Detective Conan: The Ultimate Growth Space

Zhiyong then noticed that Chikako Ikeda was sitting on the ground in fright, and Hiroki Kakutani was also standing next to her with his mouth agape in shock.

Not far in front of the two, a person was lying on their back on the ground.

It was Ota Masaru who had just left the villa.

Ota Katsu was covered in blood, and his neck had been split in half from the right side.

Zhiyong knelt down next to Ota Katsu and, after examining him, said, "He's dead. These wounds were probably inflicted from behind with an axe. Ota probably didn't even make a sound before he died."

"How could this be?" Xiaolan asked in surprise.

This surprised Zhiyong greatly.

I remember that Takahashi Ryoichi killed Ikeda Chikako and also tried to kill Ran to silence her, but I didn't see him trying to kill anyone else.

What's going on?

Could it be that his appearance caused a change in things, creating a butterfly effect?

Judging from the terrified look on Ota Katsu's face, he must have seen the bandaged man.

Zhiyong and the others were chatting just now and didn't notice anything happening to Takahashi Ryoichi.

Zhiyong assumed that Takahashi Ryoichi wouldn't make a move for the time being, so he didn't pay any attention to him.

I just didn't expect that what was bound to happen would still happen.

At that moment, Sonoko and Conan also ran over.

Zhiyong collected Ota Masaru's ghost and said to Kakutani Hiroki, "Mr. Kakutani, please help Miss Chikako back to the villa."

Hiroki Kakutani then came to his senses.

He didn't want to stay there for even a minute longer, so he quickly helped Chikako Ikeda up and headed towards the villa.

"Xiaolan, Yuanzi, you two go back too, and call the police immediately."

Xiaolan and Yuanzi nodded and followed them back.

Conan asked seriously, "Brother Zhiyong, what's your opinion?"

Zhiyong rolled his eyes at him and said, "I told you, as long as you're here, something bad is bound to happen. Now it's proven true once again. A perfectly good vacation is ruined again."

As he spoke, he gave Conan's head a hard ruffle.

Conan, exasperated, said, "You..."

"Judging from the wounds on Ota Katsumi's body, they were caused by a sharp weapon like an axe. Judging from his expression, he must have encountered something incredible or something terrible."

“That’s true,” Conan nodded.

Zhiyong added, "The bandaged man we saw on the suspension bridge when we arrived was just about to attack Xiaolan with an axe. However, when he saw me, he turned and ran away. It seems he killed Ota Masaru first, and then, upon discovering Xiaolan, he tried to attack her as well."

Conan was very surprised and said, "What? Attacking Ran-neechan?"

But Conan's next words left Zhiyong speechless.

"So, do you think that bandaged strange man is someone from inside the villa, or an outsider?"

Zhiyong thought to himself, "Shouldn't you be paying attention to Xiaolan first? Go and comfort her? Xiaolan was just attacked! It's like Xiaolan is just a stranger to him."

Shinichi Kudo is definitely not worthy of being with Ran.

These were just fleeting thoughts in Zhiyong's mind.

"Whether he is one of the people inside the villa, I don't know for the time being," Zhiyong shrugged.

"Is it possible that the bandaged weirdo we encountered today was one of the people who came today in disguise?" Conan asked suspiciously.

“It’s not out of the question. They meet every two years, and this shouldn’t be their first time here. They should be very familiar with the surroundings, so it could be one of them. Of course, it could also be an outsider, but that’s unlikely,” Zhiyong said.

Zhiyong stood up and said, "Let's go back first. No one of them has come yet. I guess something happened to the villa too. Whoever that person is, he's in the shadows, and we're in the light. Don't tell anyone else anything before the police arrive."

Conan nodded.

The two only found out when they returned to the villa.

The suspension bridge connecting the villa has been cut down, telephone lines are down, and mobile phones have no signal here.

They are now almost completely isolated here.

Even though it's on the other side, you can still go down the mountain.

But now it's already dark.

The path down the mountain from the other side is relatively steep and not easy to walk.

It's too dangerous to go down the mountain at night; we can only wait until tomorrow during the day.

Everyone is a bit panicked right now, but there's nothing we can do.

They had no choice but to stay there for the night and wait until the next day to go down the mountain and call the police.

Now that everyone has gone through all this trouble, they are all hungry, so we prepared a meal so that everyone could eat and rest.

After everyone was seated, the death of Ota Masaru left everyone feeling quite down.

When Ayako Suzuki noticed that Chikako Ikeda hadn't arrived, she asked, "Where's Chikako?"

Hiroki Kakutani looked around and said, "She was frightened just now, so she went back to her room to rest."

After saying that, he glanced at the second floor and said, "Takahashi, come down for dinner quickly. I've called you several times already."

Ryoichi Takahashi, who was repairing the roof above, heard this and said, "Okay, I'll finish right away."

Suddenly he shouted, "Who are you?"

Ryoichi Takahashi called out into the room again, "There seems to be someone by the window downstairs."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked towards the window.

A bandaged person was seen carrying Chikako Ikeda as they ran past the window.

Although Zhiyong knew that Ikeda Chikako would be killed, he never expected it.

Chikako Ikeda was killed so quickly.

Zhiyong didn't receive any spatial notification, so it's likely that Ikeda Chikako was killed outside.

Zhiyong grabbed the flashlight from the table, hurriedly got up, and opened the window.

He turned to the others and said, "It's so dark. You all wait inside the room and make sure the doors and windows are closed. I'll go check." With that, he jumped out the window and chased after them.

Conan also ran out.

Zhiyong hadn't run far when he noticed that Hiroki Kakutani and Ryoichi Takahashi had followed him out as well.

In fact, Zhiyong knew this too.

Ryoichi Takahashi will definitely appear.

Otherwise, what would he do with Chikako Ikeda's head?

Not far into the woods, they saw Chikako Ikeda's severed hands and feet.

Zhiyong collected the ghost of Ikeda Chikako.

After arriving here, Ryoichi Takahashi quietly placed Chikako Ikeda's head next to the corpse on the ground.

At this moment, everyone was stunned by the haphazardly scattered pieces of Chikako Ikeda's body on the ground.

Therefore, no one noticed Ryoichi Takahashi's actions.

Zhiyong knew that Takahashi Ryoichi would do this.

But it was so dark that unless Zhiyong shone a flashlight on Takahashi Ryoichi, it would be impossible.

Otherwise, even Zhiyong wouldn't be able to see clearly.

After examining the body, Zhiyong led everyone back to the villa.

After returning to the villa, everyone told Ayako Suzuki and the others that Chikako Ikeda had also been killed.

Upon hearing this, Ayako Suzuki burst into tears, saying, "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have planned this class reunion. It's because of this that both of them were killed."

……

Chapter 63 Life is so fragile

Zhiyong had already returned from his rounds upstairs and overheard Ayako Suzuki's words.

He walked over and said, "Ayako-neechan, this is not your fault. Even without you, Ikeda Chikako would have been killed anyway. It's just that Ota Masaru probably accidentally discovered the murderer, which is why he was killed."

"Sato, what do you mean? Why is it certain that Chikako Ikeda will be killed?" Ran was puzzled by Zhiyong's words.

“I didn’t understand it before, but now I’ve finally remembered something, and combined with what happened today, it’s made everything clear to me,” Zhiyong replied.

"You know the truth?" Sonoko asked.

"When we first met and were introduced, I suddenly paused. I felt like I'd seen Ms. Chikako somewhere before, but I couldn't quite place where. I didn't want people to think I was using such a corny method to strike up a conversation with her," Zhiyong explained.

"Do you know Chikako?" Sonoko asked.

"I don't know her, but I feel like I've seen her before. Just now I finally remembered when I met Ms. Chikako."

"Stop keeping me in suspense, just tell me already," Sonoko said, sounding a little annoyed.

"It seems like it happened two years ago. I was really sleepy at the time. I overheard Ms. Atsuko and Ms. Chikako talking, and I glanced at them. Then I think I fell asleep again. If I hadn't seen Chikako, I wouldn't remember it," Tomoyuki said, pretending to recall.

Ayako Suzuki asked in confusion, "Sato, Atsuko, and Chikako, do you know them?"

"I don't know them. I only met them once. That's why I don't remember them very well. I don't remember their exact words, only the general meaning."

"What did they say?" Ayako Suzuki asked again.

"That girl named Atsuko asked Ms. Chikako to take a look at her novel, 'The Country of Sky Colors.' She said the novel was going to be published and that she wanted to become a novelist or something. Then I fell asleep again, and I don't know what they talked about," Chiyu said calmly.

Although Zhiyong had never met the two men, they were now both dead.

That would mean whatever Zhiyong says is true, and no one can prove that he is lying.

Whether people believe it or not is irrelevant.

As long as Zhiyong's reasoning has a basis, that's fine.

"Atsuko's novel, The Country of Sky Colors?" Ayako Suzuki asked.