On his way back, Lu Li passed a newsstand, his eyes scanning the headlines for anything about the Fallow Lands or the ocean. There was nothing about the deep sea, but the vendor managed to find a recent article that mentioned the Fallow Lands. Lu Li bought a copy of the Valsen Gazette and read it slowly as he walked home—money was tight, and every shilling counted.
From an ordinary person's perspective, paying a thousand shillings—a full month's salary for most—for a handful of answers would seem the height of foolishness. It was as reckless as taking a boat out at night without a lantern or trading a one-hundred-shilling note for nine ten-shilling ones.
While it was uncertain if anyone had ever been foolish enough to attempt the former, the latter had actually happened. A thousand shillings could go a long way: it could feed a family of three on meat every day for nearly two months, buy dozens of liters of kerosene, or provide enough black bread to feast on for ages.
Lu Li, however, considered it a worthy expense. Knowledge purchased with money was always a sound investment, especially when that knowledge was difficult to obtain.
The article on the Fallow Lands was on the third page. Lu Li glanced over the first two, confirming that the Valsen Gazette focused primarily on news from the Allen Peninsula, then flipped to the next page.
[Khimfast Resident, Refused Change for 100 Shillings, Exchanges it for 90 in a Fit of Pique. The Homeless Call it Art.]
[New Shipping Route Confirmed: From the Lennon Archipelago to Belfast, via the Fallow Lands.]
[Baroness Joseph Sued—Accused of Invasion of Privacy, Unlawful Imprisonment, Inciting a Riot, Assaulting Men, and Public Indecency.]
The news about Baroness Joseph was particularly extensive.
[The Royal Hodgkin Sailing Company is pursuing reforms, abandoning its outdated, conservative principles. Its first giant steamship, the Kodasserlsen (which means "Immortal Giant" in the language of the Fallow Lands), was launched half a month ago and will be the first vessel to travel the new route. The new route begins in the trading port of Hasko in the Lennon Archipelago, runs along the northern coast of the Fallow Lands, passing the Isle of Gaze, and then arrives at Port Roadster in Belfast. The total distance of the route is 3,500 nautical miles, with an estimated travel time of 23 days. The Royal Hodgkin Sailing Company has announced that the "Immortal Giant" will set sail from port in one month.]
The Fallow Lands were only mentioned in passing. All Lu Li learned was that the new route passed through them and that a place called the Isle of Gaze existed there. Nothing more.
To learn more about the Fallow Lands, he would need to find books or ask someone directly. Geography books were hard to come by, and inquiries yielded the same result as the newspapers—he could confirm its existence, but not truly understand it.
In any case, the Fallow Lands were still a distant concern for Lu Li, both literally and figuratively. He could investigate them later; right now, he had more pressing matters to attend to.
Like earning a living, for instance. Or dealing with the disembodied voices and the giant eye on his ceiling.
"You're back?" Anna called out, offering a small wave.
Her translucent form was wrapped in an apron as she telekinetically guided a broom across the floor.
"Yes," Lu Li replied with a nod, closing the door behind him.
Anna was already accustomed to his calm demeanor—or perhaps it was simple indifference. She continued to direct the broom with the focused intensity of a conductor leading an orchestra.
Lu Li sat down at his desk and added the folded newspaper to a stack in the corner. He opened a drawer, pulled a to-do list from within the pages of a solitary book, and uncapped his pen. With a firm stroke, he placed a checkmark next to the first item. That particular objective could now be considered complete.
After a moment's thought, Lu Li added new items to the list.
[Priority: Determine my whereabouts (complete). Save one thousand shillings and get more information from Gades (complete).]
[Priority: Find the source of the anomaly.]
[Secondary: Find new lodgings.]
[Secondary: Buy books and learn more about this place.]
[Secondary: Accumulate sufficient funds.]
[Secondary: Learn more about the Fallow Lands and the deep sea.]
Recapping the pen, Lu Li returned it and the list to the drawer. Anna was now tidying up the bedroom. Lu Li remained at the desk, his thoughts turning to the anomaly he had encountered at Gades's tavern.
When faced with the inexplicable, a sound strategy is to connect it to other pieces of evidence. It might not lead to a solution, but it can broaden one's perspective. And that was precisely what Lu Li did. Unable to grasp the anomaly's origin, he began linking it to every other paranormal event he had ever encountered.
He linked the anomaly to the first ghost he'd met, to the art gallery, to James Campbell's diary, to Gades, to the door in the sewer, to Michelle, to the Truth Candle...
Lu Li's gaze drifted to the corner of his desk, where the envelope only he could see still lay. He added the invisible letter to his mental web of connections.
But the connections felt tenuous. Beyond their inexplicable origins, the events had nothing in common—until Lu Li factored in another piece of evidence: the diary of James Campbell.
The voice from the void and the giant eye on the ceiling. The unaddressed letter from an unknown sender. And then... the final entry from James Campbell's diary surfaced in his memory:
[I can't take it anymore... I have to be near it to keep my sanity... This is the last entry. I'm going. If anyone finds this diary, remember—stay away from it. When you hear it, they can see you. When you see it, they can touch you. Do not, under any circumstances, touch them... Ever... The door is open.]
[It's coming for me.]
"When you hear it, they can see you. When you see it, they can touch you. Under no circumstances should you touch them," Lu Li muttered to himself. Then, acting on pure intuition, he added one more piece to the puzzle: the door in the sewer.
Suddenly, the disparate pieces seemed to click into place, allowing Lu Li to form a logical link between the four clues.
By reading the diary, Lu Li had become infected by "them"—or by some kind of curse. The door in the sewer was one of "them." The Door had contaminated him, putting him on the same path as James Campbell. If he divided the contagion into three stages, Lu Li was currently at stage one: "hearing." This theory explained everything—the invisible letter, the voice from the void, and the disembodied eye that kept appearing.
The hypothesis was absurd, but for the moment, it was the only explanation Lu Li could conceive of...
Ring-ring-ring-ring!
Suddenly, the telephone rang.