novelraw Chapter 543: The Ghost Wife
Chapter 543: The Ghost Wife
[I'm glad to hear you're well.]
[I heard from a Trader that you were alive and had holed up in your own shelter. I trust it's much safer than a common refuge.]
[Forgive my sudden disappearance. It was necessary due to the mandatory screenings at the Shelter—they're trying to keep the cultists out... I assume you've already encountered them, haven't you?]
[Stay away from them. In a way, cultists are more dangerous than anomalies. They can seem so much more human, which is precisely how they earn your trust.]
[I could fill three pages with complaints about cultists... If you run into them, keep your distance. Don't engage, even if they seem friendly.]
[You must understand this, and never forget it: the servants and ministers of an Evil God are its eyes. Whether you treat them with kindness or cruelty, you risk drawing the Evil God's attention. It's best not to approach them at all.]
[The Shelter inspector is calling for me again. The rules here are much stricter than I expected—we're not allowed to leave, and even sending letters is difficult. They only allowed this one to be sent to you because of your impeccable reputation.]
[I suspect this strictness is related to Project Fire.]
[I'm forbidden from disclosing the details of the project, but being as sharp as you are, I'm sure the name alone has told you a great deal. I've always thought you were better suited for this work, but I don't want you to suffer the same pain I have. To be honest, I wouldn't want to be separated from my wife either...]
[Forgive me, I'm straying from the point. That's another story.][By the way, regarding your connection to the source of the contamination: I asked at headquarters. They don't recall anything of the sort, but they do remember something else—the capture of a certain Richard from the psychiatric hospital. It's strange. I suggest you find out what really happened.]
[I doubt I'll be able to write to anyone else. If you see Rachel and Tristan, please give them my regards.]
[We will meet again in Hope—take care of yourself, my young friend.]
[Michael Tesla]
After finishing Tesla's letter, Lu Li carefully folded it. Leaning back in his deck chair, he stared thoughtfully out at the distant, leaden sea.
Tesla's letter was filled with hints.
Some he already knew; others remained a mystery.
He knew that the investigators at headquarters had lost their memories of the "Door" case. Tesla had only heard that Lu Li was under some kind of curse, which was why his memory hadn't been wiped.
What he didn't know was why the cultists posed such an unavoidable threat, what fate awaited Tesla's ghost wife, and what the true nature of Project Fire was.
As Tesla himself had noted, the name alone was enough for Lu Li to guess the purpose of the Shelter.
The flame of this world would soon be extinguished. It wasn't hard to understand what "fire" was meant to signify.
But Lu Li's real concern wasn't this, but the fate of Tesla's ghost wife—a story with which he seemingly had no connection.
Michael Tesla had often spoken of his wife to Lu Li, his words always filled with sincere emotion and compassion. But now, his letter was far too calm, as if he were discussing something trivial.
This was unlike Tesla. He always sought to solve problems, not create them.
Then there were Rachel and Tristan. Their friendship with Tesla was much closer than Lu Li's. Besides, Rachel was currently in Khimfast, the last beacon of the Allen Peninsula, along with the residents of the Sentry Post. It would have been far easier to get a message to her there than in the Elm Forest.
So why was the letter delivered to Lu Li, and not to Rachel?
What was Tesla trying to remind him of?
Averting his gaze from the sea, Lu Li unfolded the letter again, running his fingertips over its surface.
The ink had long since dried, but the humidity had made the paper feel slightly damp.
His fingers slid past the written lines to an empty section, hesitating in the bottom right corner.
Caw! The black crow, having finished the last crumb, gave a sharp cry, its call echoing through the cave. The bird took flight and vanished.
At that moment, Lu Li's fingers once again traced the bottom corner of the letter. He felt a faint roughness beneath his fingertips, as if someone had written with a pen that had no ink.
Lu Li asked Anna for a piece of charcoal from the fireplace and a thin sheet of parchment. Carefully placing the parchment over the letter, he began to gently rub the charcoal across its surface.
A faint, almost invisible line of text in Tesla's handwriting appeared in the corner:
[The church basement in Tenebrae]
"Tenebrae was destroyed long ago, and I think the church collapsed," Anna whispered.
"That's precisely why it's the perfect place to hide something valuable," Lu Li remarked calmly.
"What did he hide there?"
Lu Li met Anna's gaze and answered without emotion, "His wife."
It was the only reason Tesla would have sent the letter specifically to him: Tesla had a ghost wife, and Lu Li had Anna.
They were natural allies—kindred spirits.
"But isn't the Mother of the Swamp there now...?" Anna couldn't understand why Tesla would leave something so important in a place so life-threatening.
"That's why it's the safest place," Lu Li repeated.
Because of Lu Li.
Anna suddenly understood everything.
Tesla was one of the few who knew the true circumstances of what had happened in the Shadow Swamp. He knew that the Mother of the Swamp was different from other Evil Gods and that she and Lu Li had a cooperative relationship.
"Are you going to Tenebrae? The journey is very dangerous... But I'll protect you with all my strength." Determination flared in Anna's eyes, and she found it hard to look away from Lu Li.
"Yes. It'll also be convenient for getting to the exorcist council on time."
The meeting was scheduled in five days. Their original plan had been to leave in three, allowing them to cross the Shadow Swamp along the way.
Now, it made sense to leave earlier, setting out at dawn tomorrow.
He informed Jimmy and his sister of the decision. They had planned to take Remi with them, while Jimmy and the "children" would stay behind to guard the shelter.
Anna rejected that idea. Remi would slow them down, whereas if the two of them traveled alone without stopping, they could reach Ellen before noon.
And in truth, she simply wanted some time alone with Lu Li.
But their route wouldn't be direct. Lu Li would first stop in Khimfast, then travel to Tenebrae to find Tesla's ghost wife. After that, he would cross the swamp and the Fallen Leaves Mountains. Only after a brief stop in Typhoon, a few dozen miles from Ellen, would they finally reach the city.
Lu Li wanted to verify what had really happened in the confessional—whether the experience had been real and how events might have unfolded without outside interference.
Bringing Remi along would make it difficult to maintain a low profile in the cities.
"How will Anna hide?" Remi asked anxiously.
"Like a cultist—in a black cloak," Lu Li explained.
The idea came from Tesla's letter. All she had to do was wear a black cloak. Passersby would be frightened and wary, but the exorcists would back off the moment they saw the Senior Investigator badge on Lu Li's chest.