Chapter 317

"It's not just that," Nagara Haruka continued gloomily.

"It is said that a French jewelry merchant acquired this batch of Schobel masks after Schobel's death, but shortly after, he encountered a robbery and died tragically at home."

"Later, these masks were scattered into the hands of different people, and the people who held these masks seemed to be cursed, and most of them ended in tragedy."

"Later, I don't know when it started, everyone rumored that these masks would suck the blood of the holders, and since then everyone has been afraid of these masks, and they have also called them Cursed Masks."

*Gulp!*

Everyone present swallowed their saliva unconsciously, and looking at the masks on the wall again, they felt that the temperature around them had dropped by a few degrees.

Matsudaira Mamoru, who believed in fortune-telling, was even more worried: "Mrs. Suou, these Schobel masks are so scary, and you collected two hundred of them at once; is it really okay?"

Suou Beniko laughed: "You don't have to worry about that; I have already asked a powerful medium to seal all the curses of these masks."

"Medium?" Akaso Kaze curled his lip.

Suou Beniko didn't know who she found, but looking at the thick black energy on the masks, she was obviously fooled.

Conan suddenly remembered what happened on the road and turned to remind:

"In the real world, human evil thoughts are actually much more terrifying than curses, right, Uncle Mouri?"

"Ah, right." Mouri Kogoro reacted and took out the threatening letter from his arms, "We were blocked by a tree halfway here, and there was this piece of paper pinned to that tree."

Katagiri Masanori saw this and couldn't help but be surprised: "Mr. Mouri, I actually received the same letter three days ago."

"I also received a letter similar to this!"

"Me too."

Matsudaira Mamoru and Nagara Haruka heard this and followed up by saying.

"What?! You all received such a letter too?"

After learning that the other three guests had also received such letters, Mouri Kogoro's expression became even more heavy; it was obvious that this was no longer a simple prank.

"Our company also received a strange letter."

A yellow-haired young man wearing sunglasses walked into the hall, holding an envelope in his hand.

"Touya?" Suou Beniko scolded softly, "Why are you so late?"

This yellow-haired handsome guy is named Aikawa Touya, and he is the most popular rock musician at the moment.

Because Aikawa Touya's mother was once a maid in Suou Beniko's house, after his mother passed away, it was Suou Beniko who sponsored his schooling and daily expenses, which is somewhat similar to Suou Beniko's adopted son.

"I was on a national tour, a little late, so don't mind it."

The yellow-haired young man didn't treat himself as an outsider and handed the envelope to Suou Beniko with a smile: "The letter didn't indicate the sender's name, only that the recipient was Teacher Suou, and the handwriting is also very strange."

"This is to hide the handwriting, specially written very neatly."

Uncle Mouri opened the envelope after getting permission and took out a threatening letter.

"Tonight, the Cursed Mask will suck blood. Signed, Messenger of the Cursed Mask?"

"Ah?" Uncle's expression changed, and he said cautiously, "Mrs. Suou, I think we should call the police about this!"

"I don't think we need to take it to heart," Suou Beniko said indifferently, "Ever since I started engaging in charity work, similar threatening letters have never stopped..."

Akaso Kaze didn't speak.

This Mrs. Suou is really courting death; she's not worried after receiving so many threatening letters. Who gave her the confidence and courage? The Cursed Mask?

"Alright, let's not talk about these disappointing things. I've already had dinner prepared; everyone, please follow me to the living room!"

Suou Beniko made a gesture for everyone to follow, led them away from the Mask Hall, and walked toward the dining room.

As the door of the Mask Hall slowly closed, the whole hall fell into darkness again.

The Schobel masks hanging on the walls suddenly rippled with black energy, and the arcs of the crescent-like eyes and smiles seemed to become more distorted.

"This beef tongue soup is really delicious!"

"This bottle of red wine is also not something you can drink usually."

"Conan, these steaks are also very delicious, right?"

"Yeah!"

Everyone dining in the restaurant didn't notice the strangeness in the Mask Hall, and the dining atmosphere was exceptionally harmonious.

Suou Beniko raised her wine glass and said: "To be honest, I am really grateful to everyone for being able to agree so readily to be the guests for this charity banquet I am holding. I will toast everyone first."

"Mrs. Suou, please forgive me for asking presumptuously."

Katagiri Masanori took a sip of red wine and couldn't help but ask: "How did you think of holding a charity banquet for those children who lost their families due to car accidents?"

"Actually, I have been involved in charity work for many years."

Su Fang Hongzi wore a look of reminiscence as she said:

"About twenty years ago, the maid who had always taken care of me was involved in a hit-and-run accident. Ever since then, I haven't been able to remain indifferent toward car accidents."

Hearing this, Lan Chuan Dongya couldn't help but tighten his grip on his table knife, cutting into the steak before him with force.

What Su Fang Hongzi did not notice was that Lan Chuan Dongya’s eyes were filled with resentment at that moment.

Because the woman who committed the hit-and-run that Su Fang Hongzi spoke of was Lan Chuan Dongya’s mother.

Ever since his mother committed suicide, Su Fang Hongzi had been responsible for funding his living expenses, and he had always felt deeply grateful to her.

However, when Lan Chuan Dongya discovered the truth about the hit-and-run in his mother’s diary, he was left with nothing but infinite hatred for Su Fang Hongzi.

According to the entries in his mother’s diary, the car accident twenty years ago occurred on Lan Chuan Dongya’s birthday.

That night, his mother had been by his side the entire time, helping him celebrate his birthday, so it was impossible for her to have been driving and committing a hit-and-run.

Therefore, Lan Chuan Dongya’s mother had not committed suicide out of fear of punishment; she had been forced by Su Fang Hongzi to take the fall and was subsequently silenced.

Every time he thought about how his mother was murdered by Su Fang Hongzi while he had spent all these years treating her like a benefactor, Lan Chuan Dongya wanted to tear her to pieces!

"May I ask..."

Mao Li Lan hesitated for a moment, but could not help asking out of curiosity: "What happened to the person who took care of you later?"

"She committed suicide!"

Before Su Fang Hongzi could answer, Lan Chuan Dongya spoke up: "Actually, that woman was my mother."

"Your mother?!"

Upon hearing this, Mao Li Lan looked surprised, then quickly cast an apologetic look toward Lan Chuan Dongya.

If she had known that the woman who committed the hit-and-run was Lan Chuan Dongya’s mother, she certainly wouldn't have asked.

"My father passed away when I was very young. After my mother died, I was bounced around living with relatives, and I suffered quite a bit during that time."

Halfway through his sentence, Lan Chuan Dongya raised his wine glass and said with a face full of gratitude:

"Fortunately, Teacher Su Fang provided me with support in every way later on. I owe who I am today to her cultivation. Teacher, let me propose a toast to you."

Hearing these words, Su Fang Hongzi looked very pleased and took a sip of red wine from her glass.

However, what Su Fang Hongzi did not know was that Lan Chuan Dongya had practiced saying these words in front of a mirror countless times in private, just so he could say them without a flaw in her presence.

Otherwise, just seeing Su Fang Hongzi’s hypocritical face would have made him want to vomit.

Su Fang Hongzi set down her wine glass, sighed with a look of regret, and said: "Actually, besides taking care of my daily life, Dongya’s mother was also my most important friend. It’s a pity that she took a path of no return due to a momentary lapse in judgment."

Hearing this, Lan Chuan Dongya subconsciously tightened his grip on his glass, though his face remained full of gratitude.

"Actually, many of the employees in Teacher Su Fang’s company are like me—people who lost family members to car accidents."

"That’s right, Teacher Su Fang’s goal in doing this is to help those who became orphans due to car accidents become independent."

The bespectacled female secretary nodded in agreement, quietly buttering up Su Fang Hongzi.

Song Ping Shou, who had a straightforward personality, was moved and said: "This is truly touching. I will definitely do my best to help at the charity gala next week."

"Me too."

Pian Tong Zhengji looked at the wedding ring on his ring finger and nodded slightly.

"Actually, my wife also died in a car accident twenty years ago. Being able to attend the charity gala hosted by Ms. Su Fang this time, I think my wife’s spirit in heaven would also be very comforted."

Listening to Pian Tong Zhengji’s heartfelt words, Lan Chuan Dongya felt exceptionally pained.

Because according to the information Lan Chuan Dongya had investigated, the woman Su Fang Hongzi had hit and killed with her car was actually Pian Tong Zhengji’s wife.

If Lan Chuan Dongya had been hesitating about whether to kill Su Fang Hongzi when he first learned the truth...

Then after learning that Su Fang Hongzi had actually invited Pian Tong Zhengji to attend the charity gala she was hosting, Lan Chuan Dongya could no longer hold back.

This woman, Su Fang Hongzi, was simply a devil in human skin.

All these years, Su Fang Hongzi’s passion for charity wasn't because of a guilty conscience, but rather using charity as an excuse to embezzle donations from kind-hearted people.

Relying on her carefully crafted persona as a philanthropist, the charity donations Su Fang Hongzi had raised over the years amounted to at least several billion yen.

Yet, most of these donations were pocketed by Su Fang Hongzi, with only a tiny fraction used for charity.

Therefore, Lan Chuan Dongya had made up his mind: he had to kill this devil in human skin before the next charity gala began.

Otherwise, if he really let Pian Tong Zhengji, a victim, attend this charity gala full of filth and sin, it would be too tragic.