Ke Xue: Xiaolan delivers goods to your door at the beginning

Taking advantage of this moment, Mogi broke the silence first, the cigarette in his mouth swaying slightly up and down with the opening and closing of his lips and teeth.

"These playing cards are strange. I wonder if Brother Lin has noticed them?"

"good……"

Lin Xiaofeng's left index finger landed on the pile of playing cards scattered on the table in front of him. Gently brushing aside the top few cards, he could clearly see a pool of some dark brown substance solidified on the back of one of the cards.

Based on Lin Xiaofeng's detective experience, this dark brown substance is formed from dried blood, and it must have taken a very long time, measured in years.

But this is a card room. What kind of situation would make someone splatter blood on the cards?

Lin Xiaofeng couldn't say for sure. But at least from the moment he entered until now, he had seen traces of old blood more than once in this Twilight Villa. These included, but were not limited to, the handle on the inside of the main entrance, the handrail of the stairs from the first floor to the second floor, and so on... It was hard to imagine what had happened in this villa in the past.

"It's really strange, and it's not just about playing cards."

"Wow~ I'm really looking forward to seeing how things will develop next. Even though it hasn't officially started yet, I can already feel goosebumps all over my body." Mogi laughed heartily.

"Can I join?" Yukiko joined the game just as the previous round was ending.

Time passed slowly in the card room. The door was pushed open from the outside, and a maid who looked rather pretty and quiet appeared in the doorway.

The maid glanced around at everyone in the room and gave a slight bow.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Osaka has prepared dinner. Please follow me to the restaurant."

……

The dining room at the Twilight Villa was located on the first floor. When the group followed the maid to the dining room, the double doors were still tightly closed, and a well-dressed, rather wealthy-looking middle-aged man was already waiting there. Upon seeing the maid and her entourage, he nodded and said:

"Thank you for your hard work. Go directly to the kitchen to get the ingredients, and remember to serve them in the order I told you to."

"clear."

The maid nodded, then turned and left.

The middle-aged man was none other than the legendary gourmet detective, Ooue Shuzen. He watched the maid leave until her figure disappeared around the corner before turning to the rest of the group, a smile of peace spreading across his plump face.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to have kept you all waiting. It was quite a struggle for me to handle so many ingredients by myself, so it inevitably took a bit more effort."

"Not at all, to be honest, I'm also looking forward to seeing your culinary skills as a food detective," Kogoro Mouri complimented.

"Oh? Then Mr. Mori, you'd better enjoy it later."

Da Shang Zhu Shan's eyes lit up slightly, and he said with a hint of pride in his voice.

"I've put in a lot of effort to improve my cooking skills in order to satisfy my discerning palate... Okay, okay, let's not talk about that anymore. You can't really enjoy the food by just standing here."

As he spoke, he turned to the restaurant door, placed his hands on it, and slowly pushed it open.

But when the door opened, the scene that appeared before them stunned everyone.

This is a luxurious restaurant resembling a royal palace. The intricately patterned Persian carpets, the murals on the walls, and the huge golden nanmu wood table that runs from front to back of the restaurant all demonstrate the immense wealth of the former owner of this twilight villa.

However, at the very end of the long table, in the main seat, sat a figure draped in a black cloak, with even the head partially obscured.

"Who...who is this person, Mr. Oogami?" Kogoro Mori couldn't even speak coherently.

Da Shang Zhu Shan also looked shocked and bewildered: "I... I don't know either. I was in the kitchen the whole time, and I've never been to the restaurant before."

As soon as he finished speaking, a cane flew through the air and, after traversing the distance from the doorway to the end of the dining table, accurately struck the head of the black figure.

The figure fell to the ground with a thud.

Everyone was startled, and Yukiko was the most frightened, instinctively grabbing Lin Xiaofeng's hand.

400. A delicious dinner

"What the hell?"

Mogi blinked blankly a couple of times, his mind still stuck on the moment he opened the door and saw the black-robed figure on the main seat.

To say I was scared would be an exaggeration.

As a tough, true man who just last week got into a fight with the local gang in Chicago and then returned to Japan in style, he has experienced far too many ups and downs in his life.

What happened just now could at most be considered a prank.

The fair-skinned, beautiful, mature, and long-legged detective, Gunda Ikumi, crossed her arms and gestured with her chin toward Lin-Xiaofeng, who had already walked in first.

"If you want to know, just follow along and see!"

"……Too."

So everyone entered the restaurant together, walking around a long table displaying each of their name tags.

When they reached the head seat at the end of the long table, the black humanoid figure lying on the ground came into view again.

However, it was slightly different from the appearance of the chief mage of the FF group just now. Perhaps it had accidentally scraped something when it fell. The black pointed cloth bag on the humanoid head was pulled up a little, revealing a handsome, dark face underneath, but with a plastic texture.

It has the physical feel of plastic.

Yes, this is a mannequin.

"A...dummy?"

Mogi was even more puzzled.

The organizers invited so many detectives here, but the detectives themselves didn't show up or say why, and instead put this arrogant Buddha statue in the restaurant.

What, are you planning to scare them all to death with this?

Funny, right?

At the same time, Lin Xiaofeng bent down and grabbed the black pointed cloth hood that was half-covering the mannequin's head, and gently pulled it off.

Without the cover of the cloth bag, the dummy's face was completely exposed to everyone.

It was indeed the most common type of mannequin found in clothing stores, except that the area from the bridge of its nose up to its upper eye socket had been hollowed out and replaced with a megaphone.

"A mannequin equipped with a megaphone..." Kogoro Mouri smacked his chin and hissed. "So, the organizers aren't planning to use this mannequin to communicate with us in his place, are they?"

"It seems that's how it is," Hakuba Saguru said calmly.

"Hmm~"

"I sincerely welcome the seven renowned detectives who have been invited to this Twilight Villa. Please, have a seat."

"..."

There were no objections to the seating arrangement; it was all based on name tags, with each name tag corresponding to a specific person. In less than ten seconds, everyone was seated at the long table.

The dummy in the main seat continued, "There is only one purpose for inviting you all here today: I hope you can help me find the treasure hidden somewhere in this annex. It took me many years to discover this secret, so I will get it even if it costs me my life."

"Fight to the death..."

Kogoro Mouri's Adam's apple bobbed, and a bead of cold sweat quietly slid down his forehead.

He didn't know if it was just his imagination, but he felt that the organizer's words revealed an almost crazy determination.

As expected, those two million weren't easy to get.

boom!

Just then, a sudden explosion occurred outside the villa, so loud that the ground beneath everyone's feet trembled slightly.

"What's going on? What happened?!" Da Shang Zhu Shan demanded.

"It's nothing, just a necessary safety measure to ensure that no one runs away halfway through because they find the task difficult."

The dummy in the main seat continued.

"In the past, you've always been the ones chasing me. It seems like it's time for us to switch positions occasionally... By the way, the wooden bridge you passed on your way here has now been destroyed in the explosion and fallen off the cliff. Simply put, you don't have any way to leave on your own right now."

"Oh, thank goodness I parked my car in front of the bridge and didn't drive over."

Lin Xiaofeng shrugged.

"But there's one thing I don't quite understand. What does it mean to say 'you've always been the ones chasing me'? I don't remember ever chasing after a guy who likes to use a voice-changing dummy."

"Huh~ Really not?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Ikumi Gunda, who was sitting across the table, chuckled softly.

"The invitation clearly states, 'The phantom of God's abandoned child.' 'Phantom' means elusive and without physical form, while 'child' refers to a puppy. In the New Testament, 'the dog abandoned by God' means a 'goat' unblessed by God. 'Child goat' is a young goat. Although 'goat' is pronounced 'goat' in English, 'kid' is used to refer to a young goat, hence 'kid the phantom thief.'"

That is... Phantom Thief Kid!

"...You can't fight on an empty stomach, so please enjoy your dinner."

Almost immediately after the mannequin finished speaking, the familiar three-part knocking sound came from the restaurant door.

Then, under everyone's gaze, the maid who came in pushing a food cart pushed the restaurant doors open completely to both sides and bowed.

"Next, we'll serve you some appetizers."

Oh right, time to eat.

A series of bizarre events made everyone almost forget that they had come downstairs for dinner.

The entire food service process was so quiet in the huge restaurant that it was almost deathly still, with only the wheels of the trolleys rolling on the ground and the faint sound of heavy rain pouring down outside.

It looks like it's raining even harder than when they came before.

· ······Requesting flowers· ····

"Judging from this, even if we call the police, they won't be able to get here until at least tomorrow morning." Mogi took a deep drag on his cigarette.

This has nothing to do with the local police not responding in time. They all came to this Twilight Villa by car, and they all know how difficult it was to drive up the mountain road.

The road takes more than three hours to travel even during the day, and it takes even longer at night, since driving on mountain roads at night is inherently dangerous.

Moreover, the wooden bridge, which is now the only entrance and exit point here, has been destroyed, and it will be a great effort to restore it to a passable state.

Helicopters probably wouldn't be usable in this kind of stormy weather.

"Alright, eat and drink as you please, don't think too much, let's eat."

The one who said this was Lin Xiaowufeng. I saw his father pick up a baked snail from the plate in front of him and stuff it into his mouth without the slightest hesitation.

.. .... ....

Kogoro Mouri, who was still undecided, stared wide-eyed.

"Hey...you little brat, you're really going to eat this? What if it's poisoned?! Spit it out right now!"

"No, it won't." Lin Xiaofeng chewed the food in his mouth, living up to his reputation as a food detective. "It tastes good. Yukiko, you should eat too."

"Oh, oh, oh." Yukiko ate with relish.

Everyone stared intently at Lin Xiaofeng and Yukiko, worried that the two might eat something wrong.

Seeing the two enjoying their meal, Da Shang Zhu Shan laughed heartily, lightly stroking his artistic mustache, and said, "Everyone can rest assured that tonight's dinner was prepared entirely by me, and there is absolutely no possibility of poisoning."

"It seems there really is no problem."

After checking on Mitsuaki Mitsuaki and Yuki Koko three times to make sure that there were no problems with the seven ounces (there are no nine people eating shrimp), they felt at ease and began to eat.

Soon, the restaurant was filled with the sound of knives and forks clattering.

Kogoro Mouri, who was initially full of concerns, saw that everyone else had started eating and he was standing there like a fool. After hesitating for two seconds, he gritted his teeth, picked up a fork, and joined the gluttonous army.

One bite, and my eyes lit up; then I couldn't stop eating.

Really fragrant.

An hour passed in the blink of an eye, and when everyone put down their knives and forks, a satisfied smile appeared on their faces.

Kogoro Mouri, who had been worried about being poisoned, went on to praise Oogami Shuzen's cooking skills.

"As expected of a food detective, his skills are truly impeccable!"

"Not at all, you flatter me, you flatter me..."

The delicious food dispelled the somber atmosphere in the restaurant, and everyone remained in a relaxed and pleasant mood until the end of dinner.

401. The Twilight Villa

After everyone finished their meal, the dummy continued, "Now, please pick up any piece of tableware you have and take a look. You will find that they are all engraved with a raven-shaped emblem."

“…Indeed.” Kogoro Mouri readily agreed.

Chima Kazuyo also picked up the empty coffee cup and examined the bottom of it, where there was also a crow pattern.

She gasped softly.

"Could this be..."

"Yes."