Before the sky became completely bright, Lu Li took down the sculpture from the second-floor office and put it back in its place.
The strangeness of the night becomes calmer as the windows gradually light up.
In the mist-shrouded morning, some pedestrians began to appear on the streets paved with bluestones.
Somewhat surprisingly, the first person to come to the gallery was Benjamin. When he saw Lu Li standing in front of the door unharmed, he spread his arms happily: "Nice to meet you, Mr. Lu Li."
Lu Li took two steps back to avoid Benjamin's embrace and said straight to the point: "I have temporarily discovered four ghosts, one of which has been solved. There are some problems with the other three. Maybe you know something."
Benjamin put down his arms indifferently, took off his hat and walked into the gallery, turned around and closed the door.
The noise on the bluestone road is blocked out by the wooden door.
"What do you want to know, Mr. Lu Li?" The fat man lost his original philistine appearance and showed sincerity that he didn't have yesterday.
Perhaps because Lu Li proved with his actions that he could solve this matter.
Lu Li asked: "Athena, do you still have any impression?"
"Athena..." A hint of nostalgia appeared on Benjamin's face. "Of course I know that she, the poor girl, died in childbirth after being abandoned by her fiancé. Her undead ghosts linger in the gallery."
"You know this?"
"Yes, she used to be my employee, of course I know." Benjamin lowered his head and sighed slightly. He couldn't see the faces in the silent and dark gallery: "Including the supernatural beings you encountered, I know them all."
Lu Li's dark eyes gradually narrowed: "But you are still recruiting ordinary people to be night watchmen."
"Because they only come out at night, and they don't want to hurt anyone." Benjamin explained, and sighed again: "Until a few days ago, the last night watcher was scared away by a ghost attack."
"Then you hesitated whether to spend a lot of money to hire an exorcist to get rid of these four ghosts, and finally chose to hire a night watchman to try his luck, just in case these were just mistakes made by the employee. After all, please hire a night watchman to try your luck.
An exorcist is expensive, especially if you have more than one here."
Benjamin didn't say anything, just nodded.
"With all due respect, the four ghosts in the gallery have grown to a certain level. You may not know that the girl in the oil painting can leave the painting freely, the sculpture will follow people's footsteps at night, and Athena has already attacked people.
A sign that Ruth..."
At this point, Lu Li paused slightly and stared at Benjamin with his dark eyes.
"She attacked me and I killed her."
Benjamin seemed to have made up his mind and said with a wry smile: "I understand the situation. So, Mr. Exorcist, I have decided to officially entrust you. How much remuneration do you want?"
"How much can you pay?" Lu Li asked.
Lu Li still doesn't know the pricing of local exorcisms.
"1,000 shillings."
It sounds a bit small, but four ghosts are equivalent to 250 shillings each.
But Anna and the sculpture will not actively attack people. The only ones that really need to be dealt with are Athena and Ruth - the latter has already been dealt with.
"Okay." Lu Li nodded calmly and did not dwell too much on the price issue. "What else do you know about Athena?"
"I've told you everything I know."
"What about the others? Anna's oil paintings and sculptures."
"The oil painting existed before I took over the gallery. Mrs. Anlei once said that it was made by the artist on Anna's 16th birthday. The sculpture was bought at a low price from a bankrupt art gallery in Himfast. You know, the disaster of the night
It makes the public no longer in the mood to appreciate art.”
"The ghost in the painting calls herself Anna."
Benjamin categorically denied it, as if he had heard a joke: "This is impossible, Anna is already dead, and her mother died in the infectious disease. Maybe there was just something wrong with the painting, and she thought she was Anna."
Lu Li was noncommittal and didn't talk much about the matter.
"Mr. Lu Li, are you going to start exorcism next?"
"I need to wait until tonight to investigate something about Athena." Lu Li answered.
After all, he is not a real exorcist. The only way to deal with ghosts is a psychic gun. And the psychic gun obviously won't have much effect on Athena. He needs to find another way and try to deal with her from other directions.
"Then today..."
"They won't come out during the day. If you are worried, you can close the business for a day."
"That's good..." Benjamin breathed a sigh of relief, not sure whether he meant the former or the latter - probably the former.
When Lu Li left, Benjamin opened the door and hung the business sign.
After smoothing out his collar and putting on his hood, Lu Li walked into the morning mist, heading not to his own detective agency, but to Hades' place.
…
Ding bell——ding bell——
The wind chime behind the wooden door swayed.
"Oh, look who's here? I really saw the right person. Having saved enough money so quickly, you are the gold mine among our exorcists... I mean the new star."
Exaggerated exclamatory particles came out of Hades's mouth, his gold teeth flashed, and he opened his arms.
Just like last time.
Lu Li walked to the counter and sat down: "I just have some questions."
The enthusiasm was fading at a speed visible to the naked eye, which was manifested in the fact that his open arms fell down and rested on the counter.
"Do you think I'm a charity?" Hades' face looked gloomy and uncertain under the oil lamp.
"If you are willing to answer some of my questions, the fees earned from this commission will be enough for me to buy the answers."
Hades' gold teeth bloomed again: "What do you want to ask?"
Just like last time.
On the way here, Lu Li had already prepared what he wanted to ask, and said directly: "Can the psychic gun become stronger? I killed a ghost, and part of the pattern on its gun body bloomed."
Lu Li placed the psychic gun and its holster on the counter and pushed it in front of Hades.
"Why not? This is why it is dangerous and charming. It is possible to keep getting stronger, but the longer the contact time, the more disaster it will bring to the owner..." Under the oil lamp, Hades admired the psychic gun intoxicatedly.
rose pattern. One of the buds blooms a little.
"But be careful, don't get carried away by this power."
Hades threw the psychic gun towards Lu Li, who caught it and put it back behind him.
"Second question, I met a ghost, and there was a strange shadow behind her..."
Lu Li described the shadow that appeared behind Athena.
"The description sounds familiar..." Hades was stunned, and seemed to have the answer in his mind. "But this question requires a fee."
Lu Li was not fooled by his little trick: "I think other exorcists wouldn't mind answering this kind of question, it's free."
"Hey..." Hades was a little disappointed and couldn't raise his interest: "That is a resentful spirit that has not yet formed."
"What are the dancing illusory tentacles?"
"It's a pity that I didn't know either, otherwise this news would be worth at least 1,000 shillings."
"Can I deal with it? This unformed wraith."
"Deal? If I were you..."
Hades sneered, leaning forward slightly, his narrowed eyes flashed with a dangerous cold light, and his whispers echoed in the empty tavern.
