Conan followed behind and observed for a while, unable to tell whether Jiang Xia was not fully awake or sleepwalking.
But that did not really matter. Either way, he could call out to him—the widely circulated claim that "sleepwalkers go crazy if awakened" was actually a rumor. On the contrary, letting a sleepwalker wander around unchecked could cause even greater harm.
Of course, waking someone up required the right method.
One should avoid things like "shaking them vigorously." Physical contact while their mind was muddled could easily be interpreted by a sleepwalker as an "attack," provoking a counterattack.
For anyone else, it would be fine. A counterattack could be suppressed.
But Jiang Xia...
Conan recalled those bruised and battered suspects who looked at the police as though they had seen family, and silently withdrew his outstretched hand.
He cautiously backed away a few steps and began making noise beside Jiang Xia.
Making sharp, abrupt sounds was the safe way to wake someone up.
Enduring the piercing noise, Jiang Xia steadfastly walked partway toward his room.
Once he sensed that Takahashi Ryoichi had gone far enough, he flicked Conan on the head, silencing the noise source that had inexplicably begun howling.
Then he turned around and returned to Mouri Ran's room.
Such a commotion had broken out in the middle of the night.
The other people in the villa woke up one after another and gathered in Mouri Ran's room.
Takahashi Ryoichi had already changed his clothes and blended into the crowd.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jiang Xia approaching. Still shaken, he touched his thick hair and secretly rejoiced that Jiang Xia's blow had not landed on his forehead, but on the side of his head, where the bruise would not be visible.