Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 569 - 569 EIGHTY-EIGHT

569: EIGHTY-EIGHT.

Late Night Conversation 569: EIGHTY-EIGHT.

Late Night Conversation Lu Li stepped down from the carriage and took out the spare key from the mailbox.

The drowsy children woke up one by one, clutching their blankets as they disembarked from the carriage.

“Is this our new home?” the youngest girl asked, tilting her head as she looked at the foggy two-story wooden house in front of her.

Raimy glanced at Lu Li’s figure and whispered in response, “Yes, we’ll live here from now on.”

Squeak—

Pushing open the door and carrying an oil lamp, Lu Li entered the house first, lighting the candles on the dining table.

The children, unable to hide their excitement, rushed into the wooden house, gazing around as if trying to memorize everything, occasionally exclaiming in wonder.

But in reality, the spacious house was empty, devoid of even cobwebs.

There was only dust and the supplies Lu Li had prepared and left in the corners for the Jimmy siblings before deciding to go to the Lennon Islands.

It seemed they hadn’t had time to come down the mountain to retrieve these items yet.

“You can sleep upstairs, the bedrooms are large enough for everyone,” Lu Li told the children.

Raimy nodded and, pulling her younger siblings, ran upstairs.

A flurry of footsteps, a rustle of dust falling from gaps in the ceiling, followed by the children’s voices, too mumbled to be clearly heard.

A few minutes later, Raimy came downstairs alone to tell Lu Li that they had made their beds and were resting.

She came down to ask what they should do next.

“This is your place, you decide,” Lu Li said, not intending to interfere too much with their lives.

Raimy’s face showed a trace of disappointment, as she had hoped Lu Li would stay and take care of them.

“I have other matters to take care of, but I will regularly bring you food and supplies,” he said.

“What do you need us to do?” Raimy asked, puzzled.

“Survive.”

For a group of children living under the looming shadow of the apocalypse, survival itself was not easy, even with Lu Li’s protection, which could only ensure relative safety.

Raimy understood his words, hesitated for a moment, but then gathered her courage and said to Lu Li, “Can you teach me?

About those monsters.”

Lu Li looked at her calmly, and she nervously averted her eyes, unable to look directly at him.

After a moment, a soothing voice told her,

“I can.”

The little girl was willing to bear the cost of knowledge for the sake of her siblings, and Lu Li had no reason to refuse her.

Over the next half an hour, Lu Li told Raimy a lot.

He spoke about the three organizations of the Exorcists, the four factions of the strange: Evil Spirits, Evil Spirits, Evil Gods, and Strangeness, down to the information about Sanity Value, and finally all the Evil Spirits that Lu Li currently knew of.

“The Shadow Thief of Fire,” “Abyssal Depths,” “The Shadow of Puppetry,” “Uninvited Guests,” and the sources of human and environmental decline: “Lightless Night” and “Beginning of Extinction.”

Due to their disastrous nature, such Evil Spirits were also termed as “Disasters.”

“Mist of Strangeness” and “Mutant Rain,” since their origins had not been traced, were not counted among the Evil Spirits factions.

Among these, Lu Li emphasized an essential point to Raimy: observation.

When encountering an unknown strangeness, regardless of which of the four factions it belonged to, the first step was to remain silent and observe the creature.

If it was an Evil Spirit, analyze its ritual based on its form and movements.

For a girl not yet nine years old, this was difficult to comprehend, but it could insignificantly increase their chances of survival.

It was almost nine o’clock at night, the children accustomed to going to bed early had already drifted off to sleep, and even Raimy began to nod off continuously.

Having nothing more to tell Raimy, Lu Li took out a small wooden box filled with rotting meat from his pocket and told her that if they confirmed the encounter with a strangeness, to open it, and after the crow arrived, let it notify him.

This is of no use, as Lu Li wouldn’t be able to reach them within minutes no matter where he was.

But it could prevent the children from panicking due to feeling isolated and unsupported, and muster the courage to save themselves.

In addition, Lu Li told her about some survival essentials—they might be experienced, but their foresight wasn’t long enough.

For instance, stockpiling drinking water, firewood, coal, and kerosene, burying household waste, reinforcing doors, and nailing wooden planks over the windows on the first floor to prevent riots and burglaries.

“Go back and rest, remember to light more than two oil lamps, and leave at least one person to keep watch.

I’ll be leaving in a while,” Lu Li handed her the keys.

Raimy expressed her thanks to Lu Li once again, taking the small wooden box and keys before scampering upstairs.

After a while of soft talking, the upstairs gradually returned to quietness.

Once the children had fallen asleep, Anna materialized, sitting across from Lu Li.

She was ready to listen to what Lu Li had to say.

“What is your wish?” Lu Li asked, ever direct.

“Wish?” Anna couldn’t understand what he meant.

Lu Li elaborated further: “The thing you want to do right now.”

Anna, quietly observing her own black eyes reflected in Lu Li’s, suddenly began to avert her gaze.

This allowed both Lu Li and Anna to catch a glimpse of her former naivety and anxiety.

Even though they had accompanied Anna only two or three months ago.

“I want…

to become your shadow.”

Seemingly aware of Anna’s thoughts, Lu Li’s expression remained unchanged as he continued, “You can become an independent entity, no longer completely dependent on me, just like when I wasn’t around before.”

As the words fell, Anna’s chilling aura uncontrollably spilled out around her, swirling but carefully avoiding Lu Li to prevent him from getting hurt.

A heartbreakingly sad expression surfaced on Anna’s face, and even her speech became clumsy and dull: “But I don’t want…

to be separated.”

Anna’s mood hadn’t been right for a long time, and Lu Li had to tell her in an even more patient and persuasive tone than he had used with Raimy: “It’s not about separation, our relationship won’t change.

It’s just that you’ll have your own judgments and thoughts, and things you want to do.”

“Why are you saying all this?” Anna tilted her head and asked.

Lu Li answered, “Because if this continues, you will lose yourself and become a true shadow.”

Apart from herself, Anna was indifferent to everything, unresponsive whether it was Aunt Mary or the books she once loved.

“Is that not okay?”

“That is exactly the problem.”

Anna had no awareness of her own strangeness.

Gently bowing her head, Anna murmured, “But I don’t know what I can do…”

“There will always be something.”

Anna was like a huge vine wrapped around the trunk of a tree—but she could have become another tree.

“There are many kinds of protection.

Currently, you’re serving as my strength,” Lu Li’s words echoed at the bottom of Anna’s heart.

“Another kind is true protection: using your own strength to keep me safe from strangeness.”

“Truly protecting you…” Anna repeated Lu Li’s words in a low voice.

The chilling aura gradually retracted into her ethereal body, and Anna nodded lightly, “I will try to change.”

Just hoping that the aura of the Inner World didn’t distort Anna’s understanding of protection.