Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 132 The foggy dog

"call--!"

The weather in the mountains can change in an instant.

The three of them had just finished eating their lunchboxes in the afternoon when suddenly large dark clouds drifted in from the sky, and a strong wind picked up.

Cherry blossom petals mixed with drizzle hit my face, chilly and completely ruining the previous beautiful scene.

"That's enough for today," the doctor said sullenly, starting the car. "I wonder if the fireworks display tonight will still be able to take place..."

"Cuck!"

A flock of crows took flight from the woods in fright, and in no time the sky became completely dark.

The car's headlights illuminated the woods ahead, but the view on both sides was even more terrifyingly dark, as if something was lurking in the shadows.

"Did you hear anything?" Ai asked, hugging the black cat tightly.

"They're just some crows."

"Woo!"

Just then, a crying sound came from the woods, startling the doctor who was driving, who nearly crashed into a tree by the roadside.

"Don't, don't be afraid," the doctor said, wiping away a forced smile, "It's probably just the wind..."

"Ugh——!"

The soft sobs suddenly turned into loud wailing, instantly freezing the doctor's smile. He tried to speed away, but the car stalled on the spot with a strange loud noise.

"my car!"

"I told you long ago that this car isn't suitable for going up the mountain."

Gao Mo opened the car door and looked across the woods.

"It's nothing, someone is just crying."

"Someone is crying? There's no one else here."

Dr. Agasa was even more frightened. His obese body sat stiffly in the driver's seat, constantly wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Amo, give me a hand. The engine must have broken down when we were climbing the hill earlier. Let me fix it..."

"I'll go check it out." Gao Mo's heart stirred slightly, and he took the initiative to follow the sound of crying through the woods.

A temple suspended in mid-air can be seen in the distance beside the cliff waterfall.

There was no sign of death, yet the notebook exhibited a subtle reaction.

It seems a murder occurred here.

"who are you?"

The crying stopped, and a chubby, bald little monk, probably in middle school age, stood up from the bushes. As he wiped away his tears, he revealed a simple grave behind him.

How did you end up here?

"We were looking at cherry blossoms on the mountain when the weather suddenly changed."

Gao Mo withdrew his gaze from the direction of the cliff.

Are you a monk from that temple over there?

"Uh, I'm Xiu Nian, a monk from there." The young monk wore thick, round-framed glasses and spoke with a somewhat introverted air.

"Meow--!"

A sharp meow came from the broken-down car behind them, startling the little monk so much that he shrank back.

Inside the Volkswagen Beetle, Ai Haibara hugged the black cat and retreated to a corner, her eyes trembling as she gazed out the other window.

In the tall and deep forest, a twisted black shadow slowly gathered by the roadside. Its hollow features resembled a child's scribbles, with black lines squeezed together.

"Crack!"

A flash of lightning illuminated the forest, the shadow vanished, and a terrifying face with a red face and a long nose suddenly pressed against the window, its long tongue uttering strange syllables of incomprehensible meaning.

Ai was so terrified that she couldn't make a sound, as if she were being choked, while only the black cat's fur stood on end and it kept howling.

"What's wrong, Ai?"

The doctor, who reluctantly went outside to repair the car, sounded anxious, but when he looked in the direction Ai was looking, he couldn't find anything.

"Ai?!"

"call!"

Gao Mo rushed back to the car with the little monk, only to find Xiao Ai looking terrified.

"what happened?"

“Just now,” Ai pointed to the other window, “there was a red-faced, long-nosed monster…”

“I didn’t see anything,” the doctor said, distressed. “Let’s leave as soon as the car is fixed. Ai might be hallucinating because she was frightened by the thunder.”

"It's the Mist Tengu!"

The little monk following behind Gao Mo cried out in fear, his face even more pale than Xiao Ai's. "It's not an illusion, that thing really appeared!"

“Little master,” Professor Agasa said, a chill creeping down his spine, “the Tengu you’re talking about is…”

"It's an ancient legend from this area."

The little monk's chubby face trembled, as if he were terrified, yet his fingers clenched tightly, his eyes filled with anger and pain.

"Legend has it that there is a kind of monster that moves like fog on rainy nights, possesses the immense strength to easily break through houses, and likes to fly to high places to hang up and eat those it abducts..."

“But this is just a legend, right?” Professor Agasa turned back to continue repairing the car. “There’s no way such a thing could exist in reality… I think it’s just a rumor that people in the past saw large birds hunting and then spread it around.”

"Boom!"

As a rumble of thunder spread, the clouds in the sky grew even thicker.

The young monk remained silent and did not continue the topic of the misty tengu. Seeing that a downpour was imminent, he quickly said, "I think you shouldn't rush down the mountain. Why don't you stay at our temple for the night? It's still dozens of kilometers from here to the foot of the mountain, and it would be troublesome if something happened along the way."

"There's a temple here?"

Dr. Agasa did not refuse.

He was afraid of being trapped in the mountains, since he didn't care where he stayed.

Heavy rain can cause flash floods and mudslides, which are very dangerous.

"Boom!"

The closer you get to the cliff, the clearer the sound of the waterfall becomes. The silvery water is cut off and splits beside the mountain temple, whose architecture is rich in history.

It seems to be the place of practice for some enlightened monk.

However, the scenery, which should have been full of Zen-like tranquility, now carried a sense of dread.

Mist Tengu...

Gao Mo pondered, holding Xiao Ai's hand.

Is it the Tengu incident?

If he initially got involved in the murder case to deal with Death, now he has a greater need—to reclaim the rules of death for the notebook.

He only thought of coming over to take a look because this place could elicit a response from the notes.

However, unlike the family next door, it is virtually impossible for a normal person to happen to be involved in a murder case.

I don't know what's going on here.

"Shanni Temple? Never heard of it."

The temple was built close to the mountainside. The group walked along a mountain path on the edge of the cliff. The path was relatively smooth, but the deep valley just a few steps away made Professor Agasa's heart pound with fear.

"Why build a temple in a place like this?"

"Because they were monks who sought refuge here a long time ago, they have actually gained some fame over the years, especially after what happened two years ago."

The young monk Xiu Nian led several people into the temple.

The inside looks much more spacious than the outside, but it's dilapidated and seems to have been neglected for a long time.

Xiao Ai tightened her grip on her fingers and looked back at the dense forest she had just passed through.

Another dark shadow appeared faintly at the edge of the dense forest.

"Xiu Nian, where did you run off to?"

An aged voice came from the darkness inside the room. The voice carried a candlestick, and the person had a pointed nose and a long beard—it was a monstrous old monk wearing a straw raincoat.

"These people are..."

“They are tourists who are trapped in the mountains,” the young monk said, keeping his head down and not mentioning his whereabouts. “They will stay here for the night.”

"Accommodation?"

The old monk, who had been frowning, suddenly broke into a smile and greeted him warmly.

"Come in quickly. I am the abbot here, Ten'ei. Our temple also runs an inn, with vegetarian meals included... It costs 10,000 yen per adult, 8,000 yen per child, and an extra 5,000 yen if you have a pet."

"what?!"

Professor Agasa, who was visiting with his hands behind his back, turned around in surprise.

He thought he was just asking for lodging, but it turned out he was being charged money, and at such a high price.

"Ten thousand yen? Or is it charged per person?"

“Because there’s also a tour fee,” the old monk Tianyong said with a smile, rubbing his hands together. “Actually, it’s not too expensive. It’s better than losing your life outside. This kind of weather is the most dangerous.”

That old guy is definitely trying to rip people off.

Dr. Agasa was so angry that his beard trembled.

"I can let everything else go, but charging for the cat is just too much!"

(End of this chapter)