Ke Xue: I have a knife, and you still dare to fight me?

Suddenly, Kurokawa Saki keenly noticed that someone was secretly watching him.

Who is it? Who is spying on me?

He looked up sharply and immediately locked onto his target: two reflections on the hillside ahead, two people.

Kurokawasaki Tsuki narrowed his eyes slightly.

On a distant hillside, Yusaku Kudo and Yukiko Kudo were watching Shinichi Kudo and Tsuki Kurokawa through binoculars.

"Shinichi was just talking to a beautiful girl. Hey, did that other guy spot us?" Yukiko was startled when she suddenly saw Kurokawasaki Tsuki staring at her through the binoculars.

"It seems so. Such keen intuition. Is he a detective too?" Kudo Yusaku exclaimed, then put down his binoculars, which was somewhat impolite.

"Huh, he's a handsome guy. No! I've seen this handsome guy before." After seeing Kurokawasaki Tsuki's face clearly through the binoculars, Yukiko reluctantly put the binoculars down.

"Huh? When?"

"Have you forgotten? Back at the beach, when I called you to ask about the watch shop robbery case? Didn't I say that two people, along with you, identified the culprit?"

"That person was one of them. He was probably still a high school student back then, but he was just as handsome as he is now, even more handsome than Shinichi."

"Hey, I'm still here," Yusaku Kudo said.

"But according to what you're saying, this person really has the makings of a detective. To be able to pinpoint the culprit so quickly while still in high school, and to possess such keen intuition and insight, he's bound to achieve great things in the future," Yusaku Kudo exclaimed.

"Speaking of which, has this self-proclaimed world-class mystery novelist solved the case?"

"Yukiko, that's a stupid question."

"Huh?" Yukiko Kudo exclaimed in surprise, "Has Yusaku already solved it?"

"I originally wanted to use the case from four years ago here as the subject of a novel, which is why I came here. I just didn't expect that an almost identical case would happen again."

"Now that you've solved it, why don't you call the police right away?"

"No, let's leave this to the younger generation. Let's see how things go."

"Then, Yusaku," Yukiko Kudo pleaded, clasping her hands together, "could you give me a hint?"

Afterwards, Yusaku Kudo told Yukiko Kudo another story about the Yuki-onna (snow woman).

After narrowing his eyes, Kurokawa Sakizuki recognized the two little figures spying on him. They were actually the Kudo couple. What were they doing here?

It seems they were observing Kudo from here. Once they realized that he wasn't the main target, Kurokawa simply ignored the two of them.

He continued watching the video in his hand.

Then, Kurokawa Sakizuki thought of something.

"Kudo-kun, let's go back to the hotel."

"Huh? Okay, Kurokawa-kun, did you discover something?"

"Yes, it's almost done."

On the way back to the hotel, Kurokawa Saki saw a shop in the ski resort and decided to go in to take a look at the travel bags they were selling.

Kurokawa noticed a travel bag similar in style to the one the deceased had filled with snow, so he pointed to it and asked the shop assistant to bring it over for him to look at. The shop assistant immediately came over enthusiastically to recommend it.

"Do you have a larger size?" Kurokawa asked.

"Yes, yes." The shop assistant quickly brought over a large travel bag.

"Look, this strap has been lengthened, making it more convenient and easier to carry," the salesperson explained.

After reading it, Kurokawasaki Tsuki had a clearer understanding of the case, and Kudo Shinichi, who was standing next to him, also seemed to be deep in thought.

Chapter Eight: First Clash

Back at the hotel, Ran Mouri happened to be there, and standing next to her was Sonoko.

"Kurokawa-nii, it really is you." Suzuki Sonoko's eyes lit up when she saw Kurokawa Sakizuki's handsome face.

"You are Suzuki-kun. It's been a long time! You've become even more beautiful," Kurokawasaki Tsuki said with a smile.

"Just call her Garden Garden." Garden Garden blushed, a rare occurrence for her.

Kurokawa chuckled.

"Let's go, Kudo-kun, let's go see Mr. Minowa's movies. The hotel should have his DVDs, right?"

Inside the hotel room, Kurokawa and his friends gathered around the television, quickly browsing through the movies directed by Minowa.

Kurokawa Saki played a clip showcasing his miwa skiing technique, but just as he was about to reach the bottom, there was a shot of the miwa leaving the camera's view, which then cut back to the camera the next second.

But when I switched back, the hat buckle I was wearing was gone.

"See that? This scene is a continuous shot, but the hat buckle on his head is missing. And don't you guys think his skiing style in the film is a bit different from what we're showing today?" Kurokawa said, pointing at the TV.

Ran Mouri spoke first: "Really? But he skated really well both times."

Shinichi Kudo also spoke up, "Kurokawa-san means he used a body double, right?"

Sonoko retorted, "Really? But he was skating perfectly fine before. Oh, and I even took a picture of it."

Sonoko took out a video camera, and Shinichi Kudo reached out to take it, but Sonoko pulled her hand back, glared at him, and then handed it to Tsuki Kurokawa with both hands.

"Brother Kurokawa, here you go."

Kurokawasaki Tsuki suppressed a laugh and took the video camera. "Thank you for your hard work, Sonoko."

Sonoko turned her head away shyly, chuckling strangely.

Kurokawa examined the video recorder, and Kudo also went around behind him to carefully watch the video.

After Kurokawa looked at it once, he pointed to the travel bag that appeared on the screen and asked Sonoko.

"Do you know where Mr. Mizuwa put his bag when he skated over?"

Sonoko looked at where Kurokawa was pointing. "Eh, I remember Mr. Minowa put the bag in front of the fans and said there was something important inside, asking them to keep an eye on it."

"Then that's it, I already know." Kurokawasaki Tsuki returned the video camera to Sonoko.

"What? Kurokawa already knows the truth?"

"Yes, let's go, Kudo-kun, it's your turn."

Shinichi Kudo pointed to his face. "Me?"

.........

Meanwhile, Hattori Heiji also found his way to the store.

Ask the shop assistant about the travel bag Mr. Minowa was carrying.

"Oh, what a coincidence! A customer just asked about this travel bag."

When Hattori Heiji heard the shop assistant say that, he immediately thought of that middle school student.

So he quickly asked the shop assistant, "Is he a junior high school student?"

The shop assistant thought for a moment and shook his head.

"No, he's a handsome young man who's also mature."

"Huh?" Hattori Heiji scratched his head. It wasn't?

At this moment, another shop assistant said, "That guy is indeed handsome, but I remember he was also accompanied by a junior high school student."

"I see." Hattori Heiji walked out of the store somewhat disappointed after hearing this.

Hattori Shizuka, who was standing to the side, seemed to be deep in thought after hearing this: It should be the two of them.

Kazuha Toyama quickly caught up and asked, "Heiji, what's wrong?"

"Isn't it obvious? That middle schooler beat us to it again, and he even brought in a helper. How infuriating!" Hattori Heiji said angrily.

.........

Kurokawa Saki led Kudo and the other two towards the place on the mountain where the police were investigating.

On the way, Sonoko kept pestering Kurokawa, wanting him to tell her about the murderer's methods. However, seeing that Shinichi Kudo was still deep in thought, Kurokawa didn't give him the answer. He just lowered his voice and explained the case to Sonoko. Ran Mouri also came over curiously.

"So that's how it is!" Sonoko exclaimed excitedly after listening to Kurokawasaki Tsuki's explanation of the murderer's methods.

"I really didn't expect that." Ran Mouri also looked like she suddenly realized something.

"Kudo, how about it? Do you want to hear the truth?" Kurokawasaki Tsuki tried to tempt Kudo Shinichi.

Shinichi Kudo was a little itchy, but he suppressed it in the end. "Kurokawa-nii, I'm almost there too, but there are still some things I don't understand." Shinichi Kudo shook his head.

At this moment, Kurokawasaki Tsukiya stopped, patted Kudo Shinichi, and pointed him to a place.

"Huh? What's this?" Kudo followed Kurokawa's finger and saw a plastic water bottle stuck in the snow, with a thin stick still stuck at the mouth of the bottle.

Shinichi Kudo ran over and picked up the bottle, a sudden thought flashing through his mind: "So that's how it is. This way, we've basically locked down the culprit."

"Now, all that's missing is the mark on the chair."

Just as Kudo was pondering, a sweet voice came from afar.

"Shinichi, has the case been solved?"

When Kudo saw who it was, his face fell immediately. "Not yet."

"Ah, it's Shinichi's mom," Ran Mouri said, then she and Sonoko greeted Yukiko Kudo.

Seeing Yukiko Kudo appear, Tsuki Kurokawa was relieved. He knew without a doubt that she was there to give Shinichi Kudo a hint. This saved Kurokawa the trouble of giving him a hint, since Kurokawa didn't have the hobby of identifying the culprit in front of everyone and showing off. Now that Kudo was capable, he could leave it to him.

After the women finished greeting each other, Yukiko Kudo turned her gaze to Tsuki Kurokawa.

"We meet again, handsome young man. This time, we should get to know each other properly."

Kurokawa Saki knew she was referring to their previous meeting at the beach, and then Kurokawa gentlemanly extended his hand.

"My name is Kurokawasaki Tsuki. It's nice to see you again, beautiful lady."

Yukiko Kudo extended her hand in response: "I'm Shinichi's mother, my name is Yukiko Kudo, nice to meet you, handsome Kurokawa."

"Shinichi's mom, what are you doing here?" Ran Mouri asked sweetly.

"It's quite a coincidence that the place we traveled to was the same place where Shinichi learned to ski."

“That’s quite a coincidence,” Kurokawasaki Tsukiya said with a smile.

“That’s right,” Sonoko agreed.

Shinichi Kudo remained expressionless, but inwardly he couldn't help but think: He was clearly doing it on purpose.

Yukiko Kudo suddenly remembered something, glanced at her watch, and said, "But Shinichi, you're almost ten minutes late. Someone else just came by; it's a middle school mystery enthusiast like Shinichi."

Ran Mouri also expressed her surprise, saying, "There's actually a middle school mystery fan like Shinichi."

Seeing that Shinichi Kudo hadn't solved the case yet, Yukiko Kudo relayed the clue Yusaku had given her—another story about the Yuki-onna—to Shinichi Kudo.

“Yusaku said that this story is the key to unlocking the truth,” Yukiko Kudo said playfully.

"I see," Shinichi Kudo said with a confident smile.

Looking at Kudo's appearance, Kurosaki Tsuki automatically added in his mind, "New chicken kid, one self-touching black chicken!"

.........

At the hotel on the other side, Hattori Heiji had almost figured out the murderer's modus operandi, except for the pair of upside-down ski pole bindings and the travel bag full of snow.

"Sigh," Hattori Heiji sighed, "We finally managed to trap the culprit under the guise of interrogation. If we can't figure it out soon, the culprit will be released, and all the evidence will be taken away."

Seeing Hattori Heiji's disappointed and unwilling look, Hattori Shizuka, who was hiding behind the door, made a phone call to Hattori Heizo, who was far away in Osaka.

Subsequently, Hattori Shizuka relayed the information she received from Hattori Heizo to Hattori Heiji.

Just as Hattori Heiji was about to tell his mother that this wasn't a story, he suddenly realized something and gave Kudo Shinichi the same smile.

Then, Hattori Heiji rushed to the room where the suspects were being interrogated by the police and knocked on the door.

"Everyone, I've already... uh?"

Heiji Hattori then noticed that the unfamiliar man who opened the door for him was quite handsome.

The bearded policeman looked at the newcomer, who was a middle school student, with a strange expression. "Oh, it's you again? Do you know the truth about the case too?"

Hattori Heiji revealed his beady eyes: "Ah... this... that's right."

Suddenly, Hattori Heiji's attention turned to the middle school students in the center of the room. "Wait, 'Also?' No way, could it be?"

Meanwhile, Shinichi Kudo continued his performance, pointing his hand at the stuntman, Miho, and declared, "The murderer is you, Mr. Miho!"