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

Ran and Akemi Miyano had both heard Kitagawa Taki say that the Inubushi family wasn't cursed at all, so they just smiled.

"Sister Yukihime, is the cliff where Mr. Hotaru fell up there?"

Conan pointed to the dark cliff above and asked.

"That's right, directly above here."

Inubushi Yukihime looked up and saw a red light appear at the edge of the cliff, followed by a dark figure rushing out.

A few seconds later, there was a loud "bang".

Everyone turned to look and saw a woman lying in a pool of blood.

"Saku, Saku!"

Inubushi Yukihime exclaimed in surprise and rushed forward.

Inubushi Saki only managed to utter the words "The dog is burning" before he breathed his last.

Kogoro Mouri stepped forward to examine her, then shook his head and said, "No, she's dead."

Hattori Heiji turned around and shouted, "Kazuha, call the police!"

"Let's go up the cliff and take a look!"

"Uncle Mori, you should stay down here too! That way you can handle any situation that may arise."

Inubushi Yukihime said, "If we want to get up there, taking the back road is faster than driving!"

“Then Miss Yukihime will lead the way.”

After saying that, the two ran up the mountain, and Conan followed silently without saying a word.

“I’ll go take a look too.” Ai Haibara tugged at Taki Kitagawa’s clothes.

Kitagawa Taki turned around, picked up Haibara Ai, and followed her.

A few minutes later, the group finally reached the top of the cliff.

Upon seeing the situation on the cliff, the expressions of the group changed.

Rows of burning flames were visible along the road, as if left behind by the Fire Hound.

Conan and Heiji Hattori leaned closer to observe.

Hattori Heiji sniffed the air. "There's no smell of gasoline."

Ai Haibara asked in a low voice, "Is this the Crimson Flame?"

This is hardly the Crimson Lotus Flame; it's just an ordinary flame, not even as powerful as his Fireball Technique.

Seeing this, Kitagawa Taki became even more convinced that the so-called demonic dog was just someone making a fuss.

Kitagawa Taki replied, "No, it's just ordinary fire."

“That means someone is up to no good…” Ai Haibara stared into thought as she looked at the trailing fiery footprints.

……

Dog-like house.

Because of another murder, everyone gathered together.

Hattori Heiji explained the situation on the cliff to everyone.

Kogoro Mori exclaimed, "What? There are fiery footprints on the cliff?"

Hattori Heiji said, "That's right, there are small flames burning about 20 meters from the edge of the cliff right in front of us."

"Does the cursed demon hound really exist?" Toyama Kazuha asked in horror, already imagining the terrifying image of the fire demon hound.

"Even Miss Zuo said..."

"Idiot, how could there possibly be a demonic dog in this world!" Hattori Heiji interrupted.

Then, he looked at Kitagawa Taki and asked, "Kitagawa, don't you think so?"

"I don't know if it exists in the world, but it definitely doesn't exist here."

Kitagawa Taki is very meticulous.

Hattori Heiji laughed and said, "Even exorcists say so, so this is just a trick to fool people."

"Exorcist?"

Inubushi Tomohiro and Inubushi Zen also looked at Kitagawa Taki with surprise.

"You two don't know yet, but this is Kitagawa Taki, a famous exorcist in Tokyo," Hattori Heiji introduced.

Inubushi Tomohiro asked, "And who are you?"

Hattori Heiji pointed at Mouri Kogoro, "This uncle and I are both detectives."

"detective?"

A voice came from behind the group.

"Are you the 'Sleeping Kogoro,' Mr. Kogoro Mouri?"

A man wearing a dark green suit and with a distinctive pointed beak walked up to Kogoro Mouri and tightly grasped Kogoro Mouri's hands with both of them.

Kitagawa Taki recognized him at a glance—it was Cao-ge!

Besides his distinctive appearance, Shan Cuncao is also a very funny person.

Kogoro Mouri was taken aback by Misao Yamamura's enthusiasm. "I am."

Yamamura Misao exclaimed excitedly, "Mr. Mori, I'm a huge fan of yours! I admire your reasoning so much!"

Kogoro Mouri looked at his hands. "Um, may I ask who you are?"

Inubushi Kōko said, "This is Officer Yamamura Misao from the Gunma Prefectural Police Station. He came here not long ago to handle Hotaru's case."

Chapter 173—

Kogoro Mouri suddenly realized, "So it's Officer Yamamura."

Hattori Heiji asked, "Officer Yamamura, has the police found any suspicious points regarding Mr. Hotaru's fall from the cliff?"

Yamamura Misao replied, "No, otherwise the case wouldn't have been closed as a suicide."

"As for the demonic hounds and such," Yamamura Misao said seriously, "in this digital age, it's really outrageous to still be creating things like demonic hounds that cause widespread panic!"

Everyone turned their attention to Shancun Cao.

However, Yamamura Misao immediately broke character and asked with a smile, "How was my comparison between the digital age and the Demon Dog? Did you think it was cool?"

Everyone was taken aback, and no one responded to Shan Cuncao's comment.

Conan's lips twitched; this police officer seemed rather unreliable.

Inubushi Zen also said, "Although we don't know who is controlling that so-called demonic dog, we are certain that this guy has a grudge against our Inubushi family."

Kogoro Mouri looked at the four members of the Inubushi family: "That's right, and that person is among the rest of you."

“First, the three of you should provide your alibis! Miss Saki fell off the cliff around 7 p.m., so tell me what you were doing at the time?” Kogoro Mouri continued.

Inubuchi Zen also said, "I should have been taking a shower at seven o'clock."

“Because Saki hadn’t returned, I went out to check on her,” Inubushi Kōko said. “She still gets lost quite often.”

Tomohiro Inubushi said, "I've been by my adoptive mother's side the whole time, taking her temperature and blood pressure, and feeding her liquid food."

Kogoro Mouri nodded. "But none of you can testify for you, right?"

Inubushi Kōko said, "No, there are usually three maids at home, but they're all on holiday and have gone home now."

Yamamura Misao pointed at the three men and said with certainty, "That means all three of you are suspects!"

Inubu Zen also said unhappily, "Hey, we're all suspects, what about Yukihime?"

Kogoro Mouri explained, "Ms. Sachihime was with us at the time and has a solid alibi."

Conan countered, "Not necessarily. If it's a dog whistle, it can be done even at the bottom of a cliff."

Heiji Hattori, who had been watching Conan's every move, smiled. This kid was thinking the same thing as him.

Dog whistles are used for training dogs and emit ultrasonic waves, which are generally inaudible to humans.

Inubushi Yukihime said, her face pale, "How could that be? I would never kill Saki and the others."

"Compared to this, is there any connection between Mr. Shinichi's case and Saki's case?" Inubushi Kōko asked, looking at Kogoro Mouri and Heiji Hattori.

Hattori Heiji said, "We cannot confirm the connection yet, but Mr. Shinichi, who was murdered, had a pearl in his mouth."

Upon hearing this, the four members of the Inubushi family changed their expressions drastically.

Seeing this, Kogoro Mouri asked, "Is there a problem?"

Inubushi Tomoaki swallowed hard and said, "There was a small steel ball next to Mr. Hotaru who fell off the cliff, and there was a ping-pong ball next to Mikako who drowned in the swamp."

"Huh? Small steel balls, ping-pong balls, pearls, they're all spherical!" Hattori Heiji's eyes narrowed.

Kogoro Mouri said, "In other words, the pearl was not a message left by Shinichi before his death, but was deliberately left by the murderer."

That's right, the murderer wanted to link these events to Hakkenden.

Thinking of this, Kitagawa Taki looked at Inubushi Yukihime.

Inubushi Yukihime's real name was Tamaki Yuki, which can be spelled out as "Tamazusa," suggesting that she might be the person the murderer wanted to frame.

It's here! The classic three-choice challenge is finally here.

Inubushi Kazuko, Inubushi Tomohiro, Inubushi Zenya—who is the real murderer?

Kitagawa Taki really wanted to see the so-called demonic dog with his own eyes.

I wonder if the murderer would dare to continue using the so-called demonic dogs to commit crimes right under the noses of the police, detectives, and exorcists?

Just then, Xiaolan suddenly said, "Um, there was also a glass ball rolling not far from Miss Zuoji just now."

Conan pressed, "Ran-neechan, did you take that?"

"No, I didn't know it was related to the case at the time."

"Then let's go look for it together. Officer Yamamura, why don't you come too?" Hattori Heiji suggested.