The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 656: A Weight Like a Rock

Sometimes, Selika Daler felt as if this were all just a dream.

An unbelievably realistic nightmare, and when she woke up, the world would go back to normal.

But now, hunger was gnawing at her sanity.

Her injured lip had prevented her from scavenging for three days. Suddenly, she found herself regretting that she had buried Mac, instead of...

When faced with the gaping abyss of survival, what did something as distant as humanity matter?

I need to eat...

Selika steeled herself. She would die without food, and it was better to take her chances outside than to waste away in the cellar.

She climbed the steps and listened at the door for several minutes before flinging it open, shattering the silence as she headed out into the yard.

She hoped Mac's body hadn't decomposed yet...

Opening the door, Selika froze in despair.The ground was torn up, and a humanoid creature was hunched over the shallow grave where she had buried Mac, ripping something apart. A wet, chomping sound echoed in the silence.

It noticed Selika, let out a grating screech, and lunged.

So this is death...

A strange calm washed over Selika as she watched the monster, a shred of intestine dangling from its snarling maw, freeze in mid-leap.

Four invisible forces seized its limbs, ripping them away with wet snaps of sinew and bone before it could even scream. A spray of dark fluid gushed from the mangled sockets.

By the wall, a girl in a white dress appeared, as delicate and exquisite as a porcelain doll. She threw something at the monster... a pistol?

It seemed she didn't know how to use it—she'd thrown it instead of firing. But the effect was horrifying: the moment the pistol touched the mangled monster, clouds of smoke billowed from the point of contact, and the creature went still.

The girl padded barefoot to the repulsive carcass and retrieved her weapon. Only then did she turn her cold gaze on Selika, tilting her head slightly. "There are other survivors here?"

Having just been saved, Selika opened her mouth to answer, but then she noticed with dawning horror: the girl's body was translucent!

Without a second thought, she turned and fled.

Selika had never believed she survived on pure luck. Luck may have played a part, but it was mostly her wits that kept her alive. Like now—instead of retreating to the cellar, she ran for the way out.

But a shadow was faster. It overtook Selika and melted into the ground at her feet.

Selika froze on the spot. Her body went rigid for a moment, then she turned and walked back to the center of the yard.

Anna's projection reluctantly detached itself from Selika's feet, coalescing back into her ghostly form.

"What did you do to me, you monster!" Selika hissed, suppressing a wave of terror. She had just lost control of her own body, reduced to a helpless observer in her own skin...

"Nothing. I just stopped you from running off blindly. It's dangerous outside..." Anna lowered her gaze, and for a moment, a flicker of solemn compassion crossed her eyes. "Selika Daler."

"You know my name... Of course you do." A chill ran down Selika's spine.

If this thing could possess her body, then reading her mind would be child's play...

Selika felt utterly exposed before this cold girl.

But this... creature's behavior was strange.

Selika had heard of ghosts and vengeful spirits. Weren't they all the same?

"You're not going to eat me?" she ventured.

"I'm a vengeful spirit. Cannibalism doesn't interest me." Anna waved a hand, and the loose earth slid back into the pit on its own. "Wait here for me."

With that, she floated up and over the fence.

Selika flinched, every instinct screaming at her to run. But she was weak from cold and hunger, and this place was the only shelter she had.

I'll just have to trust one more time...

Selika convinced herself to stay and wait in the yard.

The girl returned two minutes later. Cans tumbled to the ground with a series of dull thuds—the sweetest sound in the world.

This went against everything Selika expected. "Why...?"

"I need your body," Anna said, her gaze fixed on her.

"My body?" Selika echoed, a look of understanding on her face. She began to pull off her baggy shirt, revealing an emaciated frame that trembled in the cold. "If you'll let me live... it's yours."

"That's not what I meant," Anna said with a grimace. "Put your clothes on. Hide here and don't leave. I'll find you when the time comes."

With an unseen force, she gathered the dismembered parts of the monster. Anna didn't want her new vessel to flee in terror, so she added, "Don't try to leave. It's more dangerous out there than you can imagine."

Ignoring Selika's trembling, she glided away, heading for Watcher's Cliff.

Selika stood frozen, watching Anna disappear as if waking from a dream. She pulled her shirt back on, oblivious to the chill, and greedily snatched up the cans. Dropping a few as she went, she scurried back to the cellar.

Not even bothering to retrieve the cans she'd dropped, she struggled to open one. With trembling hands, she lifted it to her mouth and began to devour its contents.

And wept.

...

Anna felt light.

Yes, a sense of lightness.

She was happy to have found a compromise with Lu Li.

She had kept her promise: not to harm anyone without reason.

Perhaps the recent possession had awakened vivid emotions within Anna. Or maybe it was Selika's memories that helped her realize just how precious her bond with Lu Li was. Deceit and hatred reigned among humans, yet a ghost and a man were able to exist together without barriers.

She could trust Lu Li unconditionally. And he could trust her.

After checking to make sure she wasn't being followed, Anna returned to Watcher's Cliff.

Thud!

The kill landed in a heap in front of Jimmy's hut. Anna then hurried into the cave, floating over to Lu Li, who was in conversation with Remi.

"...I'll go take a look at the catch," Remi said with a smile, giving them some privacy.

"What is it?" Lu Li asked calmly.

Though the pen had slipped from his fingers, leaving an inkblot in his notebook.

"Everything is fine," Anna replied.

As she embraced Lu Li, she felt nothing tangible, yet she could imagine the sensation of his breath near her ear, the goosebumps on his skin, the warmth of his body.

She longed to touch him.