Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 255 Empty House
The living room remained empty, without a single person in sight, not even a corpse. It was a mess, however; the sofa lay upside down on the floor, and the walls were covered with various paintings. Li Wei went in first, turned on the light, and without looking at the paintings, nor allowing anyone else to do so, focused his gaze on the floor, carefully assessing the remaining traces.

"Hmm, it seems this isn't the crime scene either, but someone was indeed murdered here—there were probably two men drinking and smoking over there. Look, there's a half-smoked cigarette in the ashtray."

Li Wei pointed to the coffee table in front of the sofa, gesturing for the others to come over and watch.

"They were drinking and smoking, maybe even chatting, when suddenly something happened—maybe a scream, or some noise that caught their attention. The one smoking put his cigarette in the ashtray and stood up—and just then, something rushed at him and attacked him, knocking over the sofa. The other man took advantage of the attack on his companion to run away."

The trio stared in disbelief at the scene before them, listening to Li Wei's explanation. They had indeed seen these traces, but before Li Wei's explanation, they had no way of connecting them.

But after hearing Li Wei's explanation, and looking at those marks again, the three of them felt it was so natural, so simple, that they even wondered why they hadn't noticed them themselves...

"Alright, it seems this isn't the primary crime scene, and the painting isn't here either."

Li Wei quickly scanned his surroundings, confirming that there were no paintings on the living room walls that gave him any obvious sense of danger, and then quickly looked away.

"Let's move on."

Crossing the living room and into the hallway, Li Wei repeatedly reconstructed the scene based on the traces, quickly piecing together the entire crime scene. It was clear that there were people in the house when the incident occurred. Li Wei wasn't sure what they were there for, but based on the traces he had found, he suspected they were likely loan sharks collecting debts.

They knocked on the door and came in, indicating that they needed the creditor to repay the debt. However, the creditor had disappeared, leaving only a few servants and a widow and her children. So the creditor said that if they couldn't pay, they could take Xi'er—no, the painting—to settle the debt.

However, these people clearly didn't know anything about painting. They left two people in the living room to guard the door, while the others stormed into the homeowner's room.

Li Wei made this judgment because the study door lock was clearly kicked open rather than pried open. This indicated that the perpetrator was audacious and reckless. Furthermore, the remaining traces nearby suggested that several people were still present at the time. In other words, the perpetrator was not a burglar who broke into the house, and was not afraid of being called the police by the residents.

While it's possible someone from this household did it, Li Wei thought it was unlikely. Judging from the damaged lock, the perpetrator was clearly very skilled at this, succeeding on the first try. This at least showed that the person who kicked the door wasn't a novice; most people wouldn't be so adept at kicking a door, and kicking the wrong spot could easily result in injury.

Of course, if the family also has a debt collector skilled in violent demolition, that's a different story.

"They stormed into the study and ransacked the place for all sorts of valuables, and then... they unleashed some kind of monster, which obviously killed them, then the others who were caught off guard, and finally the two who were sitting in the living room guarding the door."

Li Wei stood at the end of the corridor and summarized the entire incident.

"If that's the case, won't that thing escape?"

The spy frowned and asked a question with suspicion.

“I don’t know either. To be honest, I hope it didn’t escape, otherwise our workload will be a problem.”

Li Wei made a small joke, but the others couldn't laugh at all. After all, as Li Wei said, if some unknown monster were lurking in the Fog City, then MI7 would probably be busy for the next month.

After all, a high-ranking official like Li Wei can't be busy investigating every day; the ones running errands are definitely the frontline staff!

The three men stared at the study door with complicated expressions. It opened a crack, revealing complete darkness inside. They weren't sure whether they wanted the thing to be inside or not.

After all, choosing between fighting the monster to the death or enduring more than a month of futile, high-intensity work is not an easy decision.

"Alright, everyone be careful."

Li Wei obviously didn't care about these things. After making this little joke, he focused his attention back on the study door in front of him. The spy closed his eyes and listened carefully for a moment.

"I didn't hear any signs of life inside."

Despite saying that, the spies also drew their weapons. Unlike Li Wei, the three of them used ordinary standard-issue pistols, but the bullets appeared to be specially modified silver bullets. Then, Li Wei reached out, intending to push open the door in front of him.

"Waaah..."

Just as Li Wei's fingers touched the door panel, the prophet beside him suddenly let out a painful groan and then knelt on the ground.

"What's up with her?"

Li Wei glanced at the prophet and asked, "What's wrong?" The rat rushed over and helped her up.

"I'm sorry, Sir Levi, her ability has activated! But she wouldn't be in this much pain before; she would just stare blankly..."

"launch?"

Upon hearing the mouse's reply, Li Wei immediately realized what was happening, and then he was suddenly startled.

"Oh no! Everyone, stand back immediately!"

Before Li Wei could finish speaking, the prophet suddenly screamed in agony.

"No—I don't want to see, don't make me see anymore, I don't want to see it ahhhhhh..."

As he spoke, the prophet stretched out his hands and gouged out his own eyes!
"Hey, what's wrong with you?"

Seeing their companion suddenly go berserk, the spy and the rat were also shocked and rushed forward to stop the prophet's self-harm. Just then, the tightly closed door was suddenly smashed open by something. Then, accompanied by a roar like that of a wild beast, two slender arms reached out and grabbed at the prophet who was lying on the ground!
Li Wei didn't need to predict the future; he could guess what would happen. However, even Li Wei didn't expect the painting's influence to be so terrifying. Clearly, the prophet didn't see the painting in reality, but only in the "predicted" future.

Even so, it can still be sensed by that painting! What the hell is this thing?!

Li Wei inwardly complained, but without hesitation, he pulled the trigger.

"boom!"

With the sound of gunfire, bullets pierced the darkness inside the door. The next moment, accompanied by shouts, two arms were suddenly pulled back. A few moments later, everything returned to calm.

For a moment, everyone present was a little confused.

The prophet slumped to the ground, muttering to herself as if under some kind of mental shock. The rat gripped her hands tightly, preventing her from scratching her eyes. The spy tightened his grip on his gun, poised to dodge, but froze in place due to the unexpected turn of events.

Sure enough, they can't handle this thing on their own.

Li Wei glanced at the three men, then raised his gun and aimed at the ground.

[Bouncing Shot]

"boom!"

The bullet was fired from the muzzle, hit the floor and bounced up, accurately striking the switch located on the edge of the door frame—Li Wei had already figured out the switch's location along the way, so it was no problem for him.

"Click."

The lights came on, illuminating the previously pitch-black study and completely stripping the eerie, terrifying monster from the darkness.

Upon seeing the monster, both the spy and the rat stared in astonishment.

"What...is that?"

Before them appeared a huge and malevolent black monster. It was neither ape nor insect; its skin was loose, its smooth, eyeless head swayed incessantly, and its outstretched forepaws were covered with large, hooked claws. Its entire body was taut with a fierce and deadly malice.

Meanwhile, Li Wei was already prepared.

"Bang bang bang!!"

A series of gunshots rang out, several bullets flying towards the monster, which roared and turned to charge into the study. Li Wei followed without hesitation, rushing into the study. He then saw the monster rapidly heading towards a corner of the room.

"Huh? Using this trick again?"

If it were anyone else, they might have been dumbfounded and at a loss for words upon seeing this scene, but Li Wei naturally understood what was going on. In fact, he had already seen the print—the latter was leaning against the bookshelf not far away, and on the canvas, a strange monster had revealed its head and claws, posing as if pouncing.

Upon closer inspection, the monster was so lifelike, it seemed as if it could jump out of it at any moment...

You are the one!

Li Wei quickly reloaded his bullets, aimed at the canvas, and fired again.

"boom-----!"

The moment the bullet struck the canvas, the entire painting burst into flames, and at the same time, the monster in mid-air screamed and plummeted to the ground. Then, a bizarre scene unfolded before Li Wei's eyes.

As the painting burned, a strange black hole appeared in the burned part, and the monster struggled desperately, but it seemed that an invisible suction force was firmly holding it, so it could only struggle to grab the floor and try to break free.

"Alright, although I don't know where you're from, go back to where you came from."

As Li Wei spoke, he aimed at the monster's forehead and pulled the trigger again.

"boom!"

The bullet pierced the monster's head. The next moment, the monster, struck by the bullet, froze, then lost its struggle, and was quickly sucked into the black hole like trash being absorbed by a vacuum cleaner.

After inhaling the monster, the dark void vanished into the flames.

"Great, all done."

Once he was sure everything was going smoothly, Li Wei breathed a sigh of relief and then turned to look at the doorway.

"Go and call someone... huh?"

However, to Li Wei's surprise, the three people at the door were already lying on the ground, unconscious.

"………………………"

Are young people these days so psychologically fragile?
(End of this chapter)