Shadow Town is far less prosperous than Belfast. Although the only two bakeries on Sanren Street are open, they are still cleaning up the trouble caused by the hurricane and have not prepared the dough. It will take at least half an hour to put it in the oven.
It's over.
Lu Li, who brought nothing back, returned to the tavern. Little Jack behind the bar had already woken up for a while, maybe he was awakened by the sound of Lu Li leaving, or maybe it was the moisture that entered the tavern.
He greeted Lu Li politely, rubbed his eyes and opened some curtains, then ran to put out the oil lamp that had been lit all night.
Lu Li returned upstairs and opened the wooden door of the room.
"Come back so soon?"
As soon as Lu Li returned to the tavern, Anna, who sneaked back to the room upstairs, turned around and pretended to be surprised.
"A few seconds later than you." Lu Li replied.
Being directly exposed by Lu Li, Anna was a little shy and suddenly found that Lu Li was about to close the door and leave again.
"Eh? Where are you going?"
"Feed the horse."
Ignoring whether Anna followed or not, Lu Li walked through the newly installed back door to the backyard, fed some fodder and beans to the brown horse that seemed to be fine, and then returned to the room.
"When are we going back?" Anna put her chin in her hands and tilted her head to ask Lu Li out of boredom.
She was looking forward to traveling the most at first, but now she missed the detective agency. And the sculpture, even though it never paid attention to her.
"After buying newspapers and food."
Lu Li looked at the alarm clock. It was just ten minutes past six, and only ten minutes had passed.
Then Anna saw Lu Li stunned, staring motionlessly at the alarm clock.
Anna guessed something and asked tentatively: "Did you see the illusion again?"
Lu Li's eyes moved upward, watching the vine emerging from the hands of the alarm clock and growing taller across the ceiling.
After the illusion dissipated, Lu Li nodded: "Yes."
"Why do you always feel that illusion is a very interesting thing to you..." Anna muttered softly.
In fact, Lu Li did think so. It would be better if his sanity value did not drop.
Lu Li stopped talking. Anna, who was almost used to his silence, picked up a book of fables and read through it.
Time passed, and a while passed, and the sound of approaching footsteps came from the corridor outside the door.
"Sir, a newsboy is here to deliver newspapers."
Two minutes later, Lu Li returned upstairs with three fresh newspapers, and said to Anna, who had just appeared and before she could pick up a book to disguise herself, "Get ready to go back."
…
In front of the tavern, little Jack stood on tiptoes, put the reins on the brown horse, and checked whether the connection between the horse and the carriage was firm. He stood up and said, "Everything is done, sir."
Lu Li nodded, put his backpack into the carriage, and got on the carriage. Under the regretful gaze of the tavern owner, he pulled the reins and slowly left the entrance of the tavern.
"Going back!"
Anna was a little excited to finally end this strange and troublesome journey. The dissipating aristocratic etiquette was almost invisible at this time.
Before leaving Shadow Town, the carriage stopped temporarily outside a bakery. Lu Li got out of the car and bought five pounds of bread, then returned to the car holding a cowhide bag and an umbrella.
Anna looked at Lu Li with disbelief, because... Lu Li was actually negotiating the price just now!
When Lu Li said "Can it be cheaper?", his silent and cold image collapsed in Anna's heart. After Lu Li returned to the car and pulled up the reins again, Anna couldn't help pinching Lu Li's face.
.
"...?"
The still calm black eyes looked suspiciously.
"Ahem... I want to see if you are fake Lu Li." After realizing what she had just done, Anna coughed lightly and pretended to be calm.
"Are you talking about bargaining?"
The curtain opened a corner, and Anna in the carriage nodded. After realizing that Lu Li couldn't see, she said, "Is it because the bread is too expensive?"
"Just to save money."
"Eh..." Anna snorted, unable to understand. "Are we going to run out of money?"
"besides."
"Then why save money?"
Anna's thoughts basically coincided with Lu Li's a day ago: money is not important.
Lu Li was silent for a moment and answered without turning his head: "Because of some things."
He didn't intend to hide it from Anna, even though it was troublesome to say it.
Lu Li then told her his guess after seeing the air cruise ship: the world is becoming more and more dangerous.
This is something that can be traced. A few months before Lu Li's arrival, the night disaster came, and then weird and terrifying events emerged one after another. Places far away from human gathering points are becoming more and more dangerous. Plants no longer grow. The number of times the sun is on the road
Less and less——
People in this world are experiencing a boiling frog in warm water. What's more, the frog knows that it can jump out after the water becomes hot, but people don't know, and the few who know can't jump out.
The more frequently weird things appear and the closer they are to humans, it means the world is being eroded more seriously.
"It can't be so bad..."
Anna did not believe that plots that did not appear in novels would appear in the real world, but she could not refute Lu Li's speculation. There were almost no loopholes in what he said - the world was indeed becoming bleak at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Anna, who was a little unable to accept it, lowered her head and remained silent.
Lu Li did not comfort her. He was the kind of guy who would bluntly say to a dying person, "You're going to die soon. It's best to find a suitable burial place and tombstone." He didn't care whether others could accept it or not.
"But maybe it's not that bad!"
Suddenly, Anna raised her head and asked with hope in her eyes.
Lu Li's voice was calm: "Yes, this is just my speculation. But I have foreseen it, so I have to prepare everything in advance."
Anna quietly clenched her fists: "So what are we going to do next?"
"Find the solution to the door and the bloody tentacles as soon as possible, and then prepare a safe enough shelter and enough supplies for survival."
Lu Li would not place all his hopes on Richard who was hiding. He planned to come into contact with the mysterious forces of this world after returning to Belfast: the night watchmen and the investigators.
He knew Joel among the night watchmen, and the flashlight was suspected to be the investigator's token.
The remaining demon slayer Lu Li has not been in contact with him, so maybe he can ask Hades if he knows anything.
The rain is still heavy, but without the wind, it becomes much tamer. An umbrella is all you need to avoid getting wet.
When the carriage left Shadow Town, Lu Li put down the reins and got back into the carriage.
Lu Li forgot to fill the kettle with hot water, which would keep his cold hands warm for at least ten minutes. In the wild in the early morning, it was only a few degrees, or even lower.
When rain falls on the body, it can quickly take away the remaining heat from the body.
If this kind of coldness had appeared in last night's storm, Lu Li might not be able to return to Shadow Town unharmed.
Anna, who was still excited about going home, was thinking about something. Lu Li looked away from her and unfolded the three newspapers he bought on the bumpy wooden board in front of him.
"Ellen Principality Gazette", "Walson Post" and "Daily News"
Three newspapers verified Lu Li's pessimistic prediction from different angles.