Conan: Death is Watching Me

Chapter 220 Bloody Valentine's Day
"Are you sure everything's alright?" Ai's voice was soft as she nestled in Sonoko's arms. "Rumors aren't necessarily just rumors. Otherwise, why would we be the only ones who came here during this time? We might be the ghosts lost in the snowstorm, or even become ghosts ourselves, wandering the deep mountains..."

"You're such an unlovable child."

Yuanzi's eyes twitched.

In fact, she had thought of taking a roundabout approach more than once, trying to find a breakthrough by getting close to Gao Mo, but Xiao Ai was completely different from ordinary children. She was impervious to reason and her words could drive a person crazy.

It actually made her give up sooner.

"Hmph, you'll find out when you grow up," Sonoko said with a determined look in her eyes. "I heard that if you can successfully give away the Valentine's Day chocolates made at Fukito Villa, you're guaranteed to receive a successful confession of love. For my happiness, so what if there really are some ghosts?"

“Happiness is just a marketing ploy,” Ai said, glancing out the window. “Valentine’s Day actually originated from a priest who was tortured and eventually executed. There have been tragic bloodshed events in history, but it’s not as wonderful as you think.”

"Where would a kid like you know all this weird stuff? Besides, you don't understand love."

Sonoko took off her headband and tossed her short hair.

"When a girl gives chocolates to someone she likes on Valentine's Day, the most important thing is the sentiment. Chocolates can give us the courage to love! Right, Xiaolan?"

"Ah."

Xiao Lan responded weakly, and noticed a black sedan behind her on the mountain road through the rearview mirror.

"Are there other people coming? Are they also going to Chuidu Manor?"

“It doesn’t seem like it,” Sonoko turned around, “There’s only one person, and he’s a man.”

Gao Mo was checking news on his phone when he heard this and glanced at himself in the rearview mirror.

The driver was a man wearing a hat and scarf, with dark green eyes and black eye wrinkles, as if he had been chronically sleep-deprived. However, his gaze was quite sharp, as if he could see right through a person's body.

this person……

Gao Mo wanted to take a closer look, but found the man driving away at the fork in the road.

“So they’re going somewhere else. I knew it,” Sonoko sighed softly. “It looks rather scary.”

"Did you see what he looked like?" Ai couldn't see the man, only the black car driving away from the other side.

"Never mind them," the man with the mustache said, driving along the winding mountain road following the signs. "This way should be the right way, right? That mountain villa is really remote."

As Xue Lin moved back and forth through the car windows, the scenery gradually became more and more similar. He could only confirm his direction by looking at the signs. He did pass through a village along the way, where he could see some signs of life. However, the countryside was mostly populated by elderly people, with only a few young people occasionally appearing.

After passing through a tunnel, the road to Chuido Villa winds its way uphill. Fortunately, there is only one road, so even the unreliable mustachioed man won't get lost.

"found it!"

Just as Gao Mo was dozing off, the mustachioed man's excited voice woke everyone up.

A rather old wooden villa comes into view halfway up the mountain, standing out conspicuously among the withered trees and forest.

"Is that the place?"

The man with the mustache carefully turned the corner and drove into the open space of the villa along the narrow intersection. He waited until Gao Mo and the others unloaded their luggage before reversing into the adjacent carport—where an SUV was already parked.

Sonoko was completely relieved: "See? It's not just us, there are other people here making chocolate!"

Ai didn't respond, but rubbed her hands together, exhaling a puff of hot air, while wearing a fluffy earmuff hat.

Because I usually stay at the office, suddenly coming to this deep snow mountain was not very comfortable, even though I was wearing thick clothes. My face turned red from the cold.

"Is that Miss Suzuki Sonoko?"

A middle-aged woman wearing snow boots walked out of the villa. She was about 60 years old, not very tall, with a round, sagging face and a woolen hat. Her face was expressionless. She looked around among Gao Mo and his group, and after spotting Sonoko and the other girl who looked like high school students, she casually asked them a question.

It's not surprising that the little girl came with her parents, but she didn't expect there to be a primary school student as well.

Aside from the Valentine's Day chocolate gimmick, there's nothing in this remote place that tourists should care about.

"I'm Chiyoko Yuasa, the owner of this place. You've booked two rooms..."

“So it’s just an old woman,” the mustachioed man said, his face falling as he parked the car. “Isn’t it you who lured young girls to this awful place by advertising Valentine’s Day chocolates?”

Before coming, he had hoped that there might be some beautiful women there, but it turned out he was just overthinking it.

How could such a beautiful female boss possibly stay in this desolate mountain?

“I’m not lying,” the woman said, her face equally unfriendly. “It’s just that ten years ago, a couple made chocolates here and became a couple. It was all reported in the newspapers, magazines, and on TV, which is why so many girls came here…”

"You're kidding me!" the mustachioed man scoffed. "Who would report such trivial matters out of the blue?"

"Dad!" Xiaolan anxiously grabbed her father.

Regardless, they will stay here.

“Um, old lady,” Sonoko said, looking around the villa, “I heard this place is haunted, and there’s something called a snow woman…”

"Pretty much," the aunt said dismissively. "After the previous owner, my husband, passed away four years ago, ghosts have been appearing here constantly, and fewer and fewer tourists are coming to visit."

"Are there really ghosts?" Sonoko and Ran huddled together.

Although she said she wasn't afraid, she was still extremely concerned.

"It's alright, just don't go out alone when it's snowing," the woman warned. "Especially for men, the snow woman living in this mountain might give you strange gifts."

"A strange gift?"

"It's chocolate. In the past, chocolates were often placed next to the bodies of those who were found dead in accidents."

The woman closed her eyes and, with a hint of helplessness, led everyone into the house.

"People nearby say that she was a girl who came here to make chocolate but got lost and died. Because she was resentful, she always comes out to haunt people on snowy days... In short, as long as you don't wander around, nothing will happen. Getting lost in the forest is much more dangerous than encountering a ghost."

Sonoko felt a chill run down her spine after hearing what he said, as if something was watching her. She glanced at Gao Mo, who was carrying luggage into the room, swallowed hard, and regained her composure.

The boss is right, as long as you don't wander off, you'll be fine.

You don't need to go outside to make chocolate indoors.

"Haha," a long-faced man with his hat upside down and a camera slung over his shoulder said as he passed by. "Grandma Yuasa is too good at scaring little girls. What ghost? Didn't the police say that it was probably an animal in the mountains looking for food and found in the victim's luggage?"

"Are you going out again?" Chiyoko Yuasa glanced at the long-faced man. "The weather isn't very good."

"No way, this is my job."

The long-faced man smiled, put on his goggles, and walked out of the villa.

"If I could, I'd like the Snow Woman to give me chocolates, but I wouldn't accept them, haha!"

"Grandma, who is this person?" Sonoko asked curiously. "The job he mentioned..."

“A reporter,” Chiyoko Yuasa seemed to dislike the long-faced man, “claimed that he saw a Japanese wolf in the forest five years ago and has been coming to investigate every year since. I think he’s just obsessed with the Yuki-onna (snow woman).

“Futaka really believes he saw a Japanese wolf,” a sporty woman with long hair tied up walked out of the kitchen, “although he hasn’t managed to get any evidence.”

Japanese wolves have disappeared from human sight for 100 years due to rampant hunting and are listed as endangered mythical mammals; even a single photograph of one is worth a fortune.

Gao Mo glanced at the long-haired beauty talking to the landlady and began checking the accommodations for the next two days.

It was fairly clean and tidy, and the blankets were new. It wasn't in any bad condition just because the owner was an elderly person.

When he was working on a case alone before, he went to a hotel run by an old man. The bedding was so badly pickled that it wasn't changed, and it was impossible to stay there.

"Another guest?"

A chubby, bearded man carrying a hunting rifle walked down the corridor. Noticing the mustachioed man, his gaze flickered slightly, his brow furrowing subtly, before he cheerfully greeted him, "Could it be that you're also here for the Japanese wolves?"

“No,” Chiyoko Yuasa snorted, her hands behind her back. “They are guests who come here to make chocolates, unlike you guys who are bewitched by wolves.”

"Boss, you have no idea what the presence of Japanese wolves means," the bearded man chuckled. "It means there's no solid evidence, otherwise you wouldn't have so many empty rooms... By the way, my friend is coming over later, could you please look after him for me..."

“I don’t have time. Anyway, there are so many empty rooms, let him find one himself.”

Chiyoko Yuasa turned to Sonoko and Ran.

"If you want to learn how to make chocolate, you can learn from Ms. Funakawa and the others first. I still need to go and pay respects to my deceased husband later."

"what?"

"Don't worry, they're already very skilled. Just come to me when it's time for the final decorations."

"So why bother making chocolate in a place like this?" the mustachioed man muttered to himself.

This godforsaken place, though it has beautiful women, completely ignores him and doesn't recognize him as the famous detective.

Gao Mo watched as the bearded man with his gun slung over his shoulder left.

To him, the human heart was far more terrifying than ghosts and monsters.

He didn't see a single ghost, but he witnessed countless aspects of human nature.

"What's wrong, Kido?" the man with the mustache asked, puzzled. "Is there something wrong with that person?"

"Nothing." Gao Mo withdrew his gaze.

These people are so unprofessional.

Although he wasn't a hunter, he knew that firing indiscriminately in such a place could easily trigger an avalanche.

If you want to catch Japanese wolves, you should have made more preparations, instead of being empty-handed with nothing but a hunting rifle.

"Ran, you two share a room," the man with the mustache said, turning to assign rooms. "I'll share with Kido..."

“Let’s book another room,” Gao Mo interrupted, “we have so many empty rooms anyway.”

He didn't want to share a room with the guy with the mustache.

This guy's snoring is just as loud as Professor Agasa's.

"I sleep with Kido-nii!"

Conan hurriedly shouted, but was grabbed by the mustachioed man: "What are you yelling about?"

What? You don't like him?

Ai didn't say anything, but simply hugged the black cat and followed Gao Mo to move in as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Seeing this, Sonoko clenched her hands tightly, tears streaming down her face with envy: "Damn it, why am I not a child?"

"Mother-in-law," Xiaolan said worriedly to her boss, "Are you sure you'll be alright going out alone?"

"Of course, this mountain is like my own backyard, and I also have Saburo with me."

Chiyoko Yuasa whistled, and a small Shikoku dog with a wagging tail ran into the house, circling around the old woman like a child.

"So cute!" Ran and Sonoko's eyes lit up at the same time.

“Good boy,” Chiyoko Yuasa crouched down and hugged the Shikoku dog, a happy smile appearing on her face for the first time. “After my husband passed away, only Saburo has been by my side ever since.”

"Wang!"

The Shikoku dog tilted its head and looked at Gao Mo, sniffed him, and finally hissed at the black cat next to Ai, barking repeatedly as if to warn her.

“Alright, Saburo, these are all guests,” Chiyoko Yuasa ruffled the fur of the Shikoku dog and eagerly went out the door. “Remember what I said, don’t run around. Wait for me to come back.”

"That reporter..."

"They're not unfamiliar with this area, and they'll be back before the weather gets worse."

The old lady entered the snow forest accompanied by a Shikoku dog, seemingly unconcerned about any misbehavior at the hotel.

Besides Gao Mo and his group, there were only two young women in the villa.

One was the long-haired beauty from earlier, and the other was the short-haired beauty busy in the kitchen. Both had exquisite makeup, a faint melancholy in their eyes, and an exceptionally sweet smile. The man with the mustache felt like he was experiencing a second spring the moment he saw her.

Unfortunately, the short-haired beauty is the girlfriend of the long-faced reporter.

"So you two have been together all along?"

Kitchen Chocolate Classroom.

Xiao Lan quickly became familiar with the two beautiful women.

The short-haired beauty is named Gan Liya, 25 years old, and has been dating the long-faced reporter for a long time.

The long-haired beauty is named Mika Pinkawa, 26 years old. In addition to working as a photographer to assist the long-faced reporter, she is also the girlfriend of the short-haired beauty's brother.

Just four years ago, the short-haired beautiful man and the resort owner were killed in an avalanche.

“It took Saburo a week after the avalanche to dig the boss out of the snow. My brother, however, has not been found. The police said he might also be buried there, but they couldn't find him anywhere. He was probably washed away by the snow to some other place…”

Gan Liya lowered her head and stopped what she was doing.

“I always feel like he’s still alive, so I come here every year.”

"Could it be..."

A chill ran down the back of Yuanzi's neck.

The legend of the haunting ghost seems to have started about four years ago.

"call!"

Inside the villa, the wind outside the window grew stronger, and the sky became much darker.

Gao Mo silently examined the specially made blindfold: "Is it necessary to put it on now?"

“I can sense it,” Ai said, looking solemnly out the window. “There is definitely something around here, and it’s very close to us. It will probably come looking for us soon.”

"I can't feel anything." Gao Mo glanced at the projected notes out of the corner of his eye.

Ai is truly gifted in this regard.

"what?"

Gao Mo suddenly noticed a faint light above Xiao Ai's head.

The projected text gradually took shape—[Researching the Ghost of Fukitoyama-so] and [Stopping Sonoko Suzuki's Reckless Actions].

"What, what's wrong?"

Ai froze under his gaze and looked away. Suddenly realizing something, she turned back and stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

"No way...it's already over?! When? How could it be so fast?!"

(End of this chapter)