Chapter 157 - 157 Fifteen

Words : 1345 Updated : Sep 19th, 2025

157: Fifteen. Anna’s daily routine 157: Fifteen. Anna’s daily routine “Welcome, stranger. This is Hades’s Detective Agency. Hades has had to leave Belster, and I’m his brother Hakus,” said a figure in the cramped space behind the bar, addressing Lu Li by the door. As he spoke, a glint of gold flickered under the light of an oil lamp. Lu Li didn’t move from behind the door; he stood there, his figure obscured by shadows the oil lamp couldn’t reach. His blurry silhouette seemed somewhat peculiar. As the sense of danger from outside slowly receded, Lu Li regained his initial calm and stepped away from the door. “What’s out there?” Hades, sensing something was amiss, gestured for Lu Li to come over. “I don’t know...” Lu Li glanced over the door and let out a sigh of relief, then walked over and sat down by the bar. “Not lying anymore?” Caught in his lie, Hades wasn’t embarrassed in the slightest, grinning so broadly that everyone could see all his gold teeth: “At least I wasn’t lying about the second part. I really do have a brother named Hakus. So, are you here to ask a ‘free’ question?” He emphasized the word “free.” “Yeah.” Just as Hades had openly admitted, Lu Li candidly acknowledged his purpose: “Last time, you mentioned that ghosts grow stronger with a certain implication. I want to know why.” Hades had long prepared for Lu Li to ask this question and chuckled: “Humans walk under the sunlight, while ghosts breed in the darkness. One is the living, the other, the deceased. We are inherently two opposing existences. It’s no more than normal for the deceased to covet the living.” “That’s not convincing enough for me.” Lu Li shook his head. It sounded like a sort of racial prejudice—typical bias and generalization. Seemingly knowing that Lu Li would respond this way, Hades mysteriously smiled: “Many people are afraid of ghosts. Don’t you want to know why?” Lu Li didn’t say a word; that was exactly why he had come. “It’s not just because they’re ghosts—even though they were once alive, why would we fear them if they were just as they were in life? The real reason is... the moment they became ghosts, they were already contaminated with a certain aura from the Inner World. The stronger their powers, the deeper that contamination. If you’ve ever seen a vengeful spirit, you’d know how dense the darkness is around it.” Hades leaned over the bar, his body bent forward as he spoke gravely: “Just one more reminder for you...” ... About fifteen minutes later, Lu Li said goodbye to Hades and left his Detective Agency. The closing door behind him shut out the sound of the wind chimes. Lu Li stood under the dripping eaves, looking out at the street. In the distance at Belster Port, a large number of fishing boats were moored, with the light grey sea exuding an ominous air. There weren’t many pedestrians on the street, and occasionally a horse-drawn carriage would pass by, but steam cars were nowhere to be seen in this weather. Most of the passersby were holding umbrellas, but Lu Li didn’t see the petite girl with the large, sturdy, grey umbrella again. What she was, Lu Li couldn’t say, but the sense of crisis upon interacting with her told him that extremely terrible things would happen if he refused her or didn’t listen to her words. Fortunately, just as Lu Li hadn’t gone against the girl’s words, she had done nothing to Lu Li. Raising his umbrella, Lu Li’s rain boots splashed across the wet cobblestones as he made his way back to the Sailor District. He placed an order with Mrs. Phelin’s bakery for a serving of chicken and mashed potatoes and a piece of white bread—due to the intensifying rain, the children had been dragged home by adults worried about illness. Carrying the warm pot of mashed potatoes past the Long House, Lu Li saw Anna from the Detective Agency, her hands propping her cheeks as she leaned on the dining table, staring at the tulip on the windowsill. Noticing the figure outside, she shifted her gaze from the tulip to Lu Li. Her bright eyes squinted into a happy curve, and she waved to Lu Li. “No matter how kind, cute, and popular your ghost is, when her power increases, she will inevitably be affected—otherwise, why do you think no Exorcist does this?” The last of Hades’ words lingered in Lu Li’s mind. Lu Li nodded to the girl, who was very happy to see him return, and then moved away from the window, soon arriving back at the Detective Agency. Anna floated in front of the door, trying to take something from Lu Li’s hand. “It’s hot.” Lu Li simply reminded her and handed over the pot of mashed potatoes and leather paper. “How silly of you. I’m a ghost,” Anna giggled, her hands pretending to hold as she used telekinesis to catch them and placed them on the desk. Lu Li closed the umbrella, placed it by the corridor’s door frame, and then shut the front door, removing his rain boots in front of it. “Do you like reading books?” Anna looked at Lu Li in confusion and took a while to realize he was talking to her, then nodded slightly, “I didn’t before, but now I really want to read...” Anna was already dead, and as a ghost, she had no need for normal life activities—she didn’t need to eat or rest, except, perhaps, when returning to her portrait to rejuvenate. This left her with a lot of spare time, and the trouble was she was a ghost who couldn’t wander around outside freely. Anna’s time was mostly occupied by idleness. Although staying at the Detective Agency was better than when she was in the gallery, it wasn’t much better. So, even a single tulip could keep Anna busy for half a day, even though she indeed liked flowers very much. “What kind of genres do you like?” Lu Li asked again. Anna still looked a bit perplexed, “Um... Fairy tales, I guess, and love, romance novels...” Lu Li put on his shoes, took off his slightly damp coat and hung it on the rack, “Next time I go out, I’ll try to bring back a few books for you.” “Oh...” Anna responded blankly but felt some joy inside. Then, only after Lu Li had returned to his desk and started eating, did she belatedly think: Was Lu Li showing concern for her? This time it had nothing to do with a delayed reaction, it was purely because Lu Li’s way of showing concern was too tough. She sneaked a glance at Lu Li, somewhat embarrassed, to see him eating seriously—as if the words he had just said weren’t from him or were just mentioned in passing. So, Anna started to wonder if she was overthinking it. The relationship between Lu Li and Anna was hard to define. They seemed to be friends, but they didn’t know much about each other—it was one-sided. Anna might want to know about Lu Li’s past, but Lu Li was not someone who would chat with Anna when there was nothing to do. Moreover, there was some sense of mutual dependence. At least for Anna, even Lu Li, who was aloof when it came to feelings, could notice a trace of her dependence. Perhaps for the Ghost Girl, Lu Li was her entire life. Thinking about it could be understandable, after all, he was the only one willing to be in contact with her for a long time after her death. This issue was just an interlude. Over the next few days, Lu Li didn’t leave the house again, beginning to await O’Connor’s actions. In the meantime, Marcus called with a new number. He had a new assignment for him.

Chapter 157 - 157 Fifteen

Comments (0)