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Chapter 1108: Pfft, a bunch of scheming dogs!
"That's right, we have to hurry up!" Genta speculated, "But could the waterfall be the Waterfall Hot Spring July mentioned?"
Mitsuhiko, thinking about how July could decipher the cipher in another way, also felt a bit anxious. "It's the one July said looked like the Yamata no Orochi..."
"It's a pity, if July wasn't lying, that's a hot spring, not fresh water," Haibara Ai said. "And judging from the temperature of the underground level and the moisture on the wall, he wasn't lying."
"Then could it be the pond on the First Floor?" Ayumi speculated, "There are also many carp in there, aren't there?"
"But there's no waterfall there," Mitsuhiko said.
"Quiet down and listen carefully..." Conan reminded the three children to pay attention to the sound of the rushing waterfall. "Hear it? The sound has already guided us to where the treasure is located..."
Meanwhile, outside by the waterfall, a certain old lady emerged from the pond above the waterfall, clutching a snake, and climbed up the nearby rock face, speaking in the voice of a young male high school student, "Ah, there's no way, the diamond is quite large, but it's right at the key point of the mechanism. Even if Feichi is asked to help pull it carefully, there's no way to get it. If it's touched casually, that mechanism will be activated. Luckily, I've already looked, and that jewel isn't the one I'm looking for..."
Chi Feichei received Feichi and let Feichi crawl under his clothes to hide.
"Anyway, thanks for your trouble this time, you and Feichi. I'll treat you guys to a big meal another day!" Kuroba Kaito didn't feel awkward wearing the old lady's face and using his own voice. "What about you? Are you still waiting to catch people?"
Chi Feichei didn't care about it. Under his Heat Vision, Kuroba Kaito was actually kneeling, shrunk under a layer of fake skin. His entire posture was even stranger. "Since we're already here, how could I give up?"
"Then I'll stay and help you too," Kuroba Kaito, in the disguise of the old lady, climbed back down the stone wall and pasted a card on the stone wall that read 'Niō Stone has been received - Kaito Kid'. He explained, "By the way, I'll stop them so they don't accidentally trigger the mechanism while trying to get the diamond and cause us all to be washed away by the flood..."
Not long after, the tall, thin woman quietly arrived. She discovered the card pasted on the cliff face by the waterfall, waded through the water to see the card, frowned, and then suddenly heard the sound of children talking. She turned around and went back, climbing up the cliff face on the shore.
Soon, Conan and the other four arrived at the pond by the waterfall. Genta, Ayumi, and Mitsuhiko impatiently opened their watch flashlights and walked into the pond.
Haibara Ai observed the shore and whispered to Conan, "The corpse that the Doctor and we carried to the shore before is gone."
"Yeah," Conan's gaze was solemn. "After we left, that murderer hid the corpse in other places, probably wanting to hide their crime."
Then, the possibility of July and the burly man they encountered upon entering the house being the murderer was small. That left the old lady and that woman...
"What are you talking about?" The burly man arrived behind the two people at some point, glancing at Conan and asking, "What corpse?"
These kids these days, they said they were leaving, but they actually snuck back... Scheming!
On the stone wall by the shore, the woman saw the three children, Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi, standing at the edge of the pond, lowering their heads and looking for something unusual in the water. She also spoke out, "It's a pity, I finally managed to get out from inside, but it seems I was still a step late..."
Mitsuhiko looked up in surprise and saw the woman. "It's the older sister from just now!"
"What do you mean 'a step late'?" Genta asked in doubt.
The woman looked towards the white card on the cliff face by the waterfall. "Look at the card there..."
The three children ran to the waterfall and saw that Kaito Kid had actually already succeeded and left a card, immediately feeling disappointed.
"Has the diamond been taken by Kaito Kid?"
"Is that true or false?"
"You're kidding!"
Conan looked at the woman, who was completely soaked, and thought that this woman might also be Kaito Kid, and the diamond had not been taken.
This was the most tiring time he had led a team.
Besides their small team, the other four people were all mysterious and harbored unknown dangerous attributes.
A murderer, a Kaito Kid, one or more Bounty Hunters.
These people were all shrewd. On the surface, they seemed to be getting along harmoniously, but in reality, there was all sorts of guarding against, testing, calculation, and veiled remarks. It was not easy for him to lead a group of kids to survive in the crack among these people while also trying to get clues and constantly analyzing who was Kid, who was the murderer, whether July was Kid in disguise or the murderer, and what the situation was with the other two people.
Compared to dealing with a single criminal in the past, dealing with these people was much more troublesome...
"Ah, ah... As expected of the great thief famous all under heaven!" A certain old lady who should have left also jumped out, exaggerating in an old voice, "If it was stolen by that phantom thief who can deceive the eyes and ears of the world, then perhaps that was Sansui Kichiemon's original intention."
Conan: "..."
Didn't they say they were leaving?
Pfft, a bunch of scheming dogs!
The tall, thin woman, Poisonous Rat: "..."
As a result, they all snuck back?
Pfft, a bunch of scheming dogs!
The burly man: "..."
Neither the old nor the young are honest.
Pfft, a bunch of scheming dogs!
Genta felt speechless. "Old woman, you haven't gone home yet?"
"Ah!" Mitsuhiko didn't sit steadily and fell into the pond. Fortunately, the water wasn't deep, and he climbed back to the shore of the pond himself, breathing heavily, scared.
"Let's retreat! Retreat!" The burly man saw that Mitsuhiko was fine, turned around and said, "Speaking of which, July wouldn't have run here too, would he?"
"Who knows," Kuroba Kaito, disguised as the old lady, followed, sighing, "But it's useless even if he comes, the diamond was already taken by Kaito Kid..."
"I, I saw it!" Mitsuhiko, who had fallen into the pond, finally caught his breath and had an astonished expression. "Under the mud at the bottom of the pond, there's a glowing stone!"
The atmosphere changed instantly. Conan and the two treasure hunters simultaneously looked towards the pond.
"Haha, the jewel is mine after all!" The burly man, relying on his good stamina, accelerated to the shore of the pond and leaped into the pond water with a mad expression.
Kuroba Kaito couldn't stop him in time and could only anxiously shout, "You can't take this! Hey, come back quickly!"
Conan staring at the man swimming towards the middle of the pond, thought of the latter half of the engraving on the stone lantern: 'People who are not afraid of the wrath of Nioh, acquire stone blocks that are hard to hold in your hands, and recognize the truth of eternity'. His face suddenly turned fearful.
"Hey, nobody move!" The woman sitting on the cliff face already held a pistol tightly in her hand, pointing it at Conan and the others standing by the shore of the pond. Her tone was leisurely. "So it was at the bottom of the pond. I was almost fooled by that thief. I didn't look properly just now... Alright, July, come out. If you don't want me to pick anyone from these kids and old women to practice shooting on!"
Pointed at by the muzzle, Conan and the other four members of the Junior Detective League had very ugly expressions. Kuroba Kaito, disguised as the old lady, also stopped moving.
But after a moment, the surroundings were still quiet. The black-robed man they imagined did not appear.
The woman frowned impatiently. "July, you'd better come out quickly. I don't believe a Bounty Hunter would easily give up their goal. The water stain you left on the cliff face by the waterfall before hasn't dried yet!"
Kuroba Kaito: "..."
Uh... that water stain was left when he climbed up and down.
Conan suddenly laughed out loud, "Pfft! Hahaha..."
The woman's attention was drawn over. "Kid, what are you laughing at?"
"I'm laughing at you, older sister," Conan stopped laughing loudly, raised his head, and looked at the woman with the pure gaze of a child. "I don't know if a Bounty Hunter would easily give up their goal, but if July came for the diamond and found out the diamond couldn't be taken, maybe he already left. Then aren't you being nervous about the air for most of the day?"
The woman became angry and embarrassed. "What did you say?!"
Ayumi saw the woman's angry expression and reached out to pull Conan's hem. "Co-Conan..."
"Before in the underground level, you tripped over the skeleton and fell to the ground, that was intentional too, wasn't it?" Conan's corner of mouth curved into a smile after seeing the black-robed figure quietly appearing and approaching behind the woman. He continued staring at the woman, speaking to attract her attention. "You are the Poisonous Rat who just killed your companion! You would kill a companion you were treasure hunting with for treasure you haven't even gotten your hands on. This shouldn't be the first time you've done this. Then, the bounty you're worth should be quite a bit. For a Cleaner Hunter like July, you are a precious treasure. So you were worrying that July would intervene against you and were guarding against in advance. Pretending to fall before was to figure out July's body shape and confirm whether he was wearing a bulletproof vest, because July's body was enveloped in a loose black robe, and this could only be known through personal contact..."
Behind the woman, the black-robed man stood quietly. From under the black robe, he took out a small bottle and a white handkerchief, and unhurriedly poured the liquid from the small bottle onto the handkerchief.
Genta, Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, a certain old lady, and Haibara Ai staring at the 'Poisonous Rat' on the cliff face were dumbfounded. On the surface, they seemed surprised by the truth Conan spoke, but actually, they were surprised by a certain black-robed person's action.
July was just standing behind the person so openly, leisurely preparing to subdue them?
Speaking of which, didn't this woman with the code name 'Poisonous Rat' discover that something was wrong behind her? Like a strange sound or something...
This situation was a bit different from the development they imagined, which was 'Cleaner Hunter and target criminal engaging in a fierce combat, ultimately capturing the criminal'... The style was unique!
Conan's corner of mouth also twitched slightly, trying hard to maintain his expression without breaking. "Unfortunately, July and that uncle were also alert. When they saw you fall, they didn't subconsciously reach out to help you up, but stopped and subsided, making your intention fall through..."
"Actually, I didn't have much hope, I was just trying," The gun in the woman's hand was aimed at Conan, her expression leisurely. "After all, these bastard Bounty Hunters are very lacking in gentlemanly spirit, especially Cleaners... Ugh..."
A white handkerchief was placed over the woman's mouth and nose.
The woman's expression changed from leisurely to astonished in a second. Caught off guard, she inhaled the anesthetic. There was also a hand reaching out from behind her, which had already grabbed her right hand wrist holding the gun. She held her breath and tried to struggle, but found her whole body was tightly restrained. After being stunned, she bent her left hand elbow and smashed it back heavily.
This elbow strike hit the black robe, but did not hit Chi Feichei's body.
While seizing the gun, Chi Feichei grabbed the woman's right hand wrist and twisted it, causing the woman's right hand wrist to dislocate. When the woman's left elbow hit nothing, his right hand wrapped around the front of the woman's body and grabbed the woman's left hand wrist, twisting it the same way, causing the woman's left hand wrist to also dislocate.
And during this period, the handkerchief covering the woman's mouth and nose was still not released.
Since he knew the 'Poisonous Rat's' left hand would be free, how could he give the other party a chance to counterattack?
In the 'Poisonous Rat's' groggy state, as long as she timed it right and slightly shifted her body, she could dodge.
End of Chapter
"That's right, we have to hurry up!" Genta speculated, "But could the waterfall be the Waterfall Hot Spring July mentioned?"
Mitsuhiko, thinking about how July could decipher the cipher in another way, also felt a bit anxious. "It's the one July said looked like the Yamata no Orochi..."
"It's a pity, if July wasn't lying, that's a hot spring, not fresh water," Haibara Ai said. "And judging from the temperature of the underground level and the moisture on the wall, he wasn't lying."
"Then could it be the pond on the First Floor?" Ayumi speculated, "There are also many carp in there, aren't there?"
"But there's no waterfall there," Mitsuhiko said.
"Quiet down and listen carefully..." Conan reminded the three children to pay attention to the sound of the rushing waterfall. "Hear it? The sound has already guided us to where the treasure is located..."
Meanwhile, outside by the waterfall, a certain old lady emerged from the pond above the waterfall, clutching a snake, and climbed up the nearby rock face, speaking in the voice of a young male high school student, "Ah, there's no way, the diamond is quite large, but it's right at the key point of the mechanism. Even if Feichi is asked to help pull it carefully, there's no way to get it. If it's touched casually, that mechanism will be activated. Luckily, I've already looked, and that jewel isn't the one I'm looking for..."
Chi Feichei received Feichi and let Feichi crawl under his clothes to hide.
"Anyway, thanks for your trouble this time, you and Feichi. I'll treat you guys to a big meal another day!" Kuroba Kaito didn't feel awkward wearing the old lady's face and using his own voice. "What about you? Are you still waiting to catch people?"
Chi Feichei didn't care about it. Under his Heat Vision, Kuroba Kaito was actually kneeling, shrunk under a layer of fake skin. His entire posture was even stranger. "Since we're already here, how could I give up?"
"Then I'll stay and help you too," Kuroba Kaito, in the disguise of the old lady, climbed back down the stone wall and pasted a card on the stone wall that read 'Niō Stone has been received - Kaito Kid'. He explained, "By the way, I'll stop them so they don't accidentally trigger the mechanism while trying to get the diamond and cause us all to be washed away by the flood..."
Not long after, the tall, thin woman quietly arrived. She discovered the card pasted on the cliff face by the waterfall, waded through the water to see the card, frowned, and then suddenly heard the sound of children talking. She turned around and went back, climbing up the cliff face on the shore.
Soon, Conan and the other four arrived at the pond by the waterfall. Genta, Ayumi, and Mitsuhiko impatiently opened their watch flashlights and walked into the pond.
Haibara Ai observed the shore and whispered to Conan, "The corpse that the Doctor and we carried to the shore before is gone."
"Yeah," Conan's gaze was solemn. "After we left, that murderer hid the corpse in other places, probably wanting to hide their crime."
Then, the possibility of July and the burly man they encountered upon entering the house being the murderer was small. That left the old lady and that woman...
"What are you talking about?" The burly man arrived behind the two people at some point, glancing at Conan and asking, "What corpse?"
These kids these days, they said they were leaving, but they actually snuck back... Scheming!
On the stone wall by the shore, the woman saw the three children, Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi, standing at the edge of the pond, lowering their heads and looking for something unusual in the water. She also spoke out, "It's a pity, I finally managed to get out from inside, but it seems I was still a step late..."
Mitsuhiko looked up in surprise and saw the woman. "It's the older sister from just now!"
"What do you mean 'a step late'?" Genta asked in doubt.
The woman looked towards the white card on the cliff face by the waterfall. "Look at the card there..."
The three children ran to the waterfall and saw that Kaito Kid had actually already succeeded and left a card, immediately feeling disappointed.
"Has the diamond been taken by Kaito Kid?"
"Is that true or false?"
"You're kidding!"
Conan looked at the woman, who was completely soaked, and thought that this woman might also be Kaito Kid, and the diamond had not been taken.
This was the most tiring time he had led a team.
Besides their small team, the other four people were all mysterious and harbored unknown dangerous attributes.
A murderer, a Kaito Kid, one or more Bounty Hunters.
These people were all shrewd. On the surface, they seemed to be getting along harmoniously, but in reality, there was all sorts of guarding against, testing, calculation, and veiled remarks. It was not easy for him to lead a group of kids to survive in the crack among these people while also trying to get clues and constantly analyzing who was Kid, who was the murderer, whether July was Kid in disguise or the murderer, and what the situation was with the other two people.
Compared to dealing with a single criminal in the past, dealing with these people was much more troublesome...
"Ah, ah... As expected of the great thief famous all under heaven!" A certain old lady who should have left also jumped out, exaggerating in an old voice, "If it was stolen by that phantom thief who can deceive the eyes and ears of the world, then perhaps that was Sansui Kichiemon's original intention."
Conan: "..."
Didn't they say they were leaving?
Pfft, a bunch of scheming dogs!
The tall, thin woman, Poisonous Rat: "..."
As a result, they all snuck back?
Pfft, a bunch of scheming dogs!
The burly man: "..."
Neither the old nor the young are honest.
Pfft, a bunch of scheming dogs!
Genta felt speechless. "Old woman, you haven't gone home yet?"
"Ah!" Mitsuhiko didn't sit steadily and fell into the pond. Fortunately, the water wasn't deep, and he climbed back to the shore of the pond himself, breathing heavily, scared.
"Let's retreat! Retreat!" The burly man saw that Mitsuhiko was fine, turned around and said, "Speaking of which, July wouldn't have run here too, would he?"
"Who knows," Kuroba Kaito, disguised as the old lady, followed, sighing, "But it's useless even if he comes, the diamond was already taken by Kaito Kid..."
"I, I saw it!" Mitsuhiko, who had fallen into the pond, finally caught his breath and had an astonished expression. "Under the mud at the bottom of the pond, there's a glowing stone!"
The atmosphere changed instantly. Conan and the two treasure hunters simultaneously looked towards the pond.
"Haha, the jewel is mine after all!" The burly man, relying on his good stamina, accelerated to the shore of the pond and leaped into the pond water with a mad expression.
Kuroba Kaito couldn't stop him in time and could only anxiously shout, "You can't take this! Hey, come back quickly!"
Conan staring at the man swimming towards the middle of the pond, thought of the latter half of the engraving on the stone lantern: 'People who are not afraid of the wrath of Nioh, acquire stone blocks that are hard to hold in your hands, and recognize the truth of eternity'. His face suddenly turned fearful.
"Hey, nobody move!" The woman sitting on the cliff face already held a pistol tightly in her hand, pointing it at Conan and the others standing by the shore of the pond. Her tone was leisurely. "So it was at the bottom of the pond. I was almost fooled by that thief. I didn't look properly just now... Alright, July, come out. If you don't want me to pick anyone from these kids and old women to practice shooting on!"
Pointed at by the muzzle, Conan and the other four members of the Junior Detective League had very ugly expressions. Kuroba Kaito, disguised as the old lady, also stopped moving.
But after a moment, the surroundings were still quiet. The black-robed man they imagined did not appear.
The woman frowned impatiently. "July, you'd better come out quickly. I don't believe a Bounty Hunter would easily give up their goal. The water stain you left on the cliff face by the waterfall before hasn't dried yet!"
Kuroba Kaito: "..."
Uh... that water stain was left when he climbed up and down.
Conan suddenly laughed out loud, "Pfft! Hahaha..."
The woman's attention was drawn over. "Kid, what are you laughing at?"
"I'm laughing at you, older sister," Conan stopped laughing loudly, raised his head, and looked at the woman with the pure gaze of a child. "I don't know if a Bounty Hunter would easily give up their goal, but if July came for the diamond and found out the diamond couldn't be taken, maybe he already left. Then aren't you being nervous about the air for most of the day?"
The woman became angry and embarrassed. "What did you say?!"
Ayumi saw the woman's angry expression and reached out to pull Conan's hem. "Co-Conan..."
"Before in the underground level, you tripped over the skeleton and fell to the ground, that was intentional too, wasn't it?" Conan's corner of mouth curved into a smile after seeing the black-robed figure quietly appearing and approaching behind the woman. He continued staring at the woman, speaking to attract her attention. "You are the Poisonous Rat who just killed your companion! You would kill a companion you were treasure hunting with for treasure you haven't even gotten your hands on. This shouldn't be the first time you've done this. Then, the bounty you're worth should be quite a bit. For a Cleaner Hunter like July, you are a precious treasure. So you were worrying that July would intervene against you and were guarding against in advance. Pretending to fall before was to figure out July's body shape and confirm whether he was wearing a bulletproof vest, because July's body was enveloped in a loose black robe, and this could only be known through personal contact..."
Behind the woman, the black-robed man stood quietly. From under the black robe, he took out a small bottle and a white handkerchief, and unhurriedly poured the liquid from the small bottle onto the handkerchief.
Genta, Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, a certain old lady, and Haibara Ai staring at the 'Poisonous Rat' on the cliff face were dumbfounded. On the surface, they seemed surprised by the truth Conan spoke, but actually, they were surprised by a certain black-robed person's action.
July was just standing behind the person so openly, leisurely preparing to subdue them?
Speaking of which, didn't this woman with the code name 'Poisonous Rat' discover that something was wrong behind her? Like a strange sound or something...
This situation was a bit different from the development they imagined, which was 'Cleaner Hunter and target criminal engaging in a fierce combat, ultimately capturing the criminal'... The style was unique!
Conan's corner of mouth also twitched slightly, trying hard to maintain his expression without breaking. "Unfortunately, July and that uncle were also alert. When they saw you fall, they didn't subconsciously reach out to help you up, but stopped and subsided, making your intention fall through..."
"Actually, I didn't have much hope, I was just trying," The gun in the woman's hand was aimed at Conan, her expression leisurely. "After all, these bastard Bounty Hunters are very lacking in gentlemanly spirit, especially Cleaners... Ugh..."
A white handkerchief was placed over the woman's mouth and nose.
The woman's expression changed from leisurely to astonished in a second. Caught off guard, she inhaled the anesthetic. There was also a hand reaching out from behind her, which had already grabbed her right hand wrist holding the gun. She held her breath and tried to struggle, but found her whole body was tightly restrained. After being stunned, she bent her left hand elbow and smashed it back heavily.
This elbow strike hit the black robe, but did not hit Chi Feichei's body.
While seizing the gun, Chi Feichei grabbed the woman's right hand wrist and twisted it, causing the woman's right hand wrist to dislocate. When the woman's left elbow hit nothing, his right hand wrapped around the front of the woman's body and grabbed the woman's left hand wrist, twisting it the same way, causing the woman's left hand wrist to also dislocate.
And during this period, the handkerchief covering the woman's mouth and nose was still not released.
Since he knew the 'Poisonous Rat's' left hand would be free, how could he give the other party a chance to counterattack?
In the 'Poisonous Rat's' groggy state, as long as she timed it right and slightly shifted her body, she could dodge.
End of Chapter
