Without Jiangxia blocking him, Kazuto Kyousuke finally managed to get into the "legs straight" position with great difficulty.
He was so moved he almost cried. But before he could even lift his hand to wipe his tears, a powerful force slammed into his back—undercover cops had arrived and immediately tackled him to the ground. They cuffed him, frisked him, and yanked off his hat and mask with practiced ease.
Kazuto Kyousuke squirmed a little.
Then he stopped struggling.
He used to think that if he ever got exposed and caught, he'd fight to the bitter end.
But now, with the plainclothes officers just restraining him—no beatings, no yelling—he suddenly burst into tears. For some reason, the police suddenly seemed... kind.
…
Jiangxia blinked in surprise when he saw the murderous aura around Kazuto start to fade.
He had assumed that someone as paranoid and repressed as Kazuto Kyousuke wouldn't let go of that kind of aura until he was hauled into court.
…Didn't expect him to fold so quickly.
Well, that made Jiangxia's job easier.
Then again, maybe getting publicly kicked to the ground and rolling around like a ragdoll was enough of a mental blow for a man with pride.
So yeah, turns out caring about saving face might actually be a useful personality trait…
A car pulled up to the curb. The windows were tinted pitch black. Another undercover cop was at the wheel.
Jiangxia looked thoughtfully at Kazuto Kyousuke as he was bundled into the vehicle, his expression unusually calm. It felt like he'd just unlocked a new technique for hunting ghosts.
Xiaobai snatched a final thread of murderous aura still lingering in the air and hopped into the car too, carefully wrapping the strand and stashing it away.
An ambulance arrived soon after and carted off the victim from the phone booth.
But Jiangxia figured it was too late.
Kazuto Kyousuke had been a surgeon. He knew exactly how to deliver a fatal blow. So if he jabbed someone several times with a metal rod at close range—and followed it up with two gunshots to the face—it probably meant game over.
What's more, Jiangxia had just noticed a leg-shaped shikigami forming by Kazuto's legs.
It was still faint, and probably could be torn off with the leftover murderous aura.
Jiangxia left that part to Xiaobai. That ghost was good at the clean-up anyway.
He shifted his gaze from Kazuto Kyousuke—only to see two plainclothes officers approaching him.
They had heard the desperate "Jiangxia!" shouted during the chase and instantly pegged him as someone connected to the case.
That said, they didn't suspect him of being the murderer or an accomplice.
First off, what Jiangxia had done just now… yeah, it looked violent, but it was clearly righteous and heroic.
Also, he was surrounded by four kids.
The cops had seen it—when the armed suspect ran over, the kids had instinctively hidden behind Jiangxia. Clearly, they trusted him.
Anyone who got that much trust from kids probably wasn't a bad guy.
With that in mind, the undercover cops turned their attention to the children.
They found them all huddled together like nervous quails, too scared to speak. The cops looked at them with sympathy—these poor kids had just witnessed a gun-toting murderer in the streets.
One of the cops reached out to pat their heads reassuringly.
The other one turned to Jiangxia and asked, "Do you know that guy from earlier?"
Jiangxia was silent for a moment before replying in a low voice, "His voice sounded familiar. Kinda like my attending physician."
The two plainclothes officers exchanged looks. Yup, Kazuto Kyousuke was indeed a doctor.
So the two of them did know each other.
…
The cops had arrived in a large van, spacious enough—but still, it wouldn't do to have ordinary citizens sitting side-by-side with an armed criminal.
Luckily, the police station wasn't far. They left one officer behind to escort Jiangxia and the kids there separately.
Conan was deep in thought the whole way, clearly troubled.
Jiangxia's attending physician had turned out to be a murderer… that was unexpected.
No matter the illness, if the treatment lasted long enough, doctor and patient would naturally build some sort of rapport—especially in psychiatric care.
Could it be that Jiangxia had slowly started noticing something off, which is why he stopped going to the hospital?
But then again, judging from how quickly he stopped in his tracks when the doctor called out, it didn't seem like he hated the guy. If he did, wouldn't he have kept going—or even landed a few more hits while he was at it?
Conan's dad was a mystery novelist, and Conan himself had read plenty and was sharp as a tack.
The more he thought about it, the more his imagination ran wild—like those stories where a psychiatrist gains the patient's trust, only to manipulate them into committing crimes.
Surely not…
Conan immediately grew suspicious. This felt serious. He wanted to say something, but didn't know how to bring it up.
Finally, he just looked at Jiangxia and let out a weary sigh.
—Both parents dead, chronically ill, constantly running into murder cases… okay, that last one probably didn't count. But still, even going to a doctor, Jiangxia managed to end up with one who had zero medical ethics.
They all grew up on the same street.
Why was Jiangxia's life the one stuck on hard mode?
…
Jiangxia, for his part, was in a great mood.
He'd just stepped outside and picked up a leg-type shikigami and scored a rare, much-coveted murderous mushroom soup base.
As he was leaving the police station, he looked at the kids next to him and suddenly had the urge to give the Junior Detective League a pennant of appreciation.
The three kids saw him staring at them for a bit. After recovering from the mental trauma, they whispered that they wanted to go play in the park and promised to behave and not bump into any pedestrians.
Jiangxia didn't really understand why they were reporting to him, but he didn't care enough to ask. He just nodded.
The three kids grabbed Conan and dashed off in a blur—like a trio of baby birds finally let out of their cage.
…Well, there was still one fake old bird trying to look back longingly, but holding himself back with great effort.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 30 days by POWER STONES for 10 BONUS Chapters.
Progress: 19/60(approx)*