Conan: The Romantic Daily Life of a Ghost Detective

Without thinking much, Wen Shui blew a breath to try and blow the mosquito away. However, perhaps because Miwako's blood smelled particularly good, the mosquito actually withstood Wen Shui's breath and was not blown away.

Instead, Sato Miwako shivered, and the skin around her ears turned bright red.

Xiaolan, who was walking behind, said in a cold voice, "Wen Shui Jun, I didn't realize before, but you seem to be very good at flirting with girls."

Wen Shui was startled and quickly explained, "No, she had mosquitoes on her neck and I wanted to blow them away for her."

Xiaolan hadn't seen the mosquitoes on Sato Miwako because she was far away and the warm water was blocking her view. Now, when the warm water reminded her to look there, she only saw the girl's delicate and flawless skin, and there were no mosquitoes as the warm water had mentioned.

Sato Miwako's expression was a mixture of joy and shyness as she turned to look at Wen Shui: "You little rascal, do you want me to handcuff you?"

Although she said those fierce words, it looked more like she was flirting with Wen Shui.

The anger in Xiaolan's eyes intensified.

Wen Shui touched her nose and said with a wry smile, "There really are mosquitoes, you guys have to believe me!"

However, the two girls were clearly preoccupied with their own thoughts and had no intention of letting Wen Shui off the hook. Wen Shui could vaguely smell the atmosphere of a battleground in the air.

Fortunately, Uncle Mori and Conan, who had already walked quite far ahead, turned around and shouted, "What are you guys doing? Hurry up, I don't want my fans to wait too long."

Xiaolan raised her hand: "Ah, coming right now."

The group hurriedly followed Kogoro Mouri and Conan, but this time Ran was smarter and pulled Miwako Sato along ahead, not giving Wenshui another chance to steal a bite with mosquitoes.

Although Xiaolan felt that what Wen Shui said might be true, Sato Miwako's reaction just now made her a little wary.

After looking at the map, Wenshui chose a route that involved traversing through the forest for a while before returning to the dirt road that cars could pass through. She then followed the dirt road until she reached the Aoi-ya Inn.

Actually, this isn't the shortest route, because the road that's open to traffic involves a detour.

If you keep traveling through the forest in the straightest line, you'll definitely get the fastest speed. But Wen Shui remembered that this case might involve encountering Yamamura Misao driving by on the way. If you don't take the main road, you might miss this plot point.

Sure enough, after they walked along the path for a while, Kogoro Mouri, because he was wearing sunglasses, accidentally tripped over a stone statue of Jizo Bodhisattva lying by the roadside.

The statue had a red rope tied around its neck and an honest expression, but a closer look would give you a creepy feeling.

Kogoro Mouri sat on the ground rubbing his back: "Damn it, who put this thing here?!"

“Dad, don’t talk nonsense. This is Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.” Xiaolan advised, then helped her father up. “Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statues placed in the mountains are usually very efficacious. Talking nonsense will bring bad luck.”

Conan couldn't help but interject, "Ran-neechan, are you scared?"

"H-How is that possible?" Xiaolan's expression changed slightly, but she forced herself to explain, "Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva protects others, not those monsters."

Actually, Xiaolan was a little flustered. She didn't know why, but whenever she looked at the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statue, she felt an inexplicable and uncomfortable feeling.

In addition, this country has a lot of horror and folk films, so Ran immediately recalled many scenes related to mountain gods from the horror films that Sonoko had dragged her to watch before.

Xiao Lan looked to Wen Shui for help.

Unexpectedly, Wen Shui squatted on the ground and observed carefully for a long time before looking up and saying, "Not necessarily. I feel that this Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is different from ordinary Bodhisattvas. He looks a bit evil."

Xiao Lan walked over to Wen Shui and grabbed his arm: "Don't say such strange things. It's just an ordinary Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. We just need to help it up."

As she spoke, Xiaolan bent down to help the stone statue lying across the roadside.

Wen Shui pulled her close, saying, "Wait a minute, I have a feeling something's off about this stone statue. It's best not to touch it."

In fact, Wen Shui had read the original plot and vaguely remembered that the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statue seemed to be related to the curse circulating nearby. Although it was later proven that the so-called terrifying legends were all man-made, considering Xiao Lan's fear of ghosts, Wen Shui felt it was better to keep her away from these things.

This is why, after inspecting the statue, he said there was a problem with it.

Xiao Lan clearly trusted Wen Shui a lot. After he said twice that he felt something was wrong with the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statue, Xiao Lan hid behind Wen Shui and grabbed his arm tightly.

Standing to the side, Sato Miwako looked somewhat awkward. Although she really wanted to go over and hug Wenshui's other arm like Ran did, her identity and persona did not allow her to do so.

Compared to Ran, who is terrified of ghosts, Miwako Sato has investigated at least a dozen paranormal sites on her own.

Several of the bodies were indeed buried by the murderer in a very cruel way.

At that moment, a beige car drove up from the foot of the mountain and slowly stopped next to Kogoro Mouri. The window rolled down, and sitting in the driver's seat was indeed Misao Yamamura, a police officer from Gunma Prefecture.

"It really is Mr. Mori and Brother Nukumizu! I thought I was seeing things." Yamamura Misao greeted them with a smile. "That's great. I was worried that this trip would be a waste of time. I'm relieved to have you two here."

Conan couldn't help but roll his eyes, thinking to himself, "Why is it this rookie detective again? If we really encounter a case, it will probably take even more trouble."

"Did we make a wasted trip? Is there some kind of case nearby?" Xiaolan asked with some concern.

Yamamura Misao: "Don't you know about this? It's that ghost legend of the man in the red sweater that's so widespread around here. I thought Detective Mori and Detective Nukumizu came here specifically to investigate this."

"The ghost in the red sweater?" Xiaolan's face turned deathly pale instantly.

Kogoro Mouri pushed up his glasses: "I know a little about this, but we're here to investigate something else and also to attend the opening ceremony of Mr. Tokumaru's outdoor hunting grounds."

A few days ago, the owner of the Aoi-ya Inn suddenly called Kogoro Mouri. The innkeeper said that he saw Kogoro Mouri's name on the guest list and called to ask Uncle Mouri to help him solve a mystery while he was on vacation. He also promised to give him a reward.

Kogoro Mouri would naturally not let such an opportunity pass him by. After all, he had come all this way, and the chance to earn double the money was simply the best thing for him.

However, the hotel owner only focused on the suitcase that someone had entrusted to him for safekeeping five years ago, without mentioning the Red Ghost incident, which Kogoro Mouri only learned about from a few words spoken by the taxi driver earlier.

Yamamura Misao was also taken aback: "Oh, I see. Actually, I came here specifically to investigate the Red Phantom incident. If you two detectives have some free time, could you help me relieve some of my workload?"

Yamamura Misao's words displeased Sato Miwako, who was squatting in front of the stone statue with her back to everyone.

Why would a criminal investigator say such a thing so openly? Where is their sense of shame?

Although she would ask Wen Shui for help in solving cases, she was initially very resistant to Wen Shui. It wasn't until she developed feelings for him during the investigation that she gradually began to rely on Wen Shui.

In Miwako's view, investigating cases with her future boyfriend to bring evil to justice is completely different from Yamamura Misao's behavior of avoiding trouble and shirking responsibility.

However, Sato Miwako had met this man named Yamamura Misao before at a meeting, and Miyamoto Yumi had also heard many rumors about him. Despite being a muddle-headed detective, he was an excellent test-taker, which is why he was able to become the police inspector of Gunma Prefecture at such a young age.

Sato Miwako hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she suppressed the urge to lecture.

After all, the other party was a police inspector, and from Gunma Prefecture at that. The Metropolitan Police Department was in a very delicate situation due to the public pressure from the Slit-Mouthed Woman, and Miwako did not want to cause trouble for Inspector Megure at this time.

She kept her head down, observing the Bodhisattva statue, wondering what Wen Shui had noticed that was wrong.

"But didn't you just say it was a ghost? If it's a ghost, how can we investigate it?" Ran asked with some concern as soon as Yamamura Misao finished speaking.

Yamamura Misao slapped his forehead: "Oh dear, it's all my fault for not explaining clearly. Actually, this ghost has a physical form..."

Afterwards, Yamamura Misao briefly explained the cause and effect of the matter to the others. Five years ago, in the autumn, the Gunma Prefectural Police Department received a report and found a strange corpse deep in this forest.

The deceased hanged himself from a tree with a rope, and based on the evidence at the scene, it appears to be suicide.

When the deceased was found, he had already become a skeleton. Judging from the date on the milk carton he was carrying at the scene and the date on the convenience store receipt, the deceased died in the summer, but he was wearing a red sweater that was out of season.

Initially, the case was treated as a suicide, but due to an investigator's slip of the tongue, the news that someone wearing a red sweater had hanged themselves in the forest was leaked.

Before long, strange tales began to circulate in the area about a ghost dressed in red appearing near the forest to frighten people.

When Xiaolan heard this, she was so frightened that she buried her face in the warm water on her shoulder.

Her body trembled slightly, her soft, fleshy skin clinging tightly to Wen Shui's arm, allowing Wen Shui to clearly feel Xiao Lan's heartbeat.

Conan, who was standing nearby, was getting anxious and quickly tried to draw the attention of Officer Sato, who was still investigating the statue, to them.

Seeing Ran and Nuku's intimate interaction, Sato Miwako's expression turned slightly cold. She acted as if she and Ran were longtime best friends, walking over and pulling Ran away from Nuku. Then, she turned to Yamamura Misao and said:

"Inspector Yamamura, as criminal investigators, shouldn't we believe in science? Using such unsubstantiated ghost stories to scare girls is not something a competent inspector should do."

Miwako Sato didn't say anything too harsh; her main concern was that she didn't want Ran and Wenshui to continue spending so much time together.

Yamamura Misao looked Sato Miwako up and down, seemingly a little incredulous:

"Huh? You, you... could it be..."

Sato Miwako smiled brightly: "Inspector Yamamura from Gunma Prefecture, it's been a long time. I'm Inspector Sato Miwako from the First Investigation Division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. We met at the last meeting."

"I know, but why are you here too? Is that rumor true?" Yamamura Misao's face showed surprise.

Miwako frowned slightly: "What rumor?"

Miwako thought this guy was going to tell some weird stories to scare the girls again.

Misao Yamamura: "It's the rumor that you fell in love with a young detective, Kazuki Nukumizu, who is much younger than you, and then used violence to coerce him into dating you!"

Conan was secretly delighted. He hadn't expected that this muddle-headed detective would actually be somewhat useful. Now Ran would know what kind of person Nuku was, right?

Sato Miwako clenched her small fists, and a #-shaped vein appeared on her forehead.

Before she could even retort, Xiaolan stepped in to protect Wen Shui: "No, please don't misunderstand, Wen Shui is not dating anyone right now!"

Conan's expression fell again.

Chapter 278: Suddenly being called "Dad" by Xiaolan is a bit hard to get used to.

Ran's possessive behavior towards her food made Uncle Mori sigh inwardly, wondering how his daughter could have been tricked away by that scoundrel.

Conan, standing to the side, was even more furious. He had originally thought that this incident would allow Ran to see through Wen Shui's true colors, but unexpectedly, it had the opposite effect.

Although Xiaolan said, "Wen Shui-jun doesn't have a girlfriend yet," her nervous expression said it all.

Damn it, that bastard Wen Shui must have given Xiao Lan some kind of mind-altering drug!

Conan, who grew up with Ran, has never enjoyed such treatment before. What's even more speechless for Conan is that Officer Sato didn't react at all after seeing this scene.

Seriously, show the temper you have when dealing with criminals! If you keep going like this, Ran will steal your warmth away, and you'll only have the dull-witted Detective Takagi as your lover!

Conan was looking forward to a showdown between Miwako Sato and Ran, but after waiting for a long time, Miwako Sato just watched the two of them calmly.

Yamamura Misao, who wasn't very familiar with the group, couldn't help but look at the young detective with admiration when he saw that Onami had ambiguous relationships with two girls at the same time.

I really don't know what his charm is that makes two such outstanding girls jealous of him.

It's worth noting that Miwako Sato is quite famous within the Metropolitan Police Department. Besides her outstanding appearance, her case-solving abilities and fighting skills are in no way inferior to those of male detectives; otherwise, she wouldn't have been chosen as the Metropolitan Police Department's "flower."

Although Yamamura Misao was far away in Gunma Prefecture, he would occasionally hear news from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

For example, Sato dismantles a criminal gang, but accidentally beats a criminal so badly that he ends up in the hospital. Or, a new recruit to the Metropolitan Police Department, after receiving special training from Miwako, fakes illness and asks for leave to avoid going to work.

Yamamura Misao found it hard to imagine that such a popular and capable female detective would be so indulgent towards a boy so much younger than her.

Shouldn't he have rushed over and thrown the warm water and tree to the ground with an over-the-shoulder throw?

Why does it seem like Miwako is all bark and no bite in front of Wenshui? She looks intimidating, but in reality, she seems a little worried about Wenshui getting angry, and doesn't even dare to speak loudly.

Yamamura Misao was very confused.

At this moment, Wen Shui, realizing she had entered a chaotic situation, tried to ease the awkwardness by bringing up the case again: "Officer Yamamura, did you come alone this time?"

“Yes, because this case is five years old, and the investigation has been completed. Sending more people wouldn’t make a difference.” Yamamura Misao shrugged. “Actually, I’m just here to try my luck. The ghost stories here have been affecting the local tourism economy.”

Judging from his words, if it weren't for the fact that the ghost in the red sweater was affecting the tourism industry in the area, the Metropolitan Police Department would have closed the case as a suicide long ago.