Yu Quan arrived at Maruzenjiro's house at exactly 1:30 PM.
However, both expected and unexpected, Maruzenjiro, who had eagerly invited Yu Quan, did not appear....
In fact, not even a single servant was present in the entire Maruzenjiro residence. But—
Perhaps due to his collector's nature, Maruzenjiro's home had no doors or fences, instead resembling the open design of a university campus.
"Yu Quan." Conan, idly squatting beside the fountain in the courtyard, greeted Yu Quan upon seeing him.
"Conan?" Yu Quan raised an eyebrow, "No longer calling me 'Yu Quan gege'?"
Conan's lips twitched, "You know my identity."
Thinking back to the time he turned back to his adult form in front of Yu Quan, Conan sighed.
He had specifically asked Dr. Agasa about it, but unfortunately, the doctor could only conclude that it was likely a coincidence involving some ingredient in the old baijiu that reacted with the medicine Conan had taken.
This had temporarily restored Conan to his original form as Shinichi Kudo.
Because of this, Conan had even tried drinking old baijiu again, but sadly, the second restoration never occurred.
He could only guess that it required a state of high fever to take effect...
"I must remind you, even if you are Shinichi Kudo, I'm still older than you," Yu Quan smirked, glancing at Conan.
Conan's lips twitched, unwillingly saying, "Yu Quan gege."
"Good," Yu Quan ruffled Conan's head.
He was used to it, really used to it... Conan's whole shoulders slumped, and he abruptly changed the topic, "Yu Quan gege, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, Maruzenjiro wanted me to take a look at the feng shui of his house, appointment was for 1:30 PM." Yu Quan casually replied.
Turning to glance at Kogoro Mori, who was rushing out of the nearby guest room, "Since Detective Mori is also here, I presume he has received a case."
"Also scheduled for this time?"
Although Kogoro Mori and Yu Quan weren't in competition, scheduling both at the same time…
Was not a courteous act.
"Actually... Detective Mori arrived over an hour ago," Conan pursed his lips, looking towards Kogoro Mori.
"Midway, Maruzenjiro took a call and went to the meeting room, and he's been there ever since..."
"Didn't he say anything in between?" Yu Quan raised an eyebrow.
"No..." Recalling the phone that had been ringing repeatedly for over ten times without being answered, a bad feeling crept into Conan's heart.
"If I'm not mistaken, the meeting room should be over there?" Yu Quan pointed towards a room across from them.
"Yes." Conan subconsciously nodded, then suddenly remembered something and widened his eyes, "Could it be..."
"Correct, there are soul fluctuations there." Yu Quan nodded without hesitation.
"No... no way?" Conan's eyes widened, but his feet didn't hesitate as he ran towards that room.
Having witnessed the "real" world, Conan had absolute faith in Yu Quan's abilities.
"Hiss—" Seeing the rather gruesome scene, Conan's footsteps came to a halt.
Maruzenjiro, whom he had met at noon, lay on the table with his eyes wide open, his body covered in deep, gaping wounds...
There was no doubt, Maruzenjiro was dead.
Moreover, scattered on the cabinet beside Maruzenjiro's body were piles of sword marks.
"Conan, don't run around in other people's places!" Ran, catching sight of Conan's figure, chased after him, crossing her arms and glaring at him.
The next second, a scream rang out, "Ah—"
Kogoro Mori, attracted by Ran's scream, rushed over, "Ran, what's wrong? Are you alright?"
"Um? Mr. Maruzen? Ran, call the police!"
Yu Quan, who had slowly walked over, expertly gathered Maruzenjiro's soul into his system space.
That's thirteen soul energies... quite fast, thanks to Conan!
Conan was hopping around inspecting the crime scene, completely oblivious to Yu Quan's gaze.
It was Ran, who had reported the incident, who noticed Yu Quan's actions and couldn't help but swallow hard, "Yu Quan, is Maruzenjiro's soul there too?"
To be honest, Ran felt like she was no longer scared of ghosts.
She had been afraid before, because she was uncertain. Now that she had confirmed the existence of ghosts... she wasn't as afraid anymore!
Of course, the most important factor was her confidence.
After all, the talisman she got from Yu Quan could even ward off the Split-Mouth Woman!
"Yes." Yu Quan nodded, his eyes thoughtfully fixed on the only item in the room that seemed to be intact.
It was a bronze dragon-shaped ornament!
From the materials standpoint, the ornament wasn't made of the most top-tier materials.
However... this thing was clearly ancient, a relic!
Most importantly, Yu Quan detected the same energy fluctuations in this ornament as he had in some of the artworks in the Central World Art Museum.