Chapter 316

Conan looked at Akaso Kaze, puzzled.

Akaso Kaze raised the corner of his mouth and touched his dog head.

A funny expression appeared on his face.

Conan immediately understood what he meant, raised his dead fish eyes, and dared not ask again.

If I ask again, I'm afraid he'll say I'm the god of death again.

*Click! Click!*

The two large doors next to the archway suddenly opened, and two twin maids with similar appearances followed out.

"Welcome everyone to our home."

The same girl, the same words, standing on the symmetrical left and right sides, for a moment, everyone was stunned, almost thinking they had an illusion.

"W-what's going on?" Mouri Kogoro asked.

"They should be twins." Akaso Kaze naturally knew this long ago.

The maid on the left smiled and said: "Lord Akaso, Mr. Mouri, please enter the house from the east entrance on this side with your family to rest."

The maid on the right continued: "Mr. Katagiri, Mr. Matsudaira, and Miss Nagara, please enter the house from the west entrance on this side to rest."

*Caw, caw.*

Amidst the sound of crows flapping their wings, Akaso Kaze and the four of them followed the maid on the left into the east wing.

The one leading the way was Shimogasa Honami, one of the twins. She introduced as she walked:

"In this mansion, if you don't follow the conventions, you will definitely encounter disaster, because this is the mansion where the Cursed Mask resides."

The maid's words made Ran feel creepy, and she began to feel that the interior decoration of the villa was gloomy, especially the masks hanging all over the walls, which looked particularly weird.

She hugged Akaso Kaze's arm tightly.

Feeling the soft touch, Akaso Kaze raised the corner of his mouth.

We should bring Ran to such a strange place often.

This girl with high combat power is most afraid of ghosts.

Just as they walked into the mansion's main hall, the gazes of several people were involuntarily attracted by the various masks on the walls.

"So many masks!"

"There are masks here too."

"These masks are so strange!"

Shimogasa Honami smiled and explained: "Teacher Suou has always had a hobby of collecting masks. Everyone, please come this way."

Shimogasa Honami made a gesture for Akaso Kaze and the others to go upstairs and walked slowly to the second floor with lotus steps.

"I'll go get your luggage now; please wait in the Mask Hall."

After Shimogasa Honami finished speaking, she pushed open the door of the second-floor compartment and led Akaso Kaze and the others inside.

Just as Akaso Kaze and the others entered the Mask Hall, the door opposite also opened, and Matsudaira Mamoru and the other two followed in.

Mouri Kogoro said with a sudden realization: "So this Mask Hall is the passage connecting the east and west wings!"

Everyone took off their coats and handed them to the maids.

After taking off her coat, Nagara Haruka revealed a purple long dress, which looked a bit like a fortune teller.

"Akaso-san, come and see, there are so many masks here."

Ran subconsciously scanned the room, her gaze was immediately attracted by the glass display cabinets, and she pulled Akaso Kaze over.

I saw that various masks were placed in the glass display cabinets, and most of the masks were very rare and precious.

"Huh? What is this?"

Conan's gaze scanned the masks, and he suddenly noticed a strange remote control placed next to the glass display cabinet.

This bear child didn't wait for an answer and directly picked up the remote control and pressed the button on it.

As the remote control button fell, the red curtains on the walls on both sides of the hall slowly opened, revealing the wooden shelves hidden behind the curtains.

Everyone's attention was immediately attracted by these masks, because the color of these masks was that very pure pale white, extremely conspicuous.

The pale mask had no nose, and the two corners of the mask's eyes were very narrow.

A mouth like a new moon curved slightly upward, revealing an arrogant sneer, making the viewer feel terrified.

And there were hundreds of such masks displayed in the entire Mask Hall!

"What happened?"

"So many masks!"

"What's going on with these masks?"

Looking at those identical white masks on the wooden shelves, everyone showed uncertain expressions.

Although these white masks looked very simple on the outside, far less exquisite than the masks in the glass display cabinets, putting so many masks together made people feel exceptionally oppressive and creepy.

Akaso Kaze's eyes narrowed slightly.

From the perspective of the Eye of Space, there were no souls or ghosts on these masks.

But every mask was covered with thick black mist, lingering and not dispersing, forming a sharp contrast with the white body, looking very weird.

Seeing these masks, Nagara Haruka's face turned pale for no reason, and she took two steps back, just leaning on Akaso Kaze.

Feeling the fortune teller's body trembling, Akaso Kaze felt that this Nagara Haruka was a bit interesting.

It seems that she wasn't just talking nonsense at the door just now, but really had some intuition.

This shows that this girl still has some real skills.

He reached out and placed it gently on Nagara Haruka's waist, sending her some magic power.

Nagara Haruka immediately felt much better.

She looked back and gave Akaso Kaze a grateful look.

[Ding, Nagara Haruka has developed a favorable impression of you; current favorability is 2.]

Akaso Kaze raised his eyebrows; this favorability came really easily.

"These are the masks of Schobel."

An old voice suddenly sounded.

A noble old lady appeared at the door, with silver-gray hair and a red shawl; although her face was old, she still had charm, and she was followed by a short-haired woman wearing glasses.

The noble old lady in front of them was the owner of this mansion, Suou Beniko, and next to her was her secretary, Inaba Kazuyo.

"It's a great honor for everyone to come."

Suou Beniko smiled and nodded slightly, and said to Akaso Kaze: "Lord Akaso, what do you think? Is my proudest collection okay?"

Akaso Kaze smiled without saying a word.

You put so many strange things in your house and are invaded by black energy every day; you're really lucky to be alive.

Nagara Haruka had already regained her composure at this time, and she suddenly asked: "Mrs. Suou, the Schobel masks you mentioned just now, do they refer to these masks placed on the wall?"

"Yes, these are the two hundred masks legendary completed by the Spanish sculptor Schobel Condres shortly before his death."

Nagara Haruka's face changed slightly: "Sure enough, this is the legendary Cursed Mask."

"Cursed Mask?!"

Mouri Kogoro and Conan's expressions changed suddenly upon hearing this.

The strange letter pinned to the dead tree that blocked the road earlier was signed by the Messenger of the Cursed Mask.

Mouri Kogoro couldn't help but ask: "Mrs. Suou, why are these masks called Cursed Masks?"

"Because Schobel Condres was a tragic sculptor. Although he was gifted, he was envied by his brother who was jealous of him, fell into a trap set by his brother, and finally his reputation, status, and property were all snatched away by his brother."

Suou Beniko looked at the white masks on the wall and said with regret: "Since being betrayed by his own brother, Schobel became completely desperate for human nature, and it was as if he was possessed by something, constantly carving these masks."

"Just after the two hundredth mask was carved, Schobel cut his own throat with a carving knife and ended his life."

"The masks scattered around his remains at that time were all stained with blood, as if they were sucking his blood."