novelraw Chapter 312: On the Cliff
Chapter 312: On the Cliff
With the morning still young and no cases on his schedule, Lu Li took the opportunity to gather some supplies: three cubic meters of Deep Sea Stone, two crates of canned beef, and three liters of kerosene.
The plan was to hire a wagon the next day, pick up the Jones brothers, and transport everything to the warehouse and the cliff in one trip.
Lu Li had abandoned his plan to line the bedroom floor of his agency with Deep Sea Stone—time was growing short.
Through noon and the afternoon, Lu Li had no other visitors besides JoJo, who came by to drop off 230 shillings from the sale.
From a metaphysical standpoint, the "Everlasting Dreamer" from yesterday was now the "Everlasting Dreamer" of a century past. He had likely long forgotten the Lu Li who helped him a hundred years ago.
As dusk settled, dim lights flickered to life in every corner of Belfast, and a hush gradually fell over the city.
...
The next morning, the sky was blanketed with clouds.
A fine drizzle fell, yet visibility was clear enough to make out the faint outline of the bay in the distance.
After washing and dressing, Lu Li rolled up his shirtsleeves, fastened his tie, donned his wool coat, and left the house. He soon returned with a rented wagon, loaded the three crates of Deep Sea Stone one by one, followed by the rest of the supplies, and then headed for the Jones brothers' house.They must have been up before dawn, because when Lu Li arrived, they were in the middle of packing their freshly made food—loaves made from a mixture of flour, bran, and wood shavings. They tasted even worse than black bread and were certainly not nutritious, but they were filling and looked substantial.
They could also double as clubs.
The price of black bread had risen by 300 percent. Even common folk had to think twice before buying it.
Besides the sawdust loaves, they had packed some partially dried fish. The half-dried carcasses with their bulging eyes exuded an unpleasant fishy odor that was strangely unsettling.
Fortunately, Anna couldn't smell, so she naturally had no complaints.
Half an hour later, the wagon reached Elm Street. After a brief stop at the warehouse to unload some supplies, it continued on into the Elm Forest.
The oppressive aura of despair and pain permeating the forest had not weakened. The Jones brothers, who had been chatting on the road, fell silent the moment they felt it. Huddled in the cramped, dark wagon, they exchanged glances filled with a fear of the unknown.
Knowing about it was one thing; experiencing it firsthand was another.
Still, none of them voiced any desire to turn back. The pay for this job was enough to keep them fed for two weeks, and Lu Li's own calm demeanor had a reassuring effect on them.
To them, Lu Li, with his black hair and eyes, was an enigma, but not a frightening one.
Lu Li felt the oppressive emotions as well. Despite the small favor he had done for the forest, its gloom hadn't lessened. Yet he was an exception here; a subtle aura of joy surrounded him, counteracting the crushing despair and pain.
Some of the trees considered Lu Li one of their own.
After about an hour of traveling in near silence, the wagon drew up to the cliff. The final ascent was too steep for the vehicle, so everyone disembarked. They watched as Lu Li headed to the back of the wagon for the three crates of black stones.
The Jones brothers offered to help, but Lu Li refused.
Crates weighing over a ton each were beyond the strength of four laborers. Even Anna would have had difficulty lifting them, but fortunately, the cave was not far.
Watching Lu Li haul a huge, yet seemingly weightless, crate up the cliff, the four brothers exchanged a look. The eldest nodded to the others, and two of them climbed back into the wagon to help with the remaining crates.
But as they took hold of a crate, their expressions changed.
The two of them together couldn't even lift a corner. It was as if the bottom of the crate were fused to the wagon bed.
The eldest brother frowned and ordered them down.
Lu Li returned and walked past them, under four pairs of eyes filled with a mixture of emotions. Calmly, as if without any effort, he lifted another crate of Deep Sea Stone and carried it toward the cliff.
One of the brothers swallowed hard, a chill running down his spine.
The eldest was silent for a moment before turning to his brothers. "Remember," he said in a low voice, "we know nothing."
Meanwhile, as Lu Li made his way to the cave, he heard Anna's voice.
"It looks like they tried to lift the crates," Anna said, her voice laced with amusement. "They must be wondering just who you are now."
Lu Li said nothing. It was a small thing, but it might just make the Jones brothers work a little harder.
Once all three crates of Deep Sea Stone were moved, Lu Li met the brothers' mixed gazes of fear and respect, tethered the horse to a tree, and led them toward the cave in the cliff face.
In other parts of the Elm Forest, this might have been dangerous, but on the cliff, Lu Li was "one of their own" to the local elms. As long as he meant them no harm, they wouldn't affect him with their emotions.
Though he hadn't communicated with the local Tree-Lord.
"Don't go near the trees or harm them in any way. And just to be safe, don't leave the cave or the cliff."
Lu Li warned the Jones brothers as he led the way into the cave, where he placed an oil lamp on a flat stone ledge.
The sound of the rain faded behind them. Lu Li explained in detail how he wanted the cave expanded and where the cellar should be dug. The eldest of the Jones brothers examined the rock and confirmed that the timeline for the work was still feasible.
The Jones brothers set down their lamps and food, took up their tools, and prepared to start. Lu Li told them he would be back to pick them up in the afternoon and then left the cave.
He stood at the cliff's edge and gazed into the distance. Moon Bay stretched out to the horizon, half of the city obscured behind a curtain of fine gray drizzle, like a charcoal sketch.
At the foot of the cliff were shallows. The drop of nearly a hundred meters made the place inaccessible and hidden from prying eyes.
With Anna's help, Lu Li could easily descend to fetch water, catch fish, and climb back up.
Reefs dominated the base of the cliff. Four to five hundred meters out, at the far edge of the reef system, rose a lighthouse thirty to forty meters tall.
A narrow path led from the lighthouse to a sandy shore.
Its presence eased the sense of desolation and loneliness that hung over the cliff.
In a world not fading to ruin, the view from the cliff would have been a breathtaking sight.
But now, there was only the lead-gray sea, the dark sky, the foul stench of salt borne on the wind, and the withered trees all around.
"Stay here and watch over Enni and the men," Lu Li said to Anna, who had appeared beside him, his gaze still fixed on the distance.
"Alright."
Anna looked at Lu Li's face, then suddenly raised a hand and straightened his slightly crooked tie.
If not for the blush that appeared on her ethereally beautiful face, the gesture would have seemed perfectly natural.
After lingering a while longer, Lu Li bid Anna farewell, climbed into the wagon, and set off for the cemetery in the St. Father's Quarter to attend the funeral.