Survival Manual of the Science Fiction World

Chu Ming paused, wondering if Hattori had lost his mind. What murderer could resist such temptation?

Sure enough, Saijo Taiga paused for half a second, his eyes filled with "I've never heard of such a request before," and then, just as Hattori had wished, he pulled out a knife from his pocket that Chu Ming was very familiar with.

Hattori cautiously took half a step back, seemingly deliberately creating an opening, and stepped into a puddle, provoking Saijo Taiga to stab him directly with his sword...

—Okay, he wasn't trying to create an opening, he just stepped into the water. After all, Saijo Taiga slashed his abdomen open with one stroke, knocking away his first love's prop.

Seeing Saijo Taiga bend down as if to pick it up, Hattori gritted his teeth, disregarded his injuries, kicked Saijo Taiga aside, and put the item into his pocket: "This is not something you can touch."

"Yeah, that's someone's first love~" Chu Ming slowly walked out from behind the tree. As the shadow of the tree gradually disappeared, Chu Ming's face became clearer and clearer, instantly exuding a cool and aloof aura.

Chu Ming flicked his toe, kicking up the bamboo sword that Hattori had just knocked away and holding it in his hand. He then beckoned to Saijo Taiga with one finger: "Come on, let's have a go."

Confident in his skills, Saijo Taiga charged forward with his sword raised. Chu Ming had not practiced Japanese Kendo, but he had studied Chinese swordsmanship.

Chu Ming held the slender bamboo sword in one hand, dodging Saijo Taiga's slashes and cuts by tilting his head. He then used the tip of the sword to strike Saijo Taiga's wrist with his other hand. His body moved nimbly, as light as a swallow. In no time, Saijo Taiga had been slashed and stabbed several times by Chu Ming. The pain was so intense that he could no longer hold the sword and was sent flying.

He hadn't expected Chu Ming to be so skilled in combat, and immediately felt the urge to retreat.

Chu Ming didn't intend to catch the person this time. He also wanted to take the opportunity to see what Hattori, played by Shinichi Kudo, was like. So, with Taiga Saijo wanting to run away and his opponent cooperating, Taiga Saijo successfully threw a smoke bomb and made a smooth escape, which even he found incredible.

Chu Ming had originally intended to chase after him a few steps, but when he heard Kazuha calling out Hattori's name in a tearful voice, he immediately withdrew his steps and turned around to squat down next to Hattori.

Hattori was already unconscious. His complexion showed no change, but his lips had turned pale. Chu Mingren helped him up and checked him. He found that the wound on his waist was quite large, and the blood flowing out had soaked through the surrounding clothes.

Chu Ming tore a piece of cloth off Hattori's clothes and used it to bandage his wound, at least to stop the bleeding a little. Then he helped Hattori up and said, "Let's go to the hospital."

He Ye went to the other side to support him, her lips pursed, looking like she was about to cry: "Brother Chu Ming, your car is broken, why don't I call 120?"

Chu Ming, with his sharp eyes, noticed that his car had already been replaced by someone on the roadside, so he shook his head and said, "It's okay, I've already called someone to come and replace it. Hurry up and get Hattori to the hospital. He's lost a lot of blood, and the stab wound is in his waist. We should go and check on him as soon as possible."

……

In the ward, Kazuha was making phone calls one after another. After all, Hattori was injured, unconscious, and hospitalized, and it was important to inform his parents about such a serious matter.

When Osaka's representative for condolences, Officer Otaki, arrived at the ward, the special envoys, Officer Shiratori Ninzaburo and Officer Ayanokoji, also arrived. The murderer hadn't had time to take the knife with him; after Chu Ming knocked it away, he was in a hurry to escape and didn't bother to pick it up.

So after the police finished their investigation of the scene, they took the knife back for testing. There were some brown bloodstains at the joint of the knife handle, and the police planned to investigate the source of the blood.

However, the police only came to ask questions as a routine matter. Since Chu Ming and He Ye were also present at the scene, they did not wait for Hattori to wake up and left after asking the questions.

Hattori's injury wasn't actually serious, but it looked horrifying, with his clothes around his waist stained red. In reality, it was just a cut that grazed his waist, and it didn't even need stitches.

So why did Hattori faint even though his injuries weren't serious?

Is it because of the emptiness?

Chapter 392 First Love?

Ran, Ye, and the others chatted with the police outside, while Chu Ming and Conan stayed in the ward watching Hattori.

"Stop pretending to be asleep, I just saw your eyelids twitch." Chu Ming leaned back in the chair by the hospital bed and called out to Hattori in an annoyed tone, "Don't worry, Kazuha and the others have gone out, it's just me and Conan here, don't worry about losing face in front of Kazuha."

Upon hearing this, Conan also looked over at Hattori. He saw Hattori's eyelashes flutter slightly on the hospital bed. After squinting to confirm that there were indeed only Conan and Chu Ming in the room, he opened his eyes with relief.

Meeting Chu Ming and Conan's teasing gazes, he blushed slightly and couldn't help but defend himself, "I didn't mean to. I was just pretending to be asleep because I was afraid Kazuha would cry in my arms if she saw I was awake! Otherwise, I wouldn't have kept my eyes closed..."

Without caring whether Chu Ming and the others believed him or not, he threw off the covers, quickly put on his clothes, and changed the subject: "Come on, the murderer went out last night. We can go ask those suspects for their alibis now and see if we can rule out a few people."

"But your injury...?" Conan asked with some concern. "Why don't you lie down while Chu Ming and I go check on it?"

How could Hattori possibly agree to let his two friends investigate a case outside while he lay bored in bed waiting?

"No, I confronted the murderer before, maybe I can figure something out! Come on, are they still at the door?"

Chu Ming shook his head: "They're not here. They probably saw Officer Shiratori and the others out. If you want to leave, do it now, or they'll be back soon."

Conan tugged anxiously at Chu Ming's sleeve: "Brother Chu Ming, this won't do! Hattori is still injured! What if he faints on the way? Can't the two of us go?"

"Can you persuade him?" Chu Ming retorted. "Hattori would never agree. It's better if the two of us go with him. If anything happens, we can get him back to the hospital in time. Besides, if it were you, you probably wouldn't be able to stay in bed either. You're both such troublemakers."

Conan remained silent, thinking, "That does seem to be true."

In the end, the three of them managed to avoid Xiaolan and the others and quietly slipped away through the side entrance of the hospital.

Chu Ming drove his third car, carrying the two of them, towards Saneng Temple. Several clients had entrusted Kogoro Mouri to find the Buddha statue, but there was still no news about its whereabouts. Therefore, everyone would meet at Saneng Temple during the day to save Chu Ming and the others from running around.

On the way, Hattori took out a cloth bag containing keepsakes from his first love from his pocket, lost in thought: "That masked man... the moment my bag fell, he actually tried to pick it up. Why?"

Conan took the bag, opened it, and examined the crystal beads inside again. Suddenly, something occurred to him, and he grinned mischievously, nudging Hattori: "You think that old man with the mask might be your first love?"

Hattori's eyes widened as he glared at Conan: "What kind of bizarre guess is this? It's obviously impossible!"

While driving, Chu Ming teased him, "Why not? Otherwise, why would he be so excited to see this? Hmm—but it's also possible that your first love was that old man's daughter, and he discovered that some rascal was keeping his daughter's personal belongings close to his body. As a father, he couldn't stand it and came looking for you."

Conan chuckled to himself, finding the idea quite reasonable, and gave it a thumbs up.

Hattori, however, was unconvinced, his face clearly saying "You're talking nonsense," and he retorted weakly, "That's not how it is. But I think this crystal bead might have some other use. When I was looking for my first love in a magazine, the photo I took was of me holding the crystal bead. I guess the murderer saw the photo and that's why they came looking for me..."

The louder he spoke, the more he felt he might have found the truth.

"So, this isn't actually the item that brought you and your first love together~" Chu Ming gloated. "No wonder your first love hasn't come looking for you today. It turns out the tokens were all mixed up. But back when the Medicine Buddha statue at Shan Neng Temple went missing, you found this thing at Shan Neng Temple. Plus, now that someone is chasing you, it seems that this crystal bead you picked up is related to the Medicine Buddha statue."

Hattori and Conan also slowly began to explain their reasoning...

……

When they arrived at Sanonji Temple, while the three were exchanging alibis with several suspects, Chiga Rin also came to visit.

When Conan asked the group if anyone knew how to shoot arrows, they all denied it. However, after they denied it, Saijo Taiga revealed his archery skills while kneeling, which Conan and Hattori saw clearly.

This is nothing more than the so-called favoritism of the world's will.

After finishing their conversation, the group got up to leave.

Chiga Rin happened to be going the same way as them. During their conversation, Chiga Rin unintentionally sang a part of the song that Hattori remembered, which made Hattori stare at her blankly for a long time.

Seeing that Hattori's eyes were wide open, Conan sensed something was wrong and could only ask, "Sister, what song were you singing just now?"

Chiga Rin smiled and said, "This is a song that everyone here knows. It's a ball song that weaves together all the streets of Kyoto from north to south. Children in Kyoto use this song to remember place names."

After saying that, he sang it for the group on the spot. Hattori then asked Chiga Rin's age, and after learning that she was 19 years old, Hattori was even more certain that she was his first love. He felt like he was back in the day and saw the scene he had witnessed through the window of the Sannoji Temple.

Even after Chiga Rin took her leave, Hattori was still gazing longingly at her retreating figure.

Seeing Hattori's expression, Chu Ming patted him on the shoulder: "Snap out of it. You don't actually think she's your first love, do you?"

Hattori said confidently, "There's no mistake. She's from Kyoto, 19 years old, two years older than me. It must be her!"

Chu Ming suppressed a laugh. "Wake up! Don't do this 'White Bird' thing. In the world of Detective Conan, one White Bird is enough for mistaking your first love. Don't try to copy each other's characters!"

Conan also advised him, "But she also said that all the children in Kyoto can sing this song. Don't you want to listen more carefully..."

Hattori, oblivious to what anyone was saying, was completely absorbed in his own thoughts. He clenched his fists, trembling with excitement: "Great! I've finally seen her! She doesn't look like I imagined at all, but it's okay, I..."

Hattori rambled on and on, leaving no room for Chu Ming and Conan to interject. Conan and Chu Ming exchanged a glance, looking at this straight man who was still lost in his dream world, and couldn't help but sigh at the same time. They could only each pull Hattori on one side and walk back.

When Hattori drove back to Sannoji Temple, he entered through the side gate and looked at the cherry blossoms falling from the tree and the fallen petals on the ground, feeling somewhat dazed.

The tree is still the same tree, but the person who appeared in his dream is gone.

"Last year on this day, in this very doorway, a face and peach blossoms reflected each other's rosy hue. But where has that face gone? The peach blossoms still smile in the spring breeze."

Chu Ming thought he could be Hattori's mouth double; wouldn't this poem perfectly capture Hattori's inner feelings?

My Chinese language is truly profound.

However, it seems Hattori has been looking for a place to confess his feelings? This place is quite nice; it's where he and Kazuha first met, and it's also the place that left the deepest impression on him.

That's right. After Hattori finds out who his first love was, he will give Hattori some advice.

Chapter 393 Drugs

"Conan~"

Chu Ming and Hattori, whose thoughts were interrupted, peeked out from inside the door and saw Professor Agasa with several children standing opposite the temple gate.

"What are you doing here?" Conan asked, running over in confusion.

"We answered the questions the professor asked, so he agreed to take us out to play!" Ayumi excitedly jumped up and down and ran to Conan's side.

Mitsuhiko added from the side, "However, Genta got separated from us. We contacted him using our badges, but he couldn't describe where he was, so we came to find you first and asked you to use your glasses to see where he is."

Upon hearing this, Chu Ming waved his hand and said, "You guys go ahead. I'll wait for you here. I just got here and don't want to move anymore."

Hearing this, Ai Haibara stopped in her tracks: "Then I won't go either, you guys go ahead."

Then she walked over to Chu Ming and stood with him at the doorway to bask in the sun.

Hattori, however, seemed quite interested. He snatched Conan's glasses and, after some playful banter, the group went to find Genta.

Watching their departing figures, Ai Haibara looked up at Chu Ming, pursed her lips, and said, "Brother Chu Ming, after you came to Osaka last month, were you on a mission? Edogawa said you had company business and wouldn't be back for a while. But I noticed your room light hasn't been on for almost a month, which means you haven't been back... I thought you—"

Ai Haibara stopped herself in time, looking somewhat annoyed, and awkwardly asked, "Are you alright?"

Sensing Ai Haibara's unusual concern, Chu Ming shook his head, squatted on the threshold, turned to look at Ai Haibara, and inquired about the situation: "I'm fine, but Vermouth has returned from America. She must have heard that you defected from the organization and came back specifically to hunt you down. When she mentioned you, the hatred in her tone was quite strong. Do you have a grudge against her?"

Ai Haibara's pupils contracted slightly upon hearing Vermouth's name, and she instinctively flinched. "Back in the organization, our relationship wasn't good. To be precise, she already disliked me. It's probably because she has a grudge against my parents. I saw her when I was a child, and even when I saw her again after returning from studying in America, her appearance hadn't changed. So I suspect she might have taken the drug my parents researched... That's probably why she hates me..."

Ai Haibara lowered her eyes, somewhat listless: "You've just become a codename member, so there are some things you might not be able to access. But if anyone tries to get you into the lab or give you any drugs, be careful!"

Chu Ming blinked and patted Ai Haibara's head: "Don't worry, even for your and Conan's sake, I will try my best to stay in the organization. Don't worry about me."

Ai Haibara clenched her fists. How could she not be worried? She had escaped the quagmire, but now Chu Ming was trapped, and she couldn't save him. This sense of powerlessness and guilt lingered in her heart, especially after witnessing Gin's bullying of Chu Ming last time...

Feeling the continuous flow of points from Ai Haibara, Chu Ming wondered what he had said that had touched Ai Haibara's soft and delicate heart. He tilted his head to look at her and saw that she was still in low spirits. He couldn't help but lead her into the temple gate, hook his arm around the branch of the cherry blossom tree, and lift Ai Haibara up with his other hand and jump up.

Before Ai Haibara could react, Chu Ming had already taken her up a tree.