There were loud ping-pong sounds, and when I turned around, there was only a pile of fallen books and a tilted wooden chair behind me. The old man and the young man who were standing there just now were gone.

At this moment, the horror story of the castle came to mind, and Mitsuhiko and Genta looked at each other in horror: "Help! There's a ghost catching people!"

"What are you guys arguing about?"

Haibara Ai silently called out to the two people who were spinning around like headless flies.

"How could there be ghosts in this world?"

Mitsuhiko managed to calm down, "But, but! Brother Qichuan and Conan suddenly disappeared!"

Disappeared?

Ai Haibara glanced at the mess on the floor and the clock on the wall. She thought something had happened. But Arisugawa Gen was fine and should be out soon.

She turned around and calmly comforted the two people, and persuaded them to leave.

They are really little kids, and they are easily frightened.

Children are well protected and have pure minds. When they encounter such things, they always think that it is unnatural factors. However, older teenagers who have seen the evil of human hearts have begun to consider human factors when they encounter such things, not to mention that Haibara Ai was once a member of the Black Organization and she grew up in the dark.

So when night fell with a drizzle, Huibara Ai looked at the two people who had not returned yet, and began to feel a little uneasy in her heart.

Those two people wouldn't be trapped in a small secret room. And Qichuan Yuan's fighting power is not low. If they encounter danger, they should be able to deal with it. After all, they should come out now. They won't forget the time while playing in the secret compartment.

Or maybe they really encountered some danger.

As there were few people in the castle, only a few lamps were lit. A cool breeze with a scent of earth blew through the gaps and hit the lamps, causing the sparks to flicker as if they would go out in the next second.

To be honest, this scene really reminds people of the terrifying haunted castle.

"Well, let's eat first. It shouldn't be dangerous with an adult around. Besides, they will naturally come out when they are hungry or tired from playing."

Because the host suggested starting the meal first and the guests followed the host's wishes, they temporarily put aside the search for Qichuan and the other person and gathered around the dining table.

A cool breeze blew by, and the flame in the lamp finally died down. The corner of the living room suddenly became dark. Ayumi shuddered and felt uneasy. She carefully approached Haibara Ai and asked in a trembling voice:

"It's such a big room, why don't you turn on the lights? It's really scary to just light candles like this."

"Yes," Yuan Tai said vaguely after taking a bite of the chicken leg, "What's the point of lighting these candles? They will be blown out by the wind. Is there no light bulb installed here?"

The noble young master smiled implicitly and explained to them:

"In fact, light bulbs are installed, but this castle is a bit old and sometimes leaks when it rains. To ensure safety, we only light candles in this weather."

Detective Boys Huihara Ai: ..

Such a simple and unpretentious reason.

Ai Huihara looked up at the ceiling and said, "But the castle is so high, even if there is a leak, it won't leak to the bottom floor, right?"

"It's because the electrical engineer made a mistake when renovating the castle. He connected all the light bulbs in series to one circuit. Once the lights are turned on, the whole castle will light up. If one light bulb fails, all the other light bulbs will stop working. Although it's very inconvenient, we were too lazy to renovate it later, so we have been using it until now."

Huiyuan Ai:..

Home light bulbs connected in series, you are really amazing.

Dr. Agasa chuckled and gossiped, "By the way, have you been living in this castle for many years?"

"Not really," the young nobleman said with a smile, "I had been planning to come back and settle down here in the next few years, and to accompany my grandmother."

Grandpa A-man also denied it with a smile, a hint of nostalgia in his eyes, "I returned to this castle after my wife died. Over time, I fell in love with this place where my wife grew up."

"I'm afraid it's not the castle you love, but the treasures inside it."

A hoarse and old voice like a ghost suddenly appeared, accompanied by a flickering light. People in the living room shuddered. They looked at the old lady who appeared in the corner of the living room at some point. Her face was hidden in the dark shadows, and her shadow was projected on the wall like a huge and scary crow. They avoided her gaze uncomfortably, feeling a chill in their hearts.

Ah-Man was not annoyed and replied with a suitable smile: "So what? The treasure that my father-in-law mentioned is so tempting, it is only natural for people to be tempted."

"Hmph, I think my daughter was deceived by a hypocritical gentleman like you," the old lady snorted coldly, pushing the wheelchair back, her hoarse voice seemed to have been burning in the fire for a long time, "Sir, please send dinner to my room, I want to eat upstairs, and also, when my daughter comes back, let her come to my room, I must teach her a lesson, don't trust others easily."

Guangyan looked back and forth between the eldest wife and the noble Aman. A chill rushed to his head. He swallowed and asked in confusion: "Isn't the old lady's daughter the wife?"

But, wasn’t my wife burned to death in a fire many years ago?

The noble young master apologized, "Ah, well, my grandmother has been like this since my mother passed away. She always thinks her daughter is still alive, so she always says strange things."

Ai Huiyuan watched the old lady gradually disappear into the darkness, and suddenly asked: "Is there a secret passage in this castle?"

"Yes," the young master thought for a while and nodded. "Because grandma has difficulty walking, she neither wants to live on the first floor nor let us help her. In order to make it easier for her to go up and down the stairs, we built several secret passages between the floors a few years ago. What's wrong, little sister, do you want to take a look?"

Huihara shook her head. "It just occurred to me that castles like the ones on TV have all sorts of secret passages and rooms, so I wanted to ask about that, too."

The young nobleman laughed, with some nostalgia on his face.

"Speaking of secret rooms, there are indeed many in this castle. Back then, my father and my grandfather worked together every day to study the various secret compartments. They spent three years drawing a diagram of a secret room full of mechanisms. After the construction was completed, they both died one after another, and the map was reduced to ashes along with my grandfather. Therefore, until now, I still have no idea about the mechanisms and secret rooms in this castle."

"So you must be careful, otherwise it will be difficult to get out once you enter the secret room."

The secret room is very complicated, so it is understandable that the two people have not come out yet. Huihara Ai breathed a sigh of relief. A cool breeze brought fine raindrops onto the dining table. The few remaining candles in the living room were all destroyed, and it suddenly fell into darkness.

"Ah! It's so dark! So scary!"

Ayumi screamed and quickly threw herself on Haibara Ai.

"Don't be afraid, I'll light the candles right away."

Dark? Secret room!

Huiyuan Ai's eyes suddenly widened, her heart tightened, and her voice trembled:

"Are there candles in the chamber?"

The noble young master lit the candles while complaining, and looked at her in surprise:

"Of course not. My father and grandfather died before they could renovate the secret room. After they left, none of us dared to enter the secret room. My grandmother broke her leg because of an accidental fall in the secret room. So from then on, she also forbade us to touch the secret room."

Oh no!

Gen Sugawa has claustrophobia! I hope Conan can be by his side!

Huihara's heart suddenly stopped, she quickly jumped off the seat and rushed to the third floor.

"Where are you going, Haibara-san?"

Mitsuhiko was sitting next to Haibara Ai and was startled by her sudden movement. He quickly dodged and shouted as he watched the figure quickly disappear into the darkness.

"Go to the bathroom!"

It doesn't look like that. He must have gone to explore the secret passage.

The remaining three children looked at each other and laughed. But how could the Junior Detective Team be absent in such a matter?

They jumped off their seats in tacit understanding, told the adults one after another that they also wanted to go to the toilet, rushed to the stairs happily, and followed Haibara Ai excitedly.

Dr. Agasa and the remaining two male hosts looked at each other and laughed dryly: "Oh, sorry, I kind of need to go to the restroom too."

After falling into the secret passage, Conan was stunned for a moment, but it didn't hurt at all!

But soon he felt a warm body under him. He quickly stood up and turned on the light, and saw Gen Saikawa lying on the ground with a pale face.

"Sikawa?"

There was no response. Conan's heart skipped a beat. Oh no, could he have been knocked unconscious?

It was not a good idea to leave him lying here like this, so Conan helped him to the wall with great effort, patted Sugawa Gen's hairy head guiltily, and murmured:

"Wait here for a while. I'll go take a look in front and be back soon. Go to sleep for a while and don't wake up."

Conan turned on the flashlight made by Professor Agasa, adjusted Sugawa Gen into a comfortable position, and then turned around and walked into the secret room.

The front half of the secret room was an empty corridor. After walking for almost a minute, a hole appeared. Conan carefully crawled in through the hole and almost missed a step on the stairs that suddenly appeared. His body swayed and he finally managed to stand firm.

“That was dangerous!”

Conan heaved a sigh of relief and walked down carefully. After walking a distance, he finally reached the flat ground. At the transition between the flat ground and the stairs, there was a message engraved: "This person replaced me and wanted to steal the treasure of the castle..."

The characters on the back were blurry, as if they were not finished. Conan frowned, feeling a sense of strangeness.

Is this the man who took my place and stole the castle's treasure?

He made a note of this and continued walking down cautiously. Just three steps away from this place, something suddenly made Conan stumble. He moved the light upwards, and his back was instantly soaked with cold sweat - this was a dry corpse.

Conan took a few steps forward, but the next second, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, his vision went dark, and he instantly lost consciousness.

The tall and thin figure in the darkness threw away the stick, bent down to pick up Conan, stepped over the corpses on the ground indifferently, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.