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

The others remained in the restaurant. Kitagawa Taki and Sonoko were chatting in hushed tones, Conan was lost in thought, Ota Masaru was smoking, and Kakutani Hiroki was fiddling with a camera.

About an hour later.

Ayako Suzuki and Ran had already prepared dinner and were bringing the dishes out one after another.

Ayako Suzuki called out to the second-floor balcony, "Takahashi, dinner is ready! Come down and eat!"

Ryoichi Takahashi appeared, holding a ladder, and replied, "I'll be done soon. I'll come down after I tidy up here."

Kitagawa Taki discovered that Ikeda Chikako, in her spirit form, was floating behind Takahashi Ryoichi.

It seems this guy has already killed Chikako Ikeda in the past hour.

Hiroki Kakutani was filming everywhere with his camera, first filming the dishes on the table, and then filming Ran and Sonoko sitting by the window.

Just then, Ryoichi Takahashi shouted towards the outside, "Who are you?"

Ota Masaru quickly asked, "What's wrong?"

"There seems to be someone at the window downstairs!" Takahashi Ryoichi exclaimed in alarm.

Upon hearing this, everyone looked out the window, where Hiroki Kakutani was filming with his camera.

The next second, a bandaged, strange man in a black robe flashed past the window with Chikako Ikeda in his arms.

Kitagawa Taki could tell at a glance that it wasn't a real person, since real people all possess spiritual power.

But Chikako Ikeda's head is the real thing.

Everyone else was startled. When Ota Katsu opened the window, the bandaged monster had already disappeared.

It was pitch black outside, and there was no idea where the bandaged monster had gone.

Conan jumped over the windowsill and chased after him.

Kitagawa Taki shook his head upon seeing this. This kid was really reckless. It was pitch black outside, and he dared to chase after people with his small arms and legs.

"Conan!" Ran was worried that something had happened to Conan and wanted to chase after him, but was stopped by Kitagawa Taki.

"I'll go check on things. You all stay inside together."

"We're going too, Takahashi, you come along too!"

Ota Masaru didn't back down at the crucial moment.

Ryoichi Takahashi pointed to himself, unsure, and asked, "Me... I'll go too?"

Ota Katsu retorted, "Of course, aren't you a man?"

Then, the group chased after Conan.

Conan used the flashlight from his watch to illuminate the spot and quickly found a severed leg on the grass, along with a lot of blood.

Ota Katsu examined it closely, his voice trembling as he said, "This looks like Chikako's..."

"what--"

Ryoichi Takahashi screamed and collapsed to the ground.

There is a hand here.

The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and discovered it was a severed hand.

"Chikako, Chikako!" Hiroki Kakutani panicked and ran out, calling Chikako's name as he ran.

But he hadn't run more than a few steps when he felt something trip him up. Looking down, he saw it was Chikako Ikeda.

He helped Chikako Ikeda up, and just as he was about to check on her, her head rolled off the bed.

"Ah—" Hiroki Kakutani was so frightened that he immediately let go of his hand, only to find that his hand was covered in blood.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The group returned to the villa. Ota Masaru, Takahashi Ryoichi, and Kakutani Hiroki were all distraught. After all, what ordinary person could bear to see their friend die in front of them, and dismembered?

Of course, Ryoichi Takahashi was faking it, since he was the one who killed the person.

Kitagawa Taki admired this guy's acting skills; he played the role of a simple and honest fat man from beginning to end without any flaws.

However, Ryoichi Takahashi certainly didn't have a good ending.

Chikako Ikeda's spirit did not dissipate immediately. Once her spirit solidified and her resentment accumulated, given her gruesome death, it would surely transform into an evil spirit to seek revenge.

Seeing everyone return, Ayako Suzuki anxiously asked, "How did it go?"

Kitagawa Taki replied, "Chikako Ikeda is dead."

He was afraid of frightening the women, so he didn't reveal that Ikeda Chikako had been dismembered.

Upon hearing the news, all three women showed signs of sadness.

Xiao Lan murmured, "How could this happen?"

“It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t organized this gathering, Chikako wouldn’t have…” Ayako Suzuki covered her face and cried.

Hiroki Kakutani said angrily, "Ayako, this is not your fault. It's that strange man with bandages, that murderer, who took Chikako away right before our eyes!"

"Could it be some kind of serial killer who escaped from prison?" Sonoko's imagination ran wild.

"That's not the case. This was a premeditated revenge killing! Even without this gathering, Chikako Ikeda would probably still be dead!"

Conan's words drew everyone's attention.

"Why... do you say that?" Ayako Suzuki stopped crying and looked at Conan.

"Chikako Ikeda was dismembered alive!"

Conan's words were like a bombshell.

Sonoko couldn't help but ask, "Live...dismemberment? What do you mean?"

Kitagawa Taki understood. He hadn't examined Ikeda Chikako's body carefully enough. He knew that dismembering someone after death was different from dismembering someone while they were alive.

The biggest difference between the two lies in whether there are any signs of life-related reactions, which manifest in many ways, such as bleeding, inflammation, and wounds. Experienced people can tell the difference with the naked eye.

Live dismemberment can cause significant bleeding and inflammatory reactions, including local vascular congestion.

The wound around the body will turn red, but the color around the wound after dismemberment will not change.

Conan glanced at Sonoko and said calmly, "It means that she was killed when she was alive, with her hands and feet cut off before her head was severed. The murderer harbored great hatred for her."

"what!"

Sonoko was startled; just thinking about that terrifying scene sent chills down her spine.

Ran and Ayako Suzuki were no exception; the sight of dead people was frightening enough, let alone dismemberment, especially live dismemberment.

Kitagawa Taki felt it necessary to give Conan a talking-to. Was this something a child should know? Look how scared he'd made those three women!

Boom!

A flick on the forehead interrupted Conan, who was about to continue speaking. Kitagawa Taki, with a "kind" smile, stared at Conan and said:

"You little rascal, you know quite a lot!"

Conan met Kitagawa Taki's gaze, fearing his identity would be exposed. Ignoring the pain in his head, he chuckled awkwardly and explained, "Hehehe... I just saw it on TV..."

Chapter 29 Attack

Kitagawa Taki stopped causing trouble for Conan, which relieved Conan.

He was brainstorming in his mind—

If it was a revenge killing, then the bandaged man was very likely someone Chikako Ikeda knew, and the two definitely had a grudge against each other.

The bandaged man may have followed Chikako Ikeda here, or he may be one of the people in this villa.

However, when the bandaged man passed by the window, everyone inside the villa was present and had an alibi...

With so few clues available, Conan can only make limited speculations.

At this moment, Hiroki Kakutani said, "Anyway, let's call the police first!"

Ayako Suzuki said with concern, "We tried calling the police when you left, but we couldn't get through."

"It was him! It must have been that strange man with the bandages! He cut it!"

Ryoichi Takahashi looked terrified and ran straight outside.

The others followed and chased after them.

Just then, it started raining again outside.

Ryoichi Takahashi ran to the suspension bridge with a flashlight and stopped.

Ota Katsu's eyes widened in horror, "The suspension bridge... is broken!"

Conan then went forward to examine the wooden stakes of the suspension bridge, which had many knife marks on them, clearly indicating that they had been deliberately damaged.

"It must be that guy. He wants to trap us here and kill us all!" Ryoichi Takahashi put on his dramatic act.

Kitagawa Taki couldn't stand it any longer and said, "Everyone, let's go back quickly!"

Hiroki Kakutani agreed, "There's no other way. It's getting dark and it's starting to rain. We can only go down the mountain to call the police tomorrow when it's light."

Back at the villa, everyone checked the doors and windows.

Conan found a pair of slippers at the back door and guessed they belonged to Chikako Ikeda.

Since Chikako Ikeda was wearing shoes on her broken leg, these extra slippers could only be hers.

But why did she go out through the back door? It's as if she was deliberately trying to avoid being seen.

Could it be that the bandaged weirdo invited her out?

With these questions in mind, Conan returned to his room, lay on his bed, and pondered the details of the case.

In the room opposite.

Ran and Sonoko turned off the lights and curled up in the same blanket, but they couldn't fall asleep at all.

Holding the golden talisman in her hand, Xiaolan asked, "Is this a protective talisman? Beichuan, did he tell you about it?"

"I don't know, Taki just said we should carry it with us at all times." Sonoko had already put the golden light charm into her amulet and was wearing it.

Ran nodded, then worried about the bandaged man again. "Sonoko, do you think that bandaged man will come and attack us again? He cut off the phone and the suspension bridge, he definitely wasn't trying to scare us."