The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 681: Thorny Obstacles on the Path

"It's like a dream..." Morey gazed at the shillings on the table, unable to believe he'd earned them so easily. But a sliver of doubt pricked at him. "Are you sure it's true? That this plant plague is the heretics' doing, and that they're planning something bigger...?"

If it was a lie, they needed to run, and fast. If it was the truth... the money was earned honestly, but that brought no joy.

"Who knows," Park answered in a hoarse voice, leaning over his bottle.

"Er..." Morey's gaze shifted back to the shillings, a greedy glint in his eyes. "Take your cut, before those other guys see."

"No. They're yours."

"What? But I..." Morey began, but Park cut him off harshly. "Why the hell not? We'll just spend it on drink anyway, hic..."

"Alright..." Morey licked his lips, the taste of liquor still on them. "I'll set this money aside, just for you and me." He reached out for the coins.

Just then, Park shoved his chair back and staggered toward the door.

"Where are you going?"

Park threw his head back, draining the last few drops, and waved the bottle without turning. "Going to sleep it off properly. And then... start drinking again.""Alright, see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

He shoved the door open with his shoulder, and the staggering figure of Park vanished behind it.

...

"Tavitown... it's here."

A slender finger tapped a point on the map northeast of Revoltown, just over thirty kilometers away—not very far.

"Are we leaving now? I think it would be better to sort things out here first..." Emin proposed timidly.

"Why?" Lu Li was studying the yellowed map, his voice perfectly level.

"The heretics are planning something big. We have to stop them—isn't that why we're here? If we can disrupt their plans in Revoltown, their whole plot will fall apart, like a machine missing a cog."

Emin didn't know Lu Li's true motivations, but her logic was sound. Mary's Aunt was in the heretics' hands, and thwarting their plans would give her a chance at survival.

Then again, a trip to Tavitown might lead to a reunion with Anna.

"That way, we can also help your assistant. If the heretics are distracted by us, it will be easier for her to make her move," Emin added.

Emin's reasoning persuaded Lu Li. They returned to the exorcist association.

When they learned Lu Li was staying to help, the exorcists were thrilled. An extra pair of hands was always welcome, especially when there were only two spirit exterminators in the entire town.

Their skepticism about curing the plague, however, hadn't diminished. The disease had been raging for three weeks, and no solution was in sight.

Severed shoots would soon sprout again, in different places. The exorcists had tried to "cleanse" one of the recently infected patients again and again. The only results were scars, blood loss, and excruciating pain. The shoots stubbornly broke through the skin.

"We can't detect any curse or parasite on them. It's as if the plants have become a part of their very bodies..." one of the exorcists sighed.

There were no fools among the exorcists. They suspected a link between the disease, the local populace, and Revoltown's history, but their investigation had turned up no leads.

"How many are infected?" Lu Li asked.

"There were seventy-eight in total. Fifty-six are left, all of them on the association's second floor," the exorcist answered.

"Are people dying from the plague?" Emin asked in surprise.

"No... The very first person who was infected, the one you saw, is still alive. The deaths were for other reasons..." The exorcist's voice wavered, but he didn't hide the truth. "They found the first case. The town council arrested him, spun a tale of horrors, declared him a monster, and strung him up on the gallows..."

"You execute 'monsters' by hanging?" Emin interrupted.

"No... We knew he wasn't a monster. But the Council needed to show the citizens they were acting decisively, and the infected couldn't think or resist..." The exorcist continued bitterly, "The poor man was executed. But soon after, symptoms started appearing among the soldiers and townsfolk who had been in contact with him. After they killed a few more, everyone finally understood it was a plague."

"And the bodies of the dead?"

"Burned. They were afraid they would infect the ground."

"So there were no autopsies or examinations?"

"No..." the exorcist shook his head. "That's a job for doctors, not us."

Lu Li told them to find a surgeon and a volunteer. An autopsy might not yield any answers, but it could eliminate false leads.

Surgery in this era had a high mortality rate—patients often died from blood loss, infection, or other complications. So, the exorcists "persuaded" a certain man to volunteer—a "lowlife who had harmed an innocent girl," a girl who had also contracted the plague. They were fully prepared for him to die.

The slovenly man on the table thrashed and screamed until a dose of anesthetic finally sent him into a deep sleep.

The surgery was performed by a surgeon who had lived in Revoltown for more than a decade. To be considered a "local," one had to be born here. But as a precaution, everyone, including Lu Li, donned protective gear.

The surgeon removed the patient's shirt. His body was covered in wounds that refused to heal, some of which were already festering.

"Do you see? This many shoots usually appears after ten days, but he's been infected for less than three. The more he ripped them out, the faster they grew back," came the muffled voice of an exorcist from behind his mask. "Those wounds aren't from us. He did it to himself."

"I'm starting. Stand back."

The surgeon gave his warning, then drew the scalpel across the skin of the man's chest and abdomen. Blood beaded on the surface. After blotting it with a swab, he continued with... the dissection. The surgeon knew exactly who lay before him.

After parting the skin and the layer of fat beneath, he spoke from behind his blood-spattered mask:

"Incredible... All his organs have undergone fibrous degeneration..."

"Degeneration? What's that?" an exorcist asked.

Lu Li observed in silence. The exposed organs weren't fibrous in the medical sense of the word. They looked more like rough, gnarled wood.

"They've turned into something like corkwood," the surgeon explained, simplifying.