Chapter 154 - 154 Twelve

Words : 1337 Updated : Sep 19th, 2025

154: Twelve. Disruption and New Clues 154: Twelve. Disruption and New Clues Brian, full name Ada Brian, lived at 308 Floral Street, Door 6, female. Yes, female. O’Connor had taken over a woman’s body. Whether it was O’Connor’s choice or Richard’s sick humor, Lu Li couldn’t tell. Either way, the afflicted Brian was a pitiful woman. “Although the victim is pitiful, I think the victim’s husband is equally pitiful...” Anna murmured softly. The carriage had already reached Floral Street, having just passed 300 Floral Street, where there was a ceramics shop. 308 Floral Street was a Long House, similar to the Long Houses on Sailor Street, but much more decrepit. The thin, worn wooden walls hardly kept out the rain; living here during rainy days and winters might be quite unbearable. The carriage stopped, and Lu Li stepped down, entering the Long House’s main entrance with Anna’s accompaniment. The hallway was quiet, the gas lamps on the walls casting dim light. Knock, knock, knock— Standing in front of Door 6, Lu Li raised his hand and knocked on the wooden door, the sound echoing back. Click— The sound of a door, but not the one in front. An old woman who was about to dispose of garbage emerged from a door behind him and casually said, “Little Ada isn’t in; are you looking for her about something?” A foul smell wafted from her room into the hallway, a scent that suggested something was rotting. Lu Li turned and asked, “I am a detective and want to understand a few things from her. Do you know where she is?” The old woman looked Lu Li over with murky eyes, that gaze giving Lu Li a strange, awkward feeling. Convinced Lu Li was not a bad person, the old woman shook her head, “I don’t know. She just left, took a lot of things, maybe she went to Belfast, you could try looking for her there.” “Alright, thank you.” He politely thanked her, watched the old woman slowly walk down the hallway, paused briefly at the ajar door behind her, then looked away and said to the empty space, “Go in and take a look.” Anna materialized and floated through the door. A moment later, she came out and shook her head regretfully, “No one’s inside.” “We’re too late.” Lu Li frowned. O’Connor’s hurried departure was too coincidental, almost surely because O’Connor knew that Hol had been dealt with by Lu Li, then packed up and fled in haste. As for how O’Connor knew... Lu Li had no idea. “What do we do next? Where do we look?” The sudden break in the clues frustrated Anna. “If only we had kept Hol temporarily.” Lu Li couldn’t afford to keep Hol, even knowing the truth. It had nothing to do with his actions. Lu Li was not a man to hinge his safety on other things, even if they were just regular ghosts. Moreover, Hol was not ordinary; the red eyeballs emerging from his body were enough to make Lu Li cautious and wary. “Let’s head back.” Lu Li calmly stated, turning to leave the corridor. Back on the carriage, the fallen curtain shielded the street’s hustle and bustle, leaving only the quiet space with the soft sound of raindrops on the roof and Anna blinking beside him. Anna felt that Lu Li had other ideas because his eyes, as dark as sapphires, showed no ripple, as still as dead water. Lu Li certainly had other plans, but they were risky: he only needed to inform the Night Watch of Richard’s conspiracy, and they would help Lu Li find Richard. But then problems would follow. Firstly, making contact with Richard was troublesome. Joel’s easiness and admiration for Lu Li were based solely on personal terms; the Night Watch troop would likely not let Lu Li get close to Richard. Moreover, Richard would almost certainly maliciously leak the fact that Lu Li had interacted with “the door.” Without understanding what “the door” actually is, this would put Lu Li at a disadvantage. Lu Li leaned out beneath the rain curtain, waving the reins. The obedient old horse moved its iron hooves, slowly progressing on the wet cobblestone road. The carriage roof blocked most of the fine rain, some strands of rain rushing towards him, bringing a slight chill. Lu Li’s dark eyes slightly unfocused, he continued his previous thoughts. Apart from this plan, he had a backup: joining the Night Watch or the Demon Slayer organization. By joining either organization, Lu Li could utilize their resources to find Richard. However, the disadvantages were clear: the former worked for the Earlen Peninsula Duchy or higher authorities—an official background. Joining them could almost be imagined: restrictions on freedom, militarized management. On the surface, the Demon Slayer organization seemed slightly better because the prerequisite for becoming a Demon Slayer, “resolving a resentful spirit,” could be considered fulfilled by Lu Li—Mishelia was inadvertently resolved by him, and she was a resentful spirit, so Lu Li barely met the threshold to join the Demon Slayers. But problems also arose. The Demon Slayer organization was secretive and hardly ever appeared in public, leaving Lu Li unsure how to contact them. Perhaps building his reputation and waiting for the Demon Slayer organization to seek him out was a good idea, but Lu Li was well aware that he couldn’t truly resolve a resentful spirit. Although he had no interest in pretending to be weaker than he was, Lu Li did not want to see a reputation far beyond his abilities. That spelled trouble. It could come from his own kind or from something strange. In the carriage, Anna rested her chin, leaning on the window and gazing at the streetscape. The rain that entered the carriage passed through her transparent soul, and a breeze couldn’t disperse a lock of her hair. The tranquility of Anna did not last long; a “xi lui lui” sound approached, and the carriage came to a stop. Turning her head in confusion, she saw Lu Li muttering to himself, “She just mentioned you all.” “What?” Lu Li turned his head, looking at Anna, “The old woman living across from O’Connor told me ‘you all.'” “Right, weren’t we together?” Anna still didn’t grasp the implication in Lu Li’s words. “How could she see you?” “Of course she could... Eh!?” Anna’s clear eyes gradually widened as she finally realized something. In the streets of Watch Town, a carriage turned around in the chilly, empty street and headed back the way it came. ... Floral Street, Number 308. A tall figure entered the corridor of the Long House. The quietness of the corridor remained, with occasional sounds from other residents leaking through the thin walls. He arrived at door six, facing an open door, just as they had left it. The rotting odor at the doorway lingered, standing in front silently surveying the space behind the door. The room was covered in dust, seemingly long untouched by cleaning. The elderly person hadn’t returned, the room didn’t look lived in—these facts intensified a certain suspicion of Lu Li’s. “Go ask the neighbors, who lives here,” Lu Li said, turning his head. “Eh? Me?” “Me.” Remembering that Anna was a ghost, Lu Li commanded himself and turned towards the other rooms. Minutes later, inside door 12. “The previous tenant of the apartment across from number 6 was a middle-aged man who moved out a month and a half ago. No elderly people live in the entire Long House.” Lu Li stood behind the door, quietly recounting the information he had gathered. This information almost confirmed that the elderly person was O’Connor. Anna pouted, “It’s a pity he ran away, and the clue is broken again...” Lu Li shook his head lightly, his dark eyes scanning the surroundings. “No, Brian gave us a clue.”

Chapter 154 - 154 Twelve

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