Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

"You all got up way too late today!"

Yamamura Misao walked at the front, carrying a canvas bag full of insect-catching tools. Every now and then, he would turn around, his little face contorted with complaint, kicking the pebbles under his feet, sending them rolling far away.

"At this time of day, I would have already caught three rhinoceros beetles! Now that the sun is high in the sky, the forest must be as hot as a sauna. The rhinoceros beetles are all hiding in tree holes to cool off. I can only look for other insects first."

The forest path was rugged and uneven, with exposed tree roots that looked like outstretched hands, and one could easily trip over them if not careful.

The cicadas chirped incessantly, their calls almost deafening.

"What are we looking for now?" Fukuda Hideichi asked curiously, pushing aside a tree branch blocking his way.

He was wearing a light blue short-sleeved shirt, and fine beads of sweat had already formed on his forehead.

"Let's go to my secret base first!" Yamamura Misao pointed ahead. "Put down what you brought, then look for bugs around there. The trees over there are tall, and there must be good stuff hidden in the cracks in their bark!"

"It seems we're heading towards Nagano Prefecture, right?" Lin Xiuyi stopped and looked around. "These forests all look pretty much the same; we shouldn't get lost."

"Don't worry, I can walk back with my eyes closed!" Yamamura Misao proudly raised his chin. "My secret base is built on the border between Nagano and Gunma prefectures! It was built by me and my best friend, who is from Nagano Prefecture."

The boy's voice was full of pride: "After we built the base, we even used a map to mark the county boundary with stones in front of the secret base, and hung up signs on both sides that said 'Entrance' and 'Exit,' just like a real border!"

"Your friend is the black-haired boy you played with last time I came, right?" Lin Xiuyi recalled. "I think his name was Zhu Fu."

"It's Morofushi Kagemitsu!" Yamamura Misao immediately replied loudly, a happy smile on his face. "Kagemitsu will be going to the secret base today too. We made a promise a long time ago that we'll play together at the secret base every day during summer vacation, and we'll even have a competition to see who can catch the biggest bug!"

……

Led by Shancun Cao, the group walked through a patch of waist-high thatch and soon arrived at the secret base he had mentioned.

It was actually a simple hut built using a few thick tree branches as a frame, covered with some dry leaves and a few tattered canvases, barely enough to shelter from the wind and rain.

Sure enough, there was a vertical line made of stones in front of the hut, stretching from one end of the woods to the other. This should be the boundary line between Nagano Prefecture and Gunma Prefecture that Yamamura Misao mentioned.

"Hey, why isn't Xiao Jing here?"

Yamamura Misao bent down and crawled into the secret base to take a look. It was empty inside, except for a few glass jars and a well-worn insect guide.
“He usually arrives very early, even more so than me.”

Seeing a hint of worry on Yamamura Misao's face, Furuya Rei smiled and reassured him, "Maybe something happened today that delayed him. He'll probably be here in a little while."

As soon as everyone put down their backpacks and water bottles, they heard rustling footsteps from the nearby woods, along with the snapping sound of branches being parted.

Immediately afterwards, a black-haired boy emerged from behind the bushes.

Upon seeing Lin Xiuyi and the others standing at the entrance of the secret base, the boy froze on the spot.

"You are……"

"Xiao Jing!"

Hearing his friend's voice, Yamamura Misao quickly crawled out of his secret hideout.
"They are guests who came to the village to play these past two days and are staying at my house. They are friends of Yukiko's sister."

Yamamura Misao briefly introduced the identities of Hayashi Shuichi and the other three, then pulled Furuya Rei aside and excitedly told Morofushi Kagemitsu, "Rei has a complete set of Kamen Rider cards at home, including the rarest foil cards! We've already agreed that if I teach him how to make insect specimens, he'll give me the complete set of Kamen Rider cards!"

"Really?"

Upon hearing this, Morofushi Kagemitsu's eyes lit up, and a look of surprise and envy appeared on his face.
"That's a whole set of cards! I've saved up my allowance for half a year, and I'm still missing three foil cards to collect."

"By the way, why are you so late today?" Yamamura Misao patted Morofushi Kagemitsu on the shoulder. "You usually arrive earlier than me."

“My brother went to summer camp today,” Morofushi Kagemitsu explained. “I saw him off at the station, but I took a longer route on the way back, so I was late.”

Tempted by Rei Furuya's set of cards, Misao Yamamura and Kagemitsu Morofushi immediately wanted to take him deep into the forest to find insects suitable for making specimens.

Kogoro Mouri and Hidekazu Fukuda were also excited to go together.

Of the four, only Lin Xiuyi wasn't interested in catching insects. He came along mainly to see Morofushi Kagemitsu.

Now that he has met the person, he plans to stay at the secret base in the mountain village to help everyone guard their luggage and also get some peace and quiet.

……

In the forest, led by Yamamura Misao and Morofushi Kagemitsu, Furuya Rei, Mori Kogoro, and Fukuda Hidekazu carefully searched for insects that could be made into specimens along a secluded path.

"Why didn't you come along, Master?"

As Rei Furuya searched through the grass, he asked curiously,

"Is he afraid of insects?"

"I don't think so,"

Kogoro Mouri scratched his head; he was so hot that he took off his jacket and tied it around his waist.

"I've never seen Shuichi afraid of anything. He's never been interested in insects since he was little, he doesn't even like rhinoceros beetles."

“When he was little, I would ask him to catch insects, but he would avoid it if he could, saying that he would rather stay at home and read books.”

"Hmph, I think Master is just afraid of bugs," Furuya Rei said, his eyes darting around. "He just hid it so well that you didn't notice."

At this point, his eyes suddenly lit up as he saw a spider the size of a fingernail perched on a nearby tree trunk. Its black body was adorned with yellow patterns, and it was slowly weaving its web.

Rei Furuya quickly and carefully covered it with a glass jar, then shook it triumphantly: "Take this back and scare Master, then we'll know whether he's afraid of bugs or not."

"You brat..." Kogoro Mouri shook his head helplessly, "No matter what the outcome, Shuichi will definitely beat you up in the end."

"Even if I get beaten up, it's worth it to see my master's scared face!" Furuya Rei replied with a chuckle.

Although they had the help of two "local guides," Yamamura Misao and Morofushi Kagemitsu, it was already close to noon. The sun hung in the sky like a giant fireball, and the forest was stuffy and hot. The insects had long since sought out shady places to hide because of the hot weather.

The group searched the forest for over an hour, catching only a few common beetles and butterflies, without even a glimpse of a rhinoceros beetle. Somewhat disappointed, they turned and returned to their secret base. (End of Chapter)