The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 492: A Passage Leading Down

It looked like a serious dislocation. Richard clutched his right leg, groaning incessantly.

"You broke your word!" Richard's cries were laced with indignation. "You were supposed to find me fair and square, not lure me out with such dirty tricks!"

Lu Li watched as the dust-covered man struggled to his feet. "With you, that's not necessary."

"Hah... the arrogance of a victor," Richard sneered, slowly raising his head. Blood mixed with dust made his face a horrifying mask. "But do you really think you've won?"

He limped away, not toward Lu Li, but toward the garden.

An abandoned shed stood there, or perhaps a storage room.

"You won't dare kill me. You need me to tell you how to get rid of the Ancient God's influence. All you can do is watch me walk away."

Lu Li's hand, resting on his holster, twitched.

Richard was right. To get rid of the Bloody Tentacles, Lu Li needed him alive.

"Khah... ptui!" Richard spat in Lu Li's direction, but the glob of saliva landed just half a meter away. He stuck a hand in his mouth and, with a cry, pulled out a loose tooth, holding it up as he laughed madly at Lu Li. "You and your little ghost girlfriend can't do a thing!"Silhouetted against the burning psychiatric hospital, he looked like a madman.

Which, of course, he was.

"You're right."

Lu Li raised the "Second" and, aiming for Richard's legs, pulled the trigger.

Bang!

A deafening shot rang out, and Richard cried out, clutching his shin as he collapsed to the ground.

He was clearly sensitive to pain; his screams nearly drowned out the crackle of the burning building and the howl of the wind.

"Go on, keep shooting!" Richard screamed, his face contorted in agony, flecks of blood spraying from his mouth. "But don't think for a second I'll tell you anything!"

Richard's threat worked. Lu Li holstered the "Second" and didn't fire again.

An out-of-control Richard was capable of anything.

Richard twisted his lips into a smirk, propping himself up on his injured leg. He hobbled toward the shed a dozen meters away. "This round is yours, but the next will be mine!"

"What are you planning?" Lu Li asked calmly.

"I'm not like you—a thief who steals what belongs to others, a vile and dishonorable robber. You... you want the Corpse of the Ancient God? You want to know the truth?"

Reaching the shed, Richard leaned against the wooden wall and opened the door with a trembling hand.

Lu Li couldn't see what was inside, only Richard lighting an oil lamp that hung on the door before turning back.

"Come down yourself. I'll be waiting for you in the abyss."

With that, Richard disappeared behind the door.

Lu Li walked up to the shed and pushed the door open.

It was full of junk, but that wasn't the main thing. A damp, cold staircase led down. About ten meters below, the light of an oil lamp flickered.

A damp, sea-like wind wafted up from it, and Lu Li was reminded of the third passage he had seen during his second trial.

This was the passage to the third trial.

Just like in the ship's cabin, Anna could see it, but she couldn't enter.

"Stay here," Lu Li told Anna, gesturing with the oil lamp.

The kerosene was more than half full; it should last for six hours.

"This could be a trap set by Richard," Anna whispered.

"But it's also the best chance I have to deal with the Bloody Tentacles."

The source of the Corpse of the Ancient God, Richard's goal, and a way to get rid of the Bloody Tentacles.

The fire had already engulfed the second floor of the hospital, and black smoke obscured the sky.

Before leaving, Lu Li told Anna, "Hide. If the police show up and see you, come out and tell them what happened. Don't argue with them."

Anna gazed silently into Lu Li's dark eyes, which reflected her form.

"Come back safe."

"Mm-hmm."

Under Anna's watchful gaze, Lu Li descended the stairs, oil lamp in hand.

This time, the passage went straight down, with no turns.

Strangely, Richard, who had been only twenty meters ahead, was nowhere to be seen. It seemed he had descended even further.

Even stranger were the uneven stone steps. Each subsequent step was a few centimeters higher than the last. After descending just a dozen steps, Lu Li was already facing a drop of half a meter.

He paused briefly and looked back. At the top of the stairs, Anna's faint silhouette was visible.

Lu Li turned away and continued his descent.

The lower he went, the damper the air became. The light from his lamp glistened on the wet walls. The shadows behind him trembled and writhed.

Like a dark figure contorting in agony.

After two minutes, the drop between steps had reached a full meter.

The descent became even more difficult. Now, to get to the next step, Lu Li had to place the lamp on the edge, turn around, grip the ledge with his hands, and lower himself down.

The growing distance between the steps made him wonder: what would happen if he reached a step he couldn't climb back up? Would the only way be down?

There were no markings or changes on the walls. The third trial, it seemed, consisted solely of an endless descent down increasingly high steps.

The deeper he descended, the colder it grew.

Goosebumps prickled his skin.

Thump.

Lu Li landed on the next step.

The sound of his landing echoed through the passage.

Lu Li stood on his toes and carefully lifted the lamp from the edge above.

The high steps now resembled a wall, blocking his view of the top. He could no longer see the way back, nor could he see Anna's silhouette.

He looked down. As the height of the steps increased, they also grew longer, as if they weren't meant for humans, but for someone much, much larger.

But the passage itself remained narrow.

The blood on the steps told him that Richard had continued downward.

Lu Li continued his descent. When the drop exceeded two meters, he had to hold the lamp between his teeth to keep from dropping it.

He didn't look back anymore; there was no point. He couldn't go back now—the steps were too high. He could only press on, hoping this passage had an end.

An end he could actually reach.

Now that the drop between steps was over two meters, each one took Lu Li nearly a minute to navigate. His legs ached from the constant jumping.

At one point, standing on the edge of another step, Lu Li froze and listened.

The thumping of his own heart echoed in the passage, gradually fading until it was gone.

And from the darkness, as if from an abyss, came a sound.