Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 778: Rule 11: Rules are greater than justice

Chapter 778: Rule 11: Rules are greater than justice

Xihua Community

From the humble name, one can guess it’s been around for some years.

In recent years, apartment complexes tend to be named Washington Mansion, Shangri-La Garden, Huarong Palace, Champs International City, and other seemingly high-end but meaningless names.

Building Five, Unit Two, Apartment 303, the security door was knocked.

A jumble of footsteps approached behind the door, with a click, the door opened, and a strong smell of alcohol hit him.

"Who are you?"

The burly man who opened the door sized up Lu Li, seeing that his demeanor was not like an ordinary person, he asked in confusion.

Behind the burly man, several half-naked youths gathered, reeking of alcohol, their bodies adorned with tattoos, giving Lu Li a hostile once-over.

Floating behind Lu Li was Yang Chunxue and the others, who were invisible to them.

Gazing inside the room, though it was noon, all the lights were on, as bright as a sunny day within the gloomy day.

After a brief silence, Lu Li spoke the name of the organization: "...Detective of Health and Happiness Every Day, here to understand some situations. Are you the clients?"

"Oh~ Come in then." The burly man suddenly understood, stepping aside to make a path.

Lu Li and Yang Chunxue entered through the door, passing by the burly man, who shivered involuntarily, feeling a strange chill.

"Damn, this is freaking creepy..." Out of habit he craned his neck to look down the hallway, the burly man closed the security door.

Empty bottles were placed everywhere, the dining table had dishes and wine glasses, they were eating.

Passing by the few men, the overpowering smell of sweat, cigarettes, and alcohol made Lu Li frown slightly. Out of professional etiquette, he said nothing as he walked to the somewhat spacious living room.

"I don’t see any ghosts." Yang Chunxue turned her head in a circle, whispered in Lu Li’s ear.

She didn’t need to get close to Lu Li, being invisible meant ordinary people couldn’t see her. She did it out of instinct—and being close to Lu Li gave her a tiny thrill of stealth.

"The ghost isn’t here now."

Lu Li spoke, explaining again to Yang Chunxue, and simultaneously to the five men. His gaze swept across their faces: "The commission mentioned three people."

"I called two brothers here for courage, more people mean stronger yang energy." The burly man folded his arms, a amulet hanging from his neck. "What do you mean the ghost isn’t here?"

"Literal meaning."

"Hey, you’re the one we hired to catch the ghost, get to work and stop dawdling!" A young man behind him rudely shouted.

"Are you being attacked now?" Lu Li asked calmly.

"What?" The youth was stunned, glanced at his companions, then shook his head: "No, nothing."

Lu Li redirected his gaze to the burly man, seemingly their leader: "So are there other issues?"

The subtext being, if the ghost were here, you wouldn’t be completely unharmed.

Despite his words, Lu Li’s demeanor caused these arrogant street youths to be quite displeased. The young man’s mouth twitched, as though provoked, he lunged forward and grabbed Lu Li’s collar, looking down menacingly: "You’re pretty cocky, what’s your damn attitu—"

Two youths behind grabbed bottles and stools intending to assist, suddenly saw their companion who grabbed Lu Li’s collar stop abruptly, trembling, raising his hands, nearly crying: "This little brother didn’t recognize greatness... I apologize... Brother! Brother please, speak kindly!"

He slowly retreated, creating distance. As the young man moved away, the others saw Lu Li’s raised palm—and the gun in his hand.

As well as the finger on the gun’s trigger.

The gun was something Lu Li had bought recently to kill time, used for lighting cigarettes—yes, a gun-shaped lighter.

After all, a gun’s shape yields more intimidation than a kitchen knife.

The burly man’s pupils shrank, stiffening as he instantaneously wanted to flee. Only relaxing a bit upon realizing the gun wasn’t a police issue.

"I’m already speaking kindly." Lu Li lowered the gun’s muzzle, letting his arm drop, but didn’t put the gun away. "Can we continue?"

"Sure, sure..." The young man broke into a cold sweat, retreating to his companions.

Clang—

The stool dropped from his hand; another young man glanced at the bottle in his hand, awkwardly yet politely hid it behind.

"I don’t want unnecessary complications. Solving the problem quickly benefits both of us." Lu Li’s expression remained unchanged from start to finish, he gently smoothed his tie and collar, his presence akin to a boss. "Tell me the whole story."

The burly man, wary of Lu Li, pushed away the trouble-making underlings: "My little brothers don’t really understand, apologies to this... master. Here’s how it is, a few days ago us brothers went drinking at a bar, one of my little brothers called a lady, turns out she was a Fierce Ghost wanting to harm him; our united brothers scared the ghost away, then it seemed to haunt us, attacking daily, wanting to kill us all. We are honest men who can’t provoke a ghost, so we went to Xihua Temple for a talisman, but a 25,000 yuan talisman only protects one person, having no other choice, we hired you..."

"When was the last occurrence?"

"Last night... By the way, it seems the ghost doesn’t appear during the day."

"Understood, I also haven’t found it in the room now, so I’ll come back after dark."

"Ah, okay, safe travels." The burly man couldn’t wait to see them off, escorting Lu Li to the hallway.

Click—

Closing the door, the five street youths exhaled simultaneously.

What followed was anger born from the humiliation of being frightened off.

The young man, forced back by Lu Li, snarled furiously: "I, Ermao, have never been so humiliated in my life! Boss, we can’t beat him, but since this kid has a gun, why don’t we call the police and get him apprehended!"

"I’ll let you call the police, call the police, call the police!"

The burly man, pent-up with rage, swung his fists, punching his little brother repeatedly as he swore: "Pig-brain! We just committed a crime and you want to call the police, scared they won’t find out, right?"

The little brother ran for cover, with the others also clutching their heads to dodge.

After venting, the burly man gasped for air, pointing at his group of little brothers: "I’m telling you all, stay out of trouble for now, understood? Did you hear me, understand understand understand!"

When enraged, the burly man again mixed hits and kicks, chasing them, causing his little brothers to run for cover, shouting repeatedly.

"Got it, got it..."

...

"These people look evidently like trouble-makers."

Exiting the corridor, Yang Chunxue mumbled.

"That’s quite normal, clients aren’t always on the side of justice, and their motives aren’t entirely for self-defense." Lu Li explained to Yang Chunxue, who had lived and died within the Ivory Tower.

Yang Chunxue speculated: "Is it possible they killed someone, and that person turned into a ghost seeking revenge?"

"It’s very possible." Lu Li replied.

"Then you..." Yang Chunxue paused, not understanding why Lu Li took the assignment considering this.

Unnoticeably tilting his head slightly, his dark eyes scanning behind, Lu Li answered: "Detectives are like lawyers. What they pursue and believe in isn’t justice, but rules."

"So you’re hired by those bad people to kill me..."

Just then, behind Lu Li, a chilling and terrifying low female voice sounded.