The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 387: The Real Policeman

The shelves held only a few spices, while several sacks were piled in the far corner. Two of them were open, revealing wheat flour in one and potatoes in the other.

These potatoes and flour were from last autumn's harvest.

The rest of the vegetables—carrots, onions, eggs—lay in a corner near the cellar entrance. There were so few that all together, they barely filled half a sack.

Although greenhouse cultivation was beginning to yield results, the limited harvest meant vegetables remained scarce—a luxury affordable only to the wealthy.

On the other side of the cellar hung carcasses of beef, mutton, and pork. When JoJo had first explored the cellar, she had been frightened by the sight of the meat hanging from hooks.

Lu Li approached the sacks, raised his oil lamp to illuminate their contents, and pulled out a potato.

The brown potato's skin was caked with dried mud. Lu Li scraped some of it away with his finger, taking a small patch of the skin with it.

Beneath the slightly greenish skin, reddish veins were visible, like blood vessels coursing through the tuber from within.

Its shape was reminiscent of a human embryo.

The sight was unlike any potato Lu Li had ever seen. He showed his find to JoJo.“That looks disgusting,” she commented.

Lu Li put the potato back, took another, and rubbed it against the wall to scrape off the skin.

It was the same sight: red veins. Where he had scraped away the skin, the “vessels” had burst, and a blood-like fluid oozed out.

“All the food is contaminated,” Lu Li concluded. He suspected it was because of the blood rain and placed the potato back in the sack. “Are you hungry?”

JoJo was used to Lu Li's manner of speaking, which was like listening to a professor: get distracted for a moment, and you'd be completely lost.

In moments like this, JoJo usually just pretended she understood. She pulled out a wrapped piece of jerky and waved it.

“I was just thinking out loud. By the way, what's in those crates?”

At the far end of the cellar, several wooden crates stood against the wall, covered with dry grass to keep out the damp.

Rustle...

Suddenly, one of the potato sacks tipped over, and its contents spilled out, the tubers rolling across the floor in front of them and bumping against the shelves.

The dull thuds echoed through the cellar, bouncing off the walls.

A dead silence descended on the cellar. Both of them froze. JoJo held her breath, her eyes fixed on the cellar door, while Lu Li’s gaze fell upon the scattered potatoes.

The door didn't open, and the potatoes remained still.

Maybe it was just a coincidence.

“You probably didn't set the sack down properly,” JoJo said after a few seconds of silence, letting out a relieved breath.

But in the next instant, her pupils shrank to pinpricks.

A Faceless Shadow had appeared silently in the cellar. Not next to Lu Li and JoJo, but over by the wooden crates.

While JoJo was frozen in shock, a silhouette shot out from the darkness and slammed into the Faceless Shadow.

Thwack!

The silhouette came to a halt, revealing itself to be the Spirit Gun. Smoke curled up from the creature's chest at the point of impact.

“Anna,” Lu Li murmured quietly.

An icy energy enveloped the Faceless Shadow, binding it in place. The Spirit Gun passed right through the field and clattered to the floor.

Anna materialized and clenched her fist.

The icy energy became frenzied. Transparent spikes erupted from it, impaling the creature. A moment later, the Faceless Shadow was gone.

The silent battle was over. The creature hadn't made a sound.

Anna's figure dissolved again, and the chill in the cellar began to fade.

“How strong was it?” Lu Li asked.

Anna’s voice echoed from the empty air, “Very weak... almost like a common ghost. When you threw the Spirit Gun, you nearly destroyed it.”

And yet, even a creature that weak could spread terror throughout the town.

“Why did it appear?!” JoJo exclaimed. “Could it be... there's a third person here?!”

“That's a logical assumption,” Lu Li replied and walked over to where the Faceless Shadow had been standing. He looked at the wooden crates.

There were gaps between the planks. It would be hard to peer inside from out here, but for someone inside who wanted to observe...

Lu Li lifted the lid of one of the crates.

A face stared up at him, etched with a mixture of terror and relief.

The man in the crate stared at Lu Li for several moments before awkwardly shifting, presenting his back to show his bound hands.

Lu Li drew a knife and sliced through the rope. The young man quickly pulled a damp gag from his mouth, coughed, and started to speak before clamping a hand over his lips.

“The creature has been destroyed,” Lu Li said. “You must have noticed.”

The young man spoke hesitantly.

“You... you were able to kill that monster... Are you an exorcist?”

Lu Li nodded. “Who are you?”

“I'm Frank, a policeman from Tenebrae. I don't recognize you... You came from outside?!”

He exhaled in relief, but his voice was agitated as he asked, “Are those things gone?!”

Lu Li’s eyes fell on the man’s dirty uniform. “Not yet. We came to find someone.”

The hope that had just flared in Frank's eyes immediately died out.

He climbed out of the crate. The long confinement had left his joints numb and aching. He lowered himself onto the edge of the crate with difficulty. “Who are you looking for?” he asked.

“Oliver. He's not from around here.”

“Oliver... That name sounds familiar,” Frank frowned. “Were you sent by the Iva Trading Company?”

JoJo immediately perked up.

Lu Li introduced her. “This is Oliver’s sister. I’m accompanying her on her search for her brother.”

JoJo stepped forward. “If you know anything about Oliver, please, tell us!”

“You're both really brave... Alright, you saved me, so I'll tell you everything I know. Let me think...”

Frank sighed, recalling the events. “Before all this started, we were looking for him, too. But before we could find him, the town was suddenly overrun with those horrifying creatures. I lost contact with my partners and my captain. Then that thing you just destroyed showed up. It killed several of my comrades. Our weapons were useless against it, so we scattered...”

“I ended up alone, so I hid in Old Man Mac’s house. By the time I got there, the poor man was already dead... I stayed there until evening. It was getting more and more dangerous outside; a few times, the creatures nearly broke in. That’s when I decided to risk going back to the station... and...”

Frank lowered his head and added sheepishly, “Someone knocked me out...”