He's in Detective Conan, and he's the mastermind behind everything.

But before he could speak, Xiaolan said first, "Yes, shouldn't we ask these questions?" She looked up and blinked her innocent eyes at Yingsheng.

Hotaru slightly pursed his lips, said nothing, and then heard Shinichi Kudo speaking through the loudspeaker:

"If you try to test the strength of a piece of glass, it will inevitably end up shattering. A test with ill intentions can only prove something if the tester has ulterior motives. Human nature cannot withstand such tests."

Ying Sheng chuckled: "That makes sense, but not much."

Kudo, I ask you, is Mr. Mori a father? A husband? A normal person with sound mind who has just received an education?

You can deny it entirely, but he is definitely not gay, and Ms. Towako has definitely not done anything outrageous; it can't be considered a bottomless probing.

Is it right? "

Shinichi Kudo retorted, "But you know perfectly well that Towako is different to him."

"What's the difference? Also, could you answer the previous questions first?"

Ying Sheng waited two seconds without a response, then took out his phone and dialed Shi Hezi's number: "Forget it, your hesitant manner is really annoying. I'll just ask myself."

The call was quickly connected. Ying Sheng asked about the questions Xiao Lan had just mentioned. There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the line before a soft voice came through.

He doesn't talk much; in short, Kogoro Mouri is a very restrained gentleman.

Ying Sheng thanked him, apologized for what had happened, and hung up.

What does this mean?

Hotaru chuckled lightly: "Kudo, please relay what you just said to Mr. Mori later. I bet he'll be so ashamed he'll want to disappear. Whether he's a gentleman or not is debatable, but Miss Towako is a true lady."

Shinichi Kudo remained silent.

"Alright, that's all. Is there anything else?" Hotaru asked. "According to Miss Towako, Mr. Mori should be in a relaxed and calm mood right now. There's absolutely no way he's in a bad mood. Kudo, are you misunderstanding something?"

"Uncle Mori is Ran's father after all."

Ying Sheng had no right to answer these questions, so he closed his eyes and remained silent.

Three seconds later, Ran smiled gently: "Please ask Shinichi to show Dad some Animal World. His bad mood will affect his recovery."

Ying Sheng's lips curled up slightly...

"Xiao Lan, you can't just listen to Shui Yue's every word. You have to have your own judgment."

Ying Sheng's lips twitched.

What nonsense is this guy spouting?

But before he could refute her, Xiaolan smiled and said, "Because I think what Shuiyue-kun said makes a lot of sense, and it wouldn't make any difference if I went to Dad's side anyway."

Shinichi Kudo quickly replied, "How could it be useless? You are his daughter."

Ran frowned slightly: "Shinichi, I feel like you're being overly concerned about Dad. Didn't you used to dislike him? Do you have other motives?"

Shinichi Kudo was silent for a few moments: "Do you care about Suigetsu more than Uncle Mori?"

Ran sighed softly, "I understand. Yes, we should hurry up and go on our date. See you later, Shinichi."

Before the other end could speak, Xiaolan hung up the phone, put it on silent, and put it away.

Turning to look at Ying Sheng, whose expression was rather helpless, she reached out her hands and pulled his shoulders toward her.

Up high.

The silence lasted for a long time, until Ian's apartment building passed by the edge of the window, before Xiaolan finally spoke in a muffled voice:

"what is this?"

"Even if you can't be lovers, you can still be friends. Kudo's intentions are good. I hope you won't be deceived by a scumbag like me," Hotaru said calmly.

"Is that all?"

“Some things you only appreciate when you lose them, and maybe that’s part of the reason. Also, I provoked him a bit by saying I was going to take another woman to a bar tonight. When he accused me of not being sincere with you, I said that no matter what you do, it has nothing to do with him.”

Ran chuckled: "That's really going too far. No wonder Shinichi is so angry. What's your purpose?"

"Of course, I hope he can learn to cherish the people in front of him, and if he finds Xuesong in the future, he won't repeat the same mistake."

"Probably not, they get along very well."

"Who knows what Cedar is really like? What if she's just a master of experiential acting? Of course, we'll have to wait until Kudo finds her first. I'm just giving him a little motivation in the hopes that he won't go astray."

"Going astray means he came back to find me? That's impossible."

"That's impossible to say."

As they were talking, the car stopped downstairs at the Ian apartment building. Ying Sheng got out of the car and saw a familiar figure in a long blue dress on the steps next to it, which surprised her slightly.

This was the woman he had approached outside the Nichibumi TV station. She had a great figure, a beautiful face, dark brown wavy hair, and gold earrings, and looked quite elegant. Her name seemed to be Yuko Ikezawa.

She lives here too? That's quite a coincidence.

It was already 5:50, and Yoko Okino still hadn't returned. Ran glanced at the time and couldn't help but say, "Being an entertainer is really tough; they have to work even on weekends."

“It’s just that their rest period is different from that of office workers, and they earn more.” Ying Sheng glanced around and pointed to a Western restaurant. “Let’s go eat first. The competition this afternoon was great. Kyogoku-senpai said you’ve improved a lot.”

Xiaolan snorted: "You've been chatting with Sonoko the whole time, okay? You only watched two out of my four matches seriously."

"No way, I was watching very carefully and even found a new flaw in your movements."

Ying Sheng glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then gave a side kick to the nearby telephone pole. The pole remained unscathed. He then stood in the kicking motion and looked at Xiao Lan, reminding her, "Pay attention to the direction of my left toe."

Xiao Lan looked over as instructed and saw that Ying Sheng's toes were still pointing forward. She frowned slightly and said, "You can't use your waist strength like that. It's a very unstandard movement."

“That’s right, but there are advantages to not being perfect.” Ying Sheng controlled the speed and slowly lowered his right leg. “Pay attention to my upper body and hips, and see if there are any obvious changes.”

Xiao Lan stared intently at the part Ying Sheng was referring to, completely oblivious to the bigger picture, until Ying Sheng placed his foot firmly on the ground and asked if she had any thoughts. Only then did she vaguely realize something.

“Shuiyue-jun’s kick is very poorly executed; it relies entirely on leg muscles and barely engages any other parts of the body.” Xiaolan paused for a few moments. “While this lacks power, it’s well-concealed enough to prevent the opponent from reading your moves?”

"correct."

Ying Sheng laughed and said, "It's similar to what I said at school last time. After you throw a right straight punch, your body will habitually lean to the left, which makes it too easy to predict. Logically speaking, this situation will only occur when your lower body is unstable, but your kicking skills are clearly super strong."

I didn't understand it before, but now I think it's because you were too impatient. You always wanted to pursue combos, and you were too serious when learning moves, striving for perfection in every strike.

This causes problems with the transitions, making your movements appear somewhat unsteady.

Xiaolan seemed thoughtful, but still asked, "Isn't it good to meet the standards?"

“If you’re just doing a single action, then meeting the standard is fine, but since you’re fighting against people, you have to consider mobility.”

Ying Sheng pointed to his waist.

"Suppose you attack me and miss with your right fist, and I use this to hit you off to the left of your body's center line, wouldn't you be more likely to die there on the spot?"

Xiaolan hesitated before nodding, then asked with a strange expression, "You carry that with you all the time?"

Ying Sheng lifted his clothes, finding them empty. He shrugged: "I'm not a terrorist."

"..."

Xiaolan was speechless for two seconds before getting back to the point: "You mean we should conserve our strength, right? Don't use the same moves all the time, and always have room for change."

Ying Sheng gave her a thumbs up: "Isn't it clear to you? Remember Bruce Lee's words: 'Be like water, don't be bound by form.'"

"But……"

Xiaolan hesitated and said, "I feel like that would feel very weak."

"Killing... cough cough, what I mean is, in combat, strength is secondary, precision is paramount."

Ying Sheng tapped his forehead, nostrils, jaw, temples, throat, chest, ribs, and joints in turn, then shrugged.

"That's right. The human body has so many weaknesses that it's almost overwhelming. As long as you can touch it, you don't need much strength to knock someone down."

Xiaolan hesitated for two seconds, then said quietly, "You were just talking about murder, right?"

Ying Sheng looked puzzled: "Really? You must have misheard."

"........."

Xiao Lan rolled her eyes at him, but didn't dwell on it. She already knew that Ying Sheng was a lawless outlaw, and wasn't she herself one?

Xiaolan thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "What you said makes sense, but I'm participating in a karate competition."

Ying Sheng shook his head: "I didn't ask you to commit a foul, I just want you to stay calm on the field... no, in any battle."

Unless you need to suppress your opponent to use a special move or prevent the enemy from escaping, combos are completely unnecessary; a precise attack only requires one hit.

correct.

Besides, aren't you born with superhuman strength? Even if you hold back three-tenths of your power, it doesn't matter. You can still rout the enemy.

Thinking about it this way, pretending to go all out to lure your opponent into revealing an opening, or even forcing an opening out directly and then striking decisively, seems like a good approach.

Bang——! ! !

Xiao Lan punched a nearby telephone pole, a "well" shape appearing on her forehead. She smiled and gritted her teeth, asking, "Who are you calling a natural-born superhuman?"

Ying Sheng's gaze followed her arm, first to the small crater on the telephone pole, then to the dense, spiderweb-like cracks. He felt as if he had just brushed against something on her neck—was it a flying cement fragment?

Ying Sheng shifted his gaze back to Xiao Lan and asked in confusion, "You mean, your power wasn't innate, but acquired through hard work?"

"........."

"I'm sorry, I dismissed your efforts so easily with just a few words. I really shouldn't have done that." Ying Sheng apologized with his hands clasped together, then became excited again, "This level of skill can actually be achieved through practice? Then I need to work even harder!"

"........."

Xiao Lan snorted and withdrew her hand. She was 100% certain that Ying Sheng was faking it; how could this guy not understand what she meant?

"I'm sorry to bother you with that, but I've always wanted to be a Yamato Nadeshiko."

"Um……"

Hotaru asked doubtfully, "Is there a conflict between being strong and becoming a Yamato Nadeshiko? It would obviously be more convenient to do housework this way."

"...The current aesthetic is pale, thin, and young, OK? Like Xuesong." Xiaolan said irritably, "Haven't you noticed that since Xuesong came to our class, almost all the girls have reduced their appetites?"

"I didn't notice. Just don't imitate her, she's faking it."

The two continued towards the restaurant. As they crossed the zebra crossing, Xiaolan suddenly turned her head to look at them:

Did you change the subject of something very important?

"No, you're overthinking it..."

"Sonoko, were you talking about this before?"