Detective Agency of the Bizarre

Sleep is not necessary; the long journey left the weary Lu Li needing rest, but not sleep.

Lu Li just needed to find something to do to get through this silent night.

Amid the Mist of Strangeness, presences wandered through the fog, occasionally passing by traps, emitting rustling sounds.

Sometimes the presence would detect the pits, move the slabs, causing the bells hanging beneath to gently shake. Whenever this happened, Lu Li would use the Shadow-Hiding Potion to hide in the Inner World, avoiding them.

The crisis-laden wilderness night finally faded, with the alarm clock's hands pointing to the time when the thick fog retreated, signaling the arrival of dawn.

With the bells ringing and the slabs moved aside, Lu Li, having taken the Revealing Potion, crawled out from hiding, finding an invitation placed beside the slab as if left at a doorstep, glowing under the oil lamp.

The invitation was for Lu Li to attend the Nameless Feast in the Unknown Hills.

Uninterested in attending the Nameless Feast, Lu Li picked up the oil lamp and left his hiding place.

Whether it was the unknown invitation or the gloomy wilderness that made it hard to discern directions, it meant he would not return here.

From the quicksand areas of the sandy hills that prey on and devour, to the hollow caverns inhabited by strange creatures. From the Hunter's cabin, camouflaged in beauty waiting to devour passersby, to the rapid tides formed by the strange tribes.

Even the Sequence Potion could not heal Lu Li's deepening injuries and fatigue.

Finally, Lu Li's position on the map approached the Eternal Forest.

The Eternal Forest is dangerous.

The area around the Eternal Forest is safe.

It sounds contradictory yet holds truth: the Eternal Forest is dangerous due to the presence dwelling within, while the area around it is safe because the strange avoid it.

At least after approaching the Eternal Forest, Lu Li no longer encountered dangers brought by the strange along the way.

If Lu Li had continued his journey risking the pursuit under the Mist of Strangeness last night, he might have passed a quiet night—or been killed by the strange along the way.

Lu Li didn't encounter any village or town on the forest's edge, the route unintentionally deviated.

With less than two hours until the Mist of Strangeness spreads again, it would be best to find a village or town, spend the night there, and enter the Eternal Forest at dawn the next day.

But finding a village or town in the limited visibility of the gloomy hills requires luck and time.

Lacking the latter, Lu Li gave up searching and continued toward the Eternal Forest. Looking beyond the range of the oil lamp, as if he could glimpse the silhouette of bizarre massive trees forming a dark forest on the southern horizon.

Minutes later, Lu Li stood beneath the dark and silent trees.

Vines entwined and twisted branches hung down, shrubs emerged from the foul black soil.

They were still alive…

Despite the deep black ink-like hue covering the trees and shrubs, Lu Li could feel the breath of the plants.

For the last time, Lu Li summoned Merchant Anthony to replenish supplies, stuffing the blanket into the retching storage bag.

No longer hesitating, Lu Li stepped into the tower-like giant trees of the Eternal Forest.

The wind from the empty hills was blocked outside, and the Eternal Forest was silent. They did not respond to Lu Li's intrusion, which reminded him of the Mysterious Dense Forest.

Was the presence lingering in the vast Eternal Forest similar to those in the Mysterious Dense Forest?

Every now and then, Lu Li would briefly release the Speaker of the Trees, expressing goodwill and intent. This allowed him to traverse the forest smoothly without encountering any trouble—aside from the forest itself.

Along the way, shrubs would scratch Lu Li's clothes and skin, and the damp roots under the foul black soil made him stumble a few times, forcing him to divide his attention between vigilance and his surroundings.

Thus, in the safe Eternal Forest, Lu Li sustained more injuries than outside.

As night fell, the Mist of Strangeness silently surged, indicating that the Eternal Forest did not refuse them.

Lu Li hid inside the hollow of a tree, as thick as a lighthouse, propped up decayed logs he had gathered to barely block the entrance.

Two oil lamps illuminated the dim hollow; the environment from the Dark Era meant there were no insects or snakes. Spreading out a blanket, Lu Li sat down, shedding his tattered clothing, cleaning his wounds, and applying recovery potion.

The Crown of Thorns had not yet awakened. Lu Li replenished the resources in the storage bag, ate, and curled up under the blanket in the tree hollow, peacefully falling asleep.

That night, nothing disturbed Lu Li.

In the morning, somewhat recovered, Lu Li gathered his blanket and continued on his journey.

The pitch-black jungle, without a view of the sky, was silent, with only Lu Li's footsteps and breaths breaking the stillness.

The Eternal Forest had no strangeness, no insurmountable slopes, no sound; only the shrubs along the way and the map's distance scale impeded Lu Li.

For Lu Li, he was not lonely. In the perception of the Speaker of the Trees, the seemingly lifeless trees were like his companions, as if walking through an animated bustling market.

The unchanging dark tones wrapped around Lu Li, with only the grotesque roots and deep-colored shrubs illuminated by the oil lamp proving he was moving.

From the second day, Lu Li no longer remained tense, becoming like an adventurer from the Old Era, even more relaxed. Resting when tired, stopping to drink and eat when thirsty or hungry, without the concern of beast attacks—though there was still trouble, he couldn't cut through the obstructing shrubs in the path; he could only go around or squeeze through the barbed wire-like thorns that stripped away fabric and flesh.

Initially, Lu Li could wrap spare clothes from the storage bag around his legs, but fabric was like paper against sharp branches, quickly turning into rag strips dangling on his legs or in the shrubs.

Lu Li once took out the eyeball box but hesitated and put it back, not summoning the merchant.

Night fell, and Lu Li hadn't found a tree hollow to hide in, but soon realized an odd discovery—the Mist of Strangeness shrouding the Eternal Forest did not bring any beings within the fog.

It existed merely as a thick fog.

Lu Li was able to travel during the night, finding a tree hollow less than three hours before the dreary dawn to rest briefly and regain strength.

Without the merchant's guidance, Lu Li could only rely on intuition to sketch the map. If his direction hadn't diverged, he had already left the edge of the Eternal Forest, moving inward.

A few hours later, the sight confirmed Lu Li's guess: unknown Fluorescent Plants sprouted from the foul black soil like sparse stars in the depths of the night sky, giving the Gloomy Forest a sense of space.

On the fourth day within the Eternal Forest, new light appeared ahead: a dusky, moonlight-like glow spilled into the forest's depths, but as he continued, Lu Li saw sunlight slanting through branches that shaded the sky, penetrating this primeval forest.

Seemingly rewarded after effort, advancing further, Lu Li found himself bathed in warm sunlight that drove away the cold.

A hill blocked the way ahead; a battered Lu Li reached the top, and the Nameless Village basking in the afternoon sun appeared before him.

A few wooden houses stood on the flat, extending grassland. Chimneys on the rafters emitted smoke, an old weathervane gently rotated, and a shimmering creek like a dense thread passed by the wooden houses.

An ethereal girl in a white dress crouched by the creek, washing root vegetables, sensed the outsider's presence and looked toward the hill.

With a splash—

The food plunged into the clear creek with ripples, and the floating girl leaped into Lu Li's arms.