The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 129: Reality and Illusion

"Wait! I'm not finished!" the mysterious man called out hastily as Lu Li walked away.

Lu Li paused, then walked back to the table.

"You'll certainly live until you die," the mysterious man remarked, unable to stop himself. He had expected Lu Li to put up a token argument before leaving, but he’d departed without another word.

"I should hope so," Lu Li replied, seemingly missing the sarcasm. "Was there something else?"

The mysterious man hesitated, his voice dropping to a low murmur. "When you break out of this evil spirit's ritual... don't forget to come back for me."

"Fine."

Lu Li turned and walked away again, the faint, firefly-like glow of his lamp swiftly receding into the distance.

"One... two..."

Plunged into the suffocating dark, Lu Li began to count under his breath. When he reached three in his mind, he raised his hand and squeezed the trigger.

BANG!!!A flash of light momentarily illuminated his surroundings.

He saw the shadows that had closed in on the table, the space between them, and through that space, the back door.

"Open the door," he commanded.

Lu Li didn't bother reloading. He turned sideways, leading with his left shoulder, and charged!

A soft click.

There was the faint sound of a lock turning, followed by a sharp gasp from Anna. Lu Li's left shoulder was already making contact with the wooden door.

BOOM!

The loud crash echoed in the darkness. The door burst open from the impact, sending splinters flying. Instead of floorboards, his feet met the uneven dirt of the backyard.

Once clear of the tavern, Lu Li moved quickly toward where he remembered the carriage was parked, his arms outstretched before him like a blind man.

"Three... four."

A whisper slithered through the surrounding darkness. The ground was rough, but Lu Li didn't slow his pace, shifting his weight to the balls of his feet to keep from twisting an ankle.

"Five..."

Lu Li's hand brushed against a stable post. Consulting his memory, he changed direction. The whispering grew clearer, as if it was drawing near.

"Six..."

Lu Li’s pupils contracted. He whipped his head around and swung his right fist, but it met only empty air.

Something had just breathed against his ear.

"Seven..."

An indescribable terror washed over Lu Li. It wasn't a feeling that rose from within him, but one that was forced upon him—an invasive, suffocating dread projected by some horrifying presence.

A hand materialized from the darkness, reaching for Lu Li from behind.

This is it...

The moment that thought flashed through Lu Li's mind, his outstretched fingers brushed against coarse horsehair and warm hide.

The whispers, the darkness, the crushing terror, the thing that had been closing in on him—it all vanished in an instant. The dim colors and faint light he'd been deprived of for the last few minutes flooded back into his world.

The oil lamp hanging from the stable post swayed gently in the cool night breeze, casting shifting shadows across the backyard.

In the distance, a dog barked, its call echoing through the night.

The horse, bedded down in a pile of hay, nudged Lu Li's palm with its warm, damp nose.

The familiar scene now felt exceptionally vivid and real.

"Anna?"

"I'm back to normal."

Anna's voice came from beside him.

Lu Li stroked the horse’s mane and holstered his flintlock pistol. An old casing fell into the hay, and a new bullet slid into the chamber.

A soft click.

Securing the holstered pistol at his waist, Lu Li took the oil lamp from its post and headed back toward the tavern.

As he left the stable, he suddenly stopped and looked back.

With the lamp gone, darkness reclaimed the stable. Only a pair of large, dark eyes reflected his silhouette.

...

The mysterious man was in a tight spot.

By the time he decided to break free from the encroaching shadows... he was already surrounded.

He might not have feared these creatures, but they were certainly an inconvenience.

Lu Li still hadn't returned, and the man was just about to open his suitcase. But doing so would inevitably cost him points on his evaluation. To him, that would be worse than death... well, almost as bad.

As he waited endlessly, a hand that seemed to materialize from the void landed on his shoulder. The world around him shattered, and he was violently pulled from that dark, bizarre realm.

But his situation hadn't improved. The mysterious man's face was blasted with heat and smoke. He doubled over, wracked by a violent coughing fit. "Thanks, pal—cough, cough—what is that you're holding—cough, cough..."

Lu Li opened his mouth to explain that he'd lit some hay to illuminate the room, but a furious shout echoed from the floor above.

"Damn you, you bastards! Are you trying to burn my tavern down!?"

The old woman, a blanket thrown over her shoulders, stomped down the stairs. Her eyes fell on the broken, wide-open back door, through which a cold wind was now gusting.

"My door! What did you do to my door!?"

"This gentleman will compensate you for the damages," Lu Li said, stamping out the burning hay. The smoldering embers only produced more smoke.

"Why me?" The mysterious man, finally done coughing, looked up with a slightly soot-stained face. He suddenly hissed and dropped a match that had burned down to his fingertips.

"I don't have any money, and I did it to save you," Lu Li retorted. He walked to the back door and, under the old woman's venomous glare, tossed the smoldering hay outside.

The mysterious man sighed. "Fine... Ma'am, just put the damages on my tab."

"No more incidents," the old woman grumbled, struggling to close the broken back door.

Lu Li walked over to the mysterious man. "Can we talk?"

"Now? It's late. I need my beauty sleep."

"Are we safe?"

"They won't be back."

"Tomorrow, then."

"Deal."

After their brief exchange, Lu Li headed back upstairs, keenly aware of the old woman's suspicious gaze.

The mysterious man picked up his suitcase and followed. The old woman watched them until their silhouettes disappeared around the bend in the staircase.

She returned to the counter and poured herself a glass of red wine.

One way or another, she was going to keep an eye on those two tonight.

...

"The man in the next room talks a lot. He seems like a good person."

Back in their room, Anna materialized in her usual form and sat down on a wooden chair.

The lit oil lamp was placed back on the table. She glanced out at the now-empty street for a moment before drawing the curtain again.

It was strange that Anna equated talkativeness with kindness, but it was understandable—Lu Li felt much the same way.

He preferred conversing with talkative people over silent ones, regardless of whether they were telling the truth or lies.

"But he said we were safe... Is that true?"

"It should be."

Unlike Anna, who was replaying the events in her mind, Lu Li was preoccupied with something else.

Was what he had just experienced real, or was it a subconscious hallucination brought on by the Lightfruit...

If it was a hallucination, why was Anna caught up in the ritual as well?

And if it wasn't, how could he explain the shadows that the newspaper had dismissed as mere fiction?

Lu Li shared his thoughts with Anna. She hesitated before replying, "I could smell the Lightfruit... Does that count?"

Everything was tangled again.

But at least tonight should be quiet.

Probably.