Chapter 9: Night Execution

"Dad, you are such a troublemaker," Xiaolan complained about her troublesome father while holding a lamp. She muttered, "How can you go to someone's house for dinner and end up eating too much at night? Suddenly you wake up in the middle of the night with a stomachache and need help to find digestive medicine!"

Kogoro said with a distressed look, "I didn't expect that. It was because of that guy named Nagakawa Sosuke who spoke to me in a weird way at noon, saying things like 'I think his job is more suitable for you' and 'I don't know if you'll have time to think about a new book after you go abroad'..." He imitated Nagakawa Sosuke's tone and spoke in a funny way, "I was so angry that I couldn't eat anything. As a result, I was too hungry at night and ate too much without realizing it."

The two of them were walking in the corridor of the villa. There was no light on this floor. Originally, the maid asked them to wait at the entrance while she went to the house inside to get medicine. However, after waiting for a long time, she did not come back. Out of concern, they wanted to go over and take a look.

"Is it the end of the corridor?" Xiaolan asked uncertainly, "Isn't that what the maid told us?"

"That should be the case," Maori Kogoro stroked his chin, "Forget it, let's just ask directly."

"Miss Ellie," he tried to push the door: "Are you in there, Miss Ellie?"

Strangely, there was no movement from inside the door, and the light that had been brought in earlier was gone.

"I'm coming in." Kogoro Mouri felt that there was no need to wait any longer. He wanted to get the medicine earlier so that he could go to bed earlier. He felt embarrassed to disturb his daughter and others in the middle of the night.

"Bang!" There was a dull crash suddenly from inside, followed by a short scream.

Kogoro Mori's eyebrows raised and his vigilance instantly reached full blast. "Get out of the way, Xiaolan!" He realized that something was wrong and shouted in a low voice, then he raised his leg high and stomped heavily on the door panel. The wooden door opened under the impact, but before he could see the situation inside clearly, a black shadow rushed towards him like a whirlwind!

Kogoro Mori's pupils shrank, and he subconsciously used judo skills to try to block the unknown figure, but the figure moved faster. He shook his body and dodged Kogoro's grab. Then a cold light flashed, and Kogoro groaned, as if he was injured.

As the two intersected, Maori caught a glimpse of a terrifying and hideous face that seemed somewhat familiar to him.

"Dad!" Xiaolan's heart tightened. She gritted her teeth and attacked the person who was coming. The person dodged in a somewhat embarrassed manner. He looked at the little girl in surprise, but quickly ran out of the corridor without any delay.

"Lan, go check on Miss Ai Li and notify the others," Maori Kogoro ordered loudly, "This guy is too dangerous. I can't let him cause trouble in this house!"

After saying that, he chased in the direction the man fled. Xiaolan nodded vigorously. She ran into the room and saw the maid Ai Li slumped in the corner, covering her head with her hands, looking dazed.

"Are you okay?" she asked anxiously.

The maid murmured, "He also came here to look for medicine. He wanted me to treat his wounds. He had gunshot wounds on his body. I, I couldn't do it. He wanted me to bandage him..."

Xiaolan's heart trembled, and she suddenly realized that the man was more dangerous than she had imagined.

"You wait here, or find a safe place to hide," Xiaolan was much calmer than she expected in the emergency situation. "That person might be a fugitive. I'm going to notify others."

The noise coming from Kogoro quickly woke up more people. Conan pushed open the door. He heard the sound and saw that Kogoro and Ran were not in the room, so he ran upstairs. Pei Zhen also walked out of the room. He looked up, thought for a moment, and followed him.

In this kind of crime-solving drama, being separated from the protagonist and being alone may be the more dangerous thing.

"Bang——" was the sound of glass breaking. Pei Zhen hurried forward and saw that a room was opened. Inside were Kogoro Mouri and Conan who had just arrived. They looked at the broken window with serious expressions. There were fragments scattered on the ground below.

"Who is it?" Pei Zhen asked.

Maori Kogoro glanced at the darkness outside and said, "Remember when we were coming here, we stopped once on the road?"

Conan sniffed the air and said, "Uncle Maori, is this the 'wild monkey' you saw?"

Maori glared at him: "That face of his really impressed me."

"Is that person really okay after jumping from such a high place?" Pei Zhen was puzzled.

Mao Li thought about it: "His martial arts skills are very high. He must have received special training. He also has a knife in his hand. I'm afraid he is not an ordinary person."

"This, this..." A surprised voice suddenly came from outside the door. The three of them looked over there and saw the maid standing at the door, leaning on the door frame. Her face was full of horror: "This is Master Changchuan's room!" she screamed.

This is what happened in just a short period of time tonight. After discovering that Usuke Nagakawa had disappeared, Kogoro Mori and Conan immediately decided to continue chasing him. When the old butler opened the door, he saw Xiaolan and others who had come to inform him in the first place.

"How could such a vicious person sneak in?" The old butler looked unhappy. The heaviness brought by the nightmare made his face very pale. He made a quick decision and said, "I will go there immediately. The forest in the mountains is very complicated and there are more dangers at night. We can't let them chase the murderer alone."

He moved quickly, just put on a piece of clothing, changed a pair of shoes, and was ready to go out. Among the remaining few people, Ikeda Yoshihiro looked embarrassed: "I, I won't go. I'm not in good health, and I will only drag you down if I run."

Gao Si Qiming pushed up his glasses and said, "You can stay and protect them. I have already called the police, but they said it is too far away and they may not be able to get here until tomorrow. Compared to waiting, I am more used to taking matters into my own hands. The more people I chase, the greater the possibility of catching that guy."

After saying that, he looked at Pei Zhen. Pei Zhen thought he would have nothing to do tonight. He really admired the spirit of Maori Kogoro and Conan who faced the cases head-on. However, since he himself had not yet developed and he did not like to be rushed, he felt that he would never be like them.

But he thought about last night… He sighed, “I’ll go over too.”

"There is strength in numbers," he emphasized.

The forest is very cold at night, not only the air is cold, but also the atmosphere is quiet and eerie. The old butler ran hurriedly among the grass with a lamp in his hand. The long and narrow grass leaves in late autumn hooked over his trouser legs, like chains and swords, binding and stabbing anyone who tried to cross them.

There were marks left by Conan along the way. They followed them and soon saw a vague figure.

"Who is it?" Kogoro looked over.

The lights spread out, adding a touch of warmth to this cold and lonely night. "You are here too?" Kogoro Mouri was surprised.

"After all, this is Changchuan family's business." The old butler said breathlessly.

Pei Zhen looked forward.

"It should be this way." Conan also pointed in that direction. That person was really good at anti-tracking, and the simple traps he set almost misled them several times.

"Then let's go." Kogoro said solemnly.

They continued to move forward. This seemed to be a very special location. The dense jungle became sparse here, and the originally impenetrable darkness was broken. The silvery-white light flowed down from the branches and overlapping leaves, forming swaying spots or hazy long bands. The wind also found gaps to come in and whispered softly in their ears.

"This is..." The old butler looked a little strange. But before he could finish, everyone suddenly rushed into a very open place.

The moon shone straight down from the sky, painting the scenery in front of us with a layer of silver glow. In the center of the clearing was a small pool of water, rippling with a faint light. There were no trees to block the view and no grass to block the way, so they could easily see a figure holding up a sickle-shaped weapon and slashing at the person below him under the full moon!