Chapter 429 - 429 Two hundred and thirty-six

Words : 1338 Updated : Oct 15th, 2025

429: Two hundred and thirty-six. One thing 429: Two hundred and thirty-six. One thing “When will you come to pick it up?” Lu Li did not back out, choosing to pay Marcus as they had agreed upon earlier. With the 250 investigation points he had just received, he could barely scrape together 5000 shillings. “Of course, I— oh damn it!” There were a series of chaotic crashes and shouts from the other side of the phone, Marcus’s voice abruptly stopped, followed by the sound of running footsteps. Seconds later, Marcus returned to the phone and said anxiously: “Things aren’t looking good on my end, the cops have found me! Damn it... I’ve got to run, I’ll contact you later!” Marcus hurriedly hung up the phone, turned to look at the increasingly exaggerated shaking of the door, grabbed a suitcase that seemed to have been prepared under the table, yanked the cord, stuffed the phone inside, snapped the buckle, and pushed open the window. Whoosh— The sound of light rain falling outside became clearer, Marcus glanced down at the muddy ground about four or five meters below, took a deep breath, and jumped from the second floor. Bang! At that moment, the door behind him was smashed open, and several police officers wielding batons rushed into the now empty room. Reaching the window, they saw a figure disappearing around the corner of the alley. “He’s escaped!” A young officer wanted to go after him, but was stopped by a gesture from his superior, “Go and tell the Exorcists, their man has escaped.” “But shouldn’t we pursue him?” the young officer asked eagerly. If they pursued now, perhaps... “That’s someone wanted by a bunch of Exorcists, if you want to die, go chase him yourself,” the older police chief said with a cold laugh. “With all the trouble in town, we’ve enough on our hands without doing somebody else’s dirty work. First, find the missing fleet! Besides, the mayor is gathering all the villagers at the clearing, go call those Exorcists.” ... Lu Li knew a bit about Marcus being sought after and hiding, but he didn’t know that the police were looking for him. After hanging up the phone that was already disconnected, Lu Li planned to reduce his contact with Marcus to avoid being implicated. “Who was it?” Anna asked, curious after the relentless calls. Lu Li told her about what had happened on the phone, and Anna squinted thoughtfully, “If Marcus dies, we don’t have to return the money, right?” Lu Li stared calmly at Anna, “We shouldn’t do that.” Anna, feeling the seriousness in Lu Li’s voice, reluctantly put aside her thoughts, “I was just talking.” After taking a leather paper bag containing ingredients from the desk, Anna went into the kitchen to start preparing lunch. Lu Li sat behind the desk, organizing the things he hadn’t had time to attend to over the past ten days of the Shadow of Puppetry incident. Four letters, three of which were from Mrs. Slav, the most recent one arriving three days ago, seemed that the rainy season had temporarily distracted her from her pursuit of Lu Li. The other letter was from Raimy & Jimmy, delivered yesterday afternoon while he and Anna were at the cliff-top refuge. Lu Li didn’t open the three love letters, placing them in the deepest part of the drawer along with their fellows. Rip. Amidst a slight noise, Lu Li tore open the envelope and took out the letter. Hearing the noise, Anna peeked out from the kitchen. “I can see the letter,” she reminded Lu Li. Anna already knew about the story of The Shadow of Puppetry in which “the door” had reappeared to tempt Lu Li, while she was right beside him, oblivious. “I know,” Lu Li unfolded the letter. A perfect amber maple leaf fell from the letter paper. “Dear Lu Li,” “Long time no see, how have you been recently?” “Did you see the little gift we sent you? Jimmy found it and was so eager like a child to show it to you, so I decided to include it in this letter. I hope you like it.” “I hope your Sanity Value no longer troubles you; my brother has also recovered a lot, and I think it won’t be long before we—” “Jimmy just came to tell me he’s fine now, and he wants to meet you in Belfast as soon as possible. Sigh... But not now, we’ll set off for Belfast after the storm passes. Maybe we will settle down there; you won’t mind us, right?” “Just kidding, but I really do want to settle down somewhere... ” “By the way, please be careful recently, and if possible, it’s best not to stay in the city. I don’t know why, but I always feel like something extremely terrifying is emerging from the deep sea. It might just be my illusion... Hopefully, I’m just overthinking.” “Well, that’s it for now. Maybe what arrives next time won’t be a letter, so please don’t dislike us.” “Your good friends, Raimy & Jimmy.” Lu Li’s gaze lingered long on Raimy’s foreboding words. He shifted his gaze, placed the maple leaf together with the last pine needles, and then prepared to write a reply. The response was consistently brief, containing only one sentence: “If you cannot approach the city, go to the cliffs of Elm Forest; the refuge is there, you can wait for me there.” Lu Li could trust a forest, and of course, he could trust a “once side-by-side companion.” After sealing the envelope and attaching a stamp, he placed the letter at the edge of the desk and then tidied up the other miscellaneous objects on the desk. Elsewhere, Anna emerged from the kitchen after cooking pork, joining Lu Li to look at the five stacked boxes of canned food. Squeak— The sound of nails being pulled out was cringe-inducing; the lid of the wooden box was lifted by an unseen force. Peak canned food. The cans, having an appearance akin to oil paintings, stood in separated wooden compartments, surrounded by tightly packed cotton to prevent leakage from bumps. Therefore, an environmentally-friendly wooden box carried only 12 cans. The tiny iron cans, only as big as a young girl’s fist, made one doubt how much they could actually hold, but even with prior preparation, reality was more exaggerated than imagined. One can weighed less than half a pound. One-fifth of that was the weight of the can itself. The majority of the box’s weight came from the wood itself— “Open it,” said Lu Li. The top of the can in his hand was pierced, showing a tearing trace, and as the rip circled around, it was pried open, releasing a rich aroma of meat sauce. The can was filled with a thick meat sauce. It should be served with soft bread on a dining table or poured into soup as a seasoning rather than as a sustenance food in challenging times. This seemed to be a certain misunderstanding of the noble class towards the common folk. Lu Li’s gaze landed on the remaining four wooden boxes. After a few minutes of disdain from the wooden covers, fifty-nine cans were transferred to a box that had its compartments removed, leaving a significant gap— “Women are the least trustworthy, you trust that woman too much,” Anna remarked with a peculiar bias and inexplicable pleasure as she carried the opened can and the remaining boxes into the kitchen. ... Anna’s cooking skills had improved, or it could be said the meat sauce seasoned things. In any case, the lunch turned out to be unexpectedly savory. The damp sofa was exceedingly uncomfortable, so after lunch, Lu Li settled into a wooden chair behind the desk until evening. Knock knock knock— The door of the Detective Agency was knocked.

Chapter 429 - 429 Two hundred and thirty-six

Comments (0)