Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 763 - 763 282

763: 282.

He is willing to personally end everything.

763: 282.

He is willing to personally end everything.

The strange villagers are similarly affected by the Lightless Night.

In the dim evening, lights appear behind the windows of the houses, and the bonfire at the center of the village is being lit.

Rustle…

A stack of paper is slipped under the door, Lu Li walks over to pick it up and unfold it.

Strange elongated writing is on it, just like the villagers’ necks.

[Hello outsider…

My name is Jones Tris.

It’s been a long time since anyone from outside has come here.

I long for the outside.

The village chief says outsiders are all very timid and tells us not to interact with you, but I’m very curious…

I wonder if I could talk to you?]

A slender neck silhouette faintly appears behind the curtains.

Lu Li places the paper on the table, gets up, and unbolts the door, pulling it open.

A shy head pokes inside the door, pulling the girl’s body into the house.

Gently closing the door, the girl’s head hangs down, parallel to Lu Li: “Hello, outsider.”

“Hello.”

The girl’s neck is more slender and long than the other villagers, with a decorative bow at the base, making her head and body seem like two unrelated entities.

The head, filled with curiosity and bashfulness, studies Lu Li, especially his neck: “Previously, many outsiders had short necks.

I’ve heard there are many like you outside who are sick…

Is that true?”

“We’ve always been like this, without illness,” Lu Li responds.

Lu Li suspects the local villagers have a distorted perception.

Due to a lack of information, they’re unable to notice their own peculiarity.

The unusual are those who are different from the majority and are few.

In a village where everyone is unusual, a normal person is the oddity.

As for the source of their transformation…

it may be related to the Mud Fruit.

The villagers were originally normal, but after consuming the Mud Fruit or coming into contact with other oddities, their necks grew longer and longer.

This explains why everything in the village seems no different from other villages.

“If you are not sick, then it’s us who are ill?” The girl’s face turns pale as she murmurs.

If it were other travelers, they might gently suggest or kindly conceal the truth, but Lu Li would only tell her directly: “Yes.”

“So it’s true after all…”

The girl, who had long speculated, looks lost.

She had felt something was odd a long time ago.

Why do lower doors require bowing to enter?

Why are beds so short, forcing her to curl her neck uncomfortably when sleeping?

Why are there no neck decorations?

Why in romance novels do lovers’ kisses not involve intertwined necks…

“But why didn’t we realize it?

It’s like our necks have always been this way since birth…”

“There’s been a distortion in your perception.”

The girl easily recalls a traveler not long ago.

He was afraid of the villagers, thinking the people here were monsters.

But after eating the Mud Fruit, the traveler’s neck started to elongate, no longer finding it strange, and eventually settled in the village.

“Thank you, outsider.”

The girl, knowing the truth, leaves the house.

Rebolting the door, Lu Li returns to the bed.

The night is here, the Mist of Strangeness has just landed and still needs some time to reach inland.

The bonfire in the center of the village has already been lit, shadows with snake-like necks move around the fire.

Late at night, Lu Li, resting with eyes closed on the bed, opens his black eyes and looks toward the curtain-draped window.

Murmuring spreads from the bonfire, creeping into the house.

Lu Li leaves the bed and walks to the window.

Gathered around the bonfire that drives away the Mist of Strangeness are the local villagers.

Their heads on slender necks sway gently like seaweed with the murmuring.

The villagers seem to be conducting an ancient evil ritual.

At some point, the village chief suddenly turns his head, his cold face illuminated by the firelight, staring at the house where Lu Li resides—

Lu Li returns to rest on the bed.

After some time, the door abruptly receives rapid, tense knocking.

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang—

Urgent whispering sounds through the door crevices: “Are you inside?

The chief says you’re here spreading disease and plague and wants to kill you as a sacrifice!”

Click—

The door bolt is removed, the door opens, revealing Lu Li’s calm face behind it.

The girl’s head hangs down, hastily speaking: “I’ll hide you!

Come with me quickly!”

Lu Li doesn’t respond, recalling the chief’s warning: Don’t go out, don’t look outside.

“What’s wrong?

Hurry…

they’ll be back any moment.” The girl outside urges, quickly glancing at the bonfire, fearing the villagers might notice.

“I’ll get some things,” Lu Li says, turning back to fetch the “lighthouse” at the bed and return to the door.

The “lighthouse” in his hand suddenly lights up, its warm healing glow flooding the room, also shining through the girl outside the door.

She has no physical form, no shadow.

She stands outside, never stepping foot inside the house.

“Hurry—” The girl urges Lu Li standing at the door.

Lu Li raises his hand, and the girl’s face changes from anxiety to expressionless as he closes the door and bolts it again.

After dark, don’t go out, don’t look outside.

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang—

The knocking resumes urgently, this time without calling, only the unsettling continuous knocking sound.

The strange knocking persists for dozens of seconds, then fades into silence.

The hazy view outside the window, figures remain flickering around the bonfire, seemingly without villagers noticing the oddity here.

Lu Li sits cross-legged on the bed, the “lighthouse” within easy reach before him.

He wasn’t lured outside by the strange presence, but a more terrifying problem now surrounds Lu Li: alone, he can’t easily distinguish between reality and the deceit of the “door.”

With just an accidental opening, a casual response, a mere contact, Lu Li could fall into the trap of the “door,” entering the third stage.

It seems at this moment, only hope can be placed on the Rope of Descent ceremony where the “door” finds it difficult to intrude.

Though not long ago, the “door” has already visited once.

The secluded Mist of Strangeness outside the house remains peaceful, with no further disturbances for Lu Li after the incident.

The bonfire burns throughout the night, gradually diminishing as dawn approaches.

The first hint of morning light breaks through the curtain’s gaps.

In light sleep, Lu Li awakens.

Waiting a few minutes until fully awake, Lu Li leaves the bed, dons his cloak, and picks up the oil lamp, opening the door.

Chill rushes in, morning mist envelops the village, the air carrying lingering choking smoke from burning wood.

The extinguished bonfire sends wisps of smoke upwards, surrounded by…

low villagers.

Their necks and heads have vanished, leaving blood-filled empty chest cavities.

In the silent mist, the villagers’ long-cooled bodies gather around the extinguished bonfire, hands folded in prayer at their chests.

This scene possesses a bloody, terrifying beauty.

Lu Li’s gaze sweeps across dozens of bodies, pausing slightly on one.

He sees a blood-stained bow.

“Must leave after dawn.”

Recalling the village chief’s warning, Lu Li silently pulls up his cloak hood and leaves the deathly silent village.