Conan: The Man Behind the Romance

Chapter 298 Conan: Why does my heart hurt?
Conan is a child fostered by a friend. He has been learning all kinds of knowledge from adults since he was young. He is very smart and a little genius.

This is roughly what Megure Jusan explained.

Xiaolan nodded without further investigation and walked at the front of the team with Sonoko, leading the way for the police.

The two villas on the mountain are not located next to each other, but the road ahead is the same.

So they set out from the castle, and not far away they saw a huge tree broken in half. It was so thick that Conan could hug it with both hands. It fell in the forest, but it did not block the road.

Continuing forward, they could see broken trees or collapsed rocks from time to time, which frightened several young police officers. They suspected that there were mandrills in the mountain and that the two people who disappeared in the mountain last night might have been eaten by the monster.

"Xiaolan, Sonoko, do you know what's going on?"

When a broken tree finally appeared in front of him, blocking the road, Megure Jusan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and finally asked.

Xiaolan shook her head helplessly, let go of Yuanzi's hand, and walked towards the big tree blocking the road.

"Just two guys with too much energy."

She grabbed a thick branch from the fallen tree crown and pulled it to the side of the road. The dense fresh wood stumps on the distant tree trunks that had not yet completely broken kept creaking, and occasionally one of them broke, like a strong bow string breaking, which made people's scalps numb.

Several young police officers wanted to step forward to help, but when they saw the noise, they quickly shrank back.

This person is a Valkyrie, so it is better for mortals like us to stay away from her.

The road was cleared and Xiaolan clapped her hands.

Megure Jusan breathed a sigh of relief for some reason, thanked him and was about to move forward.

"Don't go there."

"Don't go there!"

Xiaolan and Conan shouted at the same time. Xiaolan's tone was calm, but Conan's eyes were quite solemn.

Xiaolan glanced at Conan and motioned him to speak.

Conan took the lead and pointed to a hidden place in the tree canopy above him: "There is a power trap similar to a bow and crossbow. It has been stretched to its limit."

The police were startled and looked up quickly. Sure enough, when the breeze blew the treetops, they found a sharp piece of wood.

"Gulu——!"

Megure Jusan swallowed and looked at Xiaolan: "Are you sure this is just excessive energy? It can be considered as intentional murder."

"For Kyogoku-senpai, it was absolutely a piece of cake. The height of his jump even exceeded Suigetsu-kun's expectations, causing the trap to be completely ineffective."

Xiaolan asked everyone to disperse, glanced at the tight vines passing across her head, picked up a stone from the ground and threw it upwards.

collapse--!!!
The bowstring exploded, and everyone saw a white shadow flash before their eyes. The spear-like white wooden arrow pierced deeply into the ground, less than a meter in front of Xiaolan.

Everyone looked dazed, but Yuanzi showed a trace of distress. He took out a wet tissue and went forward to wipe Xiaolan's hands.

"It's a bad habit to be so arrogant."

"Wrong, it's confidence that's right."

Xiaolan wiped her hands and continued to lead the way. This time there were no obstacles along the way and they successfully reached the edge of the cliff.

There was a bridge made of ropes and wooden boards, but it was broken from the other side of the cliff. The bridge fell on this side, clinging to the cliff wall.

Xiaolan looked at the width of the cliff, then looked back at the height of the trees behind her and shook her head.

"Sorry, the distance is not enough to build a bridge. We have to take another route."

Megure Jusan nodded quickly, but couldn't help but complain in his heart that he had never thought about such a thing as building a bridge.

"Sister Xiaolan, can you throw a vine over?"

Everyone turned to leave, but Conan suddenly spoke.

Xiaolan nodded: "If we tie the stones, it should be possible. Do you want the other side to pull up the bridge? It's very heavy. Miss Ayako and the others probably can't do it."

"Aren't there Kyogoku brother and Mizuki brother? They are here too, right? The signs of damage on the road are very fresh." Conan said.

"That's right, but..."

Xiaolan looked up at Yuanzi.

Sonoko snorted, "Kyogoku-senpai can do it alone, let Mizuki Hotoshi go and carry the luggage."

"Okay, then you call Kyogoku-senpai and I'll go find Fujiman."

Xiaolan said nothing and turned into the forest.

After Sonoko finished the call, she glanced at Conan who was looking down from the edge of the cliff with displeasure: "It's okay to repair this bridge later, the little devil just likes to boss people around."

Conan ignored her words and just asked: "Are there any wild animals in this mountain?"

Sonoko was getting more and more annoyed, but still replied, "If you go further into Tanzawa Mountain, there might be wild boars. I heard there are also bears, but I've never seen one."

Conan thought for a moment, grabbed the rope on the edge of the broken bridge, and slid down the cliff.

Everyone on the cliff was stunned and ran to the edge of the cliff, shouting Conan's name, and ran to the edge to look down.

Conan was at the end of the broken bridge, pulling the rope, his feet in the gap between the wooden boards, observing the breaking point of the rope.

Megure Juzo let out a long sigh and asked Conan to come up quickly, but Conan did not answer.

Not long after, Xiaolan came back with the vines. Knowing that Conan was under the cliff, she threw the vines directly down.

"Conan, hold on, I'll pull you up."

"No need, Sister Xiaolan, can you separate the vine into two strands so I can tie the rope." Conan replied from below the cliff.

"Really? You're so naughty."

Xiaolan pulled back a long vine, divided it into two strands, made a noose at the end, and put it on the wooden stake at the bridge head. After testing its strength, she grabbed the vine with one hand and the rope of the broken bridge with the other, and slid down.

This shocked everyone again, but thanks to Xiaolan's previous performance, no one was as panicked as before.

Xiaolan came down to Conan, and Conan looked at her blankly and was about to speak.

"Ouch——!"

He was hit hard on the forehead with a finger.

Conan covered his forehead with one hand, his eyes full of grievance. What he originally wanted to say, "Just wait for me upstairs, no need to come down." But now it became:
"why did you hit me?"

"Because you are a reckless brat, and you have been trying to show off your strength to a very dangerous level."

Xiaolan raised the vine in her hand and said, "This is alive, and as thick as the rope. Look at your right hand. You can barely hold the rope, but you still want to tie the knot with one hand? If you risk using both hands, what if you fall down?"

Xiaolan looked down and saw it was pitch black without a single light, and there was a faint chilly breeze blowing.

Bo——!
"It hurts! Sister Xiaolan, what are you doing?"

Conan just let go of his forehead and quickly covered it again, his eyes were almost filled with tears.

"If you fall down here, there's absolutely no hope for you. I need you to remember this carefully, you reckless fellow." Xiaolan handed the two vines in her hand to Conan, "Why don't you try it with one hand? Remember to fall slowly, or I won't be able to catch you."

"Humph, no way."

Conan was quite annoyed at being taught a lesson by Xiaolan, who was the one who needed his care in the past, and planned to let Xiaolan see how he did it so easily.

As a result, just as Xiaolan said, he couldn't finish tying the knot because his hands were too small.

This made Conan realize that he had been too arrogant before, and that his shrunken body was far from being as strong and powerful as before.

Conan tried several times in a row but failed. He was a little discouraged and secretly went to see Xiaolan. Xiaolan looked at him calmly without any expression, but Conan felt a sense of ridicule.

"I'll tell you what, you cocky little detective."

Conan speculated that Xiaolan must be thinking this sentence at this moment.

This made him quite unwilling, so he made up his mind and opened his mouth to bite the tip of the vine. Fresh juice spurted into his mouth, bitter and astringent.

But he still managed to tie a knot and showed it to Xiaolan with a proud look on his face.

"Well, I'm done, right?"

Xiaolan shook her head and sighed, asking him to let go and stepped lightly on the hanging rope.

pat--!
The knot loosened instantly, and the end of the elastic vine hit Conan in the face. Conan quickly dodged, and "swish" the vine passed by his mouth.

Conan only felt a burning pain on his lips. He was breathing in with a grimace when he heard Xiaolan burst out laughing.

Conan felt annoyed. This guy was so hateful that he immediately glared at him.

The next second, he froze on the spot.

Xiaolan's blue eyes sparkled with the soft light of the morning sun, and the corners of her mouth were slightly raised, outlining a touching arc.

In a trance, Conan saw that thirteen years ago, the Sakura class...

No, it is even more beautiful and gorgeous than it was then.

Xiaolan now has a light that he has never seen before, pure and stunning.

My hands loosened unconsciously.

Snapped--!
Xiaolan barely let Conan fall an inch before she immediately grabbed the back of his collar.

"I'm sorry, but your lip gloss looks really good right now, Conan-kun."

"........."

Conan was speechless. He pursed his lips lightly, feeling hot. He guessed that he must have a pair of big swollen sausage lips now.

"Come back to your senses, grab the rope, and let me tie the knot. Your knot is too loose."

Xiaolan's hand shook, and Conan quickly grabbed the rope of the broken bridge with both hands, and couldn't help but complain in a low voice.

"This is very dangerous. I button my clothes."

"Now you know the danger. I was thinking something before. I wanted to let you try to tie the knot with both hands, and then catch you after you fall a little further. But Kyogoku-senpai is here, and business is more important. Let Inspector Megure teach you a lesson."

Xiaolan said as she tied the knot with one hand.

Conan looked across the cliff and saw a dark-skinned figure in the backlight bandaging his left arm.

"Haha, they really did play too much before, and everyone here got hurt."

"It's normal for warriors to get injured. Compared to your recklessness, that level is nothing."

"...Sister Xiaolan, aren't you worried about Brother Shuiyue?"

"Because Suigetsu-kun will definitely be fine."

"Sister Xiaolan trusts Brother Shuiyue so much?"

"Yes, you are too precocious to ask so many questions, aren't you? Did you have a girlfriend in elementary school?"

The more Xiaolan gets to know Yingsheng, the more she feels that Yingsheng is too powerful and has no limits. She can only try her best to get close to him.

But she herself is not sure how effective it will be.

"Ah ha ha……"

Conan scratched his head awkwardly: "I'm just curious, girlfriend or something..."

Haha, I don’t want to go to elementary school again.

Conan was eager to change the subject. He looked at Xiaolan's knotting technique for a few seconds and his eyes lit up: "Sister Xiaolan, are you using a fisherman's knot, the kind that gets stronger the more force is applied?"

Xiaolan nodded: "Conan-kun is indeed a little genius, very knowledgeable. This is what Suigetsu-kun taught me."

"Hey, it's Brother Shuiyue."

Conan's interest inexplicably waned, but he still asked casually: "Why are you suddenly teaching me how to tie knots? Is there any use for it?"

"No, I just talked about knots, and Shuiyue told me which knots are useful, such as the fisherman's knot..."

Xiaolan paused, and suddenly remembered that when Yingsheng taught her how to use this knot, the first example he gave was:

——"If you tie someone up with this knot, as long as the rope is of good quality, that person will definitely not be able to escape."

"........."

When she thought of this, Xiaolan was as speechless as she was in the past. Mizuki-kun was indeed an outlaw.

He wouldn't have kidnapped someone right now, would he?
Seeing Conan's curiosity, Xiaolan smiled and continued, "Suiyue-kun said that this kind of knot is very suitable for emergency rescue and will not cause any accidents. It is just right for this situation. As for why we are talking about this, well... have you seen "The Sign of Four"? There is a special knot mentioned in it."

"The Sign of Four?!"

Conan was not in a very good mood at first, thinking that Hotaru was indeed many times more attentive to Xiaolan than he was. But when he heard Xiaolan's last words, he was immediately shocked as if he had been electrocuted, and his eyes were full of disbelief.

"That 'Sign of Four' by Conan Doyle?!"

wrong!

how can that be!

Xiaolan actually read Sherlock Holmes? !

"Are you so surprised?" Xiaolan frowned slightly, "Is there any problem with my reading of this novel?"

"of course not!"

Conan also felt that he had overreacted, and quickly pretended to be a silly child, chuckling twice and scratching his head.

"I just rarely see people reading Sherlock Holmes, and I can't find anyone to chat with. I didn't expect that Sister Xiaolan and Brother Shuiyue would usually talk about detective novels, so I was a little surprised."

"I see, there are probably not many people your age who read detective novels." Xiaolan suddenly thought of something and smiled with interest, "Conan-kun, have you ever heard of Kudo Shinichi?"

Conan's heart skipped a beat and he thought he was discovered. His heart almost jumped out of his throat.

However, with his previous experience in mind, he immediately pretended to be innocent and joined in the comedy, with stars in his eyes.

"Is that the famous high school detective? The savior of the Metropolitan Police Department? He's my idol!"

"That's even better."

After tying the knot, Xiaolan ruffled Conan's fluffy hair and expressed her thoughts with a smile.

"Shinichi, he also likes to read mystery novels, and he can't find anyone to talk to. How about I introduce you to him?"

"Ah?"

Conan was completely stunned.

Myself, know yourself?!

(End of this chapter)