The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 556: A Hunter's Good Catch

"An... astonishing hypothesis," was all Kig Fule could say.

A darkness seemed to settle in Kig Fule's soul—he didn't believe Lu Li's views could be dismissed as mere madness or mental confusion.

To some extent, exorcists were even more inclined than ordinary people to believe in the inexplicable.

Moreover, Kig Fule came from a family where similar theories had already been proposed.

He decided he would tell his relatives about their conversation later—perhaps they could extend an invitation for Lu Li to visit them.

With this in mind, Kig Fule invited Lu Li, but after a moment of consideration, he declined. While visiting an exorcist family could have been quite beneficial—offering new knowledge, for instance—Anna would not have been able to appear there openly.

Especially after Lu Li had asked Kig Fule about his views on anomalies.

Kig Fule and his family belonged to the so-called "radicals" that the old-timers spoke of—exorcists who believed that the supernatural could never be entirely harmless and friendly.

Kig Fule didn't know the true reason for Lu Li's refusal; all he could do was express his regret and extend another invitation.

"There's a small gathering this evening, and some of my exorcist acquaintances will be there. I think you'd find it interesting to join us—everyone would be delighted.""This evening?"

"At these get-togethers, everyone shares their own stories, and of course, telling them at night is always more interesting."

This gathering, a place to exchange experiences, piqued Lu Li's interest.

Kig Fule seemed to notice Lu Li's interest and reassured him:

"Don't worry, the clouds of strange fog are only shrouding the coastal cities for now. Our city is truly safe at night—as long as you stay in the light, which everyone knows well."

His voice was tinged with pride.

"They call Ellen Royal City the city that never sleeps. Even in the darkest alleyway, the lamps burn brightly here."

This pride reminded Lu Li of the sunken Titanic—they had spoken with such certainty that the ship was unsinkable.

"I think I'll stop by," Lu Li confirmed, making a mental note that the meeting would be in the western hills of the city.

Kig Fule and Professor Gavril York, who had joined them, escorted Lu Li to the university exit. Before leaving, however, Lu Li asked Kig Fule one last question: "Why are they burning libraries and destroying history books?"

Gavril York, who had only come over to say his goodbyes, froze and stared intently at Kig Fule—the question troubled him just as much.

Kig Fule didn't hesitate and answered frankly, "Because the knowledge we once considered reliable has begun to warp, turning into a source of contamination."

The answer plunged Gavril York into deep thought, while Kig Fule, looking at Lu Li, elaborated, "That's only a small part of the problem. If we were only afraid of contaminated knowledge, no one would have staged such a purge. Those who decided the fate of the books insisted that the main danger wasn't the knowledge itself, but those... entities you mentioned."

"If you imagine time as a river, we are downstream, and these entities are trying to force their way upstream through our history..."

Kig Fule's voice trembled, and despair flickered in his eyes.

"It's... truly terrifying."

Fortunately, Gavril York didn't hear the rest; if he had learned the whole truth, his sanity might not have held.

"So, they're rewriting history through books?" Lu Li frowned.

"Not exactly... By becoming part of time, they themselves become history, and that's when everything turns into one grand conspiracy. Everything that happens to us has already been foreseen by someone..."

Imagine someone downstream throwing a bottle of ink into the river. The ink spreads, staining all the water that follows.

The river is contaminated, but that ink also becomes a part of the river itself.

Time doesn't change on its own—we are the ones who change, by living through an already distorted history.

These were Kig Fule's own personal reflections—he rarely shared them with anyone. If Lu Li's hypothesis hadn't been just as grim, he wouldn't have dared to discuss them.

Lu Li mulled over this idea for a long time. Even after he said his goodbyes to Kig Fule and Gavril York and headed toward the city hall, he remained lost in thought.

Or, more precisely, he was contemplating his own situation: why am I here?

Lu Li himself was like that bottle of ink—not a part of this local river of time, yet he had ended up in it.

Perhaps someone had thrown him in here as well, from downstream to upstream?

Are they enemies? Or are they just playing, tossing ink bottles and pebbles into the stream of time on a whim?

These conjectures offered no answers—it was like gazing into the night sky after a thunderstorm: the mysteries remained, but that brought no relief.

Fortunately, Anna soon noticed that Lu Li had managed to let go of his heavy thoughts and was back to his usual self.

Shutes University wasn't far from the city hall—both buildings were on the southern edge of central Ellen Royal City. Yet it still took Lu Li half an hour to reach his destination.

Along the way, Lu Li rested a little, while Anna happily savored their quiet time together.

Anna gently woke Lu Li; he sat up and looked at the magnificent city hall building—it truly resembled a castle.

The wide street could easily accommodate ten cars abreast; at its end rose the royal palace—the heart of the kingdom.

To avoid attracting attention, Lu Li asked Anna to wait across the street in a café. He crossed the street himself in his wheelchair and stopped at the main entrance of the city hall.

Two guards in heavy armor stood watch at the entrance—they turned their heads to see who had stopped.

"Senior Investigator Lu Li. It's difficult for me to enter on my own—could you please call a staff member for me?"

The guards exchanged a glance, and one of them, his plate mail creaking, ascended the steps and went inside.

Lu Li waited calmly at the entrance, watching the bustling street and occasionally glancing at the café windows across the way.

For a second, a figure in black flickered in the display window—it seemed someone was watching him in return.

Suddenly, there was a sharp snap, like a taut rope breaking, followed by a clang and a crash.

Shifting his gaze, Lu Li saw a cart standing about ten meters away from him, piled high with animal carcasses. Gray wolf bodies were strewn on the ground around it.

The rope holding the cargo had snapped, and the carcasses had tumbled onto the cobblestones.

The guards didn't react—as if what was happening near the city hall was of no concern to them.

Lu Li watched in silence as an old hunter and his young son jumped down from the cart, began loading the wolf carcasses back on, and started to tie them down with a spare rope.

"So much meat and fur—we should make a good profit," the older hunter remarked cheerfully.

The younger one was in low spirits. "But the other hunters already took the wolves we were tracking."

"We still got a good haul today," his father replied calmly.

"It would've been better if we'd caught some cubs. The aristocrats love wolf pups—they say they're... cute?"

The old hunter patiently explained to his son, "Try not to take the adult wolves or their young—otherwise, next year there won't be a single beast left in the Gray Hills. If everyone kills indiscriminately, soon there will be nothing left for hunters to catch."

After securing the rope, the father and his still-disgruntled son climbed back onto the cart and slowly rolled away.