The Bizarre Detective Agency Chapter 52
Thud!
A dull impact echoed through the operating room. The fleshy mass quivered like an ocean wave, shimmering with grotesque hues under the lamplight. Lu Li dragged the iron radiator back, then hoisted it high and slammed it down with all his might.
There was no beauty or elegance in the act, only brutal force. The simple, savage blows sent shockwaves through the mass of flesh—a display of cruel aesthetics.
Before his eyes, the enormous fleshy mass began to shrink, melting away under Lu Li’s assault.
The attack was working.
Squelch!
An eye bulged out from the fat once more, unleashing a garbled roar.
“Stop... I... am a ghost!”
In response, Lu Li expressionlessly raised the radiator again.
This blow dealt grievous damage to the mountain of flesh. It convulsed and began to deflate rapidly, like a punctured ball. The swollen body, which belonged to Ben, finally took on a more human shape. Thanks to this change, its legs, which had been stuck in the opening, were finally freed.
It was too late to lift the radiator again. Lu Li took a few steps back and rested his hand on his hip, preparing to end the fight with his Spirit Gun.
But the mountain of flesh suddenly displayed an agility that defied its size. It sprang back and rolled, skirting around Lu Li and heading straight for the iron door.
It was trying to escape.
Lu Li froze for a moment before collecting himself. He picked up the lamp in his left hand, hefted the radiator in his right, and leisurely strolled out of the operating room, following the fat ghost.
...
“Hah... hah... hah...” Richard stumbled into the corridor, leaned his back against the cold wall, and gasped for breath.
After catching his breath for a moment, he suddenly held it again and listened intently. Hearing no other sounds, he bent over, propped his hands on his knees, and resumed panting.
Thump-thump-thump-thump.
Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed from the left corridor, drawing steadily closer.
Richard looked up, saw a figure approaching in the darkness, and cried out with relief, “Quick, help me!”
But then he sensed something was wrong and froze. “Wait, why do you still look like that...?”
At that moment, from the end of the corridor the fat ghost had just fled from, came the grating sound of a heavy object being dragged across the floor.
What was that sound? Richard froze, his gaze instinctively darting to the fat ghost. It rushed past him as if it had seen a mortal enemy, as if... it were fleeing.
A surge of alarm washed over Richard. He struggled to his feet and stared intently down the corridor.
Scrape... scrape... The grating sound continued, drawing closer. A small light appeared in the darkness ahead. And with it, a tall figure, dragging some enormous object.
His eyes fixed on the man dragging the radiator, Richard broke out in a cold sweat.
For a moment, he forgot all about escaping.
The man calmly regarded him and stopped. He raised an elegant, flintlock pistol that looked more like a work of art.
Bang!
The deafening shot echoed down the corridor. A flower of blood blossomed on Richard’s knee.
“Tsk,” Lu Li frowned slightly and clicked his tongue.
He had been aiming for the chest.
Richard only felt the pain a few seconds later and let out a groan, clutching his knee, his face contorted in agony as he stifled a scream.
He tried to rally his strength to fight back against Lu Li, but discovered the man was no longer paying him any attention. Lu Li simply resumed dragging his weapon, continuing his pursuit of the fat ghost.
Richard was stunned for a moment, not understanding why Lu Li had let him go, until he saw a shimmering, ghostly shadow appear in the corridor.
“Damn it, I knew something was wrong when he dared to come in here alone! This is a goddamn trap!” Richard swore viciously, and hobbled away, deeper into the corridor.
...
The fat ghost should have had a massive advantage.
Under normal circumstances, the people caught by the man in the mask would find themselves tied to a hospital bed, capable only of helpless struggles and terrified screams, as they watched the fleshy mass emerge from a corner, cover the bed, and swallow them and their screams whole.
Even if some victims miraculously managed to break free of their restraints, the locked iron door would drive them to despair.
Perhaps they tried to fight back, but scalpels and clubs were nothing more than a tickle to the enormous fat ghost.
The fat ghost should have happily claimed a vessel of its own.
But unfortunately for it, the vessel turned out to be Lu Li.
A rising star, a yet-unnamed novice in the art of exorcism.
However, as the number of ghosts who suffered at Lu Li’s hands grew, his name would likely become well-known in those circles.
Assuming, of course, that any of the ghosts survived to tell the tale.
And so, the tables were turned. The newly emerged fat ghost was met with a barrage of attacks, but thankfully, the iron door was open, allowing it to slip from Lu Li’s grasp.
Temporarily.
The fat ghost ran into the same dead end where Lu Li had fallen. Both exits to the surface were blocked.
“Richard set me up!” the fat ghost snarled.
Its speech had become much more coherent. It seemed that as the fat disappeared, its brain began to function better.
Scrape... scrape...
Dragging the radiator, Lu Li approached it and stopped. “Are those your last words?”
The fat ghost roared, its voice full of bitterness and rage, “You conspired against me! I finally had a chance to be resurrected! Whose idea was this?!”
Lu Li leaned on the radiator and said calmly, “Go on, I’m listening.”
A glimmer of hope sparked in the fat ghost’s small eyes. “If I tell you, will you let me go?”
Lu Li nodded thoughtfully. “No.”
The fat ghost was taken aback. The contradictory actions and words confused it for a few seconds, and then it suddenly realized Lu Li was just mocking it and roared, “Die!!!”
Lurching, it charged at Lu Li, its skin swelling. Not like before, when it resembled a mountain of flesh, but more like an inflating balloon, gradually becoming oval.
“D-i-i-i-e...” Its muffled voice was filled with malice. It lumbered toward Lu Li with great effort, as if in agony, its body swelling until it was almost translucent.
At that moment, Lu Li produced a folding umbrella, snapping it open to shield most of his body. From behind the umbrella, a hand emerged, its long fingers gripping the gleaming flintlock pistol, which looked like a work of art.
Several rune-like roses coiled around the pistol’s barrel, poised to bloom, one of them already halfway open. The next moment, his index finger squeezed the trigger.
Bang!
A roar erupted from the muzzle, and black smoke billowed out. The fat ghost burst like a punctured balloon.
Splat-splat-splat...
Sticky fragments splattered in all directions, coating the walls, floor, and ceiling. The umbrella, which had taken the brunt of the blast, trembled slightly, as liquid, yellowish-white chunks dripped from its surface.
The scattered remains gradually faded and disappeared. The first rose on the flintlock pistol imperceptibly bloomed a little more.