Conan: When Shinjiu and Maolilan swap bodies

He twirled the lighter in his hand, then casually tossed it over, and his figure gradually disappeared from sight.

Qingze looked at the lighter in Ran Mouri's hand. Even after seven years, apart from being a bit old, the lighter was not much different from the one that the uncle had casually tossed into his hand.

Because of frequent handling, the metal casing has developed a smooth, lustrous sheen.

"Is that so..."

Ran Mouri was surprised to learn that Aoze's fondness for playing with lighters had such a reason.

She looked at the lighter in her hand. Because she had been practicing with it, the lighter had been dropped many times, and there were dents on several corners.

I should have bought a new exercise book.

She handed the lighter back to her, feeling somewhat guilty.

“This is something very meaningful, I can’t accept it.”

This kindness from that stranger was like a glimmer of light to Qingze back then, dispelling his state of emptiness.

He has kept it all this time and has carried it with him to this day, which is enough to show how important this lighter is to him.

This kind of thing can't be given away or accepted casually.

Seeing the solemn expression on her face, Qingze looked impatient.

"It doesn't have any special meaning, I'm just used to carrying it around. If you give it to me, you'll accept it."

He strode forward, completely ignoring the hand she offered.

"Moreover, one of these is enough."

The words drifted on the wind, along with the crisp sound of a lighter being lit.

Watching Qingze's retreating figure, Ran Mouri looked down at the lighter in her hand.

She stroked the auspicious cloud pattern on the lighter and carefully put it into her pocket.

Chapter 143 I Protect Mr. Qingze

in the hotel.

Kogoro Mouri's plan is underway.

Most people wouldn't be wary of a small child.

But it is often the children who are easily overlooked who can play a near-decisive role.

“Uncle, I found the magazine in their luggage. The gun should be on them.”

"Wow, they really do have guns..."

Kogoro Mouri had a bit of a headache.

If they have guns, they might be professional assassins. Taking on two at once will be a tough challenge.

If there's any laxative, we should give some to these two.

"Uncle, let's do this first... make them fight amongst themselves... then take one of them down while we're at it..."

Kogoro Mouri looked at him in surprise, feeling a dull pain in the back of his neck.

"You've got a lot of clever ideas, kid..."

Conan scratched his head awkwardly, his eyes darting around.

“Alright, we’ll do it your way. You and Hattori each keep an eye on one, I’ll go talk to the innkeeper…”

……

"That should be where the mudslide occurred last night."

In the mountains and forests, the two were still wandering aimlessly.

Ran Mouri saw a large, empty rock and looked out at the location of the mudslide not far away.

The mudslide last night was quite large; a section of the entire mountain collapsed, and the entire road leading up the mountain was completely blocked.

Besides the hotel, you can also see several houses located in the mountains.

Several figures were standing in front of the road that had been submerged by the mudslide, presumably trying to contact the outside world to clear the road.

"When will this be cleaned up?"

Ran Mouri was somewhat worried.

I don't know how much food the hotel has stored. If we stay too long and run out of food, there might be an accident.

"At most three days," Qingze concluded after taking a look.

"Although the road is submerged by the mudslide, there's more than one way up the mountain. Many people live on this mountain; once you reach the halfway point, you'll get cell phone signal, and after contacting the outside world, the fire trucks will arrive quickly..."

Ran Mouri thought about it and agreed.

Things are different now than in the past; even if telephone lines are broken, there are still many ways to communicate.

Unlike before, when they would be trapped in their mountain villas because of reasons such as the suspension bridge being destroyed or the telephone lines being cut.

"Speaking of which, I've been trapped in mountain villas quite a few times already..."

Ran Mouri recounts her past experiences going out with her father, Conan, or Sonoko.

"Several times, that villa was connected by a broken bridge, and after the bridge broke, it became impossible to cross..."

Qingze clicked his tongue in amazement, "Your experience is quite extensive. But that brat is always there, is he some kind of jinx?"

Whenever I go out with him, we're bound to run into a case.

Ran Mouri shook her head and chuckled, "Inspector Megure said something similar to you, but he was talking about your father..."

As the two were chatting, they suddenly heard arguing and the sound of swords clashing.

Qingze stopped talking and quickly identified the location from which the sound came.

The sound came from some distance away, but because the mountainous terrain created an acoustic channel, the sound traveled from below to them.

"A fight has broken out." Qingze's lips curled into a mocking smile.

Judging from the sound, it must be real swords clashing; it's probably those kendo club members who went out of the inn last night.

They sneaked out in the rain late at night, and now they've started fighting. Something seems very wrong.

"Let's go take a look," Ran Mouri said, sounding a little worried.

"Suit yourself. But I'm injured, so don't expect me to protect you if we get caught in the crossfire."

"I will protect Mr. Qingze!" Ran Mouri patted her chest, full of confidence.

With the withered branch in his hand pressed against the ground, Qingze slightly raised his chin and pointed in one direction.

"Then you can lead the way."

……

Hiroshi Minamimura is a member of a treasure-hunting gang called "Ishimi".

They hid a batch of stolen treasures in a cave in the mountains some time ago.

The cave was in a secluded location, and few people came here. They also made some kind of camouflage to minimize the chance of their belongings being discovered.

But no one expected that a mudslide would suddenly occur in the middle of the night. Judging from the location of the sound, it seemed to be right at the cave where they hid their things.

Is this still available?

The group of five people put on raincoats and went out overnight, braving the rain to cross most of the mountain, and arrived at the place where they hid their things.

Unfortunately, sometimes the more you try to avoid something, the more likely it is to happen.

The mudslide hadn't yet reached the cave where they were hiding, but their arrival caused the still unstable mountainside to collapse again.

The cave where they hid their things was completely gone.

They tried to dig, and the five of them got covered in mud and looked terrible, but they found nothing. One of their companions was even hit on the head by a rock that rolled down from the mountain and died instantly.

The anger that had been suppressed for most of the night erupted directly with this unexpected event.

Accusations, arguments, and insults eventually escalated into a physical fight.

He wasn't a good person to begin with, and when he got into a fight, he used real weapons.

The long swords carried on his back were drawn, and in the fight, every strike was aimed at killing.

"somebody is coming!"

Someone said something, and the fighting stopped abruptly as all four of them looked in the direction from which the footsteps were coming.

In the eyes of the four, the man and woman were like two innocent bystanders who had stumbled into a fight, their eyes clear yet foolish.

Ran Mouri stood in the woods, her gaze quickly sweeping across her surroundings as she tried to analyze what was happening, under the dangerous gazes of the four men.

The scene was somewhat chaotic, with mud-covered raincoats lying to one side and several mud-covered shovels nearby.

A person lay in the mud, his head covered in blood, his fate unknown.

The other four men were covered in mud on their hands and feet, their clothes were soaked and stained with blood, and their eyes were filled with malice.

Ran Mouri immediately came to a conclusion.

These people are definitely not good people!

"Mr. Qingze, what should we do?" she asked softly as she approached Qingze.

"Why are you asking me?" Qingze looked up at the sky, indifferent.

"What should we do if these two people see this?"

Hiroshi Minamimura asked.

Despite their internal strife, they are united when it comes to external affairs.

"Control it first!"

Feeling guilty, and suddenly being spotted by outsiders, their first thought was to subdue the person.

Whether they will silence them or not, we'll have to wait until they're under control first.

Four sharpened longswords rushed towards them with a cold glint in their eyes. Ran Mouri grabbed Aozawa and turned to run.

She does know karate, but she doesn't have the blind confidence to fight four armed men bare-handed.

"Oh, so you choose to run? I thought you would charge forward."

Qingze, being pulled along by her, still had the mood to tease her.

"There are four of them! And they have knives!"

If we don't run, are we just going to stay and wait to die?

"Is it just a matter of spouting a few sarcastic remarks and offering a few words of advice without any sense of justice?"

Ran Mouri was a little tired. "When exactly did I give you this wrong misunderstanding?"

Is she some kind of saint who is obligated to save criminals?

I'd give Chapter 144 a 70.

"Those two are running pretty fast!"

Hiroshi Minamimura chased after him with a knife for a long time, but the distance between them did not decrease at all. Instead, the complex terrain in the mountains and forests caused them to grow further apart.

"What do we do now?" the pursuer asked breathlessly.

I had been digging all night, had a fight, and hadn't eaten breakfast, so I was really exhausted.

"Don't stop, keep chasing!"

If they hadn't chased after them, they could have made an explanation and gotten away with it.

But now that four people are chasing someone with knives, no amount of explanation will help.

Once they return to the hotel, it's 100% certain they'll call the police.