The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 154: The Mind Level Test

The following morning, the weather remained overcast and rainy.

It wasn't as cold as the day before, but it was still cool enough that the city's residents had pulled on their coats.

Order had returned to the streets, with only a few collapsed wooden houses and the somber mood of the townspeople serving as silent reminders of the recent events.

Anna remained at the detective agency, while Lu Li went to Waterfront Street alone.

The rain mingled with the sea wind. Stopping before Old Man Pick's Laundry, which was still missing its door, Lu Li stepped inside.

Inside, it was as noisy as a tavern. Residents from the neighboring houses had gathered at small tables, chatting animatedly while they waited for their laundry.

Old Man Pick emerged from behind the counter, exchanged a few words with the customers, and then approached Lu Li, gesturing for him to follow.

Lu Li followed Old Man Pick to a relatively dim corner of the room. The old man pulled out a chair and invited Lu Li to sit opposite him.

"Here?"

"Here.""They won't hear?"

"They won't hear."

It was as if yesterday's dialogue was repeating itself, only with the roles reversed. Lu Li's every question seemed to be seeking confirmation.

Lu Li stood in silence for a few moments, then, under Old Man Pick's watchful gaze, he sat down on the chair in the corner.

From here, he had a clear view of the entire room.

"What will you have to drink?" Old Man Pick asked, leaning on the table.

"Nothing."

"My treat."

"A hot drink, then."

"One moment," Old Man Pick said, rising and heading for the counter.

Lu Li expected someone to appear to conduct the Mind Level test, but instead, Old Man Pick returned with two cups of hot coffee.

"Don't worry, it really is me," Old Man Pick said, as if reading Lu Li's thoughts. He placed one cup in front of Lu Li and the other before an empty chair beside him. "Many exorcists coming for their first test have similar doubts. It's normal."

Lu Li shifted his gaze from the bustling room to the empty chair next to Old Man Pick.

Suddenly, a hand with rough, calloused skin appeared next to the chair. It grasped the backrest, pulled it out, and sat down. The invisible visitor picked up the coffee cup and took a sip. "Pah... Too cheap to even add sugar?"

The voice belonged to an elderly man with upturned corners of his eyes, giving him a short-tempered appearance. He seemed to be on good terms with Old Man Pick.

Old Man Pick shrugged. "I mixed them up. This cup is yours. Oh, I just wanted to see a different expression on your face. You're not offended, are you?"

Lu Li remained silent.

"Got some character," the old man grunted, draping an arm over the back of his chair.

"So cautious... You might just outlive me," Old Man Pick muttered, his tone hovering somewhere between praise and jest.

Then he addressed Lu Li: "I'll ask the questions, you'll answer, and he'll be the judge. Any other questions?"

'He's the judge? Is this old man connected to an Evil Spirit?' Lu Li thought.

"Begin," Lu Li replied curtly.

Ignoring Lu Li's brevity, Old Man Pick cleared his throat and said, "You must answer precisely. If you're not sure, just say so."

"Understood."

Old Man Pick fixed his gaze on Lu Li and, over the drone of conversations in the laundry, posed the first question.

"Do you believe the world is getting worse?"

An indescribably heavy aura enveloped the table. It seemed to draw out the darkest feelings from the depths of the soul: despair, sorrow, and fear.

Lu Li realized that the consciousness of an Evil Spirit had manifested. It was affecting him, and only him.

To ordinary people, these were just strange questions, nothing more.

"Yes," Lu Li answered, pausing for a moment to fully experience the heavy aura.

"Wow," the old man mouthed silently, his lips moving without a sound.

"Do you feel fear in the face of the supernatural?"

"No," Lu Li replied calmly.

The old man's expression grew increasingly strange. Old Man Pick asked the third question: "Are you willing to do anything to survive?"

"No."

"You and a stranger are in a sinking boat in the middle of the ocean. The boat can only hold one person. To survive, would you push the stranger out?"

Lu Li's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, but he answered, "No."

The question seemed odd. The first two were related to his Mind Level, but this one felt more like something from a psychological test.

While Mind Level was indeed connected to psychology, the link was only indirect.

"You and your enemy are in a sinking boat in the middle of the ocean. The boat can only hold one. To survive, would you push your enemy out?"

Old Man Pick's fourth question was different only in the person involved.

"Yes," Lu Li answered without hesitation.

Perhaps the question had numerous conditions: for instance, the enemy might be a good person, or could help patch the hole in the boat. But Lu Li didn't consider these nuances, wanting his answer to be unambiguous.

He answered without a second thought.

"You and a dog are in a sinking boat in the middle of the ocean. It can only hold one. To survive, would you throw the dog overboard?"

"No."

The other old man, who had been silent until now, suddenly interjected, "But you could drown."

Lu Li looked at the old man with his calm, dark eyes. "It's not my place to decide who lives and who dies."

The old man smirked. "But you pushed your enemy."

"He was my enemy," Lu Li replied.

The old man couldn't find a reply.

Old Man Pick seemed to smile. "The next question is about your best friend, but I suppose I don't need to ask."

Lu Li had shown the greatest kindness to a stranger, to say nothing of someone close to him.

"Would you harm a harmless ghost?" Old Man Pick asked the sixth question, looking at Lu Li as if he already knew the answer.

"No."

Lu Li's answer came as no surprise to him. The previous evening, Old Man Pick had seen the ghost beside Lu Li.

The other old man, however, who had been sitting relaxed beside him, straightened up as if he'd heard something unbelievable, his eyes wide.

Old Man Pick continued, "The next three questions are similar, so I'll combine them: would you harm a harmless Spirit of Defilement, Evil God, or Anomaly?"

"What are those?"

Aside from the last term, Lu Li wasn't familiar with the other two. And even his understanding of "Anomaly" might not be what Old Man Pick meant.

"I thought you knew. Then the nex—"

"There are four classification systems for anomalies created by humans," the other old man suddenly interrupted Old Man Pick, deciding to clarify for Lu Li. "Back in the day, Spirit Exterminators divided the commonly encountered anomalous beings into four systems: the Evil Spirit system, the Evil God system, the Spirit of Defilement system, and the Anomaly system."

"So, kid, if they're harmless, would you hurt them?"