Chapter 25: Twenty-five. The Unformed Apparition
Before the sky was fully light, Lu Li carried the sculpture down from the second-floor office and placed it back in its original position.
The oddity of the night calmed as the windows outside gradually lightened.
The cobbled streets shrouded in a misty haze began to see some pedestrians in the early morning.
Surprisingly, the first to arrive at the gallery was Benjamin. Seeing Lu Li standing unharmed at the door, he opened his arms with joy, "I'm glad to see you, Mr. Luli."
Lu Li took two steps back to avoid Benjamin's embrace and got straight to the point, "I've temporarily found four ghosts, one of which has already been dealt with. There are some issues with the other three, which you may know something about."
Unconcerned, Benjamin lowered his arms, removed his hat, stepped into the gallery, and closed the front door behind him.
The hustle and bustle of the cobbled street was blocked by the wooden door.
"What would Mr. Luli like to know?" The portly man shed his former mercantile demeanor, showing a sincerity he had not displayed the day before.
Perhaps it was because Lu Li had proved with his actions that he could resolve the matter.
Lu Li asked, "Do you remember Asina?"
"Asina..." A trace of nostalgia crossed Benjamin's face, "Of course, I know her, the poor girl who died in childbirth after being abandoned by her fiance, and her undead spirit lingering in the gallery without dispersing."
"You knew about these?"
"Yes, she was my employee, of course I knew." Benjamin lowered his head with a slight sigh, his face obscured in the quiet, dim gallery, "I knew about all those paranormal events you've encountered."
Lu Li's dark pupils gradually narrowed, "But you still hired ordinary people to be night watchmen."
"Because they only haunt at night, and none of them wanted to harm anyone," Benjamin explained briefly, sighing again, "until a few days ago, the last night watchman was frightened away by a ghost."
"Then you hesitated whether to spend a lot of money to hire an Exorcist to remove these four ghosts, instead choosing to take a chance on hiring another night watchman, in case the previous employee was wrong. After all, hiring an Exorcist isn't cheap, especially when you have more than one here."
Benjamin didn't speak but nodded his head.
"Forgive my bluntness, but the four ghosts in the gallery have grown to a certain extent. You may not know that the girl in that oil painting can freely leave the portrait, the sculptures will follow in people's footsteps at night, Asina has shown signs of attacking people, and Ruth..."
At this point, Lu Li paused slightly, his gaze fixing on Benjamin.
"She attacked me, and I killed her in self-defense."
Benjamin seemed to make up his mind, smiling bitterly, "I understand the situation now. So, Exorcist, I decide to formally hire you. How much would you like as a reward?"
"How much can you pay?" Lu Li counter-asked.
Lu Li was still unclear about the local Exorcist pricing.
"1000 Shillings."
It sounded a bit low, with four ghosts amounting to 250 shillings each.
But Anna and the sculptures wouldn't attack people proactively; the real threats were only Asina and Ruth—the latter already dealt with.
"That's acceptable," Lu Li nodded calmly, not dwelling on the price too much. "What else do you know about Asina?"
"I've told you everything I know."
"What about the others, the oil painting of Anna and the sculptures?"
"The painting of Anna existed before I took over the gallery; Madame Annette said it was done by a painter on Anna's 16th birthday. I bought the sculptures for a low price from an artist in Himfast who went bankrupt. You know, the Night Calamity has left the public with no mood for art."
"The spirit in that painting claims to be Anna."
Benjamin denied it outright, seeming to hear a joke, "That's impossible, Anna is dead, she and her mother died in that epidemic. Perhaps there's just something wrong with the painting, and she thinks she is Anna."
Lu Li didn't agree or disagree and didn't discuss the matter further.
"Mr. Luli, are you going to start the exorcism now?"
"I'll wait until tonight; I need to investigate something about Asina," Lu Li replied.
He was not a real exorcist after all, his only means of dealing with ghosts was the Spirit-Calling Gun. And the Spirit-Calling Gun evidently wouldn't be very effective against Asina, he needed to find a different approach, to try to resolve her from another angle.
"So today..."
"They won't come out during the day, if you're worried you can close for the day."
"That's good..." Benjamin let out a long breath of relief, it wasn't clear whether he meant the former or the latter—probably the former.
When Lu Li left, Benjamin opened the front door and hung up the open for business sign.
Adjusting his collar and smoothing it down, pulling up his hood, Lu Li walked into the morning mist, not heading towards his Detective Agency but towards Hades instead.
...
Ding-a-ling—Ding-a-ling—
Wind chimes swayed behind the wooden door.
"Oh, look who's here? I really didn't misjudge you, gathering up enough money so quickly, you're truly a gold digger... I mean, a rising star among us exorcists."
The exaggerated interjection came from Hades's mouth, his gold teeth gleaming as he spread his arms wide.
Just like last time.
Lu Li walked to the counter and sat down: "I just have some questions."
The enthusiasm visibly disappeared at a measurable speed, as evidenced by the lowering of the once-raised arms, now resting on the counter.
"Do you think I'm some kind of charity?" Under the oil lamp, Hades's face was tinged with a fluctuating shade of darkness.
"If you're willing to answer some of my questions, the fee I earned from this assignment is enough to buy answers."
Hades's gold teeth shone again: "What do you want to ask."
Just like last time.
On the way over, Lu Li had already prepared what he wanted to inquire about, speaking directly: "Can the Spirit-Calling Gun become stronger? I dealt with a ghost, and part of the pattern on its barrel bloomed."
The Spirit-Calling Gun, along with its case, was placed on the counter by Lu Li and pushed in front of Hades.
"Why not? That is what makes it dangerous yet fascinating. The possibility of constant strengthening, but the longer you're in contact with it, the more it brings disaster to its owner…" Under the oil lamp, Hades indulged in admiring the rose pattern on the barrel of the Spirit-Calling Gun. One of the rosebuds had bloomed some.
"But be careful, don't let this force cloud your mind."
The Spirit-Calling Gun was tossed back to Lu Li by Hades, who tucked it away behind him again after catching it.
"Second question, I encountered a ghost with a strange, unformed shadow trailing behind her..."
Lu Li described the shadow that lurked behind Asina.
"Sounds familiar..." Hades looked startled for a moment, seeming to have an answer in mind. "However, this question requires a fee."
Lu Li was not fooled by his little trick: "I think other exorcists wouldn't mind answering that, free of charge."
"Tsk..." Hades expressed some disappointment, lacking enthusiasm: "That is an unformed specter."
"What are the swirling, illusory tentacles?"
"Unfortunately, I don't know either, otherwise that information would be worth at least a thousand shillings."
"Can I handle it? This unformed specter."
"Handle? If I were you..."
Hades sneered, leaning slightly forward, his narrowed eyes twinkling with a dangerous cold light, his whispered voice echoing through the empty tavern.
"I would ask for a lot more pay."
Chapter 26: Dreamscape of Bizarre Spectacles
Lu Li did not reply, silently staring at him.
Hades leaned back behind the counter and waved his hand, "Don't look at me like that, you might need several shots to solve it."
"What are the real methods of an Exorcist?"
The Spirit-Calling Gun is just one of the methods, not the only one.
"You wouldn't want to know."
"I want to know."
"It won't do you any good."
"I think it would be very beneficial."
"...Come back when you bring 1000 Shillings."
The conversation ended rather unpleasantly, and it was clear that Hades did not want to tell Lu Li—whether he did not want him to get involved in murky waters, or for some other reason.
Upon leaving Hades's Detective Agency, Lu Li took a carriage back to Sailor Street.
Sailor Street was entering the busiest time of the day as the seamen finished their breakfast and headed to the harbor.
At Mrs. Phelin's bakery, he bought two pieces of white bread, gave one to the children gathered outside the bakery, and finished the other with some hot water, then called Oliver.
"Hey, boss."
"Asina Leslie, formerly employed by Madam Anne's Art Gallery, is deceased. Send all her details over by this afternoon. Focus on her personality and the cause of her death."
"Okay."
After arranging these, Lu Li took off his coat, hung it over the back of a chair, rolled up his sleeves, and walked into the kitchen.
Soon, the sound of running water started, continued for a while, then stopped. A few seconds later, a water-streaked Lu Li emerged from the kitchen, wiping his face with a towel.
Returning to his desk chair, Lu Li lay down on the desktop.
Seconds ticked by, and the figure on the desk gradually stabilized, and the Detective Agency returned to its cold and lonely state.
The sleeping experience this time was not pleasant. Lu Li felt his consciousness sinking, penetrating the floor, the soil, and the rocks.
The surrounding water vapor grew heavier, clinging to his consciousness, making it heavier, pulling it downward.
He did not know how long it had been when the increasingly hard rocks around him gave way, replaced by the eerily silent and desolate depths of the sea.
Faintly, there seemed to be a light overhead, but as his consciousness plunged into the vast abyss, that glint of light grew farther and farther away until it was blocked by the immeasurably deep seawater.
Light could not penetrate the depths of the deep sea; an unbearable pressure squeezed from all sides, but it did not intensify.
Lu Li thought he would keep sinking until he lightly landed in the sea-bed mud and perhaps see relics covered in seaweed in the perpetual gloom.
But a change occurred.
The seawater enveloping him suddenly turned into bizarre and myriad colors, shifting and mixing as if layers of paint were blending and twisting together.
This scene was certainly not what one would find in the abyss; it was more like... it had been intercepted by some indescribable entity.
Lu Li's consciousness could not think, only quietly observe and watch.
The oddly mixing colors may have been chance or fate, forming a door.
An ordinary, old wooden door.
The colors continued to shift, causing the door's form to change every moment—metal doors, ornately carved grand doors, fence gates, bronze doors...
But without exception, each door had a key inserted into its keyhole.
Thud, thud, thud—
A familiar knocking sound suddenly resonated deep in his consciousness.
The observing consciousness suddenly conceived the ability to think in that moment and discerned the source of the sound.
[Is someone knocking?]
The instant this thought was born, an irresistible force emerged from an unknown distance above his head. It pulled at Lu Li's consciousness, dragging him with a speed that nearly twisted the surroundings, towards it.
In that instant, Lu Li saw only a dazzling white light filling his vision, and then...
Bang!
Subconsciously standing up, Lu Li bumped into the chair, which fell backward with a moderate crash.
Like a fish stranded on the shore, Lu Li gasped hurriedly for a few breaths, then suppressed it with his willpower, his indifferent dark eyes lifting toward the door.
...
Click—
The door opened a crack.
Oliver looked up at Lu Li and shrank his neck, "Boss, you don't seem to have rested well..."
A bloodshot rim appeared around Lu Li's dark pupils.
"Mhm."
Lu Li turned back and sat down at his desk, massaging between his eyebrows.
The clock now showed it was already afternoon.
"This is the information I found." Oliver handed a few pieces of leather paper to Lu Li.
Lu Li took them, his gaze landing on them.
Lu Li recognized each character, but when strung together into words and sentences, he suddenly couldn't understand their meaning.
The problem was not with the content but with Lu Li himself.
He still felt tired, the bizarre dream he had just had did not relieve his weariness, but rather intensified it.
Perplexed, Oliver saw Lu Li temporarily set aside the leather paper and stood up to walk to the kitchen.
The sound of running water continued for a long time, and when Lu Li came back out, he was wiping his wet black hair.
He finally seemed somewhat rejuvenated, not as wooden as before.
Sitting back down at his desk, Lu Li slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air and picked up the leather paper again, the content finally familiar and not foreign.
Asina Leslie, living close to the industrial area in Blackwater District, worked as a textile worker for a long period before working in the gallery and met Bill Eddy there, the man who impregnated her.
From acquaintance to romance, they quickly moved in together until Asina became pregnant.
The textile factory was unsuitable for a pregnant woman to stay, so Asina quit her job and found a new job with Bill's help: working in the gallery.
The job was relaxed and the salary was about the same as her textile job, Asina cherished her new job and often stayed at the gallery beyond her working hours.
Things were meant to continue blissfully.
But one day, Bill Eddy suddenly disappeared. No one saw where he went, and the Police Station only narrowed it down to near the Abandoned Asylum in the suburbs.
Just over ten days later, Bill Eddy came back, acting as usual.
Then came the tragedy on the seventh day after his return, Bill Eddy crazily attacked Asina, cutting out their child, an act that directly killed Asina and their unborn child, who was less than seven months old.
That was all the content on the leather paper.
"So, Asina was murdered?" Lu Li massaged his temples, putting the paper back.
"Very likely."
"Bill Eddy?"
"Missing. My brother told me the Police Station's been looking for him, but no sign of him."
"How did the Police Station classify this case?"
"They said it was the work of cultists, that Bill Eddy had joined them, but what exactly they think internally, I'm not sure."
Lu Li found it hard to think and instead asked, "Are you busy now?"
"Uh... not really," Oliver answered subconsciously.
Lu Li nodded and leaned into his chair.
"You can stay here, or go out and take care of your business, but remember to wake me up before five o'clock in the afternoon."
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