The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 293: Choosing a Shelter

The Elm Forest was not far from Belfast and covered a roughly similar area, though it was, strictly speaking, a little smaller.

It occupied the uppermost part of Moon Bay, stretching out toward the distant shoreline.

Life had once thrived here; the forest had been teeming with all sorts of creatures—at least, until this past winter.

Then spring arrived, but the plants and trees did not grow. First, countless insects perished, followed by the small animals that fed on them. The disappearance of small animals led to the decline of their predators, and finally, the apex predators at the top of the food chain departed.

The local ecosystem had collapsed from the bottom up.

Lu Li and Barton were likely the only visitors in this Elm Forest, which stretched for dozens of kilometers.

“See that cave?” Barton pointed to the side of a hill, where the dark mouth of an opening was faintly visible. “That used to be a bear’s den, deep and spacious. It’s a perfect fit for your requirements, except that it’s not on a cliff and doesn’t have a view of Belfast.”

“Then it doesn’t fit my requirements,” Lu Li corrected him calmly.

They had been walking through the Elm Forest for two hours, and about fifteen minutes ago, the relatively flat terrain had given way to a hill.

On a clear day, Lu Li had observed this low hill from Belfast. Ascending it would lead to a cliff that rose nearly a hundred meters above sea level.Barton was moving much more slowly than when they had started. He was, after all, fifty-two years old and missing a leg.

Noticing this, Lu Li began asking him questions from time to time to keep him distracted.

“Where is Quiet Hill?”

“Back in the direction we came from, right in the center of the Elm Forest.”

“Why is it called Quiet Hill?”

Under normal circumstances, the name would have sounded peaceful and serene, but in this world, it carried a sinister undertone.

“Because it’s a very dangerous and dreadful place. Even before the forest gained its emotions, no one dared to go near it,” Barton answered. His sentences were getting shorter, a sign that he was running out of energy to maintain an even breath.

Fortunately, they were not far from their destination.

“So why is it called Quiet Hill?”

“It’s irony,” Barton chuckled. “I had a hand in that, too.”

To call a place so dangerous that no one dared approach it “Quiet Hill” was indeed amusing.

“What kind of danger? And how did you know there was a cave there to recommend it to me?”

“Slow down, please. My mind isn’t as quick as you young folk,” Barton complained, but he answered Lu Li’s questions anyway. “The cave was discovered a long time ago, before Quiet Hill became so dangerous. As for recommending it... Of course, I didn’t mean you any harm, I just thought it should be safe by now.”

“You missed one question.”

Barton fell silent, then slowly shook his head. “I can’t talk about it.”

“An Anomaly?” Lu Li guessed.

“Yes.”

Lu Li pondered this, and silence fell between them again, broken only by the sound of the rain. A few minutes later, Barton stopped and said, “We’re here.”

The trees around them had thinned. As they moved forward, the mud underfoot gave way to bare rock, and Lu Li saw what Barton had described—a dark opening in the cliff face, barely visible through the downpour.

...

The oil lamp cast a dim light, barely illuminating the small space around them.

The rest of the cave was swallowed by darkness.

In the deep gloom, it was as if something was prowling and watching.

“See the tool marks on the walls?” Barton’s voice echoed through the empty cave. “They’re several hundred years old. They say that when Macdonald I first arrived on the Allen Peninsula, he ordered his men to stay on this cliff and watch the sea. Later, bears and wolves lived here for a time.”

“It’s near the sea, has a good vantage point, and offers cover. The cave can’t be seen from the sea, nor from the Elm Forest. No one would guess there’s a cave here unless they came right up to this spot. A perfect match for your requirements.”

Lu Li tore his gaze from the marks of pickaxes and other tools on the walls and moved deeper into the cave.

Suddenly, a black, ominous shadow blocked his path.

The cave ended.

It was no more than six meters deep.

“Too shallow,” Lu Li said, raising the lamp to inspect the cave ceiling.

The height, about three meters, was acceptable to him.

“If you don’t mind, you could hire someone to expand it,” Barton suggested, leaning against the wall and sitting down near the cave entrance, where it was not too dark and sheltered from the rain. “Want to take a rest? I’m not tired, of course, but I think you need... a break.”

Barton was struggling to catch his breath.

“I don’t need a rest,” Lu Li replied calmly. “Are you tired?”

In the short time they had known each other, Barton had gotten a sense of Lu Li’s character, so he dropped the pretense and said bluntly, “I’m fifty-two! Fifty-two! If I were married, I’d have grandchildren by now calling me grandpa!”

“I see.” Lu Li nodded, walked back to the edge of the cave, and placed the lamp beside Barton. “Stay here. I’m going out to have a look around.”

“What’s there to see?” Having dropped his act, Barton rubbed his one good leg. “Youth is a wonderful thing, so much energy... And I’m so hungry I can’t even think straight.”

Hearing this, Lu Li reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a paper bag, and handed it to Barton.

“What’s this? Food?” Barton took the bag without ceremony and opened it. Inside was an opened can of stew.

Barton looked at Lu Li in bewilderment, as if seeing him for the first time. “Who brings a can of stew on a trip?”

“Someone who prepares for any situation.”

Taking his umbrella, Lu Li stepped out into the rain. His figure gradually dissolved into the gray curtain of water.

Barton froze for a moment, then looked down at the tightly packed meat in the can and couldn’t help but swallow.

...

The area outside the cave was relatively flat, a mix of rocky ground and patches of earth. Withered trees grew around the cave, though far fewer than in the forest.

Lu Li walked straight from the cave entrance for some distance until he reached the edge of the cliff.

It was about forty to fifty meters from the cave to the cliff’s edge.

Unfortunately, the rain limited visibility, so Lu Li couldn’t properly assess the view. He could only imagine it, orienting himself by the cardinal directions.

Just as Barton had said, from here one could observe the entire expanse of the sea beyond Moon Bay, Belfast, and the lighthouse on the reef.

Lu Li didn’t have time to wait for the rainy season to end to judge the view, so it seemed he would have to choose this place for his shelter.

He didn’t have time to search for a more suitable location, unless he were to use the shelter built by the Investigators. But in that case, all of Lu Li’s preparations would have been for nothing.

So, it was decided. This place would be their shelter.