The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 453: The Disappearance

"This house... is it alive?"

The thought crossed Lu Li's mind as he touched the mold-covered wooden wall. It was an ordinary seaside cabin, built perhaps ten or fifteen years ago.

"What is this?"

Scanning the interior, Lu Li's gaze fell upon a dark stain in the center of the floor, as if the wood had been deeply corroded. Richard hadn't mentioned anything about this.

"Uh... we didn't see that before. Could the sea air have corroded the wood?" Richard asked, looking just as puzzled.

"The sea air couldn't have left a mark like this," Lu Li muttered, his eyes fixed on the dark circle staining the floorboards.

A faint, inexplicable breeze drifted up from beneath the dark planks. If the color were any deeper, it would look like a bottomless abyss.

Lu Li's heightened intuition, a consequence of his dangerously low Mind Level, rarely steered him wrong. More often than not, his feelings proved to be true.

So, was a real abyss forming inside the cabin?

Either way, the bloody tentacles and this dark stain had to be connected."If we can't find them, we can just destroy this place," Anna suggested.

"Wait," said Lu Li.

Destroying the place where the tentacles had landed was a last resort. Lu Li wanted to understand what he was dealing with first.

"Should we bring the diary?" Anna proposed.

It was a good idea. The diary might be able to lure out the hidden bloody tentacles. They left the cabin and started back along the shore.

Twenty minutes later, they were back on Sea Breeze Street.

Richard was sitting on the steps, pulling on his socks and boots. He stood as they approached and asked, "Should I come with you?"

He looked exhausted, sweating despite the cool air—about thirteen degrees Celsius.

"Suit yourself," Lu Li replied calmly.

In the end, Richard decided to join them. His sense of duty wouldn't let him abandon the case midway through. Or perhaps, he was simply curious.

When they returned to the abandoned house, they found everything exactly as they had left it minutes before.

Anna entered the house, carrying an oil lamp, and opened the diary once more.

Lu Li stood by the door, his hand resting on the butt of his revolver. He stared into the darkness just beyond the lamp's glow, as if tracing an elegant, ghostly silhouette in the shadows.

The pages of the diary on the table stilled for a moment, then began to flip over on their own.

"The rest is blank," Richard muttered from beside Lu Li.

Anna knew that as well. She was looking for new entries, but the pages remained blank all the way to the end.

The pages rustled, flipping rapidly backward, the stack of turned leaves growing thicker. The diary finally stopped at the first page, and Anna let out a soft gasp.

"There's a second page."

The first page was unusually thick; it had been stuck to the second one.

Anna carefully pried the pages apart and turned to the second sheet.

Stay in the light.

Stay in the light.

Stay in the light.

And on, and on...

Lu Li waited in silence for Anna to finish. Then, her slightly surprised voice drifted from the empty air. "It says... 'Stay in the light.'"

"That's it?" Richard couldn't help but ask.

"The phrase is repeated, over and over," Anna replied, her voice cold.

"Stay in the light." The phrase was a grim reminder of the Night Calamity.

But why write something everyone already knew over and over again in a diary?

"Did the bloody tentacles merge with the diary?" Anna suddenly asked.

"Yes," Lu Li said, raising his eyes toward the source of her voice. "Why do you ask?"

The diary snapped shut with a soft thud. Anna answered, "What if these words are what the tentacles left behind when they soaked into the paper?"

The raised, blood-red letters had looked like actual flesh. That must be why they stuck to the second page.

Besides, the letters had grown paler as the phrase was repeated down the page. If it were just blood... Anna mused that the killer would hardly have been running short.

There had been three bodies in the cabin, including his own.

Maybe they would find new clues back at the cabin.

Anna took the diary, and she and Lu Li set off for the seaside cabin once more. The book, floating along beside Lu Li, drew curious stares from passersby, forcing Richard to display his police badge to ward off questions.

When they reached the cabin, Richard remained on the beach while Lu Li climbed the steps and stopped at the door.

The two bloody tentacles descending from the sky had merged into one, like a braid of seaweed, and now it swayed gently, reaching for the ground.

"Put the diary down," Lu Li said.

The diary drifted over to the dark stain on the floor and settled upon it.

A chill spread through the cabin. Anna shielded Lu Li with her aura, bracing for anything. But minutes ticked by, and nothing happened—not to the diary, not to the dark stain.

"Take it back."

Anna gestured with her hand, and the diary floated back to her.

There were still no new entries.

Anna looked toward Lu Li. As if feeling her gaze, he pulled out a box of matches and turned to face her. "Burn it."

As Lu Li descended the steps to stand beside Richard, Anna struck a match.

The small flame, held steady by her power, touched the edge of the diary.

Nothing unusual happened. The diary caught fire just like any ordinary book.

But as the flames consumed the lower third of the book, a foul black smoke began to billow upwards. Lu Li grabbed a stunned Richard and pulled him back, away from the nauseating stench.

The flames quickly engulfed the entire diary. It hovered in midair as flakes of ash drifted down like snow. The unbearable stench mingled with the black smoke and began to dissipate.

Anna released her power, watching as the last remnants of the diary crumbled into ash.

Suddenly, she tilted her head and glanced at Lu Li, who was staring up at the sky. After a few moments, he lowered his gaze and said calmly, "The bloody tentacles are gone."

The bloody tentacle that had stretched from the sky toward the diary and the cabin had vanished along with the black smoke.

The dark stain on the floor remained, but now it seemed like nothing more than a coincidence.

"Is it over?"

"Yes."

The disappearance of the bloody tentacles meant that the plans of this mysterious Richard—whoever he was—had failed. Whether or not he was the one trying to keep Lu Li on the Allen Peninsula, the destruction of his tools meant he would eventually have to show his face.

Just then, a man came running toward them along the beach, breathless, from the direction of the Coastal Town.

Richard, who had been standing quietly by, was the first to spot the runner. Recognizing him as a colleague, he called out, "Are you looking for us?"

The officer caught his breath and turned to Lu Li.

"An investigator from Reintown has arrived, and... well, something's happened. Hope wants to talk to you."