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

"Is this the place?"

Looking at the ancient-style buildings not far away, Kitagawa Taki asked.

This hotel looks quite large, but its location is too remote, deep in the mountains and forests.

Kuroba Chikage glanced around. "This is it. There are quite a few tourists here!"

The three got out of the car and went into the hotel, which included a dining room and guesthouse.

There were quite a few people sitting in the dining room.

The three of them randomly found a spot and ordered a bowl of kudzu root soup, which was supposedly a specialty of the hotel, to warm themselves up.

The innkeeper, Takami Ohno, dressed in a kimono, personally served soup to the three of them.

Taking the opportunity, Kitagawa Taki asked, "Madam, I heard that weasels frequent the open-air baths here?"

Ohno Takami said, "Yes, many customers come for this reason, but because of the Kamaitachi, there are far fewer customers in that open-air bath."

Ai Haibara picked up the kudzu root soup and took a small sip. The chill lessened considerably. She asked, "Has anyone seen it?"

Just then, a little boy ran over and said, "I saw it! It ran over the hot spring. Although I chased after it, I couldn't run on the water. It was like I was under a spell and couldn't move."

When I woke up again, I was lying in the hallway, completely soaked.

Ai Haibara looked thoughtful upon hearing this.

Takami Ohno leaned down and said, "Kohei, what are you doing here? Is the room all set up? Aren't you supposed to invite your friends to your birthday party tomorrow?"

Kohei Ohno nodded. "Yes, I was just about to make the arrangements."

"Then hurry up and decorate the room!"

"Okay," Ohno Kohei replied and ran off.

Ohno Takami apologized, "I'm sorry to have disturbed you."

Kuroba Chikage waved her hand and laughed, "That's not true. We were just about to inquire about the Kamaitachi!"

“Oh, right,” said Takami Ohno, “the writer who took the photos of the Kamaitachi is also at the inn today! If you’d like, I can introduce you to him.”

Kitagawa Taki said, "That would be perfect."

Ohno Takami nodded and went to the side to call someone.

Chapter 262 Who knows?

Before the writer even arrived, the three of them ran into two acquaintances.

"Kitagawa, you're here too!"

Hattori Heiji and Toyama Kazuha walked over, rubbing their hands together and breathing out cold air.

Upon seeing Hattori Heiji, Kitagawa Taki asked, "Investigating Kamaitachi?"

"Hmm, you must be too, right? Then let's all sit together." Hattori Heiji didn't stand on ceremony and pulled out a chair to sit down.

"Heiji!" Kazuha Toyama felt it was impolite. It wouldn't be a problem if it were just Kitagawa Taki and Haibara Ai, but there was clearly someone else at the table whom she didn't recognize.

"Kazuha, please have a seat too!" Kitagawa Taki gestured with his hand, then introduced them: "This is Ms. Chikage, my client for this occasion."

"This is Heiji Hattori, the detective from Osaka."

"I am Kazuha Toyama," Kazuha Toyama quickly introduced herself.

Kuroba Chikage nodded in response.

Hattori Heiji asked, "Since Ms. Chikage is the client, you must know a lot about Kamaitachi, right?"

Kuroba Chikage explained, "I'm just a reporter, and this is just hearsay."

Just then, Kitagawa Taki saw the proprietress leading a tall, thin man over. "The person who knows the inside story has arrived."

Takami Ohno introduced everyone: "Gentlemen, this is the writer, Taisuke Nakano, who took the photo of the Kamaitachi."

"Hello, Gao Mei told me that you've also come here to find the Kamaitachi?" Tai Wu in the middle seemed quite excited.

"So this photo was taken by Mr. Taigo!"

Hattori Heiji pulled a photo from his pocket that looked exactly like Kuroba Chikage's.

“That’s right, I came here today hoping to take another picture of the Kamaitachi.” Zhong Nakado nodded and explained, “Because the weather has gotten noticeably colder these days! And most of the legends about the Kamaitachi are set in places where it snows heavily.”

As soon as Taiwu finished speaking, a burst of laughter came from behind him, "The legend of Kamaitachi is a complete lie."

"Then what are you doing here?" Tai Wu and the newcomer clearly knew each other.

Xiaoliulü chewed gum incessantly, saying, "I can't help it, our magazine is a competitor."

Then, she looked at the photo on the table and said, "Don't be fooled by his photo!"

Hattori Heiji smirked, crossed his arms, and said, "We have professional exorcists here, so you won't be fooled."

"Exorcist?"

Xiao Liu Lü looked somewhat unnatural.

Hattori Heiji introduced, "Kitagawa is a famous exorcist in Tokyo."

Zhongzai Taiwu's eyes lit up. "If Kamaitachi appears, may I ask Mr. Kitagawa to lend a hand?"

“Okay.” Kitagawa Taki nodded with a smile, then changed the subject, saying, “However, the fee for asking me to handle this case is two million yen.”

Tai Wu's eye twitched, and he chuckled awkwardly, "Well... let's forget about it then."

Ai Haibara looked up at Chikage Kuroba sitting opposite her and thought to herself that this was the normal reaction.

Kitagawa Taki scared off Nakaba Taigo with the commission fee, then turned to Ohno Takami and said, "Boss lady, two more servings of kudzu starch soup, please!"

“The kudzu root soup here is quite good, you should try it.” Kitagawa Taki looked at Hattori Heiji and Toyama Kazuha.

Just as the proprietress turned around, an old man came out from the inner room.

The old man looked around and said, "There seem to be quite a few people, but customers attracted by those kinds of monsters won't last long."

"If you want to run this business long-term, you still have to listen to me." The old man gave a meaningful smile.

Takami Ohno's expression changed, but she didn't say anything and hurriedly walked towards the kitchen.

The old man glanced at the crowd and then left on his own.

"Mr. Nakamura, do you know something?" Hattori Heiji asked Nakamura Daigo, whose face was grim. He knew from how Nakamura Daigo addressed Ohno Takami that the two had a good relationship.

Taiwu, gritting his teeth, said haltingly, "That man was Gao Mei's father-in-law... He wanted Gao Mei to use... body sushi to attract customers..."

Kitagawa Taki wondered if she had misheard. Her father-in-law wanted his daughter-in-law to use body sushi to attract customers? How perverted!

The women present frowned upon hearing this.

Hattori Heiji said disdainfully, "If it's exposed, it would be a crime of public indecency."

“Gao Mei definitely won’t agree.” Zhong Jia Tai Wu forced a smile and continued, “The hotel’s business was doing very well before, but it has taken a sharp turn for the worse since Gao Mei’s husband passed away. It’s really hard for Gao Mei to keep it going on her own.”

Xiao Liu Lü suddenly interjected, "Then why not sell something else? Like an antique teapot or something."

“Speaking of which, the hotel actually has something like that,” said Taiji Nakamoto. “When I showed Gao Mei the photo I took, she said there was a large scythe in the warehouse that was forged by a famous knife-making craftsman in the past, imitating a foreign lawnmower. I even went to see it.”

Hattori Heiji pressed further, "How big is that sickle?"

"The blade is about 60 centimeters long, buddy. You don't doubt that the one in the photo is this sickle, do you?"

Taigo, guessing Hattori Heiji's thoughts, added, "Outsiders couldn't possibly know about this. I only heard it from Takami by chance."

Hattori Heiji, however, was unwilling to give up. "Could I take a look?"

Tai Wu said helplessly, "We'll have to ask Gao Mei about that."

A short while later, Takami Ohno came out carrying two bowls of kudzu root soup.

The middle-aged man relayed Hattori Heiji's request to her.

Takami Ohno readily agreed.

After they finished drinking the kudzu root soup, they went together to the warehouse next to the open-air bath.

As a result, Takami Ohno searched high and low but couldn't find it, so she had to ask everyone to help her search.

A while later, Tai Wucai found the sickle in a box in the corner of the warehouse.

"Is this the sickle?" Hattori Heiji picked up the sickle. "It certainly looks quite old."

Kitagawa Taki glanced at it once and looked away; it was just an ordinary sickle.

Just then, the light bulb in the chandelier above everyone's heads suddenly exploded, making a crisp sound.

"What's wrong!?" Toyama Kazuha asked nervously.

Kuroba Chikage took out her phone to get some light, but as soon as she turned it on, she felt a sharp pain on the back of her hand and cried out in surprise.

Immediately afterwards, Xiao Liu Lü let out a scream.

The others took out their phones and turned on their flashlights, only to find that there was a cut on Xiaoliu Midori's face, and that Kuroba Chikage's hand and Hattori Heiji's wrist also had wounds.

With trembling hands, Taiwu hesitated and said, "Could it be... Kamaitachi?"

Kuroba Chikage wiped the blood off her hands with a tissue; this little wound was nothing to her.

She looked at Kitagawa Taki and asked, "Mr. Kitagawa?"

Kitagawa Taki could see it clearly just now, "It's not Kamaitachi."

"Who did that?" Toyama Kazuha looked around. The warehouse door was open, and it was pitch black outside.

"Who knows?" Kitagawa Taki looked at Koyanagi Midori with a playful smile on his lips.

Chapter 263 Hattori Heiji: This preferential treatment is too obvious!

Feeling Kitagawa Taki's gaze, Koyanagi Midori covered her injured face, feeling uneasy. She sensed that Kitagawa Taki seemed to have discovered something.

Ohno Takami said, "Anyway, everyone, let's leave here first! I'll take the three of you to get your wounds treated!"

So, everyone followed Takami Ohno to a Japanese-style room in the inn.

Takami Ohno took out a first-aid kit and treated the wounds of the three of them. Fortunately, none of the wounds were serious, except for Midori Koyanagi, whose wound was a little more troublesome because it was on her face.