Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 504 - 504 Twenty-three

504: Twenty-three.

Emerging 504: Twenty-three.

Emerging Within the throng of carriages pouring into Belfast, one carriage flowed upstream, past the once dreamlike Agate Lake, now dusty, and traveled far past Sugard Mountain to its other side.

“We won’t reach Marsh Road until tomorrow morning, should we rest for a while?”

Departing from the base of the mountain, Anna packed away the leftover food and asked.

“Wait a little longer.”

Lu Li lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked ahead, the approaching night bringing dimness, yet he didn’t see that profound and mysterious projection looking towards Belfast again.

Until darkness completely enveloped them, pressing down on the light of the oil lamp hanging in the carriage, and whispers of ill omens surged, Lu Li returned to the carriage.

Sitting on the blanket Anna had laid out, Anna spread the aura of her wraith around, carefully making sure it didn’t affect Lu Li.

“There are no oddities nearby, nor is anyone following us,” Anna whispered.

“Perhaps they are in the distance, or perhaps they follow in ways we don’t know.”

Lu Li’s words made Anna consider a possibility, “If he can hear our conversation, know our plans…maybe he won’t stop you from going to the Main Affinity Continent?”

“It’s better not to be that way.”

Lu Li said, which meant that their only clear clue had disappeared.

But perhaps he had a special method of sensing Lu Li’s position, such as—

Lu Li’s gaze moved towards the roof of the carriage.

He could see the blood-colored tentacles descending from the clouds, what if others could too…

If that was the answer, Lu Li could already pin down Richard as the one behind the scenes.

Covered in a woolen coat, Lu Li soon fell asleep leaning against the blanket.

Anna relentlessly released her aura, driving away any oddities that might approach.

The soft patter of rain on the roof, the slow ticking of a counter, the trembling of the carriage wheels rolling over the slippery mud road, the flickering flame of the oil lamp.

In the quiet midnight, Lu Li woke up several times.

“Not resting well?”

When Lu Li opened his eyes for the fourth time, Anna asked softly.

Lu Li looked around, the presence that had awakened him having faded, “There were whispers in my ear.”

Anna’s crimson eyes grew sharp as Lu Li said, “It’s the projection of the Inner World.”

Having someone whisper in your ear during sleep is not a comforting thing.

“The method Raimy siblings mentioned for restoring Sanity Value…”

“Not now.”

Lu Li closed his eyes again, his tone calm as if nothing had happened, “You’ll get used to it.”

Perhaps as Lu Li said, he was getting used to it, or perhaps the whispers paused temporarily, and only when the sky began to brighten did Lu Li wake up from a deep sleep.

“Where are we now?”

“Just ahead is Rose Town.”

The fine rain still fell, the weather cold enough to make one want to layer several clothes on.

Lifting the curtain, Lu Li looked towards the gloomy clouds, staring at the sky ahead for a long time.

“Did you see something?” Anna asked quietly.

“The position of the tentacles has changed.”

The blood-colored tentacles hanging in the cloud cover had always been distributed on the continents far from the Ailen Peninsula, with the closest also far away in the Main Affinity Continent.

Perhaps their owners could move, but the vast distances were like stars unheard of in this world, difficult to observe their movement.

But now, below the clouds, the position of the blood-colored tentacles of the Main Affinity Continent had subtly shifted, the once ethereal tentacles due to distance had also become more solid.

It was as if they were now not far from the Ailen Peninsula.

Anna pondered, “So, you’re saying…

that it’s very likely related to Richard, the reason you’re asked to stay?”

Lu Li temporarily left the carriage and looked around at the other two blood-colored tentacles — or perhaps it was an illusion caused by the difficulty of discerning directions in the wilderness, yet their positions indeed were changing.

One of these blood-colored tentacles was more solid than those on the Main Affinity Continent, as if…

it had already reached Belfast.

“Perhaps,” Lu Li whispered.

The silent Rose Town was now appearing ahead.

Two days had passed since the Shadow Town incident, and Rose Town, the closest to Shadow Town, still hadn’t escaped the previous gloomy atmosphere.

Almost no townspeople could be seen outside, and a group of night watchmen were still stationed in the town, keeping an eye on the movements in the Southern Shadow Swamp.

The carriage slowly rolled through the main street of Rose Town.

If that person still wanted to contact Lu Li by sending a letter, Rose Town was his last chance.

Further ahead lay the ruined Shadow Town, where sending a letter would become very conspicuous and suspicious.

Yet until the carriage crossed through Rose Town and slowly left it behind, the awaited “messenger” still hadn’t appeared.

“There’s still a chance,” Anna consoled Lu Li, although she knew Lu Li didn’t need comforting.

After driving on the muddy road for about ten minutes, the sketch-like leaden land in the distance revealed the hazy silhouette of a devastated town through the drizzle.

The recent center of the whirlpool, Shadow Town.

As the carriage drew nearer, more details emerged before the eyes of Lu Li and Anna.

Personnel from the Exorcist United Organization were handling the aftermath of the Shadow Town incident — searching for any possible survivors, cultists, contaminants, and burying bodies that could cause a plague.

“Are we going to bypass Shadow Town?” Anna asked.

“Yes,”

Though Anna would be safe staying beside Lu Li, it’s best to avoid trouble whenever possible.

Lu Li, draped in a blanket, stepped out of the carriage and took up the cold, wet reins, planning to take another road at a fork a hundred meters ahead.

“The Southern Shadow Swamp belongs to the Mother of the Marsh.

What about the northern swamp?” Anna asked, as they neared the territory of the Mother of the Marsh.

Before Lu Li could respond, the gradually clear sound of rolling wagon wheels arose from behind them.

A carriage, not loaded with goods, quickly caught up to Lu Li.

Realizing something, Lu Li grabbed the reins and waited until it stopped.

A brown-haired young man on the carriage called out to Lu Li, “Excuse me, are you Lu Li?”

“That’s me.”

Lu Li observed the young man, who wore a patched hemp coat, with palms calloused from holding the reins.

“Someone asked me to deliver a letter to you,” the young man said, reaching into his coat to take out the letter.

Meanwhile, Anna materialized.

“Anna.”

As Lu Li spoke, a spirit’s aura surged towards the young man, entrapping him within its confines.

The immobilized young man’s eyes widened, and he struggled in panic, bellowing.

Anna furrowed her brows and lightly waved to silence him.

With a hint of doubt in his eyes, Lu Li turned his gaze away from the young man and opened the letter.

The content was almost identical to the letter received on the ship, only the warning shifted from not sailing out to sea to not leaving the Ailen Peninsula.

Looking up, Anna interrogated the terrified young man who was so scared by Anna that he even wet his pants.

After several questions, Anna frowned and looked at Lu Li, “It seems he’s not the guy who’s been hiding…”

“Yeah.”

This was just an ordinary townsman from Rose Town.

“Did you call me because you had already figured it out?” Anna realized something.

After a brief pause, Lu Li calmly said, “Just didn’t want you to kill him.”