The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 265: A Cry for Help from the Alley

A homeless man huddled under a streetlight, a scrap of canvas his only shield from the rain. Despite several layers of clothing, the damp chill from the ground seeped into his bones. He knew this was how so many of his fellow unfortunates fell ill.

This spot was one of his favorite shelters, second only to his permanent "home"—a place that was dry but too low, turning into a stream whenever it rained. In foul weather, most of the homeless sought temporary refuge elsewhere.

"I need to find another spot. I'll join the others tomorrow..." the man thought, pulling his grimy clothes tighter around himself.

He had expected a crowd of homeless people to gather under this lamp, but he was alone. It was a miscalculation; in a group, they could huddle together for warmth, and if the police showed up, the scattering crowd would have created a distraction...

That afternoon, while rummaging through the trash, he had overheard people under awnings complaining that the rain would be heavier tomorrow, and the cold even more bitter.

That was why he absolutely had to stick with the others; otherwise, he would surely get sick.

"If I still had both hands, I'd be working too..." the homeless man thought, shrinking deeper into himself and tucking his hands under his armpits.

"Just have to get through tonight."

Drifting in a half-sleep, he heard a noise. The man was instantly awake and reached to grab his canvas, ready to flee. It was a habit all but the newest vagrants developed—the slightest sound usually meant the police were coming.

But he quickly realized it wasn't the coarse voices of policemen, but cries for help and the frantic pounding of footsteps.The homeless man didn't want to get involved, but he couldn't help looking toward the noise. In the dim alley, illuminated by the streetlight, a desperate face flashed into view, only to be swallowed by the darkness, dragged back by unseen hands.

The homeless man froze, then pulled out his homemade "knife"—a sharpened strip of tin from a can.

The cries echoed through the night air. The man swallowed hard, clenched his teeth, and plunged into the alley.

He shouted, as much to bolster his own courage as to draw the attention of the wealthy residents in the surrounding houses.

But the moment he stepped into the alley, the woman's screams, the men's laughter, and his own shouts vanished without a trace, as if they had never existed.

Under the streetlight, the warmth slowly faded from the abandoned piece of canvas.

A carriage appeared in the distance.

...

The carriage rolled down the deserted street. The Terraces District was in the heart of Khimfast, home mostly to the wealthy, which meant its infrastructure was superior.

The streetlights, for instance.

The clatter of hooves echoed down the street. Mery's house was only a few blocks away.

As the carriage entered the illuminated area, Anna noticed Lu Li relax.

"Is something wrong?" Anna asked.

"It's nothing," Lu Li replied without turning around. He had been about to tell Anna about the Black Crow, but a cry for help tore through the night's silence.

Lu Li pulled on the reins, halting the carriage, and looked toward the cry—at a dark alleyway a dozen meters away.

He couldn't help but recall the note from the mailbox.

"I sense... a kindred spirit..." Anna said softly, peering out from behind the carriage curtain. "It's a vengeful spirit."

Lu Li also felt the malice emanating from the alley, a pressure so potent it was hard to breathe.

His lowered Mind Level had significantly sharpened his perception of the supernatural, even without the Spirit Gun.

The note hadn't mentioned what would happen if one encountered the "cry for help from the alley," but it certainly wouldn't be anything good.

Lu Li was about to drive on, but Anna stopped him. "We can't leave. Its mental projection has covered this area. We're inside its ritual... If we go now, we'll be breaking the ritual, and it will attack."

A mental projection was what vengeful spirits used to conduct their rituals. When a spirit evolved to the level of an Evil Spirit, its projection became its true body.

That was why Evil Spirits could take on so many different forms.

"Can we handle it?" Lu Li asked calmly.

"Its projection is stronger than mine..." Anna squinted, her fists tightening, "but if it attacks you, I can protect you!"

Lu Li nodded and said, "While you were with Mery, the Black Crow delivered a regional message. An announcement, you could say. It described a new phenomenon called 'A Cry for Help from the Alley'..."

Anna didn't understand why Lu Li was suddenly bringing this up, but as he finished, the confusion in her eyes gave way to comprehension.

"It sounds like there was no useful information," she said.

"No. We'll have to figure this out on our own."

"So what do we do?"

"First, we watch."

The incessant cries for help were now mixed with the sound of approaching footsteps, drawing closer to the mouth of the alley.

A woman's blood-streaked face appeared in the streetlight's glow. She looked toward the carriage and opened her mouth to say something, but several strong male hands shot out from the darkness, grabbing her by the hair and face and yanking her back.

Lu Li watched impassively.

The cries became intermittent, the sound of dragging receded from the alley's entrance, and then came the sound of male laughter.

A few seconds later, a scream erupted from the alley.

Lu Li continued to watch impassively.

The cries for help twisted into heart-wrenching shrieks, punctuated by men's laughter. The sounds were so horrifying, as if some unspeakable evil was unfolding in the alley, that even Anna couldn't bear it. Her eyes turned bloodshot, and she leaned forward, ready to intervene.

But then she remembered something. She glanced at the motionless Lu Li, and the fury in her eyes subsided. She knew Lu Li never made mistakes. If he was doing nothing, there was a reason.

And if Lu Li was wrong... it simply meant the problem lay somewhere else.

Lu Li continued to watch impassively.

The soul-shattering screams went on for two or three minutes. Not a single resident of the surrounding houses woke up, and not a single passerby appeared on the street.

Then the screams died down, and silence fell over the alley.

A dead silence.

Was it gone?

No.

Anna could still feel the turbulent energy swirling around the alley, and Lu Li could still feel the oppressive malice weighing on his chest.

A few seconds later, a low, dragging, hate-filled female voice drifted from the alley: "Why didn't you save me?"