The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 402: Drowned Man's Mire

"Perhaps it isn't my brother... Perhaps he isn't here at all..."

Two figures picked their way through the gloomy thickets of the Shadow Swamp. Despite the spark of hope still glowing in her heart, JoJo's faith in the Mother of the Swamp was wavering. It was becoming harder and harder to believe that Oliver could possibly be here.

Even Lu Li, with his mysterious abilities, had struggled to make his way from Tenebrae deep into the swamp. What chance would an ordinary person like Oliver have?

"I agree. The Mother of the Swamp is luring you into a trap," came Anna's disembodied voice.

Lu Li remained silent, listening to the quiet whisper of the Mother of the Swamp.

"Your companion... she doubts our arrangement..."

"That's only natural," Lu Li replied, drawing the attention of both Anna and JoJo.

"We are not equals, neither in strength nor in knowledge. You could lead us into an abyss at any moment."

The Mother of the Swamp seemed to ponder this. A moment later, her whisper returned: "I do not know if he is the one you seek... but he truly exists..."

"Hmm."The foundation of any bargain is an exchange that both parties deem equal. Lu Li needed to find Oliver, and the Mother of the Swamp needed Lu Li's help against an unknown evil spirit.

Unless... the Mother of the Swamp didn't need Lu Li's help at all.

Approaching a withered tree where one of the Shadow People was hiding, Lu Li glanced away, then looked forward again. The shadowy figure had already moved to another tree, some ten meters from them.

Over the course of their journey, JoJo had stopped being afraid of the Shadow People. These creatures—or rather, servants—were like silent, shy observers, always hiding behind the trees.

Besides their guide, other Shadow People surrounded them. They provided the Mother of the Swamp with a wider view, helping them navigate around dangerous areas. Or perhaps, they were keeping watch over them.

The rainy season had only just begun, but the swamp was already treacherous. Deceptive mires hid beneath the calm water. Even with Anna's protection keeping them from sinking, the thick, ankle-deep mud sapped their strength.

JoJo tried to step in Lu Li's footprints to conserve her energy.

After half an hour, or perhaps longer, Lu Li came to a halt.

JoJo looked ahead and saw a small clearing, where a little hut stood shrouded in a curtain of rain.

"This is the place..." Anna whispered, as if recalling something.

It was the same hut where they had taken shelter from the storm before. According to the forged letter, this was the very place where the "real" Anna had been imprisoned.

"Why are we here?" Lu Li asked. He didn't believe it was a coincidence.

"There are no mires here... you have been here before... you know the way..."

A perfectly reasonable explanation.

Slippery earth replaced the viscous mud. They passed the hut and pushed the door open.

The scent of rotten wood wafted from within. Nothing had changed since their last visit; there was no sign of Anna's presence.

"Let's go."

After a brief inspection of the hut, Lu Li and his companions crossed the clearing and plunged back into the swamp.

The shadow-person guide never left their sight. After a while, JoJo glanced back—the clearing and the hut had vanished behind the trees.

The farther they walked, the denser the gnarled, twisted trees became, their branches blotting out the sky and plunging everything around them into twilight.

"A Night Demon draws near..." whispered the Mother of the Swamp.

Lu Li stopped by a tree and warned Anna and JoJo, "A Night Demon is nearby."

JoJo quickly crouched beside Lu Li. Anna materialized next to them, and all three looked up.

In the silence of the swamp, broken only by the whisper of the rain, a faint sound of beating wings reached them.

A few seconds later, a barely perceptible black dot appeared on the horizon, rapidly growing in size.

The Night Demon, a sinister silhouette against the blood-red clouds, swept past a hundred meters above the ground, heading deeper into the swamp.

"They fly freely through your domain?"

When the Night Demon had vanished from sight, Lu Li posed his question.

"My servants... cannot reach them in the air..."

Creatures of the sky held an advantage over those bound to the earth. Fortunately, the real battle between the Mother of the Swamp and the unknown evil spirit was taking place in the depths of the Shadow Swamp, where the dense canopy limited the Night Demons' mobility.

"Let's keep moving."

Lu Li moved on, navigating by memory. The withered trees were left behind, and a small clearing opened up before them. Beyond it began the sinister thicket of ficus trees—the place where his journey had ended last time.

Stepping into the clearing, Lu Li set his foot into a patch of dark mud, indistinguishable in color from the surrounding soil.

The mud came up to his ankles, and he took another step with his right foot.

In that instant, everything changed.

His legs felt as if they had sunk into quicksand. The viscous mud swallowed his shins and began to climb toward his knees.

Anna tried to intervene but felt a resistance, as if something below was holding Lu Li by the legs.

The Mind Level counter was silent, and his intuition gave no warning, but Lu Li knew this was no ordinary mire. He could feel countless hands gripping his ankles, pulling him down.

"JoJo, get back! Anna, attack the ground!"

Lu Li remained calm. Anna struck the mud around him with her ghostly spear. Chasms appeared, only to close up instantly. The mire, as if enraged, began to churn, and countless arms shot out from it, writhing like snakes as they reached for Anna.

"Get away!"

Anna unleashed a wave of icy air, throwing back the muddy arms. They disintegrated into droplets, which, as if alive, re-formed and flowed back into the bog.

Lu Li listened for the Mother of the Swamp's whisper.

"This is... the Drowned Man's Mire..."

"Your servant?"

The Mother of the Swamp hesitated before answering: "You humans call this... a spirit of defilement..."

"Why is a spirit of defilement in your territory?"

"It dwells within this swamp..."

"Can you stop it?" The mud had already reached Lu Li's knees and was rising to his hips. More and more hands were pulling him down.

"Get away from him!"

Anna, blazing with crimson rage, attacked the mire, but her blows were like striking water.

Her scarlet eyes burned ever brighter, and in the music of her breath, the sinister notes of the In-Between could be heard.

"I... cannot, right now..."

Lu Li gave up on the Mother of the Swamp. He told Anna to calm down and, before the mud reached his waist, drew his Spirit Gun and aimed it at the mire.

His finger rested on the trigger, but he didn't pull it.

The roar of the shot would echo for miles, attracting countless troubles.

But if he didn't shoot, Anna would transform into a true evil spirit, and he would be dragged down into the mire.