Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 811 - 4. The Illusory Starry Sky

Chapter 811: 4. The Illusory Starry Sky

Maybe it’s not that bad.

The narrow passage cannot be crossed by the turbulent river.

Oxygen is about to run out. Lu Li stops exploring and tries to return the way he came.

The river pushes against Lu Li’s back, hastening his return to the isolated island, but it might accidentally send him past it, dragging him further downstream—

A glimmer of light penetrates the dense darkness.

Slightly veering off course, Lu Li approaches the light on the water’s surface and emerges.

Splash—

Climbing onto the rocks with water dripping off him, Lu Li sits by the fire to warm up and catch his breath.

"Did you find the way out?" Friday asks, holding a can.

"Next time."

Lu Li replies shortly.

Whether it’s despairing or full of hope.

While waiting for his body to warm up, Lu Li uses an empty can to scoop up river water, heating it by the fire. Before setting out again, he drinks the hot water as it becomes scalding.

With warmth spreading through his body, Lu Li dives back into the dark river, following the same route as before.

The rock walls begin to narrow at ten meters. This time, Lu Li doesn’t pause and continues upward.

The rapid current pulls him backward, his skin turning pale from the rush of water. The rock walls quickly close in, forming a narrow passage only twenty centimeters wide at about fifteen meters.

Amidst the loud sound of rushing water in the dense darkness, Lu Li exhales, letting bubbles dissolve into the flow, stretching his arms into the narrow gap, pushing against the passage with his shoulders, and trying to reach further.

At some moment, a touch distinctly different from the turbulent current appears at his fingertips, just for an instant, but enough for Lu Li to feel a sense of tranquility and peace.

Lu Li touched the air.

With little oxygen left, Lu Li doesn’t turn back toward the isolated island. He braces his legs between the rocky walls and continues groping the passage.

The passage might not always be so narrow, perhaps by moving continually in one direction, it will gradually widen until it can accommodate a person squeezing through.

That might be where Lu Li entered the dark river.

Before oxygen is depleted, Lu Li returns to the isolated island, climbing wet onto the rocks.

"Did you find it?" Friday asks.

"Yes."

Lu Li’s face remains calm, as if he doesn’t care about the answer he found. Only his words reveal his thoughts: "Can you retrieve a rope or a water bladder?"

The former could ensure he never loses his way back to the isolated island, the latter could extend his diving time.

Reaching the passage is nearing Lu Li’s limit, making further progress difficult unless Lu Li disregards the way back.

"I’ll try," says Friday, reaching into the dark river, making some random grabs, then pulling back his hand to wipe it clean on his black robe.

"Can’t do it."

Friday doesn’t intend to help Lu Li with escaping.

Lu Li says nothing. Once his body is warmed up, he again prepares a can of hot water, staying longer by the fire, sipping the scalding can one mouthful at a time, storing heat.

A few minutes later, Lu Li puts down the empty can, enters the dark river, fills his lungs with air, and plunges into the icy waters held within the rocky walls.

Enduring the chilling rush of water, Lu Li again reaches the front of the passage, moving to the right along it.

After moving a distance, Lu Li raises his palm to explore the passage. It seems to have changed somewhat, or maybe not.

Exhaling bubbles that momentarily vanish, Lu Li endures the burning sensation in his lungs and keeps moving.

Lingering for another ten seconds.

Lu Li silently calculates the limit he can withstand, raising his palm once more to touch the passage.

The sensation this time is completely different; the water flow is calmer, the gap wider, seemingly able to allow a person to pass through.

Without hesitation, Lu Li grips the passage, climbing upward against the current. His head soon presses against the rock wall, passing through the passage, followed by his neck, but his chest gets stuck.

Lu Li stretches out his arm, this time half of his forearm breaks the surface, the sensation of wind on his skin even clearer than before.

The outstretched hand grabs the air, bringing it back in front of his nose and mouth.

Lu Li inhales, thin oxygen and cold water simultaneously pour into his nostrils, traveling down the windpipe into his lungs.

The unbearable urge to curl up and violently cough is forcibly suppressed by Lu Li.

Breathing would only knock him unconscious from inhaling water.

The hope is right there, but Lu Li faces a choice.

The passage’s width is limited; it might barely allow Lu Li to squeeze through and return to the outside world, or it might trap him at the chest, causing him to drown painfully in the crevice.

Lu Li’s body retracts back into the passage, indicating his choice: to retreat to the gap in the rock layers.

Relying on memory, he returns to the first spot where he touched the passage, lets go, allowing the dark river to carry him back the way he came.

Ten meters, five meters, one meter, all around.

Lu Li, due to oxygen deprivation, begins to find it difficult to think.

He should have reached near the isolated island, yet overhead is still rock, nothing but dense darkness in his vision.

Did he veer off course?

Lu Li raises his hands to grip the rock wall, steadying himself in the dark river, struggling to shift to the right.

Gurgle—

A long string of bubbles dissolves in the rushing water, Lu Li’s body gradually weakening.

As his consciousness slowly fades, he seems to vaguely see a warm, soft light downstream, like a dawn rising on the horizon, illuminating the entire ocean.

Unable to control his body, Lu Li can only tightly clamp his mouth and nose before losing consciousness, not letting the icy water rush into his lungs, hastening his coma and death, allowing the undercurrent to carry him toward the source of the light—

Like a small boat crashing into a reef, Lu Li hits the rock, pulled from the undercurrent by a pale hand.

Friday sets down the "lighthouse," dragging the pale, bluish-skinned Lu Li onto the rock, compressing his chest to let air flood into his lungs.

Consciousness returns to his sinking body, Lu Li’s breathing begins to stabilize, rolling over to cough and retch violently.

"You almost drowned yourself."

Friday says from the side.

"I found it... the way out." Wiping the moisture from the corner of his mouth, Lu Li leans back against the fire to regain warmth.

Friday remains noncommittal, speaking in an ordinary tone as if nothing happened: "Congratulations, we can leave here."

This time the rest is especially long.

The prolonged exposure to the few-degree dark currents and the near loss of consciousness due to lack of oxygen has left Lu Li with symptoms of hypothermia.

He wraps his coat tightly, stokes the fire higher, preventing the hypothermia from worsening into a condition.

After resting for a while, Lu Li heats river water again, warming himself throughout before entering the dark river once more.

This time, instead of heading straight upward, Lu Li angles slightly, reaching the passage previously explored, beginning to move to the right.

The passage gradually becomes narrow and seems to converge, as if it’s about to close not far ahead. Lu Li patiently continues to move.

As the oxygen runs low, the passage expands again, appearing even wider than before—

Without hesitation, Lu Li dives into the passage, head first, then body—

Emerging from the water, Lu Li lifts his head.

The noises beneath the Chaotic Waters suddenly become clear, with the high-pitched rushing sound echoing in his ears, as if it rejoices for Lu Li’s new birth.

Lu Li climbs out from the passage, stands up, water dripping from his body, quietly stands in the knee-deep stream, gazing upward at the sky.

The magnificent stars dot the canopy above.

If that’s truly the sky.

If they are truly the stars.