Chapter 330 - 330 187

Words : 1267 Updated : Oct 5th, 2025

330: 187. Mutant Rain 330: 187. Mutant Rain Lu Li sat behind the desk, his eyebrows tightly furrowed. Several minutes had passed since the merchant had left, and Lu Li had maintained this expression ever since. “It’s really valuable...” Anna, equally stunned, murmured. Dracula’s portrait was not a ghost but a strange, one of the four types of oddities. Ghosts weren’t valuable, oddities were slightly better, but if this oddity could communicate— The merchant had priced the painting at 400 investigation points, plus a deposit of 5500 shillings, which was more than enough for Lu Li to buy a new Deep Sea Stone. The second Deep Sea Stone would arrive soon. Lu Li’s minimum requirement was now down to two Deep Sea Stones. “So we could totally gather the funds by selling oddities...” Anna continued to murmur, her eyes glowing. “Many oddities are born from the Mutant Rain, right!?” “Hmm.” Lu Li glanced up and guessed what Anna was thinking. This was a feasible approach, as long as they could capture the oddities. The paper delivery person would come a bit later, and if no one was home, he would slide the newspaper under the door. But the Black Crow Messenger would automatically track the investigator’s location. Now they could head out. Lu Li put on his overcoat and rain boots, draped a black rain cape over himself, picked up the oil lamp, and left the Detective Agency with the invisible Anna. The door closed, and the Detective Agency returned to quiet. ... The cold rain fell, but it didn’t douse the bustle of Belfast in the early morning. There were fewer pedestrians on the streets than usual; they either held umbrellas or wore raincoats, hurrying away from their homes. “Are we going to wander the streets and try our luck?” Anna’s voice sounded in his ear. Rain mist hit his face, cold to the touch. Lu Li pulled down his hood and said to Anna, hidden in the Inner World, “We’re going to Elm Street.” It’s nearly a two-hour walk from the Sailor District to Elm Street. It was a bit far, but they would eventually need to look for a shelter there anyway, so they might as well go now. If Elm Forest was too difficult to enter, they could come back. Lu Li needed to avoid reducing his Sanity Value, so this time, Anna was leading the charge—she would search, she would handle it. After walking for a few minutes out of the Sailor District, Anna still hadn’t sensed those unsettling presences. It’s worth mentioning that Lu Li had already seen several watches and Exorcists in the pouring rain. The former usually sat inside Steam Locomotives, wearing black uniforms, while the latter generally donned black robes, enigmatic in demeanor, some with a black crow perched on their shoulders, making them highly recognizable. When Exorcists caught Lu Li’s gaze, they often sensed Anna’s presence, their attention falling on the empty space beside Lu Li, then shifting to Lu Li, pausing at the Three-Eyed Black Crow Badge pinned to his chest, before withdrawing their gaze with mixed feelings. In this Mutant Rain enveloping the eastern Ailen Peninsula, Lu Li was not the only one in motion. Having crossed the second street, Lu Li hailed a rented coach, telling the coachman their destination was Elm Street. Walking was too slow, and there were many Exorcists patrolling nearby. If they wanted to find the oddities born in the rain, Lu Li needed to head toward the city’s edge. But even half an hour later, when the coach reached Elm Street, Anna hadn’t sensed any presence of oddities, not even the presence of ghosts. The problem wasn’t with Anna. Lu Li, having briefly touched the Spirit-Calling Gun, also felt the uncomfortable emptiness around him. Apart from malicious projections roaming the Inner World, he detected no signs. It was as if the rain was purifying, not bringing disaster like the Mutant Rain. This was odd. The rented coach slowly moved away, disappearing into the rain curtain dozens of meters away. Lu Li’s gaze fell on the drainage ditch at the edge of the road, where rainwater converged and flowed downward, the bluestone road shimmering with a misty glow. This quiet Elm Street, located at the city’s edge, had few pedestrians, and the poor visibility made it impossible for Lu Li to see the Elm Forest at the end of the street. “Shall we continue forward?” Anna asked quietly. “Continue, keep sensing around,” Lu Li said, walking toward the other end of the street. Near the middle of Elm Street, Lu Li saw a detached house cordoned off with police tape. [The Man-Eating House] This strange, evil entity on Elm Street had been featured in Monday’s “Investigator Weekly.” “There’s a discomforting aura inside this house...” Anna whispered in his ear. “Can you beat it?” “I don’t know... It’s not a ghost, and I can’t sense its strength.” “Let’s forget it then.” Investigators usually crave knowledge and novelties, and Lu Li was no exception, but he knew to avoid dangers like this house whose strength was unclear. Lu Li and Anna detoured far around the [Man-Eating House] and were about to continue forward when Lu Li’s pace suddenly halted. “What’s wrong?” Lu Li looked toward the unreal, illusory house in the curtain of rain, “A voice is calling me.” As mentioned before, Lu Li had high intuition. This paranormal perception came from a decreased Sanity Value; the lower his Sanity Value, the more he could perceive. “What’s it saying?” “It’s calling me in, let’s go.” Lu Li turned away, ignoring the call of the eerie house, his figure gradually disappearing into the rain. After they had moved some distance from the house, the calling voice faded away. Ten minutes later, Lu Li stood at the end of the street. Ahead was a muddy dirt road extending into the forest, turned into sludge by the torrential rain. “Looks like we really can’t go in...” Anna said, somewhat disappointed. After staying a while, Lu Li retraced his steps, heading to a nearby café. Squeak— The wooden door was pushed open, the wind and rain gushing into the café from the open door, disappearing seconds after the door closed, returning the café to calm. A subtle, strange fluctuation echoed faintly as Lu Li stepped into the café, unnoticed by anyone. The transparent windows kept the café fairly bright, eliminating the need for an oil lamp in this kind of weather. Standing behind the door, Lu Li took off his dripping raincoat and hung it on the nearby rack. “It’s really cold...” A faint voice sounded. Lu Li ignored it, as such hallucinations were common. But as Lu Li stepped on the floor, walking toward the counter, another faint voice came, “His boots have dirtied me.” Lu Li stopped walking, looking around the café, which held no one else but the middle-aged proprietor behind the counter. “Did you hear that?” Lu Li asked, tilting his head in a whisper. “Hear what?” Lu Li said nothing, walking up to sit at the counter. “Hisss... He’s really heavy.” A bizarre complaint came from the chair beneath him. “Hello newcomer, what would you like?” the middle-aged proprietor asked amiably. Lu Li ignored the proprietor’s greeting for the moment and said to Anna, “Listen.” He dragged his nails across the surface of the counter. “My face aaaahhhh—” A wretched scream rose from the countertop.

Chapter 330 - 330 187

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