Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 472 - 472 Three hundred twenty-nine

472: Three hundred twenty-nine.

Enter the shell 472: Three hundred twenty-nine.

Enter the shell “Mother of the Old Swamp?”

Lu Li’s gaze slipped over the red light spreading over his body as he whispered softly.

There was no response, just as it had said; this was merely a brand it had left in advance.

A few seconds after the whispers of the Mother of the Old Swamp ceased, the red light began to fade.

Not far from there, the next patch of red light intensified, emitting a malevolent glow.

With no hesitation, no retreat, Lu Li could only continue to approach the trap.

Was it possible that the Mother of the Marsh, who collaborated with him, was in a disadvantaged position in the struggle since he was accepted by the Mother of the Old Swamp?

Bathed in the bloody light, Lu Li continued to listen to the whispers of the Mother of the Marsh.

“How could a being as insignificant as an ant be noticed by a grand consciousness?

Humans, named as Plunderers and Betrayers, your fate will be the same as a Plunderer, becoming the sacrifice offered to the grand existence.

Please continue forward…

There, the end of your life and soul awaits you.”

The scattering blood light could not wait to dim any further; the Mother of the Old Swamp, her cards all played, no longer needed to lure Lu Li deeper.

Lu Li could only move forward, another ring of the abyss lay before him, and as he approached, the Sanity Value Counter began to tick.

Crossing the abyss, Lu Li entered under another calming blood light from the counter.

But this time, the low whispers of the Mother of the Old Swamp did not sound again.

It no longer needed to waste words.

A new blood light lit up ahead, at the edge of the ringed abyss, while the old light hurriedly dimmed.

Lu Li, holding the Divine Statue of the Mother of the Marsh in his pocket, muttered to himself and continued forward.

The “end” prepared by the Mother of the Old Swamp might be among the few lights about to light up, but Lu Li had no other choice.

Reaching the new blood light, the low whispers still did not sound.

Lu Li could only continue forward, crossing the abyss.

“Stop…”

Suddenly, a faint whisper sounded in his mind.

Lu Li stopped; the rapidly dimming red light behind him was bringing darkness closer, and he had to move forward to avoid being engulfed by darkness, but the whispering voice also disappeared.

Realizing something, Lu Li stepped back to the boundary between the red light and the darkness, close to the abyss, where the counter frequently chimed.

Before the Mother of the Marsh could speak, Lu Li said, “Darkness is invading; do you have a way to avoid it?”

“Bring out the Divine Statue…”

Lu Li took out the statue from his pocket, this personified statue representing humanity was now emitting a dark purple hazy glow.

The darkness about to envelop Lu Li reluctantly stayed outside the haze, but the purple light was so dim that Lu Li could almost hear the secretive whispering sounds from within the darkness and feel the invisible touches that seemed to brush past his body.

Not far away, the hazy red light enticingly lured Lu Li closer.

“What next?” Lu Li asked.

“Jump into the ring…

It leads to the Old Mother’s shell…

Break my seal…

This is our only chance…”

“You told me a few minutes ago that you suppressed it, but now you are sealed by it, and we are at a disadvantage,” Lu Li replied.

The Mother of the Marsh whispered faintly, “It went mad…

forcibly assimilated the power…

It’s powerful…

It’s weak…

I need…

your help…”

Lu Li frowned, approaching the abyss as the Sanity Value Counter began to chirp more urgently, “The ring is consuming my Sanity Value.”

“If you do nothing…

not only will your Sanity Value be devoured, but also your life…

and soul…”

The Mother of the Marsh was right.

If he didn’t enter the ring, Lu Li’s only other option was to proceed into the red light.

As for leaving…

Lu Li turned and looked back; darkness obscured his way.

Approaching the ring, Lu Li gazed down into the dark abyss, “How do I go down?”

“Just jump…”

“A dead man can’t help you,” Lu Li said.

“You won’t die…”

With the assurance of the Mother of the Marsh, Lu Li no longer hesitated, diverged from the track laid out by the Mother of the Old Swamp, clutched the statue, and leaped into the abyss.

The sensation of falling lasted only a second before Lu Li’s back and the soles of his shoes made contact with something solid.

It wasn’t the vertical drop he had anticipated, but rather a sloping stretch that sent Lu Li sliding downwards as if he were on a slide.

The whistling of the wind passed by his ears, and at that moment, the whispers of the Mother of the Marsh slowly began to resonate.

[Perhaps you will sustain some injuries…]

Hearing this, Lu Li remained silent, quietly adjusting his posture and slowing his descent, bending his legs to prevent injuries from a sudden landing.

Ten meters, thirty meters, fifty meters.

As he swiftly slid down, the posture that Lu Li had adjusted was suddenly frustrated by the winding, not-so-straight slope.

His shoulder hit the edge, his body ricocheted, flipping him into a dangerous upside-down position.

Lu Li only had time to adjust to lying horizontally when the bottom suddenly appeared.

Bang—

The sound of landing and a muffled groan arose simultaneously, as Lu Li rolled several times to diminish the force of the fall, while the statue of the Mother of the Marsh tumbled close to his head.

Crack—

The sound of a shattering oil lamp broke the silence not far away; luckily, it wasn’t the oil lamp that had fallen near his head.

A dark purple mist illuminated a face twisted in pain.

All around returned to silence, except for the ticking of a counter.

Lu Li slowly got up, his right shoulder making contact with the ground painfully unbearable; but this was not the worst of it.

He reached out to touch his abdomen, blending the sharp pain and tearing sensation he felt at the touch; his fingertips were sticky and wet.

The wound most likely had split open.

Unable to attend to the wound, Lu Li picked up the statue and looked around.

The way they had come was darkly invisible overhead and to the sides, but ahead of him, a spacious passage emerged into view.

The slow lighting and dimming of a blood-red glow made the walls, piled layer upon layer by irregular chunks, appear like the flesh formed irregularly, as if Lu Li was inside some sort of creature.

The air was filled with a scent of rotting wood, much stronger than that inside the Detective Agency.

“Where is this?”

Perceiving no immediate danger, Lu Li asked.

[The shell of the Old Mother…]

“Where are you sealed.”

[In the head of the shell…]

“Is the Old Mother also there?”

[It is at the altar in the heart… intending to sacrifice, to reclaim the shell… Save me before it completes everything…]

“But you can’t defeat it.”

[That is why I need your… help…]

Lu Li was non-committal.

“Let’s try, but I recommend another path instead of confronting the Old Mother.”

[What is it…]

“Get me or leave the marsh with me, seek help from an Exorcist.”

[There’s no time… Moreover, I… do not trust humans…]

“Lead the way then, how should I proceed.”

[Forward… avoid the glowing paths… they will alert the Old Mother…]

Looking back across the area, where scattered fragments that could not light up were either interconnected or formed separate spots, like stepping stones on magma.

“Besides this, are there other dangers here?” Lu Li moved forward on the pitch-black path that did not glow, observing his footing as he asked.

Lu Li didn’t believe the dangers stemmed only from the environment.

Especially since this place was the shell of the Mother of the Old Swamp.

[As long as you stay in the dark… you are safe…]