Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 606 - 606 125

606: 125.

Lighthouse 606: 125.

Lighthouse “`

Having to take Anna as far from the Northern Swamp as possible, Lu Li had no choice but to enter the territory of the Mother of the Marsh.

However, even as the banyan trees of the Falling Leaves Mountain Range came into view at the end of Marsh Road, the Mother of the Marsh did not appear; only an occasional sensation of being watched emanated from the gloomy jungle below.

It was only when they were about to leave Marsh Road that the Mother of the Marsh initiated contact.

A Shadow Figure stood in an open space within the jungle, looking up at Lu Li and Anna as they flew past.

To the Shadow Figures, who are timid and averse to light, this was already a significant gesture.

After asking Lu Li, they descended and set foot once again in the Shadow Swamp.

But the danger had already receded from them.

“I…

wish you…

to help…”

The Shadow Figure’s mouth split open, and its choppy whisper reached them.

Knowing it was the Mother of the Marsh speaking to them, Anna said proactively, “If it’s against the entity in the Northern Swamp, we cannot do it.”

“Why…”

The whisper of the Mother of the Marsh carried a tone of incomprehension.

“You should be aware of our strength; if you cannot withstand it, neither can we.” Anna never considered herself and Lu Li to be very powerful.

In the incident at the Shadow Swamp, Anna had already become a vengeful spirit.

But even she could not approach the Old Mother, whose body, split in half, was sealed under a giant banyan tree.

“I thought…

we could…”

“Overcoming the strong by the weak is a matter of coincidence,” Lu Li said.

He and Anna shared the same thought—faced with an anomaly on the level of an Evil God, humans are no different from ants.

As his words fell, Lu Li asked, “What is the awakened entity in the Northern Swamp?”

After a brief silence, the Mother of the Marsh answered Lu Li’s question: “A thumb…”

“Be more specific,” Lu Li frowned.

A thumb could be considered an oddity in itself, or it could be seen as a part of an oddity.

The latter is far more alarming than the former.

“It is a relic…

of an entity…

the consciousness of the entity awakens…

so does the relic…”

“I have a suggestion,” Lu Li suddenly said, gazing at the Shadow Figure as if looking through it to the Mother of the Marsh behind: “Find new territory, forsake this place.”

Lu Li was clear on the importance of territory to an Evil God, as losing their territory would cause them to wither away from the loss of their source of power.

However… leaving might allow for the chance to seize new lands, while staying would mean total annihilation.

A thumb, a mere fragment of a dead entity’s remains, capable of invading the territory of the Mother of the Marsh might, in the eyes of that entity, be akin to an ant.

“I will consider…

your suggestion…”

As their conversation ended and before the Mother of the Marsh’s consciousness departed, Lu Li posed another question regarding the time of the Shadow Swamp’s invasion.

The Mother of the Marsh’s reply was ten days; within that time, her domain would be completely occupied, resistance notwithstanding.

The sense of powerlessness was the reason the Mother of the Marsh sought Lu Li’s assistance.

Ten days was enough for Lu Li to return and take Aidanvoya from Shadow Town.

However, as a precaution, he informed the Mother of the Marsh about Aidanvoya’s situation, hoping she might provide some care.

Before they left, the whisper of the Mother of the Marsh floated to them on the wind.

“Will you head… to the Main Affinity Continent…”

Lu Li paused briefly, recalling something, and nodded in response, “I will search for the whereabouts of Duke Adela’s descendent.”

Duke Adela, the father of the Mother of the Marsh when she was among humans.

No more whispers came from the Mother of the Marsh, and Anna, holding Lu Li, flew towards the sky.

As they were heading into the distance, she looked back towards that clearing.

“`

A dark human figure still stood vaguely in place.

…

Leaf Fall Town.

This small town was feeling its last warmth—many vehicles and crowds coming through Marsh Road had stopped here to rest and regroup.

Lu Li had no need to stay, passing by Leaf Fall Town, he flew along the road and the Falling Leaves Mountain Range towards the Seaside Town by the coastline.

It wasn’t on the route through Arlen Royal City, he came here because there was something Lu Li wanted to confirm.

During the final test, having resisted the temptation of the “Body of the Ancient One,” Lu Li returned with a constellation-like consciousness to the seaside cabin and fell into a deep sleep.

The seaside cabin he saw there was no different from the one in Seaside Town.

He had to know whether the scene was a projection of his subconscious or if it lay at the blurred boundary between illusion and reality.

As time passed, the whining of the wind through the treetops was replaced by the sound of waves, after crossing the Falling Leaves Mountain Range, the flat and open coastline and the town came into view.

Just like Watch Town’s fate, this Seaside Town had been abandoned due to its geographical location and scant population size.

There wasn’t a soul on the streets, though perhaps some residents who didn’t want to leave had stayed behind.

Anna had no intention of finding out how many people were left in the town, she escorted Lu Li directly to the seaside cabin.

Footprints that had once been there had long been smoothed out by the rising tides, leaving only the wooden house itself and a wooden boat upside-down on the nearby beach, consistent with the scene in his memory.

With Anna’s support, Lu Li stepped onto the porch, pushing open the only closed wooden door.

The thick stench of decay from the wooden body hit them as a draft of air surged, driven out of the house by Anna.

Lu Li stood outside the door, his gaze sweeping through the narrow room.

The messy bedding, the half-open cabinet door, the profound abyssal marks on the floor that once existed had disappeared at some point, and there was an old oil lamp placed on the dining table by the window.

It should not have been there.

When reality left, there was only moldy, rotting food on the plates on the dining table.

It should have been there.

When he fell asleep during the test, a figure in a black robe stepped into the cabin and placed it on the dining table.

The oil lamp itself was stripped out of the dream-like unreality.

Anna, who was assisted by Lu Li and had not noticed anything unusual about the oil lamp that Lu Li was staring at, came close to see him reach out and pick up the oil lamp.

The previously extinguished wick of the oil lamp flickered with a faint glow as Lu Li touched it.

It was not flame, yet it resembled flame.

Anna suddenly felt a repulsion coming from the oil lamp.

It was not some ethereal force, but an emotion from within.

Just like the way people subconsciously keep distant from things they dislike and detest.

She conveyed her feeling to Lu Li, and with a thought from Lu Li, the faint glow in the oil lamp gradually faded, along with the feeling that made Anna want to stay away.

“Is this what the black-robed existence left for you?” Anna, who already knew about the testing process, asked.

Lu Li nodded gently as if he knew he would come here to retrieve what it had left behind, “But the price is burning humanity.”

Two lines of inscription, integral with the oil lamp, were carved on its base.

[The brilliance of humanity gathers in the wick]

[It shall stay where it belongs]

The oil lamp’s glow could be dim or bright at Lu Li’s will, and manipulated.

A practical tool, it could effectively dispel the coveting of petty thieves, the only drawback beings the cost of burning away humanity.

The oil lamp was the only thing left by the robed figure, and after obtaining it, Lu Li and Anna left Seaside Town to head for the penultimate stop on their journey.

Tafeng City.