Chapter 238, Seventy-Third Cycle (68)
The eerie atmosphere and the incessant ticking of the clock were suffocating.
What's even more suffocating is the heavy aura emanating from the blond youth.
"Mr. Amuro?" Conan Edogawa reached out and gently tugged at his sleeve, his expression tense.
"Hmm? What's wrong, Conan-kun?" Amuro Tooru looked down at him, his expression seemingly normal, though he appeared somewhat puzzled by his behavior.
"No..." Conan Edogawa looked at his face, "What were you thinking about just now, Mr. Amuro?"
Amuro Tooru chuckled: "You even want to explore this?"
Conan Edogawa said with a serious expression, "Because I always feel that this is a very serious and important matter."
Amuro Tooru surprisingly did not refute it.
The moonlight, filtering through the glass, transformed into colorful rays that shone upon him, illuminating half his face while leaving the other half shrouded in darkness.
"Mr. Amuro, what's troubling you?" Conan Edogawa looked him intently in the eye. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
“Hmm…” Amuro Tooru pondered for a moment, then smiled and bent down to meet his gaze, saying, “Conan-kun, all you need to do now is play this game well.”
Conan Edogawa was taken aback.
“Try to think of this game as if it were real,” Amuro Tooru said.
The candlelight flickered in his eyes, but it could not shake the determination in them.
He wasn't being perfunctory or joking; he was speaking very seriously about something extremely important.
"What exactly is going on in this game..." Conan Edogawa was about to press for more information, but the sound of the door opening interrupted him.
He turned around and saw Hikaru Midorikawa walking in with a flashlight, followed by Kogoro Mouri.
"You're here." The man with long black hair walked up to the two with a smile, his voice gentle and soft. "It's almost nine o'clock now. Master Kogoro and I didn't find anything in the chapel, so we're planning to go and look around at other places to see how the others are doing."
Kogoro Mori furtively looked around: "Hey, is it really okay for us to talk like this? There won't be any surveillance cameras or anything, right? And what if that priest deducts points for our out-of-character performance? And after deducting points, won't he just kick us out in the middle of the night?"
Amuro chuckled: "Probably not. I just said a lot of out-of-character things to Conan-kun and I didn't get any points deducted. The key to deducting points should be the priest. As long as the priest doesn't see or hear it, there shouldn't be a problem."
"We still need to be careful. It's so dark here, and because of the building's layout, we don't make much noise when we walk. It's quite possible for someone to appear outside silently." Conan Edogawa was very vigilant.
"It sounds like you're talking about a ghost story," Kogoro Mouri muttered to himself.
Hikaru Midorikawa shuddered immediately, then lunged forward, grabbed Tooru Amuro's hand, and pressed it against him, almost forming an embrace.
He gave a wry smile, his voice trembling slightly: "Please don't say that, I'm not very good at dealing with these things."
Conan Edogawa glanced sideways: "Mr. Midorikawa, are you afraid of ghosts and monsters?"
A detective who's afraid of ghosts is quite rare.
Is it true? Could it be that she's just pretending to be scared to get close to Mr. Amuro?
"I am a little scared." Hikaru Midorikawa grabbed Tooru Amuro and took a deep breath, pointing out the window with the hand holding the flashlight. "Aren't you scared, Conan? There's a huge cemetery behind this church."
Conan Edogawa was stunned.
Amuro Tooru raised his hand and patted Midorikawa Hikaru's shoulder to comfort him, then explained to Edogawa Conan, "After the snow stopped, you could see a large cemetery behind the church from the higher, transparent windows. The water supply to this abandoned church was never cut off before the renovation, precisely to make it convenient for people to sweep the graves."
"Amuro-kun, do you know this church very well?" Kogoro Mouri asked in surprise.
"I did my research on the surrounding area before I came," Amuro Tooru said with a smile. "I felt that this renovated church was very similar to a story in a novel, and I wondered if it would be used in the event. I didn't expect to be right."
"That case about the Church of the Light?" Kogoro Mouri still remembered what they had said in the chapel at the beginning.
“Yes, in the novel, the criminal meticulously plans to commit the perfect crime, but is ultimately exposed by the protagonist, Masaya Oki, and his senior, Morofushi Kongmei. However, the actual content of the novel is completely different from our current situation, so it may not be of much reference value to our event,” Midorikawa Hikaru said helplessly.
Kogoro Mouri immediately abandoned his plan to rummage through his bag to read the book.
"Shall we check out other places?" He glanced around. "Hmm, this place feels a bit eerie. Have you searched it? Who was the team in charge of searching this area again?"
The bell tower is a separate building next to the church, but it has a connecting corridor to the back door on the first floor of the church. It is not covered by heavy snow and is therefore considered part of the building, so it will also be searched.
“They are the keyboardist and guitarist of that band,” Amuro Tooru said. “I didn’t see them when I came. I guess they went somewhere else after the search.”
The search of each area by small teams was done by drawing lots.
However, the level of difficulty in searching for a place varies greatly.
There are very few parts of this clock tower that people can touch, so the search can be completed quickly.
However, at the chapel, he had to bend over and crawl on the ground to check all the benches and tables, which took a lot of time and energy. Other places probably wouldn't be as difficult. Kogoro Mori even slumped in a chair to smoke and rest for a while.
The four of them briefly inspected the bell tower and found nothing amiss, so they left the bell tower and returned to the church.
There was one place left on the first floor that they hadn't searched: the warehouse at the very edge.
The warehouse was quite large, but it was cluttered with a lot of miscellaneous items and very messy.
The other two members of the band were in charge of searching this area. The bald man and the long-haired woman were still busy in a very disheveled state, their faces dark, but their movements were clean and efficient.
They searched almost the entire warehouse, opening and examining nearly every single box.
"Didn't your other two companions come to help?" Amuro Tooru raised an eyebrow.
"No," the bald man said, panting heavily.
Kogoro Mouri glanced at the dusty, chaotic warehouse, took a step back, and indicated that he didn't want to get involved. He suggested that everyone go find the others instead.
The stairs leading to the second floor are between the toilets and the chapel, and yet no one has come down yet.
After the snow stopped, the activity inside the church became much more noticeable.
The commotion upstairs was getting louder and louder, so they went up to take a look out of curiosity.
The rooms on the second floor are the priest's room, the nuns' room, the kitchen, the bathroom, the conversation room, and the study.
The priest's room was not to be searched, the nun's room was locked, and all that was left was the kitchen, bathroom, meeting room, and study.
The result of the draw was that Hakuba Saguru and Okiya Subaru would search the study and the interview room, while Hagiwara Kenji, Matsuda Jinpei, and Date Wataru would search the kitchen and the bathroom.
Logically speaking, those four rooms shouldn't be too big or too troublesome, so it's a bit strange that they haven't come down yet.
However, when they gathered at the source of the noise, everything became clear.
It's a study.
It was a rather huge study, with five long rows of books, all of which were filled with all sorts of books.
The rest of the people, except for the priest and the bespectacled keyboardist, were all here.
Kogoro Mouri gasped, "We can't possibly read through all the books, can we? How long would that take?"
Kenji Hagiwara quickly waved his hand: "No, no, it shouldn't be that bad, otherwise we wouldn't be able to finish reading even in three days. So we just focused on the special book section, but we haven't found anything yet."
Date Wataru turned to them and asked, "What about you? Did you get anything? Why is one person missing?"
“We didn’t find anything here either,” Amuro Tooru replied, glancing at the blond guitarist who was almost asleep while reading and smoking. “That guy was in the same group as him, didn’t he come up with us? We didn’t see him down there.”
“We came up together.” The guitarist yawned, ruffling his already messy, dry, blond hair, looking even more annoyed. “But he said he had some questions for the priest and told me not to bother him. Ugh, I couldn’t be bothered with his nonsensical ramblings, so I came over here. Anything else? If not, I’m going to take a nap. I’m exhausted from playing games all night…”
Conan Edogawa walked around the study, his expression growing increasingly shocked.
What is this? It's one thing to have books from other religions in the church's study, and it's another to have philosophy books, but why are there books like "Relativity," "Evolution," "Thermodynamics," "Quantum Mechanics," "A Brief History of Time," and "The Time Machine"?
Wait, could all of this be related to "Running Towards the Sun"?
That book contained all sorts of scientific and fantastical knowledge, and the organization they faced was a dark organization that was suspected of secretly controlling the entire world using a time-travel machine.
Conan Edogawa tried to stand on tiptoe to reach the book and take a look.
Amuro Tooru walked up behind him, reached out and took the book he wanted, handing it to him: "Is this the one?"
"Yes, thank you, Mr. Amuro!" Conan Edogawa took the book, squatted down, placed it on his lap, and quickly flipped through it.
He was eager to find the answer, flipping through several pages in a second at an astonishing speed, which attracted the attention of many people. However, most people thought it was just a child randomly flipping through pages for fun, and went back to discussing it.
Only Hakuba Saguru and Midorikawa Hikaru glanced at him a few more times.
Subaru Okiya frowned slightly, turned around, picked up a book from the bookshelf, and walked to Tooru Amuro's side, blocking Conan Edogawa.
"Amuro-kun, I have a few questions I don't quite understand. May I ask you for help?" Okiya Subaru opened the book and handed it to him.
Toru Amuro: "..."
Amuro Tooru and the bespectacled man with squinty eyes stared at each other. After a few seconds of hesitation, he said with a forced smile, "I didn't expect that Mr. Okiya, a graduate student at Tokyo University, wouldn't know this either."
Subaru Okiya's smile remained unchanged, and his tone was gentle: "After all, I'm an engineering student, and my major is different, so I don't really know much about this. But I have a feeling that it might be related to the clues in the novel, so I want to take a look. What I heard Amuro-kun say before seemed to indicate that he knows a lot about religion?"
Amuro Tooru's eyes crinkled into a smile: "Is that so? I do know a little bit about it. Let me explain it to you."
Why don't you bring me a scripture for salvation so I can perform a salvation ritual for you?
He took the book from Subaru Okiya's hand, his face expressionless as he lowered his eyes and said, "The Diamond Sutra, also known as the Diamond Prajnaparamita Sutra, uses the diamond as a metaphor for the sharpness, tenacity, and firmness of wisdom, capable of cutting through all afflictions. Its main point is that all worldly things are illusory and unreal; true reality is non-phenomena. It advocates recognizing that one is free from all phenomena and dwells nowhere, that is, abandoning the cognition and pursuit of the real world, relying on Prajna wisdom..."
Conan Edogawa behind the two: "..."
Knowing full well the identities of the two men and fully understanding the undercurrents within them, Conan Edogawa pretended not to see or hear anything, and when asked, he simply said he was focused on reading.
*
When it was 10:30, the group left the study and went to the largest chapel on the first floor.
Hikaru Midorikawa brought sushi, which he hadn't had time to bring due to a series of events, so it's perfect for everyone to have as a late-night snack.
The others also brought some food and water, so they simply gathered in a circle, put the food, candles, and all the items they had collected on the table in the middle, and ate and discussed things at the same time.
"There's no suitable keyhole anywhere, so how am I supposed to use this key?"
"We haven't searched the priest's and nun's rooms yet, have we?"
"If we really have to count, what about the cemetery behind the church?"
Upon hearing this, the entire room fell silent, and everyone turned to look at the speaker.
Midorikawa Hikaru was nervous, but still asked seriously, "What's wrong? Since the clock tower is considered part of the church, then the cemetery might be too? Shall we go take a look together?"
Kogoro Mouri exclaimed in surprise, "Aren't you afraid of these things?"
Hikaru Midorikawa smiled shyly: "I'm scared, but I'm even more curious."
Others: "..."
“But it’s starting to snow heavily outside again.” Matsuda Jinpei picked up a piece of sushi and stuffed it into his mouth. “In such dangerous deep mountains, who knows how thick the snow is? We don’t know the terrain around here. We could easily get into trouble if we’re not careful. Let’s not go looking for trouble.”
He's right, nobody wants to go out now.
Furthermore, they didn't believe the game's creators would be so reckless as to create such a dangerous program, let alone vandalize someone's grave; they figured the target should be the church interior.
At eleven o'clock, the priest walked down the stairs at a leisurely pace.
"Tap, tap, tap."
The silver cross swayed slightly, a long white scarf draped over his black robe. Every cell in his body seemed calm and disciplined, and his beard added to his mature composure and seriousness. Yet, his strikingly handsome features made him appear exceptionally young and dashing, and his combined aura possessed an unusual mystique that instilled a sense of pressure simply by standing there.
The moment Morofushi Takamichi arrived, everyone fell silent.
"It seems you haven't found the truth yet," the black-haired, blue-eyed priest chuckled.
"Where's Gupu?" the blond guitarist, who was peering out, suddenly asked.
"Hmm?" The priest shifted his gaze slightly, meeting his eyes. "Who?"
Suddenly remembering the OOC penalty, the blond guy immediately corrected himself, saying, "Mikami, I meant Mikami Shun!"
His character and Mikami Jun's identities as informants and public security officers fit the premise perfectly.
"Hasn't he been in your room the whole time?"
The priest stopped in front of them, stood with his hands behind his back, and said calmly, "He has never come to see me alone."
Everyone was stunned.
The blond-haired man was stunned, looking completely bewildered: "Huh? But he told me himself that he was going to talk to you, and he hasn't come back yet. Did he lie? Where did he go???"
The bald man and the long-haired woman's expressions changed abruptly, and they immediately exchanged a surprised and uncertain glance.
The others were observing them, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
The priest did not answer his question. Instead, he turned to look at the altar in the corner, pondered for a few seconds, and then asked, "Who lit the lamps on the altar?"
The others looked at each other in bewilderment.
"I didn't." Kogoro Mouri shook his head vigorously.
“Neither do I.” Midorikawa Hikaru frowned, looking thoughtfully at the altar. “I thought it was one of you who thought the chapel was too dark, so you lit the lamps.”
Everyone else said no.
Now, their expressions turned strange, and they felt a chill run down their spines in the dark and cold church.
Amuro Tooru stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "The lighting of the Blessed Sacrament lamp means that the Blessed Sacrament has been placed in the shrine. However, the lamp was not lit before, and the priest was also surprised, which means that there was nothing on the altar originally."
Most people looked confused.
Hikaru Midorikawa's expression grew increasingly agitated as he continued, "The church has a custom of placing the relics of saints beneath the altar, and the altar itself is the most central part of the entire church, the altar of sacrifice. Many religious figures believe that Jesus died on the cross, like a sacrificial lamb, to commemorate the sacrifice of the great Lord Jesus."
Hakuba Tan stood up abruptly: "Most altars are on the east side because they consider the east to be noble."
"The glory of God comes from the East," Conan Edogawa murmured, then jumped off his chair and rushed toward the altar.
The others realized what was happening and immediately followed.
Kogoro Mouri finally realized what was going on: "This altar is near the east and has lights on, so it means 'God's glory comes from the east.' The clue points to this altar! But we checked it before and didn't find anywhere to insert the key."
"Wait, don't move!" Date Wataru suddenly shouted.
His size, voice, and aura were astonishing, and everyone instinctively stopped in their tracks.
Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji stepped forward with serious expressions, frowning as they approached the golden chalice in the center of the giant candle.
The Holy Grail was filled with red liquid, and a familiar bloody smell could be clearly detected when you got close.
The expressions on everyone's faces changed.
Hakuba Saguru suddenly glanced at the four policemen, whose faces were equally grim, and realized something was wrong.
That appeared to be real human blood.
And it's very fresh.
He stepped forward to investigate more closely, but was stopped by Date Wataru.
Kenji Hagiwara moved the Holy Grail aside, and Jinpei Matsuda lifted the white tablecloth, revealing a black card on it.
Kogoro Mouri, who was in charge of searching the altar, immediately shook his head: "I also lifted it up and looked during my previous search! But I didn't find this card!"
Matsuda Jinpei placed the card next to him in the slightly concave area that fit perfectly.
"Click—"
A square hole suddenly appeared in the center of the table.
Matsuda Jinpei took out an intricately patterned wooden box from inside.
The wooden box was quite large, and it had a lock on it. Hikaru Midorikawa took the key and tried it, and the key opened it successfully.
But this was actually unnecessary, because the wooden box had already been violently damaged, and the contents could already be seen from the side.
Seeing that he remained silent, the long-haired woman asked with suspicion, "What's wrong? Is this some kind of dangerous thing like a bomb?"
"It's not a bomb, there's no danger." Matsuda Jinpei frowned strangely, but finally placed the box on the table and opened the lid.
Ida Ko also let the others over.
Everyone gathered around the bright altar and could clearly see what was inside the box.
It was a bloody bone, but its shape was a bit strange.
"This is... a butterfly bone?" The bald man's voice trembled slightly.
No one answered in the spacious chapel; only the wind howled past, and the candlelight flickered on the pale candles.
Perhaps because everyone present happened to know what the so-called butterfly bone was, they were all stunned for a moment.
Even Conan Edogawa couldn't react immediately.
He vaguely remembered that although he still encountered many cases, it seemed like he hadn't encountered a bloody death like this one that he witnessed on the spot for a long time.
The sphenoid bone, also known as the butterfly bone, is hailed as the most beautiful bone in the human body. While it sounds beautiful, it is actually incredibly gruesome, as it is a fragile bone located in the center of the brain.
Can a person survive after having their shoulder blades removed?
And who among them has gone missing?
Although they still couldn't believe it, the answer was almost certain in their hearts.
The priest sighed and slowly raised the cross from his chest beneath the enormous crucifix on the altar.
"Life is inevitable, whether it's long or short, it's really not worth regretting," he said softly.
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