"Welco, stranger. This is the Gades Detective Agency. Gades has left Belfast, and I'm his brother, Hacus."
The voice drifted from the cramped space behind the bar, addressing Lu Li, who stood at the entrance. In the light of an oil lamp, sothing glinted gold in the speaker's mouth.
Lu Li didn't leave. He remained by the door, hidden in the shadows where the lamplight couldn't reach. His indistinct silhouette cut a strange figure.
When the sense of danger emanating from beyond the door gradually faded, Lu Li regained his composure and stepped away from the entrance.
"What was that?" Gades asked, as if he'd noticed sothing, and waved Lu Li over.
"I don't know..." Lu Li glanced back at the door, let out a breath of relief, and sat down at the bar.
"Don't lie," Gades said, completely unembarrassed at being caught. A wide grin revealed all his gold teeth. "At least the second part of what I said is true. I really do have a brother nad Hacus. So, did you co for a free question?"
He emphasized the word "free."
"Yes," Lu Li admitted his purpose as frankly as Gades had admitted his lie. "Last ti, you were vague when you talked about ghosts getting stronger. I want to know why."
Gades seed prepared for the question. He chuckled. "Humans walk under the sun, and ghosts breed in the dark. One is living, the other dead. We are fundantally opposite beings. It's perfectly normal for the dead to envy the living."
"That doesn't convince ," Lu Li shook his head. It sounded like so kind of racial discrimination—a classic example of prejudice and generalization.
Gades seed to know Lu Li would say that. He smiled mysteriously. "Many people are afraid of ghosts. Don't you want to know why?"
Lu Li remained silent. That was precisely why he had co.
"It's not just because they're ghosts—after all, they were once living people. If every ghost were the sa as they were in life, why would we fear them? The real reason is... the mont they beco a ghost, they are tainted by the aura of the In-Between. The stronger their power, the stronger that influence. If you'd ever seen a vengeful spirit, you'd know how thick the darkness emanating from it is."
Gades leaned forward, resting his arms on the counter, and said seriously, "And one last piece of advice..."
A few minutes later, Lu Li bid farewell to Gades and left the Gades Detective Agency.
The closing door cut off the sound of the bell. Lu Li stood under the eaves, water dripping from them, and looked out at the street.
In the distance, the port of Belfast was crowded with fishing boats. The pale gray surface of the sea looked ominous. There were few people on the street, with only the occasional carriage passing by. Steam-powered vehicles stayed off the roads in this weather.
Most pedestrians were carrying umbrellas, but Lu Li no longer saw the petite girl with the large, thick gray umbrella.
Lu Li didn't know what that was, but the sense of danger she gave off told him that if he had disobeyed or refused her, sothing terrible would have happened.
Fortunately, just as Lu Li had not defied her, the girl had done nothing to him.
Opening his umbrella, Lu Li strode across the wet cobblestones and returned to the coastal quarter. At Mrs. Filin's Bakery, he ordered a serving of mashed potatoes with chicken gravy and a piece of white bread. The rain had intensified, and parents, fearing their children would catch a cold, had already herded them indoors.
Walking past the long building with a pot of hot mashed potatoes in his hands, Lu Li saw Anna by the detective agency window. She was sitting at the table, her cheeks resting in her hands, gazing at the tulips in a vase on the windowsill.
Noticing him outside the window, she shifted her gaze from the tulips to Lu Li. Her bright eyes crinkled with joy, and she waved at him.
Gades's final words surfaced in Lu Li's mind: "No matter how kind, sweet, and beloved a ghost may be, as her power grows, she will inevitably change. Otherwise, why do you think no exorcist works with such a partner?"
Lu Li nodded to the girl who was so happy to see him return, moved away from the window, and soon re-entered the detective agency.
Anna floated by the door and reached out her hand to take the food from him.
"It's hot," Lu Li warned, handing her the pot of mashed potatoes and the paper-wrapped parcel.
"How silly of you, I'm a ghost," Anna chuckled softly, levitating the food with her mind and moving it to the desk.
Lu Li folded his umbrella, placed it by the doorfra in the hallway, closed the door, and took off his boots in the entryway.
"Do you like to read?"
Anna looked at Lu Li in confusion, then, after a mont, realized he was talking to her. She nodded slightly. "I didn't used to, but now I really want to..."
Anna was dead. In her ghostly form, she didn't need to eat or sleep—aside from returning to her portrait to recover her strength.
This left her with a lot of free ti, but unfortunately, as a ghost, she couldn't wander freely outside. Most of the ti, Anna did nothing. Although life at the detective agency was better than at the gallery, the difference wasn't significant. Even a single tulip could occupy her for half a day, though she truly did love flowers.
"What do you like to read?" Lu Li asked again.
Anna still looked a little lost. "Um... fairy tales, I suppose. And stories about love... romance novels..."
Lu Li put on his slippers, took off his slightly damp coat, and hung it on the rack. "Next ti I go out, I'll try to bring you so books."
"Oh..." Anna replied, stunned, a feeling of joy bubbling up inside her. It was only when Lu Li sat down at the table and started eating that she belatedly wondered, "Is he... caring for ?"
This ti, it wasn't her own slow reaction, but Lu Li's uncharacteristically thoughtful gesture.
Glancing at him shyly, she saw that he was focused on his al, as if the words he'd just spoken didn't belong to him or had just slipped out by accident. Anna began to doubt if she had imagined it.
The relationship between Lu Li and Anna was difficult to define. They seed to be friends, yet they knew little about each other—and this was a one-sided affair. Anna may have desperately wanted to know about Lu Li's past, but he wasn't the type to simply chat with her. At the sa ti, there was a sense of mutual dependence in their relationship.
At least, from Anna's side, this dependence was so strong that even the emotionally detached Lu Li could feel it. Perhaps, for the ghost girl, Lu Li was her entire world.
Thinking about it, it was understandable. After all, he was the only person who had been willing to communicate with her after her death.
This incident was rely an episode. For the next few days, Lu Li didn't leave the house, waiting for O'Connor to make a move. While he waited, he received a call from Marcus on a new number.
He was offering a new case.
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