The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 139: A Knock at the Door

Wooo...

They had covered the gash in the wall with a sheet, forced the door back into its frame, and nailed boards over the windows.

The wind whistled through the cracks, but inside the wooden hut, it was warm and calm.

—Hooo...

Lu Li blew across the surface of the hot tea in the small pot before taking a careful sip.

A welcome warmth spread through his chest, chasing away the chill from within.

—Drip... drip... drip...

Water trickled from the woolen coat and trousers he had hung behind the door. His boots were propped against the wall, and the holster containing his Spirit Gun lay beside him, drying in the fire's warmth.

Lu Li sat barefoot by the fire, clad in a wrung-out shirt and shorts, his expression calm.

Opposite him sat Anna, holding little Reina's diary. A faint blush colored her pale cheeks, born either of the fire's heat or a quiet embarrassment.Lu Li tilted the pot, moistened a clean cloth with hot water, and began to dab at the scrapes on his hands. "You're holding the book upside down."

Anna let out a small yelp and hastily flipped the diary over, her cheeks flushing a deeper red. "I... I... I was just practicing reading upside down..."

"Oh," Lu Li said, not pressing the point as he continued to clean his hands.

"It's true! I can read upside down... For example, this letter... it's so white... I mean... I wanted to say... uhhh..." Stammering, Anna hid her face behind the diary. The blush spread all the way to her earlobes.

After a moment, Anna cautiously lowered the diary, peeking out with her clear eyes. When she saw that Lu Li was preoccupied with his wounds and paying her no mind, she relaxed slightly and tried her best to focus on the text.

She needed to make sure there were no other important clues in the diary. What if this "uncle" also had a wife?

As for reading it upside down... The boy's scrawl was so messy it was a challenge to read right-side up, forcing her to guess at the meaning from context. Never mind trying to read it backward...

Time passed. Lu Li finished tending to his wounds and tossed the cloth into the fire. He added another log to the flames, then picked up the pot again, taking small sips to ward off the damp chill.

Anna, meanwhile, became immersed in her reading, carefully studying page after page.

A comfortable silence settled between them. Outside the hut's walls, the storm raged, but inside, it was warm and safe.

Anna did indeed find a mention of the "uncle's" wife, but she had apparently died long ago. Beyond that, Anna learned many new things. For example, she read about the Six-Armed Savages, whom the family of four referred to as "little meat," while humans like Lu Li were called "guests" and "big meat."

Further on, Anna found an explanation for the difference between "little" and "big meat." To her surprise, it was somehow related to one's Mind Level.

[I hate eating little meat. Every time I eat a lot of it, scary things appear all around! Auntie went crazy because she ate little meat, and the Mother of the Swamp took her!]

According to the entry, consuming "little meat" lowered the Mind Level of the family that worshiped the Mother of the Swamp, while "big meat" did not.

Anna told Lu Li about her discovery. He was surprised. He hadn't expected that these clearly inhuman beings also possessed a Mind Level.

What could it mean? Perhaps it wasn't just humans who had a Mind Level? Or had this family once been human?

Lu Li recalled the structure of their bodies. Beneath their human-like skin was a fibrous substance, resembling dark wood or stale bread. No brains, blood, or bones. Inside, they were not at all like humans.

If one were to describe them in a single word, it would be "plant-like." Fibrous on the inside and terrified of fire.

The "uncle" had been slightly different. His fibers were denser, stronger. Lu Li's Spirit Gun had been able to pierce the woman's head and impale the boy's mouth, pinning him to the wall. But against the "uncle," it had only managed to inflict a wound the size of a dinner plate and drive a branch a few centimeters into him. He was more like a wooden puppet.

On one hand, he was stronger, but on the other, more vulnerable. In the end, Anna had lopped off his head with a single swing of her axe, and he had been unable to regenerate.

Grass can grow back, but a tree cannot.

"How did you know something was wrong with them?"

Anna closed the diary and asked the question that had been nagging at her for some time.

"What specifically?"

Lu Li broke from his thoughts and looked at Anna.

"Well, that they were monsters..."

When Lu Li had fired, Anna had thought that, like a hero from a novel she had recently read, he had suddenly turned villain.

"There were a lot of signs."

Lu Li's words made Anna blush. She hadn't noticed a single one herself...

"First of all, a hut with a family of three in the middle of the Shadow Swamp is strange in itself. The calm before the storm, the darkness before the dawn, peace in the midst of danger—remember, the more something clashes with its surroundings, the more likely it is to be an anomaly."

"Oh..." Anna nodded. She had thought so at first, too, but then for some reason, she had let her guard down...

"Then there was the clothing. You probably didn't notice, but there were many different sets of clothes in the hut. They were scattered carelessly around the bed."

Anna instinctively glanced at the bed in the corner. And sure enough, there lay a pile of assorted clothing.

"And their distance from the fire. You might not have noticed, but while they were warming themselves, they kept a significant distance from it. Even when they added more wood, they never drew near the flames."

"You noticed all that in such a short time...?" Anna felt a sting of intellectual and observational inadequacy. "And that's what made you decide they weren't human?"

After all, she was a ghost; she should have noticed more than Lu Li...

"No."

Lu Li shook his head and answered calmly.

"The smell of blood put me on guard. As soon as the rain started, it stirred up the scent from the ground. The smell of blood around the hut was so strong it practically hung in the air. I noticed everything else only after I understood what was going on."

When you already know the answer, all the oddities become obvious.

Anna was at a loss for words, unsure of what expression to wear.

Knock, knock, knock...

There was a knock at the door.

The cozy atmosphere in the hut instantly evaporated.

Again?!

Anna felt a chill and looked at Lu Li, who was reaching for his Spirit Gun.

Grabbing the weapon, Lu Li sensed an unpleasant aura approach the door and then vanish, leaving behind only a faint trace and something else.

"Open it," Lu Li said.

Without hesitating, Anna flew to the door and flung it open.

There was no one behind the door. Only the damp air and an invitation pinned to the wood.

Puzzled, Anna took the invitation, closed the door, and returned to Lu Li.

Lu Li lowered his pistol, took the invitation, and unfolded it.

[Dear Guest,]

[We have heard that you have come to the swamp. The Mother of the Swamp is hospitable; she loves guests.]

[Tonight after sunset, a gathering will be held in the deepest part of the Shadow Swamp.]

[We sincerely invite you to join us.]

[We shall be waiting for you this evening.]