Bizarre Detective Agency

  Chapter 872 One Hundred Sixty Three. Staggered Time

   "Where is Anna."

   Lu Li asked the bishop who claimed to be Jon. Ophelia was like a guard, tensing her body surging with obscure power.

  The devotees stood beside the oil lamp, and the long and narrow shadow was drawn to the center of Luli, like a mysterious ritual.

   "We are also looking for the whereabouts of the Lord, over and over again..." Jon lowered his head sadly. "But with all due respect to your most loyal servant, perhaps my lord has sacrificed himself."

   "Sacrifice...what does that mean."

   "She traded herself for your return."

   Bishop Jon said.

  【Maybe even your escape has something to do with her? The underground rock formation is like a mother's womb, and the turbulent undercurrent that wraps it is like amniotic fluid that brings nutrients. When you soak in the river, trudge through the narrow pass, and come to the outside world, it is like a newborn baby...]

  The bottom of Socra, the whispers of the stone statue of the contemplative shimmering seemed to ring in his ears.

  【She is by your side and never leaves you...】

   "Tell me the details." Lu Li continued to ask.

   "Of course... even at the cost of life."

  Bishop Jon slowly raised his head, his eyes filled with gray fog reminiscent: "It was a snowy night as cold as tonight..."

   Jon, who should have died, was resurrected by Ana. After observing Jon's condition, she was ready to abandon it like the rest of the resurrected mutilated test subjects. But Jon chose to follow in her footsteps, all the way to Stone Forest.

   Jon begged Anna to take him homeless, and at this moment.

   "He said to welcome a guest."

  …

   "Where is Adam Fuya."

  The blizzard-covered Tesla stepped out of the dark edge, and the oil lamp illuminated his face, thinner and gaunt than ever.

  The graceful Maiden Shadow did not respond.

   "Where is Adamfiya!" Tesla stepped forward and repeated again.

  The silhouette of the girl slowly raised her head, her hair fluttering: "Are you questioning me? Questioning an evil spirit...?"

   "Tell me... tell me her whereabouts..."

  Tesla dragged his frozen body and staggered forward like a walking corpse, no longer seeing the confidence and nobility of the former investigator.

   "I can't live without her."

   His prayer seemed to move the girl's shadow, and the fluttering hair fell gently.

   "... Paradise Valley, that's the only thing I know."

   "How do you know she's related there."

  Tesla still retains the shrewdness of the last part of the investigator, or because he doesn't want to be disappointed again.

   "After I left with him, Remy and the others left to look for us. When I returned to Wanghai Cliff, I saw the messenger's body and the shredded letter paper, only the name of Paradise Valley was recognizable on it."

  Anna said so much for the first time.

   "Thank you...you will find Lu Li too."

  Tesla remembered the name, turned and staggered away.

   watched Tesla step into the gloom, and the whispers echoed in the underground hall.

"certainly……"

  …

   Jon was also unable to become Anna's servant in the end.

   She no longer needs a companion after being integrated into the abyss, and she is only accompanied by her past obsession.

   and perhaps distorted strong emotions.

   Jon, who claims to be a servant, has since followed Anna's footsteps, accepting those who were resurrected by Anna and who believed in Anna's deeds.

   Church of Shadows thus appeared.

  After the girl's shadow disappeared, they insisted on his ritual, looked for Lu Li's whereabouts, and restarted the ritual in this land every once in a while.

  Anna disappeared on the earth at last, and Lu Li, who returned, never had an intersection with her—the clues he pursued along the way were left by the Church of Shadows.

   After telling everything, Bishop Jon quietly waited for his own melting.

   But time passed, and silence enveloped the surroundings, and nothing happened.

   "Why didn't I—"

   "I know Anna's ritual and know how to avoid triggering it."

   Lu Li said, reaching out to cover his forehead.

  The illusion is more serious, and even the words that are heard in the ear are suppressed by the hissing noise...

   "My Lord saved me once, and you saved me a second time."

  Bishop Jon bowed and saluted, unable to hide his excitement and swore his allegiance.

   "The Church of Shadows will be your most faithful servant."

The dozens of silhouettes in front of the    wall also respect the dwarf salutation.

  The illusory threads that only Lu Li could watch emerged from their hoods, and were pulled around their bodies by invisible forces, lingering helplessly as if they had been abandoned, seeking to connect with Lu Li.

  Lu Li ignored these ethereal threads with mysterious power and stared into the depths of the underground hall.

   "Do you like the gift I prepared for you?"

   Anna spoke softly, the words pierced through the noise and rang clearly in her ears.

   "What did Anna leave behind?"

   Lu Li asked the low bishop Jon.

   "The room in which he rested..."

  Bishop Jon bowed his head again: "We dare not desecrate that room..."

   Even if they failed to perform rituals time and time again and searched for Anna to no avail, they never set foot in the room where there might be Anna's clues.

  So heretics have always been the most difficult existence to provoke in this land.

   Faith makes them fearless and crazy.

"take me."

   Bishop Jon led the way.

  Lu Li followed them, passed through the underground hall, and entered the interior of the Stone Forest, where the living quarters of the Grand Duke Valentine once rested.

   Except for the deep underground and lack of enough light, there is no difference from the manor castle on the ground, only time and looting make it fade.

   But after the Church of Shadows took over, the place came back to life.

   Walking through the red carpet promenade lit by candles on both sides, they reached the room deep at the end.

   The believers outside the guard gate bowed and stepped back, the frenzy under the cloak was hard to stop even with the cloth.

"right here……"

   Creeping under the black robe, Bishop Jon presented a bronze key.

  Lu Li took the copper key, inserted it into the keyhole and twisted it.

  Kacha——

   The carved wooden door that was dusty and reminiscent of the past slowly opened.

  Bishop Jon withdrew, Ophelia and the merchant did not step in, and Ophelia took out the hood of the eldest sister. Only Lu Li, who put away the silver key, walked into the wooden door.

  A soft and cold hand suddenly held the palm in Lu Li's pocket. When he pulled out his hand, he saw that he was holding a book.

   "Belfast"

   In that real library, the book elf pulled out some of the books, which were taken away by Lu Li and forgotten in his pocket.

  Lu Li stopped, opened the title page of the book, and watched the preface that appeared.

  【The two who truly love each other are forced to separate, the girl is looking for the boy, the boy is also looking for the girl, and their ending——】

  Lu Li turned straight to the back page, but part of the page was missing.

   I don't know if it was the Book Elf or the Eternal Dreamer.

  Is this a hint given by the book wizard?

   Put away "Belfast" temporarily, and Lu Li in front of the door stepped into the room.

   Oil paintings, statues, artworks. All that was left was the bed and the desk.

   There is also a notebook on the desk at the back.

  Lu Li came to the table, picked up the note with the [Belfast Printing House] logo in the lower right corner, and opened it gently.

   A blank note with only one line of text.

  【Wherever you are, I will find you and bring you back】

   (end of this chapter)