the drain, leaving only a small piece in the hand.

“A newspaper?”

“Left by Jojo.”

The blurry text on the soaked scrap was recognized by Lu Li as coming from “Arlen Peninsula Real News”.

In this weather, a paper drenched in the rain would be torn into shreds within minutes, indicating the paper had been dropped within that timeframe.

Looking around, there were only puddles that had not yet drained and countless spreading ripples on the road surface—no food—

The paper had been left intentionally by Jojo, but she hadn’t discarded the food either because the situation wasn’t severe, or she didn’t have the chance to throw it away?

“`

“`

Lu Li dropped the piece of paper, letting it wash away into the sewer, and headed toward Hunterley Delicious Pan-Steak.

Hunterley Delicious Pan-Steak was about to close, with half of its shop window already darkened.

When Lu Li arrived, the manager thought he was a customer and hesitated about whether to cook another meal.

As Lu Li asked about Jojo, the manager, who Aunt Mary referred to as little Hunterley, eyed Lu Li warily, “Are you her friend?”

“Mary said your food is made quickly, and it’s been a long time since Jojo has come back.”

Little Hunterley suddenly enlightened, became enthusiastic, “So you are Mrs.

Mary’s friends, had I known, I would have given you a discount.

Mrs.

Mary really is a good person…

Oh, what did you ask?

That girl, right?

She just left, it might not have been two minutes, didn’t you see her when you arrived?”

Maybe it wasn’t too late.

Jojo was smart, having grown up among gangs and slums, she knew how to survive.

After leaving the restaurant, Lu Li returned to where he had seen the newspaper, his gaze lingering briefly in several dark alleys, and turned his head to speak to the person next to him, “Sense the ghosts nearby, Jojo might be around here.”

Anna’s figure emerged from the void, rain passing through her ethereal body, hovering in mid-air, Anna closed her eyes.

In Lu Li’s Supernatural Perception, Anna’s presence extended outward like tentacles, further and further…

until it suddenly encountered a blockage at the entrance to a certain alley.

It had originally been concealed, but it revealed itself under Anna’s influence.

“Over there.” Anna opened her eyes, her crimson pupils sweeping away.

It was a Dark Alley hidden within the shadows.

…

The moment Jojo was engulfed by darkness, she stopped in her tracks.

Surrounding her was the thick darkness, with only the oil lamp in her hand lighting up a small area.

Jojo calmed her breathing, vigilantly observing her surroundings, but except for the sound of wind and rain, there was nothing in the darkness—

Jojo suddenly turned her head, looking towards a dimly illuminated alley where a noisy commotion was arising.

“Please, don’t do this, save me!

Someone, please save me—”

Frantic running and desperate cries for help sounded from the alley.

Jojo kept quiet and still, watching how the situation unfolded.

The increasingly desperate screams neared the alley entrance, and the next moment, a disheveled face appeared in the light of the oil lamp, within its illuminating range, but the next, a pair of large hands stretched out from the darkness behind her, grabbing the woman’s hair.

Jojo saw the woman’s pain and despair at the instant her hair was yanked, and also the countless hands of men emerging from the darkness, greedily laughing as they grabbed the woman’s body and dragged her into the Dark Alley beyond the lamp’s light.

A woman being molested in the alley?

It couldn’t be that simple, but—

Listening to the woman’s wails, Jojo clenched her fists.

How could she remain indifferent…

Jojo clenched her teeth as she approached the alley, and suddenly, a tall and fierce figure emerged at the edge of the oil lamp’s light, glaring viciously at Jojo, “You’re trying to meddle in this?”

“Uh, I…” Jojo almost thought it was a real person, if not for the scene of being dragged into the darkness, which had been convincingly real.

She pulled out the leather paper bag hidden in her bosom, took out a piece of bread, and offered it to the figure, tentatively asking, “Are you hungry?”

The figure hesitated for a moment, the complicated and fierce face at the edge of the oil lamp’s light swatted away Jojo’s hand.

The bread and the leather paper bag filled with food fell to the ground, quickly soaking and disintegrating, and the several long pieces of bread rolled towards the outside of the alley.

“Ah, the food!”

Jojo instinctively felt a pang of loss as she watched the food on the ground, but then saw a long piece of bread hit a black rain boot.

Looking up, Jojo exclaimed with surprise, “Lu Li!”

Lu Li looked down at the soggy food in the puddle, which was now inedible, and slightly furrowed his brows.

His dark eyes slowly narrowed.

“`