Detective Conan: Birth of the Demon Child

Ran Mouri, her face pale, said, "And...and that ghostly figure just now didn't look like a normal human figure at all. Its edges kept swaying in the wind, and before we even opened the window, its shape was already incomplete, it was like..."

"It's like when a ghost is exposed to the sun, it turns to ash, right?"

Before Ran Mouri could finish speaking, Yoichi Otonashi yawned and came out of the room, rubbing his sleepy eyes and said, "Actually, I've seen that tragic ghost in this window before. No wonder it turned to ashes."

It must be the vengeful spirit of Tian Zhilei, the woman whose body was burned to a crisp in the park four years ago!

Upon hearing this, Conan's expression changed slightly, and he asked with some curiosity, "Grandpa, how did you know that the deceased was named Tian Zhilei?"

"The police later found the girl's driver's license on the charred body, and the dental mold matched perfectly."

Otonashi reached out and patted Conan's head, sighing, "It's a pity that the two murderers who killed that girl four years ago have not been caught and brought to justice, so her wronged soul cannot be reincarnated!"

"Two murderers?"

Upon hearing this, Kogoro Mouri couldn't help but ask, "So there were eyewitnesses back then?"

“That’s right! Someone happened to be passing by the park that day and saw two men standing next to the burning corpse.”

Yin Wufang nodded, walked to the window, and pointed to the telephone pole outside, saying, "The wanted poster on that telephone pole is one of the criminals who killed that girl four years ago, but the witness did not see the other criminal's face clearly."

"Two prisoners? One is wanted, and the other's face hasn't been clearly seen... Could it be..."

A sudden flash of inspiration struck Suzuki Seimei, and he instantly understood why Banmachi Kikuji had been playing tricks to scare away the residents.

Based on what Otonashi Yoshikazu said before, the earliest ghost story reported here was when he got up to use the restroom in the middle of the night and saw a will-o'-the-wisp on the roof of the unfinished building next door. Only then did the ghost stories start happening one after another.

If Suzuki Harumi is not mistaken, the murderer wanted by the police should be hiding in the unfinished building next to the apartment.

When Yin Wufang saw that will-o'-the-wisp, it was very likely that it was a cigarette butt or the appearance of a lit-up phone screen.

As for Kikuji Banmachi, who deliberately pretended to be a ghost to scare people, he should be the other criminal whose appearance was not clearly seen by the witnesses.

Kikuji Banmachi was probably worried that the residents of the apartment would discover the secret that his accomplices were hiding in the unfinished building next door, which is why he deliberately dressed up as a ghost to scare people.

Ai Haibara noticed the slight upturn of Seimei Suzuki's lips and asked curiously, "Seimei, have you already seen through the ghostly figure outside the window's method?"

Although Ai Haibara didn't know how the ghostly figure outside the window was created, she had figured out how the toilet water turned red.

If the toilet water turning red is intentionally caused by someone, then other ghostly phenomena must also be man-made.

Faced with Ai Haibara's curious gaze, Seimei Suzuki made no attempt to hide anything, leaning close to her ear and whispering, "The ghostly figure outside the window just now was actually formed by a swarm of moths."

"A moth?"

Ai Haibara was slightly taken aback at first, then a look of realization dawned on her face.

No wonder the edges of that ghostly figure moved like flames in the wind; it was the wings of a moth.

After learning the true identity of the ghostly figure outside the window, Ai Haibara immediately turned her gaze to Kikuji Bancho. It was obvious that the guy who had rushed to open the window was the culprit who had pretended to be a ghost to scare people.

After whispering to Ai Haibara, Suzuki Seimei turned his attention to Conan.

Conan was standing next to the toilet, sniffing the strange smell coming from it.

"This is... the smell of ammonia, I understand!"

After carefully smelling the odor coming from the toilet for a while, Conan suddenly saw a flash of white light through the lenses of his black-rimmed glasses, instantly seeing through the method by which the toilet water turned red.

Ammonia is what is commonly known as "ammonia"!

When phenolphthalein is dissolved in alcohol, a colorless liquid is obtained.

This colorless liquid, when mixed with equally colorless ammonia, will instantly turn red, as if by magic.

Chapter 401 Conan's Heartbreak

Just now, when Mudan Luyan opened the toilet tank lid, the reason why the water inside was colorless and transparent was because colorless ammonia was mixed into the water.

Ammonia is one of the raw materials for making fertilizers, so even if someone smells the ammonia, they probably won't care.

As the chief pharmacist of the Black Organization, Ai Haibara's knowledge and abilities in chemistry are absolutely world-class.

Therefore, when Ai Haibara smelled the ammonia emanating from the toilet, she instantly saw through this clumsy attempt to scare people.

"Da da da……"

Just as Conan successfully cracked the mystery of the toilet water turning red and was preparing to solve the other two ghostly phenomena in one go, the sound of leather shoes stepping on wooden planks suddenly came from the second-floor stairwell.

Upon seeing the newcomer, Suzuki Haruaki's eyes flashed with a hint of confusion as he asked, "Uncle Ryuichi, what brings you here?"

"Young Master, Yuhua was worried you hadn't had dinner yet, so she asked me to bring you some..."

Just as Inoue Ryuichi walked to Suzuki Seimei's side, he suddenly exerted force with both feet and pounced on the unsuspecting Banmachi Kikuji with a move that resembled a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey.

(⊙_⊙)?

Faced with Ryuichi Inoue's sudden attack, Kikuji Banmachi was stunned for a moment before he reacted and hurriedly shouted, "Who are you? What do you want to do!"

"Snapped!!!"

Upon seeing this, Inoue Ryuichi slapped Bancho Kikuji across the face, making his head buzz and rendering him powerless to resist.

Seeing Inoue Ryuichi pull a nylon rope, about the thickness of a thumb, from his pocket and tie up Bancho Kikuji tightly, Sonoko finally couldn't help but ask curiously, "Uncle Ryuichi, what are you doing?"

Ryuichi Inoue explained, “Ms. Sonoko, this person is one of the murderers who killed Tanoki four years ago in the nearby park. I have also caught his accomplice, and I have already asked Tamaka to call the police. Inspector Megure and the others should be here soon.”

???

Sonoko blinked, somewhat bewildered, and asked instinctively, "What's going on? Uncle Ryuichi, how did you know he was the murderer?"

"When I was keeping watch outside just now..."

Faced with Sonoko's curious gaze, Ryuichi Inoue briefly recounted what had just happened.

It turns out that when Ryuichi Inoue and Tamaka Kurosaki were waiting in the van for Seimei Suzuki and the others to come home, they happened to see a large swarm of moths gathering on the second-floor window.

I have to say!

Kikuji Banmachi's method of using moths to create ghostly shadows outside the window is indeed a very clever way to scare people.

However, this method has a fatal flaw: it can only scare people inside the apartment, but it cannot fool pedestrians outside the apartment.

From Inoue Ryuichi's perspective, the way those moths gathered into ghostly shadows was so obvious that it was impossible to be frightened.

Inoue Ryuichi hadn't paid much attention to the matter at first, but when he accidentally saw someone using binoculars to secretly spy on Suzuki Seimei and his group from the unfinished building next door, he began to take it seriously.

To prevent the other party from targeting Suzuki Seimei, Inoue Ryuichi secretly sneaked into the unfinished building next to the apartment and ambushed and captured the scarred criminal hiding there.

Without saying a word, Inoue Ryuichi first gave the scarred criminal a severe beating, and then used some methods unsuitable for children to quickly find out the whole story from the scarred criminal.

After learning that the other murderer was Kikuji Bancho, Ryuichi Inoue used the excuse of delivering dinner to Seimei Suzuki to approach him while they were talking, and then tackled and subdued him when he was off guard.

"So it was you who was playing tricks! I knew there couldn't possibly be ghosts in this world!"

After hearing Ryuichi Inoue's explanation, Kogoro Mouri kicked Kikuji Bancho twice, still feeling a bit annoyed.

Who told this guy to scare him like that? When he saw the water in the toilet suddenly turn red, Kogoro Mouri almost peed his pants in fright.

"call--"

Upon learning that all these haunting phenomena were caused by Kikuji Bancho, Ran and Sonoko Mouri breathed a sigh of relief.

If there really were evil spirits at work, Ran and the others probably wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. Luckily, it was all fake.

Click, click...

Compared to Ran and Sonoko, who were relieved, Conan was completely petrified, feeling his heart shattered into pieces, utterly devastated!

In the detective murder case a few days ago, before Conan could even decipher the coded message left by the deceased, Suzuki Haruaki had already helped the police find the real culprit.

Now that he's finally encountered a ghost story, Conan is ready to get revenge, but before he can solve all the mysteries, Ryuichi Inoue catches the two culprits.

Is this some kind of bullying?!

For a detective, the most deadly thing is watching others solve the mystery of a case before you do.

It felt like watching "The Return of the Condor Heroes" and some jerk suddenly spoiled the plot for you, telling you that Yin Zhiping is a dragon knight.

If he could, Conan really wished that Inoue Ryuichi's bodyguard wasn't so professional.

Even if Inoue Ryuichi wants to catch the criminal, you can wait until I use a tranquilizer dart to take down Uncle Mori and solve the mystery of the whole case before you show up!

You, a supporting character, have to be so scene-stealing!

Having not used a tranquilizer dart to shoot Kogoro Mouri for several days, Conan felt his shooting skills were becoming rusty.

Kogoro Mouri: Listen to this, is he even speaking human language?

Beep~woo~~Beep~woo~~Beep~woo~~

Under Conan's resentful gaze, Inspector Megure and his team quickly arrived and took away the two prisoners who had been tied up by Inoue Ryuichi.

"Alright! Now that the case is solved, we should go back to sleep. It's almost eleven o'clock. Kids need to develop the good habit of going to bed early and waking up early!"

Unaware that he had escaped a close call, Kogoro Mouri watched Inspector Megure and the others leave, then waved his hand and led everyone out of the apartment.

"Thank... thank you..."

Shortly after everyone left the apartment, a black figure suddenly appeared on the apartment wall. It bowed slightly in the direction Suzuki Harumi and the others had left, and then turned into starlight and disappeared into the air.

If there were a skilled Onmyoji or a highly accomplished monk here, they would surely know that a wronged soul has been freed and reborn.

Unfortunately, Suzuki Seimei was unaware that he had missed another female ghost, and as long as Conan was by his side, he was destined never to see the legendary ghosts.

Chapter 402 The Case of the Detective Being Shot Dead

Hong Kong Island Airport

As the night flight landed safely, Pu Siqinglan, dressed casually, left the airport with five beautiful assassins, including Xia Lin and Catherine, carrying large bags and heading towards a nearby hotel.

In order to enable Pu Siqinglan to gain a foothold in Hong Kong Island, a land that is both unfamiliar and familiar, as quickly as possible.

Not only did Suzuki Harumi entrust the command of five of the most powerful female assassins to Urashi Seiran, but he also prepared a seed fund of one hundred million US dollars for her.

Having mastered the perfected "Bone-Melting Palm" technique, Pu Siqinglan has entered the ranks of extraordinary individuals. With her current abilities, establishing a new power in Hong Kong Island would not be difficult.

After taking Xia Lin and the others to a hotel near the airport, Pu Siqinglan immediately contacted Suzuki Seimei telepathically, reporting that they had arrived safely in Hong Kong and outlining some future development plans.

According to Pu Siqinglan's report, she plans to first contact local assassin brokers in Hong Kong Island, and then try to recruit a group of powerful assassins to work for her.