292: One hundred forty-nine.
Deep Diver 292: One hundred forty-nine.
Deep Diver Seconds after the last line of text vanished, slow footsteps began to recede, and with them, the malevolent presence disappeared.
The footsteps faded gradually until they were gone.
Lu Li allowed the presence to leave without following.
This time, the way the “door” contacted Lu Li had changed – it no longer reached out to him through letters – perhaps because Lu Li had consistently ignored them, or perhaps because receiving a letter on a deserted island was too illogical.
The goal of the “door” had never changed; it still aimed to make Lu Li hear it, then see it, then touch it, and finally enter through the door in the sewer.
There was no doubt about this.
It was the reason it continually fabricated lies to deceive and lure Lu Li.
But within the lies, there were also truths.
For instance, killing ghosts could enhance one’s strength, increasing strength too rapidly could lead to a loss of sanity, Anna might truly follow through if she received a letter, and perhaps there really was a small boat waiting for him by the beach.
But no matter how truthful it was, there were still lies within.
For example, Tesla wouldn’t be sending a letter to the Detective Agency now, and Anna would obediently stay at the Detective Agency, not rashly setting out to sea in search of him.
Lu Li chose to trust Tesla and Anna.
After disregarding the “door,” the beach enjoyed a brief period of peace.
The smell of burning grew stronger; Lu Li moved the four small fish to a rock further from the fire, picked up one, and bit off half, including the tail.
The white fish flesh under the burnt surface was fully cooked and aromatic.
The sea fish itself had a hint of saltiness, so it wasn’t completely tasteless.
Lu Li chewed slowly, swallowing after crushing all the bones, then took the other half, including the head, into his mouth.
He ate the second fish in the same manner and saved the remaining two for breakfast the next day.
If he could make it through the night, that is.
Among the flickering firelight, shadows in the hollow swayed.
Lu Li’s shadow on the rock wall, the shadow of the stones, the shadow of the can.
The latter’s shadow, fluttering, suddenly broke away from its object, independently darting toward Windbreak Point.
Lu Li watched the shadow detach from the can and escape into the outside, his expression slightly frozen.
The shadow of the can fled to the edge of the fire, and like most hallucinations, quietly faded away into nothingness.
Beneath the can, a shadow swayed with the firelight, reappearing but no longer distinctive, just an ordinary shadow.
If one could ignore the confusion brought on by the apparitions, like making incorrect judgments, at times they were quite interesting.
After this interlude, Windbreak Point remained peaceful for a long time.
The water jar at the water fetch area had been full for some time, but Lu Li didn’t risk going out to retrieve the jars.
This was Deep Sea Island, and no one knew if there were any bizarre and terrifying beings around.
An almost imperceptible figure was caught by Lu Li.
He looked down; the Sanity Value Counter on his wrist was silent, unmoving.
It was as if the sound just now had been Lu Li’s illusion.
Lu Li watched the counter patiently until after several dozen seconds, a second sound that confirmed it wasn’t an illusion arose.
Dozens of seconds later, a third sound came.
The Sanity Value was decreasing very slowly, perhaps because the source was still far away or because it was very weak.
Lu Li was unclear what the specific numerical value of the counter’s sound intervals represented, but without a doubt, the more frequent the sounds, the faster the Sanity Value fell.
On the boat returning wandering spirits, Lu Li had endured an entire night of sounds at intervals of a few seconds, but his Sanity Value was still in the second phase, just slightly more serious.
This indicated that the Sanity Value Lu Li was currently losing was almost imperceptible.
The intervals between the counter’s alert tones shortened over time and finally stabilized at half a minute.
It was close enough now, perhaps on the sand beach just ahead, for Lu Li could smell the pungent fishy odor and the scent of deep-sea mud carried by the sea wind that infiltrated Windbreak Point.
It was the presence of those who had left the fin prints.
In a daze, Lu Li seemed to hear faint voices conversing, or perhaps he heard nothing at all.
Were they about to be discovered…?
Lu Li gripped the handle of the gun.
The fact that the other could reduce Sanity Value meant that the Spirit-Calling Gun could cause damage.
All of a sudden, the lounge chair that blocked the entrance to Windbreak Point was moved aside, and Lu Li swiftly raised the Spirit-Calling Gun, aiming at a figure shrouded in a dark robe.
The figure entered Windbreak Point, closed the lounge chair behind, and sat down next to Lu Li.
Windbreak Point could accommodate two people, but it had gone from spacious to a bit cramped.
“Don’t you make any noise when you walk?” Lu Li put away the Spirit-Calling Gun and spoke to Friday who had entered.
“Can you hear footsteps on the sand?”
This made Lu Li slightly startled.
Perhaps there was nothing behind the lounge chair after all, and the sound of footsteps was actually an illusion of the “door,” created to prevent the cautious Lu Li from rushing out.
“Why have you come back?” Lu Li continued to look at Friday.
Friday answered nonchalantly, “Just like you said, there’s something wrong with the cabin, so I came back.”
Friday extinguished the oil lamp, placed it slanted in the sand, and said, “A troublesome thing, but don’t worry, it won’t be able to bother us tonight.”
Friday didn’t wish to elaborate, and Lu Li didn’t press further, looking outside the lounge chair he said, “Did you run into them out there?”
Lu Li described the fin prints he had found while patrolling the coastline.
“Sounds like Deep Divers,” Friday indeed recognized them and, after naming them, summarized, “They live in the deep sea, followers of some unspeakable entity.”
This explained why their fin prints came from the sea.
Lu Li looked up at the gap above, but the sand wall blocked his view.
The fishy odor that had penetrated Windbreak Point was dissipating, as if those Deep Divers had already retreated back to the sea.
“Do they possess intelligence?”
“So that means they can communicate?”
The hood turned towards Lu Li, and an astonished gaze fell on him from the shadows, much like Tesla had once looked at him, “Why would you think that?”
Lu Li didn’t discuss it any further, for it was a hassle to explain.
Friday didn’t continue to inquire, she began taking out items from beneath her cloak: canned food, matches, a pot.
She had nearly brought everything usable from the cabin down, not looking like someone who had hurriedly left the cabin at all.
This scene made Lu Li realize something.
Maybe Friday didn’t split up in the morning because she thought the cabin was better; she went to the cabin alone to allow Lu Li to prepare Windbreak Point, and then returned to enjoy the fruits of his labor without lifting a finger.
Rather than confronting Friday, Lu Li had another question in mind, “Why wear a black robe?
It’s cumbersome to move in.”
Friday, as if guarding against Lu Li, suddenly covered the robe and murmured slowly, “Directly facing the real me would drive you into madness.”
Lu Li’s gaze lingered for a moment before he looked away.
Is it because she wasn’t wearing anything else underneath?