Chapter 285 - 285 One Hundred Forty-Two

Words : 1391 Updated : Oct 1st, 2025

285: One Hundred Forty-Two. Lu Li’s Drifting Journal 285: One Hundred Forty-Two. Lu Li’s Drifting Journal Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding— The crisp sound of the alarm filled the entire Detective Agency, accompanied by the morning commotion from the street outside the window. The transparent figure lying on the sofa stirred slightly. He lifted his head, and his hair fell, revealing a delicate face that appeared slightly confused as if still half-asleep. “Ah... it’s morning already...” Anna, with a big yawn, got up and slumped in the sofa, dazed, much like most people who wake up from a deep sleep. “So, I can fall asleep after all...” Muttering to herself, Anna suddenly noticed that the alarm was still ringing and glanced at it sideways. The alarm clock shifted slightly, and then stopped ringing. Anna leaned back her head, looking upside down at the budding potted plant and the busy street outside, whispering softly, “It’s already daylight, hasn’t he come back yet...” “But he should be back soon...” ... The early morning sea water was icy cold, pressing down on the clouds in the sky as if the piercing light through the morning clouds was but a momentary illusion. Two figures fell onto the lead-gray sea surface, and for a moment, it seemed a vast dark shadow swept beneath them, heading towards the distance. After briefly sinking into the sea, Lu Li resurfaced, a figure appearing beside him, splashing water around. Lu Li, treading water, barely kept himself from sinking, and turned to ask, “What do we do now?” “Wait for someone to pass by and rescue us,” the woman in the black robe said as her cloak floated around, creating a rich, ink-like effect. A wave lifted their bodies and then dropped them; Lu Li took this opportunity to continue, “And if no one does?” “If we’re lucky, we get sent back; if we’re unlucky, we report to the Netherworld,” her hood clinging to her body, her face still hidden in the shadow except for the curve of her lips and jaw unavoidably revealed, showing a white smile as she said, “Look on the bright side, maybe the waves will wash us onto some island.” This scene was somewhat eerie, as both Lu Li and the woman in the black robe spoke with little fluctuation in their voices, both in volume and emotion. It was as if they were conversing in a rocking carriage rather than in the desperate, boundless sea. After a brief silence, Lu Li moved closer to the woman in the black robe not far away, and grabbed her arm. The hood turned towards him, and he could almost feel the puzzled gaze from beneath the shadow. Lu Li spit out sea water that the waves had forced into his mouth, “I can’t swim.” This was why he had worn a life jacket and a life ring before entering the water, but unfortunately, they were of no use. “The guy who assigned you this case must be out to kill you,” the woman in the hood said, allowing Lu Li to pull himself with her help. The thin shirt stuck to Lu Li’s body, its original white now visible. His exposed arms and palms had also returned to their original color. It was unclear whether the sea water had washed away the black material on his body, or if the black material had moved away with the ferryboat. The water Lu Li had intentionally left behind had, to some extent, not been of any use. In the vast deep sea, one hundred nautical miles from land, two lone figures drifted on the ocean surface, flowing with the waves. The sea water, barely over ten degrees, and the surging waves with their undercurrents forced them to use more energy to maintain balance and buoyancy. “I can’t keep swimming.” As time passed, about half an hour later, Lu Li said to the woman in the black robe. His body heat was being taken away by the cold sea water, and after struggling all night, Lu Li’s physical strength was nearly depleted. He felt the symptoms of hypothermia setting in. “Hang in there, we’re almost ashore,” the woman in the black robe said, her voice ringing in his ear. With all color drained from his face, Lu Li said, “Save that kind of talk for when I’m out of my senses.” “It’s true.” Feeling the robed woman gripping him back, Lu Li raised his eyes, looking in the direction she faced. At the end of the sea, a strip of light brown beach fringed by forests appeared intermittently through the undulating waves. It was not a mirage or illusion—it really existed. There was an island ahead. Lu Li didn’t show any surprise of desperate survival; he calmly watched the robed woman, “Was this all within your expectation?” “I only knew that the boat for ferrying spirits would near the land at dawn. It seems our luck isn’t too bad.” It was hard to tell if her words were true or false, and Lu Li didn’t probe too deeply into what the robed woman said; everyone has their secrets. “We should swim there before our strength runs out.” The robed woman changed her swimming style, transitioning from floating passively to swimming actively towards the remote island in the deep sea. Lu Li couldn’t swim, but he knew how to tread water, pulling on the robed woman’s arm for support. The waves that crested and fell helped them approach the island, but even so, it took them more than ten minutes to get near the island a few hundred meters away. Just as their strength was about to be exhausted, the brown beach was already just twenty or thirty meters away. The tips of his toes touched the soft mud of the sea bottom, then his soles — for Lu Li, who could only float, walking was much faster than swimming by himself. But as a wave surged, Lu Li’s form floated up again. It was then that Lu Li saw a clear black silhouette emerging on the beach. That black silhouette possessed a massive body like an elephant, but its appearance was that of a smooth, oval beetle; instead of limbs, it had hundreds of writhing tentacles that helped it move on the beach. Lu Li’s movements momentarily paused, then he resumed as normal. Moving a few meters forward, Lu Li’s neck was above the water, supporting the seemingly powerless robed woman as he stepped onto the sand. Their bodies grew heavier and heavier. Once the water receded below his knees, Lu Li stumbled, leaving a chaotic trail of footprints on the brown sand. “Ha...” A low chuckle came from beside him. Lu Li ignored her, looking towards the part of the beach the black silhouette had passed, but several waves had already erased any tracks. That was too real. Lu Li thought, was it because his Sanity Value had dropped further...? Walking about ten meters along the beach, the sand underfoot was no longer moist; it started to dry. The island was less than half a kilometer in size; without the obstruction of the forest, one could see right to the other end. The forest, like other parts of this world, lacked any greenery, completely barren. This gave the island a very desolate appearance. Moist sea breezes blew from behind, and neither of them rested right there. They walked toward a twenty-odd meter high rock face on the left side of the beach, where there was a wind-sheltered recess under the cliffs. The robed woman ducked into the wind-sheltered area, her robe clinging tightly to her body, outlining a seductive shape that captivated Lu Li’s gaze. One... three... five... eight... Including a few that had been left on the boat and not retrieved, she really had a lot of Spirit-Calling Guns. She sat down against the rock wall, let out a content sigh, and looked at Lu Li, who was standing outside without coming in, “Is there something on your mind?” Lu Li didn’t answer. He took off his shirt and wrung out the water. The robed woman, sitting inside the wind-sheltered area, made a disgusted noise at that moment, “Ugh... you’re really dirty.”

Chapter 285 - 285 One Hundred Forty-Two

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