As Lu Li finished speaking, a profound silence enveloped the desk.
Anna’s clear eyes gradually filled with a misty haze, her frail figure beneath the gothic white dress swayed slightly, and her pale pink lips trembled as she spoke in a soft, tearful voice, “Are you going to kill me?”
Before Lu Li could respond, she began mumbling a string of incoherent words.
“Then... then if you’re going to kill me, can you at least let me say my last words... sniff... I’ve only been awake for less than two months. I’ve never even left the gallery. After you kill me, please bury me with my mother. And if you can, could you dig up my body and take me to an amusement park or the seaside... sob... And my best friend Daisy, tell her I’ll always be her best friend forever. Please ask her not to forget about me...”
The more Anna spoke, the more aggrieved she became. She collapsed onto the desk, sobbing pitifully.
“I don’t intend to do anything to you,” Lu Li finally said, feeling compelled to clarify.
“Wh-what...?” Anna’s crying stopped abruptly. She sniffled and cautiously lifted her head, her tousled bangs sticking to her forehead, her nose sniffling with each breath. “But... you’re an exorcist.”
“There’s no law that says exorcists must deal with every ghost they see,” Lu Li replied, his face as emotionless as a sculpture. “Besides, have you done anything bad?”
“Does occasionally wanting to prank people count...?”
“It doesn’t.”
“Phew...”
Realizing she didn’t have to die, Anna let out a heavy sigh of relief, wiping nonexistent tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. But feeling embarrassed about being so happy after crying, she tried to suppress her joy, though she couldn’t help but giggle foolishly, clutching her stomach.
Lu Li decided not to dwell on the matter, fearing her silliness might rub off on him. Instead, he said, “I’m here to deal with Athena and Ruth’s issues. Ruth was dealt with yesterday... exorcised, and now only Athena remains.”
“Oh~”
Anna nodded thoughtfully and glanced at the ghostly infant wrapped in a coat. “So you’ve retrieved her child?”
“Mm.”
“And now...”
Anna’s words were cut off by the sound of shuffling coming from deep within the hallway. She turned toward the noise. “The statue’s awake too.”
“It’s been awake for a while,” Lu Li stood up, the darkness in his black eyes deepening. “That’s Athena coming out now.”
He handed the ghostly infant to Anna and put on his coat. “You stay here with the infant. I’ll confront Athena.”
“Why not just give her the child directly?” Anna asked, puzzled as she accepted the ghostly infant.
“That would be us helping her, not her owing us. I need her to ask me to find the child first, and then I’ll return it to her.”
While fulfilling a ghost’s last wish could potentially cause them to disappear on their own, the threshold for this was unclear. To ensure success, Lu Li needed to create as much anticipation as possible for Athena and then fulfill it.
Turning his back to Athena, he walked away, appearing completely unguarded.
Five meters... seven meters...
As the distance grew, Lu Li reached the tenth meter. In an instant, he spun around, raising the Spirit Gun in his hand and pulling the trigger.
Bang!
Black powder erupted in thick smoke as a blinding flash pierced through the haze. The deafening roar, like a dragon’s roar, echoed in the hallway. The silver-plated bullet left a visible trail in the air before striking Athena’s chest, embedding itself in her torso.
Blood-like bubbles erupted around her translucent ghostly form, spreading outward in a wave.
“Ahhh! It hurts!!!”
Athena let out a piercing scream. In her fury, she retaliated instinctively. The intestine dragging beneath her dress suddenly extended, shooting toward Lu Li like a whip.
Raising his arm to block it, Lu Li found the intestine coiling around his limb like a vine. An irresistible pulling force dragged him forward, making him stumble.
Clatter—
The Spirit Gun fell to the ground. With his free hand still gripping the oil lamp, Lu Li was being pulled toward Athena. Staying composed, he shouted, “Anna, help me!”
His voice echoed through the hall, but the first to appear wasn’t Anna. It was the statue, emerging from the shadows behind Athena. It wrapped its arms around her neck, seemingly trying to snap it.
“Get off me!”
With a sharp scream, Athena’s aura exploded outward. The statue toppled backward, crashing to the ground.
Crack—
A brittle sound echoed as a fracture appeared on the statue’s fragile stone arm. The next moment, the arm broke off entirely, the severed piece flung several meters away.
Using the distraction, Lu Li broke free from the intestine’s grasp. He retreated a few steps, picked up the Spirit Gun, quickly reloaded, and fired again.
Bang!
The dragon-like roar echoed once more as the silver-plated bullet pierced Athena’s abdomen. The swirling blood bubbles churned outward, spreading like boiling water.
Clink—
The empty shell hit the ground with a crisp ring. Lu Li reloaded another bullet, snapped the chamber shut, and raised the gun to aim at Athena.
The bloodshot pupils of her eyes suddenly regained a trace of clarity.
Lu Li hesitated, his finger stopping just short of pulling the trigger.