"Clang, clang, clang~"

At exactly eight o'clock, the pendulum clock chimed crisply.

"No matter what, it's this late, we should have finished our curry rice by now, right?"

Thinking of this, Ran turned her gaze away from the clock and spoke to Hiroto Akashi, who was still teaching Sonoko how to play tennis.

“Mr. Akashi, I’ll go up again now and bring down the cutlery.”

"Okay, sure." Hiroto Akashi nodded and said very politely, "I'm so sorry to trouble you."

Without saying any more pleasantries, Xiaolan turned to leave the living room.

"Ran-neechan, wait for me!" Conan used his still-functioning hand to support himself as he stood up and followed her.

"I need to go to the restroom."

...

When she arrived at the stairwell again, Xiaolan clearly remembered to be quiet, so she deliberately lowered her footsteps as she went upstairs.

Upon arriving on the second floor, Xiaolan noticed that the room, which had been lit up previously, was now dark.

"Okay, the lights are off now." Xiaolan kept her footsteps low as she walked to the door and slowly pushed it open.

Hiroto Akashi once said that if the lights in a room were off, it meant that his father was asleep.

No need to say hello, just push open the door and take the empty tableware.

Try not to make any noise during this process, as the elderly do not sleep well and may be woken up by the slightest noise.

So Xiaolan did as he said, walked to the front and back of the door and pushed it open, preparing to take the empty tableware away.

But when Xiaolan opened the door, she didn't see the old man resting in bed at first glance.

"That's strange, he wasn't lying on the mattress."

Looking at the empty bed on the floor, Xiaolan blinked, somewhat puzzled.

"Tick-tock..."

"Tick-tock..."

In the dark room, the sound of liquid dripping was very clear.

On the white mattress, there was a pool of dark liquid. In the dark environment, Xiaolan couldn't see what it was.

"Tick-tock..."

Another drop of unidentified dark liquid fell onto the mattress.

Following the dripping liquid, Xiaolan's gaze moved upwards.

Then she witnessed a horrifying scene:

Inside the room, above the mattress, a figure was hanging in the air.

The light from the hallway outside shone into the room, with a small portion of it falling on the figure's body and face.

Suddenly, half a human face appeared in Xiaolan's eyes:

The half of the face was covered with wrinkles and age spots, and the expression was ferocious, filled with pain.

The figure's mouth was wide open, and the unknown dark liquid that had been dripping from the figure's mouth onto the mat was from that mouth.

By the light shining into the room from the hallway, Xiaolan could clearly see the yellowed teeth in the figure's mouth and his bulging eyes.

It was as if the figure was watching her.

Suddenly, Xiaolan felt a chill run down her spine. She instinctively screamed, sat down on the ground, and used her hands to support herself as she took a few steps back.

She didn't stop until she hit the stair railing.

She had seen this person before.

"Mr. Akashi's father..." Ran gasped for breath, looking at the horrifying scene in the room, her face still showing disbelief.

"He's dead..."

...

The screams echoed throughout the entire house.

Upon hearing Ran's scream, Kousuke, who was chatting with Ai, swallowed the words he was about to say and frowned deeply.

He looked up toward the stairs, as if his gaze could penetrate the walls and see what was happening on the second floor.

Even though he didn't have superpowers like X-ray vision, Xiaolan's screams were enough to tell him that something had definitely happened on the second floor.

Recalling the faint sobbing he had heard at the stairwell earlier, Guangyou had already guessed what was going on.

"Another death has occurred."

That's the only possibility.

"Seriously, can't I just enjoy my vacation?" Guangyou cursed inwardly before quickly getting up and jogging upstairs.

"Something happened again..." Although Ai wasn't at the scene, she guessed what had happened and couldn't help but shake her head.

"This is the second time in the past few days."

The first time she was referring to was, of course, the camping trip she took a couple of days ago.

I went out to play twice in a row, and both times something bad happened.

That's really...

However, there was nothing that could be done; what's done is done. Ai didn't stay in the living room but got up and followed Kousuke.

Upon hearing Ran's scream, Akashi Hiroto and Sonoko immediately stopped what they were doing, looked up at the second floor.

"Xiao Lan's voice... Has something happened?"

Having no interest in continuing to learn how to play tennis, Sonoko casually put her tennis racket aside and then quickly went upstairs.

Behind her, Hiroto Akashi was still looking up at the second floor.

His eyes gleamed under the living room lights.

He gritted his teeth, took a breath, and then exhaled.

He maintained this expression for only a few seconds before quickly adopting a bewildered look as if he had no idea what had happened.

He then went up to the second floor.

Meanwhile, Uncle Mori was taking a bath in the bathtub.

After soaking for a while, Uncle Mori felt a little sleepy. His squinting eyes made it seem like he could fall asleep as soon as he was given a pillow.

But upon hearing Xiaolan's scream, that drowsiness vanished instantly.

"That's Ran's voice." After realizing what was happening, Uncle Mori casually tossed the towel off his head aside and stood up from the bathtub.

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