Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 846: Thirty-nine. Entrance

Chapter 846: Thirty-nine. Entrance

The road was replaced by the buried spine of a giant beast underground, the carriage traveling along the straight bone road wide enough for eight carriages side by side, all the way towards the low hill—where the head of the giant beast, reminiscent of an ancient civilization’s temple, sat at the summit.

Since Lu Li had hurt it, the boss lady didn’t talk to him on the journey, but she didn’t confront Katerina either.

Lu Li looked down at his left palm.

He hadn’t conserved his strength earlier.

And he couldn’t conserve strength; Lu Li hadn’t mastered controlling the power of the Redemption Fragments. While in the sanctuary, the power that could scatter fantasy monsters only made the boss lady feel "uncomfortable."

Its power was evidently beyond what other Spirits could compare to—the Curse Hunter and her doll were trembling, huddled in a corner.

However, the good news was, the boss lady didn’t get angry, didn’t attack Lu Li, she simply ignored him.

"Can you leave Ghost Town?"

Lu Li’s gaze fell on the boss lady standing on his knee.

"Bad guy!"

The boss lady yelled, throwing a tantrum, and instantly vanished, reappearing on the window frame: "I won’t tell you anything!"

"Sorry about earlier." Lu Li apologized to the boss lady, though the calm tone lacked sincerity. "But next time, don’t casually attack my companions."

"Lu Li..." Katerina suddenly looked up at him.

The boss lady on the window frame didn’t respond.

The beast’s spine was much smoother than the town roads. Hints of houses built along the spine could be vaguely seen on either side, but as they neared the hilltop, human traces disappeared.

The only thing visible was the empty cart returning from the summit.

"Take it, don’t lose it or leave it in a hard-to-find place, unless you want to be eaten."

As they approached the summit, the Coachman slowed the carriage and handed out three pieces of wood to the three passengers inside.

The boss lady on the window frame was ignored by him, as if she didn’t exist.

"What is this?"

Lu Li took the wooden piece, its surface painted with a mixture of red and white dye, forming a pattern similar to raw meat.

"Tickets," answered the Coachman.

The Mycelium Horses picked up the pace again, carrying them to the summit.

The scene atop the hill exceeded Lu Li and Katerina’s imagination.

Lu Li thought there would be a spiral road leading underground, while Katerina imagined a gentle slope behind the low hill down to the depths—

But atop the hill was only a chasm like a volcanic crater, unfathomably deep, and a stone-bricked path leading to the edge of the pit.

The carriage stopped at the path’s edge. The Coachman jumped off, walked towards the mechanism by the roadside, and said, "Going down from here, you can reach the Old Sewer District."

"But how do we get down?" Katerina asked the Coachman.

"Don’t resist, don’t do anything, and hold on to your ticket," the Coachman said, grasping the mechanism, looked up at them, and suddenly pulled down the lever.

At first, nothing happened, but after a dozen seconds, sharp sounds of something moving swiftly came from the abyssal chasm.

Katerina saw only a few slender silhouettes darting, emerging from the pit, lashing like whips, wrapping around their waists and pulling them into the chasm.

The Curse Hunter clutched her doll, offering no resistance as the tendrils dragged her away.

Lu Li realized their purpose, did not resist, even hid his left hand to avoid the tendrils.

Katerina wasn’t a fool either, though her tensed body revealed her anxiety and unease.

The wind roared past their ears. In an instant, they were enveloped in darkness, but before whispers in the darkness could be heard, they emerged from the shadows, surrounded by light beneath them.

The tendrils that had wrapped around them released, and the three figures fell freely, landing in a thick air with various postures.

They had ample time to adjust their stances and observe the bottom of the pit—the Old Sewer.

The Old Sewer’s arching space was wider than expected, stretching deep like a street, and on either side stood simple, unsightly wooden shacks resembling a slum.

Filthy, chaotic, and foul-smelling, the only advantage was the embedded Fluorite and firelight that prevented darkness from devouring it.

Lu Li landed gently at the entrance to the Old Sewer.

Katerina and the Curse Hunter landed nearby in succession, but the boss lady was not in between.

Wisps of mist were drawn from the surface of Lu Li and the others, careful observation would reveal they were threads flowing through the air, like living beings.

These little fellows were what carried them down.

Remembering something, Lu Li reached into his pocket to find the ticket was already gone.

Looking back at the Old Sewer, perhaps because they were near the entrance, most of the outlines here had human features.

As Lu Li observed them, they were observing Lu Li too. Their arrival in the Old Sewer caught the attention of some beings on the edge of the sewer.

They were eager to move. Eventually, a tall, hunched figure came to greet them.

It, or rather she, despite her hunched back, was over two meters tall, her long slender arms hung beside bent legs. A protruding hooked nose made her sunken eye sockets even more profound, staring into those leaden eyes felt like inducing nightmares.

She stood beneath a wooden sign labeled [Ghost Town Station], lowered her gaze at Lu Li, and with a mouth full of backward-facing fangs, made a low sound that trembled the air: "Welcome, to the Old Sewer."

"Welcome!"

A shrill shout suddenly arose, and the boss lady appeared from nowhere, climbing onto Lu Li’s back: "It’s my first time here!"

The Curse Hunter ignored the tall woman, bypassed her, and walked into the Old Sewer.

The tall woman’s head followed her, turning until the Curse Hunter went far, her neck twisted back to the front, staring at Lu Li: "You want, to hire, me."

"What does hire mean?" Lu Li asked.

"Guide, protect, accompany," the tall woman sniffed the air around Lu Li: "Your, destination, is where."

Katerina secretly, gently nudged Lu Li’s hand.

The tall woman gave Katerina an intense feeling of oppression, making her uneasy.

A thread just separated from Lu Li’s body, returning to the pit, drifted past Lu Li’s palm, but Katerina’s touch caused Lu Li’s left hand to touch it just right.

The thread silently dissipated.

Suddenly, a dull tremor rose from the ground beneath them, and rocks fell from the pit’s edge on the wall.

The shadows in the Old Sewer cried out and took cover, moving away from the pit.

The tall woman’s nightmarish appearance showed fear as she rapidly retreated awkwardly but swiftly back into the Old Sewer.

"We should go too."

Lu Li dodged the falling stones, following the tall woman with Katerina.

The boss lady didn’t need reminding. She had already grabbed onto Lu Li’s shoulder.

"This way!"

A hyena with a human face called out to Lu Li and the others nearby.

After a brief pause, Lu Li ran towards the human-faced hyena, which seemed far less harmful than the tall woman.

"Hurry up!"

It nimbly ran under a wooden shed away from the pit and urged them on.

Lu Li and Katerina rushed into the wooden shed, looking back with lingering fear at the quaking entrance.

Those unable to escape in time and shacks too close to the entrance were torn apart by the tendrils that drilled in, swept away, vanishing amidst the tremor.