Other than the last person, whom Jiang Hang felt he should keep an eye on, there was nothing much to say.
It looked like Conan's powers had not kicked in today, so Jiang Hang could relax a little.
His gaze settled on a handsome male actor some distance away, currently filming a scene with Yoko Okino. He asked Conan, "Do you know that actor?"
Conan followed Jiang Hang's gaze, then clicked his tongue. "Him? Nachi Shingo. He's a star who got popular over the last couple of years, but he's also a narcissist. Sonoko, that lovestruck fool, talks about him every day. My ears are practically growing calluses... Did you notice something about him?"
"There's nothing particularly wrong with him. But if I'm not mistaken, someone is planning to blackmail him with some photos." Jiang Hang shifted his gaze to another man in the distance, one in charge of filming who looked rather shifty-eyed, and gestured for Conan to look. "The guy in the red cap."
"Blackmail?" Conan looked surprised.
"Probably photos of him meeting someone in secret or cheating. There's nothing new about entertainment industry scandals. To keep his image and reputation from taking a hit, he'll probably pay a hefty sum to buy those photos back." Jiang Hang looked at Conan. "I'm not interested in that sort of thing. Are you?"
Conan quickly shook his head. He had never liked Nachi Shingo much to begin with, and now that he knew the man might be getting blackmailed over an affair, he was even less interested. "And Sonoko, that lovestruck fool, still worships him. She really ought to find out about this."
Neither Conan nor Jiang Hang had any interest in celebrity gossip.
Since the area did not seem like the kind of place where a murder would occur, Jiang Hang turned his attention to the filming crew.
It had to be said that watching actors get NGs for all kinds of reasons was occasionally quite entertaining. Before he knew it, dusk had arrived.
With Yoko Okino delivering an excellent performance, the final scene at the shrine was successfully completed.
While Kogoro Mouri continued eagerly handing Yoko Okino towels, the crew began packing up and cleaning the filming location.
Jiang Hang had originally planned to leave, but the director insisted on dragging him along for dinner with the crew. Seeing how enthusiastic the man was, Jiang Hang eventually agreed.
The crew spent quite a while just cleaning up the fake "blood" left at the scene.
While the crew was cleaning up, the cameraman in the red cap sneaked over and said a few words to Nachi Shingo. Jiang Hang saw a flash of shock cross the popular star's face before the man in the red cap called him into the nearby woods to talk.
And Conan, despite claiming that he was not interested in celebrity gossip, was far more honest in action. With only a little effort, he found out who the cameraman in the red cap was.
"That cameraman's name is Anzai Morio. Apparently, he used to be a delinquent, but later got into film crews through connections. He usually speaks harshly and nobody likes him. I heard the entire crew has a huge problem with him, and the director is already considering kicking him out," Conan said, sharing the information he had just gathered with Jiang Hang.
Pointing at a couple among the staff in the distance, Conan said, "That pair is getting married next month. Everyone was happy for them, but Anzai Morio made a few snide remarks. The guy nearly got into a fight with him on the spot. It took a lot of effort to stop him."
Jiang Hang looked at the couple Conan had indicated. Even now, the man still wore an angry expression. It seemed Anzai Morio had indeed said something he should not have.
For someone to act so arrogantly on Conan's set and still be alive was truly a miracle.
With that thought, Jiang Hang scanned the woods with Eagle Vision.
He had been worried that the two might start fighting because they could not agree on a price.
If Anzai Morio threw a few more sarcastic taunts at that newly popular star, blood might very well spill on the spot.
But once Nachi Shingo saw the photos of his affair, his face immediately turned panicked. He then agreed to the blackmail without hesitation.
Jiang Hang did not know how much Nachi Shingo had been extorted for, but judging from the way he emerged from the woods, it definitely was not a small sum.
Could it be that he had been extorted for a huge amount and wanted to kill Anzai Morio?
Jiang Hang made that guess internally, but judging by that pretty boy's appearance, he did not seem like someone who would dare do such a thing.
Since nothing had happened, Jiang Hang followed the main group of the crew to the dinner venue after they finished packing up the scene.
At an inn not far from Beika Shrine, the crew, having finished the day's filming, rented out the entire inn and held a dinner there.
There was not much to say about this kind of gathering. There was unlimited beer, all the grilled meat anyone could eat, and a crowd of underlings taking turns raising glasses to toast the few big shots in the center.
Thanks to the director's deliberate flattery, Kogoro Mouri became the star of the gathering. He was now happily raising his glass and drinking with the crew, looking exceptionally pleased with himself.
In truth, director Gondō Taketoshi would have preferred to curry favor with Jiang Hang, the hidden big shot. But Jiang Hang was not suited to such a noisy environment, so from the start, he sat in a corner of the room with the underage Ran Mori and Imai Midori, drinking juice and eating grilled meat.
Jiang Hang's actions clearly indicated that he wanted to keep a low profile. As a director who had spent more than fifty years in the entertainment industry, Gondō Taketoshi was no fool. Once he understood Jiang Hang's intentions, he simply redirected the rest of the crew's attention toward Kogoro Mouri.
He planned to wait until everyone was busy drinking with Kogoro Mouri, then quietly go over to Jiang Hang for a brief chat. Leaving a good impression would be enough.
Meanwhile, Jiang Hang listened to Imai Midori talk about scriptwriting knowledge she had learned from a professional screenwriter that afternoon, while also keeping an eye on the room.
After blackmailing someone for a large sum that evening, Anzai Morio seemed to be in quite a good mood. However, what caught Jiang Hang's attention was that after drinking a little, the man barely ate anything before returning directly to his room.
Still, people left the gathering for all kinds of reasons. With the atmosphere currently lively, few cared that an unpopular man had left.
Conan secretly nudged Jiang Hang with his elbow and whispered, "That guy left. That doesn't seem like something someone who just made a fortune would do. I think something's off."
If Conan had not known about the blackmail, he naturally would not have cared. But Jiang Hang had told him about it and confirmed it, so he found the matter suspicious.
"You want to keep an eye on him?" Jiang Hang was rather curious about what Conan intended to do.
"I'm already watching him." Conan pointed at his high-tech glasses. "When I saw him leave just now, I thought something was off. So I pretended to go to the bathroom and put a bug on him."
Jiang Hang was stunned by Conan's words.
He had not expected Conan to grow to this extent after getting shut down by him several times. Jiang Hang had merely been a little suspicious, but Conan had directly planted a bug on the man, as if he were certain something would happen to Anzai Morio.
If Conan kept developing like this, how would Jiang Hang show off in front of the kid in the future?
But at that moment, a woman leaving the room caught Jiang Hang's attention.
Jiang Hang's heart stirred, and he asked Conan beside him, "Conan, you said this afternoon that Anzai Morio mocked a couple. The woman who just left was the female half of that couple, right?"
"You mean Mamegaki Taeko? She has a pretty good personality. When her boyfriend, Mr. Shimasaki, heard that guy's mockery this afternoon, Mamegaki and the director were the ones who stopped him..." Conan was focused entirely on Anzai Morio, so he merely nodded at Jiang Hang's words. "Huh? Anzai Morio is leaving the inn now too. Do you think we should follow him and see where he's going?"
After hearing Conan's explanation, Jiang Hang more or less understood what was going on.
Although Conan had evolved, he was still just that tiny little bit behind Jiang Hang.
He nodded at Conan, then told Ran Mori that he was taking Conan out to buy something before leaving the inn with him.
Conan had a bug monitoring Anzai Morio's movements, while Jiang Hang had Eagle Vision, so nothing could escape his eyes.
The two of them soon returned to the vicinity of the shrine.
This was also Conan's first time seeing how Jiang Hang followed someone.
Even though Jiang Hang was right beside him, as long as Conan did not look directly at him, he could not notice that there was someone next to him at all.
Walking down a small path without streetlights or other pedestrians, Conan knew someone was beside him, yet could hear only his own footsteps. He even felt as if he had wandered onto the set of a horror movie.
After a while, Conan finally found the atmosphere too eerie. Seeing nobody around, he broke the silence. "Who do you think Anzai Morio went to the shrine to meet? I think it might be Nachi Shingo."
Conan explained his reasoning to Jiang Hang. "Nachi Shingo was probably blackmailed for a large amount of money by Anzai Morio during the day, and they arranged to make the exchange tonight. The reason Nachi Shingo did not come to the inn with us was likely because he went to gather the money."
After hearing Conan's explanation, Jiang Hang directly asked, "Then what do you think we came out here for?"
Conan froze for a moment. "Aren't we here to gather evidence of Anzai Morio's crimes? He must have committed plenty of blackmail over the years. As long as we can collect the relevant evidence and find witnesses willing to testify, we can send him to prison."
Jiang Hang directly refuted him. "I don't know whether Nachi Shingo went to gather money, but I do know that Anzai Morio is probably about to drive Miss Mamegaki Taeko into a corner."
"Miss Mamegaki Taeko?" Conan's eyes widened slightly, seemingly not expecting Jiang Hang to bring up her name again. "What did you see?"
"Miss Mamegaki looked strange during dinner, and I noticed Anzai Morio giving her a threatening look before he left the room..." Jiang Hang explained softly. "Plus, based on what you said, Anzai Morio mocked Mamegaki and her boyfriend for no reason, while she stopped her boyfriend from arguing with him. I think Miss Mamegaki must have some kind of leverage in Anzai Morio's hands as well."
At this point, seeing Conan's disbelieving expression, Jiang Hang added, "And this afternoon, while the props team was sorting props, I saw her secretly slip the crew's spring knife into her pocket. When she left, that knife was still on her."
"You mean Miss Mamegaki wants to kill Anzai Morio?"
Jiang Hang shook his head again. "I don't know what she intends to do. But I don't know if you remember: while filming, Yoko Okino switched between two different prop knives. One was a real knife to make the close-up look more realistic, while the other was a fake knife that automatically retracted after stabbing someone."
"Maybe Mamegaki took the real knife because she truly wanted to kill Anzai Morio. Or maybe she took the fake knife merely to scare him. There could be other possibilities, too. But no matter what, we need to prevent the worst-case scenario." Jiang Hang paused. "Mamegaki Taeko kills Anzai Morio, or Anzai Morio takes her knife and kills her."
After hearing Jiang Hang's words, Conan's mouth hung slightly open. He had found it unbelievable at first, but now Jiang Hang's explanation had convinced him.
"You noticed all that while you were at the set? What kind of eyes do you even have? Why didn't I notice any of it despite being beside you the whole time?"
He stared blankly at Jiang Hang as he asked.
"This isn't the time to dwell on that. Listen carefully to what's happening through your bug," Jiang Hang interrupted him and had him focus on the recording, because through Eagle Vision, he had already seen Mamegaki Taeko arrive at the shrine to meet Anzai Morio.
Soon, Anzai Morio's voice came through the bug.
"You're a little late, Mamegaki. Did you bring the money I told you to bring?"
Conan listened carefully, while Jiang Hang picked him up and silently approached where Anzai Morio and Mamegaki Taeko were speaking. If anything happened, he would be able to stop it immediately.
At that moment, Mamegaki Taeko took out the spring knife she had taken from the crew and pointed it at Anzai Morio.
"I've thought it through. Ever since that incident, you've been blackmailing me. I can't let this continue any longer. You... you'd better never appear before me again!" Mamegaki Taeko held the spring knife, but her tone was weak and lacked any force.
When Anzai Morio heard her words, a mocking expression appeared on his face. "And then? You think I'll be scared just because you're holding a knife?"
"I'm telling you, if you don't give me the money today, tomorrow I'll tell your fiancé about the crime you committed back then!"
As soon as he said that, he took advantage of Mamegaki Taeko's momentary distraction and lunged at her, seemingly intending to snatch the knife from her hand!
Just as panic appeared on Mamegaki Taeko's face and she had no idea what to do—
Jiang Hang emerged from the darkness, rushed in front of them at astonishing speed, and delivered a righteous flying kick straight into Anzai Morio's shoulder!
The flying kick sent Anzai Morio tumbling to the ground, where he rolled several times before finally stopping.
Even after Jiang Hang had done all that, Mamegaki Taeko had yet to recover from her panic.
She only felt her hand suddenly become light. Before she knew what had happened, the spring knife she had been gripping tightly was already in Jiang Hang's hand.
At the same time, Jiang Hang muttered quietly, "It's my first time using a Rider Kick, but the form should have been fine..."
After muttering that, Jiang Hang looked at Anzai Morio, who lay on the ground clutching his shoulder and howling in pain.
It probably had not reached the point of a fracture. At most, it was a crack in the bone or a dislocation.
His control over his strength was still extremely precise this time.
"Sorry about that. I saw you charging straight at someone's knife and was worried your life might be in danger. In that emergency, this was the only way to save you. Mr. Anzai, you won't blame me, will you?"
After Jiang Hang kicked Anzai Morio away with a flying kick, Conan also ran out.
When he saw Mamegaki Taeko take out the spring knife, he had nearly been unable to stop himself from using his anesthetic needle on her.
But Anzai Morio's sudden attempt to seize the knife had startled him as well. Fortunately, Jiang Hang stopped him in time.
Conan looked at Anzai Morio, sprawled on the ground nearby. Judging by the way he was wailing with his mouth open and eyes squeezed shut, he would probably be lying there for a while longer.
Conan then turned his gaze toward Mamegaki Taeko.
"Miss Mamegaki... Does Anzai Morio have some important leverage over you?" Conan's expression was somewhat complicated. He could already confirm that the spring knife in Jiang Hang's hand was a real knife.
Perhaps Mamegaki Taeko had only wanted to use it to scare him, but it was equally possible that she had come intending to kill Anzai Morio.
After hearing Conan's question, Mamegaki Taeko seemed to recall the matter she had hidden for all these years. She covered her face with her hands, sank to her knees, and began to sob.
At that moment, Anzai Morio's continuous screams finally drew over someone passing by.
When the man came closer, Jiang Hang recognized him.
Shimasaki Yūji, a stagehand on the crew and Mamegaki Taeko's fiancé.
According to Conan, the two had originally planned to marry next month.
When he saw his fiancée kneeling on the ground and sobbing while Anzai Morio lay nearby howling, he hurried to Mamegaki Taeko's side.
"Taeko, what happened?" He crouched down anxiously and asked his fiancée.
At the same time, he looked at Jiang Hang and Conan, wanting to understand what exactly had occurred.
"Mr. Jiang Hang, what's wrong with Taeko? I noticed she wasn't looking well tonight, so I came to see what had happened."
Jiang Hang shrugged. "We came out to buy something and found Miss Mamegaki arguing with Anzai Morio as we passed by. I saw both of them had knives and was worried someone would get hurt, so I kicked him. As for what happened, I suppose Miss Mamegaki was being blackmailed by him."
"Blackmailed?" Shimasaki Yūji looked at his fiancée in surprise, then glared viciously at Anzai Morio lying on the ground. "Hey, Anzai, you bastard! What did you do to Taeko?!"
From the way he looked, he seemed ready to go over and kick Anzai Morio a few more times.
But just as he stood up, Mamegaki Taeko grabbed him.
Perhaps because her boyfriend was beside her, her mental state had improved considerably.
Under the gazes of her boyfriend and Jiang Hang, she slowly began recounting what had happened.
Mamegaki Taeko's grandfather was the priest of Beika Shrine, and ten years ago, she and Anzai Morio had attended the same high school.
However, Mamegaki Taeko's parents died in an accident while she was in high school. Her grandfather was elderly and still had to manage the shrine. During her rebellious phase, she fell in with a group of bad friends, including Anzai Morio.
At that time, a case occurred at Beika Shrine in which precious ritual items were stolen, and even now, the police had yet to identify the culprit.
Before you continue