I am in Mihua, and the ladies all like me

"That's Gaoyue Hall. We'll take the elevator up there."

"But……"

He Ye glanced at the waterfall cascading down beside the towering wooden building.

"If there's a waterfall nearby, wouldn't it be too noisy to hold the finals there?"

This was the truth. Not to mention how loud the sound of the waterfall would be when they reached Gaoyue Hall, they could still hear the deafening sound of the water from their current location not far from the shore.

If the competition is held right next to the waterfall, with such a loud noise from the water, you won't even be able to hear the words being recited, right?

"Don't worry, it's okay."

Chairman Achiba explained patiently.

"Gao Yue Tang took this into consideration when it was first built. The highest standard of soundproofing materials are used, and there is air conditioning inside to maintain a constant temperature and humidity 24 hours a day. When a competition is taking place inside, no matter how loud the noise outside is, there won't be any noise inside."

“Yes, that’s right.”

After hearing this, He Ye finally felt relieved.

On the other side, in the square in front of the main entrance of the palace where the knockout rounds were held, Serabelle stood at the end of the thousand steps and looked down. She could vaguely see Kyoto police officers still patrolling at the gate at the foot of the mountain, but their attitude was obviously much more relaxed than in the morning.

After all, we have already reached the finals. Logically speaking, no accidents have happened so far, so nothing should happen afterwards.

"Brother~ Why are you here? The final match between Heye and the others is about to start."

A familiar voice came from behind him. When he turned around, he saw that it was Sera Masumi who ran out and found him.

"Oh, come right away."

Serabelle took one last glance down the mountain and was about to look away and return to the arena in the palace.

However, at this glance, he suddenly noticed something strange.

I saw that many police officers who had been patrolling calmly at the foot of the mountain not long ago seemed to be busy all of a sudden, trotting towards the same place.

Looking in the direction of convergence, a crooked black mist was rising from the forest at the foot of the mountain.

A mountain breeze blew by, and the oncoming air flow was mixed with a slight burnt smell.

Is this... the burning caused by the explosion?

At this moment, as if lightning flashed through her mind, Serabell turned her head and looked towards the palace.

"What, what's wrong?"

The girl with tiger teeth was stunned by his sudden reaction, but she turned around and took a look.

In the direction of the palace... no, to be more precise, in the direction of Gaoyue Hall behind the palace, there was also a column of black smoke rising into the sky, with faint flickering lights of fire.

Chapter 584 You killed him, right?

Above the waterfall, the final is about to begin.

Although Gaoyuetang's location and decoration appear to be extremely grand from the outside, its floor space is not very large. Converted into tatami mats, it has only about ten to twelve tatami mats, which is about the size of an ordinary person's bedroom.

Inside Gaoyue Hall, the karuta cards to be used in the finals had been laid out on the floor according to the rules. The two girls knelt quietly on their respective sides. Directly above the desk in the middle was a camera integrated into the wall.

President Achiha, wearing a kimono, stood behind the desk, shuffling the karuta cards skillfully in his hands.

There was some silence in the room.

Kazuha was secretly surprised. Just as President Achiha had said before, after entering Satsuki-do and closing the main gate, there was indeed no sound of the waterfall at all, even though it was still so deafening when he heard it outside just now.

However, as he was washing, President Achiba stopped moving his hands.

He lowered his eyes slightly and suddenly said something in a voice that could not be recorded by the microphone in the venue.

"I'm so sorry, you two."

"Eh?"

"how……"

Kazuha and Ooka Hongye both heard this and were stunned for a moment.

Is this an apology? But aren't we going to play the finals next? Why is he apologizing so suddenly?

"Then the final of this Gaoyue Cup will officially begin!"

As if the words just now had never been said, President Achiha behind the desk suddenly changed his previous apology without any warning, and spoke with his head held high and chest puffed out with full energy.

“Please do your best to present us with a wonderful game!”

"Please give me more advice."*2

Following the rules of karuta, Kazuha bowed.

Ooka Momiji on the other side also made the same move.

It is easy to guess that with the start of the final battle, there must be a jubilant atmosphere in the palace arena.

Although there is no certainty of winning, let's just give it our all!

Yuanshan and Ye Xin thought.

However, just as the two girls were about to stand up and prepare to officially start the game, an ominous vibration suddenly came from the tatami floor below, and it felt like it came from even lower...

"Wait, what is this?!"

He Ye was startled.

As a native of Osaka, Japan, she has lived in this country located on an earthquake zone since she was a child, and earthquakes are deeply rooted in her heart.

Such a familiar vibration...

"Oh, it's okay. It's okay."

President Achiba explained casually.

"It's just a small earthquake. It happens all the time here. Gaoyuetang's design also took this into consideration. Don't worry, we are still safe."

"Really……"

boom!

Before He Ye could feel relieved, a huge noise came from outside. The noise was so loud that even the completely soundproofed main gate of Gaoyue Hall couldn't withstand it... because it had been kicked away by someone.

The heavy door fell into the room with a bang, and a familiar figure walked out in the dissipated dust.

"You are amazing, President Achiba."

The young man who appeared in front of the three people spoke first and tightened the tactical gloves on his hands. As his hands dropped, strands of silver threads fell from between his fingers.

"Sera-kun?"

"Why is Sera-kun here?"

When they saw Serabelle appear, not only Kazuha, but even Ooka Koye was stunned.

You know, this is the finals of the Utaha competition. If you barge in like this, wouldn't it be...

"What else can I do? Of course I'm here to tell you to run for your lives." Serabelle pointed to the ground below. "Didn't you feel the vibration just now? There has been an explosion below."

"B-explosion?!"

Ooka Momiji listened attentively.

Indeed, without the shield of the gate, the roaring sound of the waterfall outside suddenly rushed in with a breeze carrying moisture.

The wind was filled with the crackling sound of burning wood.

"Could it be..."

At this point, He Ye no longer cared about whether it was the final or not. He stood up and ran out of the room quickly, looking down from the fence outside.

Suddenly the girl's pupils shrank slightly.

She saw the smoke and the flickering fire below.

You should know that although Gaoyuetang occupies a small area, it is located on a very high terrain. The entire structure except for the elevator shaft is made of wooden frames.

In other words, once the fire gets bigger, regardless of whether the base will be burned off and collapsed, at least there will be no problem turning them into a beam of torches.

Moreover, the elevator would definitely not be usable at the fire scene, not to mention that the elevator exit was at the very bottom. Even if it could be used, one would immediately face a raging fire once out of the door.

"Then how did Sera-kun get up here?" Ooka Hongye suddenly thought of this question.

"How could I come up from the bottom? I jumped from the top."

Serabelle pointed to the roof of Gaoyue Hall.

Yes, Gaoyue Hall itself is built on the cliff, and because it is high enough, the altitude of its roof is almost the same as the top of the cliff, with a difference of only three or four meters at most.

If you have better skills, it is possible to land accurately on the roof and then flip in.

But if this is the case, it means that Serabelle has no way to escape safely.

"Anyway, there's no point in thinking so much now. Conan and Hattori are already on their way to rescue us."

Serabel was not panicked. He walked into Gaoyue Hall step by step, walked around the karuta on the ground and came in front of President Achiba. There was only a small podium between the two of them.

"While we still have some time and this live broadcast, let's make some things clear, President Achiba?"

"For example?"

"For example, whether it was the Gaoyue Hall this time or the Nichimei TV building last time, you were the one who planted the bomb both times, right?"

Varied……

Because the news was so explosive, even Ooka Momiji opened her mouth slightly.

Chairman Achiba snorted coldly, "What nonsense are you talking about? How could it be me? Whether it was the Nichimizu TV building or the Gaoyue Hall, I was at the scene of the incident. How could it be me who did it? What reason do I have to deliberately put myself in danger?"

"You think it doesn't make sense?"

Serabelle's expression remained unchanged as she looked up at the camera that was broadcasting the entire scene in the palace live.

"Indeed, just like I can't understand why Nagoro Shikao, who had contracted a terminal illness five years ago and only wanted to win his first love once and then handed over the Nagoro-kai to the Satsuki-kai, would disappear on the night before the official competition because he lost the game."

"……what are you saying?"

President Achiba frowned and said that he didn't understand at all.

"Then let me ask it another way."

Serabelle tilted her head.

"Five years ago, on the night before the final battle between the Nagoro-kai and the Satsuki-kai, did Nagoro Shikao really lose the match and escape, and disappear from the sky? Or was he killed by you at that time?"

Chapter 585 Because He Likes Your Wife

His name is Qingluxiong.

As the boy's voice was transmitted to the viewing area through the camera recording at the final venue Gaoyue Hall, almost everyone in the huge hall fell silent at this moment.

Considering that everyone present today has some connection with karuta, this name is not unfamiliar to them.

Five years ago, the Satsuki-kai was not as dominant as it is today. At that time, the two major karuta societies were equally powerful in Kyoto.

One is the Gaoyuekai and the other is the Nagorokai.

The one who led the Nagoro-kai was the Nagoro Shikao mentioned above.

But didn't Nagoro Shikao flee without a fight because he was afraid of a life-or-death confrontation with the Gaoyue Society? Why is he suddenly mentioned here?

And what does it mean that he was killed by President Achiha the day before the showdown?

"Come to think of it, what happened back then was indeed a bit strange..."

"Yes, I heard that Nagoro Shikao is a famous stress-monster. Not only is he very strict with his disciples, but he also often argues with the referee when he plays himself, fighting to the death over who touches a card first."

"It's hard to imagine that kind of person would retreat without fighting just because he's afraid of losing the duel."

"To be honest, given Nagoro Shikao's personality, even if he wanted to disappear, he should have done so after the match was over and he had confirmed his defeat and had argued with the referee team to no avail, right?"

"I think so……"

For a moment, whispers and discussions were heard everywhere in the huge stadium.

It’s a pity that the sound transmission of the camera is one-way, so President Achiha, who is far away in Gaoyue Hall, has no way of knowing the direction of public opinion in the audience at this moment.

He was still trying hard to argue against Serabelle's accusations.