The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 292: Fragile People

"They won't be able to detect me so easily anymore," Anna's voice whispered in Lu Li's ear.

Lu Li nodded, swaying with the carriage's jolts. He turned to Barton, who seemed to have forgotten the recent incident. "Is there anything I should know before going into the Elm Forest?"

"Show the forest some respect. The trees don't take kindly to those who disrespect them," Barton replied.

"They might already be dead."

"That principle applies to anything," Barton continued.

"Anything else?"

"Be careful not to fall. There won't be anywhere to change your clothes out there," Barton added.

It seemed he had nothing more to add.

Half an hour later, the carriage arrived on Elm Street. Now that the cursed antique book had been removed, the street had returned to its former appearance. There were few pedestrians in the rain. Only a handful of houses were cordoned off with tape, and the silhouettes of observers could be seen behind the windows of shops and homes.

These cordoned-off houses were the ones Lu Li had identified as contaminated. They had been left untouched for now.Barton gazed out the carriage window, oblivious as the wind and rain soaked through his thin clothes.

Soon, the carriage halted at the end of the street.

Donning his cloak, Lu Li paid the driver, opened his umbrella, and stepped out of the carriage.

Barton, also wearing a cloak, climbed out after him. The driver helped him down. The wooden prosthesis that replaced his right leg landed on the cobblestones with a dull thud. Barton surveyed the rain-swept street and muttered, "The last time I was here was seven or eight years ago."

JoJo had mentioned on the phone that Barton had retired right around then—after he lost his leg.

"So you haven't been back since you were crippled."

In the cold rain, Lu Li's words sounded harsh, but Barton took no offense. After all, everyone in his neighborhood on Sailor Street called him Cripple Barton.

The word "disabled" was gentler than "cripple."

"You spend more than twenty years suffering in one place, and then you go and lose a leg there. Do you really think you'd suddenly feel like, 'Oh, I miss that place, I should go back and take a look'?" Barton scoffed sarcastically, heading toward the end of the street, a dozen meters away.

"Although, I do have some good memories of this place, too."

The smooth cobblestones ended, giving way to a muddy dirt road. Barton, not noticing the change, stumbled with a squelch. As he righted himself, he saw Lu Li's outstretched hand. "No need to help me... I've walked every one of these paths hundreds of times. That was just a fluke."

After that, however, Barton didn't stumble or slip again. He truly knew this forest like the back of his hand. Even though the torrential rain limited visibility to a few dozen meters and the muddy ground made it impossible to distinguish the path from the woods, he still found a relatively smooth route for them to enter the forest.

After following Barton for some distance, Lu Li began to make out the silhouettes of trees.

Like everywhere else, they looked like bare, leafless trees in winter, devoid of any sign of life, their branches skeletal and stark.

The misty shadows of the trees around them grew denser. Lu Li stopped and turned back. The downpour, crashing from the sky to the earth, had completely obscured the path they had taken.

At some point, Lu Li felt an unsettling feeling wash over him.

Barton, walking ahead, suddenly changed direction. He made a sharp right turn and, as Lu Li watched, approached an elm with thick, gnarled roots.

It was taller and thicker than any of the other elms Lu Li had seen on their way, yet not a single leaf adorned its branches. Its grayish-brown trunk seemed to herald the end of life itself.

Barton stopped seven or eight meters from the Overlord Tree and stood in the rain, listening to something, before he muttered, "They're crying in despair, because their life is fading away irrevocably..."

The sight of the old woodcutter muttering incomprehensible words might have been amusing, but when Lu Li felt the very same thing, it was no longer a joke.

A profound sorrow permeated the entire forest. The feeling was so pure that it seemed capable of plunging anyone into bottomless despair.

There was no malice, no inexplicable pressure, no cold. Just as Barton had said, this forest was simply expressing its emotions.

"I don't feel well..." Anna whispered in Lu Li's ear, and he felt a slight tug on the edge of his clothes.

"It's because the forest is grieving," Lu Li replied.

He now truly understood why Barton had been so certain that this forest possessed only emotions, not consciousness.

The forest meant no one any harm; it simply reacted emotionally to everything around it. The woodcutters and lumberjacks who had died here were merely too weak to withstand the forest's pain and sorrow, which had flared up in that moment.

Barton returned, his wrinkled face streaked with what might have been tears, or perhaps just raindrops. "Something's wrong with the forest's emotions... Follow me, and don't get close to the Overlord Trees."

"What happens if you get close to them?" Lu Li asked.

He needed to know about all the potential dangers.

"It depends on your willpower. If it's weak, you could end up like that poor soul."

Barton nodded toward a spot not far from them.

Another Overlord Tree grew there, and at its base lay a heap of scattered bones. The strap of a pair of overalls dangled from a branch.

A skull was half-sunk in the mud, its empty eye sockets staring up at the sky.

An axe was buried deep in the tree's trunk.

Long ago, that unfortunate lumberjack, while chopping at the Overlord Tree, had succumbed to the forest's emotions and hanged himself with the strap of his overalls.

The forest hadn't wanted to harm people, but people died because of their own weakness.

The thought took root in Lu Li's mind, and he couldn't help but ponder it further.

Perhaps some strange creatures and phenomena held no malice toward humankind; perhaps it was simply that fragile humans were incapable of enduring their presence, and that even the attempt to comprehend their actions could drive one mad.

Lu Li felt he was approaching some unfathomable truth.

Barton continued to lead him on, occasionally pausing to get his bearings before moving forward again.

The shadows of the trees grew ever thicker. They had already penetrated deep into the Elm Forest.

The recent hurricane had also damaged this forest. Fallen, dead trees lay everywhere, making the already muddy path even more impassable.

After twenty minutes, as Barton changed direction yet again, Lu Li asked, "How far is the cliff from Elm Street?"

"About twelve to thirteen kilometers. At this pace, it'll take us another two hours or so," Barton answered, slightly out of breath.

He was holding up well. A youth spent in physical labor had given him a deep well of stamina.

Lu Li nodded and followed Barton in silence, trekking through the quiet Elm Forest where the only sound was the patter of the rain.