Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 850: Forty-three. Escape

Chapter 850: Forty-three. Escape

Setting foot on the dim second floor illuminated by fluorite lamps, Puxiu’s scream guided the way, but his voice weakened.

Bam—

Lu Li burst through the door. A bloated creature with a body covered in warts and mucus like that of a toad was in the midst of feeding.

Its head was several times larger than that of a human, and the pitiful Puxiu had only his two hind legs dangling from its mouth.

The uninvited guest’s intrusion prompted it to swallow Puxiu more quickly, and the powerless kicking legs nearly disappeared into its maw.

Before Puxiu slipped into its belly, Lu Li rushed at the creature, clenching his left fist and landing a heavy punch on its stomach.

The sickening fat rippled, and the dense warts on the alien’s back erupted with viscous poison.

Ugh—

The blow made the creature gag, its mouth opening wide, revealing Puxiu’s hind legs deep in its throat.

Lu Li reached into the alien’s mouth, grabbing Puxiu’s hind legs and pulling him out.

Thump—

"I’ve got him! I’ve got him!"

Falling to the floor, the mucus-covered Puxiu raised his companion high, shouting.

Katerina paused on him for a moment, then rushed to Lu Li’s side, using the needle-like Homogeneous Item between her fingers to stab into the creature’s eyeball.

The creature opened its mouth wide, about to howl, but Katerina grabbed the fluorite lamp and shoved it inside, silencing it completely.

However, the Homogeneous Item didn’t harm the creature enough, and as Katerina was about to draw her dagger to finish it off, Lu Li extended his left hand, pressing it against the creature’s chest.

The grotesquely bloated body trembled violently, and Katerina almost failed to suppress it. A dozen seconds later, its struggles weakened, and the ominous black vertical pupils glazed over with gray mist, toppling onto the poison-soaked bed.

Humanity surged into his body as Lu Li withdrew his hand.

"It’s dead."

This creature possessed only the most basic humanity. Lu Li needed to deal with dozens of such creatures to gain an increment of humanity.

The cautious Katerina didn’t let go immediately. She waited several seconds, confirming that the creature was indeed dead, then pulled out the Homogeneous Item and stabbed it back into the eyeball.

Lu Li glanced at Puxiu.

That youthful face was now vacant, holding the half-corroded body of Maimai in his hands.

"How did you do that?" Katerina averted her regretful gaze from the creature, asking Lu Li.

The creature wasn’t wearing clothes, so there was no way to find out where the money had been hidden.

"My exorcism technique."

Lu Li responded bluntly.

"We almost got ourselves into trouble," Katerina remarked, still shaken. She had no idea what would happen if the tavern discovered a guest had been slaughtered, but it certainly wouldn’t be good.

In any case, the commotion hadn’t attracted attention from the tavern below.

Rustling—

Suddenly, the Head Mistress climbed onto Lu Li’s shoulder. Before she could scream, Lu Li grabbed her down, extending his left hand.

"The Head Mistress will not yield to threats!"

The doll wearing a twisted mask and twin pigtails backed away faintly, saying, "I-I’ll tell Mother you bullied me!"

"Snitching means no one will take you to Midnight City."

Lu Li looked calmly at the Head Mistress.

The mention of Mother was intriguing. Was she not the leader of the spirits in Ghost Town?

But it seemed logical. If there was a Superior above the Head Mistress, it explained why the Head Mistress needed an excuse to have Lu Li take her away from Ghost Town.

The Head Mistress pondered for a few seconds, "I’ll go tattle as soon as we reach Midnight City!"

"Sure," Lu Li replied.

He put the Head Mistress back. She jumped off his shoulder as if sliding down a chute, disappeared behind his back.

"Are we really taking her to Midnight City?"

Bringing an enigmatic spirit always made Katerina uneasy.

"We have no choice but to let her follow."

Even disregarding the Superior Mother, underestimating her due to her appearance was unwise—she wasn’t someone Lu Li and Katerina could confront.

Lu Li looked down at the despondent Puxiu on the floor, "Maimai is dead. Can you still guide us to Midnight City?"

"We should find another guide," Katerina frowned, expressing her disdain for Puxiu. "Guides are supposed to help us avoid trouble, not bring it."

"I... I can do it."

Puxiu set down his companion’s body, sniffed, and stood up, "Miss Katerina, I wanted to bring Maimai because he knew so much, and I wanted him to share it with you both."

But now, Maimai and his secrets were buried in the creature’s belly.

"How do we leave now? Going straight downstairs will definitely arouse suspicion," Katerina ignored Puxiu, asking Lu Li.

Lu Li didn’t answer, his gaze resting on the window.

...

Thud.

Lu Li calmly landed on the uneven brick road.

The existence nearby the tavern cast curious glances, as Lu Li and Katerina joined up with Puxiu and headed deeper into the main path.

After passing through several alleys, Katerina felt the sensation of being watched vanish, and she removed her hand from her eye socket.

They were far enough from the tavern now that even if the tavern discovered the bodies upstairs, it would be too late to find them.

Puxiu followed at Lu Li’s feet, head and tail drooping.

"This really is the worst day I’ve experienced..."

Puxiu couldn’t even carry out his lifelong dream of burying his partner in the earth and erecting a tombstone after its death.

He had even thought about what to inscribe on the tombstone: City Ring Scout Maimai, City Ring Spy Daidai, and his own City Ring Scout Captain Puxiu...

Lu Li donned a cloak and hood, hiding his face in shadow, resembling a heretic.

But this attire suited the old sewers much more than before.

Before leaving the bustling main path like a marketplace, Puxiu suggested that Katerina also don a robe.

The side routes were different from the main routes, more unfriendly to humans, inhabited and frequented mostly by aliens and creatures.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, Katerina accepted Puxiu’s suggestion and put on a cloak.

If the main routes of the old sewers could be seen as a town, the side routes were roads connecting the town, and the dark routes were the wilderness.

The vastest, and the most dangerous.

Fortunately, the route from Ghost Town Station to Midnight City Main Station didn’t require traversing the dark routes. They only needed to mind the somewhat unsafe, frequently changing side routes.

For instance, some side routes became dark routes due to collapse; some because of a change of rulers; and some repelled humans and had to be bypassed.

To be honest, Katerina never entirely trusted Puxiu, but she had to admit that Puxiu indeed helped them avoid a lot of trouble.

He could sense an impending alien war on a side route and steer them away in advance or recognize dark routes masquerading as side routes to lure the ignorant inside.

An effective guide maximized safety against getting lost in the ever-changing old sewage system and encountering danger.

"But why do we have to travel this way?"

Katerina complained, holding her nose in disgust.

An underground tunnel of side routes emerged before them.

Filthy, foul-smelling sewage flowed along decaying sludge, snaking downstream along the side routes. The expansive cavern and stilted shacks built in the muck made it resemble a swamp.