Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 678 - 678 197

678: 197.

Dust to dust, earth to earth 678: 197.

Dust to dust, earth to earth Perhaps in some house, some basement, some cellar, there were still citizens of Valrend for various reasons who had not left—such as not wanting to leave their hometown to wait for the dandelions to disperse, or being completely unaware of what was happening above ground.

But as night fell, everyone hid in silence with the dead city.

After the power plant workers evacuated, electricity was no longer supplied, and streetlights no longer lit up as usual.

Lu Li carried an oil lamp, walking with Anna on the empty, dark streets.

The drifting blood dandelions were kept out of the reach of the oil lamp’s light.

Turning a corner strewn with newspapers and clothes, the Flarende Sanatorium loomed ahead.

Of course, it was now called the Gwasman Asylum.

Two days had passed, and Sara and Adam should have been far enough from Valrend by now.

Stepping into the asylum’s estate, they crossed through the garden’s withered shrubs and barren trees, and Lu Li found a gravestone next to a dead shrub at the back of the asylum.

The oil lamp drew closer, but the engravings were blurred.

Knowing the hidden details, Lu Li spotted a familiar name on the gravestone.

[Sara & Adam’s Burial Site]

Sara had indeed done it.

Lu Li took a few steps back, the names on the gravestone blurred once more, hiding in the dim light: “Let’s begin.”

Invisible hands like shovels scooped up the dirt, the soil gradually lowering layer by layer until two skeletons nestled together emerged in the dirt.

It was uncertain whether the Spirit-Calling Gun could resolve them.

Lu Li pulled out the gun, wanting to give redemption a try.

“What… are you doing…”

A chilling whisper that should not be here suddenly emerged from the darkness, beyond where the oil lamp’s light could reach, something slowly materialized.

Lu Li calmly watched the silhouette emerge from the edge of the darkness, asking, “How to destroy your bones.”

“Pull the trigger,” Adam answered in surprise from the other half of his beautiful face.

“Why must… you do this… to me…” Sara didn’t even try to stop Lu Li’s actions, she said distractedly, as if through her mountain-like nose bridge, she could see her lover on the other side.

A hand gently caressed her face.

“We… need to stop…”

Bang!

A thunderous explosion tore through the dense darkness, echoing through the night sky.

Veins crept across Sara’s face, spoiling her beauty, she let out a painful shriek, Adam’s palm stiffened, feeling the pain of his lover on the other side.

“Nothing… can take you away from me… not even… death!”

A sinister and obscure aura burst forth from the grievously wounded Sara, and Adam couldn’t stop her.

Anna turned back to look at Lu Li reloading his gun, stepping in front of him, the unprotected power of the Inner World around her body.

The starkly different auras clashed, without contention, from the start Anna was overwhelmed by Sara’s sinister invasion, losing control of her power.

The unfazed Sara drew closer to Lu Li, her palm reaching out for Lu Li’s head, then suddenly stopped.

A pitch-black, solid twisted shadow extended from under Anna’s feet into Sara and Adam’s bodies.

Lu Li calmly reloaded his gun, ignoring the clicking counter and the palm close at hand, he closed the gun chamber and once again pulled the trigger toward the skeletons.

Bang!

At that moment, the citizens still at home, unwilling to leave, came to their windows, curiously looking towards the dark sky.

Another roll of thunder… was it going to rain?

Click—

Cracks started appearing between the two skeletons nestled together in the soil.

Sara let out one final scream, fell backward, and an ancient parchment fell from Adam’s open clothes.

Their breaths vanished quickly like those of people on their deathbeds, yet Sara stared blankly at the parchment lying beside her.

“When…

did this happen…?” She didn’t know Adam had found this letter…

their first letter.

“Always.”

Feeling Adam lying beside her, Sara seemed to let go of something and closed her eyes in relief.

“Let us sleep together…”

Crack crack—

The two skeletons, covered in countless cracks, shattered completely.

The dark clouds that had lingered over Waynefort County for a century finally dissipated.

But it wasn’t over yet…

Anna was surrounded by an icy aura, forming invisible vortices of dark currents swirling and clashing around her.

Anna had performed her ritual on Sara, which caused more than two centuries of Sara’s memories to surge like a tide into her mind.

She looked at Sara and Adam’s dissolving bodies, filled with pain and reluctance, but when she turned to Lu Li, resentment replaced it.

“Don’t let her memories influence your consciousness.”

Unable to feel the humanity that salvaged Sara and Adam, Lu Li put away the Spirit-Calling Gun and approached Anna, “Imagine it like a book, a story, where you are the Observer, not a character within the story.”

Lu Li didn’t know exactly what Anna was experiencing but could imagine.

He walked into the swirling aura around Anna.

The chilly, obscure aura of the Inner World pulled at him from all sides, compressing him, as if trying to turn Lu Li into a distorted lump of flesh.

But that pain soon diminished to a tolerable level of discomfort for Lu Li.

Anna looked up at Lu Li, her resentment fading, replaced by a peculiar color, such as…

coveting.

Complex emotions flickered in her eyes until a flash of greed passed, and Anna lunged toward Lu Li.

Lu Li raised his hand to catch Anna, who fell lightly, weightless.

“Let’s go back to the room…

before I faint,” Anna said weakly into Lu Li’s ear.

Holding Anna, Lu Li walked to a house across from the Asylum, placed Anna on the bed upstairs, lit the fireplace, and drove away the chill and malice of the night.

The invisible protection gradually faded, but the flames in the fireplace brought it up again.

Lu Li took out a torch to clear any potential Dandelions in the house, then blocked the door cracks and sat down beside Anna.

All night, Anna’s form on the bed flickered between solid and ethereal until it gradually stabilized as dawn approached.

During that time, Lu Li left the house to ignite the “lighthouse,” dispelled the surrounding Blood Dandelions, and reburied Sara and Adam’s ashes, erecting a new tombstone.

By morning, Anna finally slowly woke up, locking eyes with Lu Li, showing Sara’s resentment in her gaze.

Lu Li calmly met “Sara’s” gaze, “The real Sara has already departed with Adam, you are just a memory.

Now, leave Anna.”

The chaotic memories became orderly under his words, resentment receded like a tide, and her eyes returned to normal.

“I want to visit the cemetery to see them,” Anna said.

In the blood-mist shrouded morning, Lu Li and Anna arrived at the dead dwarf trees behind the Asylum.

Anna saw the newly erected tombstone, clearly inscribed with “The Burial Place of Sara and Adam.”

This time, they no longer needed to borrow someone else’s tombstone for their burial.

“Let’s go.”

Anna gazed long, withdrew her eyes, and showed Lu Li a gentle, beautiful smile.