The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 403: Their Protection

Lu Li froze for only an instant.

A hand, caked in silt and mud, suddenly shot out of the mire and seized Lu Li by the wrist. Anna reacted instantly, and an invisible blade of air severed the hand. The Spirit Gun and Frank's bracelet slipped from Lu Li's grasp and tumbled into the swamp.

The Spirit Gun hissed as if plunged into molten metal, smoke curling from it before it vanished into the mire along with the bracelet, leaving only a trail of bubbles.

More hands erupted from the swamp, grasping at Lu Li's clothes and body, dragging him down.

Ssss...

A thin wisp of smoke coiled up from the holster holding his second Spirit Gun. The mire had already swallowed the lower half of Lu Li's body and was creeping toward his chest.

Countless grotesque, muddy hands reached from the swamp, entangling Anna and preventing her from saving Lu Li.

JoJo, hiding behind a withered tree nearby, watched as the mud submerged Lu Li's chest, while a furious Anna struggled in vain against the tenacious grip of the swamp's hands. JoJo clenched her teeth, dodged a falling clump of mud, and rushed toward Lu Li.

She dropped to her knees at the edge of the bog, grabbing Lu Li's outstretched hand and pulling with all her might, but her strength was no match for the countless hands dragging him down.

Just as JoJo, covered in mud, was about to despair, an abrupt silence fell over the clearing.The sounds of tearing air and splashing mud vanished, leaving only the ceaseless torrent of icy terror radiating from Anna.

JoJo, still clutching Lu Li's hand, raised her head in stunned silence. What she saw defied explanation.

The wild, vine-like arms of mud froze in mid-air, then slowly retreated, sinking back into the mire.

JoJo turned her head in astonishment. The chunks of mud that Anna had torn and severed were flowing back into the swamp like living droplets of water.

But most importantly, Lu Li had stopped sinking.

JoJo cautiously loosened her grip. Just as she'd thought, Lu Li was no longer being pulled down.

But why? Was it the Mother of the Swamp?

Silence reigned over the clearing. When the last hand and the final clump of mud had disappeared into the mire, everything returned to normal, as if nothing had ever happened.

Except that Lu Li was still waist-deep in the swamp.

The silence lasted for several seconds before it was broken by a splash in front of Lu Li.

Two hands emerged from beneath the layer of mud: one was large and coarse, the other slender and delicate, as if one belonged to a man and the other to a woman.

The coarse hand held a clean, old, dark green bracelet.

The slender hand reached for Lu Li and gently touched his face.

In that instant, everything stood still.

A subtle sorrow enveloped the clearing.

Watching the scene, Anna silently suppressed her aura and sank to the ground, listening as the clicks of her Mind Level detector gradually subsided.

She remained vigilant, keeping a portion of her power focused above Lu Li, although what had just happened proved it was useless and would only have forced her to let go before he was torn apart.

The slender hand caressed Lu Li's face. Despite its coldness, the muddy palm left not a single smudge on his skin.

Lu Li, submerged to his chest in the swamp, began to rise slowly, and the slender hand drew back.

Amazingly, the part of Lu Li's body that emerged was free of any trace of mud, as if he had fallen into a pile of leaves, not a fetid mire.

The Spirit Gun returned to the surface with him. The swamp pushed it back out. The revolver, with its rose-engraved grip, was still shrouded in a faint haze, gleaming and pristine, like a work of art.

Lu Li reached out to take the pistol, and at that moment, the coarse hand approached him.

Anna tensed, but the hand merely touched Lu Li's forearm and fastened the bracelet onto his wrist.

Lu Li's feet emerged from the mire. The swamp gently returned him to solid ground, as if he were an infant. The coarse and slender hands did not disappear, remaining motionless in the mire, as if...

Two elderly figures were watching him.

Lu Li raised his arm slightly and looked at his wrist.

The dark green bracelet looked foreign and out of place on him.

After all, he wasn't its true owner, nor was Frank.

Lu Li removed the bracelet the coarse hand had placed on him, knelt, and slipped it onto the slender hand protruding from the swamp.

The bracelet was a perfect fit. It belonged to this hand.

The slender hand stilled, then, along with the coarse one, slowly sank into the mire.

The swamp closed over them, returning to its former, unremarkable appearance.

Lu Li suddenly felt a sense of emptiness around him. He cautiously reached out and touched the swamp. Where the bog had been, there was now only ordinary, viscous mud.

It, or rather, they, were gone.

"It's over," Anna whispered.

A light breeze carried droplets of bloody rain. A soft rustle of leaves could be heard all around.

Anna and JoJo remained silent. In the quiet, they, along with the vengeful spirit, continued their journey, delving deeper into the forest of withered trees.

The silence, broken only by the sound of their footsteps, was filled with a sadness, grief, and longing that emanated from Anna, enveloping them like a shroud.

Anna had grown so powerful that her emotions could influence her surroundings, much like in the Elm Forest.

But until this moment, she had always kept herself under control. Not until Lu Li was in danger, causing her to lose her composure, and then the Drowned Man's Mire had awakened her sorrow.

Only Lu Li could hear the quiet whisper of the Mother of the Swamp, who had been silent for a long time: "It... is not a kind resident... why did it let you go?.."

"Because of feelings."

Lu Li's voice made Anna look up at him.

"Feelings... what are they?.."

"Emotions that compel you to act. You can learn of them from the memories of your servants," Lu Li said, pressing a hand to the wound on his abdomen. The strain of being pulled into the mire had caused it to bleed again, but the blood wasn't seeping through the bandages.

"I know of them... but I do not understand..."

"The Shadow Swamp is your territory. Uninvited guests have invaded it, summoned your enemy, who wants to seize your domain and kill you. You resist him. That is called anger."

The Mother of the Swamp, like a curious child, continued to whisper: "I have no anger... I only expel... kill them..."

"You feel anger, you just don't realize it."

The Mother of the Swamp fell silent, perhaps thinking or disagreeing with Lu Li.

"Think."

Lu Li stopped, turned his head for a few seconds, and then looked forward again, following the shimmering shadow of the guide through the dense thicket. "You think it's an instinct for self-preservation, but instinct is a part of emotion, and emotion is a part of instinct."

The Mother of the Swamp slowly whispered: "I need to think about this carefully..."

The sculpture fell silent.

"What did she ask?" Anna's voice sounded beside him.

Lu Li looked into her bright red eyes, which stood out in the darkness: "She doesn't understand what just happened."

Anna understood: "They thought you were Frank..."

"Yes."

Lu Li nodded and looked ahead once more.

A massive banyan tree came into view, standing out amongst the withered trees. In the darkness, it was both conspicuous and inconspicuous.

They were approaching the very depths of the swamp.