Chapter 178 - 178 Thirty-five

Words : 1438 Updated : Sep 21st, 2025

178: Thirty-five. Set off 178: Thirty-five. Set off The Detective Agency became somewhat livelier than usual. It isn’t to say that it was usually desolate; ever since Anna and the inconspicuous statue arrived, the word ‘desolate’ no longer belonged to the Detective Agency. At this moment, the detective agency’s desk was piled with sundries, a carriage was parked on the street outside the window, and Anna continued to place things she deemed necessary onto the desk. A few books to stave off ennui, pure water in a flask, a spare torch owned by every household, two oil lamps, several pounds of kerosene, and a portrait frame she could hide in. Lu Li had no intention of stopping her. This kind of preparation before a trip was something most people liked to do; they relished thinking about what to take and worried about missing something. That was until Anna started to take all the clothes from the wardrobe. “Shadow Town isn’t far; we can leave tomorrow morning and arrive by evening.” Lu Li, who had been quietly watching everything happen, said. Anna, who had just opened the wardrobe, stopped and asked tentatively, “So, just one piece...?” Lu Li met Anna’s gaze and, after a few seconds, replied, “That’s fine.” With his consent, Anna cheered and dove into the wardrobe, threw a set of clothes onto the desk. An hour or perhaps longer passed in a flurry of activity. It was only after Anna had packed everything that she received the disappointing news from Lu Li; they were to depart in the morning. “It’s already the afternoon; if we were to leave now, it would mean travelling at night for more than half the journey.” Although staying within the light was safe, one could not guarantee that other issues wouldn’t arise at night. The distance of 200 li was not great, but it wasn’t as easy as traveling from Belfast to Watch Town either. Journeying far entailed certain risks, especially travelling at night. The troubles Lu Li had thus far encountered were not severe enough to warrant taking such a significant risk. Anna had no choice but to accept the reality. It was just as well she didn’t need to sleep; otherwise, she might have been up all night restless. Running solely on willpower and thoroughly exhausted, Anna waved to Lu Li and slipped back into the portrait frame on the desk. After Anna went to rest, Lu Li left his chair and busied himself with putting away the unnecessary items she had found, like the several pounds of kerosene. He was headed to Shadow Town to deal with the Blood-Colored Tentacles, not to trade in kerosene. By the time Lu Li had finished preparing everything, the sky had started to darken. He lit the oil lamp, went out to buy dinner from the bakery, silently finished his meal, went out to dispose of the trash, and along the way filled a bucket with beans and water to feed the horses. The beans were provided by the carriage service, which probably considered Lu Li a prospective new customer. Since the rental was longer than usual this time, the carriage service had provided all the food the horses would need. After feeding the horses, Lu Li returned to the Detective Agency, quietly closed the door with a “click”, passed by the statue beside the door, and paused. He remembered something. No matter the progress, it would be impossible to return within a day. Lu Li stood in front of the statue, which seemed as if it hadn’t moved a single time since being brought to the Detective Agency, quietly observed it for a moment and said, “The Detective Agency is in your hands while we’re away.” He waited a few more seconds, the statue offered no response, so Lu Li turned and walked to the kitchen, rolling up his sleeves as he went. Soon, the sound of running water came from within. After washing his face, Lu Li returned to his desk. The night was silent and still. He settled into his chair, seemed to remember something, quietly sat for a few minutes, then lay down on the desk, falling asleep under the dim glow of the oil lamp. Time quietly flowed by, a dog’s bark emanated from somewhere outside, and occasionally the flame within the oil lamp flickered briefly, making the dancing shadows seem to bring the statue to life. Approaching midnight, a semi-transparent silhouette drifted out of the portrait frame; Anna stretched her arms, mimicking an indulgent yawn, wanting to say something. However, noticing the figure asleep on the desk, she quickly covered her mouth to avoid waking him. Anna’s movements were slow, even though they wouldn’t have made a sound anyway. Anna floated over to Lu Li, took the coat from the back of the chair, and gently covered him with it. Her clear eyes watched quietly for a while to make sure she had not disturbed his slumber, then drifted behind the desk, pulled out an unfinished storybook from the neatly arranged items, and opened it to the page marked with a bookmark. She bent her head, her hair falling over her shoulders as she became lost in the story. However, occasionally she raised her head to glance at Lu Li, her lips curving slightly in a pleased smile before going back to her reading. The room was left with only the occasional sound of pages being turned. At some point, Anna noticed that the surroundings had become dim. Thinking the oil lamp was running out of kerosene, she looked up and realized that outside the window a faint, cold light had already begun to glow. Dawn was breaking. Anna closed the book she was halfway through, stretched like she would have when she was still alive, and suddenly noticed that Lu Li, sitting opposite her, had already woken up, his dark eyes looking over at her. “Ah...” Anna exclaimed in surprise, embarrassingly retracting her arms, “When did you wake up?” “When you noticed it was getting light.” Lu Li sat up straight, his attention momentarily drawn to the trench coat that had slid off behind him. When he looked back, he noticed Anna staring at him—or more precisely, at his hair—in a peculiar way. “What’s wrong?” Lu Li tilted his head and asked. “Um...” Anna suddenly covered her chest, trying difficultly to endure something as she gestured, “It’s nothing.” Lu Li raised his hand to touch the top of his head, encountering a small tuft of hair in an unexpected place. “Is there a hair sticking up?” Lu Li asked and, after receiving a nod from Anna as if she were pecking like a hen, he tried to press down the tuft that was sticking up. But as soon as he moved his hand away, the black hair defiantly sprang back up. “Pfft...” Perhaps finding it amusing, Anna couldn’t help but burst out laughing, waving her hand and saying, “Go take a bath.” Lu Li dropped his hand and shook his head, “There’s not enough time, just washing my hair will do.” He got up from his seat and walked into the kitchen, and not long after, he emerged with his wet, damp hair wiped down. It wasn’t quite light yet, but on the streets, there were already a few early risers moving about. Anna prepared food for the horses, while Lu Li loaded the necessary items onto the carriage and fed the horses. He then returned to the Detective Agency and wrote on a piece of paper “Temporarily out, no one at the Detective Agency”. “What if the Baron comes looking for us?” Anna asked vaguely, chin in hand, from the side. The movement of Lu Li, who was about to cap his pen, paused, and he added another line below. [If any valuable items are to be donated, they may be dropped through the door gap.] “All set.” After capping the pen, Lu Li took the note to the corridor and affixed it to the door. Back in the Detective Agency, he put on his trench coat, picked up the oil lamp from the table, and Anna followed Lu Li out of the Detective Agency. Click— The door closed tightly, the last trace of light from the oil lamp vanished, and the room was plunged into darkness. The sky at nearly six o’clock was overcast, just beginning to show a dull glow, and everything in the room approached stillness. Dawn here was ever so quiet.

Chapter 178 - 178 Thirty-five

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