The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 133: Six-Armed Savage

Anna instantly understood Lu Li’s plan. Her translucent soul gradually dissolved into the In-Between, her gaze fixed on the spot behind the trees where the sounds originated.

Lu Li, probing the ground before him with his staff, continued onward as if he hadn't noticed a thing.

Rustle, rustle...

At the edge of a tangle of gnarled roots, a few fallen leaves stirred.

Anna's eyes flew open. She positioned herself behind Lu Li, poised to strike.

The hiding creature didn't wait long. Seeing Lu Li walk away, it grew agitated. A few seconds later, a mud-caked form scrambled out from behind the trees. Scuttling on all six of its limbs, it crawled rapidly toward Lu Li.

Rustle, rustle...

The sound drew closer, fast. Lu Li heard it but didn't turn around.

"Now!"

Ready for it, Anna gave a low cry. Thrusting her palms toward the approaching figure, she unleashed a wide net of mental energy.The crawling creature slammed into Anna's mental net. The resistance slowed its advance until it came to a near standstill just behind Lu Li.

Waiting for the creature to be ensnared, Lu Li spun around, drew his Spirit Gun, and aimed it at the creature's forehead.

"Six limbs... It's a Six-Armed Savage...?"

Anna, finally getting a clear look at the legendary creature she had trapped, felt a jolt of fear. Her brave facade vanished in an instant, and she was once again the timid girl from a noble family.

Lu Li kept his finger on the trigger but didn't fire. He studied the creature he had heard so much about.

Its body resembled a human's, but it was completely hairless. Its skin was caked in a layer of mud, and a tattered scrap of cloth was tied around its hips. This camouflage allowed it to blend almost perfectly with the swamp.

What drew the eye was its upper body. In addition to two normal arms, it had another pair of limbs sprouting from its waist. Its legs were just legs, not arms as some rumors claimed.

That made sense, of course. A four-legged or four-armed savage just didn't sound as frightening as a six-armed one.

But that wasn't the only difference. Its joints were insect-like, and the upper and lower sections of its limbs were of equal length. This structure allowed it to crawl with incredible speed but made it impossible to walk upright. Where its eyes should have been, there was nothing but an enormous mouth that took up half its face.

Does it navigate by sound?

The Six-Armed Savage, bound by Anna's power, couldn't move. It struggled a few times to break free, then bared a maw full of sharp teeth and began to grind them together rapidly, producing a piercing, grating sound—a clear threat.

Perhaps it was trying to call for help, or maybe to mark Lu Li.

This was the moment Lu Li should have fired, but instead, he holstered the Spirit Gun.

The holster muffled the whispers emanating from the pistol, but the bone-deep chill pervading his body had yet to fade.

Lu Li raised his staff and gently nudged the Six-Armed Savage's shoulder with it.

The restraining force vanished. The savage stopped grinding its teeth, turned, and quickly crawled away.

"Why didn't you shoot?" Anna asked, watching the creature flee.

"This is their home, and we're the outsiders," Lu Li replied, shifting the staff from his left hand to his right. "And don't forget the Inquirer's warning."

""The swamp hears what does not belong to it"?" Anna recalled. "But isn't that just a trick?"

"Just in case," Lu Li answered.

The question of reality versus deception was too complex. Both had their drawbacks, and Lu Li couldn't be sure which was the truth.

Besides, the tattered cloth on the Six-Armed Savage's hips bothered him.

Was it mimicking humans? Or a sign of intelligence?

Lu Li turned to continue on his way. Suddenly, a dull splash sounded behind him.

Grind, grind...

From behind the tree roots came the grinding of teeth, sharper and more frequent than before.

Anna detected a note of alarm in the grinding and glanced quizzically at Lu Li.

"Let's go take a look."

Lu Li and Anna went back to the tree roots. They saw the Six-Armed Savage bogged down in the very swamp Lu Li had carefully avoided. Its six limbs thrashed in the viscous mire as it struggled to stay afloat.

A loud grinding noise echoed from its enormous maw.

"Trapped in its own home? Pfft..." Anna covered her mouth with her hand, stifling a small laugh.

Hearing the sound, the struggling Six-Armed Savage turned its head. On its face, which held nothing but a mouth, Lu Li and Anna could see its distress.

"It must have been trying to get away from us and didn't notice," Lu Li said.

Whatever the reason, the scene instantly dispelled most of the mystery and danger that surrounded the Six-Armed Savage.

At least now, Anna could look at it without fear.

The savage was starting to weaken. Once four of its limbs were fully submerged in the mire, it lost the strength to fight and began to sink rapidly, until only its chest and two flailing arms remained above the surface.

Suddenly, a shadow flickered before its face, right above its head, and then held still.

Sensing a chance at salvation, the Six-Armed Savage reached out with its two remaining arms and, gripping the staff with sharp claws, tried to pull itself up.

Lu Li planted his right foot back, shifted his center of gravity, and began to slowly retreat, pulling the savage from the bog.

The savage offered no thanks, nor any sign of gratitude. Like a wild animal afraid of humans, the moment it was free of the mire, it dragged its exhausted body aside and, with a rustle of leaves, vanished into the thicket.

"Hey! Ow, that hurts..." Anna, having received a light tap on the head from the butt of Lu Li's pistol, stopped shouting.

She muttered quietly after the Six-Armed Savage, "Don't fall into another hole..."

She didn't like that the savage had left without a single word of thanks, especially after she'd gotten a knock from Lu Li for the first time. Pouting, she asked, "Why did you save it?"

"Because I felt like it," Lu Li replied, shaking the mud left by the Six-Armed Savage from his staff as he continued on his way.

Anna froze, watching Lu Li's retreating back. She suddenly recalled how differently he treated her, other ghosts, and other people.

Her eyes began to shine faintly. He was really... hiding his tenderness behind a mask of indifference...

"Hurry up. We need to find our target before the rain starts," his calm voice reached her.

"Right," Anna snapped out of her reverie and floated after him.

...

Half an hour later, as Lu Li and Anna neared the Bloody Tentacle, they gained a traveling companion.

The mud on the body of the Six-Armed Savage, which had been secretly following them, had not yet dried. It kept its distance.

"Maybe it's following us to thank us?" There was always room for naive romanticism in a young girl's thoughts.

"One could hope," Lu Li replied, deciding not to shatter her illusion.