An infinite journey starting from paradise

"The identity of the deceased, those children, the bat monster... Didn't you say you would handle everything? Where are you now?!"

In Kitayami Town, Reiko Mikami is not the only one who is curious about the whereabouts of Hayashi Naoto. Kirika is also waiting for "her husband" to come home in Misaki's doll workshop - the false memories implanted in her by Tokita Misaki have completely merged with her original memories.

Although Wuguo can use reason to distinguish the authenticity of the memories in his mind, he still wants to indulge in false happy memories rather than the bleak reality.

After all, escaping is shameful, but it is useful.

So, just like a traditional Yamato Nadeshiko, Wuguo prepared a large table of food for her husband who was returning from his business trip. She was looking forward to saying to Lin Shangren the words "Welcome home" that she had said countless times but never said.

"I'll be back soon, dear."

Wuguo looked at the steamer which still displayed "Cooking".

It was very strange that what Wuguo made was not traditional Japanese food, but Chinese food, and there was no separate plate system for food - the memories that Tokita Misaki wrote into her mind actually completely replicated Lin Shangren's eating and living habits.

And Wuguo can also skillfully reproduce the dishes based on these "false memories", as if she had really lived with Lin Shangren for a long time.

"Mother."

Mizaki Ming's voice sounded from behind Kirika.

With both deceased individuals now dead, the source of the disaster has been eradicated by Hayashi Naoto, and everything has returned to normal. Kitayami Junior High School needs to recruit a new teacher to replace Kubodera Shoji. Furthermore, the students in third-grade class three need to be reorganized, and there's even discussion about disbanding class three and assigning them to other classes.

Because of this, all the students in Class 3, Grade 3, had a day off today. This allowed Jian Qiming and Wu Guo to have some normal mother-daughter interactions, like cleaning the workshop and cooking together.

"Dad will be back soon."

Seeing Qi Ming speaking, he looked up at the roof. Through the dark green puppet's eyes, he saw Qi Ming had already seen the three-colored light ball coming from the horizon.

"Already arrived."

As soon as Jian Qiming finished speaking, there was a knock on the door and a familiar yet unfamiliar voice saying "I'm back" on the first floor of the puppet workshop.

……

At the same time that Hayashi Naoto brought Yura and Misan to the Misaki Doll Workshop, Kindaichi and his party also arrived at the Clock House in Rokkaku Village.

"This must be Ruoye's home." Wada Haruna turned around and looked at the other members of the "bride-kidnapping group."

Kindaichi and Odagiri Susumu were panting and sweating as they swayed behind Wada Haruna, looking exhausted. Nanase Miyuki was in slightly better condition, but her forehead was also covered in sweat.

The reason they did this was that Odagiri Susumu's car broke down on the way, and they walked for an entire afternoon before finally finding Rokkaku Village.

This amount of exercise is certainly nothing for the karate master Wada Haruna, but for Kindaichi and Odagiri Susumu who neglect exercise, it is like a devilish training session.

"Cheer up, especially Mr. Odagiri. How are you going to meet Wakana like this?" said Wada Haruna.

"Give me... Huh...Give me some time..."

Odagiri Jin took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his face carefully. Then he turned his head and looked behind him: "Where's Long Yi? Hasn't he caught up yet?"

"Haa...haa..." Kindaichi put his arm around Odagiri Shin's shoulders and leaned against him. "Don't worry... With Liuxing Sensei's effortless demeanor, he wouldn't just pass out in that public restroom at the village entrance... Or... better, get yourself together first, Sensei."

"Ayi, are you okay? Huh, you should catch your breath first." Miyuki gently stroked Kindaichi's back and looked up at the Clock House in front of them.

This is a two-story Western-style building. A huge clock is decorated on the triangular ceiling in the middle of the marble columns. Above the clock is the family emblem of the Tokita family, a six-pointed star or David shield missing the upper left corner.

"Teacher, cheer up," Wada Yona continued, "I'll go knock on the door."

Wada Haruna walked up the stairs and was about to ring the doorbell when the door of the house opened from the inside.

A thin, bald old man poked his head out of the gate. His eyes were as blank and dark as a corpse's. He looked expressionlessly at Wada Haruna, who had come knocking, and asked, "This is the Tokita residence. Are you a lost tourist or do you have something else to ask?"

Looking at the old man who looked like a zombie puppet, Wada Haruna was not afraid. She replied, "We are Ruoye's friends. Is Ruoye home? We came to Kitayami Town for a study tour. We heard that Ruoye was getting married soon, so we came to visit her."

After hearing Wada Haruna's answer, the old man remained expressionless. He spoke in a dry voice, "I am Ruoye's father. Ruoye is indeed preparing for her wedding. However, according to our family tradition, uninvited guests cannot see the bride. So please go back."

"Why is this? Please wait a moment..." Wada Yona wanted to argue for a few words, when a familiar voice sounded in the Clock Hall.

"Dad, I invited them. Please let them in."

Tokita Wakaba, wearing a kimono, walked over. She also had a stern face and her tone showed no emotion.

"Is that so? Sorry for the rudeness. Please come in." Tokita Wakaba's father opened the door and let Wada Haruna and his group into the house.

"Ah... excuse me for bothering you."

As he spoke, Kindaichi eyed the Tokita father and daughter suspiciously. Their behavior was truly bizarre. They didn't seem like normal people, but more like those unprofessional NPC employees at a haunted house in an amusement park who only knew how to read.

"Ruoye!"

Odagiri Susumu excitedly called out his lover's name, but Tokita Wakaba only responded with indifference.

Tokita Wakaba said in a calm voice, "Everyone must be very tired after the long journey."

"It's okay." Wada Haruna said, "By the way, Liu Xing teacher is here with us too. He seems to have missed us. I'll go meet him first."

Having said that, Wada Haruna turned around and walked out of the Clock House again.

Tokita Wakaba didn't say anything, but just watched Wada Haruna's receding back in silence.

The atmosphere was a little awkward, so Miyuki took the initiative to say, "Ruoye's house is really big and magnificent. It's like a castle..."

"Miss."

Before Miyuki could finish her words, an elderly woman in a dark kimono hurried over. She was Aunt Yuki, a servant of the Tokita family.

"Miss, you should go try on that white wedding dress."

"I understand. Aunt Xue, please take the guests to the guest rooms." Tokita Wakaba instructed the maid, "By the way, dinner will be delayed for half an hour."

"I understand. Guests, please follow me." Aunt Xue said to everyone.

"But... Wakaba." Odagiri Susumu finally mustered up the courage to say something to Tokita Wakaba, but was stopped by Aunt Mi. "This guest. The young lady is preparing for her wedding. Please don't disturb her. Please follow me to the guest room."

As she spoke, Aunt Xue led Kindaichi and the other two through many twists and turns to the doors of several guest rooms on the first floor.

"Dear guests," Aunt Xue said, "I have one more thing to remind you. Do not wander around the house casually. If anything unexpected happens, you will be responsible for the consequences."

"Ah, this... okay, we get it." Kindaichi said.

Odagiri Susumu, who was standing by, lowered his head, as if he had lost his soul, and just responded woodenly.

It was obvious that Tokita Wakaba's cold attitude had caused him great harm. Odaki Susumu seemed to have lost all his energy.

"Let's take a rest first. Maybe...haha." Kindaichi patted Odakiri's shoulder and then opened the door of his guest room.

After entering the guest room, Kindaichi collapsed directly onto the soft bed and stretched out comfortably. However, a series of questions arose in his mind.

"The people in this house are so weird. Especially Ruoye, she's completely different from what I remember her as. What on earth has she been through these past few days?

And that Aunt Xue is so weird. She doesn't allow us to walk around the house freely. Is there some secret hidden in this house?"

Thinking about it, Jintianyi closed his eyes and rested.

"Tuk-tuk-tuk."

Two minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

"Hayi, it's me."

Nanase Miyuki's voice came from outside the door.

When Kindaichi got out of bed and opened the door, he saw Miyuki standing at his door, looking a little embarrassed.

"Miyuki? What's wrong?" Kindaichi asked.

"Um... the bathroom." Miyuki answered softly.

"what?"

"Let's find the bathroom." Miyuki blushed. "Can you help me find the bathroom? I'm alone... I'm scared..."

"Hey, are you an elementary school student?"

"But this place feels really eerie," Miyuki said, "and the corridors are so complicated. I'm afraid I'll get lost..."

"Even if the mansion is huge, you can't get lost, right? Forget it, there's nothing I can do about you. I'll go with you to find it."

Kindaichi walked out of the room and, relying on his memory, led Miyuki towards the corridor. He remembered that Aunt Yuki had just pointed out the location of the bathroom.

"It's really huge! I was thinking about that when I first got here. Why would they build such a large mansion in such a remote village?" Kindaichi muttered softly, "It's totally out of place with the old and dilapidated Rokkaku Village outside."

"Maybe the Tokita family likes this."

"I don't think so."

Looking at the nervous Miyuki, Kindaichi had a bad idea: "Maybe he's hiding something. Maybe, just like in the movies, this mansion deep in the mountains is actually a vampire's house. Who knows what kind of demon is hiding in this house~"

"Don't...don't say weird things..."

Miyuki was obviously frightened. Just like the lucky unicorn lady, Detective Miyuki was also afraid of those ghostly things.

"Hehe, who knows, what if there really is a monster..."

"Meow~"

Just when Kindaichi was about to scare Miyuki, a shrill Hakimi cry suddenly came from beside them, and a black shadow rushed across Miyuki's calf.

The sudden shriek and the feeling of fur brushing against her calf startled Miyuki. She suddenly threw herself into Kindaichi's arms, causing him to stumble.

Jintian instinctively reached back to support himself, but accidentally got his hand stuck in the wall - he just happened to press the hidden mechanism on the wall.

The mechanism was pressed, and the secret door hidden by Kindaichi's footsteps opened. Then, Kindaichi and Miyuki, who had lost their balance, tumbled and fell into the underground secret room of the Clock House.

If the storyline of the "Ijinkan Village Murder Case" in "The Case Files of Young Kindaichi" had continued, Kindaichi and Miyuki would have discovered a headless corpse in this secret room, leading to the tragic incident with the highest number of casualties in Kindaichi's series.

However, when Kindaichi's worldview was integrated and overwritten into this world, everything changed drastically.

Kindaichi and Miyuki did not see the dried corpse stored in the coffin. Instead, they saw a huge hexagram magic circle drawn on the floor of the secret room, and human limbs placed at the four corners of the hexagram.

"here it is…?"

Kindaichi, whose head hurt from the fall, hadn't figured out what was going on when the hexagram formation under his feet suddenly lit up, emitting a dazzling purple light.

Then, a deep, whispering voice rang out in Kindaichi's ears: "God of Death from another world, please descend from the other side and bring down divine punishment on her!"

"what?!"

The changes did not only happen to Kindaichi. For some unknown reason, the same magic circle appeared under the feet of Conan who was far away in Tokyo, and he also heard the strange muttering.

At the Misaki Doll Workshop, Hayashi Shangren had just finished explaining the whole story to Wuguo, and Wuguo had just reunited with his biological daughter, Weisan.

Just when the family is preparing to eat, they use the time of sharing dinner to get to know each other and cultivate feelings.

A pink summoning circle inexplicably appeared under Lin Shangren's feet, and an aria-like voice rang out:

"Fou ki ra hyear presia reen, Was zweie ra na stel zuieg manaf, Ma zweie ra irs manaf chyet oz omnis. "

The voice was very beautiful, like a young girl singing an exotic ballad.

But the Lin Shang people, who were fluent in all the languages ​​of several worlds and even understood the demon language, could not understand the meaning of this chant. It was obvious that this was a "new language" that the Lin Shang people had never encountered before.

Lin Shangren was about to put on Bruce Hearn's mask to analyze and learn the language, but at this moment several chains shot out from the magic circle and headed straight for Lin Shangren's neck and limbs.

"You want to force yourself on me? You want to play bondage with me? Ha, break up."

Lin Shangren used the black shadow to counter the chains made of energy, and just by raising his fingers, he tore them into energy residue.

At this moment, Lin Shangren suddenly heard three familiar syllables "Lin Shang Ren", his name, from the chanting in this strange language.

He put on Bruce Hearn's mask and activated his Eye of Innocence. Since Lin Shangren's Eye of Innocence didn't have any additional information modules, he couldn't discern the true nature of the formation, only knowing it appeared to be a teleportation formation.

However, he understood the general meaning of the chant: "O Almighty God Lin Shangren, please grant us life with your mercy and divine power."

"Student Xiao Ai, what's going on with this thing?" Lin Shangren asked.

"My Lord, this... this isn't right? This is a summoning array that transcends all worlds. It's that world of swords and magic I told you about before. But... how is this possible?"

The system girl was so shocked that she even forgot to send emojis.

"It's interesting."

Lin Shangren waved his hand to disperse another wave of chains that were attacking him, then looked at Wuguo and the others: "I'm going to go out for a walk first. I'll be back soon. Just... a moment."

"Dear...what is this."

"Don't worry." Lin Shangren smiled. "Xiao Ai, stop the increase in entropy in this world. I want to go over and see who is so blind as to disturb me while I'm eating!"

「Okay…but…Hey, my Lord, wait a minute!!!」

Just as Ashrose stopped the changes and developments in the scientific world, Lin Shangren actually dived directly into the magic circle that suddenly appeared.

The author says:

Author's words: The last chapter of 2024, I wish you all a happy New Year in advance~

Chapter 375: Belly Punch!