The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 355: The Death of Lu Li

The story's script inevitably becomes reality, but sometimes, a chance arises to change it.

For instance, when Sara had attacked Lu Li, and earlier when he was forced to strike at Eileen, the script had used the word "swung," not "struck."

But now, everything had changed.

A piercing whisper, like a twisted prayer, echoed in Lu Li's mind. Darkness enveloped him. He lost control of his body, becoming a mere spectator to his own actions. He watched as the sharp spade swung, severing a slowly falling thread before crashing down on Eileen's legs. Anna had only managed to pull her back by a few inches.

Like a hot knife through butter, the spade sheared through the baroness's legs and sank into the mud.

Gushing blood instantly mingled with the rainwater, spreading in crimson streams.

A muffled groan of pain drifted through the curtain of rain, escalating into a choked scream.

"Eileen, what have I done..." Lu Li dropped the spade and staggered back, desperately trying to change something—anything—before the ancient voice could speak.

["Eileen! What have I done..." A cry full of anguish brought Lu Li back to reality. He came to his senses and stared numbly at the maid, Eileen, whose legs he had just severed. A frantic Lu Li instinctively wanted to turn to Sara for help, but at that moment, a dagger appeared in Sara's hand. With a passionless face, she plunged it into Lu Li's lower back.]

Lu Li tried to turn, but the feeling of lost control returned, and a distorted whisper echoed in his ears.Everything seemed to slow down. The black dagger drew closer, and Anna, forgetting the need to hide, materialized beside Lu Li. Her hair billowed, her black shadow elongated, and her eyes turned crimson, the mark of a vengeful spirit. An icy chill radiated from her, shielding Lu Li.

But only for an instant. Then came Anna's pain-filled scream: "I can't stop it!!!"

The light warped, as if something had happened, yet nothing had. The dagger slid into Lu Li's body unopposed.

Withdrawn, the dagger was slick with scarlet blood. Lu Li collapsed limply to the ground, the stain spreading rapidly across his clothes.

"Lu Li!" Anna's aura intensified, suffused with a chilling malice. Her mental projection warped, seeming to gain substance, becoming terrifying to behold.

Enraged, Anna lunged toward Sara's presumed location. Lu Li raised a hand, and his palm passed right through Anna's spectral form.

Anna felt it. She froze for a moment and turned back to Lu Li, whose expression remained calm.

"Stop the bleeding," he said, looking at the baroness. She remained stubbornly silent, her head thrown back as she stared at Lu Li. The butler, stumbling, ran off to find the doctor, Petra, and Vincent.

"Why did you do it?" Lu Li asked, addressing Sara.

["Why did you do it?" Bewilderment, remorse, and fear overwhelmed Lu Li. "Why did you do it?" Sara repeated quietly, advancing with the bloody dagger toward Eileen, who was writhing in agony. "You kept me from being with Adam, you reported us, you're the reason he's dead... Why did you do it?"]

Sara's question hung in the air unanswered. The ancient voice did not speak, leaving them to find their own explanation.

"We were forced," came the baroness's trembling voice as she fought to suppress her pain. The rain washed away her cold sweat, her blood, and her warmth. From the chill and the massive blood loss, the baroness began to lose consciousness.

[Sara found this amusing. She didn't even bother to reply, simply closing in on Eileen step by step. Her former best friend was already fainting from blood loss.]

The baroness hadn't lost consciousness, but she could no longer think clearly. Through a hazy gaze, she saw that her legs had stopped bleeding. Then she looked at Lu Li, the man who had severed them. He was looking back at her.

She truly couldn't hold on any longer.

This was no longer coercion; Eileen's consciousness plunged into darkness.

[Sara stopped. A thought suddenly occurred to her: perhaps her experiments had failed because she was using the dead? What if she tried to perform the ritual with the living...]

Lu Li's expression shifted almost imperceptibly. He said quietly to Anna, "I'll pretend to pass out. Let her take me. As soon as you know where we are, go get Petra."

Anna looked at Lu Li with her crimson eyes, her aura churning with emotion. "I'm going with you."

Lu Li didn't answer, only shaking his head. The back of his head sank into a puddle as he closed his eyes, silently enduring the pelting raindrops.

Sara couldn't leave Lu Li conscious.

This woman, obsessed with resurrecting her lover and convinced of everyone's betrayal, could no longer be reasoned with.

To survive, Lu Li could only hope that Sara, wanting to experiment on a living person, would not kill him yet—just like Eileen.

It was his only chance.

And there was still the hope that Vincent would come to their aid.

[Sara turned to the motionless Lu Li. His chest was still rising and falling; he was alive. She approached him and drove the dagger into his neck, only to stop abruptly.]

["Two living subjects... If it doesn't work, they can be a backup," Sara thought, withdrawing the dagger, which had left a bloody gash on Lu Li's neck.]

[No one noticed what happened in the garden. Sara hid Lu Li in the bushes, took Eileen's severed legs, and dragged her into the shed...]

...

Ten minutes had passed since the attack on Lu Li and Anna.

"The blood trail is gone. It only remains where they were attacked," Vincent said, taking a drag from his pipe and narrowing his eyes.

Petra, supported by a maid, scanned the lawn and looked toward the shed. "They might be in..."

"The cellar," a cold voice cut in. A pair of bright crimson eyes appeared in everyone's line of sight.

"A vengeful spirit?!" Vincent exclaimed.

Petra remained calm and said to Vincent, who was clearly overreacting, "She's a friend of Lu Li's."

Vincent scoffed and took a step back, sliding a hand into his pocket. "You investigators always have the most insane ideas. Befriending a vengeful spirit? Brilliant!"

"Are you sure you want to fight a vengeful spirit in the middle of an evil spirit's ritual?" Petra was about to say more, but he suddenly felt a chilling malice emanating from the spirit, making it hard to breathe.

"Calm down, we're on the same side!" Petra said hastily to Anna, trying to distract her. "How are Lu Li and the baroness?"

The distorted aura radiating from Anna subsided slightly.

Vincent said nothing, but he kept his distance, his eyes never leaving her.

A sinister fury was etched on Anna's beautiful yet terrifying face. Suppressing her volatile emotions, she said, "The baroness is unconscious; her legs were cut off. Lu Li is wounded in the abdomen. They were taken to the cellar, and Sara left for a moment."

With that, she dissolved into the air and returned to Lu Li's side.

Petra looked at the butler. "Vincent and I will hold Sara off. Take the doctor to the cellar to help them."