The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 572: A Night at Rico Farm

In the distance, breaking away from the caravan, people filled with anxiety and regret trickled toward the farm, hoping to find shelter from the lurking danger. But not everyone managed to reach safety. Many of the lights flickering across the plain were extinguished one by one, never to be lit again.

The farm consisted of just a two-story wooden house, a barn, a cowshed, and a woodshed. It was clearly impossible to accommodate all the newcomers.

Most of the people gathered around a fire to keep warm. Gradually, quiet sobs began to break through the crackling of the logs—some mourned their lost hopes, others yearned for the relatives they had left behind in the capital.

By a window on the second floor, Lu Li was conversing with four other exorcists.

"An inverted city in the sky...? I've never heard of such a thing," Avalan Montes remarked, his gaze sweeping over the other exorcists. There was a note of alarm in his voice. "That means the situation in the capital is grave."

An invasion of anomalies in the capital was indeed a grim sign.

"We can still win," one of the exorcists declared firmly. "At least half of the continent's exorcists have gathered in the capital. They'll find the source of the problem and deal with it."

Such optimism was typical of ordinary people who knew little about anomalies, yet in a way, it was justified: humans could unite, while anomalies generally acted alone.

The exorcists didn't argue with their colleague's attempt to boost morale, but in the back of their minds, they all had the same question:

What if the anomalies had united for this very reason?The mournful howl of the wind, seeping through every crack and crevice, only deepened the unsettling mood.

The wind was rising.

Lu Li watched the flickering flames of the campfire outside the window.

The wind was coming from the south of the Allen Peninsula, where the coastline nearest the capital lay.

That was why the anomalous fog had reached so far inland this night.

The wind grew stronger. Having reached no conclusion, the exorcists went downstairs to help the people. The elderly, women, and children were settled on the second floor of the house, the horses were put in the cowshed, and the men and their belongings were sent to the barn. Though drafty, it was better than staying out in the open.

The fire in the yard was a link between the people sheltering in the house and the barn. If it were to go out, the two buildings, separated by only a few dozen meters, would become like lonely islands in a sea of darkness.

The fire had to be kept going. The caravan had enough kerosene to last until morning, but it was no good for an open fire of this size.

The younger people dismantled the woodshed and broke up unnecessary items from the house for fuel. In the cellar, they found several hundred pounds of damp firewood and a few dozen pounds of coal. It would have to be enough to keep the fire going. In addition, they rolled two wagons to the windward side to shield the flames from the wind and help them burn longer.

The attic of the house became the exorcists' gathering point. Its slanted windows offered them a good view of the surroundings.

Everyone's spirits were low. The only silver lining was that the strong wind had dispersed the anomalous fog. Visibility had improved, and now they could make out flickering lights a mile from the farm. It was other people, trying to reach shelter but blown off course by the wind.

Before the astonished eyes of the exorcists, Lu Li and his assistant left the house and headed away from the farm, toward the flickering lights in the distance.

They watched as Lu Li's faint light drew closer to the others, and then saw them begin to move together, converging into a single large cluster.

"Thank you. You've already done more than enough," Avalan Montes said when Lu Li and Anna returned, accompanied by several wagons and dozens of people.

There were still people out on the plain, but without a light, Lu Li couldn't find them.

Farther down the road, the caravan, scattered by the anomalous fog and strong winds, had broken into small groups huddled around their wagons.

The newcomers were settled in the house and the barn. The farm became even more cramped, but no one complained. In fact, people wanted as many others around as possible. There was safety in numbers, and it was less terrifying to wait for monsters together.

The newcomers quickly calmed down, thanks to the care and support of those who had arrived earlier. A low murmur of conversation drifted from the barn and the main room of the house.

In the attic, the exorcists were discussing the farm's security.

The danger emanated from the capital. The farm was only five miles from the city—not too close, but not too far, either.

"Are there any other houses nearby?" Avalan Montes asked.

A member of the Night's Watch unfolded a map given to him by the locals. "There's 'Farm Fourteen' twelve miles from here. It's a safe distance, but too far to travel now."

The two hundred-plus people who had put their trust in them would be unlikely to agree to such a journey. Besides, they lacked the resources for the trip.

"So, we stay here but prepare to fall back to Farm Fourteen if the anomaly from the capital begins to spread?" Avalan looked at Lu Li, a question in his eyes.

"Yes." Sitting in his wheelchair, Lu Li rubbed his eyes.

"Are you tired?" Anna asked, her voice full of concern.

"A little."

A cool voice emanated from beneath Anna's hood. "Forgive us, but we need to rest."

A middle-aged exorcist nodded. "Of course. We'll take watch for the night. If anything serious comes up that we can't handle, we'll come get you."

Lu Li and Anna were given the farmer's master bedroom. Lilia chose to remain downstairs with the others.

Though it was the best room on the farm, it contained nothing but wooden shelves blanketed in a thick layer of dust.

Soon, the other three came down from the attic, and Lu Li fell asleep in his chair.

As midnight approached, the murmur of voices from downstairs faded, drowned out by the howl of the wind whipping through the branches outside the window.

...

"I miss Mama..." a little boy whispered, pressing close to his grandfather.

The grandfather patted his back, saying nothing.

"And I miss Papa... and my sister, Maria," added a little girl lying in her mother's arms nearby.

No one in the main room was asleep. More and more of the children and elderly were waking, opening their eyes to listen quietly or whisper questions to their families.

A collective sense of dread amplified their anxiety. They turned to Avalan Montes, asking what was happening in the capital.

"I don't know myself," Avalan sighed, pointing to a dim light in the distance, barely visible through the shroud of fog. "See those lights? The caravan is still waiting outside the capital. The gates must be closed. We're the lucky ones. At least we're out of the wind and have a roof over our heads."

"What's happening over there?"

"What's happened in the capital?"

The elderly men and women bombarded Avalan with questions. He answered grimly that they couldn't leave the farm, as danger lurked for them in the thick fog.

So they decided to ask Lu Li to scout out the situation.

Avalan didn't know how to refuse the desperate people and was about to speak when the bedroom door swung open.

"I heard you talking."

Silence fell over the house. Dozens of pairs of eyes fixed on the cloaked figure in the doorway, awaiting a response.

"But what makes you think we would risk our lives a second time?" A chill seemed to emanate from the bedroom. The cloaked figure's gaze swept over the gathered people.

"For you."