The Shinkansen couldn't stay stopped for long, so it quickly restarted.
Jangxia Tongzhi and his three classmates returned to their seats. The mood had quieted down significantly.
Suzuki Sonoko was still mourning the martyr from earlier.
But after a while, she glanced over at Ran Mouri, who looked gloomy, and then at Jangxia, who hadn't done anything in particular but now seemed exhausted, as if he was covering up his sorrow with sleepiness... and suddenly, she realized this wasn't good.
She'd heard that emotions were contagious.
She couldn't let Jangxia soak too long in this cloud of sadness!
Sonoko quickly perked up and started chatting with Jangxia about her sister's villa, trying to lighten the mood.
She figured, sure, they'd stumbled into another murder case—again—but whatever! They still had a mountain villa getaway to look forward to. The scenery was lovely, and best of all, there was no signal. That meant no phones, only good old-fashioned face-to-face communication. In Sonoko's opinion, this was the perfect place to replace that **** doctor in Jangxia's heart!
…
Two hours later—
Sonoko began questioning her life choices.
Was this trip really going to leave good memories?
She was hiding behind Jangxia now, cautiously poking her head out to stare at the suspension bridge ahead of them.
It stretched across a deep mountain ravine, with whitewater tumbling below. On the other side stood the Suzuki family's villa.
Just moments ago, Sonoko had been thrilled to see the place in the distance—finally, they'd made it! Time to drop their bags, rest, and have some fun.
But as they stepped onto the suspension bridge, Sonoko spotted someone already on it.
A person in a black robe with a hood, back turned, walking toward the villa.
Sonoko figured it was probably one of her sister's friends.
She called out to them from afar—but when the person turned around, they revealed a face completely wrapped in bandages.
In the dim light of the mountains, with the wind howling through the trees, this mysterious wrapped-up figure could've been anything—ghost, demon, or something worse.
Sonoko and Ran both gasped, instantly ducking behind Jangxia and shaking like leaves.
"You—you saw that, right?!"
Of course Jangxia saw it.
And he also picked up on the faint scent of murder drifting through the mountain wind.
…Unfortunately, the murderous intent was low-quality.
…
The bandaged man didn't stick around. He bolted, crossing the bridge in a hurry and vanishing into the forest near the villa.
With the path clear again, Jangxia moved to continue forward.
But the moment he took a step, he was yanked back by two girls empowered by sheer terror.
Sonoko stared at the spot where the bandaged man had disappeared and asked hesitantly, "He's going to the villa too? What's with the outfit?"
Jangxia thought for a moment and replied calmly, "Probably just windy up in the mountains, so he wore a hat and a cape."
He didn't want to freak out his classmates.
If they ended up calling the police from the villa landline, or even worse, getting security involved, there'd be no ghost left for him to pick up…
To sell the story further, Jangxia even pulled his own hood up. "It is a little cold."
The other three: "…"
Conan: "…Are you nearsighted?"
Is that what you're focusing on? The hat and the cape? The man's entire face was wrapped in bandages! Normal people don't dress like that for fun.
Jangxia nodded seriously. "Fair point."
He was lying.
But it seemed like a solid excuse—one worth saving for future use. Jangxia mentally filed it away.
Sonoko and Ran looked like they wanted to explain just how suspicious the man on the bridge had looked.
But then again, he hadn't done anything wrong. He actually ran away when he saw them. Maybe he was just a really awkward middle schooler…
No need to ruin Jangxia's mood by bringing it up.
…
The four of them crossed the suspension bridge and reached the villa door.
Sonoko was about to ring the bell when they suddenly heard a loud clatter from the side of the house.
Immediately, the two girls froze, thinking of the bandaged man again. Their hair practically stood on end.
Conan, brave as ever, ran toward the noise.
Jangxia followed.
They traced the sound to a small shed.
Peeking inside through the open door, they saw a young woman standing there.
She had slightly wavy hair, squinty eyes, and a facial structure that looked an awful lot like Sonoko's.
Sonoko took one look and sighed in relief, then ran over and hugged her. "Sis!"
Suzuki Ayako smiled and greeted them, then looked over the others.
She'd met Ran before.
So Ayako turned to the unfamiliar face. "This must be your classmate," she said kindly to Jangxia. Then she glanced down at Conan. "And this is the child staying at Ran's place? How cute."
She wanted to ruffle Conan's hair, but her hands were dirty from handling firewood.
In the end, she just nodded. "Come on in and put down your luggage. You guys are hauling way too much."
Jangxia couldn't just let their host keep working while he relaxed.
So he handed his bag off to Ran, asked his classmates to carry their stuff inside, and stayed back to help stack the firewood.
Ran and Sonoko wanted to help too, but the shed was cramped and the job wasn't that big. They took the hint and headed into the villa.
Conan didn't leave either.
He held onto a few sticks of firewood—each taller than he was—and asked Ayako, "Sister Ayako, are any of your guests today wearing bandages on their face?"
"Bandages?" Ayako tilted her head. "No, I don't think so."
"Any cosplayers? Or… middle schoolers?"
This get-together was a mini class reunion Ayako had organized. Sonoko had just tagged along and brought her friends.
So Ayako knew the guests better than her little sister did.
But even so, it had been years since they'd last seen each other. She wasn't exactly up to date on everyone's latest hobbies. "Maybe?" she answered vaguely.
Conan nodded thoughtfully.
Jangxia glanced at him but wasn't too worried. Conan might act sharp, but half the time, he was just collecting data for fun—not actually stopping crimes.
…
They finished stacking the firewood and headed back into the villa.
As soon as they opened the door, a girl's scream rang out from the second floor.
Followed immediately by another one.
…That second scream was definitely Ran's.
Conan's face changed and he took off running upstairs.
Ayako blinked and looked up toward the second floor, tilting her head. But she didn't seem alarmed.
Because to her, those screams sounded more like embarrassment than fear…
Jangxia had a good guess about what happened.
He set the firewood by the fireplace first.
Then, while heading upstairs to find his classmates and pick up his luggage, he asked around—and confirmed exactly what he'd suspected.
Turns out, there were three boys attending this party.
And all three had forgotten to lock their doors.
Sonoko, with her regular room, got settled with no problem.
Ran, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky—she opened one door and walked in on a half-naked man in the middle of changing.
Panicking, she screamed and slammed the door shut… then hurriedly opened another one—only to get an instant replay.
Three doors later, after seeing every single male guest in some state of undress, Ran finally found her own room and fled inside like her life depended on it.
…Thanks to all that, Jangxia's room search was much smoother. Every single door was locked after that.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 30 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 28/50(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS*