Chapter 189 - 189 Forty-six

Words : 1312 Updated : Sep 21st, 2025

189: Forty-six. Confusing and Deceptive 189: Forty-six. Confusing and Deceptive The mysterious man, or rather the Seeker, had left. The tavern owner behind the bar did not stop his departure, which meant Lu Li didn’t need to compensate for the damage to the door. “When do we leave?” In the room, the last page of “Wonderful Journey” had been finished by Anna, her tone filled with determination, and a trace of melancholy from the grand finale. “Let’s wait until it gets a bit lighter.” Lu Li responded, looking towards the hazy sky outside the window. It was just half-past five, and there was still some time before it would be fully light. Out of some caution, Lu Li had refrained from eating any food from Shadow Town. The water and bread he was prepared to eat were brought from Belfast, and although they were a bit cold and hard, there was no better option at this time. Still not detached from the emotions of the book’s grand finale, Anna didn’t want to start a second book yet. She drifted to the side of the single bed, sat down, and swung her legs, listlessly looking around. In her boredom, her imaginative thinking made the patterns in the wooden planks look like various designs mixed together. For instance, one pattern of the flooring looked like a girl in a long dress, another resembled an exotic axe. She tirelessly associated each pattern with something until she looked up and her gaze fell on the ceiling. “Huh...?” She suddenly noticed a charred-edged hole as thick as a finger abruptly appearing on the ceiling. It struck Anna as odd and unsettling. It was as if someone in the attic was peeking through the hole, or it had been created by a bullet piercing through... “The influence of the Abyssal Depths means we can’t contact the outside world, right?” Silently chewing his food, Lu Li looked up when he heard Anna’s question. “What’s wrong?” Anna didn’t say a word but just pointed her finger toward the odd section of the ceiling. ... A few minutes later, Lu Li could be seen on Third Street. He found a telephone booth a bit farther from the Big Wave Tavern. Stepping into the booth, Lu Li glanced at the phone book with the red cover next to the phone, inserted a coin, and dialed a number. After a short wait, the call was answered. “This is Hades from the Detective Agency, at your service,” came the response. “It’s me.” Lu Li was succinct. A brief silence on the other end: “...I’m not here, I’m my brother.” Lu Li acted as if he hadn’t heard, directly asking, “Do you know the Light-illuminating Fruit?” “I don’t know!” Hades, thinking he had temporarily escaped from Lu Li, could never have guessed that Lu Li, hundreds of miles away, would still contact him with questions. “50 Shillings.” “100!” “Okay.” Lu Li did not hesitate much. After all, as his range of vision expanded, he found less and less use for Hades. He had made the call just because he momentarily didn’t have a better candidate, and Jojo might not be able to immediately find information on the Light-illuminating Fruit. “Let me look...” Shortly after, the sound of pages turning could be heard from Hades’ end. “Found it, it’s a type of fruit that grows in sunny yet humid environments. Generally, it grows in swamps, including Shadow Swamp, which you must have already heard about since you’re asking. Some places dry and grind it into a substance for anesthesia, or provide it to some artists as an inspiration-inducing supplement,” explained Hades. Lu Li’s gaze pierced through the glass of the phone booth, overlooking the street, “Tell me about its hallucinogenic effects.” “It induces subconscious illusions, similar to dreaming, but clearer and more stable. For instance, you might imagine in your subconscious that a nobleman worth tens of thousands of Shillings will enter your Detective Agency and decide to entrust you with all his wealth, along with his beautiful and captivating daughter and a title—” With Shillings at stake, every aspect of it was bound to satisfy people. However, this kind of subconscious was unmistakably typical of Hades. Lu Li then asked, “Does it change with the subconscious?” “The book doesn’t say.” “Lu Li, look to your left front... ” Anna’s voice rang in his ear. Lu Li lifted his eyes, his gaze cutting through a misty layer on the phone booth glass, looking across the street at an antiquated shop. Fifty meters away, the Seeker, holding a briefcase, stood at the entrance of the shop. Standing opposite him was a man wearing a top hat, holding a black cane, and conversing quietly with the Seeker. Their faces were too far to discern clearly, but his attire reminded Lu Li of a portrait. That portrait hung prominently behind the counter at Big Wave Tavern. “He is Jefferson, the mayor of our Shadow Town,” was the old woman’s response when Lu Li inquired. The Seeker might be genuine, but whether the person across was Jefferson remained uncertain. However, at that moment, the Seeker should have been on a carriage heading inland, not talking with a man who might be the mayor. “Let’s go back.” Lu Li said, hanging up the phone after faint shouts could be heard from it, and left the phone booth. ... The scales oscillated between falsehood and truth. Upon his initial arrival, the accounts from the Shadow Figures, the Six-legged Savages, and the old woman at the tavern tipped the scale towards reality, leaving falsehood empty. It wasn’t until Thomas Dio’s article surfaced that the scales began to balance. Destroying a building only required digging out one corner; destroying trust needed just a hint of doubt. As night fell, Lu Li, who had just awakened, was attacked by evil spirits, and a surrounding darkness engulfed him. The appearances and explanations of the Shadow Thief of Fire, the Shadow Figures, and a mysterious man added weight to the real side of the scale. After all, no one could endure those encounters and firmly claim, “All of this is false.” However, the side symbolizing falsehood began to descend once more, gaining the upper hand. Falsehood is more easily trusted than truth because humans inherently deny themselves to progress. The most minute details could be magnified, contemplated, and speculated upon. Like bullet holes in the ceiling: since they couldn’t face the outside, where did they come from? Like aiming at the Shadow Figures but being stopped by the mysterious man: was he worried about shooting the townsfolk playing the Shadow Figures? Like the mysterious man telling one to return to reality: had the townsfolk at the tavern playing the Shadow Figures quickly evacuated at that time? Especially after confirming that the Light-illuminating Fruit indeed had hallucinogenic properties—the Big Wave Tavern’s owner really added this fruit to the food. This seemed to leave no turning point in the entire situation, and falsehood triumphed absolutely on the scales. “Maybe it is, maybe it is not.” But Lu Li’s answer remained ambiguous. “Why don’t we confront her?” Anna proposed. “Because there’s no need,” Lu Li muttered as he walked toward the tavern. “Don’t forget our purpose, the truth of Shadow Town isn’t worth my time.” Lu Li found a caravan that was about to depart inland and agreed to take him a distance. The carriage had been left at the Big Wave Tavern temporarily while Lu Li and Anna returned for a trip to pack some essentials into their backpacks. Insect Repellent Powder, a jug of water, a rain cloak, a compass, and matches and an oil lamp that were necessary under any circumstances.

Chapter 189 - 189 Forty-six

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