Chapter 386

"Miss Hikari," Conan found the maid, whose stomach was growling with hunger, in the kitchen, "where is the chef?"

"Ah, at this time, everyone is probably eating in other rooms," the maid blushed, "actually, we maids were supposed to eat together too, but because we had to look for the Master, we didn't get to eat."

"Speaking of which," Conan asked, "you're the child brought by Brother Pomi's fiancée, right? They all call you a burden."

"Y-yes."

"Do you know the reason for your mother's passing?"

"I heard it was an unfortunate accident," the maid said, clutching her fingers, "at that time, I was weak after being sick and was hospitalized in the hospital owned by the Master, so I don't know the detailed circumstances."

"A hospital?"

"Yes, the Master used to be the director of the Mao Li General Hospital," the maid reminisced, "the Master was truly a good person; he covered all my hospitalization and surgery expenses. It's just that I heard he retired due to health reasons after I was discharged."

"I see," Conan tilted his head and asked, "so you're working here as a maid for the Master's sake?"

"Because I want to take care of the Master in my mother's place," the maid said, feeling very close to Conan, who looked like a small child, and bent down to explain with a smile.

"But it was mainly because I couldn't find a job after graduating from university half a year ago, and the Master asked me if I wanted to come because they happened to be short of a maid in the villa."

"Did you come here after the murder case that happened half a year ago?"

"Yes, I only heard about Miss Shimizu later."

The maid said embarrassedly, "I feel like I'm far inferior to Miss Shimizu. I'm still not used to this mansion even now. The Master clearly called me over this morning, but I didn't even know which room to go to, and as a result..."

"Could the Master be angry? Although I haven't been scolded since I arrived here, only others say the Master is very strict."

"Then," Conan asked, "what did the Master call you to do?"

"I don't know," the maid said awkwardly, "he said to go to the Nanban Room, but I don't know where the Nanban Room is."

Akaso Kaze said speechlessly: "Wouldn't you know if you asked someone else?"

"But the Master said I wasn't allowed to tell anyone and told me to go to the Nanban Room alone, and he specifically told me not to let the butler find out."

"Is that so?"

Conan gave the maid a strange look.

This girl is really carefree, standing up her master like that.

What kind of master would not lose his temper?

Or is it related to that fiancée?

"It looks like it's going to rain..."

In the villa corridor, the Mao Li family members met up again, but judging by their expressions, they still hadn't gained anything.

"We've already searched everywhere, but we still haven't found the eldest brother."

Mao Li Anzhi asked the long-haired woman: "Where is Brother Mao Li?"

The long-haired woman replied: "He should be smoking in the smoking room. He said he called the eldest brother's cell phone many times, but it just went to voicemail."

"Maybe Brother Brother Pomi left his phone somewhere," the woman with glasses said, taking out her phone to check, "I sent him an email 30 minutes ago, and there's been no response either."

"Beep!"

Just as they were speaking, the cell phones of everyone present rang, and the Mao Li family members, including Ren Ping, received an email from Mao Li Brother Pomi at the same time.

"It's the eldest brother!"

"I am going to tell you all my answer now, gather in the dining room. That's what it says."

"Mine too, it's a mass email. Is it finally starting?"

The excited and nervous group hurriedly found the butler and returned to the dining room to be seated.

Akaso Kaze and Conan also followed the maid, Hiwara Hikari, to the scene to witness it.

"Are there still two people missing?" Conan keenly noticed that the eldest daughter of the Mao Li family and the square-faced Mao Li Mao Li were both absent.

"Yeah, anyway, the representatives are all here," the woman with glasses sipped her coffee and looked at the eldest sister's lover, who was also her own ex-boyfriend, Ren Ping, and teased, "but we still haven't found Sister Shoyu, aren't you worried at all?"

"She often runs off to some place on a whim," Ren Ping said dismissively, "she always comes back on her own just when I'm getting worried."

"You'd better hold on tight; you finally managed to latch onto a rich woman, right?"

"Don't worry, once I get tired of her, I'll return to you, my ex-girlfriend, immediately."

Ren Ping laughed and joked with the woman with glasses.

"However," Mao Li Anzhi said sleepily, resting his chin on his hand, "it's already starting to rain, how much longer do we have to wait? And Brother Mao Li, how long is he going to keep smoking?"

"Could it be that he didn't receive the eldest brother's email?"

"Ah!!"

Mao Li's wife, the long-haired woman, took out her phone to contact her husband, and the maid, Hiwara Hikari, who was standing behind her, suddenly screamed, giving everyone a fright.

"What's wrong with you again?"

"J-just now, there was a strange shadow on the window." The maid, Hiwara Hikari, felt very aggrieved; she was the one who saw the anomalies every time.

"What strange shadow?"

Ren Ping, who was sitting by the window, got up in confusion and pulled back the balcony curtain. His gaze collided with the vampire-like Mao Li Brother Pomi hanging upside down outside the window. His body immediately froze in place, and his eyes seemed as if they were about to pop out.

"I-it's, it's, it's..."

"How is that possible?"

Everyone saw Mao Li Brother Pomi poking his head out from above; his fangs and pointed ears were exceptionally clear, and his pale complexion sent a chill through everyone's hearts.

"It really is the eldest brother!"

"The brother really has turned into a vampire!"

"No way, right?" Ren Ping opened the window with a pale face, "It must be hanging upside down with a rope or something."

"Whoosh!"

Before the window was fully opened, Mao Li Brother Pomi retracted upward, and by the time everyone went to the balcony to check, he was completely gone, as if he had flown away.

What was even more horrifying was that, accompanied by a flash of lightning illuminating the night sky, something almost unacceptable appeared right in front of everyone.

In the darkness, a giant bat-like creature flapped its two wings and flew away from the villa, and everyone immediately associated it with the missing Mao Li Brother Pomi.

The vampire turned into a bat and flew away.

"That monster flew up into the sky!"

The terrifying scene was deeply etched in everyone's minds, and everyone was speechless until they were awakened by the dripping sound on the balcony after the thunder.

"Blood! It's blood!"

Ren Ping was the first to discover the bloodstains dripping from the eaves.

"Can you get up there?" Akaso Kaze leaned out of the balcony and looked up.

"Above is the attic's smoking room. Hey, Brother Mao Li is right there!"

"No way?"

The long-haired woman stared blankly as Akaso Kaze followed the leading Mao Li Anzhi and ran out, her expression gradually turning into terror.

"H-has something happened to Mao Li?"

After leaving the dining room, passing through the corridor, and climbing the stairs, one reaches the attic.

Conan ran up first and pushed open the wooden hatch to the attic himself. A glance revealed Mao Li Mao Li lying by the attic window.

His neck, leaning against the window frame, was still bleeding outward, dripping down the eaves all the way to the balcony directly below.

His carotid artery had been severed, and he had already lost his breath.

"Husband!" The long-haired woman followed them upstairs, sobbing. Seeing Mao Li lying silently by the window, she almost fainted.

"Don't come over yet," Conan stopped the woman, "your husband was likely murdered."

"H-how could this happen? I'm finished," the woman choked, "my husband was my only support. What will I do from now on?"

Mao Li Anzhi supported the desperate woman and led her downstairs.

"Don't worry, we'll find a way; we're all family here."

"Was Brother Mao Li really murdered?" Ren Ping asked anxiously from below, "Then wouldn't it be terrible if we don't find my dear soon?"

"For sure," the woman with glasses said as a matter of course, "maybe Sister Shoyu has also been taken somewhere by Brother Brother Pomi, who turned into a vampire, and was pierced by a wooden stake just like in the legends!"

"Don't scare me."

"Hehe, if that's the case, you'll come back to me, right?"

The woman with glasses looked at Ren Ping with possessiveness.

"Judging by the condition of the body, the cause of death was a severed carotid artery." Conan said with a frown, "Although Mr. Mao Li was holding a knife in his hand, the possibility of suicide is very low."

"Why?" Mao Li Anzhi asked in surprise, "Isn't it because he committed suicide to avoid being attacked by the eldest brother?"

"There is a big difference between suicide and homicide. At the very least, it wouldn't be like this at the scene; it looks like Mr. Mao Li was suddenly slashed in the throat from behind while he was smoking."

"Eh?"

The few Mao Li family members looked at Conan in a daze.

"Y-you, how does a kid like you know so much?"

Conan did not answer, suddenly stopped in his tracks, and asked the group, "Do you know about the Nanban Room in this mansion?"

"Huh? Of course I do."

After leaving the attic, the old butler and the Mao Li family members led Akaso Kaze and Conan to the so-called Nanban Room, which was actually a room filled with many Nanban torture devices.

Nanban was the term used by the island nation in the past, influenced by China, for those Western colonial countries.

Because most of these people entered the island nation by ship from the southern sea near Kyushu.

"According to the Master, that's a story from the Edo period. At that time, the person who ruled this area was the ancestor of the Mao Li family, a daimyo who was very beloved by the people in his territory."

The old butler told a legend about the Mao Li family's past while leading the way.

"But the lord never had any heirs of his own. Just when there were rumors that he would let his younger brother inherit the family business, the lord suddenly took a beautiful woman as a concubine to live in the castle."

"As that concubine successfully gave birth to an heir, the people in the castle felt relieved. However, on a stormy night, the concubine was found to have fallen from a cliff and died, her body pierced by tree branches."