Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 561 - 561 Cake is a lie at 80

561: Cake is a lie at 80.

561: Cake is a lie at 80.

Richard was certainly a bad man.

But he was not despicably bad, purely evil, the kind of man people hated and wished to hang on Belfast’s long-abandoned gallows, to leave his body exposed for a week.

This was tied to his desire to gain power to protect everyone.

Unfortunately, Richard had taken the wrong path.

He didn’t think he had done anything wrong, even after witnessing the trials Lu Li had once faced, he merely believed that they were on different paths.

It wasn’t until his final defeat that those conversations and Lu Li’s actions finally made Richard understand and proudly choose to bury himself.

However, whatever the case, the danger to Lu Li’s life had been partially averted.

Shaking slightly, Lu Li retreated from the edge of the abyss and sat down clumsily on the cold stone slab, breathing softly.

Even though Richard was exhausted, the desperate fight still caused Lu Li some trouble, both physically and mentally.

He calmly watched the hazy edge a few meters away; the key had been discarded, this door led nowhere, lingering outside it served no purpose.

Lu Li planned to rest for a moment before heading back the way he came—Anna was still waiting for him outside.

Speaking of doors, Lu Li suddenly remembered he had forgotten something critical: about “the door.”

Richard was the only clue about “the door,” but with his death, the clue was lost.

Lu Li didn’t have much time, the next assault from “the door” would not take long to come.

He decided to leave this place first.

Feeling rested enough, Lu Li stood up, cast a deep gaze one last time at the edge of the darkness, and turned to leave.

His figure gradually receded, never looking back, nor did he harbor any sentiment for the abyss behind, where the key and Richard were buried.

The gray mist made it difficult to distinguish directions, but the gaps between the floor tiles guided Lu Li along the path ahead—he just needed to follow the tiles, moving away from the dark abyss, and the exit would naturally appear in front of him.

In the fog ahead, a cluster of mist gathered together like smoke, forming a line of surprisingly beautiful, darker script.

[You have passed the true test]

The unchanging space shrouded in fog, with something unusual ahead easily caught by Lu Li.

He paused his steps slightly and walked past, disturbing the fog-made letters with the airflow he created, mixing them together, making them indecipherable.

He did not intend to pay attention to the existing message because he had never coveted its power.

Suddenly, darkness intruded before him, with traces of moisture on the stone tiles.

Lu Li found the way back.

He searched himself and discovered the flashlight had been lost at some point, so he walked straight into the darkness.

Moving straight ahead, Lu Li in the dark was not alone.

The darkness, like spirits, swirled around him, forming a denser, more visible script in the dark ahead of him.

[Your admirable qualities are commendable]

Continuing to ignore, he walked alone in the darkness for a few minutes until ahead gradually ceased to be dark.

The walls of the passage replaced the darkness, and Lu Li returned to the outer periphery of the original cave.

[I see in you another possibility for mankind]

At the end of the passage, the deep water curtain that twisted the light flowed slowly, forming new content.

[And I am glad you did not choose to occupy the body of the Ancient One]

Whoosh—

The figure entering the water curtain disturbed the content, turning into a dark shadow, floating upwards.

Lu Li didn’t hold his breath; thousands of meters from the surface, if one couldn’t breathe in the water, holding one’s breath would be pointless.

Moving his limbs, but Lu Li realized that his ascent was slow, and when he stopped, his figure gradually sank back into the Deep Sea Ruins.

Reflectively, he took off his heavy woolen coat.

Rid of the burden, Lu Li’s slowly descending body finally started to float upwards.

The woolen coat he took off slowly sank into the bottomless depths of the ruins, the empty dancing sleeve cuffs seeming animated, while Lu Li kicked his legs, swimming upward.

[The scent of bait is a deadly trap, merely a lie]

Having ascended a hundred meters, or perhaps two hundred, in a quick glance, Lu Li saw a line of text he could understand on a huge nearby stone pillar.

His figure paused slightly, then continued to ascend.

However, Lu Li’s eyebrows furrowed, pondering the meaning.

He began to have an intuition.

The entity that arranged the test, the entity that controlled the writing, did not seem to be the Ancient God slumbering in the abyss of the ruins below…

[The stars have already descended]

[The abomination awaits in the abyss]

[In the dark, bizarre and grotesque stirs]

[While the ashes will extinguish]

For the next dozen minutes, those words appeared before Lu Li’s eyes in various forms, narrating the dark path ahead.

Although shielded by an unknown protection from the deep sea pressure, Lu Li still felt part of it squeezing him, making it difficult to breathe.

The pressure was now gradually disappearing, and Lu Li realized he was nearing the surface.

At one moment, a figure emerged from the slightly undulating sea surface with a splash of water.

Lu Li gasped for air, the real air rushed into his lungs, bringing him a clarity as if awakening from a deep sleep.

Suddenly, warm blood uncontrollably dripped from his nose, falling into the black ocean.

He ascended too quickly.

Lu Li thought; he turned his head and looked around, perhaps by fate or coincidence, the two abandoned wooden boats were just a few meters away on the sea surface.

Moving his limbs, Lu Li approached the wooden boat before more negative effects set in, flipping into the cabin.

The dizziness arrived just at that moment, swirling for tens of seconds before slowly fading.

[When darkness envelopes, do not lose hope in your heart]

Regaining clear vision, the clouds in the sky formed some sort of writing.

Two minutes later, Lu Li, regaining consciousness, propped up his sore and weak limbs and sat up, searching for the boat’s oars.

But he found that the wooden boat had started drifting, moving with the waves on its own.

[Take it, it will lead you back to the path of awakening]

[Even the ashes can still reignite]

During the journey, the writing continued to appear.

His body swaying with the small boat, Lu Li gazed ahead.

At the end of the vast ocean, the coastline and that small wooden cabin appeared before him.

[And the gift you initially mentioned will also be presented to you at this time]

Bang—

The bottom of the wooden boat collided with gravel, grounding on the sand beach as the tide receded.

Lu Li thought about returning to the stairway corridor, even though his current stamina could hardly climb the nearly four-meter-high steps, but he suddenly changed his mind and walked into the small wooden cabin.

The deep hole in the floor had disappeared, leaving only a faint fishy smell and mud on the floor.

[It is this test itself]

Writing appeared on the window.

Lu Li closed the door, bolted it, and walked over to lie down on the bed.

Strange fatigue surged into his mind, and his consciousness gradually became blurry.

Creak—

Just as he was about to fall sound asleep, the bolted wooden door was suddenly pushed open, and a figure in a black robe holding a lit candle walked into the cabin.

This figure seemed familiar, but he could not recall when he had seen it.

The figure did not carry the scent from beneath the sea; it walked to the wooden table and set down the candle.

Heavy eyelids completely closed, and just before consciousness fell into sleep, only two soft, slow whispers were heard.

“Goodnight now,”

“Have a nice dream.”