The Split-Actress in Conan's World

"Are they all at sea?"

Yuan Shan He Ye's beautiful eyes were filled with fear, and he asked nervously, "Is there any curse?"

"For example, if you eat mermaid meat, you will encounter danger at sea."

"That's impossible!" Shimabukuro Kimie consoled him with a smile, "I've been to the main island by boat with Saori before, but nothing happened."

"Are you with Miss Saori?" Uncle Mori caught the clue and looked at her in surprise.

Hattori Heiji also became more serious, with a questioning look on his dark face: "When was it?"

Shimabukuro Kimie was startled by their appearance and looked a little confused, but she still answered honestly: "It was just four days ago."

"I said I needed to go to the dentist, so she came with me."

“Because there are no dentists on this island.”

Uncle Maori pressed for details: "What was Ms. Saori's situation like at that time?"

The miko pretended to recall the past: "Saori was very scared because she lost the dugong arrow."

"She also asked me to ask my grandmother to help her find a solution. No matter how I told her that there would be no curse, she didn't believe it and kept retorting by saying, 'I was really cursed by the mermaid!' and so on..."

She lowered her head, with a hint of guilt in her eyes.

"It must be what I said at the festival that made her believe it so firmly."

Uncle Maori was puzzled: "Oh?"

"In order to avoid those who believe in the legend of immortality and ask for arrows to complain, every time I give out the dugong arrows, I tell them that if they lose the arrows or have doubts in their hearts, the mermaids will not bless them, but will bring disaster upon them."

"In fact, I just said it casually. It's not true at all."

"Jun Hui, you are so stupid."

Just as she finished telling the truth about the legend of the dugong's arrow, a woman with long black hair walked up the stairs and arrived at the door of the shrine.

"It's because you don't believe in the power of the High Priest that you think so."

She laughed softly.

"Sumi..." Shimabukuro Kimie looked back and recognized that it was Sumi Ebihara, who was also a childhood playmate of Monkyo Saori.

Ebihara Sumi's eyes were curved, her hand was on her lips, and she looked at Mori and his group with great interest.

"She really ate mermaid flesh."

"Because three years ago, someone really found the body of a mermaid."

"Human, the body of a mermaid?!" Everyone was shocked when they heard this.

Because of his height advantage, Conan noticed that Shimabukuro Kimie's hands were clenched into fists, trembling slightly, and then gradually loosened.

He was startled and looked up, but saw that her face had no expression and looked very calm.

"Um, are you talking about the one that was broadcast on TV three years ago..." Mao Lilan spoke softly, a drop of cold sweat running down her forehead.

Uncle Maori also looked thoughtful: "It seems that I have heard of it."

"It seems that a strange charred corpse was found in a warehouse."

Shimabukuro Kimie suddenly spoke up and said with a smile, "That's because the TV reports were too exaggerated."

However, Ebihara Sumi looked at her with dissatisfaction: "Didn't you see it too?"

"The shape of the broken bones is very strange, and the corpse is weird..."

Before she could finish her words, a man came over, patted her shoulder, and shook his head slowly: "Stop talking, Shoumei."

The man had a muscular build and dark skin, but his skin was slightly better than Heiji's.

"It's useless to say more to those who are not from the island."

"Lu Lang?"

This man was also one of Saori Monkyo's childhood playmates, his name was Fukuyama Rokuro.

"I heard you are detectives from Tokyo?"

Fukuyama Rokuro glanced at them calmly and said, "If you want to find Saori, don't waste time here. Go directly to her house."

He took Sumi Ebihara and turned away, leaving behind one last sentence: "Of course, the premise is that her alcoholic father welcomes you."

Hattori Heiji narrowed his eyes and muttered, "How strange, someone is missing, but no one is worried."

Shimabukuro Kimie smiled awkwardly: "That's because Saori often quarrels with her father and then runs away from home."

"Then could you please take us to Miss Saori's house?" Uncle Mori asked Shimabukuro Kimie.

She didn't hesitate too much and simply agreed: "Sure, but we have to wait until the festival is over."

"Although it's my grandmother who's in charge, she's old after all and can't take care of many things, so I'm still in charge of most things and I can't spare the time to leave for the time being."

Yuanshan Heye looked curious: "I've heard about this Dugong Festival all along the way. What is it about?"

"Although it's called a festival, it's actually just a lottery."

Shimabukuro Kimie took out two wooden tablets engraved with Chinese characters from her shrine maiden costume and handed them to Toyama Kazuha and Maori Ran.

"If the number plate purchased by the guest matches the number displayed by the grandmother at the ceremony, it means that you are selected and can get the dugong arrow."

"How about it? Do you want to give it a try?" She winked playfully and looked at the two high school girls.

"Maybe the fortune-teller's words can't be trusted, but if they come true, it's still a good sign."

Kazuha and Mao Lilan looked at each other, and they didn't know what they were thinking of. Their pretty faces blushed and they tightened the wooden sign in their hands.

"Walk slowly!"

"Come find me here after the festival and I'll take you to Saori's house."

Shimabukuro Kimie smiled and waved in front of the shrine gate, seeing off Mori and his group.

She slowly put down her hand only after the few people completely disappeared from her sight.

"A detective..."

Her smile was somewhat complicated, and one could vaguely read a hint of bitterness from it.

She gently waved the short flag in her hand, swept it across her chest twice, and clasped her hands together.

After doing this, she turned back to the shrine to prepare for tonight's ceremony.

However, when he turned around, he saw two figures standing in front of the shrine, looking up at the ancient building.

"It's gotten bigger..."

She faintly heard the beautiful purple-haired girl sighing.

"what?"

It was a little hard to understand, and she couldn't help but speak out.

The purple-haired girl heard her voice and turned slightly to look over.

Shimabukuro Kimie didn't know how to describe her eyes.

There seems to be some nostalgia, but more of peace.

It seemed as if nothing could cause any ripples in that gaze.

"Is she the shrine maiden of the Shimabukuro family?"

While she was still in a trance, the girl opened her red lips and asked her inquiringly.

"Oh, yes..." For some reason, Shimabukuro Kimie felt a little restrained when facing this girl who looked much younger than herself.

It’s just like facing the old-fashioned grandma back then.

"It's better than I thought. At least the inheritance has not been cut off."

Lilith muttered to herself incoherently and walked up to her. "Which generation?"

"The, the 21st generation." Shimabukuro Kimie swallowed unconsciously and had the urge to shrink her body.

"After 7 generations..."

Lilith was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Xiaoyu who was following her: "300 years means 7 generations have passed. How many years does each generation last?"

"About 43 years."

"Oh."

It dawned on her.

“That was actually pretty good.”

"It seems that what happened back then did not affect here."

Shimabukuro Kimie looked at them in confusion, not quite understanding what they were saying.

Something like 300 years seems a bit scary.

However, the next moment, she froze.

A soft hand stroked her head, and she felt herself being wrapped in a warm embrace.

The girl's gentle voice whispered in her ear: "It's already great."

"Thank you for your hard work over the years."

She suddenly had an urge to cry.

When she fell down as a child, her mother held her like this...

She hadn't felt this warmth for a long time.

Her grandparents passed away a long time ago, and her parents also left her a few years ago.

The so-called dependence on grandma is just a lie.

The High Priest is nothing more than an empty shell of the role played by every priestess.

She was all alone.

In this warm embrace, she burst into tears without restraint.

On this day, all the residents on the island felt an inexplicable tremor in their souls, and they all looked towards the small shrine in the center of the island.

......

"So why did a good vacation turn out like this?"

Adam took off his sunglasses, held his chin with his hand, and looked at the people coming and going on the street in front of him, with a look of doubt on his face.

The annoying child's voice rang out from the headphones.

"Why, is Adam upset about dating Noah?"

"Why should I waste my precious time on an artificial idiot like you..."

Noah was not angry at all when he was scolded, but he was very emotional: "The professor said he has his own private affairs, so don't bother him. Adam and Noah can move freely!"

"Stupid Adam, hurry up, Noah is going to choose the gift he likes."

The simulated sound of a whip cracking came from the headphones.

Adam stood up tiredly: "I'm not a best-selling product in the 18th century."

"Alas, Noah is only an 11-year-old kid and doesn't understand Adam's jokes."

The sound of whips was constant in my ears.

"Stop smoking, I'll move." Adam made a gesture of surrender and walked weakly along with the crowd.

"So where are you going?"

"Let's go to the shrine in the center of the island first. You can buy number plates there. Noah can calculate the most likely number to be drawn, and then he can get the Dugong Arrow. The professor should like that thing."

"Isn't that cheating..."

Noah's voice was serious: "How can you call this cheating when it comes to artificial intelligence?"

"...You have the final say."

After casually responding to this artificial idiot, Adam looked up and saw Maori and his group. He quickly put on his sunglasses, lowered his head slightly, and walked around them in a low-key manner.

In the crowd, Conan suddenly frowned and his nose twitched.

"What's wrong?" Hattori Heiji keenly observed his movements and asked with his head down.

"It smells familiar... No, nothing."

Conan's brows quickly relaxed and he shook his head.

Adam pulled his sunglasses further away and used the reflection to observe Maori and the others who were walking away. He found that they didn't react and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The closer he got to the group of people, the more alarm he felt.

The premonition was more than twice as strong as the last time on the boat.

It was as if being targeted by some ferocious beast.

It was because of this premonition that he was reluctant to leave the room last time.

"Hey, you must know something about those guys, right?"

Adam said this to Noah in the headset.

"Noah doesn't know anything."

Noah whistled nonchalantly.

"..."

Adam sighed.

He knew this was the result.

But he soon gave up thinking about this problem.

If he checked it himself, he would definitely be able to find the result.

But that's too much trouble.

It seemed that the boss and Noah both knew the situation, so he didn't need to waste his energy.

If there really was a problem, the boss and Noah would not leave him alone.

......should.

into the night.

The ceremony begins.

thump—

thump—

thump—

Several strong men wearing simple cloth shorts and white turbans on their heads were beating a huge standing drum rhythmically.

The drum beats heavily.

Residents and tourists who had been looking forward to the festival had been waiting outside the shrine early in the morning, forming a dense crowd.

With the support of Uncle Mori and Hattori Heiji's strong physique, the group grabbed a relatively front position so that they could directly see the situation when the festival began.

"Wow, this is so exciting!" Mao Lilan held the wooden sign with the number on it and felt her heart pounding with the drumbeats.

"Yes, yes!" Yuanshan Heye was equally excited.

As the two attendants slowly opened the paper door of the shrine's main hall, the crowd fell silent for a moment.

But then an even louder uproar broke out.

“Ah, it’s out!”

"Is that the High Priest?"

"The High Priest has come out!!"

"It looks so small..."

The paper door slowly opened to both sides, revealing the interior of the shrine.

The main hall, lit with traditional oil lamps, seems a little dim. The various mermaid decorations seem a little solemn under this atmosphere. Compared with the sacred and solemn feeling of Western churches, this shrine is more mysterious and strange.

A thin figure was kneeling in the shrine with his back to everyone, his long snow-white hair scattered all over the ground.

Her elaborate ritual garments seemed so heavy on her small body that one doubted whether she could move.

But the next second, this suspicion was shattered.

She remained kneeling, picked up the long banner on the stand in front of her, then slowly turned around and held the banner toward the brazier placed on the open space outside the shrine. Her wrinkled old face was covered with white powder and her expression was meticulous.

"Hey hey..."

Conan watched her actions and his heart skipped a beat.

The old priest stretched out a long banner with flames on it toward the open paper door.

"You're actually going to set fire to the paper door?!" Hattori Heiji widened his eyes.

The leaping flames on the long banner jumped up the moment they touched the paper door, spreading rapidly and beginning to burn violently.

But as if it had been disciplined, the flame did not devour the paper door, nor did it even burn it a bit. Instead, it obediently drew strokes on the paper door, revealing three Chinese characters for numbers.

is that a lie?

Hattori Heiji opened his mouth in surprise.

But in a moment he felt a little bored.

The scene before his eyes was clearly like a miracle, but he suddenly felt that it was just like that.

Maybe it's because he knows that there is some kind of scientific trick behind this.

It can't be because he has seen more outrageous things, right?

He touched his chin uncertainly, and the awkward feeling of forgetting something important came back to his mind.