The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 685: The Illusion-Weaving Monster

On the morning of their second day, just before they were set to leave, Lu Li noticed a crowd of townspeople gathered in front of a house.

Word was that the unfortunate residents of the house had run into an anomaly the night before, and none had survived.

It marked the fourteenth consecutive day that someone had died in Tavitown.

There were no traces of any anomaly at the scene. Given that Silence had descended the previous night, they might have fallen victim to the Third Calamity, or perhaps to the night calamity and the anomalous fog.

After restocking their supplies, they set out eastward in their wagon.

The distance between Raintown and Revoltown was almost equal to the length of the Allen Peninsula, and between them lay a vast lake, resembling an inland sea.

The waters of Lake Legkogo Zerkala were fed by melting glaciers from the World's Spine Mountains, giving the vast body of water the shape of a teardrop.

They could either travel around its perimeter or cross it by ferry.

Going around it would take far too long, so Lu Li and Emin made their way to the crossing, preparing to take a boat.

“That won’t do.”The most seasoned boatman gestured to Lu Li's wagon. “It won't fit,” he declared, “and the messengers of Lake Legkogo Zerkala will not permit it.”

The crossing only had simple wooden boats, each with a capacity for eight passengers at most.

“The masters of Lake Legkogo Zerkala?” Emin asked, puzzled.

“They are the masters of this lake,” the boatman cautioned, his tone that of a pious believer. “So remember: you must treat them with reverence.”

Lu Li leaned toward Emin. “Ask the locals,” he murmured.

Emin stepped away for a moment to question the others at the crossing. She soon returned and relayed what she had learned about Lake Legkogo Zerkala to Lu Li.

The lake was home to malevolent water spirits known as the First Dead. They had the power to ensnare people in illusions and would occasionally attack passengers on the boats that crossed.

The boatman they'd chosen was evidently a firm believer in these First Dead, and his boat was said to be the safest of any at the crossing.

By midday, a crowd had gathered, and their wooden boat quickly filled with eight passengers.

Having left their wagon behind, Lu Li and Emin took seats in the stern. Once the other passengers were aboard, the boatman pushed off from the bank with a long oar.

Ripples disturbed the lake's glassy surface. The water was clear enough to see several meters deep, yet the bottom remained out of sight. That sense of the unknown was enough to make the hearts of those new to crossing by wooden boat flutter with unease.

However, the sight of the distant World's Spine Mountains reflected in the placid water, along with the few other wooden boats dotting the surface, helped to ease some of their fear.

As he rowed, the boatman, with the piety of a true believer, lectured the passengers on what to be mindful of: the messengers disliked being stared at, for instance, and one must always show gratitude.

Stripping away the overtly religious and reverent tone, one could glean some real information about the First Dead: they were humanoid in shape and drifted through the water like jellyfish. They roamed Lake Legkogo Zerkala, using illusions to lure people into falling overboard.

Do not touch the lake water; do not throw anything in; do not stare into the depths for too long; do not trust any illusions. And finally, his advice to "show reverence" could also be counted among the practical warnings.

Their power was in illusion, and it was possible they could truly sense the thoughts of mortals.

How else could the ferryman who believed in them have become the most seasoned carrier on the lake?

The wooden boat slowly pulled away from the bank. The only sounds were the passengers' quiet breathing and the rhythmic splash of the oar stirring the water.

“What is that...?”

Suddenly, a young woman gasped, her frightened gaze fixed on the depths to the right of the boat.

She had just seen something that looked like a piece of gauze or a veil drift up from the depths.

“Those are the revered messengers!” the boatman snapped, turning around to scold her for her foolishness. “Avert your filthy eyes from the pure surface!”

The young woman squeezed her eyes shut in fear. The other passengers who had turned to look quickly fell silent. A tense stillness settled over the boat.

Lu Li half-expected the boatman to throw the young woman who had offended the "messengers" into the lake to earn the First Dead's forgiveness—there was no telling what fanatics were capable of.

But to his surprise, the boatman merely muttered a few quiet prayers before continuing to row, steering them away from the area.

The danger, it seemed, had passed. But now, even the breathing of the passengers was hushed and barely audible.

Suddenly, a soft, warm hand slipped into his. Emin looked at him, then pulled the Anomaly Detector from her coat pocket. Its needle was spinning wildly.

That usually meant one of two things: either it had detected an anomalous presence but couldn't pinpoint its location.

Or the anomalies were everywhere.

Lu Li shifted his gaze and looked out over the water.

Eerie, veil-like humanoid figures, as dense as a school of fish, had gathered at some point and were now circling the wooden boat.

“Why are there so many... Revered messengers, are you...?”

A trembling voice came from the bow. The boatman, who had also seen the spectacle, cried out in horror before his voice abruptly cut off.

“No! My child, I beg you, don't leave me!” a heart-wrenching cry tore through the air, and the boatman hurled himself over the side and into the lake.

The First Dead swarming just beneath the surface converged on him, dragging the man down into the lake's bottomless depths.

“We're taking control of the boat.”

Lu Li immediately got to his feet and moved toward the bow. “Everyone close your eyes,” he commanded. “Don't believe a single thing you see or hear from this point on.”

But it did little good. The passengers were already gripped by terror, their panicked screams filling the air.

And the screams weren't just coming from their boat—they echoed from the other vessels scattered across the lake.

For some reason, the First Dead were no longer “docile,” and had launched a mass attack on everyone on Lake Legkogo Zerkala.

Taking up an oar, Lu Li began to row toward the opposite shore.

An attack without a physical form left a person utterly helpless, because it was impossible to tell what was real and what was false.

It was possible that Lu Li was, at that very moment, still sitting in the stern, waving his arms as if he were holding an oar. But he soon realized he was still lucid, because he could perceive the illusion for what it was: the faint sounds of a bustling street.

The familiar sounds were faint and muffled, as if he were hearing them through water.

The illusion affecting Lu Li was a weakened one.

Suddenly, a sharp whistling sound cut through the air behind Lu Li. A young man with a contorted expression was swinging an oil lamp, aiming for the back of Lu Li's head.

Thwack!

There was a dull thud. The young man with the contorted face tumbled into the lake, revealing Emin standing behind him, holding her suitcase.

The First Dead swarmed the young man as he hit the water, instantly surrounding him.

Lu Li glanced back silently. Besides himself and Emin, all the other passengers were lost in their own illusions—some were talking to empty air, while others screamed and leaped into the lake.

“Pay them no mind,” Emin said. “But be careful. The illusions might make them attack us.”

Emin positioned herself behind Lu Li, guarding his back from any potential attacks. “You row,” she said. “I'll watch your back.”

Lu Li nodded and took up the oar again.

But just then, a clear, ringing sound, like someone tapping on glass, cut through the noise and chaos on the boat and reached Lu Li's ears.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Lu Li dropped his gaze to the side of the boat where the tapping had come from.

Beneath the surface of the water, a pale, elegant face appeared.

“Lu Li...”

Her white dress drifted gently in the current. Anna gazed weakly up at Lu Li from beneath the water. Her hands rested on the lake's surface, yet it was as if an invisible sheet of ice was trapping her, preventing her from climbing out.

“I'm trapped down here... save me...” she pleaded. “Help me get out... I'm begging you...”

Lu Li watched her calmly, his expression still unreadable.

But the hand he had been about to place on the oar drew back, and instead reached out toward the Anna under the water.