The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 748: The Entrance

The road had vanished, replaced by a gigantic spine half-buried in the earth. The wagon rolled along the straight, bony path—wide enough for eight carriages—toward a low mountain. At its peak, the skull of a colossal monster rested like a temple from some ancient civilization.

Elder Sister, still cross with Lu Li, ignored him completely, but at least she had stopped pestering Katerina.

Lu Li glanced down at his left palm. He hadn't held back his power. Or rather, he didn't yet know how to control the power of the shard of The Atonement. The same force that had dissipated the illusory monster in the shelter had only caused Elder Sister slight discomfort.

Her abilities clearly surpassed those of other spirits or entities—after all, even the witch and her doll had cowered in a corner, trembling with fear.

Fortunately, Elder Sister hadn't flown into a rage or attacked Lu Li; she simply pretended he didn't exist.

"Can you leave the City of Phantoms?" Lu Li asked, looking at Elder Sister, who was sitting on his lap.

"Villain!" Elder Sister shrieked, instantly vanishing and reappearing on the window frame. "I'm not telling you anything!"

"I'm sorry for what happened," Lu Li apologized, though his calm voice held no trace of remorse. "But next time, don't attack my companions."

"Lu Li..." Katerina looked up at him sharply.

On the window frame, Elder Sister remained silent.The giant spine proved to be a far smoother road than the paths in town. On either side of the bones, houses could be seen built at the foot of the mountain, but as they neared the summit, all traces of human presence vanished.

Now, they only encountered empty wagons returning from the peak.

"Take these. Don't lose them or tuck them away carelessly, unless you want to be eaten," the driver said, slowing the wagon just before the summit. He handed three wooden tablets to the passengers.

He ignored Elder Sister on the frame, as if she wasn't there at all.

"What's this?" Lu Li took a tablet. Its surface was painted with a mix of red and white, creating a pattern that resembled raw meat.

"Tickets," the driver answered.

The mushroom horse picked up speed again, and soon they reached the summit.

The sight that greeted Lu Li and Katerina surpassed all their expectations. Lu Li had imagined a spiral descent underground, while Katerina had pictured a gentle slope on the other side of the mountain.

But at the summit, there was only a deep pit, like the crater of a volcano, and a stone-paved road leading to its edge.

The wagon stopped at the edge of the road. The driver jumped to the ground and, walking toward a mechanism off to one side, announced, "Go down from here, and you'll be in the Old Sewer."

"But how do we get down?" Katerina asked.

"Don't resist, don't do anything, and hold on to your tickets," the driver replied, looking up at them. With a sharp motion, he threw a lever.

At first, nothing happened, but after a few seconds, a whistling sound rose from the depths of the crater, as if something was moving swiftly through the air.

Katerina only had time to glimpse several thin, blurred silhouettes that shot, writhing, from the chasm. Like whips, they wrapped around their waists and dragged them into the abyss.

The witch, clutching her doll tightly, did not resist.

Lu Li understood the purpose of the tablets and also made no move to struggle, tucking his left hand away so the tentacles wouldn't touch it.

Katerina followed their example, though her tense posture betrayed her anxiety.

The wind whistled past their ears. An instant later, they were plunged into darkness. But before a whisper could sound in the gloom, they emerged from it, bathed in light rising from below.

The tentacles uncoiled, and the three figures plummeted, their fall cushioned by the viscous air.

They had more than enough time to right themselves and survey the bottom of the pit—the Old Sewer.

The vaulted expanse of the Sewer was far wider than they had anticipated. It stretched into the distance like a street, flanked by ugly, crude shacks made of planks, like the shanties of a slum.

Filthy, chaotic, and foul-smelling. The place's only redeeming feature was the numerous flecks of fluorite and the scattered lights that kept the darkness from completely consuming it.

Lu Li landed softly at the entrance to the Old Sewer.

Katerina and the witch landed a moment later. Elder Sister was nowhere to be seen.

Thin wisps of something streamed from the bodies of Lu Li and the others, flowing back toward the chasm. On closer inspection, they looked like thin, writhing filaments, like living creatures.

It was these creatures that had brought them down.

Remembering the ticket, Lu Li reached into his pocket. The tablet was gone.

He looked at the Old Sewer again. Perhaps because of their proximity to the entrance, most of the inhabitants here had human features.

As Lu Li studied them, they studied him in return. The arrival of strangers had attracted the attention of the creatures near the Sewer's entrance.

They began to stir. Finally, a tall, stooped figure emerged to meet them.

It was over seven feet tall even with its hunched back, and its thin, long arms hung down to its knees. A hooked nose made its deep-set eyes seem even darker, and it felt as though a long gaze into those leaden eyes could induce nightmares.

The figure stood before a wooden sign that read "City of Phantoms Station." Looking down at Lu Li, it bared a maw full of needle-sharp fangs. Its deep voice sent a vibration through the air. "Welcome to the Old Sewer."

"Welcome!" came a shrill cry. Elder Sister, appearing from nowhere, clambered onto Lu Li's back. "It's my first time here!"

The witch, ignoring the tall figure, walked past it and deeper into the Sewer.

The figure's head turned to follow her, and when the witch disappeared from view, its neck, twisted completely around, snapped back to its normal position. The figure stared at Lu Li. "Do you want to hire me?"

"What do you mean, 'hire'?" Lu Li asked.

"To escort, to protect, to be a guide." The tall figure drew in a deep breath, savoring Lu Li's scent. "Where are you headed?"

Katerina cautiously touched Lu Li's arm.

The tall figure filled her with a profound sense of dread.

One of the filaments that had just streamed from Lu Li's body was floating back up toward the pit. It drifted past his palm, but Katerina's touch caused him to brush against it accidentally with his left hand.

The filament dissolved without a sound.

Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet trembled, and rocks began to fall from the walls of the chasm.

The inhabitants of the Old Sewer screamed and scrambled away from the entrance.

Terror flashed across the tall figure's nightmarish face. It turned and ran, clumsily but quickly, deeper into the Sewer.

"We need to go, too," Lu Li said, dodging the falling rocks, and followed the tall figure with Katerina.

Elder Sister, not waiting for an invitation, clung to his shoulder.

"This way!" a human-faced hyena called to them.

After a brief hesitation, Lu Li ran toward it. The creature looked far more harmless than the tall figure.

"Faster!" The hyena creature ducked under a plank awning and urged them on from there.

Lu Li and Katerina dashed under the awning and, glancing back at the vibrating entrance, realized with horror how close they had been to death.

Those who hadn't managed to escape, and the huts located too close to the entrance, were torn asunder by tentacles that shot from the chasm and dragged down into the quaking abyss.