Jiang Xia was sitting in the passenger seat. Before she even opened her eyes, she heard the whispers of the ghosts.
There are more ghosts now, and it's a little noisy, but you can still tell what they're saying.
——There are things to pick up nearby.
Jiang Xia looked outside through the car window. At the same time, he skillfully let the shikigami fly into the trunk, skillfully condensed the white puppet, and skillfully broke the tires in the trunk.
Toru Amuro knew nothing about the tragedy that was happening in the trunk.
After he realized that the car had a puncture, he was slightly startled and pulled over to the side.
In the past ten times Toru Amuro drove a car, his tire would only blow out once. But now, he was on an ordinary errand, driving without speeding, and he actually blew out his tires twice...
Amuro glanced at Jiang Xia next to him, and suddenly felt that there was something wrong with the conclusion he had drawn before - Jiang Xia might not be lucky, but jumping back and forth between extreme good luck and extreme bad luck.
Otherwise, why would cars always break down along the way in Jiangxia?
…
Jiang Xia faced Toru Amuro's complicated gaze. He vaguely guessed Toru Amuro's thoughts, but he could only maintain innocence and doubts on his face: "?"
Toru Amuro: "...It's okay."
He sighed, opened the door and got out of the car, intending to put on the spare tire.
Jiang Xia actually felt that two flat tires in a row was too coincidental.
But if you think about it carefully, it is very reasonable.
—— Putting aside his own luck, Conan is still sitting in the car.
How can it be justified if the two are superimposed without encountering some incidents.
Conan suddenly felt a chill behind him. He raised his head suddenly and met Jiang Xia's encouraging eyes.
Conan: "...?"
Jiang Xia looked away when the primary school student looked back in confusion and got out of the car.
The other three followed. When someone else wants to change a tire, they can't just sit in the car.
After getting out of the car, Mao Lilan looked around and was surprised to find that the trunk lid was open. And Jiang Xia's seemingly reliable boss has been staring at it for a long time.
Mao Lilan approached suspiciously.
I saw a tire in the trunk with some uneven stubble on it.
…
Toru Amuro stared at the puncture in the tire, lost in thought.
The last time the tire was bitten, the trunk was left open, which could be interpreted as some wild animal sneaking in while he wasn't paying attention.
This time, however, the trunk was closed securely. But as soon as he opened the lid of the box, he saw that the tire was punctured.
...If it weren't for the few ignorant citizens beside him, Toru Amuro might have taken out his gun at this time.
But now, he could only look at it with a gloomy expression, and rummaged through the debris piled in the trunk with his bare hands, trying to find the unknown terrifying creature biting his tire... Unfortunately, he found nothing.
This made Amuro Toru feel relieved and even more confused.
When he opened the lid of the box, he obviously didn't see anything slipping out. What on earth was the tire covered with...
Jiang Xia walked to Amuro Toru, looked down, and said in surprise: "Why is it broken again?"
Tohru Amuro always feels that the employee's next words are "I told you that there are definitely mice in your car."
Toru Amuro: "...I think I picked it up by mistake before. I accidentally put the broken tire up."
...He actually didn't believe that he would make such a mistake.
But now, if the memory is not wrong, it means that there is a supernatural event.
Such a comparison... Sure enough, he was too tired in the past two days and remembered things wrongly. After all, he didn't close his eyes for almost the entire night yesterday. It was normal for his memory to be affected due to lack of sleep...
Conan put down his cell phone and walked next to them: "There is no signal here, but I saw a building over there that looked like a castle. We can borrow the landline phone from the owner and call a tow truck."
"Indeed." Jiang Xia also put down his phone. He had been waiting for this sentence for a long time.
…
Toru Amuro turned his head following the directions of the two people and saw an ancient castle standing in the forest through the layers of trees.
"..." He didn't know if it was an illusion, but no matter how he looked at it, he felt that this old castle was eerie and had a strange aura.
...But there are no ghosts in this world.
So it must be an illusion.
Moreover, this place is in the middle of nowhere, with no other cars passing by, and no signal. If you want to leave as soon as possible, you really need a landline phone.
Toru Amuro looked away and closed the trunk with a normal expression: "Let's go."
…
The group walked through the woods and came to the castle.
Jiang Xia raised his head and looked at the aged building in front of him.
The courtyard of the castle was very large, and he couldn't detect anything unusual for the time being.
But judging from the reactions of the other three ghosts, there are a lot of things that can be picked up hidden in this castle.
…
Several people looked into the courtyard through the iron gate.
The yard is very vast, with several huge chess pieces placed on the lawn. A well-dressed young man was squatting next to the chess pieces, looking at something thoughtfully. There was also a gardener nearby, hard at work pruning the bushes.
It may be deep in the mountains and wild ridges, with few people visiting. Neither of the two people in the courtyard noticed the guests outside the door.
…
At this time, a car drove from outside and stopped behind Jiang Xia and others.
A middle-aged man with middle-parted hair got out of the car.
As the man went to open the courtyard door, he looked at them doubtfully: "Who are you?"
His eyes passed over the others, and when they stopped on Jiang Xia's face, he paused slightly.
Jiang Xia has seen similar looks many times in the past few days.
——The uncle in front of me probably recognized him as a detective.
The previous variety show "Perspective Detective Agency" and the subsequent live broadcast of solving crimes did have an effect. Jiang Xia always feels that this time, his popularity is much higher than before.
"..." I don't know when I will receive the invitation to enter the serial murder case from afar...
…
The person who recognized Jiangxia was named Mamiya Mitsuru and was one of the owners of this castle.
After listening to several people's request to "borrow the phone", Mamiya Mitsuru enthusiastically welcomed them into the castle.
Toru Amuro breathed a sigh of relief.
However, after entering the castle and picking up the phone in the corridor, he pressed the number but found that the call could not be dialed.
Toru Amuro was startled, and uncontrollably recalled the strange tooth marks on the tires again. After a moment, he looked at Mamiya Mitsuru silently, his eyes darkening slightly.
Mamiya Mitsuru originally wanted to let it go.
But when he was suddenly stared at like this, his vest suddenly felt cold, and he had the illusion that his life was threatened.
For a moment, Mamiya Mitsuru couldn't care less about creating the sense of mystery that detectives love so much. He spoke faster:
"That's right! Yesterday's earthquake affected the phone lines. I asked about it when I came back. It will probably be repaired tomorrow - I invite you to come in. I have no other intention. I just want you to have a place to rest. By the way …Ahem, I have something to ask you by the way.”
This sentence sounds more like human speech than anything else.
Amuro Toru's expression brightened slightly.
——Since the external line is broken, there is really nothing we can do. We cannot take two weak girls and a primary school student down the mountain.
He looked at Mamiya Mitsuru and asked for details.
…
Jiang Xia looked out the window while listening to Mamiya Mitsuru's story.
Just now, when Jiang Xia saw the chess sculptures in the courtyard, she guessed which case this was.
——This castle has a steeple. From the top of the tower, the scenery is excellent.
So Mamiya Mitsuru's father-in-law regarded the scenery as a "treasure" and arranged a series of puzzles in the castle, with the answers pointing to the viewing area at the top of the tower.
After the death of this playful old man, the legend of the treasure became more and more out of shape. In the end, everyone thought that this "treasure" pointed to huge wealth.
Four years ago, a maid had a wrong idea. She burned everyone who was familiar with the Tai Madam to death, and transformed herself into the Tai Madam's appearance, replacing the original old man. He plans to stay in this castle for a long time until the treasure is found.
…
Mitsuru Mamiya, who is telling the detectives the details of the "treasure", has not yet discovered that his mother-in-law has changed.
His attention was all on the treasure, and he thought expectantly: I hope the detectives who came to his door could help him find the treasure.
"It is said that the key to the treasure is this lawn." Mamiya Mitsuru led them to a room on the second floor and motioned them to look at the window.
——Looking down from the window here, the yard is like a green chessboard, with huge chess pieces placed in an orderly manner.
When Conan heard that there was a puzzle here, his eyes suddenly lit up and he went to the window to take a closer look.
Toru Amuro also became somewhat interested. After all, he carried the title of "Detective Agency Boss" and had some detective attributes.
Mao Lilan and Suzuki Sonoko are not very good at solving puzzles. But the courtyard was beautifully manicured, and they quickly came to the window, overlooking the "checkerboard lawn."
…
Mamiya Mitsuru just arrived home and still has things to deal with. He left briefly to give the detectives room to think.
Jiang Xia stood in the room, looking at the backs of the people in front of the window, and then at Xiaobai who had just walked out of the wall.
Xiaobai was tugging on his trouser legs, muttering something, and kept pointing at the wall, obviously finding something.
Jiang Xia hesitated for a moment, then followed it and walked quietly to the next room.
——According to the preliminary investigation of the ghost fetuses, there are indeed many shikigami hidden in this castle.
But they were burned to death in a daze before death, and they didn't know which murderer to pick out. In the end, they had to pick up the charred ash on the wall - there was still a little bit of body breath left in those places, so it was more effective to pick it up. sense of security.
These Shikigami who died in vain were obsessed with it, and their souls were numerous and powerful. Xiaobai and the others were unable to capture the souls for a long time.
So Jiang Xia planned to enter the secret passage in person.
The secret passage here is connected to the tower opposite that was burned down four years ago. He was also idle, and he wanted to see the situation of the shikigami first.
