Ke Xue: Xiaolan delivers goods to your door at the beginning

"Ah...I don't know..."

"What do you mean you don't know? What are you going to do if Shinichi comes back one day?"

"Shinichi? What are we supposed to do? There was never anything between us."

"Xiao Lan, if you say such things now, then all my efforts to bring you two together were in vain."

"Huh? Sonoko, are you trying to set me up with Shinichi?"

Xiaolan blinked, indicating that she hadn't noticed at all.

"Hmm... what exactly was I trying to achieve before?"

The wife covered her forehead. She used to ship Shinichi and Ran like this, but now she's into CqP. What on earth has she been shipping? Just loneliness?

Because Ran and Sonoko were speaking in hushed tones, and it was raining, their voices were drowned out by the rain, so Conan couldn't hear what they were saying at all. Lin Xiaofeng, on the other hand, heard everything clearly, but his mind wasn't on that.

Lin Xiaofeng realized he was being followed, by that bandaged weirdo.

If you weren't mentally prepared, you would really be scared by the bandaged monster.

He was completely bound in bandages, wearing a black cloak, and carrying a row of sharpened axes; he looked rather frightening.

The bandaged monster got closer and closer to Lin Xiaofeng... He raised his axe, wanting to chop off Lin Xiaofeng's head.

"Who?" Conan had already sensed something was wrong. He turned around and saw the bandaged man wielding an axe, ambushing Lin Xiaofeng.

Conan was so startled that he tripped and fell. Full of a sense of justice, Conan even reminded Lin Xiaofeng, "Brother Xiaofeng, get out of the way quickly."

Lin Xiaofeng had already sensed something was wrong. He sidestepped the bandaged monster's axe slash and then kicked the bandaged monster away.

With a scream of "Ah—", the bandaged monster was kicked away by Lin Xiaofeng.

The two women walking in front heard the commotion and immediately turned around, only to find that Lin Xiaofeng had kicked a bandaged strange man away.

"Who is this person...is it a prank?" Sonoko was startled.

"No, no... that person was planning to kill Brother Xiaofeng," Conan explained calmly.

Xiaolan pointed at the strange man and exclaimed in horror, "This bandaged strange man is the one we met on the bridge!"

After realizing his assassination attempt on Lin Xiaofeng had failed, the bandaged man grabbed an axe and limped away.

Lin Xiaofeng did not stop the bandaged man from escaping. He remembered that the person the bandaged man killed was a plagiarist who deserved to die. It was not the right time to expose the bandaged man yet.

"Xiao Feng, are you alright?"

"Xiao Feng, are you hurt anywhere?"

After the bandaged man escaped, Xiaolan and Yuanzi showed concern for Lin Xiaofeng.

"I am fine."

Lin Xiaofeng smiled and comforted Erliu Nu, knowing that Erliu Nu had encountered the bandaged monster and was now terrified.

……

The group returned to the villa. Suzuki immediately inquired with the others, asking if anyone knew who the bandaged man was.

First, Sonoko Suzuki asked her older sister.

"A bandaged weirdo? I didn't invite such a guest, and there are no similar residents nearby."

Next, Sonoko Suzuki asked Ota, Kakutani, and Chikako Ikeda, who had just returned from outside, if they had seen the bandaged monster. All three of them said they had not seen it.

However, when Sonoko Suzuki asked Takahashi if he had seen the bandaged man, Takahashi said that he had seen a strange person on the suspension bridge when he first arrived at the villa.

"I didn't see his face clearly, but I know he was wearing a black cloak and a black hat shaped like a tulip on his head."

Upon hearing this, Ran Mouri immediately nodded: "That's right, the person I saw on the suspension bridge and who attacked Lin Xiaofeng in the woods was definitely him!"

After Takahashi mentioned it, Ota and Kakutani seemed to remember it as well, and chimed in that they had also seen it around the villa, but at the time they thought it was a local resident.

However, Ayako Suzuki expressed her surprise and doubt, saying that this was impossible, because apart from two or three other villas, there was no one else living around this villa.

The group gathered together to analyze who the bandaged monster really was.

Gao Qunqiao suddenly shouted and ran out of the villa. The others followed him out. When they saw the suspension bridge, they suspected that someone had cut it off. Only then did they realize that something was wrong.

"Sister, what should we do? The bridge has been cut down, and we're trapped here."

“It’s okay, I’ll call the police and they will come to rescue us.”

however……

When Suzuki Ayako called the Tokyo police, she was told that due to the thunderstorms, they couldn't deploy helicopters and that they wouldn't be able to reach their location by car until the next day.

Ayako Suzuki told everyone the result, and they had no choice but to return to the villa and wait for the police to rescue them the next day.

Due to various events, the atmosphere inside the villa became unusually stiff and oppressive.

Sonoko and Ran went to the kitchen to help Ayako prepare dinner, Takahashi continued repairing the roof, and Ota, Kakutani, and Ikeda Chikako chose to return to their rooms to rest.

As for Lin Xiaofeng, he sat on the sofa in the living room, discussing with Conan who the bandaged monster really was.

56. Xiaolan's Night Raid

"Brother Xiaofeng, everyone seems to have seen the bandaged monster, so why did it specifically attack you?"

Conan was very puzzled by this. Logically speaking, Lin Xiaofeng had no grudges against anyone here, so why was he attacked?

"I don't know, maybe they're just jealous that I'm handsome."

Lin Xiaofeng said lightly.

"Hey... be serious, aren't you scared? You've been targeted by the Bandaged Monster!"

"The bandaged monster can't beat me."

"I was so worried about you for nothing."

Conan felt like he had been wronged and was filled with resentment.

After some time, both Ota and Kakutani came down from their rooms on the second floor.

Kakutani called out, "Ayako, is dinner ready? I'm starving."

"Ah, it's done." Ayako's voice came from the kitchen.

Ota pulled out a chair and sat down. Looking at the sumptuous dinner on the table, he had little appetite.

Kakutani, who had finally sat down, put down his camera. At least he wasn't thinking about his broken camera while eating.

Soon after, everyone else took their seats, except for Takahashi and Chikako Ikeda.

"Where are Chikako and Takahashi?" Kakutani asked.

Ayako Suzuki replied, "Chikako is resting in her room."

Then, Ayako Suzuki called out to the second floor, "Takahashi, come down quickly, dinner is ready!"

"coming!"

Takahashi responded and went to the second-floor corridor.

Ota turned to Takahashi and asked, "Is the roof fixed?"

"Yes, it's fixed."

"Takahashi, as expected of the person in charge of props in the club."

But just then, Takahashi on the second floor suddenly changed his expression, clung to the window, and started shouting.

"Hey, who are you?!"

"What's wrong!?"

Upon hearing the commotion, the people in the lobby on the first floor tensed up.

"There seems to be someone at the window on the first floor!"

At Takahashi's instruction, everyone's eyes unconsciously moved to the window. Then, in the next second, a hooded figure with bandages wrapped around his face flashed by, carrying a horrified Chikako Ikeda.

"Chikako!"

Amid the exclamations, Conan reacted the fastest, rushing over to open the window. He looked around but saw no one.

"Gone?!"

Conan's pupils contracted; that speed was too fast!

Lin Xiaofeng sighed softly; the plagiarist was already dead.

The next second, Conan jumped out of the window and rushed into the woods in the rain.

Everyone was astonished; this kid is really bold!

Pretending to be scared, Takahashi said to everyone, "Let's hurry and go find Chikako."

Ota Masaru suggested, "We boys will go out and look for them, while the girls stay in the villa."

Kakutani couldn't contain himself any longer and was about to rush out of the villa. He was Chikako Ikeda's devoted admirer: "My Chikako... you have to be alright..."

Lin Xiaofeng told the three women, "Be careful of Takahashi," and then went out with the other three men to find Ikeda Chikako.

Four men went out to look for Chikako Ikeda, while Conan had already discovered her.

The beam of Conan's flashlight caused the expressions of the people behind him to change drastically.

"It's a foot!"

What appeared before everyone was indeed a foot severed from the lower leg, looking as if it had been chopped off by an axe.

"Could it be that this is Chikako's..."

Before Ota could finish speaking, Takahashi, who was at the very back, let out another terrified cry: "There's a hand here!"

"how so……"

Ota swallowed hard: "Let's spread out and search."

Kakutani frantically shouted "Chikako," but as he ran, he seemed to trip over something, stumbled and fell to the ground. When he turned around, he could barely make out a mangled corpse.

"Chikako..."

Kakutani threw away the flashlight and was about to pick up Chikako Ikeda when, just as he lifted her up, a round, spherical object fell to the ground.

"No—my Chikako!!!"

Kakutani screamed in despair.

The others remained silent, forced to accept the fact that Chikako Ikeda had been murdered.

……

After the group temporarily settled Ikeda Chikako's body and then returned to report her death, Suzuki Ayako, who had initiated the gathering, burst into tears, filled with self-reproach.

In Ayako Suzuki's opinion, if she hadn't organized this party, Chikako Ikeda might not have died.

Ran and Sonoko, standing on either side of Ayako Suzuki, comforted her.

Kakutani was heartbroken and furious, muttering repeatedly, "That damned bandaged monster! He's the one who killed Chikako with such cruelty! That murderer is unforgivable!"

Takahashi, with a terrified expression, made a dramatic face: "That bandaged monster will definitely kill us all. We won't be able to escape."

Ota said somberly, "In short, everyone should go back to their rooms and rest. Make sure to lock the doors and windows. Once the weather clears up tomorrow and the police arrive, everyone will be safe."

After everyone made sure the doors and windows were locked, they went back to their rooms.

Conan sat on the bed, unable to sleep, but full of energy.

"Conan, aren't you going to sleep?"

"How can I sleep now? I strongly suspect that the murderer is among us."

"Oh? Conan, who do you think the culprit is?"

"We don't know yet..."

"Then take your time thinking about it."

Lin Xiaofeng lay down, using the pillow as a support.

"Lin Xiaofeng, you still have the mind to sleep? You were attacked by the bandaged monster in the woods. Who knows, you might be the bandaged monster's next target!"

Conan is always full of energy when he encounters a case.

"Don't worry, there won't be any more deaths. I'm keeping an eye on the killer!"