Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 649 - 649 One hundred sixty-eight

649: One hundred sixty-eight.

Changing human nature 649: One hundred sixty-eight.

Changing human nature “It’s in the house!”

The woman pointed behind her and screamed.

Lu Li looked toward the silent house behind her and entered the backyard, standing in front of the door.

“It’s too quiet…

Is it over?” Anna leaned forward to listen at the door, muttering to herself in confusion.

She turned her head, exchanged a glance with Lu Li, and then pushed open the door to enter the cabin, with Lu Li following behind her.

Creak—Groan—

The door behind them slowly closed, its grating sound like a drawn-out scream, announcing the arrival of outsiders to the presence inside the house.

At the moment the door shut, a cold, malicious intent climbed over the bodies of Lu Li and Anna.

Anna cocked her head in confusion, her Inner World’s aura, more obscure than the cold malice, emanated and easily dispelled the malintent.

“People…

less…”

At the edge of the dim, a severely burned face emerged, uttering a hoarse whisper of regret.

It suddenly realized its body was controlled by an obscure force and looked at Lu Li and Anna, who had acted against it, bewildered, “Why…?”

“Where are the people in the room?” Lu Li sniffed lightly, a faint scent of blood wafting down from the second floor of the room.

“Trap…

and people…

cooperation…” the strange entity responded slowly.

Lu Li nodded slightly and unfastened his gun holster.

Half a minute later, Anna gathered up the corpse, and Lu Li turned to leave, searching for the lady who had lured them here.

…

“They’ve come for me!”

The broom clattered to the ground; Emma looked out through the shop window, surprised and delighted to see her companion waving at her.

“Are you sure your companion is like us?”

York, behind the counter, clutched the knife hidden under a cookbook, swallowing his nervous saliva, “They give me the feeling of strangeness…”

The two figures outside were completely shrouded in gray robes, their faces concealed behind broad hoods, mysterious and eerie.

“I am certain they are like us.” Yet Emma revealed a zeal and confidence that others had never seen, bordering on fanatical, “We’ve hunted several strangeness together, just not as effortlessly as Mr.

Luli.”

“Maybe it’s a way to disguise themselves.” Gemini Reed suggested, scrutinizing Emma and the two hooded silhouettes outside, “But I’m curious…

how did they know you were here?”

“It’s a mark.” Emma moved toward the door, pulling a handful of brown powder from her apron pocket, “We sprinkle it where we pass, so if someone goes missing the others will come to rescue them.”

Hesitantly, Gemini did not stop Emma’s actions; truth be told, the thin glass and walls couldn’t stop much.

Emma undid the bolt and opened the door to let her companions in.

As the wind chime sang, the noises of the long street also became clear, until the wooden door closed again.

After the chime faded, Gemini Reed and the others observed the two almost cult-like figures.

The faint breathing sounds coming from behind the robes and the slightly bulging hoods offered some reassurance.

Emma first introduced her companions to the situation regarding Lu Li and others, then extended an invitation to Red and the rest to join them at the church.

Gemini Reed declined the invitation.

This was Lu Li’s team, and before Lu Li returned, he did not intend to leave, despite the others being more numerous.

“I must go back…” Emma said regretfully.

“Of course, we won’t restrict anyone who wants to leave; I believe Lu Li wouldn’t either.” Gemini Reed glanced over the two silent figures in robes.

Even though Emma’s two always-silent companions made the atmosphere a bit oppressive, the interaction was still amiable.

Emma left the address of the church, suggesting that if Lu Li was interested when he returned, he could find them at the church, and after bidding them farewell, she left the clothing store with her companions.

…

The woman who had lured them into the trap was nowhere to be found in the yard.

“She disappeared?”

Anna followed Mr.

Luli out, and the corpses had already been fed to the withered claws that were omnipresent in the city.

Perhaps the woman’s collaboration with the bizarre was not sincere; she just needed to deceive anyone willing to believe her to go inside, whether it was a strange creature or some fool who believed her.

“Let’s go.”

She probably had already hidden herself away.

Mr.

Luli had no intention of wasting time searching for the woman who had deceived them and set off to investigate Xiusi University.

Unfortunately, all four survivors who had stayed at Xiusi University had disappeared.

Perhaps they were hiding or had escaped by passing a test, but more likely, they were killed by the strange creatures.

After Mr.

Luli returned to the clothing store and told Gemini Reed and the others the bad news, they also had some news to share with Mr.

Luli, though it was uncertain whether it was bad.

“These are the addresses of that group of survivors.”

After recounting Emma and her companions’ story, Gemini Reed handed the note to Mr.

Luli.

[Shupskin District No.

8, Echo Church]

“It’s about a fifteen-minute walk from here, faster by carriage,” Gemini Reed added.

“What do you think of them?” Mr.

Luli had no contact with them and could not judge.

Gemini Reed said, “Hmm…

they are mysterious, almost cult-like, but they act with openness and confidence.”

At least Gemini Reed would not casually reveal his safe-house to another group of survivors like they did.

“Cultists…”

That word made Mr.

Luli think of the group of survivors at the investigator’s base.

“I’ll take a look,” Mr.

Luli said as he pocketed the note.

“After clearing the surrounding houses.”

“Isn’t that unnecessary?

If you want to bring survivors back, the clothing store can accommodate a lot of people.” York thought it was only safe enough when everyone was bunched together.

“It’s not about that.”

Mr.

Luli told them about the woman they encountered on their way to Xiusi University who had collaborated with the strange creatures.

Whether by force or choice, the role of “traitor” indeed existed.

If a “traitor” were brought in, all of Mr.

Luli’s efforts would have been in vain.

“I agree,” said Gemini Reed.

Mr.

Luli could distinguish humans from strange creatures but not human nature: “What do you want to do?”

“Clear a few nearby houses and leave a mark on the doors.

I will have the survivors look for doors with marks near the crow sign at the hotel, hide inside after removing the marks.”

“Don’t make contact with them; you are responsible for observation.

If you find any of the survivors behaving abnormally, note it down.”

This way, any “traitors” could be prevented from being led to the clothing store while also isolating any other newly found survivors.

“That settles it.”

However, they couldn’t help with clearing the houses; they could only watch from the store window as Mr.

Luli and Anna, like the Grim Reaper, knocked on one door after another, entered the houses once the doors opened, and soon came out to mark the wooden doors before moving to the next one—

Mr.

Luli cleared a total of six houses, all in a row near the hotel, easily visible from behind the clothing store’s window.

When they returned, Anna was dragging a sack, but instead of bodies, it contained food and water found in the houses.

If the paradise didn’t end as soon as anticipated, these resources would be enough to sustain them for a while.