Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

"Let's go," Ikeba Shizuka snorted, her tone leaving no room for argument, clearly indicating that she had entered "business as usual" mode, and took the lead in walking out.

Lin Xiuyi touched his nose in frustration, knowing that Chi Bojinghua was upset that he insisted on going alone, but he also understood her concerns.

He shook his head helplessly and could only follow.

Yukiko watched the two figures disappear into the distance, clicking her tongue in amazement.

"I never expected that Sister Jinghua could actually keep him in check!"

In the girl's memory, Lin Xiuyi was always meticulous and decisive, and rarely "controlled" like this.

Seeing him obediently follow Ikeba Shizuka's arrangements at this moment, it was hard not to feel a sense of novelty.

"That's because Jinghua is right, unlike you who's just being unreasonable!" Eri crossed her arms and gave Yukiko a disgruntled look.

"Who's being unreasonable!"

Yukiko instantly bristled, her eyes widening in displeasure, hands on her hips.
"I was just concerned about Shuichi, okay! But you, you always have that icy face, like everyone owes you money. Only Shuichi can put up with you!"

"Whoever is being unreasonable knows it in their heart!"

Eri Kisaki didn't back down and glared back.

"At least I won't be like some people who fool around regardless of the occasion and only cause trouble when it matters!"

……

The two of them talked back and forth, and their tone became increasingly aggressive.

Lingzi stood to the side, looking at this person and then at that person, her little face full of helplessness. She wanted to mediate the fight but didn't know what to say.

"Alright, let's leave them alone."

Tomizawa Chikage shook her head helplessly, stepped forward, took Reiko's small hand, and then turned to greet Orikasa Midori, who was standing to the side.
"Let's go to the living room to watch the news. Maybe we'll even see Shuichi on TV."

"Can I see Onii-chan?"

Upon hearing this, Reiko's eyes lit up, and she immediately cheered.

In the little girl's heart, her brother-in-law's figure is always the most dazzling, and being able to see him on TV is undoubtedly a happy thing.

Midori Orikasa glanced hesitantly at Eri and Yukiko, who were still locked in a standoff, and hesitated for a moment.

"...Shouldn't we call them too?"

"Don't worry." Tomizawa Chikage chuckled twice. "Let them argue. They'll come to us when they're tired of arguing."

After saying that, Tomizawa Chikage turned and walked towards the living room with Reiko and Orikasa Midori.

The television in the living room was already on, playing the morning news.

The scene on the screen clearly shows the terracotta warriors being transported to the dock last night, with the reporter vividly recounting the thrilling situation.

……

On the other side, Ikenami Shizuka drove Hayashi Hideichi towards Shimazu Katsu's residence.

As the car drove through the streets of Osaka, the morning sunlight streamed through the windows, falling on the two of them, but it couldn't dispel the heavy atmosphere inside the car.

Ikeba Shizuka gripped the steering wheel, her eyes focused intently on the road ahead. After a long silence, she finally couldn't help but turn her head to the side.

"Shuichi, why do you think those thieves killed the Shimazu Katsuzane family? Was it really just to steal their treasure?"

In her view, although the Shimazu family was a prominent family in Osaka, they did indeed possess a considerable collection of antiques and jewelry.
But for the sake of robbery alone, there's no need to kill more than twenty people. Leaving no one alive—such cruelty is truly abnormal.

“The treasure is probably only part of the reason,” Lin Xiuyi shook his head, his fingers unconsciously tapping his knee. “It was just a simple robbery. There was no need to kill them all. They could have just taken the treasure and left. They wouldn’t have spent the time and energy killing so many people.”

“I always felt that they were silencing people, completely silencing them, leaving no one alive.”

Last night, when he fought with that group of thieves, he had already sensed their ruthlessness; they showed no mercy and didn't care about human lives at all.

Even so, he never expected that the other party would be so ruthless as to kill more than twenty people.

"Quiet?"

Startled, Ikeba Shizuka gripped the steering wheel tightly and instinctively slammed on the brakes.

With a screeching sound of brakes, the car's tires left two black marks on the ground, nearly crashing into a sycamore tree by the roadside.

Caught off guard, Lin Xiuyi was thrown forward by inertia, her forehead slamming heavily against the windshield with a dull thud.

"hiss……"

Lin Xiuyi gasped, rubbed her forehead, and looked pained.

"Feel sorry!"

Ikeba Shizuka finally snapped out of her daze, hurriedly apologized, quickly steadied the steering wheel, and readjusted the direction to continue driving.

"Shuichi, could it be... could it be that Shimazu Katsu, like you, also stopped these thieves from stealing the Terracotta Warriors, and that's why he was silenced in retaliation?"

Her face was pale; she was clearly frightened by her own guess.

If that's the case, then Lin Xiuyi's situation is extremely dangerous.

Those thieves are capable of wiping out entire families, so what's a little revenge on someone who gets in the way of their plans?
Lin Xiuyi rubbed her forehead, where a small bump had formed.
"It shouldn't be. Last night's operation was personally arranged by Minister Ikenami, and the police officers involved were all carefully selected. If Shimazu Katsu really participated in the operation, Minister Ikenami would definitely have mentioned him. But I've never heard of that name before."

"If that's not the case, why would those thieves want to silence Shimazu Katsu?" Ikenami Shizuka asked, puzzled. "Did Shimazu Katsu know some secret about them? Or did he see something he shouldn't have?"

Lin Xiuyi was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke, his tone calm but the content astonishing: "Silencing someone doesn't necessarily mean targeting the enemy."

Ikeba Shizuka was taken aback, not fully understanding: "What do you mean?"

“Even among our own people,” Lin Xiuyi whispered a reminder, “we can silence them.”

"One of our own?" Ikeba Shizuka was startled and instinctively slammed on the brakes again.

This time it was even more sudden than the last time. Fortunately, Lin Xiuyi was prepared and used his hands to brace himself in front of him, so he didn't hit his head like before.

"Feel sorry."

Ikeba Shizuka gave an awkward laugh, restarted the car, but the speed was noticeably slower.

“I… I just didn’t think of that possibility. The Shimazu family is a prominent family in Osaka, with influence in both the business and political worlds. How could they possibly be associated with those thieves? That doesn’t make sense.”

Lin Xiuyi looked out the window, her eyes deep: "It might not have mattered before. But what if they covet China's Terracotta Army?"

"This……"

Chibo Jinghua paused, still not quite understanding.

Lin Xiuyi sneered: "Have you ever considered how many problems have arisen in just a few days since the Osaka government borrowed the Terracotta Warriors from China for an exhibition?" (End of Chapter)