Chapter 92 A fruitful journey

Outside the simple fortune-telling room made of black cloth, expectant guests lined up in three layers. Looking around, they seemed to be all young girls. They blushed and chatted excitedly: "Father Kurokawa just told me about my love life and said that I will meet my Mr. Right in the next two weeks!"

"Really? Isn't that the blind date your father chose for you, the one with particularly good conditions?"

"Yes, yes! So I want to line up again and let Father Kurokawa help me figure out if it's him. Unfortunately, each person can only ask one question. I really want to ask more."

They jumped up and down holding hands excitedly, seeming to have great trust in Father Kurokawa's abilities.

Conan listened to the girls' chat behind him and rolled his eyes helplessly. This Kurokawa priest, at best, is just using the cold reading method (Note 1), where can he really tell fortunes? Cold reading is often used by fortune tellers and psychics. Although the principle is simple, it has to be said that if used well, it can still be very deceptive.

Seeing that all the children had gone in, Yuanzi turned around with a red face and asked Xiaolan quietly, "Lan, it's finally our turn. What do you want to ask?"

Her hands twisted the hem of her clothes unconsciously, and she looked like a young girl in love. The question she wanted to ask was obvious. Mao Lilan thought about it, then her face turned red and she whispered back: "I want to ask when Shinichi can come back."

Sonoko and Mao Lilan exchanged glances, both teasing each other.

Conan rolled his eyes again. If the two of them went in like this, Father Kurokawa inside would definitely know that they wanted to have a relationship without even asking. Besides, everyone on the ship was rich and had rich experience in relationships. If they were just simply yearning for love, they wouldn't be so shy. And if their boyfriends were around, they probably wouldn't let them dress like this.

So if Father Kurokawa was a better cold reader, he could ask the two of them directly if they wanted to ask about their boyfriends and if there were any problems in their relationship.

In fact, "one's boyfriend" can refer to someone who wants to be one's boyfriend, or someone who has become one's boyfriend. There is no clear designated target. However, the person whose thoughts are exposed at the beginning will not think about it carefully after being shocked. Instead, he will really think that the other party has seen through his thoughts, or knows his fate, and will believe that the other party is the real deal.

This is the so-called cold reading method. It uses reasoning, data, hints and other means to achieve the effect that the person being interpreted clearly gave the answer himself, but people think it was interpreted by the cold reader.

It seems that Father Kurokawa is very skilled. Everyone is very satisfied now, and more and more people believe that he can really predict the future and see the past.

Conan looked up at Yayoi Kazukage who was watching the magic show with great interest not far away, and then looked back at Keimitsu Morobushi who was queuing with them. He understood that Yayoi Kazukage was not interested in cold reading, after all, he was not interested either, but why did Oda Hiro, who looked indifferent and did not believe it, queue up with them?

Conan pulled the hem of Morobushi Kagemitsu's clothes, and when he saw him squatting down, he quietly asked, "Brother Hiro, do you have any questions you want to ask?" If Xiaolan only has the thoughts of a girl, then Oda Hiro can't be the thoughts of a young man, right?

Of course, Zhu Fushi Jingguang didn't come to ask questions, he just wanted to know what the FBI was up to. If Zero knew about the conspiracy of the Fire Spirit Cult, there was no reason why Akai Shuichi, who was undercover next to the bishop, didn't know about it.

But he didn't mean to tell Conan. Conan was just a smart kid. Involving him in the complicated fight on the ship would undoubtedly be sending the kid to death. "Nothing. I just thought that it would be great if I could ask about my previous memories."

Conan was speechless. For a person who had "real" amnesia, it was reasonable to ask a fortune teller. "Okay, then you go in and ask first, Brother Hong."

At this time, Sonoko had already gone in, and it was soon Mao Lilan's turn. The children had finished asking questions and stood at the exit, chattering excitedly. It seemed that they were also very satisfied with the answer given by Father Kurokawa.

Zhu Fushi Jingguang didn't care about his order. He wanted to talk to Akai Shuichi openly and frankly. Akai Shuichi was not Zero, and he was not so sure about the death of "Scotland". Although Akai Shuichi stood closer, he didn't have time to confirm whether the person in front of him was really dead. Therefore, there was a certain probability that Akai Shuichi would trust his identity.

Moreover, Zhu Fushi Jingguang didn't believe that Akai Shuichi didn't know anything about the changes in himself. Akai Shuichi was not a very friendly person, at least he couldn't do it like Zero, who made everyone he knew and didn't know treat him as a close friend.

Now that all the customers are satisfied, it is not something that can be explained by cold reading alone. The most important first step of cold reading is to bring the person being read and the cold reader closer. Appropriate environmental pressure, action imitation, and even a good-looking face and physical contact are all common means.

Shuichi Akai is indeed very handsome, but if he uses the above methods on every customer, Keimitsu Morobushi will have to suspect that he wants to change his job and become an intelligence agent.

Therefore, the biggest reason why Shuichi Akai can achieve a high degree of effectiveness in cold reading is because of the blessing given to him by Yayoi. Shuichi Akai can feel the non-scientific changes in himself, and he is undercover in a non-scientific religion. He may believe that there are things in the world that are beyond common sense.

Since Kazukage Yayoi didn't intend to tell him more information, he could only go to Akai Shuichi, who had the second most information.

Seeing Mao Lilan coming out, Zhu Fu Jingguang lifted the curtain and walked in.

The area inside was very small, with only a table covered with a black velvet cloth and two chairs in front and behind the table. Shuichi Akai was sitting behind the table in a priest's robe with a pile of tarot cards in front of him. He looked at the cards with such concentration as if he was looking at his lover.

Zhu Fu Jingguang pulled out a stool and sat down, then went straight to the point and said, "Good evening, Mr. Akai."

Akai Shuichi didn't stop collecting the cards. He looked up at the person who came and stared at him for two seconds. Then he smiled and said slowly, "Good evening, Mr. Xingxing. I didn't expect to meet you here."

What an unexpected answer. Was he expressing his dissatisfaction with him calling him "Mr. Akai"? Morobushi Kagemitsu took off his mask and sat opposite Akai Shuichi. "It seems that you already know a lot."

Akai Shuichi lowered his eyes, shuffled the cards quickly, turned them upside down on the table and spread them out. He did not respond, "If you don't mind, I'll draw three cards for you."

Why do people like to talk with tarot cards recently? Of course, Zhu Fushi Jingguang didn't care, as long as Akai Shuichi was willing to give information, "Of course, please."

Akai Shuichi picked two cards from the deck and turned them over. One was the Moon card with a side profile, and the other was the Sun card with a front profile. "The Moon and the Sun. Mr. Star, which one do you want to center around?"

Do you choose the lies and hypocrisy of the moon, or the loyalty and nobility of the sun? Are you still on the original path of justice? Akai Shuichi stared at the other person, trying to discern any changes in his emotions.

But Zhu Fu Jingguang smiled and shook his head. He reached out and flipped a card from the remaining deck and pushed it directly to Akai Shuichi, "I can tell you that what I see will be what He sees, and what I hear will be what He hears. I can appear here because of His tacit consent."

"...I understand. Similarly, my presence here means the tacit consent of the people behind me." Akai Shuichi flipped a card and pushed it to Morobushi Kagemitsu. "It seems that the cards we chose for each other were not good ones."

"But I am a star, am I not? Besides, there is a Fool behind me waiting to see you, but whether to let this Fool go out into the world depends on your opinion." Zhu Fu Jingguang put the Tower card back into the deck, "Thank you for your answer."

Akai Shuichi was stunned for a moment, then reacted and chuckled, "You are right, but the Fool is still just a Fool at the moment. It is still too difficult for him to go out into the world."

As he spoke, he lowered his head and stroked the tarot card in his hand. It was the thirteenth card of the tarot, the Death card. He read softly, "But the Fool will eventually go out into the world, even if he is now on top of a high tower."

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"Did you get what you wanted?"

Zhu Fushi Jingguang turned his head to look at Kazukage Yayoi beside him, "I asked, Akai Shuichi called me Xingxing and gave me a tower card."

The Star symbolizes the immortality of life, represents the hope of mankind, and also represents the immortality of the spirit. Of course, Shuichi Akai couldn't have called him hope in a cheesy way, that could only have been a hint that he was "immortal". In order to retaliate against him for calling him "Mr. Akai" right away, Shuichi Akai called him "Mr. Immortal".

As for the Tower card at the back, it is the worst card among the 22 main cards of the Tarot (Note 2), symbolizing the destruction of order, internal struggle, sudden disasters, and more importantly, the destruction and purification of fire.

The fact that he was able to hand over this card proves that Shuichi Akai knew the Fire Spirit Cult's plan, and even knew that the Fire Spirit Cult had an undercover agent on the ship.

But at the same time, the Fire Spirit Cult knew that there was something wrong with Akai Shuichi. After all, what he said to Akai Shuichi at the time was "What I see will be what He sees, and what I hear will be what He hears." And Akai Shuichi replied "Then the same", this sentence not only includes what he said later "derives from His tacit consent", of course, it also includes the previous sentence.

And considering what Shuichi Akai said about "the tacit consent of the people behind him", since he did not contact the FBI, it only means that this tacit consent was the tacit consent of the Fire Spirit Cult. The Fire Spirit Cult knew that Shuichi Akai had problems, monitored him, and tacitly allowed him to go out and make contacts, which is somewhat beyond the scope of normal people's understanding.

The Fire Spirit Cult was fearless and even dared to let Akai Shuichi go out to find someone to contact. Zhu Fushi Jingguang had to suspect that Akai Shuichi was not only threatened by his own life, but also by a greater source of threat, such as the meaning of "But the fool will eventually go out into the world, even if he is now on the tower."

If his "fool" refers to Conan, then the "fool" that Akai Shuichi replied to must not refer to Conan, but to the children like Conan. Children are "fools" and the beginning of everything.

The Fool was on the "tower", which meant that the children were held hostage somewhere in the Fire Spirit Cult. So Shuichi Akai didn't dare to contact the FBI, as he was under strict surveillance. If he acted on his own and the Fire Spirit Cult noticed something unusual, they would most likely kill all the children, or even take the entire cult with them.

After all, there are precedents for this. The Jonestown tragedy is still fresh in people’s minds (Note 3). I believe Shuichi Akai would not dare to take the risk.

The more Zhu Fu Jingguang thought about it, the worse his expression became, but He Jing Yayoi shrugged his shoulders without knowing anything, "It seems that he has discovered the problem of blessing. Forget it, he will know it if he knows it."

He conjured a tower card out of thin air, held it between his fingers and shook it, "Speaking of which, the tower card also has an interpretation of regret for leaving. In a sense, it is very consistent."

After talking to Jing Yayoi, he put the tower card into Morobushi Jingguang's pocket and said, "I heard that there are many staff members dressed as monsters in the maze, and the children are clamoring to go and play. If you are interested, you can go and have a look. I have something to do with Mr. Suzuki, so I won't go with you."

Zhu Fushi Jingguang didn't say anything. He had received too much information today and had no time to think about why He Jing Yasheng was looking for Mr. Suzuki. His only thought now was to save Zero first. He glanced at the magician who was no longer in his original position. Very good, at least He Jing Yasheng should not give up the idea of ​​sending Zero off the ship. He hoped that his performance with Kidd would be less violent.

He rubbed his brow and said, "I'll go give the necklace to Zero and then go back."

Kazukage Yayoi looked at Morifushi Kagemitsu strangely, "Hmm? Will Mr. Amuro accept it? This is not a work card, he won't accept it."

Zhu Fu Jingguang sighed and put the necklace around his neck. "Then let him think that this is something very important and that he worked very hard to steal it, right?"

He Jing Yayoi was shocked and looked at Zhu Fu Jingguang in astonishment. Then he couldn't help but applaud this method, "I see, there is such a method, I learned it!"

...No thanks, don't learn