Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

Fukuda Hidekazu had been here several times before and was quite familiar with the village, so he led Hayashi Shuichi, Mori Kogoro, and Furuya Rei to the Yamamura family home.

The afterglow of the setting sun cast long shadows of the group, and the roadside weeds swayed gently in the breeze, making a rustling sound.

As soon as the group reached the courtyard of the mountain village house, they heard a heart-wrenching scream suddenly erupt from inside.

"Don't eat me! No!"

The sound was sharp and piercing, echoing through the silent valley and startling several crows perched in the trees.

"W-what's going on?"

Kogoro Mouri abruptly stopped in his tracks, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed hard.

“Master,” Furuya Rei said, his face pale, as he looked up at the darkening sky.

As dusk fell, the distant mountains resembled a lurking beast.

He quickly shrank behind Lin Xiuyi, his voice trembling: "This should be the time of the Demon's Appearance, right? Are there really ghosts and monsters here?"

Upon hearing this, Kogoro Mouri immediately trembled, his legs feeling as heavy as if they were filled with lead.

Fukuda Hidekazu's expression also turned somewhat unpleasant. His hand, which had been extended to knock on the door, froze in mid-air and then slowly withdrew.

"Stop talking nonsense!"

Lin Xiuyi gave his apprentice a hard knock on the head.
"How could there be ghosts and monsters in this world? If you continue to be so timid, don't call yourself my apprentice anymore."

"But just now in the yard..." Furuya Rei muttered, rubbing his head which had been hit, looking aggrieved, while his eyes kept glancing into the yard.

“Yukiko said there were only two people in the house,” Lin Xiuyi guessed. “It must be that the grandmother was telling her grandson a story, which scared the child so much that he screamed.”

"Don't try to fool us!" Kogoro Mori retorted in a trembling voice. "What grandmother would tell ghost stories to scare her grandson? When I was little, my grandmother never scared me."

As he spoke, he took another half step back, almost slipping on a pebble behind him.

Lin Xiuyi was too lazy to explain, so he strode forward and knocked on the courtyard gate.

The wooden door emitted a dull "thump-thump" sound, which was particularly clear in the quiet evening.

A moment later, with a creak, an old woman wearing a dark kimono and with a hunched back slowly walked out of the house.

Because she was facing away from the setting sun, Lin Xiuyi and the others couldn't see the old lady's face clearly. They could only vaguely see a strange curve at the corner of her mouth, which looked particularly ferocious in the backlight.

Kogoro Mouri and Rei Furuya immediately cried out in surprise and hugged each other tightly.

Even the composed Hidekazu Fukuda was so frightened that he took several steps back until his back hit a tree trunk by the roadside before he stopped.

Lin Xiu was also startled at first.

He didn't believe in ghosts and monsters at first, but after meeting Akane Koizumi, the witch, his worldview was completely refreshed.

After all, since witches exist, it's not impossible that ghosts and monsters might appear.

Fortunately, Lin Xiuyi quickly discovered the problem: it was entirely due to the lighting.

As the old lady walked toward the gate of the courtyard, the shadows faded from her face.

Lin Xiuyi then got a clear look at her face: the old lady had a full head of silver hair loosely tied with a red ribbon, and although her face was covered with wrinkles, she was smiling and her eyes were curved into crescent shapes, making her look very kind.

The old woman looked through the courtyard gate at Kogoro Mouri and Rei Furuya, who were embracing each other, and then glanced at Hidekazu Fukuda, whose face was pale. "What's wrong with them?"

As she spoke, the wrinkles on her face smoothed out, making her appear even more kind.

"They were startled by the noise that came from your house just now," Lin Xiuyi explained awkwardly, then cleared his throat and solemnly stated his purpose.

“Oh, you’re the kids who came from Tokyo to play,” the old lady said suddenly, and quickly opened the gate. “Yukiko already told me about you.”

Lin Xiuyi went in first, and Fukuda Xiuhe took a deep breath and followed.

Seeing that the other two were alright, Kogoro Mouri and Rei Furuya cautiously stepped inside, their eyes constantly darting around, afraid that something terrible might jump out from some corner.

Unexpectedly, when they passed by the old lady in the mountain village, the old lady suddenly changed her expression, and her originally kind face instantly turned ferocious.

She raised her withered hands like claws, her voice hoarse and deep.

"There's fresh meat to eat again! Tonight, this old mountain woman can finally eat her fill."

"what!"

Kogoro Mouri and Rei Furuya were so frightened that their legs went weak and they collapsed to the ground.

Seeing their terrified expressions, the old lady laughed so hard she almost fell over: "I didn't expect you Tokyoites to be so afraid of ghosts, hahaha!"

Lin Xiuyi looked at the old lady who liked to scare people, both amused and exasperated.

Raised by a grandmother like that from a young age, it's no wonder the future village police officer will be such a goofball.

"Get up now," Lin Xiuyi glared at her friend and apprentice, reaching out to pull them up. "Grandma is just teasing you."

"...That's quite a joke of yours."

Kogoro Mouri grumbled as he got up, brushing the dust off his pants, his face still showing lingering fear.

His suit trousers were covered in mud at the knees, making him look quite disheveled.

Rei Furuya was clearly still a little scared. After getting up, he immediately hid behind Hideaki Hayashi, only peeking out half of his head to watch the old lady warily.

"Is this child a foreigner?"

The old lady glanced at Rei Furuya's blond hair, smiled, and began to explain.
“I’m sorry, my grandson is too naughty. He often plays until very late before coming home, so I often tell him ghost stories to scare him and tell him not to run around at night.”

"I didn't expect it to be just as Lin-kun said," Fukuda Hidekazu couldn't help but praise, and the tense look on his face finally relaxed.

Just as everyone was talking, a little boy wearing a red vest and denim shorts pushed open the door.

His hair was messy and his face was covered in dirt; he had clearly just come back from playing outside.

"Grandma, who are they?" The little boy looked at the visitors curiously, his eyes sparkling.

“Didn’t I tell you before?” The old lady bent down and lovingly patted her grandson’s head. “That girl Yukiko is coming here to film a movie again, and she’s bringing a few of her friends with her. They’ll be staying at our house.”

The little boy, Yamamura Misao, glanced at the group and finally fixed his gaze on Lin Xiuyi.

He tilted his head and thought for a moment: "Big brother, why do you look so familiar?"

“I’ve been here before,” Lin Xiuyi crouched down, looking the little boy straight in the eye, “It was on the day of the earthquake. You and your friend almost bumped into me.” (End of Chapter)