Conan Rick's Investigator

Although Ran Mouri next to him said this, she did not stop Conan. She even bent down and looked at the contents of the wallet with Conan.

When Conan opened the wallet, the most obvious thing that caught his eye was a bronze badge.

The badge was covered in English, but Conan still understood it instantly and his eyes widened in surprise.

However, compared to Conan, Mao Lilan's English level is not that good.

"Mi-Sika…what does this mean?"

Conan habitually began to popularize science.

"It's Miskatonic, a university in Massachusetts, USA."

"Founded in 1690, it is one of the world's top universities, second only to Harvard University in its history in the United States."

"The school's history, biology, archaeology, geology, psychology and other majors are all world-class."

Conan said these words with a serious face, which made Ran Mouri next to him look at him with suspicion.

"Conan, how do you know this?"

Conan reacted and quickly put his vest back on.

“I saw all this on TV!”

"By the way, I have to return my uncle's wallet quickly."

After he finished speaking, Conan ran away with the wallet, while Mao Li Ran stood there with her head tilted, thinking about whether there had been any TV programs introducing foreign universities recently.

Conan was thinking about something as he chased towards the back door of the mansion.

Possessing superb reasoning, quick reaction, mysterious kung fu...

No wonder……

Chapter 37 A Foreign Bodhisattva

At the back door of Maruden's residence, Qin Zhibo caught up with Akutsu Makoto who was trying to sneak away.

Originally, Qin Zhibo thought that Akutsu Makoto had secretly taken away the dragon-shaped sculpture used as collateral while the police were not paying attention, so he slipped away at this time.

When Qin Zhibo caught up with Akutsu Makoto, he found that Akutsu Makoto did not take the carving away.

"Then why are you running?" Qin Zhibo asked in confusion.

"I..." Akutsu Makoto hesitated, "I just don't want to talk about my father."

Akutsu Makoto looked embarrassed, but this only strengthened Qin Zhibo's determination to explore the matter.

"Mr. Akutsu, we have already agreed that I will help you clear the suspicion and you will tell me about your father."

"Don't worry, I'm not working for anyone. I just want to know something about Mr. Akutsu Shintake for personal reasons."

"Especially regarding the sleeping sea god..."

Hearing this, Akutsu Makoto's eyes suddenly widened like copper bells, as if some special memories were evoked by him.

At this moment, Conan, who was running too fast and couldn't brake, suddenly rushed out from the door.

"Work...Conan?"

"How did you come?"

Conan grinned slightly and held up his wallet.

Seeing Conan holding his wallet, Qin Zhibo took the wallet back, opened it and counted the money inside.

Conan: "..."

After counting the bills, not a single one was missing, Qin Zhibo put the wallet back into his pocket, simply said thank you, and left with his arm around Akutsu Makoto's shoulder.

Although Conan was a little hurt by Qin Zhibo's action of counting money, he still wrote down some information he heard when he ran to the corner of the back door.

"The Sleeping Sea God...?"

……

After leaving the Maruden residence, Qin Zhibo and Akutsu Makoto came to Akutsu Makoto's engraving studio.

All the students in the studio had left. Akutsu Makoto took out the key to open the door and invited Qin Zhibo in.

After the two sat down, Akutsu Makoto, who had been silent all the way, finally started speaking.

"My father was a great artist and the soul of modern Japanese sculpture."

"My father dedicated his entire life to carving, and this spirit also infected me, prompting me to become an engraver myself."

“Of course, I am not as talented and creative as my father in carving. So far, I have only been imitating my father’s carving style.”

"But since that serious illness, everything has changed..."

Qin Zhibo moved his chair a little closer because Akutsu Makoto's voice was getting lower and lower.

"I remember it was March 1980, 3. There was a slight earthquake that morning, and as usual, I arrived at the engraving studio later than my father."

"But when I arrived, I found my father bleeding from his mouth and nose and unconscious on the ground."

"I rushed my father to the hospital. The doctor diagnosed him with a strange fever and scurvy, which was very common on ancient ships."

"During the time he was sick, my father was sometimes unconscious, sometimes screaming and babbling nonsense, saying things like there was a giant monster."

"After half a month of treatment, when the symptoms of fever and scurvy had completely subsided, I brought my father back home."

"But since returning home, my father has been locking himself in his studio every day, busy working on a carving piece by himself."

"That carving is different from my father's previous carving style. It is..."

At this point, Akutsu Makoto showed a puzzled expression on his face, his eyes slightly narrowed, as if he was recalling a long-buried memory.

"It seems to be some kind of abstract creature, but it's hard for me to tell what it is. My father never told me what it was specifically, only that the statue was called 'Sleeping Sea God'."

"Anyway, after the statue was completed, my father placed it in the shrine and worshipped it every day."

"Later, my father's mental and physical condition worsened and he could no longer stay at home, so the family decided to send him to Qingshan Mental Hospital."

"In the months before the statue was passed away, my father was very manic, but after treatment by a psychiatrist, he gradually calmed down."

"It's just that every time his family visits, he always asks about the statues at home."

"My father's delusions lasted for about ten years, until he stopped talking about the statue five years ago."

"The normal condition continued for another year. To test whether he could be discharged from the hospital, the doctor decided to conduct a test. He asked the family to bring the statue to see if my father still had any strange thoughts about it."

"I remember there was a new writer who claimed to be there to collect materials and was watching nearby."

"The test was going well. Even when the statue was placed before my father, he showed no desire to worship it."

"But it wasn't until that damned writer pointed his camera at the portrait that my father had a fit."

"My father went crazy and pushed and beat the writer, cursing him for being so disrespectful to God."

"After that, my father started talking nonsense every day again and died not long after."

After finishing the story about Akutsu Makoto, Qin Zhibo also understood why Akutsu Makoto didn't want to mention these things.

Because for Makoto Akutsu, these are painful experiences that he doesn't want to recall again.

There are two diseases in the world that cause more suffering to the family members than to the patients themselves.

One type is a vegetative state, where the family has to endure an unknown amount of time every day in a cycle of generating and losing hope.

One is mental illness, where family members are unable to understand and help the patient, and can only fall into helplessness and self-doubt.

Qin Zhibo patted Akutsu Makoto's shoulder comfortingly, then asked, "Can I take a look at the statue?"

"Well... you can, but I put it in the very back of the warehouse. You'll have to wait a while."

"It doesn't matter, I can wait."

Under Qin Zhibo's gaze, Akutsu Makoto left.

When he came back again, Akutsu Makoto was holding a huge object wrapped in bubble wrap in his arms.

The dusty foam paper was peeled off layer by layer, and the true appearance of the objects inside was revealed.

This was some strange creature, curled up in a humanoid form on the square stone base below. The creature was fat and bloated, with a chaotic outline. The only noticeable thing was the completely sickly wings on its back.

As for its head, it is as vague and abstract as a ball of crumpled plasticine.

Qin Zhibo indeed saw the investigation point on this statue.

【Survey√】

This is a statue of the Heavenly Father.

[In one thing, you can know the whole of heaven and the whole of God, and create the origin of life]

[If you worship sincerely, everyone can worship the sky, everyone can worship the gods, and everyone can achieve the ultimate enlightenment]

If not, then if I hear the truth in the morning, I can die in the evening.

The description in the investigation report was strange, but Qin Zhibo roughly understood what it meant.

Are you asking me to worship this foreign Buddha?

Chapter 38 Inspiration from the Deep Sea

After the investigation was completed, Qin Zhibo did not receive any completion notification for the main task.

At the moment, Qin Zhibo has no other clues to continue investigating.

The only remaining hint in the survey instructions was to pay homage to the foreign Buddha.

It is said that after worshipping, people can confront the sky, the gods, and be omnipotent?

This is the literal meaning, but Qin Zhibo knows that this is definitely an exaggeration.

Otherwise, why doesn't Akutsu Shinbu, who has been worshipped devoutly for a long time, have the Sunten and Sun God?

Moreover, the so-called sun here should not be that "sun", but means the unity of man and nature, that is, the connection between man and the main divine consciousness of the world.

Ancient Chinese thinkers believed that God was "invisible", that is, the image of God was unknown.

Although we cannot see its shape or hear its voice, there is a god above our heads. The god's supernatural power is everywhere, so the god is called heaven.

In short, it is very mysterious.

At this time, Akutsu Makoto next to him saw Qin Zhibo staring at the statue for a long time, motionless, and felt a little worried.

"Are you OK?"

"Well, I'm fine."

Qin Zhibo answered straightforwardly, without showing any awkwardness, and continued, "Mr. Akutsu, could you please let me be alone with this statue for a while?"

After hearing what Qin Zhibo said, Akutsu Makoto frowned slightly.

This is certainly not because they are afraid that Qin Zhibo will steal the statue. No one will believe that this statue is the work of Akutsu Mamoru anyway, and it will not be worth much even if it is stolen.

Akutsu Makoto was afraid that if there was something truly sinister about the statue, it might be able to bewitch Qin Zhibo...

However, after struggling in his heart for a while, the firm materialist Akutsu Makoto finally nodded.

"Then I'll go out and make a phone call and come back later."

Akutsu Makoto left, leaving only Qin Zhibo and the foreign Bodhisattva statue of the Heavenly Father alone in the studio.

When looking at this foreign Buddha statue alone, Qin Zhibo felt that this thing was still somewhat evil.

If it was a clay statue, the image on it that looked like crumpled plasticine could be easily explained, as it was simply not made well.

However, it is impossible to achieve this kind of effect casually with carvings that are carved one by one.

It seems that in Akutsu Mabuki's heart, "Heavenly Father" should have this indescribable image.

Although I don’t understand, I still have to worship the foreign Buddha.

Anyway, you won’t lose anything by paying a visit, but if the main task is completed, you will make a lot of money.

Qin Zhibo was a little confused about the choice of bowing posture.