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

As it turned out... I never expected that I would run into the Dragon Tail family while just wandering around.

And why does it seem like the other person has never heard of my name before...?

Uh, Officer Otaki's senior is at least 50 years old. What is the relationship between this man and the client?

Hattori Heiji was conflicted, unsure whether he should say goodbye to the two first and go somewhere else for a while, or explain his purpose directly.

At this moment, Lin Xiaofeng continued the previous topic in a questioning manner: "From what you're saying, it seems that the people in the next village are a bit difficult to get along with. If we encounter them... will they make things difficult for us?"

Huh? Yeah!

Couldn't you ask him about the situation in the next village first? Seriously, I'm dumbfounded... Hattori Heiji has gotten himself into a dead end.

He was only thinking about how to get some clues from people outside of the 'Dragon Tail' or 'Torata' families, and he completely overlooked the fact that even the same thing could be asked in reverse.

"Hmm...they are indeed not easy to approach."

Longwei Jing hesitated for a moment before explaining, "Actually, our village and the neighboring village hold a festival every year to select the best archer. Because I've always been in good form, some of them are not happy about it, so they occasionally come to the shooting range and try some tricks. In short, you should always be careful when you encounter them."

The Ryu-hima originated from equestrian skills on the battlefield and later developed into a competitive sport. In Ryu-hima, participants need to ride a specially trained horse and use a specified number of bows and arrows to shoot at targets at equal distances. The winner is determined by the final hit rate.

As for the time, since it is impossible to precisely control the speed of the horses, as long as it is not to the point of riding the horses for a stroll, the participants and organizers will not care too much about the difference of a few seconds.

“Ah Jing has been the archer of the yūbōma (a type of horse) at the festival for six consecutive years, and he should be selected again this year.”

Ryūki Ayaka muttered under her breath, "If you ask me, why don't we just skip the election and just have A-Jing be the archer of the Ryūbōma every year?"

"Linghua..."

Longwei Jing looked at his wife and said helplessly, "Don't say such things. If I become complacent and don't practice diligently, my archery skills will definitely decline... After all, I am far inferior to my senior in terms of both perseverance and strength."

Senior? You're still a long way off?

Strange, didn't this person say he'd been chosen as the 'Archer of the Flowing Arrow' for six consecutive years...?

Hattori Heiji asked in confusion, "Excuse me, who is this 'senior' you just mentioned?"

"Um...this."

Longwei Jing hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

He had only blurted out the name of the person he most admired in horseback archery to strengthen his resolve, as a way to motivate himself.

But this doesn't mean he's willing to go along with the conversation and satisfy the curiosity of three strangers he's only known for a few minutes.

"Kai Gento, a detective from Nagano Prefecture," Lin Xiaofeng suddenly said, revealing the name he had in mind.

"How...how did you know?" Ryuuji's expression changed slightly.

If they were villagers from nearby villages, that would be one thing, but...aren't these three tourists from Osaka?

Hmm? This reaction... it seems they really don't know Hattori Heiji...

After a brief probing attempt...

Lin Xiaofeng said in a way that seemed to answer the question, but upon closer inspection, it also seemed like he said nothing at all:

"It's not surprising that I know Officer Kai, who is such an easy-going person."

"That's right, that person is Senior Kai."

Ryūki took a breath and said sincerely, "My training is not enough. If you were still alive, you would have always been the archer of the Ryūki-ma.

The atmosphere was somewhat silent for a while.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Hattori Heiji pulled Lin Xiaofeng a few steps to the side and asked in a low voice a series of questions, "Lin Xiaofeng, how do you know that Officer Kai? According to Ryūo Kei's account, that person should have died 6 years ago, right?"

“I don’t know him,” Lin Xiaofeng said in a low voice as well.

"Huh? Then what you just did..."

Hattori Heiji paused, as if remembering something, and asked, "Could it be that he's related to the case we're investigating?"

"maybe."

Lin Xiaofeng had no intention of explaining; he knew the plot in advance, and he knew about Officer Kai's situation.

Hattori Heiji:"……"

result……

The relationship between the two villages seemed to have become somewhat hostile because of that festival, and coincidentally, they also encountered what appeared to be the son and daughter-in-law of the Dragon Tail family.

Lin Xiaofeng's side will not be affected in any way.

But Heiji Hattori is different. Now that he has revealed his identity, he can use the excuse that the other party did not recognize him after exchanging names at the beginning. If he drags it out any longer, unless he does not intend to meet the client, he will only leave the other party with the impression that they do not trust each other, which is really not worth the loss.

"Lin Xiaofeng, just tell them that I was commissioned by Mr. Longwei Weishi to investigate the Longwei Kangsi case."

Lin Xiaofeng shook his head and reminded him, "Remember, I'm just a friend who came here with you. Don't let it slip."

Upon hearing this, Hattori Heiji left with a "Don't worry" and eagerly ran to Ryūo Kei and Ryūo Ayaka, explaining his identity in detail.

"What?! You're the detective Father hired?"

Ryuuji looked at the high school student in front of him with a mixture of shock and confusion.

"Didn't Mr. Ryūo Tamefumi tell you?" Hattori Heiji couldn't help but feel a little annoyed upon seeing this.

I'm a well-known high school detective, right? I've helped solve quite a few major cases, so why am I not as famous as that guy Kudo... Oh, now I should say the sleeping Kogoro Mouri.

"I have mentioned it before, but... I didn't expect you to be so young."

473. Quantitative change leads to qualitative change

Ryūki scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "Because I've been preparing for the selection competition at the festival, my father hasn't told me your name."

"So this is ah."

Hattori Heiji quickly composed himself and asked, "How much do you know about Ryūo Kōji's death?"

"I was the one who found the body."

Longwei Jing said, "A few days ago, in the evening, on my way home after practicing the Ryuga horse, I saw him with a lot of blood flowing from his head. He was buried in the ground and had stopped breathing..."

Hattori Heiji immediately pressed, "Did he leave any message at the scene before he died? Did you see any other suspicious people at the time?"

"No……"

Long Weijing paused for a moment, "But to be honest, it's hard to believe... I saw a dead centipede next to my father's discarded head."

"A centipede?" Hattori Heiji frowned. "What kind of centipede?"

"Red-headed centipede."

Longwei Jing said, "Father still has photos of the scene. Do you want to go take a look?"

Although he was the 'first' to discover the body, his family, wanting to avoid distracting him from the upcoming festival, did not mention the murder of Koji Ryuo to him again after cooperating with the police for questioning that day.

Lin Xiaofeng listened quietly, piecing together some information. Kai Genjin was a skilled Ryubi archer, and then he died. Ryuo Kei was also a skilled Ryubi archer, having won the title for six consecutive years. Recently, just before the seventh year of the selection tournament, his younger brother was murdered. And his parents, to avoid affecting Ryuo Kei's mindset, deliberately downplayed the incident…

Of course, downplaying it doesn't mean not caring; otherwise, Hattori Heiji wouldn't have been asked to come and investigate.

……

I walked past the scene of Ryuo Koji's death.

The bloodstains had long since mixed with the dirt mound, and apart from the cordon, there wasn't a single police officer on duty here.

It seems the evidence has all been taken back to the police station...

Hattori Heiji found no valuable clues and could only continue following Ryuo Kei to Ryuo's house.

When the group of people arrived.

Longwei was taking a walk in the courtyard.

He was wearing a gray loungewear outfit and round-framed glasses. When he saw Lin Xiaofeng, Hattori Heiji, Toyama, and Lin, he didn't come up to greet them. Instead, he went to Ryuuji Kei's side and asked if something had happened that day and why he had come back so early.

His attitude made it unclear whether he was concerned about his son or about the competition at the festival.

“Father, the detective you hired has arrived. We just happened to run into him near the shooting range…”

Longwei Jing explained it this way.

Ryūki turned his head and looked over, abandoning his previous indifferent attitude, and hurriedly invited the three of them into the house.

Hattori Heiji, Toyama, and Hayashi introduced themselves, but when it came to Hayashi Xiaofeng, he simply said, "Heiji and I are friends," and then said nothing more.

It's almost as if they have "I'm very aloof" written all over their face.

Ryūo Tamefumi seemed not to care much, or perhaps his attention was not very focused, and continued chatting with Hattori Heiji.

Seeing this scene in the courtyard, Long Weijing sighed helplessly and, together with his wife, turned around and went back to the shooting range.

After walking through the hallway into the living room, and watching Ryuo Tamefumi personally make coffee for the group, Hattori Heiji finally couldn't help but mutter under his breath:

"This person isn't very good to his son either."

"Hmm." Lin Xiaofeng nodded without comment, his gaze sweeping over the furniture and decor.

My first impression was that there weren't any particularly valuable items in the house, and the overall color scheme of the room wasn't luxurious.

However, since the shoji doors in many rooms were closed, his judgment was limited to the distance from the villa's yard to the living room.

Moreover, there is another thing that is quite concerning: the Dragon Tail family does not have a stable for keeping horses.

A six-time consecutive champion in the slugger archery competition didn't even have a place to keep horses at home.

Thinking room.

Ryūo Tamefumi also came in carrying a cup of coffee.

After seated.

Before Hattori Heiji could speak.

He then took a photo from the coffee table drawer and handed it over.

"Oh, this must be the scene where your son was murdered. ~ ."

Hattori Reiheiji looked at the photo in his dream, his eyes wide open, his mouth slightly agape, a painful expression on his face. After searching for a moment, he found a centipede in the blood on the side of the other's head.

"Hiss... This method of murder is truly bizarre..."

Weird?

Replacing the centipede with a red nematode containing a heartworm would be more like it… Lin Xiaofeng muttered to himself, then looked up at Longwei Weishi:

Are there any other photos?

“No more… Even this one, I took it secretly,” Ryuuji said.

"Have the police kept you informed about the progress of the investigation over these past few days?" Hattori Heiji asked.

"Well... their answers were all the same: 'It's still under investigation...'"

Ryuu sighed and said helplessly, "I've often heard Detective Otaki talk about your superb reasoning skills, so I had no choice but to ask him to ask Detective Hattori... uh, and your friend to come and help."

He glanced at Lin Xiaofeng, then realized that he hadn't asked the young man's identity and name.

Lin Xiaofeng picked up his coffee and took a sip, deliberately ignoring the look in the other person's eyes.

Ryūo Yukishi paused, then continued speaking to Hattori Heiji, "Detective Hattori... please find the murderer! My son was killed in such a cruel way, and the police haven't made a single clue yet. It's just... just..."

"what?"

Heiji Hattori paused, "But I heard Inspector Otaki say that we've already got some clues about the killer's identity, haven't we?"

"Well, that's just a guess..."

The story of Longwei, the site of Shihanhan Lake, is not yet finished.

Outside the shoji gate, an elderly woman, nearly 80 years old, with a hunched back and gray hair, walked in. Her face, covered in wrinkles, was somber as she spoke with absolute certainty:

"The murderer is in the Torada family!"

"Toratian..."

Hattori Heiji's heart skipped a beat. Before coming, Officer Otaki had reminded him that Ryūo-senpai had just lost his son, so he shouldn't be so aggressive in his words from the start and should be more considerate of Ryūo's feelings.

Hattori Heiji naturally agreed. So, just as he was wondering how to inquire about the conflict between the two families, he seized the opportunity and immediately asked curiously, "Grandma, why do you say that?"

Knock knock—

The old man pounded his cane on the floor a few times to vent his pent-up anger: "Hmph!!! It's all because the Torada family blamed our family for their son's death, so they had one of their members kill Koji!"

Yuanshan Heye was startled by the old man's sudden action, and Lin Xiaofeng quickly reached out and gently patted Yuanshan Heye.