Chapter 34: The Wandering Soul of Kudo Shinichi (Please vote with your monthly tickets!)
Jiang Xia actually didn't have strange hobbies like “beating people.”
He just liked the feeling of fluffing up killing intent little by little, like fluffing cotton.
Moreover, this time, on the curator’s leg, there was an additional leg-hugging shikigami. It was a buy-one-get-one-free deal, which was why Jiang Xia, caught off guard, hit a little harder.
...
Just now, when he was knocking down all the killing intent in the dark, several solidified children appeared next to Jiang Xia.
At first, the Detective Boys, due to Jiang Xia's command to “stay put,” remained upstairs, not daring to move.
But the curator's wails were truly too tragic. Conan, listening for a minute with a conscience, was genuinely worried someone might die, so he ran downstairs.
The other three children instinctively followed.
...
Upon reaching the first floor, Conan's flashlight illuminated the scene, and the four of them saw Curator Tsugawa's miserable state.
...They should have stopped him.
But it was so dark in the building, the screams were so terrifying, and Jiang Xia was so...
Ultimately, except for Conan, no one dared to move.
And Conan, in terms of “stopping the beating,” could only function as a leg accessory.
...So the curator ended up in this state.
...
However, although hitting people wasn't good, it did indeed improve efficiency.
When the Police arrived, the curator rushed over as if he had seen a loved one, snot and tears flowing, answering whatever he was asked.
Just like that. Inspector Megure not only successfully found the body, but he also confiscated a pile of hidden drugs in the children's reading room.
...
Inspector Megure looked at the successfully solved drug trafficking and murder-and-body-hiding case. Then he looked at Jiang Xia beside him, and amidst his relief, he suddenly had a strong sense of déjà vu.
So he laughed heartily, “Jiang Xia, have you really been possessed by Kudo?”
This was originally just a tease.
Who knew Jiang Xia would glance at him, hum, and nod thoughtfully, “Indeed. Recently, I occasionally feel very disoriented. A voice always tells me to quickly go somewhere to take a look, and when I go, a murder case appears there...”
Conan, who was innocently called out, suddenly turned his head, looking at him in shock.
As Kudo Shinichi himself, Conan was very sure that he had never whispered demonic words to Jiang Xia.
Hearing this, he couldn't help but suspect that Jiang Xia's depression not only hadn't improved but had developed strange complications.
Conan: “...” Speaking of which, Jiang Xia's appearance when beating criminals was inherently a bit scary—just now, when Jiang Xia was hitting the curator, he even let out a soft laugh while hitting him. Conan instantly broke out in a cold sweat and immediately forgave his three classmates who refused to help him stop Jiang Xia—to be honest, facing the “heroic” Jiang Xia, even he, a High School Student, felt a bit like fleeing, let alone just three Elementary School Students...
...
While Conan was recalling the scene just now with lingering fear.
Beside him, Inspector Megure also had a pale face and was quite startled.
The “wandering soul possession” he mentioned was just a joke. He never expected that Jiang Xia actually had a similar experience.
Just as the air conditioner turned towards them, a cold gust of wind blew by.
In Inspector Megure's mind, the image of a pale-faced Kudo Shinichi clinging to his shoulder, eerily blowing cold air onto his neck, suddenly appeared.
He instantly broke out in a cold sweat, looking at Jiang Xia: “...Wh-what?!”
“Nothing, I was just joking. Police Inspector wouldn't believe it, would he?”
Jiang Xia put away his serious expression and smiled at him: “This world is materialistic; there are no ghosts. And didn't I say before—I came here to return a book, not because I heard Kudo call me.”
Inspector Megure: “...”
He adjusted his hat as if nothing had happened, and chuckled dryly: “I know. I was just playing along with you, hahaha.”
Originally, as a Police officer, he wouldn't believe such things.
But Jiang Xia's tone was too serious. Plus, the eerie and strange environment here...
Inspector Megure covered his pounding heart and sighed.
This new Jiang Xia, although more low-key than Kudo, more humble than Kudo, and even more capable of fighting than Kudo, always felt a bit off...
...
It was getting late, and the witnesses were a group of children.
Inspector Megure therefore first sent people to send the startled children home, telling them to rest well and then go to the Police station later to give their statements.
After sending off three children with blank expressions and one who looked like he wanted to speak but didn't.
Inspector Megure turned to Jiang Xia again.
He remembered that Jiang Xia liked giving statements and planned to have Jiang Xia work overtime: “You...”
“I'll go with them.” Jiang Xia had already exited the door. He walked to his motorcycle, picked up his helmet, “It just so happens that one of the children lives relatively close to me, so we can go together.”
In Jiang Xia's view, the Detective Boys also possessed extremely strong incident-attracting physiques.
Maybe a trip together could yield something more...
Moreover, the employee killed by the curator this time might have been oppressed by his boss for too long, and his obsession was quite humble—Jiang Xia hit the curator for a while, and it very contentedly fell off.
So currently, there were no souls waiting for Jiang Xia to pick up at the Police station, so he naturally had no obsession with giving a statement.
...
The children still had classes, so their time was somewhat flexible.
When the day agreed upon with the Police station arrived.
Jiang Xia changed his clothes and went out, taking a slight detour to the Mouri Detective Agency.
The three children were waiting downstairs for Conan.
Seeing Jiang Xia approach, the children, who had been dozing off, suddenly snapped to attention, holding their umbrellas and standing ramrod straight in the rain.
Jiang Xia's gaze swept over them, and he felt as if he was about to hear a familiar “Hello, boss!” any second.
...
On the street, the Detective Boys stood at attention while secretly peeking at Jiang Xia.
Although they were a bit mischievous, they were only in first grade after all. When they fought with classmates, at most they would punch a few times or kick once, and they would quickly be pulled apart by the teacher.
In other words... this was their first time seeing Jiang Xia's kind of scene where he beat someone to death.
Moreover, that night, when they left the library, Conan felt that his classmates were overly nervous, so he somewhat uncertainly comforted them, saying that Jiang Xia only hit bad guys.
The mischievous children reviewed this statement in their minds and quickly came to a conclusion.
They absolutely couldn't be seen as bad guys by Jiang Xia.
They had to be well-behaved, polite, and harmless good children, like flowers.
So, facing Jiang Xia who had stopped beside them, the three of them greeted in unison, “Good morning!”
Jiang Xia nodded: “Good morning.”
He thought with satisfaction, when mischievous children aren't mischievous, they really don't look very annoying.
The children's voices were too loud, drifting upwards. Two heads soon peered out from the second floor of the Mouri Detective Agency.