"You are really something."
Haibara Ai stood quietly aside, silently watching his brother dispel the fears of the three children with just a few words and keep them excited. He was silent for a long time, and after a while, he sighed quietly.
It turns out that Sugawa Gen doesn't know how to coax children, he just doesn't want to.
"There's no other way," said Qichuan Yuan with an enigmatic smile. "There are too many children around. What can I do if I don't have a solution?"
Haibara Ai:...even though I say you are fat, you still breathe heavily.
If you want to find Conan, just follow the big footprints. The road ahead is flat. Although the route is confusing, it is not like the previous steps that always appear in unexpected places, so it is much safer to walk.
After following the footprints for about five or six minutes, they finally came to a tightly closed door. The door was a stone door with torn spider silk hanging from the door frame. A gray spider hanging in the air was still tirelessly spinning silk and weaving a web. Unfortunately, just when it had finished weaving a short section, the stone door was opened again. The spider silk it had worked so hard to weave broke again, slowly falling from the air, and landed on the ground dying.
Qichuan Yuan looked at the glaring handprints on the stone gate, frowned in disdain, and clapped his hands.
The dust is so thick that even a casual press can leave a faint fingerprint. But this dust is really hard to deal with. Although it is almost gone, my hands are still dusty. If I am not careful, my clothes will be dirty.
Behind the stone gate is an empty room. Although the scene is not quite appropriate, it can indeed be described as bare.
Along with it came a cloud of dust, the thick dust particles clearly visible under the light, like a car speeding through the desert, splashing up acrid sand.
“Cough cough cough…”
Several people were unable to avoid it and were hit one after another. They fanned the thick dust in front of them frantically and almost coughed out their lungs.
After adjusting to the environment, they finally looked inside the house. Unfortunately, all they saw was empty walls, with no sign of Conan.
"Strange, Qichuan Yuan frowned, "There are no other footprints in the room, but that person's footprints did end here, so Conan is not here?"
Qichuan Yuan squatted down and looked at the layer of dust on the ground, his heart gradually becoming heavy.
The dust layer only had traces of being swept by the stone door, leaving a fan-shaped pattern on the ground. The dust was evenly distributed in other places, with no signs of damage at all. And there was no need for that person to cover up the traces. There were indeed no other footprints here. However, the footprints outside the door did stop here, so where could Conan be hiding?
sector?
Qichuan Yuan's eyes suddenly froze. He looked at the intact, quiet and tidy fan-shaped area and suddenly an idea flashed in his mind, "Xiao Ai, give me the flashlight."
He took the wrist light from Huibara Ai and shone it above the door frame, where there was a square protrusion, which was a button.
"You guys step back for a moment," Qichuan Yuan gestured to the children at the door, then raised his hand and pressed the button.
There was a rumbling sound of heavy stones moving, and the door seemed to tremble a little. Some dust was shaken off by the sudden vibration and fell down. At the same time, the floor next to the wall outside the door seemed to collapse layer by layer, gradually revealing a staircase hidden under the floor.
Haibara Ai grabbed Ayumi, who was about to fall, and nodded to Sugawa Gen: "It's a secret passage!"
I didn't expect that there were more secret passages under the secret passages. Qichuan Yuan gradually began to wonder, with so many secret passages, was this castle connected? How could it be possible to go down all the time?
"These secret rooms and secret passages were designed by the two previous male owners of this castle. These mechanisms, secret rooms and secret passages are spread all over every corner of the castle." Huiyuan Ai explained to him in time, "It is not impossible for this situation to occur."
The stairs were long and the road was dark. They walked carefully for three or four minutes before they reached the ground safely. This looked like a bedroom. Unlike the deserted part before, it seemed that someone had lived here. There were beds, desks, and cabinets. However, all the furniture was charred and could only be vaguely identified, as if they had been burned by a fire.
When the lights illuminated the room, they finally saw the unconscious Conan in the room. Perhaps because she thought a child was not a threat, the woman did not tie Conan up. She just threw him casually on the sofa. He looked calm and peaceful, as if he was sleeping soundly.
Qichuan Yuan was silent. His steady breathing and relaxed posture showed that this carefree guy must have fallen asleep.
"Conan!"
Yuan Tai ran over in surprise and shook vigorously, "Hey, wake up Conan!"
He was really strong. Even a person in a deep coma would probably be awakened by this shaking that was as scary as a pendulum, not to mention that Conan was only in a light coma.
Conan was shaken to the point that his brain seemed to be shaken apart. He frowned and opened his eyes. He saw Genta with an excited face, and Mitsuhiko and Ayumi who were standing beside him and were equally surprised.
The only two things that don't fit in are the brother and sister with paralyzed faces who look like they were copied and pasted together.
Conan's mouth twitched slightly. If he was not mistaken, why did these two people look so speechless?
Conan pretended to be calm and turned his head to look at the children around him and asked, "Why are you here?"
Mitsuhiko explained: "We came to rescue you. You and Brother Qichuan hadn't shown up for so long, and we thought you were in danger."
"And you were in danger. That woman took you here and hid you. If we hadn't come to save you, you might have really lost your life."
Conan: ..Thank you.
Actually you can hope I'll do well.
Ayumi asked worriedly, "But were you knocked unconscious by that woman?"
"I don't know who it was, Conan shook his head, "But it's true that someone knocked me out."
Qichuan Yuan nodded, "It should be that woman. There are no traces of anyone else here."
"It seems that the old lady now is a fake. The real one has been replaced long ago. It is the corpse lying in the secret passage."
Conan quickly realized who had knocked him out, and quickly followed Sugawa Gen's train of thought:
"Considering the words engraved on the ground, this person wants to get the treasure in this castle. However, she is very familiar with these secret passages and must have come into contact with the original drawings."
"Has anyone in this castle cared for the first two men?"
"Yes," Huiyuan Ai thought and nodded, "I remember the gardener said that there was a housekeeper who had been working here before, serving the old lady and the two male masters. But after the two male masters passed away one after another, she also resigned and left."
Conan narrowed his eyes, and suddenly he caught some clues. It turned out that the instigator of all this was the housekeeper. He also knew the motives behind all her actions.
"Mitsuhiko, please contact the doctor and ask him to check the housekeeper here."
Sugawa Gen looked around the dark room and asked, "My wife died in the fire, right? When did she die?"
"He died in a fire in the castle's little tower three years ago."
Qichuan Yuan chuckled and said in an ambiguous tone, "Do you think this is the small tower?"
The study is in the center of the castle. After entering the secret room, keep moving in one direction. After reaching the edge, keep walking down. Now you should be in the southeast corner of the castle, which is the small tower.
It's not impossible, Conan thought about it and started to check the room. Because the room was not small and it was pitch black, Conan searched for a while before he found the door hidden behind the cabinet.
Several people worked together to push open the cabinet, opened the door, and came to the corridor on the first floor.
“It really is a small tower!”
I don't know when the drizzle outside stopped, and the lights in the corridor came on. At a glance, the road was wide, magnificent and bright.
They returned to the third floor and found that the other people in the castle had gathered together at some point. They were sitting in the study, looking vigilantly at the woman who had woken up on the ground at some point.
Dr. Agasa soon found them, "You're back!"
"Doctor, have you found anything?"
"We found out that this woman was the housekeeper. She resigned after the two male owners died. But she later went to a plastic surgery hospital to make herself look like the first wife."
"Don't talk nonsense!"
Even now, the woman was still resisting. Her face was full of ferocity, her eyes were so wide open that only the whites were left, and her voice was hoarse like a beast trapped in a cage. It was sinister and terrifying. Even when tied up like this, she could still burst out with such great strength that she almost rushed in front of Conan.
Respecting the old and loving the young, although he was impatient, he still couldn't take action. Qichuan Yuan quickly bent down and picked up the little detective. He looked at the woman who fell to the ground in a panic after missing the ball with a bad face:
"Don't struggle. A real old lady can't be so agile. Even if she's healthy, she can't take the beatings like you."
The young nobleman was in a complicated mood. He looked at his grandmother who had fallen to the ground with uncertainty. He turned his eyes away and looked at Qichuan Yuan pleadingly: "Then do you know where my grandmother is?"
Qichuan Yuan was silent and whispered: "I'm sorry, the old lady has been killed."
Conan jumped down from Sugawa Gen's arms, his face solemn and his expression cold as he pointed at the housekeeper.
"You are the one who killed the old lady, housekeeper!"
"Because you have been working in the castle, you know the secret passages and buried treasures designed by the two masters. So after the two gentlemen died, you tried every means to replace the old lady. Because you know the old lady's living habits and behavior habits very well, you are not afraid of being discovered. You have been living as the old lady for the treasure in the castle."
Sugawa Gen looked at Conan, nodded, and continued:
"And you killed her to replace the old lady. 'Time corrodes the bones buried underground and wears away the words carved in stone.' Let me make a bold guess that you should know the words the old lady carved on the ground and that she was dying in the secret room."
Seeing that the truth had been revealed, the housekeeper stopped pretending. She was silent for a moment and then laughed hoarsely:
"Yes, but you are wrong. I killed both the men and the wife."
The young nobleman's eyes turned red as he looked at the former housekeeper sadly: "You killed my relatives just for this so-called treasure?"
"Yes," the housekeeper laughed at herself. "It's ridiculous, isn't it? I don't know why I was bewitched. After all these things were done, it was too late for me to regret. This feeling of being tortured by mistakes really makes me live a life worse than death. In fact, emotions engraved in the bones will not disappear easily."
"You can kill me or mutilate me as you please, but before I die, can you please let me see the true appearance of the treasure?"
"You are in the treasure," said Grandpa Aman, sighing slowly. "This castle is the treasure."
The housekeeper was stunned. "What?"
"In fact, I have been studying chess in the research room for many years. Just last year, I finally realized that the answer pointed out by this chessboard is the big boss himself."
A trace of sadness flashed through Ah-man's eyes. He walked to the window and opened the curtains. At this moment, there was a little light in the sky, and the pale pink and red clouds gradually filled the entire castle, rendering beautiful colors on the white and blue castle.
"I will dedicate this castle and this beautiful view to the first person who comes here."
"That's what the old man said. Although my wife says he's a pedantic intellectual, I think he's a true philosopher."
Because her hands were tied, the housekeeper curled up in pain, letting out a lost and regretful laugh, tears streaming from her eyes:
"Hahahaha, I killed all the people who were the best to me just for this thing, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
The morning light outside the window was so bright red that it was blinding. A few crows flapped their wings and flew indifferently past the window, heading towards the morning light.
Sugawa Gen withdrew his gaze and silently comforted the depressed Conan.
Greed is the most terrifying devil. A person whose body is filled with greed is the sinful Satan.
We can correct our mistakes, but once we are dead, we can never be resurrected.
"Where have you gone, Qichuan?"
The car that was driving smoothly in the forest suddenly lost control and drew a curve back and forth. Conan held on to the seat tightly and silently held the phone farther away.
Officer Matsuda, that's horrible!
Qichuan Yuan quickly adjusted the steering wheel, calmed his frightened heart, and said:
"I just came out to play for a while. Don't worry, Conan and Ai are by my side. I took the medicine and my vital signs are safe."
"Who asked you that?" Matsuda Jinpei muttered, as if he picked up something and shook it.
"Hey, someone sent you something and delivered it to my house. Come back and get it!"
How did it end up at Matsuda Jinpei's house?
"Who sent it?"
"The name is Midorikawa Hikaru," Matsuda Jinpei said in confusion, "What a strange name. Do you know this person?"
Midorikawa Hikaru?
Qichuan Yuan was stunned. Isn't this Morofushi Jingguang? Why did he send something to him?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
