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

"Thank you, I will definitely enjoy it."

"Kitagawa, this is what I made," Ran said after Sonoko finished delivering it.

"Thank you, Ran." Kitagawa Taki accepted it.

"We have other things to do, so we'll be leaving now."

After delivering the chocolates, Sonoko immediately gave Ran a wink and pulled her away in a hasty retreat.

After the two left, Kitagawa Taki glanced at the date on his phone and realized that it was Valentine's Day.

On Valentine's Day in Japan, girls give boys chocolates, which are divided into "bonmei chocolates" (original chocolates) and "giri chocolates" (obligation chocolates).

He had to try the chocolate made by Miss Suzuki herself.

Upon opening the packaging, one finds chocolates of various shapes. Kitagawa Taki takes out a piece and tastes it; the flavor is rich and mellow, almost comparable to those sold in stores, demonstrating the considerable effort put into its creation.

Chapter 22 The duck that was about to be eaten flew away

late at night.

Medieval Art Museum.

Between hell and hell.

Two security guards were patrolling. One of them, who was thin, shone a flashlight on the exhibits. All that could be seen were terrifying demon statues, which sent chills down one's spine.

"I really don't want to tour the art museum at night! Especially this hell room, it's so eerie and sinister."

Another tall, muscular security guard dismissed the concern, saying, "If you're scared, then don't be a security guard."

Just then, they heard a rustling sound behind them.

Did you hear anything?

The skinny security guard was already scared, and after hearing this, he started trembling. "Senior, you...you're scaring me!"

"No, no, there was definitely a sound."

The tall, muscular security guard led the thin security guard to a room.

"The sound is coming from here."

squeak~

The two pushed open the door.

"Who? Who's inside?"

Whoosh~ Whoosh~

A sound of armor rattling could be heard.

The two shone their flashlights and saw a suit of armor carrying a sword walking towards them, with what appeared to be red glowing eyes.

"what--"

……

Ran vividly recounted the strange tales from the art museum to Conan and Kogoro Mouri.

"The news has been spreading around the neighborhood lately!" Xiaolan exclaimed excitedly. "Let's all go to that art museum together!"

"Hahahahaha!"

After a brief silence, both Kogoro Mouri and Conan burst into laughter.

"Sister Xiaolan, medieval armor that can walk by itself? That's obviously just something to fool children!"

"Lan, that must be a story that the art museum made up to attract visitors."

As Kogoro Mouri spoke, he started thinking about the exorcism that Taki Kitagawa had done before, which made him a little insecure.

The two then tried to make an excuse to urinate.

boom!

Xiaolan slammed her fist into the desk, causing it to collapse, and asked gently, "Are you two going or not?"

Kogoro Mouri and Conan looked at the badly damaged desk and swallowed hard. "Go, go!"

……

Kitagawa Exorcism Office.

Sonoko and Kitagawa Taki were chatting, with Sonoko talking about some interesting things that had happened at school recently.

Jingle bell~

Kitagawa Taki made an apologetic gesture, then answered the phone, "Hello, Kitagawa Exorcism Agency."

"Art museum? Okay, I'll come this afternoon."

"Taki, is there a request?" Sonoko asked expectantly.

Kitagawa Taki nodded and said, "Yes, Mr. Manaka, the owner of the Medieval Art Museum, said that his museum seems to be haunted and he would like me to go and take a look."

It turns out that Mr. Manaka bought the poorly managed art museum and planned to convert it into a hotel in ten days. However, rumors of it being haunted have emerged. He didn't want this to affect the hotel's business, so he inquired around and eventually found Kitagawa Taki.

Sonoko said, "I want to go too, is that okay?"

Kitagawa Taki readily agreed, "Of course. It's getting late, let's have lunch first and go in the afternoon."

Art museum owner? Kitagawa Taki is probably going to make a killing this time.

……

Meanwhile, Conan and his friends arrived at the Medieval Museum by car.

The Medieval Art Museum is quite large, divided into the main hall, between the sky, between the earth, between the sea and the plains, and between hell.

The group encountered the museum director, Ochiai, in the lobby.

Director Ochiai was probably in his sixties or seventies, with gray hair and a long white beard.

Seeing that Xiaolan really liked the collection, Director Ochiai took the initiative to strike up a conversation and invited the group to take their time to appreciate it.

Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly noticed that museum employee Kubota was touching the artwork without gloves. He immediately flew into a rage and shouted, "Kubota, how many times do I have to tell you? You must wear gloves when handling artwork!"

The man named Kubota was startled. He quickly apologized, but when he turned around, he had a disdainful expression on his face.

"Just like before, there aren't many people!"

At this moment, a middle-aged man with a large build walked over.

Director Ochiai greeted him, "Mr. Manaka."

The owner, Mr. Zhenzhong, didn't respond. Instead, he continued, "In ten days, this place will be converted into a restaurant. Until then, you can just keep an eye on this junk!"

"By the way," Mr. Manaka said, staring intently at Director Ochiai, "I've hired an exorcist who will be here this afternoon. Then we'll know whether that so-called armor is human or demon!"

He suspected that this was a gimmick by the museum's long-time employees who were unhappy with his plan to turn it into a hotel.

'An exorcist?' Conan rolled his eyes, guessing it must be Kitagawa Taki.

in the afternoon.

After spending several hours at the art museum, Ran was still full of energy, while Conan and Kogoro Mouri were exhausted, much like men accompanying women shopping.

"Sister Xiaolan, I'm so tired, let's go back."

Conan, with his small arms and legs, said he couldn't take it anymore.

“Yeah, Ran,” Kogoro Mori chimed in.

"You guys are really terrible. There's one last area ahead. Since we're already here, let's finish exploring it before we leave."

Xiao Lan pointed to the space between hell and said.

There used to be a "No Entry" sign here when they came before, but it's gone now.

The two had no choice but to follow Xiaolan inside.

The hellish chamber was almost completely dark, with hardly any lights.

The group slowly walked deeper into the area, where a painting titled "Divine Punishment" hung at the very back.

The painting depicts a knight killing a demon with his sword, but the style is bizarre and extremely bloody, making people feel somewhat uneasy when they look at it.

"This painting is scary!" Xiaolan looked away.

"This painting is indeed extraordinary."

A voice came from behind them, startling them.

Looking back, I realized that it was Kitagawa Taki walking in from the doorway.

"Hey, Kitagawa, you're scaring me half to death! What are you doing here?" Kogoro Mouri was still engrossed in the painting, so he was startled by Taki Kitagawa's voice.

Kitagawa Taki explained, "I received a request from the museum's owner, Manaka, but after arriving, I couldn't find him anywhere."

It turned out that Kitagawa Taki and Sonoko had arrived at the Medieval Museum of Art more than ten minutes earlier, but they couldn't find Mr. Manaka. They asked the staff, but no one knew either. So, he and Sonoko split up and started looking for him in the museum.

As soon as Kitagawa Taki entered Hell, he discovered that "Heavenly Punishment" was tainted with evil spirits, and there was a bloody smell in the room.

As he approached the group, Kitagawa Taki, whose eyesight far surpassed that of ordinary people, immediately spotted someone nailed to the wall a few meters away.

“Someone has died,” Kitagawa Taki said, pointing to the wall on the left.

Upon hearing that someone had died, Conan quickly turned on the flashlight function of his watch.

A knight's sword pierced the dead man's throat, pinning him in mid-air. Blood splattered on the walls and floor. The man's mouth was wide open, his eyes bulging out, a truly gruesome death.

Conan also noticed that although there were labels on the wall, there were no collectibles.

"Ah—" Xiaolan's scream echoed in the room.

Conan was shocked. "It's Mr. Shinaka!"

Kitagawa Taki: "What?"

"Mr. Manaka, the owner of the art museum, is the person you're looking for, Brother Kitagawa."

Among them, Kogoro Mouri, who had been a detective, remained relatively calm.

Kitagawa Taki's mood immediately soured after Kogoro Mouri confirmed the deceased's identity.