Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 813 - 6. The Rising Tide

Chapter 813: 6. The Rising Tide

And the most important question—what if the area beyond the hole isn’t the surface?

Perhaps the hole leads to another larger, or smaller, enclosed underground cave.

Lu Li stepped into the shallows, picked up a stone, and stood beneath the hole, tossing it upwards.

The stone flew out of the hole with a slight arc, escaping the dim glow of the fluorite.

Lu Li looked up, quietly listening to the sounds above.

Crack—

A few seconds later, a faint cracking sound came from outside the hole, then the stone rolled off the edge, splashing into the water beside Lu Li with a "plop."

The stone fell freely, not touching the top beyond the hole, implying the space inside the hole is taller than the cave.

The stone’s fall also didn’t echo, suggesting perhaps the space is wider, or the echo was lost in the sound of underground water.

Like a troublesome neighbor, Lu Li continued to throw stones, one after another into the deep, lightless hole above, confirming there was no echo or anomaly.

But how to get up there remained a problem.

Lu Li tried tying stones with vines, tossing them into the hole, but attempts ended in failure.

The stones thrown up struggled to find purchase, nor did they wrap around anything, gently pulling the vines only saw them slip down like snakes.

And the trouble was not just that; Lu Li began to feel cold, his limbs losing warmth.

He now desperately needed warmth.

Whoosh—whoosh—

Returning to the shore, Lu Li picked up the previously abandoned damp branches, tucked them under his arm, trying to dry them using body heat. He untied the bandage wrapped around his wounds, bound it to his palms, and started to drill wood to make fire.

Pain crushed the blisters on his palms, and the rapidly rotating base of the wooden stick began to emit smoke, but after several minutes, nothing but smoke appeared.

Sparking fire on damp wood was almost impossible.

The lighthouse emitted only light, not real flames. And the genuine oil lamp had long vanished along with Friday, caught between reality and illusion.

If he didn’t want to freeze to death in the underground cave, Lu Li had only the lighthouse for warmth, or he could return to the rock layer hole.

The former burnt away humanity, while the latter meant returning to the trap.

But there was no other choice.

Lu Li untied the bandage, re-wrapping it around his chest.

He tied the vine to a rock pushed into the shallows, wrapped the branches and belongings he’d gathered in his coat, squeezed into the narrow opening, retreating to the rock layer hole.

A minute later, Lu Li surfaced with the vine, the lone fire on the island burning steadily.

He placed the branches near the fire to dry, squeezed out the coat’s water, laying it back in its original spot.

Tying the vine around his ankles, Lu Li sat by the fire to warm himself, waiting for his body to gradually feel warmth, adding some damp, undried wood to extend burning time. His weary body curled up on the now dry coat, drifting into dreamland.

...

"Mr. Exorcist... Mr. Exorcist."

The anxious voice slowly woke Lu Li up.

Lu Li opened his eyes, meeting a pudgy face close by, relieved and thankful.

"Thank heavens, you’re finally awake!"

The slightly chubby man patted his chest, speaking with lingering fear, "If I hadn’t seen you still breathing, I would’ve thought you—"

He didn’t complete his sentence with "dead."

"Where is this place?"

Still disentangled from chaotic memories, Lu Li looked around.

He should’ve been sleeping surrounded by dark rivers in the underground rock layer, but instead found himself in an office-like room.

Outside the window, seagulls flitted by, distant street noises faintly audible.

This peaceful scene hadn’t been seen for a long time.

"My office," the chubby man said.

Lu Li recognized him as Benjamin Allen, the manager of Madam Anne’s Art Gallery.

"What happened?" Lu Li rubbed his again aching head, sitting up from the couch.

For some reason, Lu Li’s past memories, or future ones, felt like smeared graffiti, gradually fading, blending.

As if the dream would vanish upon waking.

"Last night, you promised to exorcise for the gallery, this morning when I arrived I found you downstairs fighting ghosts—"

Benjamin Allen’s words suddenly made Lu Li realize something, standing abruptly, leaving the office, no longer calmly heading downstairs.

"Continue speaking."

"Huh? Oh..."

Benjamin Allen hurried after with short legs, breathlessly continuing.

"Then you successfully exorcised, vanquished the ghost, but passed out."

Passing the stairway landing, Dracula’s oil painting hung on the wall like a dead thing.

Without a glance, Lu Li walked straight past it.

"So I and my mates carried you to the office, you then woke up shortly after—"

The beautiful sculptures stood motionless like exhibits.

Lu Li halted before another oil painting mid-gallery.

The depicted scene was within a manor, with dark green and pale pink gardens flanking its paths, the mansion serving as a backdrop.

The bench was the painting’s focus, but no figure sat on it.

The distorted, darkened colors added a touch of solitude to the painting—yet it shouldn’t have been like this.

"Anna, where is she?" Lu Li stared blankly at the empty painting.

Benjamin Allen praised, "You vanquished it."

"You say, I killed her?" Lu Li lowered his eyes.

"Uh... yes..." Benjamin Allen sensed something off with Mr. Exorcist.

This was indeed true, as those blurred, blended memories were being erased.

Underground rock layers, Anna’s attack, Anna’s ascension as an evil spirit, Rope of Descent ritual, Arlen Kingdom’s destruction, Richard’s capture of Body of the Ancient One, Mother of the Marsh, meeting Anna...

Memories erased layer by layer, the story restarting with another beginning—

Whoosh—whoosh—

Benjamin Allen was saying something, but his voice suddenly turned into tide-like water sounds.

Lu Li woke from his sleep.

Clear water sounds washed over his ears. They were noisier, crashing more violently than before.

The island’s edge had shrunk considerably due to the rushing water.

Lu Li wiped the water off his face, picked up branches adding to the faint fire.

The current had grown turbulent, perhaps something was occurring within the upstream cave.

Untying the vine from his ankles, Lu Li took the lighthouse, dove back into the icy river, swimming upstream towards the cave.

Crawling out of the narrow opening, he stood up; what was once knee-deep shallows now submerged him past his knees, the fountain in the pool boiling ferociously.

Tide?

Lu Li waded to the submerged shore—the vine on the rock wall was only two meters above ground.

This signaled the tide’s reaching height.

Yet such an event wouldn’t help Lu Li touch the ceiling, unless—

Hanging redemption at his waist, Lu Li moved boulders within the cave, blocking the narrow exit with stones before the tide fully rose.

The exit blocked, the cave’s water level rose faster than anticipated.

Lu Li clung to the edge vine, keeping his upper body above water.

After half an hour, the cave’s roof became within reach, the embedded stars clearly visible: irregularly shining fluorite.

Lu Li reached up, grasping the hole’s edge with both hands, using force to pull his body out of the deep water, crawling through the hole.