Ghost Detectives in the Detective World

Page 183

His question immediately changed the atmosphere around them.

After a moment of silence, Kuan Nian finally spoke.

"Little brother, that's just an unbelievable old legend from this deep mountain. The legend says that the celestial dog will sneak into the village like fog on rainy nights, and use its brute strength to break down the walls of the houses and kidnap people!"

"The so-called Mist Tengu is an ancient monster that uses its feet, which can leap into the air, to climb tall trees, hang corpses up, and then eat human flesh."

As Kuan Nian spoke, he suddenly looked at Xiao Lan.

"All those it abducted were young girls with delicate skin, yes, just like this girl..."

"ah!"

Xiaolan was frightened again and quickly hid behind Matsuda and the others.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s just an ancient legend,” Xiu Nian said.

“But…” Mu Nian, who had been silent, suddenly said, her face pale, “This isn’t entirely an ancient legend. After all, a similar strange thing happened two years ago…”

"What kind of strange thing is it?" Matsuda immediately asked.

"Master, just tell me what's going on!" Kogoro Mouri glanced at Matsuda beside him and said provocatively, "I am Kogoro Mouri, the famous detective of Tokyo. Perhaps I can help you find the problem."

"Detective?"

"Maori Kogoro?"

All the monks' expressions changed, especially the old monk, who looked at Kogoro Mori with a solemn expression.

"I never imagined that we would be able to host the famous Tokyo detective..."

"Hahaha……"

Kogoro Mouri was laughing triumphantly.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, the monk Xiu Nian suddenly looked at Matsuda and asked,

“Esteemed benefactor, your face looks very familiar to this humble monk. I wonder if you are related to the famous detective Matsuda Jinpei of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department…”

"Master, you may not know this, but this is Officer Matsuda!" Ran introduced with a smile.

“That’s right, I am Matsuda Jinpei,” Matsuda nodded calmly, though he was secretly overjoyed.

It feels really good to be recognized by others when you're out in the world!

Damn it, I lost again...

Kogoro Mouri, standing to the side, clenched his fists in anger.

Between him and Matsuda, one introduced himself, and the other was recognized. In the contest of fame, it's already quite clear who won and who lost.

"You're actually that famous detective from Tokyo?"

"Officer Matsuda, a strange thing did happen here two years ago!"

"There was a young monk at the time..."

Kuan Nian, Tun Nian, and Mu Nian were all eager to tell Matsuda what they had to say.

Only Xiu Nian remained silent with her head down. This undoubtedly confirmed Matsuda's suspicions even more.

However, before Kuan Nian and the other two could say anything useful, the old monk suddenly became irritable and scolded them.

"Shut up, all of you! Have you all forgotten the agreement not to bring up that incident again?"

“But, Abbot…” the three monks wanted to persuade him further.

"Alright! Immediately take the four benefactors to the guest room, and then all of you, immediately begin your evening prayers!"

After instructing his disciples, the old monk then addressed the four members of the Matsuda group.

"Gentlemen, I don't care if you're police officers or detectives, you've all taken up residence in this temple tonight, but you must leave first thing tomorrow morning!"

……

As night deepened, since there weren't many rooms at Yamano-ji Temple, the four of them, including Matsuda, were all put in one room.

From left to right: Matsuda, Conan, Mori, and Ran.

Logically, after a long day of work, everyone should fall asleep quickly after lying down.

Matsuda had originally thought the same thing; he planned to wait until the other three were asleep before going out to investigate the situation at the temple.

Unexpectedly, it seemed to be because of the story the old monk had told earlier,

Of the four people in the room, only Kogoro Mouri was carefree and fell asleep as soon as he lay down. The other three were hardly sleepy.

"Well, Officer Matsuda, don't you think there's something off about this temple?" Conan said in a low voice. "I have a feeling that these monks are hiding something."

"Don't have any premonitions. Just look at their unusual reactions before and after. There's definitely something wrong."

Matsuda replied, then suddenly sat up.

"I can't sleep, I'm going out for a smoke!"

After saying that, he got up and left the room.

Conan naturally didn't care where Matsuda went.

But to his surprise, not long after Matsuda left, there was also movement coming from Ran's side.

"Ran-neechan, where are you going?" Conan immediately became alert.

The two people walked out of the room one after the other, could it be...?

"Oh, I...I..." Xiaolan stammered, "I can't sleep, so I'm going for a walk!"

"Sister Ran, I'll go with you!" Conan said hurriedly.

"Alright, Conan, you've had a long day too. I'll just walk around for a bit and then I'll be right back!"

After Ran finished speaking, she rushed out of the room without waiting for Conan's reply.

Damn it, there must be something going on between Ran-neechan and that bastard Matsuda!

Conan clenched his fists and waited for a long time, but Ran and Matsuda didn't return.

The thought that a green light might be emanating from his head made Conan hurriedly crawl out of bed and sneak out to check the situation.

……

After Ran left the room, she intended to catch up with Matsuda and ask him about Shinichi Kudo's situation after the day of the diplomat case, but she couldn't find him anywhere.

She stood in the corridor for a while. It was cold and damp in the deep mountains, and Xiaolan was dressed rather thinly. After a while, she couldn't stand it anymore and decided to go to the toilet first before returning to her room.

Chapter 224 Zhongnian is back

As Xiu Nian had previously described, Xiao Lan made her way towards the bathroom in the dimly lit corridor.

She quickly found the place.

Just looking at the decorative mask hanging above the bathroom door—a mask with a red face, a long white beard, a high nose, and an angry grin—Xiao Lan was so frightened she almost screamed.

But before she could open her mouth, a hand appeared from behind and covered her mouth.

Although Xiaolan is afraid of ghosts, her years of karate training have given her body an instinctive reaction.

Before Xiaolan could even process what was happening, her elbow lashed out at the person behind her.

"Uh..." The person behind him let out a muffled groan.

The somewhat familiar voice immediately calmed Xiaolan down a little.

She wanted to ask for clarification, but because her mouth was covered, she could only make muffled sounds.

Fortunately, the people behind Xiaolan understood her meaning instantly.

"it's me!"

Matsuda's expression was somewhat grim, and he spoke quickly in a low voice.

He finally experienced Xiaolan's fighting prowess. Even with his system-enhanced body, a single elbow strike left him with a throbbing pain in his abdomen.

If this hit an ordinary person, they would probably suffer broken bones and tendons immediately.

Hearing that the person behind her was Matsuda, Ran felt somewhat relieved.

But then, feeling the warmth of the person behind her, she realized that she was being held tightly in Matsuda's arms.

Embarrassed, Xiaolan hurriedly struggled again.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

"Shh, Ran, don't make a sound!" Matsuda quickly whispered, "I'm investigating a case, and the culprit is nearby!"

Hearing him say that, Xiaolan, though still a little shy, finally stopped struggling.

Upon seeing this, Matsuda quickly released her.

"loose……"

Just as Xiaolan was about to ask about the details of the case, she heard footsteps coming from not far away.

Remembering that Matsuda had mentioned the prisoner was nearby, she quickly held her breath and stood beside him, secretly observing the movements in the corridor.

"That is……"

Xiao Lan watched the short figure walk through the corridor and finally enter the old monk's room at the very back.

"Is it Master Xiu Nian?"

In the entire Shanni Temple, Xiu Nian is the only person with such a small stature.

"Um,"

Matsuda nodded, took a step, and walked to the old monk's door.

Driven by curiosity, Ran also quietly followed Matsuda.

Matsuda and Ran stood at the door, and could hear that the old monk inside seemed to still be awake.

Upon seeing Xiu Nian go inside, the old monk immediately asked,

"Xiu Nian, what...what are you doing here?"

His voice was somewhat drunk, clearly indicating that he had drunk quite a bit earlier.