Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 562 - 562 Eighty-one

562: Eighty-one.

The Urgent Return 562: Eighty-one.

The Urgent Return Lu Li slowly awoke.

With the return of consciousness, the incessant sound of the tide echoed in his ears, and the damp fishy scent of the sea pervaded the surroundings.

He hadn’t awakened in the asylum.

Realizing this, Lu Li opened his eyes and sat up from the wooden cabin bed.

A candle, no bigger than a pinky finger, was slanted on the dining table, with a distant coastline and a leaden sea surface appearing outside the mottled window.

He had been brought to the seaside town.

It seemed only logical for Lu Li, who had fallen asleep in the ocean projection inside the coastal wooden hut, to appear in a real wooden hut.

The pitch-black holes that had been on the real floor also disappeared without leaving a trace.

“Trouble.”

Lu Li muttered.

He had no time to explore the puzzlements this place brought and got up to go to the door, yanking the wooden door open.

Just about to leave, Lu Li returned, blew out the remaining candle on the table, and took it with him as he left the cabin.

Leaving a row of footprints on the soft sand, Lu Li went back to the seaside street and asked the townspeople for the location of the coach service.

The townspeople told Lu Li some bad news—the coach service had moved out of town two weeks ago due to the dwindling number of tourists.

In order to rent a coach, Lu Li had no choice but to go to the police station, reveal his identity, and ask them to find a carriage for him as soon as possible.

Due to Lu Li’s special status, thinking there might be something strange afoot, the police station quickly dispatched an officer to look for an available carriage for him.

Fortunately, sleeping in the underground ocean seemed not to have consumed precious time; it was more like a means of sending Lu Li back to reality.

Even though the candle was only as big as the tip of a little finger.

However, time had still passed due to the delay Lu Li experienced inside.

Earlier today, in the early morning, he and Anna had entered the passage, but now it was already afternoon.

Lu Li hoped that Anna was still waiting for him at the asylum.

Lu Li thought.

While waiting, Lu Li saw the real Richard Federman—the devil impersonating him had surprisingly let him go.

He had already learned from his colleagues that Lu Li was involved with the previous devil incident and the seaside wooden hut case, Richard Federman approached for a chat, telling him a few things.

People from the United Organization of Exorcists arrived the day after Lu Li left, but by then the matter had been resolved due to the devil’s departure, Richard Federman only knew that a devil with ill intent had impersonated him; fortunately, no harm was done, except for the poor Lady Merlin.

Richard Federman, just like the devil had portrayed him, had a borderline obsessive interest in the case, but was not as flighty and talkative as the latter.

Their conversation wasn’t long; the police station found a carriage and a coachman for Lu Li.

The carriage belonged to the coachman personally; after delivering Lu Li to his destination, he would have to drive the carriage back.

Bidding farewell to the police station staff, Lu Li climbed into the carriage, which gradually departed from sight amidst the farewells of the crowd, disappearing at the end of the street.

It had only been a few days since he last passed through here, the roadside scenery had not yet faded from memory.

The coachman driving, out of awe for Lu Li, dared not initiate conversation.

Lu Li, who was granted this temporary tranquility, slept lightly in the jolting carriage.

An hour later, Lu Li was roused by a larger shaking within the carriage and lifted his head to see the coachman looking nervously into the carriage.

“I’m… I’m sorry, sir, a rock that rolled down from the mountain is blocking the road.”

“It’s nothing,” Lu Li shook his head and said.

“Where are we?”

“We just came from the crossroad in the central part of Falling Leaves Mountain Range, and in another dozen miles or so, it will be Leaf Fall Town.” Feeling that Lu Li wasn’t very aloof, the coachman unconsciously became chatty, curiously asking, “Sir, are you going to the Ailen Peninsula to rescue someone?”

“Rescue someone?”

“`

Before Lu Li could continue with his inquiries, the outline of a frenzied carriage suddenly emerged ahead of their own.

The coachman hastily pulled on the reins to move to the side of the road, avoiding a collision with the oncoming, urgent carriage.

As they passed by, Lu Li glimpsed through the carriage window the fearful expressions of a mother and daughter.

They looked as if they were escaping from something…

The dust kicked up by the carriage gradually settled, revealing the outlines of more carriages ahead on the road, though none seemed as desperate as the one that had just passed.

Rhodest Port should have already recovered, so why were these carriages hurrying away from the Ailen Peninsula in such a rush…?

“Did something happen on the Ailen Peninsula recently?” Lu Li, realizing something, asked the coachman.

“You don’t know?

Three terrifying monsters emerged in the bay of Belfast…”

Lu Li’s brows gradually furrowed.

The incident had been broadcasted over the radio, so there was no need to doubt its credibility.

It also revealed the attitude of the Elders’ Council and the United Organization: they no longer intended to conceal the appearance of the strange creatures.

The coachman informed Lu Li that the broadcast came on early in the morning, exactly when Lu Li had arrived at the Asylum.

The broadcast told people that three huge, strange creatures, creating a mist, had emerged in the bay outside of Belfast and quickly obscured their outlines.

With the strangeness of the creatures unknown, the broadcast cautioned people to stay as far away as possible from Belfast and the Ailen Peninsula.

Unfortunately, no more details were provided.

After a few minutes of silent travel, a carriage that had stopped by the side of the road came into view, a middle-aged man was changing a wooden wheel of his carriage under the watchful eyes of his family.

“Get closer to them.”

Lu Li said to the coachman.

After waiting for the passing carriages to go by, they drew nearer to the family.

Lu Li stepped out of his carriage to reveal his identity, under the bewildered gaze of the household.

“Did you come from Belfast?”

After receiving confirmation, Lu Li asked them what exactly happened in Belfast.

The man, showing a frightened expression, glanced back at his wife who was covering his son’s ears and spoke with a shiver, “Three…

I don’t know what they were, but they were alive!

They could spew out mist!

The exorcists said it was the Mist of Strangeness, and it was they who created the mist last night!”

What were the creatures’ intentions in approaching Belfast, and what did it signify?

Unknown, but it was common knowledge: the Mist of Strangeness had once again enveloped Belfast.

“Let’s continue.”

Lu Li returned to the carriage, moving against the flow of the evacuating convoy.

One hour later, the carriage arrived at Marsh Road.

Lu Li lifted the carriage curtain, looking towards the South Swamp.

He could vaguely make out the figures of Shadow Figures flitting among the passing tree shadows.

The Mother of the Marsh had noticed Lu Li, or perhaps she had always been watching the crowd traveling upon the Marsh Road.

The Mother of the Marsh might know something, but unfortunately, Lu Li did not have time to go deeper into the swamp to inquire beneath the giant Banyan Tree.

They continued the journey, and half an hour later, the carriage left the Marsh Road, heading towards the distant Sugard Mountain.

On the road, the fleeings carriages and the people converged together, forming a convoy more spectacular than the one that had initially gone to Belfast, with no end in sight.

In the afternoon, with only about an hour left before darkness, black smoke finally emerged on the road ahead.

The carriage stopped outside the Asylum, and Lu Li got out, approaching the woodshed.

A solitary figure in a phantom white dress sat hugging her knees in front the woodshed.

Sensing the newcomer, she looked up indifferently, then her frosty demeanor melted, and she threw herself towards Lu Li.

The next moment, Anna, weightless as a feather, fell into Lu Li’s arms.

“`