Detective Agency of the Bizarre-Chapter 48: Forty-eight. Elevator Horror

Lu Li no longer focused on the other person’s occupation and instead asked, "Is that notebook a prop?" 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"This?" the person dressed as a ghost said, pointing at the notebook on the desk. After getting confirmation from Lu Li, he casually said, "I guess it’s a prop."

"I guess?"

"You don’t know... oh, I forgot you’re not Allen..."

The "ghost" muttered to himself and then explained, "It’s about the rumors of the Asylum, you know, the ignorant rural folks always harbor fear towards such places—"

"Hey, watch your language!" the burly man complained loudly. "I’m from Watch Town."

"Alright, alright, my bad for the choice of words." The "ghost" raised both hands in acknowledgment and continued, "There are always some conspiracy theorists saying the Asylum is using patients for human experiments? Influenced by local villagers, it turned into a rumor that a girl was sent to The Sixth Hospital by her parents and then tragically used as a test subject, her body became stiff turning into a statue or something, just ask any resident in Watch Town and they can talk endlessly about it for a whole day..."

He added another sentence at the end, "And then our great Bard, Mr. Stephen, thought he could include this rumor in his novel, and hence what you see now ensued."

Statues, huh...

Lu Li pondered thoughtfully.

"Detective, what are you here to investigate?" the burly Stephen asked curiously.

"I’m searching for the records of the critically ill patients in the hospital," Lu Li said. There was no need to hide this. If the other party had any information about the target "Edward," it would save a lot of trouble.

"Then you’ll need to go further inside," Stephen pointed outside the door, then made a turn. "Follow the corridor to the end, there’s an elevator there, go down from the elevator."

"Isn’t the hospital already out of power?"

"The stairs have collapsed, can’t get through that way. The elevator is stuck between the first floor and the basement, you’ll need to climb down from inside the elevator."

It sounded quite dangerous.

Stephen advised again, "Something’s not right here, I suggest you don’t go too deep inside. If you’re going in to investigate, it’s best to do it during the day and bring more people."

Lu Li retorted, "If there’s something wrong with this place, why are you guys still here setting up the scene?"

Stephen and the "ghost" exchanged glances, the former then showcased that seriousness typical of writers, "This is how we imbue the work with soul. Also, we didn’t come here unprepared..."

Suddenly, he yanked open his collar to let Lu Li see the numerous pendants he wore on his chest.

There were bizarrely shaped printed necklaces as well as intricate runes.

Lu Li nodded silently, not saying a word.

"Speaking of which, are you interested in making a cameo in this book?" Stephen adjusted his collar, a smile squeezing out of his chubby face; "I got a new idea, I can totally write that segment we just talked about into the book."

"What’s the title of the book?"

"’The Bard’s Ailen Peninsula Tales of Sad Past Events’"

"...Sure."

"Great, give me your address, and we’ll send a copy over to you once it’s written."

"Shilling Street." Lu Li replied, eyes slightly downcast, calmly saying, "And also, apologize to that friend blocking the door for me."

"No problem—"

The voice abruptly stopped, Stephen looked bewildered: "Wait, what blocking the door?"

Lu Li briefly narrated, causing both people present to get goosebumps.

Stephen’s face turned significantly paler, and he turned to ask the actor, "A Ya, it was just Allen who came with us, right?"

"Yeah, he should still be in the car changing his clothes... could it be him trying to scare us?"

"He’s too scared to stay alone when it’s dark, and he dares to scare us?" Stephen said tensely, looking around before decisively speaking, "Something’s not right here, let’s leave!"

Lu Li remained motionless, silently watching the two turn and flee toward the door without hesitation.

Stephen, who had always courted death in his novel writing yet remained unharmed, owed it not so much to the Divine Talisman he carried as to this decisiveness.

The "ghost" had already slipped out of the room. Following it, Stephen reached the door, suddenly remembered someone, and turned around to ask, "Little brother, aren’t you coming with us?"

Lu Li answered, "I haven’t finished my business yet."

"What’s more important than your life!"

"Not more important than my life, but still quite important," Lu Li candidly replied.

His daily expenses were around 40 Shilling, not counting the costs for renting carriages and purchasing coal oil for work and living.

Each day he delayed, the slower Lu Li’s savings grew.

As for saving and scrimping... that wasn’t within Lu Li’s consideration.

Stephen was taken aback. He suddenly ran back, pulled off a bracelet from his wrist, and stuffed it to Lu Li, "I’m lending this to you for now, it’s blessed by an Exorcist!"

He spoke as he hurriedly escaped down the corridor. By the time he reached the last few words, he had already sprinted out of the Asylum’s grand hall.

Left in the office, Lu Li looked down at the bracelet in his hands and pocketed it.

Carrying an oil lamp, Lu Li stepped out of the office and turned in a direction completely opposite to theirs.

He ignored the partially ajar, open, or tightly closed doors on both sides as he walked straight ahead for some distance, till the end of the corridor came into the range of the oil lamp.

Stepping over a chair lying across the corridor, Lu Li temporarily bypassed the elevator and headed to the staircase.

Just as Stephen had said, the staircase had already collapsed, the stairs to the second floor had broken, creating a three-meter-long gap piled with rubble.

The broken staircase had crashed to the level below, tightly blocking the passage to the basement, making passage impossible.

Lu Li withdrew his gaze and returned to in front of the elevator.

Although it was an old-fashioned elevator, it had been completely converted to electric power. Currently, the elevator was stuck between the first floor and the basement, with its sliding shutter door wide open.

The oil lamp illuminated the inside of the elevator, as the floating dust drifted slowly in the air.

The gap between the elevator’s top and the floor was less than half a meter, and Lu Li had to lie flat on the ground to crawl inside it.

The bad news was that entering the elevator required risking, and the good news was that there were no visible signs of damage to the elevator’s ropes.

Sitting at the edge of the elevator, Lu Li placed the oil lamp beside him, swung his legs into the elevator, then flipped over, bracing his arms against the outside ground and slowly lowering his body into the elevator.

Squeak—

Just then, the airborne dust grew agitated, and the elevator emitted an unsettling creak.

Lu Li immediately froze, holding the pose with his arms braced against the ground and his body hanging inside the elevator, motionless.

Creak—Squeak—

The elevator began to sway slowly in the cramped shaft, with the grating sound of friction continuously emanating from above.

The situation was not looking good. Lu Li was lying at the edge of the elevator, with his lower body already inside. If the ropes suddenly snapped... the best-case scenario was that his waist would be caught between the suddenly plummeting elevator car and the ground.

A slightly worse outcome would be getting cut in half, with his upper body outside and his lower body inside the elevator.

Creak-Squeak—

The creepy squeaking intensified, showing signs that the elevator wanted to break.