Bizarre Detective Agency

   Chapter 816 One hundred seven. Scarecrow

   The numb old man regained his expression, turned and fled in fear.

  The Shadow of the Maiden followed.

boom--

  The floating dust was disturbed and scattered, and the old man stumbled and rushed into the wooden house.

   Several old people who were talking in a low voice in the room looked at each other at the same time.

   "There is an evil spirit...in."

   Muffled shouts rang out with the sound of the wind blowing through a cave, and the old man in the house saw the hideous gap that almost cut off half of his head.

   They retreated to the back door at the same time.

   "The blood is gone, why are you still alive... Who are you?"

"I'm--"

The sound of    was covered up by the grunt, and the old man collapsed and melted like a candle close to the fire in a flash, becoming a pool of flesh and blood wrapped in his clothes.

   "Inherited the ritual, can't it be seen through..."

   whispered softly, and the graceful and graceful shadow of the girl left the village.

  …

   "It doesn't seem like a good idea to go in..."

   Katarina lowered her voice.

  The scarecrows standing in the farmland in groups seem to guard the village, and the low straws in the wind occasionally reveal the wooden poles under the scarecrows.

   That's not really growing straw. They are harvested from elsewhere and put into farmland.

   That's not a real scarecrow either.

   The lifelike head is the hand of any master sculptor.

  The scarecrow in the distance looked into the distance, while the scarecrow in the vicinity turned his head, making people shudder to look down at Lu Li and the others who passed by.

   "But it's getting dark," said Prius.

   "Many people in Hauge Town know about Scarecrow Village, and some people have been there." The explanation of Evil Fall is more like a satire for the timid Katerina. "It can be uncomfortable here, but it's not dangerous."

   They should ask Orion for more when they come - but this kind of detail is usually only noticed by Lu Li.

   But as I said before, Lu Li became silent because of Anna's news and no longer cared about many things.

   The gloomy sky was darker than the afternoon, and they saw an old figure coming out of the village, which seemed to greet them.

   After leaving Hauge Town, Lu Li spoke for the first time.

   "Is there a dead person here recently?"

  The old man's face became stiff.

   Before causing a bad feeling, Pusius quickly made up: "Does he mean that something strange has happened recently, such as the resurrection of the dead!"

   "Who are you?"

   But the seeds of doubt were planted.

   "We're from town and looking for someone...a guy," said Prius.

   "...No foreigners have come here for a long time."

   "Then may we rest here for the night? It's getting dark."

   Hesitating for a moment, the old man nodded slowly: "Please wait a moment."

   Leaving them where they were, the old man returned to the village. Not long after, a girl with braids appeared.

   "Miss Katerina, give me the cloak!" Purse suddenly shouted.

  The braided girl approached, and Pusius put on his own cloak to cover his body.

   "What's the matter with you?" Katarina was puzzled.

   "The age is up."

   The vicious and harsh laughter sounded aside.

  …

boom.

  The candlelight gradually became steady.

   A conversation sounded from the edge of the light.

   "They asked about that."

   "An accomplice?"

   "is human."

   "Don't worry about them, there are fewer scarecrows, who's next."

   "The stranger just came."

   "They are guests."

   "The villagers are very reluctant to be next."

   "Guests, no. There will be disputes with them."

   "Then Ariani."

   "That's my daughter."

   "She's going to marry Abad and leave the village soon and never come back."

   "...I want twenty pounds of food for tomorrow."

   "Ten pounds for you."

"it is good."

  Squeak-

  The candle flame shook again.

  …

   "Outlanders, please come with me."

  The braided girl approached and said softly that she was the daughter of the old man.

   "What are those scarecrows?" Katerina asked, disturbed by the scarecrow's existence.

   "When the people in the village die, they will become scarecrows to protect the village." The girl walking in front was grateful for the scarecrow. "Please don't be afraid of them, they are protecting us."

   "Has anything strange happened in the village recently?" Lu Li asked.

   "Strange thing? No."

   "About the resurrection of the dead."

   The confused girl shook her head: "I don't know... it's here."

  The girl pushed open the closed wooden door.

  The old hut is covered with ash, and the two beds in the corner are only wooden boards, but it is better than the wild.

   "But please don't run around. There are many elderly people in the village, and they don't like to make noise."

   Leaving her instructions, the girl left the wooden house and returned home.

   "Dad, guest—"

The girl who spoke    went to close the door, an arm suddenly stuck out from the shadow behind her, covered her mouth, and dragged her into the basement where her father never let her approach, and it was always locked.

   Several waiting men in black robes in the basement grabbed her hands and feet and tied her to the stone platform.

   The struggling girl briefly broke free of her arms and ripped off the mask of a man in black robes.

   "Uncle Jones!"

   Looking at the figure with a numb expression, silently wearing a mask to cover his face, the girl suddenly realized something and showed despair.

   But the body no longer struggled.

  …

   "There seems to be some kind of secret hidden here."

  From scarecrows to villagers, it seems that he doesn't intend to have too much contact with them.

   "What should the people here know, Mr. Lu Li." Pusius raised his head and continued to Lu Li. "It's just that they don't tell us..."

   "Enough." Lu Li said.

  The abnormality of the villagers means that Anna has indeed been here, and they are not looking in the wrong direction.

   They rested very early, because tomorrow they will continue south.

   The next morning.

   Lu Li and others woke up one after another.

   Waiting for the fog to clear, they left the hut and walked out of the village.

   Seeing the scarecrows around the village again, knowing that these respectable scarecrows stand guarding the village day and night, the horror is reduced a lot.

  On the edge of the farmland in the mist, a silhouette was crying at the feet of a scarecrow.

   It was a girl with braids, with sad eyes looking into the distance.

   "It's that girl!" Prius exclaimed.

   "What's the matter." Katarina asked the crying young man with a frown.

   The young man slowly told what had happened.

   That is his fiancée. He returned to the village last night, but was told that his fiancée died of illness. According to the village custom, he turned into a scarecrow three days later to guard the village.

   "Three days ago..." Pusius looked at Lu Li in astonishment.

   "We got here yesterday evening."

   Lu Li's calm whisper sounded in front of the girl scarecrow.

   "She led us into the village."

   The crying young man stopped crying and raised his bloodshot eyes.

   Lu Li still looked at him calmly.

   The young man didn't say anything, and silently got up and walked towards the village.

"Let's go."

   Looking at the scarecrow looming in the mist again, Lu Li retracted his gaze.

   After leaving the village and heading south for a while, the surrounding mist suddenly turned a fiery cloud-like light red.

   If they noticed it, they turned around and saw the distant village turned into a sea of ​​fire.

   In the sea of ​​distorted fire, the clothes of the scarecrows quivered, and they seemed to dance in the blurred and distorted high temperature.

  I don’t know if I’m dancing for the joy of liberation or the destruction of the existence I hate.

   (end of this chapter)