After dinner, everyone passed the time in the Hall of Masks. The photographer and the rock singer went to play billiards, while Kogoro latched onto the mysterious-looking fortune teller and asked her to read his luck for the year.
As for Fang Zheng, he sat in a chair, drinking tea and reading a book. Overall, everything was peaceful—well, the calm before the storm.
"Mr. Fang Zheng."
At that moment, Ran came over with Conan and sat beside Fang Zheng.
"Isn't reading alone too boring? Why don't you play a game of chess with us?"
"Chess... that would be a bit too dull for me."
Looking at Ran as she cheerfully held up the chessboard to him, Fang Zheng set down his book and thought for a moment.
"How about this? I'll tell you a story."
"A story? Sure, sure!"
Hearing that Fang Zheng was going to tell them a story, Ran immediately became interested. Conan, meanwhile, looked at him curiously, wondering what sort of story he would tell.
"Hmm... let me think. The protagonist is a girl named Risa..."
As he spoke, Fang Zheng began telling them the story. Simply put, it began with a girl named Risa losing her memory. With no recollection of who she was, she wandered the streets in confusion until her boyfriend found her and brought her back to his home.
Although her family took Risa for treatment, the doctor concluded that the girl had likely suffered some kind of psychological shock, which had caused her amnesia. After that, Risa began having nightmares at night. She always dreamed of a huge caterpillar crawling in through the doorway, trying to climb onto her bed, and every time, Risa woke up terrified at that point.
Upon hearing this, Conan became interested as well and began trying to