Solving cases with Detective Conan's science? No, I'm a cultivator!

Seeing that Kitagawa Taki was not responding to her, Koizumi Akako suddenly felt bored and stopped talking.

About half an hour later, the group finally arrived at their destination.

As you drive into the courtyard, you are greeted by a very long villa.

There were already several cars in the yard.

After getting out of the car, Kogoro Mouri exclaimed, "This mansion is really big!"

Suddenly, Kogoro Mori exclaimed, pointing to a man next to a black car in the yard, "That's the home run king, Matsudaira Mamoru!"

A dark-skinned man named Matsudaira Mamoru heard the commotion and came over.

"Aren't you the famous detective, Kogoro Mouri?"

Kogoro Mouri, who had no concept of humility, laughed loudly and said, "That's right, you were also invited to the party?"

Just then, a taxi pulled up.

A beautiful woman with long black hair got off the car.

Chapter 145 The Cursed Mask

"There's a beautiful woman!" Kogoro Mouri couldn't resist the sight of a beautiful woman.

Ran shook her head helplessly at the sight; she was already quite used to Kogoro Mouri's little quirks.

Matsudaira Mamoru, standing nearby, exclaimed excitedly, "That's Nagara Haruka, the super popular tarot card reader on TV and in magazines!"

Upon hearing the word "fortune teller," both Kitagawa Taki and Koizumi Akako turned their attention to the beautiful woman named Nagara Haruka.

Then, the two looked at each other—neither of them sensed any "power" from Nagara Haruka.

Kogoro Mouri said, "Mr. Matsudaira knows very well!"

Matsudaira Mamoru laughed and said, "Actually, every time I'm going to play, I choose different gloves based on her divination and my lucky color for the day."

Is this some kind of mystical way of playing ball?

At that moment, Nagara Haruka walked over.

She looked around, her expression grave, and said, "This is it."

Seeing this, Xiaolan asked, "Is something wrong here?"

"This house gives me a very ominous feeling; I have a premonition that a great disaster is about to happen!"

Nagara Haruka said, pulling out a "Tower" card.

In Tarot, the Tower card represents upheaval, chaos, and other significant changes.

Ran was terrified of these superstitious things, so she instinctively moved closer to Kitagawa Taki.

Upon hearing Nagara Haruka's words, Kitagawa Taki looked at the villa again.

On the surface, nothing is apparent; the villa is too large, and one's spiritual sense is insufficient.

A middle-aged man carrying a video camera walked over from beside the villa and said, "I think we should go inside first!"

Ran recognized him at a glance: "It's Mr. Katagiri Masaki!"

Katagiri Masaki smiled and said, "This young lady knows me. Let me introduce myself. I am Katagiri Masaki, a photographer."

“Mr. Katagiri is right.” Kogoro Mouri chuckled dryly. Ever since he witnessed the extraordinary abilities of Taki Kitagawa, he had always been somewhat intimidated by these mysterious things.

"Where do we go in from?"

Kogoro Mouri pointed to the two large gates on the left and right sides of the villa.

As soon as he finished speaking, the large door on the right opened.

A short-haired girl dressed in a maid outfit walked out from inside.

The maid clasped her hands in front of her and bowed slightly to the group, saying, "Welcome to all of you! I am a maid here, and my name is Minaho Shimokasa."

Kogoro Mouri laughed, "So the entrance is on the right!"

At that moment, the large door on the left also opened.

An identical maid walked out from inside.

Upon seeing the twin maids, Kitagawa Taki instantly recognized them.

However, this is just my impression of the twins.

I don't remember much about the case, but I do remember the two maids quite well; they seem to have appeared more than once in Detective Conan.

"I am Honomi Shimokasa," the maid on the left said. "Miss Koizumi, Mr. Kitagawa, Mr. Mori, and your companions, please enter the house through the east entrance to rest."

Minaho Shimokasa: "Mr. Katagiri, Mr. Matsudaira, and Ms. Nagara, please enter the house from the west entrance to rest."

Kogoro Mouri asked curiously, "Why do we have to go in from two different sides?"

Minaho Shimokasa explained, "The interior of this mansion is divided into two different parts, east and west. Guests who are assigned to stay in the rooms on the west side can only enter through the west entrance."

Honami Shimokasa: "Guests who are assigned to rooms on the east side can only enter through the east entrance; this has always been our practice."

Minaho Shimokasa continued, "If we don't follow the rules, disaster will surely follow."

The two maids, working in tandem, made the mansion seem even more mysterious.

It has to be said that it is quite effective.

Several people have already started to panic.

Matsudaira Mori swallowed hard, somewhat regretting coming here. "How could this happen?"

The two maids smiled and replied in unison, "Because this is the mansion where the Cursed Mask resides."

Kitagawa Taki interjected, "I wonder what this 'cursed mask' you two ladies are talking about is?"

This is the second time the "Cursed Mask" has appeared.

Honami Shimokasa said, "Sensei Suhou will answer your questions later."

Then, Kitagawa Taki and the others followed Shimokasa Honami into the villa.

The interior decoration was quite simple, with only a few strange masks hanging on the left and right sides.

Kogoro Mouri clicked his tongue and said, "So many masks."

Honami Shimokasa explained, "These are all masks collected by Professor Su Fang."

"This way, please," Honomi Shimokasa gestured for them to go upstairs.

The group followed them up to the second floor, where even the walls of the staircase were covered with masks.

"Please wait in the masquerade room," said Honomi Shimokasa, opening a door.

After they went inside, they discovered that the people who had entered from the east entrance were also in the masquerade hall.

Kogoro Mouri said, "I see, so this room is the passageway connecting the east and west parts!"

The name "Masquerade Hall" is well-deserved; the display cases are filled with all sorts of masks.

However, Kitagawa Taki looked around but didn't find anything unusual.

The red curtain inside was rather unusual.

After waiting in the masquerade hall for a short while, the person in question, Su Fang Hongzi, arrived with her secretary.

Su Fanghongzi smiled and said, "Welcome everyone! What do you think of my collection?"

Kogoro Mouri exclaimed, "Ms. Su Fang must have put a lot of thought and effort into this collection!"

Su Fanghongzi nodded: "Indeed."

Kitagawa Taki asked the question that had been on his mind: "Ms. Su Fang, do you know what the Cursed Mask is?"

“Mr. Kitagawa truly lives up to his reputation as a renowned exorcist; the Cursed Mask is indeed not in here.” Su Fang Hongzi walked to the side, picked up a remote control, pressed the switch, and said, “Please enjoy my most prized collection.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the red curtain on the inside of the masquerade hall opened automatically, revealing a large number of masks with eerie smiles.

Everyone was stunned by this scene.

Kitagawa Taki's gaze sharpened; these masks were indeed problematic.

But why didn't we notice it before?

Could it be because of this red curtain?

Then, Kitagawa Taki asked, "Ms. Su Fang, may I ask where you obtained this red cloth?"

Rarely encountering someone who knows their stuff, Su Fanghongzi said proudly, "These red cloths were bought from a shrine maiden at a high price many years ago. It is said that they can ward off evil spirits."

Kitagawa Taki said, "This red cloth is indeed useful; Ms. Su Fang has excellent taste."

Koizumi Akako walked up to Kitagawa Taki and whispered in his ear, "See? I didn't lie to you!"

At this moment, Nagara Haruka, who had remained silent since entering the masquerade hall, asked, "Ms. Su Fang, are these the legendary masks of Sho Bul?"

Chapter 146 Xiaolan, aren't you scared?

Su Fanghongzi nodded and said, "That's right, these are the two hundred masks that the Spanish sculptor Chauble Condéres completed shortly before his death."

Kogoro Mouri couldn't help but ask, "Ms. Su Fang, why are these masks called Cursed Masks? Is there any origin to them?"

Su Fanghongzi recounted Xiao Buer's story: "Although Xiao Buer was an extremely talented person, he was betrayed by his jealous brother and lost everything. After that, he was like someone possessed, constantly carving these masks."

"After he finished carving the two hundredth mask, he committed suicide. The masks were scattered around his body and were all stained with blood, as if they were sucking his blood."

Nagara Haruka picked up the conversation and said, "Later, these masks fell into the hands of different people, but without exception, all of them ended up in tragedy."

"The general manager of a British bank died after falling off his horse while riding, having obtained parts of the mask; a jeweler was killed in a robbery..."

"From then on, people called Shabbur's mask the Cursed Mask and avoided it like the plague."

Matsudaira Mamoru, who was a firm believer in these supernatural tales, asked nervously, "Ms. Sufang, now that you've collected all these masks, are you really alright?"

Su Fang Hongzi didn't care at all: "Don't worry, Mr. Beichuan just said that with these red cloths here, nothing will happen."

Upon hearing Su Fang Hongzi's words, Kogoro Mouri recalled the warning letter from before, "Ms. Su Fang, we actually obtained this on our way here!"

As he spoke, Kogoro Mouri took out a warning letter and showed it to everyone.