Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 43 The Performance of Life and Death (Part 1)

Outside the window, a torrential downpour was in full swing.

Anthony sat blankly in the chair, staring at the mess in front of him.

Everything is messed up.

He thought so.

His life had become a complete mess. His investments had failed, and his wife had left him because she suspected him of having an affair… an affair?
It's ridiculous.

Anthony's lips twitched. He saw the man who had been with his wife that night, yet she denied it and instead accused him of the same thing.

Women, oh women, even when they're in the wrong, they're still strong.

She wasn't always like this. Anthony remembered the wonderful times when they first got married, how sweet their life was back then. How much she loved him. But now, everything had changed. She had become petty and demanding.

She wasn't like this before, or are all women like this? So submissive before marriage, but a completely different person after? He admits some of his investments failed, but in business, isn't success and failure the same? He's had successes before, so is it that his wife finds his successes insignificant, but his failures unbearable?

"Boom!"

The sound of a door slamming against the window came from outside. Anthony stood up and looked out the window. He saw his wife carrying a suitcase and striding away from the house in the storm. She left so resolutely and went straight to the carriage.

She didn't even turn her head to look at her!
Anthony had never felt so heartbroken. Those sweet memories now seemed like poison. The more beautiful his wife appeared in his memories, the more it highlighted the cruelty of reality.

At that moment, he was utterly despondent.

If his investments fail and even his wife abandons him, what's the point of his life?
Anthony stood up, staring at the rope before him. It was swaying back and forth in the air. At that moment, Anthony was incredibly calm. Standing on the chair, he even had time to fiddle with the rope for a moment before, without hesitation, he put his head through the noose.

Then he kicked the chair over.

"Bang."

The rope around his neck tightened suddenly, and Anthony's eyes widened in shock.

What are you doing?
He opened his mouth, trying to gasp for breath, but no air entered his lungs. Instead, he felt suffocated, desperate, and darkness descended. Everything around him seemed to be swaying, growing increasingly dark. The shadows in the already gloomy room now seemed to have transformed into some kind of living being, threatening to devour him completely…

Just as Anthony's rationality was about to reach its limit, a voice came to his ear.

"It's up to you, Katie."

"Yes, Detective."

Along with that sound, the next moment, Anthony felt a sudden, intense impact on his body, almost making him vomit his insides. It felt like being struck by a galloping warhorse. Then came a feeling of weightlessness; the world before him spun and churned, and Anthony's body slammed heavily against a wall.

"Boom!"

The hard, cold touch and intense pain from behind brought Anthony back to his senses.

The despair and pain that had surrounded him vanished with that blow. He fell to the ground, shook his head, and opened his eyes again. He saw Levi and Katie standing not far away, watching him.

"Are you alright, Mr. Anthony?"

"I... to be honest, it's not very good."

Anthony stumbled to his feet, pressing his hand to his forehead. He could still feel the pain, despair, and sorrow.

This left Anthony feeling a speechless sorrow.

"Fortunately, I'm not very interested in getting married right now."

"???"

Hearing his nonsensical answer, Levi and Katie exchanged a puzzled look.

"This looks like a scapegoat."

After a moment, Li Wei spoke after listening to Anthony's account.

"scapegoat?"

"A legend I've heard before."

Li Wei made it up on the spot.

“I have heard that the souls of those who drown do not leave this world, but are bound to the bottom of the water. Unless they find a new victim and drag him into the water to drown, then the victim’s soul will be bound to the bottom of the water in his place, and the original soul can rest in peace.”

"this……………"

Upon hearing Levi's words, Katie and Anthony both showed some surprise, clearly indicating that they had never heard such a ghost story before.

"is this real?"

"I don't know that."

Li Wei shook his head.

"Just like this house being haunted, it's all just a story. As for whether it's a story or not, you won't know until you experience it for yourself."

"I'd rather not have to go through it."

Recalling everything that had just happened, even Anthony's expression stiffened. He reached up and touched his neck—he could still feel the remaining marks.

"It's so painful and desperate, I don't want to end up like this."

Katie nodded in agreement with Anthony's sentiments. Her experience was similar to Anthony's; after being engulfed by darkness, she felt she had become a completely different person—a wife with two children and a harmonious family. However, her husband's temper grew increasingly volatile and erratic. Ultimately, Katie watched helplessly as he killed his two children and then turned on her.

Fortunately, Levi arrived in time and stopped everything, which allowed Katie to be separated from the doll.

So that wasn't her experience, but rather the doll's memory... and that doll...

Katie glanced at the doll lying against the wall. Its lifeless eyes, made of glass beads, stared at her, sending chills down Katie's spine.

"This really surprises me. Is this what you were talking about, Mr. Li Wei... those strange things?"

Anthony had been all smiles and jokes, it was unclear whether it was a facade or his personality, but at this moment he was clearly no longer in the mood for such a performance.

"If I'm not mistaken, this might just be an appetizer."

"An appetizer?"

"Yes."

Li Wei nodded.

“You can think of this house as a heavily guarded castle. We’ve only reached the outermost edge. What you’re experiencing is more like accidentally falling into the moat, and we haven’t even alerted the guards yet.”

"Then this moat must be turbulent."

Anthony's smile was very stiff, which was understandable, after all, the appetizers alone had almost killed them... and without them even realizing it.

He didn't know what it was, he had never seen anything like it before, and he would have been dead if it weren't for Levi and Katie's help.

Quietly.

"I'm not really interested in what the guards inside look like."

Katie muttered something under her breath and hid behind Levi.

"Unfortunately, unless we find the ruler of this castle and defeat him, we most likely won't be able to get out."

Li Wei was also helpless.

"Now I can only hope that the soldiers will obey my orders and burn the house down before nightfall, which might bring about a chance for change. But for now, let's continue looking for other people."

Katie was "killed" in the bedroom on the second floor, while Anthony "committed suicide" in the attic on the third floor. Levi had already gone to the first floor before that.

The places I haven't been to yet are...

cellar.

Li Wei led Katie and Anthony back to the first floor, and for Anthony, this journey was no less shocking than his first time entering a haunted house.

"Mr. Li Wei".

Li Wei turned his head and saw Anthony standing beside him, still wearing that nonchalant smile. Only this time, his smile was somewhat stiff.

"Perhaps I was mistaken, but I just saw that maid seem to... move?"

As he spoke, Anthony glanced around, gesturing for Levi to look towards the kitchen stove not far away. There, a maid doll held a knife in one hand and a potato in the other, seemingly peeling it. However, the doll now looked up, staring blankly at Anthony.

"Ignore her, just pretend you didn't see anything."

Li Wei withdrew his gaze.

"Speaking of which, which way do we go to the cellar?"

After saying this, Li Wei looked around again, and everyone turned their heads in the same direction, all of them startled.

Just then, a maid doll stood on the other side of the corridor, stretching out a hand and pointing to the corner of the corridor.

"Thank you."

Li Wei adjusted his hat brim, nodded to the maid doll, and then walked towards the corner. Katie and Anthony hesitated for a moment, then followed. As they passed the maid doll, they hesitated again, then nodded to it as well.

"Thank you."

Whether it was a misperception or not, after thanking them and looking up again, the two saw the doll maid staring at them, a smile appearing on her previously expressionless face.

"………………………"

The two felt a chill run up their spines and quickly quickened their pace to catch up with Li Wei again.

Then Katie subconsciously turned her head and glanced at it.

"...The maid is gone."

"Haha... I guess I'm back to work..."

Anthony tried very hard to maintain his previous nonchalant demeanor, but his stiff, monotone delivery betrayed his true feelings.

Li Wei was not surprised by this. Judging from Anthony's behavior, he could tell that the other party was probably engaged in a profession similar to espionage.

But even spies are still human beings, and they are born with fear and unease about the unknown.

After all, Anthony certainly couldn't imagine why the puppet would move on its own.

In truth, Li Wei himself was also apprehensive, but fortunately, thanks to those movies, TV shows, novels, and games, compared to the people of this world, at least he was battle-hardened and had seen a lot, so he was able to remain somewhat calm.

"Okay, here it is."

Li Wei stopped in front of a wooden door on the floor in front of him.

"Be careful. In my experience, things underground are never easy to deal with."

(End of this chapter)