The Pirated Onmyoji of the Detective World

"I'm sorry, Conan!" Aragaki Yu explained, barely suppressing a smile, as he looked at Conan, who was grimacing. "But I did give you a look that someone was behind you, but you were looking down and I don't know what you were thinking."

"Hmm?" Conan hesitated for a moment after hearing what Aragaki Yu said.

At that time, he was indeed thinking about the perpetrator who attacked Sonoko. Could it be that he really didn't notice Aragaki Yu's hint?

Did I misunderstand him?

For a moment, Conan felt a slight pang of guilt for misunderstanding Aragaki Yu's actions.

"However, on the other hand, those people are indeed very suspicious." Aragaki Yu suppressed his slightly twitching lips and decided to quickly change the subject to prevent himself from laughing out loud.

Sure enough, the moment this was mentioned, Conan's attention was immediately diverted, and even the pain in his buttocks was instantly forgotten.

“That’s right, first of all, it’s that strange man who’s been following us!” Conan frowned, struggling to get up from the bed and analyzed, “Since he’s been following us, it means there must be something here that he’s interested in, and that’s very likely Sonoko’s camera. That’s why nothing was missing from our luggage, except that the film compartment of the camera had been opened!”

“Hmm.” Yuu Aragaki nodded in affirmation of Conan’s idea. “However, you’ve seen the photos Sonoko developed, right? There doesn’t seem to be anything suspicious in them.”

"That's something I can't understand either. Maybe the criminals just saw Sonoko holding a camera and mistakenly thought she had taken some pictures!" Conan couldn't help but look confused as he said this.

"Also, this guy, Masahiko Dokyo, is very strange." Although Yuu Aragaki was already certain that this person was the murderer, he didn't intend to ruin Makoto Kyogoku's chance to save the damsel in distress. However, he still gave Conan a slight reminder.

“I noticed that after Sonoko was attacked by thugs, when Dokyo Masahiko arrived at the room and saw the mess, he didn’t show much surprise on his face, as if everything was within his expectations.”

"Hmm." Conan nodded, also pointing out his suspicions about him, "Besides, Daoxie-nii was way too late. His wet clothes and the mud on his trousers are very suspicious! And, it's really too much of a coincidence that his car broke down at that time."

Conan's tone was full of suspicion towards Masahiko Dokyo, but his brows furrowed even deeper. "However, I checked his arm, and there are no bite marks on it. So, if that's the case, the culprit shouldn't be him."

Aragaki Yu raised an eyebrow at this, but did not offer any explanation.

"Of course, there's another guy who's also very suspicious!" Just then, someone else was mentioned.

"Conan, are you talking about Mr. Kyogoku Makoto, the young owner of this hotel?" Aragaki Yu immediately guessed who the suspicious person Conan was talking about was.

“That’s right!” Conan nodded seriously.

Chapter 317 The Hero Behind the Scenes, the Snow Woman

"I have a feeling that this guy named Kyogoku Makoto has been watching us all along."

Conan rubbed his butt and tried hard to recall Makoto Kyogoku's story. "Besides, the fact that his arm was wrapped in bandages is indeed very suspicious."

“Suspicious?” Aragaki asked. “But the bandage was definitely already on his arm during the day.”

Conan shook his head: "So I just think he's a bit suspicious, but his attitude is definitely strange."

Yuu Aragaki glanced at Conan with surprise, somewhat taken aback that he hadn't recognized Makoto Kyogoku's identity.

"In short, I don't think the criminals will take such a big risk to commit another crime today. I think if they want to continue, they will try to do it at the restaurant that Sonoko is going to tomorrow."

Conan, oblivious to the expression on Aragaki Yu's face, continued his analysis while resting his chin on his hand: "We just need to pay more attention to the area around Sonoko tomorrow."

"Conan, you'll stay with Ran and Sonoko tomorrow and protect Sonoko well. I won't be going," Aragaki Yu said slowly.

"Huh, why?" Conan looked at Aragaki Yu with confusion.

He was somewhat surprised by what Aragaki Yu said.

Because in his heart, Conan didn't think that Aragaki Yu would be the kind of person who would disregard the safety of his friends!

"Mr. Daoxie invited Sonoko to dinner tomorrow. It wouldn't be appropriate for me, a man, to go alone, and I'm not good at secretly following people," Yuu Aragaki casually explained. "Besides, with you and Ran there, it shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Of course, this was just an excuse from Aragaki Yu to brush off Conan.

The main reason was that Yuu Aragaki was afraid that if he followed behind them, he might accidentally run into Makoto Kyogoku, who had been secretly protecting Sonoko.

The embarrassment is minor; the real problem would be if Kyogoku Makoto mistakenly thought he was the one who had designs on Sonoko. That would be a huge joke.

Yuuka Aragaki had absolutely no intention of having a real-life showdown with Makoto Kyogoku.

(At the same time, in the Yin-Yang Domain, the Demon Blade Princess gripped her demon blade tightly, her eyes shining: "Master, I have one!")

"Hmm...hmm, okay then." After putting himself in Aragaki Yu's shoes for a moment, Conan also felt that what Aragaki Yu said made some sense.

After all, if he were to join Sonoko and Mr. Dokyo's date as Shinichi Kudo, he would feel a little awkward.

Conan carefully climbed back onto the bed and continued to ask, "Big brother Aragaki, what are you going to do tomorrow?"

Looking at Aragaki Yu's lazy expression as he lay in bed, Conan even began to suspect that what he had just said was just an excuse, and that he simply wanted to stay in the hotel and be lazy.

"Haa~ yawn~ Aren't there two more suspicious guys? I... I'll go with them tomorrow and see..."

"That's good, Aragaki-nii-san. If you notice anything amiss, please notify me and the police immediately. Oh, and... um?...Aragaki-nii-san?"

"Aragaki...?"

"..."

Conan, who hadn't received a reply from Aragaki Yu after a while, turned around to look at him in confusion, only to find that he had already fallen asleep in bed.

……

Time flew by and it was already the next day.

"But Sonoko, speaking of which, whether it was last night or just now in the car, you've really had a lot of bad luck!"

On the street, Daoxie Zhengyan walked along and spoke to Sonoko beside him.

“Yes…” Sonoko sighed silently, a look of lingering fear on her face.

"Sonoko, do you really have no recollection of what just happened?" Ran asked with concern.

"Hmm, no..." Sonoko frowned and shook her head.

It turns out that it happened not long ago.

On their way to the hotel, Masahiko Michikawa picked up Sonoko, Ran, and Conan.

Sonoko, who was in the car, suddenly felt sleepy and uncomfortable, whether because she hadn't slept well the day before or for some other reason.

Since they were already very close to the hotel they had booked, after Sonoko rejected the suggestion to go straight back to the hotel to rest, they decided to leave Sonoko in the car to rest, while Ran, Conan, and Masahiko went to the restaurant they had booked to eat.

As a result, while Xiaolan and the other two were having dinner, they were horrified to discover that the car in which Sonoko was catching up on sleep had its handbrake released by someone and was slowly sliding towards the cliff.

If it weren't for Ran's quick reflexes and amazing skills, she would have rushed out in time and shattered the car window with a flying knee to rescue Sonoko Suzuki.

It seems the garden will plunge off the cliff and sink into the sea along with the car.

However, for this reason, everything they brought with them, including Sonoko's camera and the developed photos, all ended up in the sea.

……

Along the way, Conan, following behind Ran, kept his head down, deep in thought: "Could all of this be the work of that thug from last night? He pulled the handbrake, trying to make the car fall off the cliff, just to destroy the photos Sonoko had. But who is this person?"

For a moment, the images of three people involuntarily appeared in Conan's mind.

One of them is Masahiko Dokyo, who has been with them all day.

Another one is Makoto Kyogoku, the young innkeeper who just happened to be in that restaurant.

The other was the fat, strange man who had been following and monitoring them.

Also, where exactly is that guy, Yuu Aragaki, right now?

"Damn it! Who is this thug?!"

Meanwhile, in a corner not far from the scene of the crime where the car plunged off the cliff.

Yuu Aragaki patted the snow woman's head with great satisfaction.

As the snow woman comfortably squinted her eyes, she praised, "You did a great job, snow woman!"

It turned out that when Dokyo Masahiko came to the hotel to pick up Sonoko and the other two, Aragaki Yu hesitated all night for fear that something unexpected might happen in the plot, but still decided to let Yuki-onna stay by Sonoko's side to protect her.

As expected, during the journey, Dokyo Masahiko secretly released the car's handbrake, attempting to stage an accident to kill Sonoko and destroy the evidence.

When the snow woman, who had been staying by Sonoko's side, saw the car begin to slide toward the cliff, she didn't know how to stop it. She initially wanted to freeze the car, but she was afraid that this would arouse suspicion from those with ulterior motives.

Finally, as she realized that Ran and Conan had noticed the situation and were running towards the car, she quietly slipped under the vehicle.

While everyone was distracted, she briefly froze the car's wheels, slowing its movement and giving Xiaolan enough time to break the window and rescue her.

Chapter 318 Who is the murderer?

Just as Conan was deep in thought, he suddenly felt a familiar gaze sweep over him from behind.

"who is it?!"

He felt a sudden chill and cautiously looked back, only to find that the shifty fat man was following them again. "It's that guy again!"

Meanwhile, Daoxie Zhengyan, who was standing to the side, had obviously noticed the man who had been following him. He was startled at first, but then a strange smile appeared on his face.

"Sonoko, it seems like we're being followed!" He restrained his expression and said to Sonoko beside him in a low voice.

"Yes!" Reminded by Dokyo Masahiko, Sonoko turned around and saw the middle-aged man lurking behind her. "Could he be... the murderer?!"

Sonoko was suddenly startled, and Ran looked at the man behind her, her expression instantly becoming wary.

Just as Ran and Conan were thinking of a solution, Masahiko Dokyo winked at Sonoko and said, "So, should we run?"

"Ah... um." Sonoko nodded hesitantly.

"Then let's run!"

The next moment, before Ran and Conan could react, Masahiko Dosaku suddenly grabbed Sonoko's hand and darted into the nearby woods.