The tavern owner behind the bar did not stop him from leaving. It seemed that Lu Li did not have to pay for the damage to the door.
"When do we leave?"
In the room, Anna read the last page of "A Wonderful Journey" with determination in her tone and a hint of melancholy brought about by the finale.
"Wait until it gets a little brighter."
Lu Li answered, looking out the window at the hazy sky.
It was just half past five, and there was still some time before the sky would fully light up.
Out of some kind of caution, Lu Li didn't eat any more food in Shadow Town. The water and bread he was going to eat were all brought from Belfast. Although they were a little cold and hard, there was no better choice at this time.
Anna, who had not yet gotten over her emotions from the finale of the book, did not want to read the second book for the time being. She floated to the side of the single bed and sat down, shaking her calves and looking around in boredom.
In her boredom, her developmental thinking made the wooden stripes in her eyes look like a mixture of various patterns. For example, one floor stripe looked like a girl in a long skirt, and another looked like a strange axe.
She enjoyed it and thought about every texture until she raised her head and fixed her gaze on the ceiling.
"Huh……?"
She suddenly noticed a hole with a blackened edge and the thickness of a finger suddenly appeared on the ceiling.
That made Anna feel strange and uneasy. It seemed like someone was peering through the hole in the attic, or it was caused by a bullet...
"We who are affected by the bottom of the abyss can't contact the outside world, right?"
Lu Li, who was chewing food silently, heard Anna's question and looked up: "What's wrong?"
Anna didn't speak, she just stretched out her finger and pointed at the abnormal ceiling.
…
A few minutes later, Lu Li's figure appeared in Sanren Street.
He found a phone booth a little further away from the Big Wave Tavern.
Walking into the phone booth, Lu Li glanced at the red-covered phone book next to the phone, put in a coin, picked up the phone and dialed a number.
After a short wait, the other end of the phone was connected.
"This is Hades' detective agency. I am the president, Hades, and I will serve you wholeheartedly."
"It's me." Lu Li said concisely.
There was a brief silence on the other side: "...I'm not here, I'm my brother."
Lu Li didn't seem to hear anything and asked directly: "Do you know about the Light Fruit?"
"I don't know!" Hades, who thought he was temporarily free of Lu Li, could not imagine that Lu Li, who was two hundred miles away, would ask him questions.
"50 shillings."
"100!"
"Can."
Lu Li didn't hesitate too much.
Anyway, as his eyes widen, there are fewer and fewer places where he can use Hades. This call is just because he has no better candidate for the time being, and Qiaoqiao may not be able to find the information about the light fruit immediately.
"Wait while I look for it..."
Not long after, the sound of turning the pages of a book was heard from Hades' side.
"I found it, a plant fruit that grows in a moist environment with sunlight. It usually grows in swamps, and it can also be found in shadow swamps. Since you asked, you have heard of it. In some places, it is dried and ground to make anesthetic raw materials.
, or provide inspiration for some artists."
Lu Li looked at the street through the phone booth glass: "Tell me about its hallucinogenic effect."
"It causes people to have subconscious hallucinations, which are similar to dreams, but more clear and stable. For example, you subconsciously think that after a while, an old nobleman worth hundreds of thousands of shillings will walk into your detective agency and decide to spend all his wealth
Leave it all to you, as well as your beautiful daughter and title——"
For a shilling, Hades would be satisfying in every way.
Although this subconsciousness belongs to Hades no matter how you look at it.
Lu Li asked again: "Will it change with the subconscious mind?"
"The book didn't say that."
"Lu Li, look at your front left..."
Anna's voice rang in her ears.
Lu Li raised his eyes and looked through the hazy glass of the phone booth to a quaint shop across the street.
Fifty meters away, the seeker stood at the door of the shop with a suitcase. Standing opposite him was a man wearing a top hat and holding a black cane, talking to the seeker in a low voice.
He couldn't see his face clearly from this distance, but his service reminded Lu Li of a portrait.
The portrait hangs in a prominent position behind the bar of the Big Wave Tavern.
"He is the mayor of our Shadow Town, Jefferson." When Lu Li asked, the old woman replied.
The seeker may be himself, but it is uncertain whether it is Jefferson on the other side. But at this moment, the seeker should be on the carriage heading inland, not talking to a man who seems to be the mayor of the town.
"Let's go back."
Lu Li said, hung up the phone from which faint shouts could be heard, and left the phone booth.
…
Libra swings back and forth between falsehood and truth.
When it first arrived, the exaggeration of the six-legged wild man and the old woman in the tavern made the real fall away, leaving the false scale empty. Until Thomas Dio's article appeared, the scales gradually became even.
It only takes a corner to destroy a building, and it only takes a little questioning to destroy trust.
As night fell, Lu Li, who had just woken up, was attacked by evil spirits. Boundless darkness came, and the appearance and explanation of the Shadow of the Stealing Fire, the Shadow Man and the mysterious man made the weight of reality heavier.
After all, no one can say "these are all false" after encountering them.
But now, the side that symbolizes falsehood has gradually fallen away and gained the upper hand.
It is easier to gain trust in falsehood than truth, because human beings are inherently existences that constantly deny themselves and move forward. The smallest plot can be magnified, pondered, and speculated on.
For example, if the bullet hole on the ceiling cannot respond to the outside world, where did the bullet hole come from? For example, when he aimed at the Shadow Man and was stopped by a mysterious man, was he worried about hitting the townspeople who played the Shadow Man? For example, the mysterious man let himself go first
Returning to reality, at that time, did the townspeople who acted as Shadowmen in the tavern quickly evacuate?
Especially after it was confirmed that the Illumination Fruit indeed has hallucinogenic properties - the owner of the Big Wave Tavern actually added this fruit to his food.
This makes the whole thing seem to have no hope of turning around, and falsehood has achieved absolute victory on the scales.
"Maybe, maybe not."
But Lu Li's answer was still ambiguous.
"Why don't we question her?" Anna suggested.
"Because it's not necessary." Lu Li said silently as he walked back to the tavern. "Don't forget our purpose. The truth about Shadow Town is not worth my time."
Lu Li found a convoy. They were about to set off inland and were willing to take Lu Li for a distance.
The carriage was temporarily left at the Big Wave Tavern, while Lu Li and Anna went back to put some necessary things into their backpacks.
Insect repellent powder, a jug of water, a poncho, a compass, and in any case matches and an oil lamp.