Chapter 897: Don't say I didn't give you a chance

"Mr. Mao Li!"

A young monk noticed Mao Li Kogoro and hurriedly came up to shake his hand and introduce himself.

"Thank you for coming from so far away. I am Long Yuan, who contacted you, and this is the abbot of this temple, Yuan Hai."

"These three here are the patrons of our temple,"

The monk Long Yuan continued to introduce the other guests.

"Mr. Sakura Shozo is an antique art dealer; he runs an antique shop on Teramachi Street. Beside him is Mr. Mizuo Shintaro, the young master of the Mizuo school of Noh theater, and this last one is Mr. Saijo Taiga, who runs a used bookstore."

The antique art dealer Sakura Shozo, who was being introduced, was broad and fat, wore glasses, and the fat on his face revealed the slickness of a businessman. He casually complimented Mao Li Kogoro, though the two beside him were neither fawning nor cold.

The young master of the Mizuo school was a youth with medium-short hair, wearing a kimono. He nodded slightly at Mao Li Kogoro, possessing quite a bit of young master temperament.

And the used bookstore owner named Saijo Taiga looked like a bookworm, with a pair of round glasses on his long, thin face, looking the most amiable.

"Hehe," the old monk laughed, "These three patrons are actually just like us; they are all fellow kendo enthusiasts."

"You are all practicing kendo," Mao Li Kogoro said in surprise, "No wonder the abbot's body is so robust."

Akaso Kaze stood behind, holding Toyama Kazuha, with no intention of introducing himself at all.

Mao Li Kogoro, of course, was even less likely to introduce him; if they knew Akaso Kaze's identity, who would still pay attention to him?

"Then, Mr. Mao Li," Long Yuan took the initiative to lead the way, "I will take you to see the situation now."

"That's fine."

"That..." Saijo Taiga looked at Akaso Kaze as they brushed past each other, opened his mouth, but couldn't ask the question.

"That young man looks a bit familiar," a trace of doubt flashed across Sakura Shozo's face, "Have I seen him somewhere before?"

"Maybe." Saijo Taiga frowned slightly.

After parting ways with Sakura Shozo and the others, Mao Li Kogoro followed Long Yuan into the main hall, "What? That main Buddha statue was stolen?!"

"Yes, it has already been 8 years,"

Long Yuan opened the shrine, revealing the only two remaining Buddha statues.

"The one on the left is the Nikko Bodhisattva statue, and the one on the right is the Gakko Bodhisattva statue. The Medicine Buddha that was originally placed in the middle was stolen."

"At the time, I advocated calling the police immediately, but I was stopped by the abbot. He said that if it was meant to be, perhaps one day we could be reunited with the Medicine Buddha."

"He really is open-minded," Mao Li Kogoro muttered helplessly, "But the public will be visiting the day after tomorrow, right? It's too tight a schedule to find a Buddha statue that has been missing for 8 years in just these few days."

Long Yuan led everyone to the side hall's meditation room and handed a letter without a stamp to Mao Li Kogoro: "Actually, just five days ago, I found a letter in the temple's mailbox."

"There was no stamp, and no sender was written. It's playing god and ghost."

Mao Li Kogoro opened the envelope and took out two sheets of letter paper from inside, on which was written: "As long as you solve the mystery of this painting, you will know the location of the Buddha statue."

The paper below depicted some strange things, and incidentally, it also included the original photo of the Medicine Buddha.

"What is this drawing?"

Long Yuan went out after pouring tea. Mao Li Kogoro frowned and placed the drawing in front of Akaso Kaze.

Akaso Kaze had a face full of black lines.

You guy are too lazy; you're the one who took the commission fee.

He pushed it away casually, pushing the drawing in front of Conan.

Don't say I didn't give you a chance later.

Conan was indeed excited and looked at the drawing paper.

The overall picture looked like the steps of a pyramid.

The top five layers depicted a red cicada, a green tengu, and a red goldfish; the fourth layer had a yellow chicken and a yellow loach, and there was also an ink dot next to it.

Further down, between the second and third layers, were drawn violets, a green tengu, and a purple Mount Fuji, with an acorn outside.

It is very likely that the one who stole the Buddha statue from Sanno Temple back then was that Genji Hotaru, but why send such a letter now, 8 years later?

Conan muttered to himself. ===== CHAPTER 899 =====