Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 845: Thirty-eight. Spirits and Monsters

Chapter 845: Thirty-eight. Spirits and Monsters

In the weakly swaying carriage, a small clay figure with a crude body shakily stood up.

The small mud figure, whose color was noticeably different from the clay, made a face at Lu Li and screamed, "You’re a good person, but I still want to scare you! Waa!!!"

Its movements were too large, and its loosely attached arm fell from its shoulder. The small mud figure hurriedly picked it up and pressed it back onto its shoulder.

"No need to scare us, we must leave here soon."

Lu Li calmly said while holding the small mud figure.

"Why!"

"Your companion said the big boss lady will teach me a lesson."

The small mud figure made a thinking pose, rubbing its simple arm under its chin.

"Will you help us?" Katerina asked cooperatively.

"No! Wait for the big boss lady to teach you a lesson!" the small mud figure screamed in response, let out a small laugh, jumped down from Lu Li’s palm, and ran to the edge of the carriage.

"I know where to find quality clay." Lu Li suddenly said.

The small mud figure that just leaped out of the carriage quickly clung to the edge, revealing a human-like desire: "Where!"

"Midnight City. But I’m being watched by the big boss lady, so even if I find it, I can’t return to the town."

The carriage suddenly jolted, and the small mud figure was flung out, its sharp cries becoming increasingly distant.

"I’ll go find the big boss lady now!"

"Will it die from the fall?" Lu Li frowned, preparing to shout for the Coachman to stop again.

"It’s not its true body, this little Spirit also won’t die..."

Hissing whispers like a snake’s tongue flicking echoed through the carriage.

Lu Li looked at the Curse Hunter who answered, "Spirit?"

"These little creatures are Spirits... they’re part of the Spirits and Monsters category, didn’t you know?"

Lu Li turned to meet Katerina’s confused gaze.

"It seems you didn’t... could you be an heir of an ancient family?" the woman giggled, her dark yellow eyes flashing with an insect-like greed: "Or a noble from a small place...?"

"We are from Tang Ge Town, it’s very secluded there." Katerina replied warily.

"Spirits and Monsters" sounds like a classification of anomalies, Lu Li wanted to know more, but this woman was not the right person to communicate with.

Lu Li’s palm still held a clump of mud. He reached out the window to shake it off, but some dark mud remained on his hand.

"It’s just mud, wipe it anywhere." Katerina said to Lu Li, who was holding out his palm.

"You can use this..."

The Curse Hunter handed over a handkerchief. The insect under her sleeve climbed along her withered palm toward the handkerchief.

"No need."

Lu Li refused, stretching his hand toward Katerina intending to wipe the mud on her clothes.

"Don’t worry, the handkerchief is clean, the children won’t wander around..."

Apparently, the "children" she mentioned referred to the insects on her.

"Thank you."

Before the insects climbed onto the handkerchief, Lu Li took it and wiped the mud off his palm.

"Spirits and Monsters... this is our classification of the ones around us." Accompanied by a serpent’s hissing, the Curse Hunter’s voice resonated in the carriage.

Spirits and Monsters are not the classification of anomalies from the Weird Times—rather, they coexist with the former systems of Evil Spirits, Spirits, Monsters, and Evil Gods without conflict.

It is built on the existing foundation of the Four Major Systems but with an additional premise: coexistence with humans.

In the Weird Times, the boundary between humans and anomalies becomes increasingly blurred. Apart from those who yearn for pure human beings and completely oppose anomalies, aspiring to return to old glory like Vena Ice-Free Port, many towns allow some harmless anomalies to exist within the towns.

And these anomalies are categorized as Spirits and Monsters.

"Spirits" represent anomalies of soul-like, intangible entities without physical form, usually human-shaped, like ghosts;

"Monsters" represent elusive yet tangible anomalies, differing from "Spirits" as Monsters have no fixed shape nor are they human-shaped;

"Sprites" represent familiar objects coming to life, like living houses, talking paintings, or the Spirits of Ghost Town;

"Monsters" represent creatures. For example, Mycelium Horses, Amber, Aliens, and Alien Breeds.

Spirits and Monsters are similar, as Sprites and Monsters are similar, so when they’re difficult to distinguish, people tend to use Spirits or Sprites to describe them.

Katerina’s ignorance of Spirits and Monsters comes from a simple reason: Tang Ge Town is at the center of the Dark Wilderness, far from town clusters and relatively tough in dealing with anomalies.

And a crucial point: Katerina was struggling to survive and had no time to learn about things that don’t fill the stomach.

Besides Spirits and Monsters, Lu Li also wanted to know what the Curse Hunter represented.

Because Katerina’s apprehension never faded, and it peaked when the woman asked for the handkerchief back.

"We already stained it. How much is it, we’ll buy it." Katerina nervously pressed Lu Li’s arm, speaking to the woman.

Does it mean being able to wield curses or incantations from the mysterious side?

Lu Li thought.

"Buy it? It’s my... favorite handkerchief..." A dangerous hissing like a snake’s tongue flicking sounded.

Perhaps due to her extreme tension, Katerina impulsively took an action.

She grabbed the handkerchief and flung it out of the carriage, her body tensing up while facing the Curse Hunter: "We’ll compensate you!"

"Compensate...?"

The woman’s dark yellow eyes blinked behind a membrane, staring coldly at Katerina like a venomous snake. An exquisite doll climbed down from her leg, stiffly stepping toward Lu Li and Katerina.

At this moment, a shadow dropped down from above. Lu Li didn’t have time to react, allowing the shadow to land on him.

An indistinct cry of terror rang out, and the exquisite doll, as if encountering a natural enemy, fled back to the Curse Hunter, burying its head and trembling outwardly.

The woman also showed deep fear, falling silent and daring not to look over.

The source of the Curse Hunter’s fear was something standing on Lu Li’s leg, a double-braided doll wearing a hideous mask.

"You bullied Double Head!"

Behind the mask came a shrill voice like a child in a voice-breaking phase: "You even deceived the clay!"

"Midnight City does have quality clay." Lu Li answered the "big boss lady’s" accusation.

She was larger than the prankster Spirits, her palm-sized height making her worthy of the title big boss lady.

The big boss lady suddenly leaned close to Lu Li, a sniffing sound emanating from behind the mask.

"You smell nice!" She seemed to change her intent. "I don’t believe you... take me to Midnight City!"

Before Lu Li could respond, the fearsome mask turned to the stunned Katerina: "And you... pay the price!"

An indescribable chill surged nearby, and Katerina’s eyes suddenly lost focus, as if falling into an unspeakable delirium, trembling with fear.

"Stop."

Lu Li frowned, grabbing the big boss lady with his left hand from doing anything to Katerina.

"Let go! You’re hurting me!"

The big boss lady screamed, struggling and flapping her tiny powerless hands to hit Lu Li’s hand, forced to withdraw her released power.

Katerina suddenly snapped back, gasping like a drowning person surfacing from the water.

"What happened," Lu Li asked.

"Many, many terrifying illusions..." Katerina’s cheeks were deathly pale, still lingering fear: "I didn’t scream out loud, did I?"

"Even if you did, it’s fine, we’re almost out of the town."