The Daily Life of a Salted Fish Assassin in Anime Crossovers

These three people did not say any of these things at the time, let alone mention that they saw Mingyang enter the warehouse.

If they had said those words back then, they would probably have been prime suspects for arson.

After walking for about five or six minutes through the woods, they stopped in front of a mound of earth after crossing a small hill.

This is where the so-called mermaid remains are buried.

Only Ms. Shimashiro Kimie knew that this was actually her mother's grave.

But because her mother had already died in a shipwreck according to official records, she didn't even dare to write her name on the grave, nor did she dare to clear away the plants growing nearby, for fear of being discovered by others.

She could only memorize this place and secretly come to pay her respects every year on the anniversary of her mother's death.

But Toshimi Ebihara didn't have such thoughts.

Upon seeing the unassuming little mound of earth and the fact that the earth next to it hadn't been disturbed recently, a look of joy appeared on her face.

Fortunately, Saori didn't touch the mermaid's corpse, so she still has a chance.

After that, all you have to do is sneak over and take some of the corpses buried here when no one is looking.

Jiang Hang also pretended to observe the area.

"I couldn't see anything, and there were no signs of damage. It seems that Ms. Kadowaki Saori only came here to worship once and then left without doing anything."

He even waited a while to make a note of the situation around Ebihara Tomi.

With her impatient nature, she'll probably take action within the next couple of nights.

Four or five minutes later, he glanced at his phone and "reminded" Kimie Shimashiro that the ceremony to award the Dugong Arrow was about to begin, which brought Toshimi Ebihara back to her senses.

But now that Ebihara Tomi has seen the real mermaid graveyard, her interest in the Dugong Arrow has diminished considerably.

But we still have to put on an act.

She also pretended to be worshipping before nodding to Shimashiro Kimie, indicating that they should go down to the waterfall together.

At this moment, Shimashiro Kimie truly used all the acting skills she had honed over the years to prevent the other party from seeing the anger and hatred in her eyes.

It wasn't until Jiang Hang gave her a no-questions-asked gesture that her emotions gradually calmed down.

At this point, she could roughly guess what Jiang Hang wanted to do.

Let's catch Ebihara Sumi red-handed while she's digging up the mermaid's grave.

I hope everything goes well.

Shimashiro Kimie prayed silently in her heart.

Then the three of them spent another twenty minutes successfully circling back to the bottom of Mermaid Falls before the hour was up.

By this time, there were already quite a few tourists at the scene.

These tourists had no idea that they were just one step away from committing a murder.

Heiji Hattori also spotted Jiang Hang returning with Kimie Shimashiro and Toshimi Ebihara from afar, and wondered where the three of them had gone and what they had done.

He has many guesses in his mind, but because he still lacks clues, he is unable to figure out the whole truth.

After all, the murderer was stopped by Jiang Hang before the crime was committed. Without the crime, the events of that year would not have revealed any more flaws.

Although Heiji Hattori had previously teamed up with Conan to prevent a case from happening, it was only by chance that the two of them worked together to accomplish it.

Although his abilities have improved considerably under the stimulation of Conan and Jiang Hang, he is still lacking in some areas.

The subsequent awarding of the Dugong Arrow proceeded without too many surprises.

Jiang Hang successfully obtained the newly created Dugong Arrow.

The only difference between this arrow and the other two is...

The hair tied to the other two arrows was probably a wig, but the hair on the arrow in his hand looked like it was made from Shimashiro Kimie's own hair.

In a sense, this also has some commemorative value.

After the ceremony, as the tourists and Toshimi Ebihara hurriedly left, the elderly people on the island came over one by one to express their gratitude to Kimie Shimashiro.

In the past, Shimashiro Kimie would have simply thought that the other party had come to express their gratitude for her completing the final ritual.

But now, knowing that these elderly people may have known the whole truth from the beginning, Kimie Shimashiro seems to hear a deeper meaning in their gratitude.

Jiang Hang also walked over and gave her a questioning look.

It seems to be asking whether or not to tell these elderly people everything.

After some hesitation, Shimashiro Kimie gave him a look of approval.

All of this really needs to be resolved tonight.

Chapter 518: Chapter 514: The Confessions of the Old People on the Island

Kimie Shimashiro greeted the elderly people on the island with a simple hello.

After all, no matter what, they were his elders, and they had watched him grow up since he was a child.

These elderly people continued to express their gratitude to Kimihiro Shimashiro and Mikoto for their contributions to Fish-Man Island over the years.

These are all things she has heard in previous years.

At that moment, Shimashiro Kimie suddenly felt that it was all too ironic.

She softly called out the names she usually used for these elders.

"I feel a little tired right now. Maybe after this Mermaid Festival ends, I'll want to leave Mermaid Island and go see other places."

Hattori Heiji, who was originally waiting near Mermaid Falls for Jiang Hang's next move, suddenly had a flash of inspiration after hearing what Shimashiro Kimie said, as if he had realized something.

He looked at Jiang Hang, who was standing not far from Shimashiro Kimie, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart, "So this is how the case is."

He hadn't noticed this at all before.

Perhaps only Jiang Hang could uncover so many truths related to that year in such a short time.

Upon hearing Shimashiro Kimie's sudden words, the elderly men exchanged glances, a hint of surprise flashing in their eyes.

She has been performing the Mermaid Festival as a shrine maiden on Mermaid Island since she was a child. In recent years, she has also taken over the duties that her mother once performed. At the Mermaid Festival, she will transform into the spirit of Shimashiro Kimie. Why would she suddenly say such a thing today?

If she's going to leave, how long does she plan to stay?

After a moment of silence, the old men simply sighed and then revealed the expressions that were expected.

“Indeed, Junhui, you have already wasted too much of your youth on Mermaid Island. There are hardly any young people on the island to begin with, and the only man of the opposite sex your age is Fukuyama Rokuro.”

“But Fukuyama Rokuro is already that girl from the Ebihara family's fiancé. You can’t keep dragging this on. It would be good for you to go out for a walk.”

Listening to the words of the elderly people on the island, Shimashiro Kimie felt a little better.

They did know the whole truth, but they never mentioned it to these young people.

But at least they didn't intend to tie themselves to the island forever.

Compared to Saori Kadowaki and Tomi Ebihara, Kimie Shimashiro, having received this answer, couldn't feel much resentment towards the elderly women's choices at this moment.

So she relaxed and looked at the people in front of her, and asked the most crucial question.

"After I leave, how will the Mermaid Festival be held in the future, and what will happen to Mingxiang's fate?"

When suddenly asked this question, a look of shame appeared on the faces of those people.

Through this question, they also realized that Shimashiro Kimie probably guessed that these old people knew the truth about what happened back then.

Jiang Hang stepped forward at the opportune moment and looked at the people in front of him.

“I am a detective who came to this island by invitation. As you probably know, I came to this island because of Saori Kadowaki.”

"And after my investigation, I think it's time for you to tell Miss Shimashiro Kimie the truth about Mermaid Island yourselves."

After hearing Jiang Hang's words, they let out another deep sigh.

"Since you already know, then we won't hide it from you anymore."

"Everything about Mermaid Island was indeed discussed and decided by us half a century ago, in order to attract more attention from the outside world."

"I just didn't expect that all our efforts over the years would have been in vain. Instead, the fire three years ago turned Mermaid Island into a popular tourist destination. It's really ironic."

"Actually, we already knew three years ago that the person who died in that fire was not a mermaid, but your mother."

"After that fire, we discussed whether to end the mermaid festival and were prepared to tell the truth after you woke up that day."

"We just didn't expect that the next day we would see you dressed up like a ghost, and we couldn't say anything else."

"After all, our island is called Mermaid Island. Since you still want to continue playing the role of Mingyang, we can only silently support your decision from behind."

"Over the past few years, we have always wanted to apologize to you. Please forgive us selfish old folks."

These old men were quite courageous and responsible. After realizing that the lie of Mermaid Island had been exposed, they knelt down on the ground and performed a dogeza (a deep bowing gesture) towards Shimashiro Kimie.

"So if you want to leave Mermaid Island now, we won't blame you. As for the Mermaid Festival, we will try to explain the situation to future tourists. If Mermaid Island loses its current status because of the disappearance of the creature, then that is the problem of us islanders."

Upon hearing the old man's words, Shimashiro Kimie wiped her eyes.

If she had asked a few more questions a few years ago, perhaps things wouldn't be like this now.

Unfortunately, her mother didn't realize this, and she only realized it today.

It was at this time that Jiang Hang stepped forward again.

"So since you know that the person who died in that fire three years ago was Ms. Shimashiro Kimie's mother, do you even know who set the fire back then?"

Faced with this question, the elderly people on the island were now genuinely hesitant.

Judging from their appearance, they truly do not know the truth.

Jiang Hang then looked at these people.

Judging from how Shimashiro Kimie addressed these people, they don't seem to be relatives of the criminals.

"According to my investigation, the fire back then was not an accident at all, but a man-made disaster. The reason was that those people wanted to know whether life was truly immortal, and thus committed a crime."

Upon hearing this, the old men frowned suddenly, as if they had realized something.

Although they didn't know much about some of the island's secrets, these old folks were certainly familiar with most of the island's daily affairs.

Because the remains of what appeared to be a mermaid were found at the scene of the fire three years ago.

Before that, many young people on the island were skeptical of the legend of mermaids' immortality.