Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 742 - 742 261

742: 261.

The masks of emptiness and reality shimmer with an eerie glow 742: 261.

The masks of emptiness and reality shimmer with an eerie glow Regardless, as evening approached, Lu Li left Luo Lei Castle and headed to Tawei Town.

Emin insisted on following.

This stubborn girl believed that “dealing with the bizarre cultist” was the only way for her to transition from an apprentice to a true Exorcist.

Before the Mist of Strangeness caught up, they arrived at Tawei Town.

The local townspeople were completely unaware of the bizarre cultist incident, going about their lives as usual.

The carriage stopped on the outskirts of the town.

Lu Li, with an illuminated oil lamp, walked alongside Emin into the gathering place of the bizarre cultists.

Creak—

The half-closed wooden door was pushed open, and the iron chain on the door handle clattered down.

Dust scattered throughout the cabin, revealing chaotic marks on the floor under the oil lamp’s glow.

Dragging marks, strange footprints, broken hemp ropes.

This place resembled what tavern-goers described as a shack imprisoning innocent victims.

However, the cabin was now empty.

There were no clues about Anna in the cabin.

Holding the oil lamp, they walked out, and the Mist of Strangeness spreading from the West Coast had already reached outside Tawei Town.

As darkness enveloped the outside world, Lu Li and Emin entered the last wooden cabin.

The wooden door slowly closed behind them, offering no place to hide in the exposed cabin, nor was there any sign of Anna’s message.

Perhaps they should ask around the town.

At that moment, a voice filled with indifference yet anxiousness suddenly reached Lu Li’s ears, seemingly coming from outside the door.

“Lu Li?

Is that you inside?”

It was Anna’s voice.

As ripples spread across a quiet pool, Lu Li raised his gaze towards the door.

Anna’s exclamation immediately followed: “It really is you…

Don’t speak.

Pretend nothing happened.

There’s a specter hiding near you—”

Lu Li’s eyes moved slightly, and in his peripheral vision, Emin was searching through the bed and wardrobe.

She seemed oblivious to the voice that reached Lu Li’s ears.

“You two are too close.

I don’t have time to act…

Find a way to get away from it.” Anna said anxiously.

Lu Li scanned his surroundings.

The cabin wasn’t big enough to distance himself adequately from Emin.

Emin seemed to be constantly watching Lu Li, raising her head to ask him, “Did you find anything?”

“There’s nothing here.

Let’s check the town.” Lu Li said.

“But…

okay.”

Emin swallowed her words, nodding in agreement.

Lu Li approached the door, placing his hand on the handle, only to suddenly pause.

“Why did you stop?” Anna’s voice urged Lu Li to quickly move away from Emin.

“Where did we meet for the first time?” Lu Li asked.

“My mother’s gallery…

Don’t worry, it’s really me.”

“…On the Ashuli, what’s wrong?”

The voice in his ear and Emin answered simultaneously.

“Nothing.” Lu Li shook his head lightly, turning the handle to open a small gap.

Suddenly, a hand reached out from the side, pressing down on the back of Lu Li’s hand.

Bam.

The just-opened wooden door closed again.

“Lu Li…

Mr.

Lu, something’s not right with you.” Emin’s light brown eyes seriously examined Lu Li, with undisguised concern: “Did you hear something?

Be careful…

It might be a trap in the fog.”

“It’s discovered me!

Get out, immediately!”

Anna yelled urgently in his ear.

The sullen Lu Li made Emin anxious.

At that moment, she seemed to discover something and pointed to the windowsill: “What’s that!”

A white letter lay on the windowsill.

With Anna’s urging in his ear and Emin’s anxiety in his view, Lu Li responded by placing his hand on the gun holster and drawing the Spirit-Calling Gun.

An eerie sensation once again flooded Lu Li’s senses, or in other words, Lu Li intruded into their world.

Curious, covetous, and greedy eyes all turned their gaze to him.

But aside from the presence within the crevices of the Inner World, both inside and outside the cabin were empty.

“You monster!

Get out of my—” Emin suddenly clutched her head in pain, letting out a hysterical scream.

Lu Li released the Spirit-Calling Gun and turned to look.

“—cabin!”

Emin was pale, with lingering fear in her expression, her eyes red as she pleaded with Lu Li: “I just felt a terrifying malice targeting you!

Please trust me, whatever you do, don’t go out.”

“I hid myself, the Spirit-Calling Gun couldn’t detect me…

Do you not even trust me?” The voice in his ear continued to whisper.

The words were followed by a sudden loud noise from outside the cabin.

The floor trembled, and choking dust was stirred up inside the cabin.

The mist outside was being stirred, debris crackling down on the cabin, and window above.

“Was it that monster!” Emin grabbed Lu Li, retreating from the door.

The flickering oil lamp made the shadows within the cabin tremble.

Gradually, calm returned outside the window, and the aftermath dissipated.

The voice in Lu Li’s ear also ceased to echo.

Lu Li and Emin remained quiet until the choking dust in the cabin settled.

Then, in a low voice, Emin inquired about what had happened earlier.

“A curse that haunts me.”

Lu Li could almost confirm that the voice previously heard in his ear was the whispering of “the door”: only audible to him, luring him to open the wooden door.

If the door opened, it would “see” Lu Li, advancing the curse to its third stage.

Picking up the envelope by the window, it was signed by Anna: she mentioned the bizarre cultists were alarmed by the rescue in Luosha Town and were preparing to leave here timidly, heading towards the church in the east.

Anna’s letter mentioned that she found Aunt Mary and unexpectedly discovered the entities worshipped by these bizarre cultists: the Silent Moments.

They were believers in the third calamity.

The letter concluded by providing the address of the Church of the Silent Moment, where Anna would await Lu Li: [Central Barren Lands.

Edge of Gauss Basin in Spinning City, Church of the Silent Moment]

Gauss Basin, a familiar place name.

It had appeared in the test questions of the academy in Prada’s Paradise.

A giant anomaly named Eye Demon Worm, 60 miles in diameter, drifted above it.

However, Lu Li hadn’t seen any news about it in the papers.

Perhaps it was something that happened a long time ago or something yet to occur.

They left the cabin, approaching the direction of the loud noise.

There, they found a cabin had been destroyed, leaving only ruins.

“Good thing we weren’t hiding here at the time.” Emin felt relieved about this.

Entering Tawei Town, the local townspeople were fearful and uneasy due to the loud noise on the outskirts.

Once reassured of safety, they breathed a sigh of relief, imploring Lu Li to stay, much like in the previous towns.

But he only made a brief overnight stay in Tawei Town.

In the room on the second floor of the inn, across from him, Emin lay under the covers and fell asleep.

Lu Li sat on the single bed, quietly pondering the events of the day.

The dangerous night, the disappearing Anna, Emin’s screams, the visit of “the door,” the destroyed cabin…

The pattern pieced together by these clues gave Lu Li a certain thought.

“Anna.” Lu Li whispered softly.

Not yet asleep, Emin opened her sleepy eyes: “Mr.

Lu Li, did you say something?”

Lu Li gazed over calmly: “Are you Anna?”

Emin showed a trace of confusion, not understanding why Lu Li asked this.

“Of course not…

Don’t worry, I’ll help you.

Good night.” Thinking Lu Li was concerned about Anna, she softly reassured him and went back to sleep.

Lu Li didn’t completely trust Emin, but he trusted Anna.

Because Anna wouldn’t deceive him.