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

Lin Xiaofeng gave a perfunctory response. He had, of course, noticed what Hattori Heiji had said, but what could he do? Ryūo Tamefumi was the client; he couldn't very well drag the man's still-living son out and beat him up, resorting to torture to extract a confession, could he? If he really did that…

Hattori Heiji was also exasperated by Lin Xiaofeng's perfunctory attitude.

"sleep early."

Why are you sleeping so early?

Hattori Heiji was taken aback. He saw Toyama Kazuha beside Lin Xiao, having made up the bed, ready to sleep at any moment.

"Yuanshan He Ye, why are you sleeping with Lin Xiaofeng?"

"I'm willing, it's none of your business."

Toyama and Hachiko made a face at Hattori Heiji.

"I can't care about you."

Hattori Heiji was frustrated. Toyama Kazuha was clearly trying to steal Lin Xiaofeng from him, which was going too far.

"Xiao Feng, can you hold me while we sleep tonight?" Yuan Shan and Ye Zong felt that this place was not peaceful.

"No problem." Lin Xiao gently hugged Yuanshan and Ye.

Seeing this, Hattori Heiji, who was sleeping on the other side, snorted and thought to himself, "Toyama Kazuha is such a coward. He insisted on coming along. How annoying."

The wind blew all night.

The weather remained cloudy the following day.

Because of the drop in temperature, all three of them stayed in bed longer.

When the three of them finished washing up and went to the restaurant somewhat embarrassed, they only saw Ryuo Tamefumi sitting in a chair reading a newspaper.

"Mr. Dragon Tail, are you here alone?"

Hattori Heiji asked, somewhat puzzled.

Ryuuji put down his newspaper and invited the three of them to sit down and eat. He said, "Because of the recent thunderstorms, Aya and Ayaka went out early this morning to practice riding and archery... My mother went out for a walk after breakfast."

……

The three of them were walking on the way to the Torada family's house.

Hattori Heiji said, "Lin Xiaofeng... do you think Officer Kai's death was an accident?"

"No," Lin Xiaofeng said.

"Huh? Really?" Hattori Heiji's eyes lit up. "Lin Xiaofeng, what did you discover!"

Lin Xiaofeng said, "Kai Genjin died 6 years ago after the festival. He was not selected as the Flowing Arrow Archer that year."

"Um……"

Heiji Hattori nodded. "They said he missed the target during the competition, but his score was still good enough to qualify for the second round the next day. However, he just disappeared that very night..."

"Isn't it obvious? Judging from the distance from the festival site to the shooting range and then to the Torada family, the last place he should have gone for the competition the next day was the cliff where he fell," Lin Xiaofeng said.

That's true. When I came here, I noticed that the trees along this road had very low canopies. Unless someone specifically pruned the trees along this road 6 years ago, it wouldn't be convenient to ride a horse here and then go around to the Torada family's house...

Heiji Hattori, distracted by his thoughts, noticed Lin Xiaofeng's silence and asked in confusion, "Uh... Lin Xiaofeng, is there anything else?"

"What?" Lin Xiaofeng asked.

"It's about clues or evidence..."

Hattori Heiji gave an example: "Without that, we wouldn't be able to prove that Inspector Kai's death wasn't an accident, would we?"

He also planned to compare the clues and see if he could find any similarities with the case of Ryuuji Koji. That would solve his case smoothly.

Then Lin Xiaofeng said, "There is no evidence."

"Huh?" Hattori Heiji was a little confused.

Kazuha Toyama originally thought that she was not allowed to join the conversation between the two, so she had not spoken. However, seeing that Heiji was stunned, she immediately looked at him with surprise.

· ······Requesting flowers· ····

No, there is no evidence...

Hattori Heiji snapped out of his daze and said anxiously, "Please! Lin Xiaofeng, without evidence, what you just said can't be considered reasoning at all!"

"Your previous question was 'Do you think Officer Kai's death was an accident?' After seeing the scene, I don't think he died an accident."

Lin Xiaofeng summarized their previous conversation and then calmly asked, "Is there a problem?"

Ah, this... seems to be fine...

Heiji Hattori scratched his head. "But if there's no evidence, others could say that Officer Kai jumped off a cliff because he missed the target."

... 0th

"That's not important," Lin Xiaofeng said.

"Huh? What..." Hattori Heiji didn't understand.

“You’re a detective, and you’re arguing with me like that to get the truth, but the people in the village are different…”

Lin Xiaofeng said, "The person has been dead for 6 years, not a week or a month. People who are not directly involved will not be so persistent in arguing. To them, Kai Genjin is already a dead man. After hearing that it was 'homicide,' they will be eager for us to find the murderer. After all, no one wants to live with a murderer forever."

"Makes sense."

Heiji Hattori blinked and added, "Especially recently, there was the death of Koji Ryuo. Regardless of whether the two incidents are related, we just need to investigate both cases together, and the real culprit will definitely feel guilty and subconsciously start paying attention to us."

"It is also possible that the murderer has a strong will and will not reveal any flaws."

Lin Xiaofeng poured cold water on the idea, looking at the Hutian family's villa not far away, and reminded him, "Alright, put away that excitement on your face."

"Um……"

Heiji Hattori took a deep breath and adjusted his breathing.

……predict.

476. It's a curse.

Shigeji Torada was an obese man in his early thirties who didn't pay much attention to his appearance.

The reason why Lin Xiaofeng, Hattori Heiji, and Toyama Kazuha were able to recognize each other so easily was that as soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw Torada Shigeji sitting on a small stool cleaning the dirt off his shovel.

,

Hattori Heiji stepped forward, gave a brief self-introduction, and went straight to the point, asking about the centipede next to Torada Yoshiro, who had been caught in the tornado.

"I did see the centipede, but I don't know anything else..."

Torada Shigeji put the shovel aside. "At first, my father and mother said it was the Ryūo family who did it, but recently their son Kōji also died, and it seems like a centipede was placed next to him."

"So, what connection do your Torada family, the Ryūo family, and the centipede have?" Hattori Heiji asked.

“Probably not,” Torada Shigeji hesitated for a moment, “but if it’s a centipede pattern, I think I’ve seen the number 310 at a festival before.”

The festival he was referring to was the event for selecting archers using the yakubura horse.

At that time, the contestants from the village will all wear Warring States period armor made of plastic.

As he spoke, Torada Shigeji led a few people to the front of the main house, opened the shoji door to show off the Torada family's armor.

Lin Xiaofeng was unaware of this and left the time for the two of them to ask questions.

Hattori Heiji peered inside, and after confirming that there was no centipede pattern on the armor, he continued to ask:

"Where in the festival did you see it?"

Shigeji Torada thought for a moment: "Sorry, I can't remember right now..."

Kazuha Toyama thought for a moment and muttered, "If it's a dragonfly, I remember that some warlords from the Warring States period painted it on their helmets."

“Eh? Speaking of military commanders…” Torada Shigeji looked at the three of them one by one.

During breakfast, Ryūo Tamefumi mentioned that he suspected someone had asked Ryūo Kōji about Inspector Kai, which led to his murder...

Lin Xiaofeng maintained his pace, staring at Torada Shigeji, and asked, "How much do you know about the cause of death of Kai Genjin, who passed away six years ago? Did he really die in an accident?"

Those calm yet imposing gazes forced Torada Shigeji to look away, and he said somewhat flusteredly:

"Uh, yeah, yeah... everyone says he accidentally fell off a cliff while riding a horse..."

A classic guilty conscience reaction, coupled with the fact that he often carried a shovel in the mountains to search for treasure, he also had time to kill Ryūo Kōji and bury him as shown in the photo.

Good luck... Lin Xiaofeng withdrew his gaze, took out a can of instant coffee from his pocket, and took a sip.

Beside him, Hattori Heiji added, "Is there anyone who knows more about what happened back then?"

"It must be my sister-in-law, Yui..."

Shigeji Torada sighed and said, "Because she was the one who discovered the body back then."

"Where is she now?" Hattori Heiji asked.

“She’s in the stable over there; she should be taking care of the horses at this time,” said Shigeji Torada.

"Okay, let's go take a look!"

Hattori Heiji waved his hand, signaling the two to run off in that direction without even turning their heads.

Yuanshan and Ye followed closely behind.

Lin Xiaofeng, on the other hand, calmly stood still and drank his coffee, showing no intention of moving an inch.

As the figures of the childhood sweethearts completely disappeared around the corner.

Torada Shigeji looked at Lin Xiaofeng with a somewhat unnatural expression. "Um... Detective, is there anything else?"

Despite only spending a few minutes with him, he felt that this taciturn young man was several times more terrifying than his father.

Lin Xiaofeng waited another ten seconds or so, making sure Hattori Heiji wouldn't turn back halfway, before saying calmly, "Didn't you notice...?"

Torada Shigeji, already feeling uneasy under her gaze, immediately forced a slight smile and asked:

"What...what did you find?"

There's a centipede on your collar.

When Lin Xiaofeng said this, he also shifted his gaze to Torada Shigeji's collar, as if there really was something there.

"Eh!?"

Torada Shigeji was startled and screamed as he hurriedly reached for his collar, shaking his clothes and jumping up and down.

"Climb in, quickly take off your shirt," Lin Xiaofeng remotely instructed.

"Whoa whoa--"

Shigeji Torada did as instructed without any thought whatsoever.

Once freed from the constraints of his coat, a large, obese belly covered in stains and skin flakes was exposed to the air.

No tattoos... so does 'centipede' represent something else?

Lin Xiaofeng pondered for a moment, and after Torada Shigeji finished this dance that he didn't want to watch at all, he casually pointed to the grass next to him and said, "You've already thrown him out."

"Yes, yes..."

Torada Shigeji was still somewhat shaken. He looked at the shirt he was carrying in his hand, but ultimately decided not to put it on.

"Are you afraid of centipedes?" Lin Xiaofeng adjusted his breathing, his expression extremely cold, staring directly at the other person with his emotionless eyes.

"Uh, no..."

Torada Shigeji was about to deny it instinctively, but then a chill ran through him, and he nodded, saying, "I'm... a little bit scared..."

"What should we do if we encounter this while treasure hunting in the forest?" Lin Xiaofeng asked.

"It's not as easy to encounter someone like that in Japan... no," Linghu Tian Shigeyu said somewhat awkwardly.

"Oh, I almost forgot."

Lin Xiaofeng nodded slightly and continued, "Even if a centipede accidentally crawls onto your clothes, you can easily remove it as long as someone nearby reminds you."

"Huh?" Torada Shigeji's expression changed drastically, his mouth slightly open, and for a moment he didn't know how to respond.

Sure enough, there were others traveling with me...

Lin Xiaofeng understood. He took a few steps closer and said in a declarative tone, "The friend you went treasure hunting with was Ryuuji Koji. You found the treasure, and then... you killed him."

"No...not me..."

Torada Shigeji plopped down on the ground, clutching his head and shouting in a trembling voice, "It's a curse! It was a curse that killed Kouji!"