76: 76.

Where are you?

76: 76.

Where are you?

Lu Li and Hades exchanged a glance, both seeing in each other’s eyes that neither understood what had happened.

An indescribable malice filled the air, emitting a repulsive stench that made one want to stay away.

The black silhouettes around them became restless, shifting as if wanting to leave this place.

“Where are you?”

The phrase echoed once more in the void, this time in a murky male voice.

Lu Li’s gaze moved from the intensely nervous Hades to the Illusion-Breaking Candle.

Was it what brought in the presence of the voice…

“Where are you?”

The voice in the void changed again, this time into a woman’s indifferent tone.

Lu Li recognized the voice, it was… Anna’s.

Together with the previous two voices, images of Jojo and Oliver emerged in his mind.

Hades still looked nervously uneasy, his expression not clearing up, meaning he couldn’t distinguish the voices…

Was this question aimed at him?

Lu Li decided to stay quiet, not answering the unknown voices in the void.

He listened to the soft noises from the other side, some messy like the sound of flowing water, and almost imperceptible whispering murmurs gradually emerged.

“Where are you?”

A hoarse voice, cold as a man’s, rang out, but Lu Li could not identify its owner.

“Where are you?”

“Where are you?”

“Where are you?”

“Where are you?”

The shifting voices repeatedly uttered the same words.

Some were from people he recognized.

Some voices were very familiar yet he couldn’t recall.

“Where are you?”

A voice, extremely familiar yet equally strange, echoed in the void, a woman’s voice.

Suddenly, Lu Li’s mind buzzed, his vision filled with noise, losing the ability to think.

His entire concentration was captured by this voice.

“Where are you?”

“Where are you?”

“Where are you?”

The ceaseless human voices continued, and Lu Li still sat in front of the bar, unmoving.

Rustle, rustle…

The background murmur suddenly magnified at this moment, drowning out the continuous queries.

In a daze, blood-red spots appeared between the crevices of the ceiling boards overhead.

They spread outward like growing, disgusting vascular tendrils, rolling and climbing, covering the entire ceiling and the surrounding dim areas.

Hades’s expression turned from nervous to fearful.

He looked up and almost subconsciously reached for his Spirit-Calling Gun behind him.

“What is that!?”

Hades spoke softly, but no one answered him.

He realized something and tried to extinguish the small remaining bit of the Illusion-Breaking Candle.

A hand reached out and stopped him, Hades looked up to see Lu Li watching him calmly, barely shaking his head: “You weren’t lying before, were you?”

He meant that the Illusion-Breaking Candle couldn’t be extinguished.

Hades awoke and slowly withdrew his arm.

However, waiting for death and doing nothing were not his style.

Almost instantly, he thought of a solution, picking up the oil lamp to tilt the flame, accelerating the burning and consumption of the Illusion-Breaking Candle.

Lu Li looked up, still observing the ongoing changes on the ceiling.

The blood vessels spread across every part of the ceiling.

Unbeknownst to them, the black silhouettes in the Detective Agency’s hall had all vanished.

The space was empty, save for the two of them under the candlelight by the bar.

Suddenly, a crack opened up in the densely packed blood vessels on the wall, emerging from the network.

“Sizzling, hissing, sizzling, hissing…”

Malice permeated around Lu Li, whispering in a low voice.

Murmurs filled every corner as the crack gradually split open into an eye trying to open, covering the entire wall.

The blood vessels acted as eyelids.

Beneath the slit-open semi-transparent eyelid film, a several meters in diameter black-red eyeball filled with bloodshot veins anxiously shifted.

Perhaps when this eye opened, it would be when it found Lu Li.

Just then, the surrounding light visibly dimmed.

Lu Li shifted his gaze towards the Illusion-Breaking Candle that had almost burnt out, and its last flame was fading.

“Where are you?”

As if a nightmare, the questioning voice echoed in the vast hall.

As the Illusion-Breaking Candle burned out, the images on the ceiling faded, disappeared, and returned to normal.

Along with the images, the whispering murmurs that filled their ears also shattered and disappeared.

“Did it work?”

Hades’s forehead was covered in a thin layer of sweat, revealing his disheveled state.

He looked towards Lu Li, his nervousness not yet subsided, “What was that?!”

“I was about to ask the same thing.”

Hades tried to glean something from Lu Li’s calm demeanor, but discovering nothing, he bafflingly moved his gaze away and placed the oil lamp back in its original spot.

Under the stable light, he waved his hand wearily, “Forget it, it’s probably some glitch.

These ghostly things can’t be understood with common sense…

If there are any negative effects, I’ll be seeking compensation from you!”

The last sentence he suddenly shouted fiercely, then resumed in his previous listless tone, “I’m very tired now; if you have other questions, you can wait until—”

“I indeed have other questions.”

Lu Li interrupted Hades, ignoring his hints to leave and his annoyed look, placing the Flintlock Pistol along with its case on the bar.

“She opened the first flower, what does that mean?”

Hades’s impatience was driven away by shock as he held up the case, staring at the gracefully blooming rose on the pistol, “How many ghosts did you actually deal with?!”

“That’s why I have 1000 Shillings,” Lu Li replied.

The complete blooming of the first rose was largely linked to Mishelia’s dispersal.

After Mishelia disappeared, the rose bloomed almost completely in an instant, and the remaining part was completed in the Haunted House and just recently sealed.

Hades regarded Lu Li with a haunted look for a long time, then pushed the pistol case back towards Lu Li, “I have a suggestion, do you want to hear it?”

“Don’t use the Spirit-Calling Gun for the time being.

At least, don’t use it on weak enemies.”

“Why?”

“The power of the rose…

Let’s just put it that way.

The Spiritualists are the masterpieces of the second generation Demon Slayer organization.

As a homogeneous item, it has an inexplicable relationship with that bizarre world.

Although the production method of Spirit-Calling Guns still exists after the disappearance of the third generation Demon Slayer organizations, the underlying secrets have vanished.

I can only tell you that each bloomed rose represents a strange ability…

It might be good, or it might signify something bad, and you will have to find out on your own.”

“More importantly…

the rose accelerates the Inner World’s assault on you.”

The third-generation Demon Slayers.

Lu Li knew he had gained new questions, but Hades just waved his hands, “Don’t ask me, the relevant materials have been obliterated into the dust of history, maybe only the current Demon Slayer organizations and the Night Watch still hold some materials.

Alright, you should leave.”

Having solved some problems but engendered others, Lu Li left the Detective Agency.

The tranquility of the past returned to the place, under the oil lamp behind the bar, Hades gazed at the empty hall and whispered slowly.

“Hopefully, this world won’t deteriorate further…”