Conan: Rice Flower Spring

Chapter 425, Question 419: Is this a violation of the Heavenly Law?

The island nation is only so big, and the journey from Tokyo to Rokugan Pass is not very long.

As the convoy traveled through the forest and was about to arrive at Luoling, the voice of the bodyguard in the lead car came through the walkie-talkie inside the vehicle.

"Director Jintian, there's a situation ahead."

"Speak," Jintian replied, picking up the walkie-talkie.

“There were a few young people by the roadside who looked lost and were waving at us.”

"Young people?" Lin Longma's eyelids twitched violently when he heard the word "young people".

He has a somewhat immature guess at this moment.

"Kinda, ask those young people how young they are," Lin Longma said to Kinda in the passenger seat.

"There are four people in total, three of whom look like high school students and one of whom is definitely a primary school student."

Upon hearing the reply from the walkie-talkie, Lin Longma gasped as if in pain.

It really is! It really is!

"Pull over," Lin Longma instructed softly, preparing to verify his guess.

To be honest, there's really no way to verify this. The combination of three high school students and one elementary school student might not be familiar to everyone.

But doesn't it look familiar when you break it down into a combination of two high school students and one high school student and one elementary school student?

Heiji Hattori, Kazuha Toyama; Ran Mouri, Conan.
How did this group of people meet together, and why did they end up in Rakugan Pass in Tottori Prefecture?
Could their destination be the same as mine?
"President Lin, is there something wrong with these young people?" Taylor keenly noticed that Lin Longma's mood was a bit off, so he asked.

"I don't know the identities of these young people yet, and I'm not sure if there's a problem. But we'll find out soon enough."

At Lin Longma's command, the lead Land Cruiser began to slow down and eventually came to a stop next to the waving young man.

The group of waving young people were naturally the people Lin Longma had imagined—Hattori Heiji and Toyama Kazuha, contestants from Osaka.

And Ran Mouri and Conan in Tokyo!
There were no "outsiders" present this time; only the four of them got lost.

Yes, this group of people got lost.

For Ran Mouri, venturing into unfamiliar woods is both a safe and dangerous activity.

The danger mainly stems from Ran Mouri's terrible sense of direction; getting lost in unfamiliar places without obvious landmarks is as easy as eating or drinking.

Now, the idea that she could walk from the nearest station through the woods to Luolan Ridge with just a map is simply wishful thinking.

Even with Conan by my side, I still got lost.

Ran Mouri is incredibly persistent when it comes to leading the way.

Although Ran Mouri has a habit of getting lost, she always manages to reach her destination at the last minute thanks to her incredible luck.

Or they might encounter some "NPCs" along the way who can help them. On this trip to Tottori Prefecture, Ran Mouri encountered "NPCs" who were also lost, Heiji Hattori and Kazuha Toyama from Osaka Prefecture.

The reason these two Osaka athletes got lost was mainly due to Kazuha Toyama. The kid was reading the map backwards and could only keep going in circles.

Then they encountered Ran Mouri and Conan, who were lost.

The group, especially Hattori Heiji and Conan, thought about how badly their childhood friend was at guiding them.

These two high school detectives decided to wait where they were and see if any locals would pass by.

But instead of the locals, they were greeted by a convoy from Tokyo.

At times like this, don't worry about where the convoy is from. If they're traveling on a forest road, they're bound to have a clear direction. Hitchhiking would be ideal, but if that's not possible, at least you can ask someone for directions.

But whether it was Conan or Ran Mouri, the more they looked at the convoy, the more familiar it seemed.

"Conan, don't you feel like we've seen this convoy somewhere before?"

"It seems so! Two Land Cruisers at one end and one at the other, with a black Land Rover Defender in the middle."

Could it be?!

Conan had already realized that this convoy might belong to Uncle Lin. But why would Lin Longma be here?
Was his destination also the Takeda clan at Luogan Pass?
-
“That’s right, we’re going to the Takeda family at Luogan Ridge.” When Heiji Hattori and Ran mentioned their destination, Ryoma Hayashi wasn’t surprised; in fact, he almost laughed.

What terrible things did the Takeda family do to attract such a bunch of detectives to their household?
"Uncle Lin, are you going to the Takeda family too?" Lin Longma wasn't surprised, but Conan was genuinely surprised.

In his opinion, Lin Longma didn't seem like someone who could have any connection with the Takeda family—it couldn't be that Lin Longma also liked puppet shows, could it?
"This Robert Taylor is an American photographer who is currently traveling around the world."

This time, he asked me to accompany him to the Takeda family's residence at Luoganling.

Taylor, who was standing nearby, nodded upon hearing this, and then began to recount his connection with the Takeda family.

Three years ago, Taylor was filming in the Lok Kuang Mountains when a landslide occurred, and he was rescued by the Takeda family.

She was then taken care of by Misa Takeda.

After several months of care, Taylor gradually recovered, and at the same time, he developed feelings for Misa Takeda, who was taking care of him.

"I came back this time to find Miss Misa and ask her if she would like to come back to America with me!"

Taylor wore a hopeful smile, her eyes filled with beautiful visions for the future.

How romantic!

"Yes, yes, Mr. Taylor, you will definitely succeed this time!"

Ran Mouri and Kazuha Toyama were the first to fall for Taylor's romantic story, their words full of blessings for the "newlyweds".

However, Heiji Hattori and Conan didn't really believe Taylor's words.

Because of Lin Longma.

If Taylor only wanted to find Misa Takeda, then there was no need to bring Ryoma Hayashi along to Luogan Ridge.

They had no idea how high Lin Longma's appearance fee was; Taylor must have paid a large sum of money to persuade Lin Longma to come out of retirement.

If it were just a simple love story, why would Lin Longma need to get involved?
Conan's later setbacks did teach him some things, such as patience and silence.

He believed that as long as they were together, there would be plenty of opportunities to get to know Taylor. There was no need to ask questions on the spot.

Ultimately, the combination of three adults and one child blended perfectly into the convoy, and before dark, the group arrived at the doorstep of the Takeda family at Luogan Ridge.

When the doorbell rang, the Takeda family members stood at the door in surprise, looking at the convoy of three SUVs parked outside.

"May I ask who you are?"

"I am Heiji Hattori, a detective from Osaka. I was invited here by your master, Ryuji, to solve a case."

"I am Ran Mouri, a detective from Tokyo. I was invited by Mr. Yuzo to investigate the case."

Heiji Hattori and Ran Mouri introduced themselves, and finally the maid at the door looked at Ryoma Hayashi and Taylor.

(End of this chapter)