Although Fangzheng wasn't interested at first, he decided to follow Hattori Heitji and Conan to Mermaid Island to see how they would deal with the matter.
But to be honest, although Fangzheng knew that Saori Kadowaki was a coward, he didn't expect her to be this cowardly. According to Hattori Heitji, the letter was sent to his home three days ago. Judging from the time, it should be the day before Fangzheng learned about it. That is to say, after Saori Kadowaki found out that the Mermaid Arrow she drew was missing, she went to Shimabuki Kun to blow herself up, then wrote a letter to Hattori Heitji on the same day to ask for help …
His desire to survive was too strong, wasn't it?
But the next day, Fangzheng sank her into the sea. It showed that having a strong desire to survive was not a good thing.
After arriving at Mermaid Island, they first went to the town hall. As expected, they learned that Saori Kadowaki had been missing for several days. Everyone was full of doubts about this. Of course, doubts were just doubts. Since they were here, they still had to investigate.
But this had nothing to do with Fangzheng. Unlike Hattori and Conan's deduction, he was more concerned about the Mermaid Island in front of him.
So that's how it is.
Looking at the mermaid shop in front of him, Fangzheng nodded secretly. When he killed the mermaid, he didn't come here at all to avoid being discovered, so he didn't know much about the town. Therefore, he didn't know much about the town's situation. Therefore, in the beginning, Fangzheng was somewhat suspicious of Shimabuki's post.
After all, it wouldn't take so long to pretend to be a long-lived old man, right?
But now that he saw the shop here, Fangzheng finally understood why Shimabuki Kun's family had to continue their disguise. As far as the eye could see, almost all the shops here were mermaids as the theme. Whether it was local products, decorations, or anything else, they were all related to mermaids. There was also an endless stream of tourists on the island.
To put it simply, this Mermaid Island was a tourist attraction with mermaids and longevity as its selling points. Most of the residents here relied on this to maintain their livelihood.
Once the long-lived old man was exposed as a lie, it would not only be a problem for Shimabuki Kun's family, but also the livelihood of everyone on the island. No wonder Shimabuki Kun had to continue to play the role of a long-lived woman. This had nothing to do with beliefs and legends, but was the core focus of tourism.
It was no wonder. After all, humans always wanted to live forever or prolong their lifespans. With this as a selling point and a long-lived old man, whether it was true or not, people would always come here to try their luck.
It was just like going to a temple to burn incense and pray to Buddha. Regardless of whether it was useful or not, burning incense would not be a loss.
The day they set off for the small island happened to be the annual Dugong Ceremony. During the Dugong Ceremony, the Longevity Matron would award three Dugong Arrows, and the person who obtained the Dugong Arrows would become immortal. Of course, this was just a legend. If such a good thing really existed, everyone in the small town would at least have one.
As for Sayori's disappearance, the people in the small town thought that she had lost the arrow she obtained at the ceremony last year and escaped from the island because she was afraid of the mermaids' revenge.
Speaking of which, you actually made this matter known to the entire island. You're really a coward. Don't tell me you're going to spill the beans to everyone you meet. "
Although the story left Lan and Yuba trembling in fear, Uncle Mori, Conan, and Hattori Heitji naturally wouldn't be frightened by it. However, they all agreed that Saori Monowaki's disappearance was very likely related to the mermaid legend. Therefore, they headed to the shrine where the ritual was held. There, Fangzheng also met his "client," Shimabuki Kun.
Although he had heard her voice before, he had never seen her in person. So far, Shimabuki Kun was a very beautiful girl, no less beautiful than Natsumi Kōban. If Natsumi Kōban was said to be the type of princess who had an elegant temperament similar to royalty, then Shimabuki Junhui gave off a very friendly and lively feeling. Her voice was also very sweet and cheerful, making people have a good impression of her.
However, contrary to everyone's expectations ….
"There's no mermaid. It's all nonsense."
As the priestess of the shrine, Shimabuki Kun denied the existence of mermaids.
"My grandmother only lived a little longer than others, but there were a lot of strange rumors about her. There's nothing we can do about it."
Everyone was speechless when they heard this. It was like the opening scene of a horror movie. Everyone was ready for it, but someone revealed that it was all fake. But Kogoro Mori did not give up. He continued to ask.
"Then about the Dugong Arrow …."
"That was originally the anti-magic arrow of the shrine. It was used to prevent disasters and protect others. Later, for some reason, it became known as the Dugong Arrow …. Ah, that's right. "
Shimabuki Kun seemed to have thought of something. She took out two number tags from her sleeve and handed them to Lan and Kazuya.
"You can try it too. An old couple happened to come here this morning to return their number tags. Of course, it's all luck. Maybe you can really stay young and live forever as everyone says."
No, even without this thing, they were already immortal, okay?
Hearing Shimabuki Kun's words, Fangzheng secretly complained in his heart. When he was in primary school, Conan was still Lan sis. When he graduated from college and started working, Lan sis had become Lan sis …. More than 20 years had passed, and they hadn't even grown a year older. This was real immortality!
"Then, about Saori Kadowaki …."
"Yes, I'm actually worried too."
Shimabuki Kun's face showed a touch of worry.
"Although everyone on the island thinks that she just ran away from home after a quarrel with her father, I know that's not the case."
"Oh? What do you mean? "
Conan and Hattori's curiosity was piqued when they heard this.
"Because every time Saori ran away from home, she spent most of her time living at my place. And to tell you the truth, I have two friends who also disappeared like Saori."
…. Huh?
Upon hearing this, Fangzheng silently swept a glance at Shimabude Junhui.
Big sister, could it be that you want to sell me?
Is it so hard to do good deeds these days?
Sigh, where's the trust between people?
"There's such a thing?"
Sure enough, Conan and Hattori immediately became nervous. Lan and Kazuya also looked at Shimabuki Kun uneasily.
"Yes, they've been missing for several days. At first, I thought they just left the island together to play, but they didn't return my calls. I asked the people nearby, but they didn't know where they went …. I'm really worried …."
At that moment, Fangzheng could clearly see that Shimabuki Kun's face was filled with fear.
Oh …. I see.
After thinking about it for a moment, Fangzheng suddenly understood why Shimabuki Kun told Hattori Heitji all this.
Judging from Shimaduke's previous words, she didn't seem to believe in those supernatural things. This was normal. After all, the long-lived woman on the island was their family in disguise. Of course, it was impossible for Shimaduke to believe in any mysterious things in this situation.
As for the message she left on "Hell Correspondence", it was probably just a way to vent. After all, that website was secretive. No one could see other people's messages. Shimabuki Kun obviously did not expect that someone could find out her real identity through the Internet. After learning the truth about her mother's death, she was so angry that she suddenly thought of the rumor, so she wrote those things down with the intention of giving it a try.
But what Shimabuki did not expect was that the rumor actually came true. And because Fangzheng, for the sake of caution, tied the three people to stones and threw them into the sea to feed the fish, causing the three people to disappear without a trace.
This scared Shimabuki Kun out of her wits.
From Fangzheng's point of view, this was just an ordinary mission. He saw the commission, investigated the target, killed them, threw them into the sea, and that was it.
Look, the whole process couldn't be any simpler. There was no suspense at all.
But for Shimabuki Kun, this was like a horror movie — a girl opened a rumoured death website because she believed in a rumor, and then the person whose name she entered mysteriously disappeared the next day. This was the start of an urban legend!!!
So now, Shimabuki Kun was just like Lord Yip in the story of Lord Yip's love for dragons. She was scared out of her wits and did not know what to do at all. And it was at this time that she met the famous detectives who came here to investigate. Naturally, she instinctively wanted to ask for help.
At the very least, it would be good if they could find the bodies of the three people.
She couldn't even see their corpses. In addition, Fangzheng had told her on the phone, "They have already gone to hell with this hatred." It was said that scaring people could really scare people to death!
In the end, Conan and the others decided to go to Saori's house to check on the situation. Shimabuki Kun said that she would go with them after the ceremony, so the rest of the itinerary was decided.
In the evening, the ceremony finally began.
"There are so many people here …."
Looking at the bustling crowd around, Lan could not help sighing. Fangzheng nodded. Looking around, they could see that many of the people were tourists from other places. It was conceivable that most of them were here for the ceremony of Changshou.
"It's immortality, after all. Whether it's useful or not, there's no harm in taking a look."
At that moment, Longevity Granny appeared in front of everyone. She was an old woman with a head of white hair and a thin and small figure.
"She's so small …."
Seeing this, Mouri Kogoro sighed, while Hattori Heitji couldn't help but complain.
"She's just an old lady with heavy makeup."
However, the next scene surprised everyone. The Changshou picked up a wooden stick, lit a flame, and lit the paper door behind her.
Then, the flame spread from the paper door, and in the blink of an eye, it turned into numbers!
"I see."
Seeing this, Conan finally understood.
"These numbers are the winning numbers …."
"Xiao Lan, Xiao Lan, Xiao Lan!"
At that moment, Wai Ye desperately pulled on Lan's clothes.
"I, I, I …. I won!"
"Huh?"
Hearing Wai Ye's words, Lan hurriedly looked at her. Fangzheng also turned his head, only to see Wai Ye holding the number plate happily and excitedly.
The number on it was one of the numbers burned by the Changshou!
"Amazing, Wai Ye, you won!"
Compared to Lan's excitement, Fangzheng was a little surprised.
It must be a lie. Lan didn't win?
In Detective Conan's world, Lan was the Queen of Luck. She won whatever she drew. But this time, she didn't win, but Wai Ye won instead?
That's not Ke Xue ….
At that moment, there was a lot of discussion in the crowd. Those who didn't win were naturally dejected, while those who won were elated.
At that moment, the staff of the shrine hurriedly went forward to extinguish the flame on the paper door. At the same time, Shimabuki appeared again.
"Attention, everyone, we will officially award the dugong arrow in an hour. Please prepare to gather in front of the Mermaid Waterfall immediately!"
(End of this chapter)
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