The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 747: Spirits and Monsters

Inside the gently swaying carriage, a crudely sculpted little clay man struggled to its feet.

The little figure, made of clay and silt whose parts were clearly different colors, made a face at Lu Li and cried out shrilly, "You're a good person, but I'm still going to scare you! Waaah!!!"

It jerked so violently that its loosely attached arm fell off at the shoulder. The little clay man hastily picked it up and stuck it back on.

"There's no need to scare me, we have to leave soon," Lu Li said calmly, holding the little clay man in his palm.

"Why?!"

"Your friend said he was going to call Elder Sister to teach me a lesson."

The little clay man pretended to ponder, rubbing its chin with a featureless hand.

"Will you help us?" Katerina played along.

"No! Let Elder Sister punish you!" the little clay man shrieked in reply. It hopped off Lu Li's palm, ran to the edge of the table, and leaped off.

"I know where to find high-quality clay," Lu Li said suddenly.The little clay man, having just jumped, immediately grabbed the edge, asking with unconcealed greed, "Where?!"

"In Midnight. But Elder Sister is watching me, so even if I find it, I won't be able to return to the city."

The carriage suddenly jolted, and the little clay man was thrown aside, its fading, piercing cry the only thing left behind.

"I'll go call Elder Sister right now!"

"Will it shatter?" Lu Li frowned, about to ask the driver to stop again.

"That's not its real body; this essence cannot die..."

A hissing whisper, like that of a snake, echoed through the carriage.

Lu Li looked at the Witch who had spoken. "An essence?"

"These little creatures are essences... Spirits and monsters, don't you know?"

Lu Li turned to look at Katerina. Her face showed complete confusion.

"It seems you don't know... Perhaps you're the heir of an ancient lineage?" The woman chuckled, an insect-like greed flashing in her dull yellow eyes. "Or maybe an aristocrat from the backwoods...?"

"We're from Mantistown, a very remote place," Katerina answered warily.

"Spirits and monsters" sounded like some kind of classification for anomalies. Lu Li wanted to learn more, but this woman was clearly not the right person to ask.

Dirt remained on Lu Li's palm. He stuck his hand out the window to shake it off, but some of the black soil still clung to his skin.

"It's just dirt, wipe it on something," Katerina told Lu Li, who was staring at his palm.

"May I use..."

The Witch held out a handkerchief. From beneath her sleeve, insects crawled down her withered arm toward the cloth.

"No need."

Lu Li refused and reached toward Katerina, intending to wipe the dirt on her clothes.

"Don't worry, the handkerchief is clean. My little ones don't just run about anywhere..."

Clearly, by "little ones," she meant the insects crawling all over her.

"Thank you."

Before the insects could reach the handkerchief, Lu Li took it and wiped the dirt from his palm.

"Spirits and monsters... that is how we classify those who live alongside us," the Witch's voice echoed in the carriage, accompanied by a serpentine hiss.

Spirits and monsters was not a classification from the Age of Anomalies, or rather, it existed alongside the four main systems—evil spirits, spirits of defilement, anomalies, and evil gods—and did not contradict them.

It was based on these four systems, but with a single condition: coexistence with humans.

In the Age of Anomalies, the lines between humans and anomalies had become increasingly blurred. With the exception of Vinnelag—which strived for the purity of the human race, maintained complete hostility toward anomalies, and dreamed of returning to its former glory—many cities tacitly allowed the presence of certain harmless anomalies.

It was these anomalies that were classified as Spirits and Monsters.

"Ghosts" denoted incorporeal, soul-like anomalies, usually possessing a human form.

"Essences" denoted elusive but tangible anomalies. They were distinguished from "ghosts" by their lack of a fixed form and their non-human appearance.

"Spirits" denoted animate objects or beings, like living houses, talking paintings, or the entities of the City of Phantoms.

"Monsters" referred to monstrous creatures, such as mushroom horses, Amper, as well as mutants and hybrids.

Ghosts were close to essences, and spirits to monsters, so when a distinction was hard to make, people would usually call them ghost-essences or spirit-monsters.

Katerina didn't know about Spirits and Monsters for a simple reason: Mantistown was located in the center of the Dark Lands, far from other settlements, and maintained a fairly rigid policy regarding anomalies.

Most importantly, Katerina was struggling just to survive and had no time for knowledge that couldn't fill her stomach.

Beyond Spirits and Monsters, Lu Li also wanted to find out what exactly the Witch was.

Because Katerina's wariness had not faded; it reached its peak when the woman asked for her handkerchief back.

"We've soiled it. How much is it? We'll buy it," Katerina said nervously, grabbing Lu Li's arm as she addressed the woman.

Lu Li wondered if she could use some kind of mystical curse or sorcery.

"Buy it? That's my... most beloved handkerchief..." came a threatening hiss.

Perhaps overcome by the tension, Katerina did something impulsive.

She snatched the handkerchief and threw it out of the carriage, staring intensely at the Witch. "We'll compensate you for it!"

"Compensate...?"

A film flickered across the woman's dull yellow eyes, and she fixed Katerina with a cold, serpentine gaze. The spirit doll slid from her lap and began to stomp heavily toward Lu Li and Katerina.

Just then, a black shadow dropped from above. Lu Li had no time to react and let it land on him.

An incoherent cry of terror rang out, and the spirit doll, as if it had met its mortal enemy, scrambled back to the Witch, buried its head, and trembled with fear.

The woman, too, was seized by a profound fear and fell silent, not daring to look at them.

The source of the Witch's fear was a doll with two pigtails and a grotesque mask, which stood on Lu Li's leg.

"You're the one who bullied Two-Head!" a piercing voice, like that of an adolescent boy, came from beneath the mask. "And you lied to Clay Man!"

"There really is high-quality clay in Midnight," Lu Li replied to Elder Sister.

She was larger than the other mischievous ghost-essences. Her palm-sized frame fully justified the title of Elder Sister.

Elder Sister suddenly leaned closer to Lu Li, and a sniffing sound came from beneath her mask.

"You smell good!" It seemed she had changed her mind. "I don't believe you... Take me to Midnight!"

Before Lu Li could answer, the grotesque mask swiveled toward the stunned Katerina. "And you... will pay for this!"

An indescribable chill washed over Katerina. Her eyes suddenly lost focus, as though she had been plunged into madness, and her body began to shake with fear.

"Stop it."

Lu Li frowned and grabbed Elder Sister, who was doing something to Katerina, with his left hand.

"Let go! You're hurting me!"

Elder Sister screamed, struggling desperately to break free and pound on Lu Li's hand with her tiny fists. She was forced to stop using her power.

Katerina snapped back to her senses, gasping for air like a drowning person breaking the surface.

"What happened?" Lu Li asked.

"So many... so many horrible visions..." Katerina was deathly pale, and she was still trembling from the fright. "I didn't scream, did I?"

"Even if you had, it wouldn't matter. We're almost out of the city now."