Chapter 22 Chapter 22 Mansion in the Rain (Part 3)
Saionji Yuon couldn't help but hold her forehead and sigh.
After all this time, it turned out that Natsume-kun hadn't realized that the girl wasn't human. But thinking about Natsume-kun's usual reactions, this was also his old habit, so Yuyin didn't find it surprising.
She first heard of Natsume's name from a passing monster. Legend had it that a young man nearby possessed a contract that could restrain and summon monsters. Fearing the danger of this contract falling into the hands of someone with ill intentions, she made a special trip to meet him.
But upon seeing Natsume in person, Yuyin realized his suspicions. If there was a perfect owner for the contract, it would undoubtedly be Natsume Takashi. However, despite Natsume's exceptional spiritual power and the protection of powerful youkai, he hadn't previously systematically studied youkai-related knowledge and skills. Yuyin only then discovered that, without the feedback of ordinary people around him, Natsume often couldn't distinguish between non-humans who looked just like normal people.
"Sorry, Natsume-kun is a little afraid of thunder and got scared just now."
While everyone was still dazed by Lei Ming, Yuyin pulled Natsume over and quickly tried to smooth things over.
The others laughed at this, but Yamanaka Yukiko hesitated and said, "If Natsume-kun is afraid of thunder, why don't you wait until the rain subsides before leaving?"
"You can see me, right?" The nameless girl was so excited that she almost floated up, dancing around Natsume. "I heard everything just now, you can definitely see me!"
Natsume pursed his lips tightly. He couldn't show any signs of abnormality in front of others, otherwise it would be like before... Hearing Yamanaka Yukiko's words, he quickly replied, "It's okay. The thunder just happened too suddenly. I wasn't prepared."
Natsume thought that he couldn't cause any more trouble for Mr. Saionji, Miss Yamanaka and the others.
Natsume's strange words just now can be said to have been put to rest. Ordinary people would not delve too deeply into the details. However, there was another extraordinary person present -
Primary school student.
No, the boy's dodging of Mr. Kato and his utterance of those strange words just now all happened before the thunder and lightning. He was very sure of that, so his movements were definitely not caused by thunder.
Conan replayed the scene in his mind as he walked down the stairs. He was sure that both Saionji-san and the boy named Natsume were lying, but what had happened that forced them to use such an excuse to cover it up?
"Conan!"
However, before Conan could figure out what was going on, Mao Lilan came over angrily, took his hand and said, "I'll go with you to call dad. We have to go down the mountain with Xiyuanji-san and the others. We can't disturb Miss Yamanaka and the others anymore."
It is also strange that Miss Saionji, who had been seen in the Kyoto Shrine, would appear here. Conan was pulled away by Ran Mouri, and his mind was still turning. He had previously deduced that Miss Saionji should live in Tokyo, Yokohama and other places. It was strange that she appeared in such a remote area on a school afternoon. He and Ran were following Uncle Mouri, and Uncle Mouri passed by because he had accepted a commission, but why was Miss Saionji here?
She had previously told Miss Yamanaka that she and Natsume-kun were from the same neighborhood, so she was lying. Was the reason for the lie to avoid trouble, or was there some other reason?
Question after question flashed through Conan's mind. He always felt that his thoughts just now contained important clues, but he was unable to grasp them for a moment and could not deduce the reason for the matter at all.
After Ran Mouri and Conan left, and Kato Yu went upstairs to get the car keys, only Tamane, Natsume and Yamanaka Yukiko were left in the living room.
Of course, in the eyes of Tamane and Natsume, there was another ghost present.
The nameless girl danced for a long time, but got no response. She couldn't help but burst into tears: "Please, can you see me? This is really important to me..."
Natsume was a soft-hearted person to begin with. Seeing this, he couldn't help but reveal a look of pity. He glanced at Yuyin and said, "Saionji-san, I..."
As soon as he opened his mouth, Yuyin knew what he was going to say, so she stopped him and turned to ask Yamanaka Yukiko next to her: "Ms. Yamanaka, may I ask where the restroom is? Natsume-kun and I would like to use it before we leave."
"The restroom," Yamanaka Yukiko pointed out the location for them considerately, "It's at the end of the corridor on the second floor. Do you want me to take you there?"
"Thank you, but it's okay. Natsume-kun and I can go by ourselves." The original intention was to avoid communicating with ghosts by others. After waving to Yamanaka Yukiko, Yuon immediately pulled Natsume upstairs.
On the second-floor corridor, Kogoro Mouri was listening dejectedly to his daughter's scolding when he saw two young men and women quickly pass by them and walk to the other end.
Mao Lilan asked doubtfully, "Ms. Saionji?"
Yuyin turned around and smiled at her, but time was urgent and she didn't explain any further.
Maori Kogoro glanced at her casually, yawned, and said, "She's the shrine maiden you mentioned earlier, the one you met at the Kyoto shrine. Well, she's just an ordinary junior high school student..."
"Eh, a junior high school student?" Mao Li Ran was a little surprised.
Maori Kogoro put his hands in his pockets. Because the host's house prohibits smoking, he hasn't been able to smoke a cigarette since getting off the car. He is a little depressed and explains casually, "That's the uniform of the elementary school of Hyotei Academy. The daughter of one of my clients studied there last time. There's no way I could have mistaken it."
Mao Lilan covered her mouth in surprise when she heard this: "Sonoko and I thought that Saiyuan Temple-san was older than us."
It was natural for me to think so at the time, Conan thought to himself, maybe it was because Miss Saionji was tall and the shrine maiden costume made her look mature.
Then the three members of the Mori family in the corridor saw Saionji Tamon open the bathroom door, pull Natsume in, and close the door.
Silence.
For a moment, the three of them didn't know what to say.
"Ah, you can't judge a book by its cover. Junior high school students these days are so mature. They're so young and yet they're still playing like this..."
Just as Kogoro Mouri was halfway through expressing his feelings, he was stepped on hard by his daughter Ran Mouri.
"Dad, Dad! What are you talking about in front of Conan!" Mao Lilan clenched her fist and said, "Xiyuanji-san is not the person you think."
*
Yuyin no longer cared about what kind of misunderstanding her behavior would cause to the Maori family.
As soon as the door closed, she turned and asked the girl ghost: "Tell me, what do you want from us?"
"You can really see me, that's great!" The girl ghost lost her composure and flew around in the toilet which was only a few square meters.
This time it was Natsume's turn to hold his forehead. Saionji-san didn't care enough about his reputation. Miss Mori and the others must have seen what happened just now... I just hope that all this won't reach Aunt Tachi's ears.
After the excitement, the young genius calmed down and landed back on the ground. Looking closely, she was actually very beautiful, and when she was quiet, she had a charming temperament. No wonder Natsume mistook her for the sister of the handsome Mr. Kato at the beginning.
"Ahem," the ghost girl cleared her throat and spoke, "I am Yamanaka Hinako," she looked at Natsume and Tamane with worried eyes, "Please, save my sister!"
Yuyin and Natsume exchanged a glance. If her last name was Yamanaka, then could the sister she was referring to be...
"Is Miss Yamanaka Yukiko your sister? What dangers will she encounter?" Yuyin asked first.
Yamanaka Hinako nodded repeatedly: "Yes, I'm talking about Yukiko." When she heard Yuyin asking about the specific matter, her eyes couldn't help but redden, "Please save her! If you don't help, she will die!"
Since it involves human lives, we can't just leave it alone.
Yuyin comforted her and said, "Just tell us briefly the whole story. If we can, we will definitely find a way to save your sister."
"That's good, that's good..."
Yamanaka Hinako wiped away her tears of joy. It was no wonder that she was so excited. Ever since she discovered her sister's plan, she had been trying every possible means to contact her. However, humans and ghosts are different. A new ghost like her, who had only been dead for ten years and had weak powers, could only move real objects slightly at most. She couldn't even leave a message or write to her sister, let alone real communication. Now two people who could see her appeared, bringing her new hope. She was ecstatic.
"Speaking of this matter, it was me who caused it..."
*
When Tamane and Natsume came downstairs, everyone else in the living room had arrived.
Mao Lilan looked at them hesitantly, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't open her mouth. Yamanaka Yukiko and Kato Yu, on the other hand, looked normal. It seemed that the Maori family didn't say anything to them.
"Okay, everyone's here."
Yukiko Yamanaka took out a few umbrellas for the people to use as they walked from the house to the car, even though it was just a few steps. This shows that she is a thoughtful and considerate lady.
However, considering her various behaviors since they met, Tamane and Natsume felt very complicated after listening to the story told by the female ghost Yamanaka Hinako.
As soon as the door opened, the rain showed no sign of abating. Kato Yu was the first to walk towards the car, holding an umbrella. As he was the driver, he had to start the car in advance. The others followed him, one after another, holding umbrellas and going out.
Conan stood next to Ran Mouri, holding her hand. The two shared an umbrella. As they walked, they saw Saionji Tamane and Natsume Takashi in front of them, and suddenly Conan realized that something was wrong.
"Big Brother!" Conan let go of Mao Lilan's hand, rushed forward and tugged at Natsume's clothes, and shouted, "Big Brother, where is your cat? The lucky cat..."
Natsume turned around and looked flustered for a moment, but quickly calmed down and said, "Teacher always likes to run around. I'll go find him right away."
No, his reaction was as if he already knew the cat was missing.
Before Conan could think about the mystery of the disappearance of the lucky cat, a very loud thunder was heard from the direction of the mountainside, and it seemed like there was some rumbling sound.
Yamanaka Yukiko covered her mouth in shock: "What happened?!"
The only two adult men present, Maori Kogoro and Kato Yu, who had just driven up, looked at each other. They both understood what the other meant and said in unison, "Wait here for a while. Maori (Kato) and I will go explore the road first."
"Ayou, you must be careful." Yukiko Yamanaka bent down and warned Kato You in the driver's seat.
Kato Yu smiled at her and reassured her, "Don't worry, Yukiko, we're just going to take a look. There's no danger."
So, the others stayed where they were, waiting for the two to come back after investigating the situation.
"Hey, where's Conan?"
Ran Mouri realized belatedly that Conan was missing. Just now, when Conan let go to ask Natsume-kun a question about the cat, she wanted to tell him not to run around, but she forgot about the movement halfway up the mountain, and when she turned around, Conan disappeared.
Yuyin turned to tell her, "If you're looking for Conan-kun, Xiaolan, I just saw him sneak into the car."
"What? Seriously."
*
Not long after, Mr. Kato's car returned along the same route, bringing bad news.
The lightning accidentally struck the trees in the mountains. Although the fallen tall trees did not cause a fire in the heavy rain, the fallen trees and the rolling rocks in the mountains blocked the mountain road down the mountain, making it impossible for vehicles to pass.
"Plus, the weather is getting worse and worse for some reason. It seems that we won't be able to go down the mountain for a while." Kogoro Mouri specifically emphasized to his daughter that it was not that he didn't want to go down the mountain, but that God didn't allow him to.
"This..." Mao Lilan looked at Natsume and Tamane. It didn't matter to their family whether they could go down the mountain or not, it was just a question of where to stay. But Saionji-san and the others... "How about you stay here too, Saionji-san? If we force our way down the mountain and encounter the lightning strike just now, it will be very dangerous."
Yuyin nodded: "It's fine with me. There's no one at home anyway." She and Natsume both knew the source of the rocks blocking the road, or rather, all of this was originally planned by her and Natsume.
Natsume then turned directly to Yamanaka Yukiko and said, "Ms. Yamanaka, can I borrow your phone? If the weather continues to be this bad, I need to call home."
Yamanaka Yukiko didn't expect these changes to happen, and quickly responded: "Ah, this, no problem, I'll take you there. The mobile phone signal is not very good in this mountain, and the landline is on the second floor."
Conan, who had already crawled back under Ran Maori's umbrella, looked at the two's backs and pointed at Natsume and asked, "Oh, did you find the lucky cat?"
Mao Lilan looked in the direction he pointed, and saw the cute lucky cat lying on the boy's shoulder. She couldn't help but say, "Really? When did you come back?"
"Mr. Cat is a very smart cat. Although he likes to run around, he is very sensible and will definitely come back before we leave."
Yuyin explained to them with a smile, then bent down to look at Conan, "Conan-kun is really amazing. He observed so carefully and found it right away."
"Uh, well," Conan rubbed his head, trying to get away with it, "because I really like detective games, hehe."
Yuyin just deliberately scared the child. Don't think she didn't notice that Conan seemed to be suspicious of Natsume and her for some reason before. She was okay, as an old office worker is not afraid of acting challenges, but Natsume's acting skills are still relatively immature, and it is easy for him to be exposed if he is suspected, so she needs to cover up.
She changed the subject: "Speaking of detectives, Xiaolan, I remember you said before that your father opened a private detective agency?"
"Yes, I am the famous detective, the sleeping Kogoro."
Hearing the topic turn to himself, Maori Kogoro immediately became nervous, "Miss, do you have any requests? No problem, just leave it to me!"
Conan was speechless. Uncle Maori really liked to show off, but thanks to his reputation, he saved a lot of trouble in handling the case.
"So you are the sleeping Kogoro. I've long heard of your name," Yuyin dug out this name that often appeared in social news from the depths of her mind, and immediately showed respect. "To be honest, I have an important commission now, and I need to entrust it to Mr. Maori."
Talking about business, Mao Li's expression became serious: "Please speak."
Yuyin thought for a moment and said, "It's not convenient to talk now. I'll find a chance to tell you, Mr. Maori, after we get back to the house."
*
Until it was completely dark, there was still a violent storm outside the house.
Of course, all this was within Saionji Gyomone's expectations. In order to prevent the weather from turning good before the problem was resolved, forcing them to go down the mountain early, Natsume specifically begged Madara to find a monster with the ability to bring wind and rain, and cover this mountain with a rainstorm.
Even the fallen trees and boulders that blocked the mountain road were chopped into that shape by Madara using his demonic power, otherwise there would be no such coincidence in the world.
As a result, Tamane and Natsume will have to stay in the Kato family's annex tonight. Fortunately, in preparation for the old classmates' reunion, Miss Yamanaka had already purchased the ingredients in advance and placed them in the annex, and the quantity is enough for so many people to eat together.
"Hey, Miss Mori, Miss Saionji, you are guests, how can I let you do this?"
Originally, dinner was prepared by Yamanaka Yukiko alone, but seeing this, Saionji Tamon and Mori Ran insisted on coming to help.
"Miss Yamanaka, you are so polite," Yuyin said as she and Mao Lilan took over most of Yamanaka Yukiko's kitchen work. "You let us stay overnight without charging any fees. Now that there are so many of us, preparing dishes is more complicated. Let Xiaolan and I work as compensation." She said with a wink.
Maori Kogoro peeked out of the kitchen: "Ms. Yamanaka, do you have any more beer? Mr. Nojima asked me to ask."
Yukiko Yamanaka was stunned for a moment and said, "There are still a few bottles in the refrigerator, but does Nojima want to drink more? He has already drunk a lot in the afternoon." After that, she was worried about getting it.
"No, no, I'll do it," Maori Kogoro waved his hand and quickly slipped to the refrigerator, "Hey, Mr. Mizuta and I are going to have a few drinks with him, Xiaolan, help us get a few cups~"
"Dad!" Mao Lilan scolded while helplessly reaching for the wine glass. By the way, she apologized to Miss Yamanaka on behalf of her father. "I'm sorry, Miss Yamanaka, my dad likes to drink besides smoking. He didn't smoke for the whole afternoon, and he couldn't help his drinking."
"It's okay," Yamanaka Yukiko waved her hand. "It's all my fault. I don't like the smell of cigarettes, and Ayou doesn't smoke either, so... Miss Maori, let me take the wine glass."
She was about to take the set of cups that Mao Lilan brought out when she heard Saionji Tamon's voice from behind, "Ms. Yamanaka, is the curry in this cabinet?"
"Oh, yes." She turned around and saw that Mao Lilan had already taken out the wine glass.
*
With the joint efforts of the three ladies, a sumptuous meal was completed.
"I didn't expect Mr. Saionji's cooking skills are so good." Even Natsume couldn't help but praise after tasting the food.
In his impression, Saionji-san was originally an elegant and noble person like Mr. Deba, surrounded by many subordinates, so he never associated her with kitchen matters.
As if knowing what Natsume was thinking, Yuyin smiled and said, "Natsume-kun, I also have to take home economics classes. Moreover, compared to my senior brother, I am a loner and need to do everything myself, so my cooking skills are naturally not bad."
Natsume nodded to indicate that he understood. It seemed that he had been thinking too narrowly before. He had no idea what Saionji-san was like besides being a demon exorcist. What's more, Saionji-san now had started a new life after his death.
The atmosphere at the dinner table was quite harmonious. Kei Nojima had drunk a lot of wine alone in the afternoon, so he was much quieter at dinner time. Kogoro Mori also did not drink as recklessly as he did at home. The only thing that everyone agreed on was that they all praised the ladies' cooking skills.
After the banquet, Kei Nojima went back to his room to sleep drunkenly again. The other men talked in the living room, while Yuyin and Xiaolan helped Yukiko Yamanaka clean up the dishes and the kitchen.
At night, Yamanaka Yukiko cleaned up the rooms for them, with Ran and Tamane helping them. Because of the limited bedding, the rooms were arranged so that Maori Kogoro and Conan shared a room, Tamane and Ran shared a room, and Natsume shared a room. Only the Kato family annex was big enough and had enough rooms to accommodate the sudden increase in their number.
*
In the dead of night, the wind was still howling outside the house, and the heavy rain kept hitting the old windows, making bursts of terrifying sounds.
A dark shadow suddenly appeared in the silent corridor.
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The author has something to say: The second half of the chapter has not been finished yet, so I’m posting the first half first.
The content of this chapter should be enough for everyone to guess the cause and effect of the plot, as well as who is acting in this chapter and what they are acting?
The next chapter will reveal ^_^
*Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided nutrient solution between 2021-11-15 00:51:07 and 2021-11-15 23:59:04~
Thanks to the little angel who irrigated the nutrient solution: 16 bottles of Fish Eater and 1 bottle of Bird in a Cage;
Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!
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