Chapter 337 - 337 194

Words : 1291 Updated : Oct 7th, 2025

337: 194. Petra’s Home 337: 194. Petra’s Home The target was almost confirmed, yet Lu Li finished reading the remaining content and organized the papers and notes to hand over to Pryce. Pryce waved his hand, refusing, “Just tell me what to do.” “The Night Watchmen can’t even know what incident is to be handled?” Lu Li asked, perplexed. “We are only responsible for execution,” Pryce replied. The Night Watchmen were simpler than Lu Li had imagined. But that was the only way to keep the living forces intact and not let the bizarre and mysterious oddities destroy their will. Lu Li didn’t say anything, he silently packed up the materials and then said to Pryce, “Have the Alliance investigate Hawkinson and the whereabouts of that ancient book.” He and the ancient book had particularly big doubts; he guessed the Alliance was already on it. “Has the contaminant been confirmed?” Pryce asked. “A week ago, Hawkinson gave Petra an ancient book, that might be the source,” Lu Li said, thought for a moment, then added, “So we actually haven’t been infected.” If the contaminant was the ancient book, then the entire incident could be clarified: Hawkinson gave Petra the ancient book—Petra took it home and read it—the twisted knowledge infected all objects in the house—the next day Petra took the infected cup to the cafe—the cafe got infected by the cup, Elm Street number 3 got infected—the cafe infected the remaining four buildings—after a week, evil beings were born in Petra’s house—one day later, evil beings were born at the cafe and at Elm Street number 3. But now, Lu Li had another matter to confirm— How many undiscovered man-eating houses were there currently. The cafe’s visitors over the last week were not just these five households, but only their homes had been infected. Lu Li asked a few straightforward questions and easily got the results, confirming the reason of the infection: they were accustomed to using their own cups, which usually were kept at the cafe and not taken away. This eased everyone’s breath, as the cafe’s customers were only residents of Elm Street, at least recently. Just to be safe, Lu Li asked if any outsiders had gone to their homes recently and if any miscellaneous items were thrown out. The four households including the cafe owners fell silent. Trash is generated every day. A sudden oppressive air descended on the entire shop, some team members breathed heavily, afraid to imagine the crisis that would unfold if the contaminant spread. As the team leader, Pryce still kept his calm and said, “Each block has a designated garbage station that is cleaned on Sundays.” Lu Li reminded, “Today is Sunday.” “Damn it!” Pryce’s composure vanished instantly, he knocked over a wooden chair as he sharply rose and turned to shout at Matthew, “Matthew! Tell the Alliance to contact the garbage station. We must stop the garbage from Elm Street! Everyone else, follow me to the Elm Street garbage station!” Pryce and the others put on raincoats and hurriedly left the shop. The shop quieted down, leaving only the bewildered civilians who had heard fragments of the conversation exchanging puzzled looks. A few minutes later, the figures of Pryce and others appeared outside the shop window, returning to the shop. Lu Li noticed they were two people short. It seemed there was no bad news. With his hood piled behind his head, Pryce took a deep breath and said to Lu Li, “They’re still there, the heavy rain helped us.” The heavy rain indeed had helped them. If it weren’t for the “Mutant Rain”, Lu Li wouldn’t have gone out and stayed in the cafe, nor would he have discovered the fact that the “man-eating houses” were the contaminant. It would have lurked until suddenly erupting a few days later. “Senior Investigator Lu Li, what should we do next?” “Investigate Petra’s house and find that book,” Lu Li said, pausing as he looked towards Matthew, “Have you told the Alliance about investigating Hawkinson and the ancient book?” “I haven’t had the chance yet.” “Do it now.” “Right.” Matthew turned and walked towards the second floor. Pryce took off his raincoat, steadied the fallen chair, and said in confusion, “Investigate Petra’s house? We can’t get in there.” “Have you ever heard of fishing? The advantage of humans lies in their intelligence and tools.” Pryce almost understood what Lu Li meant. Shortly after, Matthew came down from upstairs and said to Lu Li, “I have informed the Alliance about your investigation of Petra’s house. They told me to let you know that they will contact an investigator and send assistance soon.” “Assistance?” “Yes, a senior investigator.” Lu Li nodded, looking at Pryce, who had just snapped out of his thoughts. “I will start gathering some tools now that can allow us to retrieve things from inside the house without entering,” Pryce said. Lu Li stood up and said, “Then let’s go now.” “Now?” “I have something to confirm.” Lu Li picked up the wildlife guidebook he had finished browsing and reached for the romance novel, intending to return it to the shelf— The opened book suddenly shifted to the side, dodging Lu Li’s hand. “...” After a brief silence, Lu Li turned to the shop owner and asked, “How much for this book?” “What...?” The owner, briefly confused, quickly said, “If you like it, you can have it for free.” “Thank you.” Lu Li unapologetically nodded and told Anna, “Take it with us when we leave.” After returning the guidebook, Lu Li put on his no longer damp rain cape, and together with Pryce and Matthew, they headed out again. ... The pounding rain smashed down on the ground, turning the cobblestones in sight into a cold boiling surface, with stormwater rushing fiercely through the drains. The rain had not weakened at all. It was said to be just the prelude — the prelude to the real rainy season. When the real rainy season arrived, fishing boats could not leave the harbor, factories shut down, and even the most exploitative bosses dared not risk continuing operations. Arriving in front of Petra’s house at number 33 Elm Street, Lu Li once again felt the malevolent call of the evil entity. The door was ajar; it couldn’t be locked, as previous attempts to lock it had resulted in the door being reopened. “Maybe I could try going in...” Anna whispered near his ear. “That’s too risky,” Lu Li rejected Anna’s suggestion, turning back to Pryce and the others behind him, “Could you all step back to the middle of the street?” Pryce frowned, hesitated for a few seconds, then nodded, “Please be careful.” The night guards retreated to the center of the street, and as the distance increased, Lu Li and the house began to appear ethereal, like a hastily sketched pencil drawing under the rain curtain. Lu Li raised his hand and touched the outer wall of the house. A voice, muffled by the sound of the rain, emerged from the wall. Lu Li focused his attention and whispered to the call within his mind. “Can you hear my voice?” After waiting for a while, the call in his intuition did not change, its gentle façade masking a bone-chilling malevolence. Lu Li then successively asked, “Who are you?” and “What are you?” obtaining no response to both questions. This bizarre entity was incapable of communication; it possessed only a basic instinct to feed.

Chapter 337 - 337 194

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