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

"Probably... not." Sonoko's tone lacked confidence.

After saying that, Sonoko remembered Ran's fighting skills, "If he dares to come, Ran, you beat him to a pulp with karate!"

Xiaolan forced a smile. She was terrified of these strange and unusual things and had no confidence in dealing with them.

The two chatted for a long time before gradually becoming sleepy.

Just as Sonoko was half asleep, she saw an axe coming down on her head. She was so frightened that she woke up instantly, but due to the extreme fear, her throat felt like it was stuck, and she lost her voice and couldn't even scream.

The axe drew ever closer, and just when Sonoko thought she was about to die, a pale golden barrier appeared in front of her, blocking the axe.

The bandaged monster was stunned and stood there for a few seconds, completely bewildered.

In those few seconds, Sonoko, with a strength she didn't know she possessed, pulled up the sleeping Ran and tried to escape the room.

Xiao Lan was pulled awake and slowly woke up.

At this moment, the bandaged monster also reacted and swung his axe at the two women again.

This time, the golden light was blocked again, and Xiaolan screamed, her voice sounding particularly shrill in the quiet night.

The bandaged monster missed both of his attacks. The key point was that he didn't know what had blocked his attacks one after another, so he turned around and ran out of the window.

Hearing Ran's scream, both Kitagawa Taki and Conan woke up.

The two quickly arrived at the door of Ran and Sonoko. Kitagawa Taki twisted the doorknob, but it was locked. With a forceful pull, he ripped the entire doorknob off.

Kitagawa Taki breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that the two women were unharmed.

"Ran, what happened?" Conan asked anxiously.

"It's...it's the bandaged monster!" Xiaolan, still in shock, pointed tremblingly at the window.

Without thinking, Conan rushed out, but there was no one in sight outside the balcony.

Kitagawa Taki checked on the two girls. Ran was alright, only slightly frightened, but Sonoko's eyes were glazed over and she didn't respond to his questions, clearly terrified.

He took out two Spirit Heart Talismans, which have a calming and reassuring effect. Xiao Lan was the first to regain her composure.

Seeing the state of the garden, Xiaolan was so anxious she almost cried, blaming herself, "It's all my fault for sleeping too soundly..."

"Ran, don't worry, Sonoko will be alright."

Kitagawa Taki offered a word of comfort, then turned to look at Sonoko.

"Sonoko, take a deep breath!"

Sonoko was mostly recovered thanks to the Spirit Heart Talisman. She followed Kitagawa Taki's instructions and took deep breaths.

Gradually, Sonoko recovered. She looked at Kitagawa Taki in front of her, threw herself into his arms, and burst into tears.

"Taki, I... I thought I'd never see you again..."

Kitagawa Taki gently patted Sonoko's back to comfort her.

At this moment, the other people in the villa also came looking for them.

Seeing her sister crying, Ayako Suzuki asked anxiously, "Kitagawa, is Sonoko alright? What happened?"

Kitagawa Taki explained, "Don't worry, it's all over now. It was that bandaged guy who attacked Sonoko and Ran."

"What?" Everyone exclaimed in surprise when they heard that it was that bandaged weirdo again.

Ayako Suzuki, however, displayed an expression quite different from her usual gentle demeanor, her face dark and gloomy.

"The glass in this window is broken!" Ryoichi Takahashi's voice drew everyone's attention.

There was a round hole cut out below the bolt on the floor-to-ceiling window.

Kitagawa Taki had already sentenced Takahashi Ryoichi to death in his heart, although he didn't know why Takahashi had targeted Sonoko and Ran.

Kitagawa Taki was glad he had given out a few Golden Light Talismans in advance, otherwise he didn't know what would have happened. He secretly made up his mind to refine more talismans when he got back and distribute them to the people around him.

Conan then returned to his room from the balcony and, seeing the damage to the window, felt something was wrong.

If the bandaged monster broke in from the outside, why are there no mud marks on the balcony and inside the room? It's still raining outside!

Something's not right. They checked the villa before they went to sleep; the bandaged man couldn't have been hiding there beforehand.

That means it could only have been done by an insider, but how was that alibi obtained? And why did the bandaged man attack Ran and Sonoko?

These questions swirled in Conan's mind, leaving him at a loss for what to do.

Chapter 30: Takahashi Ryoichi, who was scared to death

"In short, it's too dangerous for us to stay scattered now. Let's all just gather in the restaurant and wait for dawn!"

Hiroki Kakutani suggested.

So, everyone went to the restaurant on the first floor.

Taking the opportunity, Conan walked up to Kitagawa Taki and asked, "What are your thoughts on this case, Kitagawa-nii-san?"

"Hehe, I'm just a mystery enthusiast, what kind of ideas could I possibly have?" Kitagawa Taki didn't expect Conan to come and ask him, but he didn't have much to say anyway, since Takahashi Ryoichi was going to die soon anyway.

Conan rolled his eyes; he didn't believe Kitagawa Taki's nonsense.

Everyone sat around the dining table. By this time, Sonoko had calmed down and even comforted Ran, telling her not to blame herself.

"I'll go make coffee for everyone!" Ayako Suzuki stood up.

Just then, a deafening thunderclap rang out, and the next second, all the lights in the room went out, plunging the room into complete darkness.

"The power is out?"

"The lightning must have cut the power line."

"I'll go to the kitchen and get the candles!"

"Sis, I'll go with you."

Ayako Suzuki and Sonoko groped their way to get the candles in the dark, and Ryoichi Takahashi's eyes lit up.

Kitagawa Taki saw all of this.

He immediately channeled his spiritual power into Chikako Ikeda's spirit body, allowing it to solidify and complete the transformation more quickly.

On the other hand, spiritual power was used to activate Takahashi Ryoichi's spiritual eye, making it easier for him to see ghosts more clearly.

With Kitagawa Taki's current cultivation level of the second stage of Qi Refining, forcibly opening someone's spiritual eye would cause damage, and in severe cases, direct blindness. However, for Takahashi Ryoichi, there is no need to consider that.

"pain--"

Ryoichi Takahashi suddenly felt a pain in his eyes. When he opened them again, he found that he could see more clearly now than when he had just been in complete darkness.

Hiroki Kakutani asked, "Takahashi, what's wrong?"

"I'm fine..." He needed to hurry up and take down Suzuki Sonoko.

However, before Takahashi Ryoichi could finish speaking, Ikeda Chikako's face suddenly appeared before him. She looked extremely terrifying, with eyes wide open in horror. The next second, her head and body were separated, and blood gushed out like a fountain.

"what--"

Takahashi Ryoichi screamed in terror and collapsed to the ground.

When he opened his eyes again, Chikako Ikeda was gone.

He thought he was hallucinating because he was under a lot of mental strain, after all, he had personally cut off Ikeda Chikako's limbs and head, so she was definitely dead.

Kitagawa Taki didn't continue; he still needed to conserve some of his spiritual energy.

Ota Masaru said impatiently, "Hey, Takahashi, what are you doing? Why are you making such a fuss?"

Conan turned on the flashlight on his watch and shone it directly in the direction.

Ryoichi Takahashi looked terrified, his forehead covered in cold sweat, his eyes blinded by the sudden bright light.

When he opened his eyes, a pair of bloodshot, red eyes stared intently at him, filled with pain and resentment.

"what!!"

"What are you? You're dead! You're dead!"

Ryoichi Takahashi shouted as he backed away.

Chikako Ikeda reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck, and he immediately felt a chilling sensation.

He tried to pull at it in terror, but grabbed nothing. "Let me go! Let me go!"

Ryoichi Takahashi was running around the restaurant, making a racket on the tables and chairs.

Takahashi Ryo's sudden outburst startled everyone else in the restaurant.

Conan wanted to go forward to check, but Ran grabbed him.

"Takahashi, don't scare us!"

Hiroki Kakutani reached out to pull Ryoichi Takahashi, but was pushed away by him.

"Get out! Get out of here!" Takahashi Ryoichi screamed hysterically.

He pulled a dagger from his person and waved it wildly.

Gradually, he seemed to hear the voice of Chikako Ikeda.

A piercing cry echoed in his ears, a low, hoarse voice that seemed to come from hell.

"what--"

Ryoichi Takahashi covered his ears, but the sound was still so clear, as if it were about to pierce his soul.

In his sight, Chikako Ikeda was already lying on top of him, blood flowing from her severed head, hands, and legs, soaking his clothes.

Suddenly, Chikako Ikeda opened her gaping maw as if to bite off his head...

Ryoichi Takahashi's heart raced, his eyes glazed over, and his body went limp, motionless on the ground...

Seeing that Ryoichi Takahashi had stopped acting crazy, Conan tried to break free from Ran's grasp, but Ran gave him a sharp rap on the head.

"Conan, why are you so disobedient!" Ran gripped his clothes even tighter.

At that moment, Ayako Suzuki and Sonoko walked over quickly, carrying two candles.

"What happened?"

The restaurant was brighter with the light of the candles.