Just like its name, the college located in a bustling area is clean and brand-new.
The rental carriage stopped in front of the door. He told the gatekeeper behind the iron fence why he was here, and Lu Li followed him into the academy.
Knock knock knock
The gatekeeper knocked on the principal's office, and a low-pitched inquiry sounded from behind the door: "A gentleman who calls himself an exorcist wants to see you."
"Come in."
The gatekeeper opened the door and stepped back to the edge.
The man with pale sideburns and a straight ironed dress sat behind the desk, writing something on parchment with a quill that stopped because of the arrival of the guests.
His slightly scrutinizing gaze lingered on Lu Li's eyes and the exquisitely carved handle of the psychic gun at his waist.
"Mr. Exorcist, what happened?"
"Not now." The mysterious Lu Li was like a prophet: "Find a student named Michelleiya. Pay attention to her, pay attention to her, and help her if any malicious intent appears around her."
"Sorry, I don't want to guess the riddle. Can you tell me the reason? Of course, within the scope of your permission..."
Lu Li calmly stated the truth: "Soon after, she will commit suicide due to injuries caused by her classmates and become a wraith to take revenge on those who have hurt her."
"The future...?" The principal hesitated. His status made him subconsciously doubt the man in front of him. "Sir, are you a night watchman or an investigator? Or an exorcist?"
"Investigator." Lu Li replied, tilting his head slightly: "Anna."
The illusive ghost in the white dress slowly emerges, like frost hanging on the sultry midday of the rainy season.
Anna stared at the principal indifferently, making it difficult for him to breathe
"I will deal with this matter immediately and protect Myseliya."
The outline of the ghost gradually faded, and the principal, who had relieved himself from the pressure, said quickly.
Lu Li nodded lightly and left the academy with the gatekeeper who was waiting in awe in the corridor.
Da da
Horseshoes tread crisply on the bluestone road.
"How's my cooperation going?" An energetic voice asking for credit came from the carriage.
"Well done, don't do it again next time."
A noisy steam car passed by.
"Uh-huh." Anna, who didn't hear the second half of the sentence, raised her head proudly and quickly asked curiously: "But how do you know this?"
"Know what."
"Miselia will die and turn into a ghost."
"I know the future."
"Advance the future!" Anna suddenly realized, still a little shy: "So you deceived Benjamin and took me away from the gallery...is it also because you saw the future?"
"Um."
Lu Li gently pulled the reins to stop the carriage, and led the little boy's mother, smiling and nodding, across the street.
"The future is... our... is... is..."
"family."
Calm words floating into the carriage interrupted Anna's incoherence. Then, a long silence fell around the carriage.
"Where are we going..."
The carriage crossed half of Belfast and continued south.
Breaking away from the "shy" unconsciousness, Anna has seen the withered oak forest in the south.
"Oak Street."
The carriage drove into a street where you could see the dead forest at the end. There were few pedestrians in the remote streets and most of them were elderly people.
Walking along the dilapidated street, we stopped in front of an old, uninhabited single-family house.
103 Oak Street.
Anna saw the mottled iron sign posted on the courtyard wall, and then discovered that Lu Li had lifted the kerosene barrels stacked in the carriage and poured them on the exterior wall of the house.
She had some kind of guess, and then Lu Li's behavior confirmed her guess.
laugh
The match that lit a weak flame crossed an arc and was thrown into the pile of wood sprinkled with kerosene. The light blue flame spread and gradually turned orange.
"let's go."
before nearby residents noticed and called the police.
The carriage left the Oak Street neighborhood, with thick smoke billowing into the sky behind it.
"...The weird thing hidden behind the wallpaper killed a family of three...and finally set the bookshelf on fire, burning the entire house."
Lu Li tells the story of what will happen in the future at 103 Oak Street.
For the entire afternoon that followed, Lu Li was busy doing unknown things in various places in Belfast.
Half an hour before nightfall, Lu Lianna returned to the detective agency.
The lighted oil lamp gradually dispersed the darkness, and the aroma of the food cooked in Mrs. Philling's bakery filled the air, but only Lu Li could smell it.
"You don't seem to be from here..."
Anna felt something strange delicately. After being busy all day, Lu Li seemed to be fighting for time with something.
"Um."
Lu Li's ambiguous answer made Anna's thoughts wander.
The night was completely shrouded, Anna drew the curtains, came to the opposite side of the dining table and held her chin, quietly watching Lu Li eat.
The sounds of neighbors coming from behind the non-soundproof walls made her feel warm, as if she was staying at her former home.
only……
Wow
The sound of water in the kitchen continued for a few minutes. After washing the dishes and washing up, Lu Li walked out of the kitchen and picked up a hand towel to wipe his face.
It's bedtime.
"Will I see you again tomorrow?"
Anna suddenly asked softly, as if she realized something.
"Maybe."
Still a disappointing answer.
"Good night." Anna said as she floated towards the oil painting.
"Good night, have sweet dreams."
In Lu Li's low words, Anna in the oil painting was frozen and mottled.
The neighbors gradually rested, and only the occasional coughing of children and the barking of dogs in the distance could be heard.
Lu Li lay down on the bed and fell asleep.
Silence flows in the detective agency, time seems to have frozen at a certain moment, and the oil painting suddenly comes alive.
Anna got out of the oil painting, quietly drifted into the bedroom, and stared at Lu Li's sleeping face.
He doesn't want to go anywhere!
…
Lu Li slowly woke up.
The familiar yet unfamiliar ceiling comes into view.
After a brief pause, Lu Li turned his head and looked at Anna, who was napping on the desk.
"What to do today!"
A few minutes later, Anna was awakened and asked energetically.
"Do nothing."
"Huh?"
Lu Li looked down at her: "Today belongs to you."
Maybe she had been shy too many times in the past two days and even "fainted" once. Anna's cheeks were red and confused: "I don't know where to go."
"Want to go home and see?"
Lu Li's voice seemed to become gentler.
"Himfast? I don't know what's left there..."
"The manor became an art academy, and Mary Poppins was the dean."
"Aunt Mary..." Many dusty memories were awakened, and Anna fell into some kind of recollection.
Lu Li packed his luggage for a long journey, and Anna followed behind him, chattering about childhood stories that he remembered.
"Treasure!" Anna screamed like a woman seeing jewelry: "The most precious treasure of the family! I remembered it! The family treasure!"
"I know."
"What's inside?" Anna couldn't wait to ask and quickly covered her ears. "...Don't tell me."
A few minutes later, Lu Li packed his luggage.
"Let's go!"
With Anna's urgent urging, Lu Li turned the doorknob and prepared to start the journey for just the two of them.
click
The door opened, and a dark cabin appeared in front of him.
Dim yellow light filtered into the hut from around Lu Li, and a silver crossbow lay quietly on the table.
