Chapter 295: Crow Shadow She would still be moved by the sadness in those blue eyes...
“!”
Lin Xi woke up suddenly, jumped up on the bed, and breathed heavily.
"Sister Lin!" Huiyuan Ai, who was standing beside her, quickly held her hand, "You're awake!"
Her blue eyes were filled with genuine concern. However, Lin Xi subconsciously turned his head away, avoiding her concerned gaze.
"...Ai-chan. Why are you here?"
"You fainted!" Huiyuan Ai said angrily. "The last time I asked you, you said you were fine, just having trouble sleeping occasionally... Now it's so serious, why didn't you tell me?"
By the end of her speech, there was already a tearful tone in her voice.
Lin Xi stood up, leaned over and hugged Huihara Ai.
"Sorry...something's happened recently..." Lin Xi murmured, "I didn't expect it to be this serious."
Huiyuan cried for a while, then stopped and grabbed Lin Xi's sleeve: "Sister Lin, let's go."
"What?"
"Don't investigate this case anymore." Her eyes were red. "Let's go to the Visa Protection Program now. Let's go to America—or anywhere! Leave here, leave Japan. You and I, I'll stay with you, I..."
Leave here?
Lin Xi looked at the white and blue ward.
To be more precise, it was a blurry object composed of blocks of color. For a moment, Lin Xi felt these objects pressing forward, not only filling up the space around her but also squeezing her into a block of color like them.
Where else can I go if I leave here?
There is no home for her here.
In this world, she walked and lived like an alien, believing that one day she would be able to return home. It was with this belief that she could endure seeing her own similar yet inconsistent face in the mirror day after day. Now the truth had dealt her a heavy blow: she had nowhere to go. This was the world she was born and raised in. No matter how she mocked the distortion of everything in this world, she was born here, and she was a part of this distortion.
Since she was already a member of this world, why was she given the perspective of a higher-dimensional being, allowing her to look down on her fellow creatures like observing insects through glass? Perhaps it was precisely because of the disgust for the entire world brought about by her unique perspective that she chose to become the boss.
"Ai-chan." She said softly, "Where are Mr. Kudo and the others?"
"Mr. Kudo is outside... Edogawa is here too. They seem to have found some clues related to the case and are investigating together. You were unconscious for three hours, and Mr. Kudo asked me to take care of you. He said there was no need to worry about the case and that you should recuperate well while he went to investigate the last case."
"Ms. Yukiko helped you fix your disguise before she left, so you could last until she returned the next day. Ms. Yukiko was by your side during the doctor's examination. The final result of the examination was... that you were overworked these past few days. What... problem did you encounter? Why don't you tell me the problem and let me help you?"
"I'm obviously also... very capable..." Tears rolled down Huibara Ai's eyes, "Why can't you rely on me in return?"
Lin Xi wiped away her tears and held her in his arms again.
It must be admitted that even though she had just experienced a huge disillusionment between ideals and reality, even though she understood that the person in front of her was also a member of the protagonist group and might become a sharp blade piercing her heart in the future - she would still be heartbroken by the sadness in those blue eyes.
"I'm sorry, Ai... I made you worry."
"No, I don't want an apology... Don't apologize to me anymore..." The little girl cried even louder. "Rather than an apology, I hope you're safe. No matter what it is, I want to face it with you... We can run away... We can leave here and stop investigating Kiichirō Numabuchi's case... Let the truth sink, I don't care anymore. I know you haven't slept well for a long time, I know everything... It's just that I can't help, I... I can't do anything..."
How much Haibara Ai wishes crying would help.
If crying could make things go as planned, there wouldn't be so many tragedies happening in this world, right?
She wanted so badly to tell Lin Xi that she didn't care who she was—whether she was a member of the organization, a test subject...even a murderer, she didn't care. No matter what was bothering her, she wanted to face it with her.
But she was afraid that her confession would have greater consequences—she was afraid of becoming a burden to Lin Xi. After all, the reality was that Lin Xi had been hiding her identity from her. If this was what she wanted, she was afraid that revealing Lin Xi's identity would cause her even more trouble.
What kind of problem did she encounter... As long as Lin Xi was willing to tell her, she could do anything for her...
"Xiao Ai." Lin Xi's voice, as gentle and calm as usual, came to my ears.
Haibara Ai suddenly had a bad feeling in her heart.
She couldn't tell what it was, but she suddenly grabbed Lin Xi's hand, trying to draw some strength from it.
"What if I tell you that I'm the murderer and I did all this?"
Having just woken up from a coma, her hair was still a little messy, but her light brown eyes were as sharp and determined as ever. The ordinary face Kudo Yukiko had given her had now become a thick wall, isolating her from all her emotions and preventing Huibara Ai from seeing them.
Haibara Ai was stunned.
.
"What? Dad, are you saying that Sister Lin is the murderer?" Edogawa Conan was shocked, "How is that possible!"
"I've just told you the general outline of the case," Kudo Yusaku said. "Shinichi, you've known her for almost four months now. Putting aside your subjective judgment, haven't you discovered anything during your time with her?"
"This... Anyway, Sister Lin can't be the murderer..." Conan scratched his head in panic, "She lives with Ai! How could she have the time to commit a crime? You have checked the alibi, right?"
"She's more than just a murderer. I think she's most likely a member of the huge organization we're about to face," said Kudo Yusaku.
"Ah, Dad, are you kidding me?" Conan wanted to laugh but couldn't. "Sister Lin is from the organization? How is that possible? Haha... If she was a member of the organization, Xiao Ai and I would have been caught long ago, right?"
Kudo Yusaku said nothing, just looked at him quietly.
Seeing that look, Conan gradually realized that his father was not joking with him.
But...how is it possible...Sister Lin...
His mind was in a mess.
In this case, some clues that were previously ignored were recalled in the brain and connected together - even if Conan didn't want them to be connected at all.
At Itakura Taku's apartment, it was Sister Lin who first discovered the box of numbered CDs...but that CD was missing...
That cold expression in the forest...
That ridiculous excuse when confronting Gin at the subway station... Just the right amount of scratches. Gin's shooting was so accurate, but he didn't hit Sister Lin with a single shot...
The figurine placed in front of Gin in Clumsy Company as a deception... seemingly mistaken for a gift from Punch, but what if it was a gift in the first place? What if the deception wasn't meant to attract Gin's attention, but to deceive him while he was with Lin?
Less than a day after Haibara Ai escaped from the organization, Lin Xi took her home... And Haibara Ai clearly mentioned that when she was still a minor, it was Punch who took care of her as her guardian... If Lin Xi is Punch...
Also, the case his father had just described to him... the little girl started screaming after seeing Lin Xi. Why? Was it not seeing her, but...
"Dad, let me see the amulet!"
Conan opened the amulet in the evidence bag and revealed what was inside.
It was a piece of solid fragrance that continuously emitted a scent... Conan brought the fragrance close to his nose and sniffed it gently.
...Yes, this smell, this fragrance...
Light, delicate, and fresh, like the scent of lily mixed with citrus, with a hint of bitterness...
It was what he would smell on Lin Xi every time he got close to her—
——Light and long-lasting orange blossom fragrance.
That little girl, Sayuri Fujitani...she didn't scream because she recognized Sister Lin.
She screamed because she smelled the scent on Lin Xi.
Conan was a little dazed.
Soon, he remembered an item. All his thoughts were just speculations, but that item could serve as tangible evidence to prove whether Lin Xi was innocent or... the organization's executioner.
His teeth chattered. "Dad, do you remember the broken empty CD case we left at home? The one we used as bait to lure Gin into the trap... There was a bug in it, but I didn't check it afterwards... I don't know if it was broken. Let's hurry home now and connect to the bug. If we're lucky, there might be a recording left inside..."
"After that, after that... we'll know if Sister Lin is a member of the organization."
.
Tokyo.
Zhu Fujingguang arrived a little earlier than the agreed time and was led into the box.
This was a high-end teahouse. The sound of running water emanated from the bamboo mat, but it did nothing to relax Zhu Fujingguang's tense mood.
It was finally three o'clock in the afternoon.
The door of the box was opened and Toru Amuro walked into the tea room.
"Senior!" Zhu Fu Jingguang shouted.
Toru Amuro nodded at him and closed the door of the box with his backhand.
He slowly sat down on the tea table opposite Zhu Fu Jingguang: "What's the matter with you coming to see me?"
"Senior..." Zhu Fujingguang took a deep breath, not hiding his nervousness. "I feel like we knew each other before. Due to various reasons, I completely lost my memory. I came to you to... to inquire about my past."
Amuro Toru looked up at him.
With his stubble completely shaved off, Hiro looks younger... although he already looks younger now.
"Why do you think I would tell you?" he asked sharply, "Or do you think our relationship was that good before, Morimoto-kun?"
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