(ω\)
Jiang Xia walked into the "haunted house."
Dark clouds had gathered outside, and the house was just as dim. Without a flashlight, one could barely see anything.
Jiang Xia borrowed the Ghost Fetus's Night Vision and silently made his way down the pitch-black Corridor.
Soon, he found a floorboard at the end of the Corridor that had been pried open.
It seemed to be the entrance to a hidden passage. A flight of Steps extended downward.
Jiang Xia leaned closer with mild curiosity. After observing for a moment, he faintly caught the scent of Killing Intent from within the passage.
"..." He nodded in satisfaction and walked in.
He followed the Steps all the way down.
At the end of the Underground Passage was a lit Basement.
Jiang Xia remembered this was where that filial son who had killed his father, failed to turn himself in, and got imprisoned by his mother was being held.
The Basement door stood open.
Conan's voice could faintly be heard inside as he laid out his deductions.
Jiang Xia lightened his steps, walked to the doorway, and glanced inside.
A row of iron Railings stretched across the center of the room, partitioning off a cell.
The homeowner's son was sitting inside the cell, disheveled and dirty. An old Shikigami clung to his leg, presumably what his father had turned into.
Outside the Railings stood three people.
—Conan, his female classmate Yoshida Ayumi, and a White-Haired, extremely thin woman.
Jiang Xia swept his gaze across the room, and it quickly settled on the woman with her back to him. "..."
That waist-length, silvery-white hair made his fingers twitch as he reflexively wanted to tug at something.
But after steadying himself, he could tell that the woman's Killing Intent was extremely faint. It barely qualified as "enough to stave off hunger," and was not even as fresh as the kidnapper's Killing Intent last time.
The Ghost Infant looked at the white-haired woman before it, then froze for a moment as well, looking slightly disappointed.
Still, it was not as picky as Jiang Xia. It was satisfied as long as there was Killing Intent to eat, so it eagerly jumped down and prepared to collect it.
A few meters away, in the Basement.
The white-haired woman held a Knife and glared at Conan and Ayumi, whom she had cornered against the wall. Her emotions were unusually agitated.
With her back to the door, she did not notice Jiang Xia had appeared there.
Conan, however, had seen him.
His deductions paused slightly before he smoothly continued as though nothing had happened.
But this Fake Elementary School Student had clearly failed to control his emotions.
His voice was much stronger than before.
Fortunately, the white-haired old woman was not in a good mental state and did not notice Conan's abnormality.
Ayumi hid beside Conan and looked timidly at Jiang Xia without saying a word.
Who knew whether she had grown clever in the face of danger or had simply been too frightened to make a sound.
Of course, it might also have been the illusion common among those who judged by looks—Big Brother at the door did not seem like a bad person.
Conan was clearly the sort of Detective who, once caught up in deduction, would insist on explaining it all before he died, even at the cost of his life.
At first, the white-haired old woman had not intended to kill anyone.
Genta and Mitsuhiko, who lay in the yard, had merely been knocked unconscious by her.
She had thought that even if a few first-grade children reported it, the police would not take them seriously.
But Conan was different now.
—Not only had Conan seen the person in the dungeon, he had even guessed that the son was the murderer from back then.
"A Homeless Man hidden in a haunted house" and "a fugitive murderer hidden in a haunted house" were completely different matters.
If it was the latter, the police might come even if children made the report.
So as the white-haired woman listened to Conan's deductions, genuine Killing Intent began to rise from her.
When Conan said, "The one who killed your husband was actually your son," the old woman finally erupted.
"Shut up!" She seized Conan by the throat, her face twisted as she raised the Kitchen Knife.
Ayumi let out a shriek and covered her eyes in fear.
Conan was stunned too. "..." Wait a second?
Why wasn't the Script going the way he expected?
—He had clearly seen Jiang Xia just now!
Under normal circumstances, should it not have been: he deduced the truth, Jiang Xia restrained the old woman at the same time, and then the two of them exchanged a knowing smile before quietly taking out their phones to call the police, hiding their achievements and fame?
...But where was Jiang Xia now?
Conan struggled to look behind him, but the old woman blocked his entire view. The furious white-haired woman let out an angry roar, raised the Knife, and brought it down hard.
When the Knife Tip was only inches from Conan, someone finally grabbed her wrist from behind.
Jiang Xia took the Kitchen Knife from the white-haired woman's hand and pressed hard on her shoulder.
"Ah!" The woman cried out in pain. Half her body went numb, and she collapsed onto the floor.
Along with her cry came the faint sound of a Police Siren from outside.
—Jiang Xia had called the police before coming in.
"..." Jiang Xia glanced outside at the sound. Their timing was precise, as expected of the police in this world.
He tossed the Kitchen Knife into a corner, then suddenly noticed a Mop by his feet and casually picked it up.
—Although the hidden passage door was open, it would definitely take the police some time to find the entrance.
Before the police arrived, he needed to hurry up and knock the Killing Intent loose.
—Conan's talent for drawing aggro was truly not to be underestimated. The more that Fake Elementary School Student had deduced just now, the more Killing Intent the white-haired woman had produced... The amount of Killing Intent now far surpassed what Jiang Xia had found when he first came in.
Jiang Xia looked at the person covered in Killing Intent and expectantly raised the handle.
At that moment, the white-haired woman sitting on the floor clutched her shoulder, turned around, and looked at Jiang Xia with a Face Full Of unwillingness.
Their eyes met.
The next second, the Killing Intent wrapped around the old woman obediently dropped to the floor with a plop.
...Perhaps she had weighed their respective Combat Power and swiftly realized she could no longer continue killing. So she could only abandon the thought.
The Ghost Infant, which had been waiting beside them for a long time, could not help letting out a delighted cry.
It trotted over, rolled up the fallen Killing Intent like cotton candy into a fluffy ball, then carried it back and held it up for Jiang Xia to see.
Jiang Xia crouched down, took out the cigarette case containing Ghost Mint, tore open the sealed packaging, and let the Killing Intent seep inside.
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