The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 273: The Man-Eating House

"What did you hear?" Lu Li asked Anna.

"What?"

"I heard you scratching the table."

Both the owner and Anna, hidden in the In-Between, replied at the same time.

"It hurts! This man wants to kill me!" the counter continued to whine, and an unintelligible whisper spread throughout the coffee shop, as if in response to its words.

"Mother, how much longer must I wait? I can't wait for this man to become my counter... Alright, I'll wait a little longer then..."

Having received some sort of reply, the counter's voice gradually faded and disappeared.

Everything returned to normal.

Lu Li listened to the voices in silence before turning to the puzzled owner. "A cup of hot milk or coffee."

Though somewhat surprised by Lu Li's behavior, the owner nodded and went to prepare the hot beverage.Anna's quiet voice spoke up beside him. "Do you sense that something is wrong?"

"There is something. We'll talk later."

Lu Li averted his gaze and looked at the cup of coffee the owner had placed before him.

"No milk, just brewed some coffee. Add sugar?"

"No, thank you," Lu Li replied, picking up the hot cup.

"It's burning me! Curse it, I'll make a cup out of his head!" a piercing shriek erupted from the coffee cup.

"He's already my counter!" the counter objected.

"He's too small, you fool!" the coffee cup squealed.

"That's my business!"

"You can't take him from me!"

"I saw him first!"

"Your head is full of sawdust!"

"And you have nothing in yours!"

The counter and the coffee cup argued furiously, and then a good-natured voice spoke from below, from under the chair. "I think he'd make a fine chair."

The arguers fell silent for a moment, then simultaneously lashed out at the chair.

As they bickered, a commanding consciousness suddenly emerged among them, and all three objects fell silent at once, as if in fear.

"Sir? Are you alright?" the owner suddenly asked.

The customer hadn't moved for several minutes since picking up the cup.

Lu Li put the cup down and asked the owner, "Is there anyone else here besides you?"

The owner grew more and more perplexed by the guest's strange behavior, but still answered, "Usually, the neighbors stop by for tea, but they won't come in this weather."

Lu Li nodded and, turning slightly, said, "Anna, get him out of here."

Before the owner could even process what was happening, Lu Li abruptly stood up and rushed for the door.

Click.

A soft sound echoed as the bolt on the door suddenly slid shut.

Lu Li accelerated and slammed his shoulder into the door.

Bam!

Lu Li staggered for a moment, and then he was outside.

With a loud crack, the door flew off its hinges, and a piercing scream tore through the air.

Having burst out of the coffee shop, Lu Li stopped in the middle of the street in the pouring rain and turned back.

From the broken doorway, Anna floated out, holding the dumbfounded owner of the coffee shop. She tossed him at Lu Li's feet, splashing him with mud.

Anna materialized and, floating up to Lu Li, said with confusion in her voice, "I don't understand why you suddenly decided to wreck the place, but whatever you're doing, I'm with you!"

"There's something wrong with this house," Lu Li replied calmly.

Anna's confusion vanished instantly. As if she understood, she turned back to the coffee shop and asked, "Is it an Anomaly?"

"Something like that."

Lu Li squinted, shielding his eyes from the cold rain.

He could feel something sinister stirring within the coffee shop, awakened by his sudden actions.

Anna sensed it at the same moment. To her senses, the coffee shop had suddenly come to life.

It was watching them.

The hatred in its gaze made Lu Li frown.

It was calling to him.

The call, filled with malice, gave Lu Li a sense of foreboding.

The coffee shop owner scrambled to his feet and, staring fearfully at Lu Li and Anna, didn't dare to run.

Averting his gaze from the living house, Lu Li turned to the terrified owner. "I'm an Investigator—an exorcist, you could say. Your coffee shop is an Anomaly. Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard about the man-eating house at 33 Elm Street. Your coffee shop is the same."

All the residents of Elm Street knew about the man-eating house, and the coffee shop owner was no exception. He asked, stunned, "My coffee shop... eats people, too?"

"Yes."

Since she had already revealed herself to a human, Anna decided not to hide anymore. "What do we do now?" she asked.

"Contact the Investigators' base."

Ignoring the bewildered owner, Lu Li, soaked to the bone, moved under the awning of the neighboring building. It was a clothing store, its door locked from the inside.

Just in case, Lu Li ran a fingernail across the wooden door—no sounds.

Then Lu Li opened the small wooden box of rotten meat and waited for a Black Crow.

The coffee shop owner stood in the middle of the street for some time, then suddenly stirred and cautiously headed toward the coffee shop.

Anna opened her mouth as if to say something but held her tongue. Lu Li, calm as ever, watched as the owner approached the coffee shop, bent down, picked up a wallet from a puddle, and hurried back under the awning, keeping his distance from them.

He stayed well away, not daring to speak to Lu Li and Anna.

After a while, a dark shadow appeared in the rain before Lu Li. It flew low, straight toward him, and landed on his outstretched arm.

Ignoring the owner, who was stealing furtive glances, Lu Li spoke to the Black Crow: "Fly to the Investigators' base and report that a new 'Man-Eating House' Anomaly has appeared at 63 Elm Street."

"Caw!" The Black Crow looked at Lu Li with its black eyes, cawed, and soared into the rainy sky.

Time passed. The coffee shop owner began to shiver from the cold, while Lu Li remained standing tall. After half an hour, a steam-powered car appeared in the distance.

The car was covered with a strange, waterproof tarpaulin. An eye was painted on the door.

It was the Night's Watch.

After a moment's thought, Anna quietly vanished.

The steam car wasn't just passing by. It stopped in front of Lu Li, and several figures in black cloaks emerged, revealing black uniforms underneath.

The man leading the squad let his gaze linger on the coffee shop owner before approaching Lu Li. "Hello, Investigator. We are the seventy-eighth squad of the Night's Watch. I am Captain Plis."

He paused, looking at Lu Li with uncertainty.

"Have we met somewhere before?"