Conan: The Heart Thief

Lin Xiao raised his head and looked at the sky again. He observed for a while before saying, "Looking at the situation, it won't rain within an hour. Xiaolan, you don't have to worry too much."

"In that case, let's hurry up! I told Ruriko that we will arrive before four o'clock, and she will be worried if we arrive too late."

Of course Xiaolan would not doubt Lin Xiao's judgment.

"Ok!"

Country road.

Xiaolan walked in front holding a parasol, and Lin Xiao followed slowly behind.

As he walked, Lin Xiao felt someone was staring at him from behind, so he turned back to look at the road he had just walked.

Under the blazing sun, the contours of the road looked like undulating heat waves.

Lin Xiao saw a figure pushing away the heat waves and moving slowly forward.

It was not known whether the person seemed to be swaying in the heat wave or whether the person was moving in a serpentine manner. When Lin Xiao determined that both factors were possible, the person had already walked to a place about forty or fifty meters away from him.

Lin Xiao looked carefully and found that the person coming was a young girl.

She was wearing a light green dress with long sleeves which was totally inappropriate for the hot weather.

In addition, from the empty appearance of the sleeves, it can be seen that the girl's arms are quite thin.

With every step the girl took, her waist-length hair swayed like waves.

I don’t know if she was in deep thought or was dazzled by the scorching sun, but her slender eyes looked dazed and completely out of focus.

The girl walked with small steps, swaying her body slightly as she moved forward.

Unconsciously, Lin Xiao's attention was all focused on the girl.

What attracted Lin Xiao's attention most was her unusually fair skin and the pair of bamboo sandals on her feet.

The girl's skin was as transparent and white as wax, and there was not a trace of blood on such a sunny day.

Under Lin Xiao's far superior vision, she looked as if she had not shed a single drop of sweat! She walked past the chestnut tree where Lin Xiao and Xiaolan had rested before with an expressionless face, and stopped again in an instant.

The girl stood still and looked at Lin Xiao.

After a while, the girl narrowed her eyes and smiled.

It was an elusive smile, as illusory as a mirage.

The girl blinked as if apologizing for her impolite smile, and then staggered towards another road.

Soon, the girl's figure was blocked by trees and quickly disappeared.

At this moment, a red Porsche happened to pass in front of Lin Xiao, but then it braked suddenly, then reversed and stopped in front of him.

Lin Xiao calmly watched the car window slowly open, and saw a beautiful and delicate face.

Chapter 249 Senior Sakura

"Junior Lin!" Sakuragi Ruriko poked her head out of the passenger window with a smile, her long black hair fluttering in the wind. "Lan has already told you, I'm going to trouble you again."

"It's okay, Senior Yingshu, I'm happy to help." Lin Xiao smiled.

Xiaolan said unhappily: "Liulizi, you were so busy greeting Lin Xiao that you forgot about me?"

"Of course not. Xiaolan, I was worried that you missed the bus, so I asked your aunt to take me to the bus station to check on you." Ruriko spoke in a very cheerful tone.

The two got in the car and sat in the back seat together. The red Porsche drove smoothly.

Liulizi turned around from the front seat and said, "By the way, let me introduce you, the one driving the car is my aunt, Sakuragi Haruko."

"Hello." Sakuragi Haruko greeted warmly.

Ying Shuchunzi looked to be in her thirties. Judging from the Porsche she drove and the heavy makeup on her face, her style was not at all in line with this kind of countryside. She smiled brightly at Lin Xiao and Xiao Lan.

Xiaolan said politely: "Hello, my name is Mao Lilan, and the person sitting next to me is my boyfriend Lin Xiao."

Xiaolan specifically emphasized that Lin Xiao is her boyfriend. She felt that her boyfriend was too outstanding and could easily be targeted by bad women outside.

"Thank you for coming to such a remote place just for Ruriko."

Sakuragi Haruko said politely.

"No, you don't have to be so polite. We are actually very happy to be able to participate in the annual festival."

Xiaolan responded with a smile.

"You mean the Thunder Festival? In fact, this is the only festival worth mentioning in Kumoba Village. I lived here before I started junior high school, but there was nothing here. It was really boring."

"But it's because there's nothing that it feels fresh!"

"Xiaolan, that's because you don't live here, so you feel this way."

Sakuragi Haruko said this and sighed softly.

"If my brother hadn't passed away, I would have missed Liulizi alone. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come back no matter what."

Sakuragi Haruko was halfway through her words when she suddenly turned around and glanced at Ruriko who was sitting next to her.

"Ah! I'm sorry, Ruriko, I'm not blaming you. Besides, I really can't stand letting two people who have no blood relationship with the Sakura family occupy this place!"

"Aunt, please stop here. I want to get off here and introduce Yunchang Village to them while walking home."

Ruriko suddenly interrupted Sakuragi Haruko.

"Okay! But you'd better get back before it rains."

Sakuragi Haruko stopped the car a little unhappily.

"Ah."

Ruriko nodded and quickly opened the car door.

Hearing them talking, even the naive Xiaolan noticed something was wrong and kept silent.

The place where we got off the bus was close to the center of the village, so we could see a large grocery store and several small and clean shops scattered around.

Lin Xiao discovered that a major feature of Yunchang Village was that all the houses were bungalows, and there was always a big tree planted in the courtyard of every household.

Xiaolan walked beside Liulizi and asked in confusion: "Liulizi, when we got off the bus just now, didn't your aunt remind us that we had better hurry home before it rained? Did she know it would definitely rain?"

"Well, it will definitely rain!"

Liulizi confirmed: "At this time of year, unless there are any special circumstances, there will be thunder every evening, and then a heavy thunderstorm will last for ten to twenty minutes.

Especially in such hot weather as today, it is more likely to rain heavily.

You see, every house in the village is deliberately built low to avoid being struck by lightning, and a big tree is planted in the courtyard instead of a lightning rod.

"Yeah, it's true!"

Xiaolan looked around for a while.

“Our village is located in the middle of a basin, so it gets very hot in the summer, and clouds gather in the surrounding mountains, bringing thunderstorms.

However, people in the past believed that this was caused by the power of God.

In order to show respect to the gods, our ancestors held a thunder festival every year starting from this evening. "

Ruriko explained in detail.

"really."

Lin Xiao nodded. He had already guessed something when he saw the style of the house and the trees in the garden.

"Ruriko is awesome, she's as professional as a tour guide."

Xiaolan praised from the bottom of her heart.

"No! I am only repeating what others have said."

Ruriko stuck out her tongue a little shyly.

"Ah! Did you hear the thunder?"

Xiaolan suddenly screamed.

Liulizi looked up at the sky and said with feeling: "This thunder is still quite far away from us. The real show will have to wait until the sun sets and the temperature drops a little. I really hope the thunder will get closer."

“Is the approaching thunder a good thing?”

Xiaolan asked in surprise.

"Of course! If the Thunder God doesn't come, the Thunder Festival can't be held. Whenever I think of the Thunder Festival, my heart leaps with joy."

As Ruriko spoke, her cheeks flushed and she looked quite excited.

The three of them walked through the houses in the center of the village and saw many vendors already there waiting to make a fortune.

Xiaolan took Liulizi's hand and walked towards a vendor: "Come here quickly, this thing is very interesting!"

Rumble—the sound of thunder in the distance slightly shook the atmosphere.

Lin Xiao looked up at the sky and saw clouds beginning to spread from the top of the mountain towards Yunchang Village.

The Sakura family's house is a large Japanese-style building, surrounded by tall walls. Not only that, there are iron thorns on the walls to prevent thieves from breaking in.

Lin Xiao and Xiaolan, led by Liulizi, came from the gate to the clean large courtyard.

There is also a big tree standing in the yard, which is a natural lightning rod.

In the gaps between the flowers and trees, there is Haruko Sakuragi's red Porsche.

The main house seems to be quite old, giving people a sense of vicissitudes.

At this time, a beautiful middle-aged woman in a kimono opened the sliding door, poked her head out and greeted: "Mr. Lin, Ms. Maori, welcome to Yingshu's house.

Oh, I am Ms. Ruriko’s mother, Sakura Shuriyue. Please come inside and sit down! "

"Ms. Ruriko!"

She called her daughter that, and Sakura Haruko said, "I really can't stand having two people who have no blood relationship with the Sakura family occupying the house." When Aunt Liulizi started talking about this topic, Liulizi asked to get off the car immediately. Lin Xiao could see that there was a problem between the relatives of the Sakura family.

"Ms. Lin Yue might be one of the 'two people' that Sakuragi Haruko mentioned. She's probably Ruriko's stepmother. They can't be biological mother and daughter! The reason why Ruriko wants to ask him for help may be related to the death of Ruriko's father."

Lin Xiao was thinking in his mind, but of course his expression was calm and not a single trace of it was revealed.

"Ms. Ruriko, it's hot outside! Can I make you some iced barley tea?"

Ms. Lin Yue asked warmly.