Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 571 - 571 Ninety

571: Ninety.

Sink in 571: Ninety.

Sink in Lu Li, who always remained calm, was no exception at this moment, so Anna didn’t know how to stop him, as it was clear that Lu Li had already made up his mind.

“Just keep an eye on my condition,” Lu Li said.

“I can go instead,” Anna, grasping at a straw, said, “Lady Merlin once mentioned I was more suited to go to hell than you are.”

“But not suited for finding people,” Lu Li looked up at Anna, “Even if you find Richard, it would be hard for him to say anything to you.

Plus, your consciousness is unstable, and you might run into trouble from which you cannot return.”

“Having you by my body is the safest decision.”

“That place is hell,” Anna couldn’t imagine what would happen to a living soul that stepped into hell.

Lu Li calmly replied, “Lady Merlin has been there many times, or rather, she has been traveling between hell and reality for decades.”

“That’s why she died, shortly after we met her,” Anna remembered more details as she objected, “And don’t forget the demon that left a mark on the back of your hand.

It covets your soul, and yet you actually plan to go to its territory…”

Lu Li lowered his head slightly, looking at the inverted pentagram on the back of his left hand.

This burn mark, which had faded and could only be noticed upon close inspection, seemed as if it had occurred years ago, but in reality, it had happened just a few days earlier.

Anna’s soft plea continued to ring in his ears, “We can think of other ways, like asking other psychics for help…”

“I have to go myself,” Lu Li said.

Anna gazed at Lu Li, her eyes telling herself that this man was ready to visit hell.

Anna still resisted Lu Li’s decision but didn’t try to persuade him further, instead she averted her gaze and said, “Do you still remember how to perform spirit travel?”

Lu Li nodded, recalling Tesla’s and Lady Merlin’s descriptions and details about hell.

[Slow death is the most reliable method to enter hell; most psychics choose to suffocate to travel there.

The process is extremely dangerous, not only because one might actually die from suffocation, but also because of the dangers that stem from hell itself]

For the moment putting aside the latter.

With Anna guarding the outside world, Lu Li didn’t need to worry about actually killing himself.

His means to go to hell was what Tesla termed “slow death,” and drowning or suffocation seemed to be the optimal choice.

Other methods, whether poison or bloodletting, were irreversible—once gone to hell that way, one could never return.

However, creating the conditions for drowning was difficult, so suffocation, which also relied on the lack of oxygen to induce a near-death state, was the only choice.

That was why Lu Li had prepared a hemp rope.

He couldn’t be tricky like Lady Merlin, using suggestive hypnosis on himself, so he had to truly experience near-death.

Lu Li tied the hemp rope hanging in front of him into a loop.

The noose’s height above his neck line was a few centimeters—enough to make Lu Li mechanically suffocate without breaking his neck due to his own weight.

“Call out to me 10 to 20 seconds after my soul has left, but don’t change my circumstances,” he said.

[You’re not actually dead.

In fact, you’re still alive.

It’s just a trick to fool the rules over there.

So I usually call it feigned death…

or deep sleep.

Yes, deep sleep.

If someone touches your body or if anything happens, your still-warm “corpse” will still feel it and summon back the distant soul]

“At the one-minute mark, untie the rope and let me down,” he instructed.

“Is there enough time…?”

[“Hell’s time is not the same as ours.

The scorching time there moves slower, like in a dream…” “What’s the ‘ratio’?” “Child, it’s irregular.

Sometimes it’s just a little slower, and sometimes it feels as long as a season…”]

“The flow of time is different there; a minute could be several minutes or even dozens of minutes.

I have Richard’s belongings, they can make me appear near him.” Lu Li placed Richard’s patched top hat on his lap, holding it with one hand to ensure it wouldn’t fall off: “The longer the time, the greater the danger.

Prolonged suffocation can damage the brain.”

Anna nodded several times, then continued to ask, “How will you come back after you find Richard?”

[Like realizing you are in a dream when you’re awake, force your eyes open, telling yourself it’s time to wake up.

Remember, many young psychics didn’t die at the hands of the demons of hell but got lost and could never come back…

You must avoid this from happening; it’s best to have someone you can trust, someone meticulous, who can wake you.]

“I’ll try to wake myself; if I can’t wake up, it’ll be your turn to shout.”

“Hmm.”

Lu Li stopped talking, straightened his body in the wooden chair, and stretched his head into the noose, his jaw resting against the rough hemp rope.

[The devils and demons spoken of in legends, various confirmed low-level demons, and the dead who suffer in hell longing to return to the human world—a living soul that enters their domain is an indescribable temptation for them.

Any whispering presence that detects your breath will want your soul.]

Lu Li’s once straight back returned to a slight arc as he sat back down on the wooden chair—the price being his jaw weirdly tilted upward in the rope while his face turned red at a visible pace, and bloodshot eyes bulged.

Watching this scene, a layer of mist slowly formed in Anna’s eyes.

She thought that knowing what she was about to see and her increasingly indifferent nature would be enough to stay calm, but she had underestimated Lu Li’s importance in her heart.

She found it hard to watch Lu Li’s agonizing expressions.

Thump—thump—thump—

Only Lu Li could hear the enormous heartbeat, oddly resounding in his head.

The rapid onset of suffocation made his thoughts grow increasingly obscure, like rusted gears stiffly turning half a rotation before coming to a complete halt.

Lu Li didn’t experience the agony Anna had imagined—the mechanical suffocation didn’t make one feel desperate like drowning with lungs filling up with liquid.

And when the suffocation reached a certain threshold, the pain gradually faded away, and the thought that he no longer needed to breathe crept into Lu Li’s soon-to-be-stalled brain.

In the last moment, a blurry image and a distorted voice surfaced in Lu Li’s mind.

[Interestingly, there you will meet some old acquaintances…

Those who once related to you but have died, like enemies, they will know of your arrival the moment you reach hell.]

Lu Li’s breath was no longer present in his nostrils; he sat in the wooden chair, his head hanging in the rope, as quiet as if he had fallen asleep.

Meanwhile, Anna began to silently keep time at his side.

Lu Li was oblivious to everything in the outside world.

In the obscurity, the ground below became as soft as putty, allowing his body to sink and fall faster and faster.

His body, or rather, his soul, began to plummet downward—

In a daze, a voice came from above.

“If you can’t come back…

I will find you in hell and bring you back.”