Sacred Tree / Bone-Eater's Well

"What do you mean, the three of you? I don't quite understand.

I was merely taking a walk here. Are there some rules around here that don't even allow people to take a walk?"

Still trying to argue?

Yin Kong was not surprised. He sneered.

"Did you really think everything you did was flawless?

It might have been troublesome to find you while you were hiding among the crowd, but now that you've stepped forward on your own, there's as much evidence as we could possibly need."

Takashi Matsubara's heart pounded wildly, but he quickly forced himself to calm down.

That damned detective was definitely bluffing again. He had no evidence at all. He could not fall for it again.

"Still unwilling to give up?"

Yin Kong lightly shook his head and pointed at his hands.

"You don't think that washing the blood off your hands means you can rest easy, do you?

It seems you don't know that even if blood looks like it has been washed clean, special components still remain. The police only need professional reagents to identify them easily...

Besides, this probably wasn't the first time you did something like this, was it? Did you really clean up your home that thoroughly?"

Before Yin Kong could finish, Takashi Matsubara cursed inwardly, turned, and ran.

Manager Inoue had still harbored the slightest doubt, but upon seeing this, it vanished completely.

"Careful! Don't let him get away!"

What surprised Yin Kong somewhat was that Yukino Yukinoshita, who looked every bit the refined young lady, chased after him without hesitation.

It seemed this young lady truly loved that cat called [Sapphire].

Watching the girl dash past him like the wind, Yin Kong sighed inwardly and looked up at Oz.

Do it, my ambusher.

This night raven flying in the sky could do far more than simply provide him with vision.

Oz gave a "Heh!" and spat out a tiny Lightning Bullet, too small to see clearly. In an instant, it accurately struck Takashi Matsubara, who was fleeing desperately below.

The criminal felt his legs go numb, lost his balance, and crashed face-first onto the ground.

"Hah. Serves you right."

Yukino Yukinoshita could not help but breathe a sigh of relief at the sight.

That had been close. Takashi Matsubara had nearly made it out of the back alley and escaped.

After all, although they had successfully seen Takashi Matsubara's face, Tokyo was enormous. If he escaped, finding him again would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

And even if they happened to find him, the time wasted in between would have been more than enough for him to dispose of all the evidence.

Unfortunately, although Yukinoshita always pursued perfection, she had no confidence in her stamina. Chasing after him had merely been an instinctive reaction.

Luckily, this guy's luck was truly terrible. He had taken a hard fall and still could not get back up.

"Give yourself up quietly. You have nowhere left to run."

Yukinoshita braced herself on her knees and panted for a moment before Yin Kong finally strolled over. Looking at Takashi Matsubara, who was still lying on the ground and struggling, he spoke leisurely.

Yukinoshita frowned slightly. Although Yin Kong did not seem to have any obligation to help them catch the man, his carefree demeanor at a moment like this inevitably left her somewhat dissatisfied.

Takashi Matsubara's face was filled with hatred as he struggled to rise, but his legs were still numb and weak. No matter how hard he tried, they simply would not obey him.

Naturally, he could not have imagined that something like a lightning magic bullet falling from the sky existed. He merely thought he had been so unlucky that he had numbed his legs in that fall at such a critical moment.

"Wait! Don't call the police yet! Please, don't call the police!"

Seeing that Manager Inoue had already taken out his phone to contact the police, Takashi Matsubara immediately changed his attitude and pleaded.

"I'm willing to compensate you double—no! Triple the price of that cat. Please, don't hand me over to the police..."

Yin Kong raised an eyebrow at that, then looked toward Manager Inoue.

[Sapphire] was worth more than two million yen. Three times that amount was a full six million yen.

For ordinary people, that was clearly no small fortune.

However, Manager Inoue was also a cat lover and was completely unmoved.

"Save those words for the officers."

As for Yukinoshita, this young lady cared even less about such a small amount of money.

Realizing bribery would not work, Takashi Matsubara immediately changed tactics and pleaded.

"If I go to prison, my job and my family will be finished! My daughter is about the same age as you. What will she do without me...?"

Sacred Tree

"My wife is a full-time homemaker, and my daughter has only just started high school. Without me, they definitely won't be able to survive..."

Hearing Takashi Matsubara's plea, hesitation finally appeared on Yukinoshita's face.

Before this, she had never encountered such blatant moral coercion.

Of course, she knew Takashi Matsubara had brought this entirely upon himself and was likely exaggerating, but she still hesitated when she thought of those consequences.

That was exactly the effect Takashi Matsubara wanted.

Using the time bought by his desperate pleas, he finally waited for the numbness in his legs to fade and regained the ability to move.

Takashi Matsubara suddenly sprang up from the ground and charged directly toward Yukinoshita.

Clearly, he had not given up on escaping and had chosen his weak point long ago.

After all, she was the only woman present, and an underage high school student at that. Naturally, he would pick the softest target.

Yukinoshita, still caught in her hesitation, clearly had not expected this. She was startled.

However, just as Takashi Matsubara wondered why, after her initial shock, he could not see the expected panic on Yukinoshita's delicate, beautiful face, he felt the world spin around him.

Seeing Yukino Yukinoshita execute a clean, decisive side throw and slam the fleeing Takashi Matsubara flat onto his back, Yin Kong was naturally happy to take it easy.

"Looks like this guy has no intention of repenting at all."

Yukinoshita nodded lightly.

Although her stamina truly was poor, she was proficient in Aikido. At a critical moment like this, it could still come in handy.

And this way, she no longer needed to hesitate.

Before long, the police arrived.

Yin Kong was somewhat surprised to see that the officers were actually his old acquaintances, Sato and Takagi.

Since they knew each other, things naturally became much easier.

In just a few words, Yin Kong briefly explained what had happened.

"So you ran into him. Then this guy is really unlucky—no, he deserves it."

Looking at Takashi Matsubara lying on the ground and questioning his life choices, Sato felt not the slightest bit of sympathy.

There was not much left to say after that. Although Takashi Matsubara refused to cooperate with the investigation, Takagi quickly found his driver's license and other identification on him, completely confirming his identity.

Before long, the police found the murder weapon and some animal remains in his home.

With both eyewitness testimony and physical evidence in place, Takashi Matsubara had completely lost any room to argue.

As for how many years he would ultimately be sentenced to, that depended on Manager Inoue's attitude.

But since things had already reached this point, even if Takashi Matsubara obtained Manager Inoue's forgiveness, he could not avoid two or three years in prison no matter what.

But two or three years in Conan...

Hopefully, Mr. Matsubara would still have a chance to see daylight again in this lifetime.

Without wasting even a moment mourning the criminal's capture, Yin Kong quickly took out two Imperial Coins.

"By the way, these are the protective charms I promised to give you two."

"These are Imperial Coins?"

Sato's eyes lit up, but when she saw what the Imperial Coins looked like, she immediately hesitated.

Yin Kong raised an eyebrow.

"What, Officer Sato? You don't like my protective charm?"

"Of course not, how could that be?" Sato quickly shook her head and explained, "Yin Kong, these Imperial Coins aren't made of gold, are they? If they are, then I can't accept them."

After all, they were public servants. Even in private, accepting such a valuable gift would have a very bad influence, let alone out in public.

"I see. Don't worry, it's only a special golden alloy."

In fact, when he had been short on money before, Yin Kong had seriously considered taking some Mora out of his backpack to sell.

Because Mora and gold were not merely very similar in texture—they were exactly the same.

However, Mora's minting process was extremely special, and it also contained the authority of the Geo Archon. Thus, the two displayed certain differing characteristics, and their effects in the field of mysticism were worlds apart.

But in order to avoid attracting unnecessary trouble, he had ultimately rejected that tempting idea.

After confirming that Yin Kong was telling the truth, Sato breathed a sigh of relief and accepted the Imperial Coin without worry.

"Speaking of which, has there been any new progress in Miss Yoko's case?"

Yin Kong naturally knew that the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department alone would most likely never find the real culprit.

But if he acted too indifferent, that would clearly be rather unnatural as well.

"Of course there hasn't been any progress." Sato shook her head helplessly. "Today, we nearly searched the entire area around that apartment building, but we didn't find any potentially ferocious wild animals. In another couple of days, the higher-ups will probably give up."

Takagi added.

"By the way, I heard an expert will be coming to assist with the investigation in a couple of days."

Yin Kong was intrigued.

"Oh? An expert?"

The moment Sato saw Yin Kong's expression, she knew he had misunderstood. She immediately shook her head and explained.

"Not the kind of expert we talked about before. Just a highly experienced forensic doctor. Apparently, he's very interested in the way those two victims died..."

Hearing that, Yin Kong immediately lost most of his interest.

Of course, if he had the opportunity, he would still find a way to meet the person.

Perhaps the forensic doctor identity was merely a tool for concealing their true identity?

As they chatted, Yukino Yukinoshita, who had finished assisting with the investigation, walked over and politely asked.

"Officers, now that the case has been solved, may we take [Sapphire]'s body back?"

"Of course."

Sato naturally had no reason to refuse such a reasonable request.

Yukino Yukinoshita's goal was simple. She hoped to bury poor [Sapphire] as soon as possible.

While they completed the procedures and retrieved the cat's body, Manager Inoue explained things to Yin Kong.

It turned out that not far from Starry Sky Cat Cafe was Higurashi Shrine, where an extremely ancient Sacred Tree was worshipped.

"It is said that this Sacred Tree has long since gained spirituality. If animals are buried beneath it, their souls will be protected and they can happily pass on into Buddhahood. So whenever any cat in our cafe passes away, I send it there to be buried."

Yin Kong's heart stirred, and he immediately recalled the Sacred Tree that had fought the Abyss alongside Yatagarasu not long ago.

And Higurashi Shrine?

"Manager Inoue, I've visited most of the shrines around here, but I don't seem to have heard of Higurashi Shrine?"

Bone-Eating Well

"Higurashi Shrine? I don't think I've heard of it."

In order to find a way to deal with the demons and monsters wandering through the streets and alleys, Yin Kong had spent the past two months visiting most of Tokyo's shrines with a map in hand.

Manager Inoue did not find this strange and explained.