Detective Agency of the Bizarre

Chapter 1556 - 14: Phantasmagoria Syndrome

Like a light briefly turned on, the tungsten filament gradually dims and fades after the light is off.

The price of being sleepless for three consecutive nights is as such—daytime passes in a flash, as if the hour hand has turned into a second hand.

Perhaps if this continues, Lu Li will fall into a perpetual night without daylight—or maybe at some moment, he will faint, waking up the next day on a hospital bed.

Before the last glow of dusk vanished, Lu Li found Kate, relying on contact with other patients to "resist" the rapid passage of time while fulfilling a promise:

"Get ready, we’re going to the activity area."

"Did you do it?"

"Mm."

Kate stretched her curled fish tail, hanging it over the edge of the bed, revealing straight, sleek legs as it hit the floor like extracting from a cocooned sheet.

Lu Li watched, wondering how "delusion" could rationalize this scene.

Bringing Kate to find the Crow Mask, she instructed Lu Li that the item was hidden behind the discarded sofa in the storeroom of the activity area—retrieve it and bring it back, and the flashlight would be his.

"Lend me the flashlight, and I will find what you want faster." Lu Li still hadn’t given up on getting the flashlight in advance.

The Crow Mask still refused.

Before heading to the activity area, Lu Li returned to the ward while the embers of dusk hadn’t yet disappeared, piling up bedding to create the illusion that he was still resting in the ward. Then he escorted the girl in the wheelchair back to her room, leading Kate into the corridor to the activity area.

Shadows quietly spread from behind the two walking figures. At some point, the wall lamp at the end of the corridor lit up, warding off the darkness and protecting Lu Li and Kate as they approached the door from being swallowed.

The Gatekeeper, draped in a brown cloak, blocked the doorway, colder than usual.

"I only promised to let you in."

"Then I’ll give her my pass."

Lu Li stepped aside, revealing Kate standing behind him.

The Gatekeeper stared at Lu Li for a moment, his attitude slightly loosened: "... Go in then."

"Thank you."

Lu Li thanked the Gatekeeper, gesturing for Kate to enter and reminding her to help search for the Crow Mask’s request.

"I don’t want to see you." The Gatekeeper suddenly said.

Lu Li realized something, tentatively walking towards Kate, who was looking back at him from behind the door, without being hindered, and thus stepped into the activity area.

The door closed behind him.

The spacious and dim activity area spread out before him. Still as dim as if the hospital was reluctant to install too many lights, but slightly brighter than a night light in the ward.

Lu Li’s attention settled on those unnatural light sources. The vending machines emitting a fluorescent glow, the television screen displaying snowy noise. They had caught his attention in the past two days.

"I’m going to look around." Kate said.

Lu Li nodded in agreement with Kate’s separation, refocused his gaze, and started searching along the edge of the activity area for the storeroom.

Passing by the vending machines glowing with fluorescent light positioned against the wall. A variety of cigarettes, snacks, and bottled water were neatly arranged in the showcase reflecting Lu Li’s silhouette.

The vending machine’s contents were suspiciously normal—Lu Li expected to see blood, eyeballs, and chunks of meat.

The door not far away opened, and a shadow came into the activity area. Lu Li briefly glanced before returning his focus to the vending machine, lost in quiet thought.

He had no money; even if he did, he wouldn’t waste it here. Instead, he thought of how in nearly twelve days since arriving at the hospital, he had no physiological needs whatsoever.

Neither eating, excreting, nor sleeping and desire.

Or had they been selectively forgotten or replaced by delusion?

Leaving the vending machine, he passed by the television. There was an odd shadow sitting on the sofa angled in front of the television flickering with static, stretching long and thin.

Lu Li bypassed them, scanning the hall-like activity area once again.

Shadows were scattered, wandering in the activity area; Kate stood by the window looking out at something, and there was even a trickling fountain in the center of the activity area.

Lu Li crossed the hall, reaching the wall, and found the door to the storeroom.

Creak—

The door scraped along the floor tiles, opening slightly, letting the dim light from the activity area spill into the rest room, revealing the outlines of objects.

The storeroom was very dark, filled with discarded beds, sofas, and cabinets like a warehouse. It seemed that the hospital’s old, broken items from recent years were all piled here.

It can be expected that what the Crow Mask left behind would not be easy to find.

Lu Li rolled up his sleeves, fully opened the door, turning the storeroom from dark to dusky, searching for a silhouette that matched the description.

The shifting of junk stirred up dust, but more troublesome than the irritating dust was the junk lurking in the darkness—whenever Lu Li stepped into the darkness, indescribable murmurs and whispers would surround him.

"What are you doing?"

A shadow suddenly peeked into the storeroom.

Lu Li told Kate outside the door: "Looking for what the Crow Mask wants."

"I’ll help you."

"She said it’s behind the sofa." Lu Li pulled down another sofa, finding nothing but dust.

Kate’s help sped up Lu Li’s pace, and when he saw her rummaging through the darkness, he curiously asked, "Aren’t you afraid of the dark?"

"Why would I be." Her bright blue eyes shone in the dimness as Kate noticed Lu Li standing where contours were visible, "Are you afraid of the dark?"

Lu Li remained silent.

Kate smiled slightly, "Are you really afraid of the dark?"

"Is there a canteen in the hospital?" Lu Li changed the subject.

"Of course there is, you haven’t been there yet?"

"I don’t remember." Lu Li’s eyes lowered slightly, preparing to ask something else when Kate suddenly raised a box wrapped in wax paper.

"Is it this?"

Kate lifted her hand, brushing away the hair from her forehead,

"Unless someone else hid something here."

Lu Li took the wax paper box, uninterested in probing its contents: "I’m getting ready to go back."

"Aren’t you going to look around more?"

"I haven’t slept for many days."

Lu Li did not know what would happen if he kept going, thinking it would not be anything good. At this time, the remnant thoughts of the drowned person should have already returned.

"See you tomorrow morning then." Kate waved goodbye to Lu Li.

Closing the storeroom door, Lu Li said goodbye to Kate and left the activity area.

Another problem blocked him—the darkness outside the corridor.

He asked the Gatekeeper for help, but he only wanted to see a mockery.

Then a tall and thin shadow walked out. Lu Li recognized it as the merchant, trying to follow closely behind it.

The shadow was indifferent to Lu Li’s approach, and the darkness did not enshroud to devour him. Returning to the corridor outside the ward, Lu Li pushed open the door to room 204, seeing the formless merchant shadow slipping into room 205.

Then, Lu Li discovered wet stains at his feet. The remnant thoughts of the drowned person had been here.

Lu Li, who needed rest, dragged the bed to block the doorway, recalling that it could slip through the cracks of the door, then retrieved patient clothing from the drawer to seal the door gaps.

Now, he should be able to have a good sleep.

...

A gray mist dispelled the oppression of the night.

Lu Li woke up in the morning, looking at the calendar that had only passed by one day.

He restored the hospital bed, put away the patient clothing, and took the box to find the Crow Mask.

The Crow Mask kept its word and gave Lu Li the flashlight.

Snap—

He turned on the flashlight, the bright beam shining towards the window.

Now, Lu Li could explore the ward at night.