Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 189 The True Shadow Magic Notes
night.

Gao Mo and Fan Tianli carried a large amount of ingredients to Zheng Ying's house. Kuroba Kaito and Nakamori Aoko went with them. Sonoko originally wanted to go with them, but Suzuki Tomoko forcibly called her back.

"So that's how it is. That Osaka boy is actually a detective from Mr. Kido's agency."

Fan Tianli was surprised to hear Hattori Heiji mentioned.

"So, Mr. Kido, you're a detective too?"

“Running a detective agency doesn’t necessarily make you a detective,” said Satomi Canma, leaning heavily forward while holding potatoes and greens. “Our boss used to be an idol star, and at his peak, he was even more popular than Mr. Hoshikawa!”

"star?"

Fan Tianli was still confused and didn't react, but Nakamori Aoko exclaimed softly, "I remember now, it's Kido Takamori from TV! But... didn't you get fat and disfigured?"

"It's all for the sake of the show, to make it easier to retire from the entertainment industry. Now I just want to live an ordinary life."

Gao Mo remained calm.

What's past is past.

He enjoys his current life—working behind the scenes and using an alias.

If he hadn't been struggling with time management, he would have originally planned to create another magician persona.

Of course, now that we have the option of recruiting Fan Tianli, there's no need to do everything ourselves.

“I know,” Nakamori Aoko said emotionally, “Everyone says you’re heartbroken and feel hopeless about the world…”

"It's not that exaggerated." Gao Mo was speechless.

It seems that she used a self-inflicted injury ruse to extricate herself from the situation, and it appeared to be overly effective.

“I heard that Keibu is the only son of the Osaka Prefectural Police Chief,” Kaito Kuroba interjected. “It’s really remarkable that a rich kid like that would go all the way to work for Mr. Kido.”

Gao Mo glanced at Kuroba Kaito: "Aren't you still working part-time for our Magic Troupe? It's just a side job."

Fan Tianli's eyelids twitched.

The son of a legendary magician and the head of the Osaka Prefectural Police... This magic troupe's owner is truly remarkable.

“Master’s house is just ahead,” Fan Tianli changed the subject. “Xinghe and Zhanzi have already gone there, so only Master’s wife is home.”

"Mr. Fan Tian must have come back during the last 10 years, right?" Kuroba Kaito shrank back to avoid Gao Mo's gaze.

"I used to come here every year for the past five years. I really hoped that my teacher could come back, but then..."

Fan Tianli looked nostalgic.

After ringing the doorbell, a gentle woman in her fifties opened the entrance door. The crow's feet around her eyes were hard to hide, but one could still vaguely see the beauty that had once made her look stunning.

"You've finally arrived, Fan Tian. Zhanzi and the others were just talking about you."

"You're not talking badly about me, are you?" Fan Tianli joked with a smile.

"how come?"

Mrs. Zhengying curiously looked at Gao Mo and the others behind Fan Tianli.

"These are the members of your magic troupe?"

“I’m just their instructor,” Fan Tianli said, as if he were at home. “It just so happens that the teacher’s archives contain magic information from all over the world, so I thought I’d let them come and take a look.”

“Excuse me, Auntie,” Nakamori Aoko greeted politely, “We went out of our way to buy the ingredients.”

"Alright, come in and sit for a while. I'll prepare dinner right away."

Mrs. Zhengying smiled brightly.

“It’s been a long time since my husband passed away that our house has been this lively.”

“Yes,” Fan Tianli exclaimed, “We used to have guests visiting our teacher often, and the three of us would stay here to train… Speaking of which, even this house was specially built by our teacher for performing magic tricks, right?”

……

The second floor of Zheng Ying's house.

Hoshikawa Tongwu walked down the corridor with a gloomy face, his fingers clenched, and his eyes still showing fear and anger.

"Do you think I don't know why you invited the Kido Magic Troupe? Heh, actually you're eyeing Chikamiya Reiko's magic notebook, right? After all, it's the legacy of a phenomenal genius magician. But the techniques and principles in the notebook are a huge treasure, and we can't let Mr. Hanta keep it all to himself..."

"The teacher's notes?"

"It's true that I stole that notebook from the teacher, but what right do you have to say that to me? Several of your signature magic tricks over the past 10 years came from that notebook... You've been peeking at it for a while now, haven't you? What right do you have to say that to me?"

Himegami Nobuko's mocking laughter kept echoing in Hoshikawa Dogo's mind.

"However, the teacher who kept encouraging me to surpass him didn't even realize that I had stolen the notes, and he suspected you until the very end. What was with that running away from home...?"

As a magician, he was a complete failure. I should inherit his honor. As for you two, as long as you behave yourselves, you can at least get some scraps..."

"You don't want to disappoint those female fans, do you? Tsk tsk, the most handsome and gentle genius magician, if everyone knew your true colors, knew that you had long since lost your talent and had to plagiarize your teacher's magic tricks..."

"Star River?"

Masakage called out to the distraught Hoshikawa Tongwu, puzzled.

"what happened to you?"

"N-nothing," Xinghe Tongwu said, snapping out of his daze. He quickly greeted Gao Mo and the others, "You've finally arrived. Didn't you prepare any grand finale magic tricks for the joint performance?"

“We want to try performing with live puppets,” Satomi Zanma said expectantly. “I should be able to master it in another month.” “That Fantasy Magic Troupe represents magic?”

Xinghe Tongwu's face stiffened slightly, and a hint of desire uncontrollably surged in his eyes.

"I heard that it was originally a magic trick conceived by Reiko Chikamiya, could it be..."

“Yes, like the other magic tricks, they’re all in Ms. Chikamiya’s notes,” Satomi Zanma explained. “We plan to use the magic tricks in there to attract people first.”

"Then let's talk about it again in a month."

Xinghe Tongwu smiled, hiding the jealousy in his heart.

He hasn't made much progress in the 10 years since his teacher disappeared. Although he is on par with Sanada Ichizo, he has actually received a lot of criticism in the industry.

There are more than a few people who say he has no talent for magic.

Indeed, a lot of effort and energy has been spent on marketing over the years.

The main reason for his return to Japan this time was that it was becoming increasingly difficult to make a living abroad, coupled with the magic craze sweeping Japan, and many fans hoped that he would come back to perform. Having returned from studying abroad, he was, in some ways, even more popular than Ichizo Sanada.

Things went pretty much as he had expected.

Most people who watch magic shows don't really understand magic, so they don't care whether the performance is old-fashioned or not.

Fans are drawn to him as a person; the magic tricks are just icing on the cake.

However, he was unwilling to accept this. After all, he was the eldest disciple of Master Zhengying, so how could he not have ambition?
He didn't think he was inferior to Sanada Ichizo, just lacking some inspiration.

That's right, he is the true successor of his teacher, the magician who will carry forward the Zhengying school of magic, he is just temporarily encountering a bottleneck.

If I could borrow Reiko Chikamiya's magic notebook...

“Xinghe,” Fan Tianli hesitated, “has Zhanzi still decided to perform in ‘The Witch’s Resurrection’?”

He couldn't say it openly because there were outsiders around.

"The Witch's Resurrection" is basically a copy of the teacher's "The Demon King's Resurrection".

However, before Himegami Nobuko became his apprentice, his teacher had sealed away his magic in his personal magic notebook because magic was too dangerous.

“I don’t know how to tell her,” Hoshikawa Tongwu shook his head with a wry smile. “She’s in the archives right now, saying she wants to find the teacher’s magic notes.”

Gao Mo's eyes moved slightly.

It's only been half a day since I last saw this popular magician, but he seems to have changed, perhaps even his mindset has shifted...

Confidence? Ambition?
"What's wrong?" Kaito Kuroba suddenly leaned closer. "Boss, did you notice something? The look in your eyes just now was just like a detective in a mystery drama..."

"A detective?" Hoshikawa Tongwu's smile froze. "What detective?"

"He's talking about TV dramas." Gao Mo completely ignored Kuroba Kaito.

Do you really want to confirm his identity?
He didn't really want to get too close to this guy.

Otherwise, if Kidd were to have a mishap someday, he would also be implicated.

The term "phantom thief" sounds impressive, but he is ultimately a criminal who has caused countless troubles.

"A TV series?" Hoshikawa Tongwu felt a slight sense of relief. "Is it 'Detective Samonji'? I watched a few episodes when I went back to Japan a few days ago. I think there was a crossover character named something like Domoto..."

"It's Hajime Domoto!" Aoko Nakamori's eyes lit up as if she had found her people. "The protagonist of 'City Detective,' a gunslinger detective who can disguise himself. It's said that in real life, before Niina Nittaro passed away, he was thinking of writing a novel specifically for Hajime Domoto. Later, when Niina Kaori wrote the sequel to 'Left-Character Detective,' she added Hajime Domoto to the sequel..."

Kaito Kuroba felt helpless about his excited childhood friend.

He's a phantom thief, but Aoko happens to be a detective enthusiast.

Gao Mo appeared slightly dazed.

It feels like it's been a long time since Shinmei Nittaro and his daughter last met.

While time is chaotic in the Conan world, death remains unaffected.

Perhaps it was because of a problem with time that death came into being.

To this world, he might actually be the villain?
"Are you all detective enthusiasts?" Hoshikawa Dogo's smile was still a little unnatural. "Because of our profession, we magicians are actually not very willing to deal with detectives."

Nakamori Aoko blushed awkwardly: "I-I'm sorry..."

“It’s not that complicated,” Fan Tianli laughed. “Magicians aren’t criminals. I’ve heard that some detectives are magicians themselves. In some ways, the two professions are related. We used to analyze famous magic tricks like detectives.”

“Auntie,” Satomi said, pulling Nakamori Aoko into the kitchen to help, “we’ll help you chop the vegetables.”

"You are guests, how could you..."

"No need to be so polite, Auntie. We're the ones who've come to bother you."

"Anyway, I'll leave dinner to you," Fan Tianli yawned. "I can't be of much help, so I'll just go to my room and catch up on some sleep."

"There's no bed in the living room now, only a sofa..."

"It's okay, I'll just lie down for a bit."

"Could you show me Master Seikage's room?" Kaito Kuroba suddenly asked, staring at Dogo Hoshigawa. "I've heard that Master Seikage used to perform magic tricks for guests at home, especially the incredible Christmas tree magic trick. You guys must be able to do that too, right?"

Hoshikawa Tongwu's lips trembled for a moment before he forced a smile and said, "Only the teacher knows the principle behind that magic trick. It might be recorded in the magic notebook the teacher always carries, but that notebook disappeared 10 years ago..."

As he spoke, Hoshikawa Tongwu gestured for someone to lead the way, saying, "Teacher's room is right next to the archives on the second floor. There's really nothing to see here."

(End of this chapter)