Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 585 - 585 104

585: 104.

Old Friends from Former Days 585: 104.

Old Friends from Former Days Frost spread around the footprint as if it were alive.

The surging Wind of Death blew, carrying the scent of dissolving everything, yet it failed to move the hair of the Iceheart Demon.

It looked down at its feet, where there was an extinguished hoof print.

Rustle, rustle—

Whispers emanated from beside it.

Not far from it, a figure in a white dress eerily stood on the scorched ground.

The Iceheart Demon furrowed its brows.

It had heard of such foolish Hell Creatures: they only stood still, waiting for food to come to them.

Normally, it wouldn’t mind “getting to know” them, but now it had more important matters to attend to.

The Iceheart Demon looked toward the direction the hoof print extended, gradually tilting its head, its cold whisper echoing around.

“Human, where do you think you’re going?”

…

“How much longer!”

“Not even halfway.”

The Skeleton Horse’s hooves were no longer just climbing the seemingly endless slope.

They must have been nearing the crater of the Black Calamity Volcano.

Lu Li and the Skeleton Horse had no intention of passing right through the volcano’s crater, so the path would veer slightly, passing by the side.

The intense heat at the summit tormented the three figures on the horse’s back, even the Skeleton Horse’s protection couldn’t fully block it.

Ruth’s complexion grew pale as she realized her soul was depleting several times faster than below.

Compared to the slow dissipation of their souls, something even more dreadful followed them.

Ruth kept looking back, despite the Wind of Death blocking her vision, “Will we make it!”

“Hopefully we can.”

Lu Li’s calm voice hadn’t changed.

Aside from Ruth, no one knew the purpose behind Lu Li crossing the volcano, which might make the Devil’s Son following them underestimate and not press too closely.

The Skeleton Horse galloped along the side of Black Calamity Volcano for several minutes, the terrain shifting from incline to decline, and they began their descent.

The full-speed Skeleton Horse, like fiery lightning, wove through the murky mists, avoiding dangers along the way.

As they left the summit, the Wind of Death enveloping the volcano gradually faded.

“Lu Li…”

At some moment, a voice laden with emotion abruptly resonated clearly in Lu Li’s mind.

Sitting on the Skeleton Horse, Lu Li looked in the direction the horse had circled past, where a figure in a white dress stood upright, seemingly like the other figures they had encountered along the way.

“Hold on…”

Just as they were about to leave that figure behind, Lu Li looked down and called to the Skeleton Horse.

Plowing a long groove in the ground, the Skeleton Horse stopped.

Lu Li dismounted, gazing at the white-dressed figure approaching them.

“What are you going to do, wait…” Ruth emerged from behind on the horse, astonished, “Do you know her…?”

“Yes.”

The white-dressed figure was now close enough, thirty meters away, for Lu Li to recognize her face.

Some memories unearthed from his mind.

To some extent, she had left a deeper impression on Lu Li than Ruth had.

Mishelia, died from rumors and slanders.

“Even you have died…”

No longer just in his mind, a gentle voice emitted from Mishelia.

Lu Li watched Mishelia, now a Hell Creature, and replied, “I am not dead.”

“Not… dead…” Mishelia lowered her head, seemingly trying to comprehend the meaning of these words.

She had walked up to ten meters from Lu Li.

Ruth tensely rested her hand on her gun holster, guarding against any unexpected occurrences.

“I am a Psychic, here to settle some matters in hell.”

Lu Li frowned in response.

Mishelia’s condition seemed off—it could be described as dull or perhaps even—

“Stay…”

A faint murmur from beneath the skull emanated as Mishelia suddenly lifted her head and extended her hands toward Lu Li, her eyes brimming with haunting blood that formed two streams of bloody tears.

At the same time as Lu Li realized something was wrong, the black scorched earth suddenly bulged, and a hideous behemoth burst from the ground.

Flying rocks and dirt obscured the view.

The Skeleton Horse suddenly turned its head and bit Lu Li’s collar, flinging him onto its back and darting away like an arrow.

Crack!

A crisp, clear sound of a snap accompanied by the piercing wind closely followed the tailbone of the Skeleton Horse.

Several ethereal palms appeared, securing the still unsteady Lu Li firmly on the horse’s back.

Grabbing the Skeleton Horse’s rib, Lu Li looked back to see a large, ugly creature resembling an anglerfish with small, short limbs crawling behind them.

Its mouth was completely split open, and that tongue transformed into the likeness of Mishelia, or rather, it was Mishelia.

Mishelia, like the Shell Princess from a fairy tale, stretched out her hands toward Lu Li, who was getting further and further away, her blood-streaked charming face full of tenderness and reluctance.

“Stay forever…”

The galloping Skeleton Horse quickly left Mishelia behind, gradually disappearing into the Wind of Death.

“Did we shake her off?” Ruth shouted.

“I can’t feel her anymore,” Lu Li answered.

“Why didn’t you say she was your enemy!”

With a long sigh, Ruth turned around and glared angrily.

If it hadn’t been for the Skeleton Horse’s quick reactions, they would have been killed by that Hell Creature already.

Yet Lu Li remained so calm it was as if nothing had happened: “She is not an enemy.”

Considering Mishelia’s words, Ruth’s gaze became strange and scornful: “A lover you abandoned?!”

“Not that either.”

Having nothing to hide, Lu Li shared Mishelia’s story with Ruth.

“I thought you treated her the way you did me, and so a resentful her sought revenge,” Ruth said, enlightened.

She did not seem to care about Mishelia’s tragic fate; rather, she was focused on whether Mishelia had been killed by Lu Li.

“Do you realize now who is more reliable?” Ruth’s snort came through Whitely, “The person you helped wants to kill you, the person you killed wants to help you.”

Lu Li did not respond.

He was merely indifferent by disposition, with everything suppressed by absolute rationality, not devoid of emotions.

Encountering Mishelia inevitably stirred something in Lu Li.

But only inwardly.

“That’s why I never wanted to become a demon…”

Ruth’s murmur suddenly came, devoid of her usual arrogance.

“If such an aura takes over my mind, am I still myself…”

Ruth was not entirely indifferent, but, like Lu Li, she did not show it.

“You are still you.”

Ruth looked up in shock, turning to face the suddenly responsive silhouette of Lu Li.

“Every child imagines they’ll grow up to be a brave warrior, a brilliant inventor, a benevolent person, but most children eventually discard these unrealistic fantasies as they grow up.”

It was the first time Lu Li spoke so much to Ruth.

“It doesn’t mean they are no longer themselves.”

“Are you saying… this is a kind of growth?”

“I’d say it’s a change,” Lu Li looked ahead, where a dark, infinite thread stretched across the horizon.

“No one is forever unchanged, everything eventually passes.”

This was also another reason why Lu Li gave Anna her freedom.

She should have her own thoughts.

She should choose how to change on her own.

Whether for better or for worse.