Detective Agency of the Bizarre-Chapter 1402 - 242: Investigation

Chapter 1402: Chapter 242: Investigation
Lu Li obtained some answers, but more truths remain elusive.
Bypassing the low gravestones, through the cold cemetery, he walked into the silent church.
Lu Li saw the nun’s robe and the priest’s robe discarded on the pews; evidently, the "resurrected" townsfolk did not include this church.
Leaving the solitary church, Lu Li noticed that Sniffles’ steps were becoming more and more unsteady and slow. Initially, he thought Sniffles was afflicted by the town’s bizarre curse, but she was simply exhausted.
From the Seaside Town to Twin Town, Sniffles had not rested during the hundreds of miles, and after arriving at Kazvovo Town, she followed Lu Li to Kazgir Town. Sniffles did not complain because she was enduring.
The town was clearly not a suitable place for rest, but the existence of the Crowd of Suffering should be able to shelter Sniffles. Lu Li searched for a vacant mansion at the edge of the town near the coast to let Sniffles rest temporarily.
A micro hurricane of airflow raged inside the house, lifting dust into the chimney and gathering with the sea breeze blowing over the roof. The old furniture was lifted by an invisible force, piled on the stairs leading to the second floor, with only one bed spared. Ghostly sheets floated, blocking the windows. Disassembled wooden chairs were set alight in the fireplace, emitting light and warmth.
A simple refuge was arranged.
Sniffles prepared to climb onto the bed to rest, but Lu Li temporarily stopped her, summoning a merchant to bring a set of bedding.
If the Dreamwalker brought convenience, the merchant was another kind of convenience.
Soon, soft, fluffy bedding with the scent of sunlight from the Land of Light was spread on the bed. Sniffles climbed onto it, feeling it, wrapping herself like a cocoon woven by a larva.
Sniffles liked this.
"Have you reached the homeland of the Uninvited Guests?"
The merchant who hadn’t left asked on behalf of the Mother of the Marsh. Upon confirmation, he continued to ask, "How is the situation?"
"Still investigating."
An unknown gloom still shrouded this small town.
The origin of the clothes and the whereabouts of the mother and daughter remain unknown.
The Mother of the Marsh then informed Lu Li that the Andrea had picked up Aileen, but her condition seemed somewhat off.
"The Ghost Baron says she has an unseen friend who talks and communicates with her. The Twisted Cultist cannot sense the presence of any Weird Power, and Tesla suspects it might be a mental issue."
Considering that Aileen had soaked in the blood pools formed by the residents of the refuge for months, surviving by eating their flesh and having long-term contact with the Obsidian Stele, it’s not surprising that she might have mental issues.
However, Lu Li had another conjecture: because Sniffles exhibited similar behavior—stemming from her Cursed Title [Good Friend]
Geographically, both the South Coast of the Ailen Peninsula and the coast of the Seaside Town are inland seas. Perhaps some unspeakable existence passed by there, coincidentally bringing the Cursed Title?
Lu Li conveyed his theory to the Mother of the Marsh, who then shared it with Aileen on the Andrea through the merchant, receiving confirmation.
Aileen, unaware of what the Cursed Title is, did indeed encounter [Good Friend] when she was on the brink of death.
But to be cautious, to prevent the curse of the Obsidian Stele from being brought to the Land of Light, Aileen will not go to Agate Lake Camp. She will undergo a period of isolation on the backside of the mountain.
Merchant Anthony left, and Lu Li looked at Sniffles, who had poked her head out from the fluffy bedding, her eyes gleaming in the firelight as she looked at him.
"Do you remember things from the past?"
Lu Li picked up firewood, a phantom hand passing through the wood before he remembered something.
Sniffles ran down from the bed, picked up the firewood, and placed it into the roaring fireplace, into which Lu Li could not feel the warmth.
The glow of the flames illuminated from behind Sniffles, and slender tendrils subtly emerged from the edges of her thin arms.
"Kenny, Husen, and Qiapa—are they your family?"
Lu Li asked about the names Sniffles had begun to speak.
Sniffles nodded, then shook her head.
"They took me in, brought me there to live."
Sniffles was not from the Seaside Town, and when Lu Li asked where she came from, Sniffles could not answer.
"I don’t remember..."
Sniffles looked about seven or eight years old. Considering the impact of long-term malnutrition and pollution, it’s difficult for her to remember events from two or three years ago.
However, it was evident that Sniffles was unlikely to be coincidentally the daughter of an Uninvited Guest.
"Are you planning to eat me like they did?"
Lu Li snapped out of his thoughts, looking at her after she removed her tattered outerwear, revealing a chest resembling a membrane draped over a skeleton.
"You can start with the arm." She said, pressing her lips covered in sores, "I won’t rot while I’m alive."
"I don’t eat."
To earn Sniffles’ trust, Lu Li had the merchant bring food and clothing. However, the food and linen garments from the Land of Light made Sniffles hesitate.
"Are these for me?"
"Yes."
"Really?"
"Really."
Sniffles ate like a dog devouring meat; rather than guarding the food, it was more like a gluttonous fear that the food might wake up and need to be eaten quickly.
Lu Li provided a full adult portion of food, which Sniffles completely devoured, swelling her belly as a consequence. If an oil lamp was held close, one could faintly glimpse the tendrils writhing beneath her skin.
"I like it here..."
Sniffles was fascinated by the facade of Kazgir Town.
Rather than saying Sniffles liked it here, it would be more accurate to say she liked sleeping in warm, fluffy bedding, sitting by the bright and warm fireplace, and enjoying fresh, clean food, all of which coincidentally were found in Kazgir Town.
"Can I play on the beach?"
Sniffles asked, as she would often run to the beach while in the Seaside Town.
"The beach here isn’t quite safe."
Lu Li handed Sniffles a fitting children’s clothing from the Land of Light:
"I’ll go with you."
...
Swoosh—swoosh—
The shoreline waves washed over restlessness. Unexpectedly, Lu Li and Sniffles weren’t the only ones on the beach—a man’s suit and children’s clothes walked hand-in-hand along the shallows.
Sniffles looked enviously at the father and daughter, then glanced up at Lu Li’s chin, suddenly stretched out her hand, and overlapped it with Lu Li’s lowered ghostly hand.
Only a bloated monster standing not far away disrupted this tranquility.
Lu Li pondered over the clues he gathered in Twin Town, piecing them together into a faint thread.
The Weird Times descended, and some upheaval occurred in the hometown of the Uninvited Guests who sailed away and never returned. People started dying one after another, and to resist the Flower Season, they donned clothes and gradually turned into clothes themselves—these tentative assumptions could be overturned at any time with the emergence of new clues.
For example, is there some kind of wastage in humans turning into clothes, or are some people destined not to transform, becoming food instead? The discarded notebook among the pile of clothes—does it mean its owner didn’t become a "townsfolk"?
The insights from Kazgir Town reminded Lu Li of his days long ago as an investigator. Searching for clues, piecing together truths, escaping danger.
But now, he no longer needed to unravel the threads.
"Let’s go back."
"Okay."
Returning to the street, Lu Li walked into a store that hung clothes like meat strips. As the gray shirt at the counter wiped the desk, it attempted to say something when abruptly, a sprawling dreamscape ensnared it.
"I ask, you answer."