Jangxia Tongzhi looked at the package Sherry had sent and paused for a second to silently express his thanks.
Then, with practiced hands, he returned the package.
The courier who had brought it took it right back and left.
Jangxia returned to the living room, picked up his coat, but after a moment's thought, put it down again.
He turned to the bookshelf and began flipping through it until he found an old medical record.
The mention of Sherry had reminded him of medicine.
Medicine made him think of hospitals.
And thinking of hospitals inevitably led him to—
His attending physician: Kazuto Kyosuke.
Jangxia had recognized him back when he'd still been stuck in the hospital—this mild-mannered doctor gave off suspicious "little boss" vibes.
Once upon a time, Kazuto Kyosuke had been a genius in surgery. But during an operation, a colleague "accidentally" nicked his hand. From then on, he couldn't hold a scalpel properly and was transferred to cardiology.
Then, a year ago, Kyosuke learned that the hand injury had been intentional.
In a fit of rage, he killed that colleague and staged it as a suicide. The police never caught on.
…
When Jangxia first heard his attending doctor was Kazuto Kyosuke, he'd gone in with high hopes, thinking he might finally get to pick up a ghost.
But, like everyone else in this Detective Conan universe—Kazuto Kyosuke had no ghost. Not even a whiff of murderous aura.
Jangxia was thoroughly disappointed. After being discharged, he never went back.
But now…
Jangxia flipped through the old records, thinking of what had happened yesterday.
Ever since the world changed, even people who died five years ago could become shikigami.
So maybe—just maybe—Kazuto Kyosuke had something to offer after all.
Jangxia thought about it and figured it was worth a shot.
He turned on his computer and logged into one of his lesser-used email accounts.
Though Jangxia had been dodging appointments at the clinic…
Sherry had been dutifully scheduling them for him anyway.
The hospital Kazuto worked at would send patients a confirmation and some instructions a week before their appointment.
Jangxia scrolled past a ton of spam and paused at an email from "Mihua Yakushiye Hospital."
The date listed was… today.
A magical and extremely convenient coincidence.
He had the feeling that ever since he gained the ability to pick up ghosts, his European Emperor luck was making a quiet comeback.
Feeling upbeat, Jangxia shut the display, grabbed the coat from his chair, and headed out.
…
On the way, Jangxia's phone buzzed.
Toru Amuro had sent him another part-time gig.
This time: doing errands at an izakaya.
Jangxia felt a wave of sympathy for his overworked boss.
Then, without guilt, decided to take a rain check and ghost him.
Dr. Kazuto was a well-known physician—his appointments were always fully booked. If Jangxia missed today, it might be a whole month before he could get in again.
Sure, he could wait outside the clinic till Kyosuke finished work, then throw a sack over his head for a "chat"…
But ghost-picking wasn't just about brute force.
Sometimes, the smarter approach saved a lot of effort.
This rare opportunity for peaceful interaction shouldn't be wasted.
…
At Beika Central Hospital, Jangxia entered the consultation room. His eyes immediately went to the doctor's calf.
There—he spotted a shikigami.
Even better, Kazuto Kyosuke was positively wrapped in a high-quality murderous aura.
It had the scent of hot pot.
Specifically, Jangxia's favorite: mushroom broth base.
His throat moved slightly. He took a deep breath, kept a neutral face, and sat down.
…
A year ago, Kazuto had faked that suicide and escaped the law.
But the good times didn't last. Due to pressure from the deceased's family, the investigation was about to be reopened.
And wouldn't you know it—a cop on the task force just so happened to be one of Kyosuke's patients.
Kazuto, paranoid that the truth might come out, decided to act first: kill the entire team of officers and pin the blame on someone else.
Jangxia remembered this and mentally tallied up Kazuto's potential targets.
It was… a lot.
No wonder the murderous aura smelled so delicious.
…
Kazuto Kyosuke kept up a warm, friendly expression and chatted with the seemingly gentle Jangxia.
But the longer they talked, the more Kazuto felt a cold sweat down his back.
As a sharp cardiologist, Kazuto had excellent intuition. Something about Jangxia felt… wrong.
Of course, he didn't think it was ghosts or metaphysics.
No, he thought of those cases where unstable patients suddenly lashed out.
Kazuto calmly raised his teacup, using the motion to subtly edge behind his desk.
Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the drawer.
Inside: a stun baton, tranquilizer gun, police-grade pepper spray… and reassurance.
Sure, using these things on patients might get him in trouble with the hospital.
But that was still better than getting murdered by one.
He even had a real gun stashed in his bag.
Being a long-time famous doctor came with connections. Getting ahold of certain tools wasn't hard.
Feeling reassured, Kazuto turned his attention back to Jangxia, wearing the kind expression of a model doctor.
Jangxia, meanwhile, felt as though there was a bubbling hot pot steaming in front of him.
Every time he looked at Kazuto, he saw flavor.
Still, his face stayed calm as he weighed a tough decision.
To harvest the murderous aura… or the shikigami? That is the question.
If Kazuto successfully killed someone, the murderous aura would be "digested" and lost.
But on the other hand, once he did kill, there'd likely be more shikigami to pick up.
Murderous aura or shikigami… choices, choices.
The psychic world was a cruel place. You couldn't have it all—whether you were an adult or a bear child.
Jangxia sighed quietly and thought about flipping a coin.
But doing that in front of Kazuto would be a bit much.
Kazuto, meanwhile, was increasingly convinced something was off.
After a bit more back-and-forth, he decided to hand Jangxia a referral slip and sent him off for some tests.
Jangxia accepted the form and walked out—with no plans to return.
He'd gotten what he came for. He knew what state Kazuto was in.
Now came the fun part—deciding how to play this.
…
As Jangxia walked, his thoughts cleared up.
In theory, shikigami were reusable, while murderous aura was a one-time consumable—so the former was more valuable.
But that was based on his past life's logic.
In this world, the dead were… common.
Not too common yet, but that was probably because Conan hadn't fully awakened.
Give it time—serial murder cases would be popping up everywhere, and shikigami would be easy to grab.
But this kind of gourmet-tier murderous aura? That didn't come around often.
As a mature psychic, Jangxia decided he needed to think long-term.
…It had nothing to do with mushroom hot pot. Definitely not.
It was all about the big picture.
Yes, he decided.
This time, he would take the murderous aura.
…
Having solved the troublesome multiple-choice dilemma, Jangxia felt much lighter.
He descended the stairs—and spotted a few familiar faces below.
Ran Mouri, Kogoro Mouri, a strange doctor holding a potted morning glory… and, of course, Conan, ever-present.
Jangxia paused. His eyes landed on the group, subtly lighting up.
The upstairs-bound gang stopped in their tracks when they saw him.
Conan glanced at Jangxia, then at the sign next to the stairs.
On that floor: pediatrics, pediatric surgery, ENT, and…
Cardiology.
Conan froze.
Jangxia? At a hospital?
And walking around freely, without anyone dragging or restraining him?
A neighbor who actively avoided hospitals was voluntarily seeking treatment?
Conan twitched, subconsciously reaching for his phone to message Dr. Agasa with the good news.
After all, the doctor had been so worried, he was halfway through building a therapy robot to drop into Jangxia's yard at midnight.
But before Conan could send the message, something felt off.
Jangxia held a piece of paper—folded haphazardly, clearly a medical check-up slip.
Those departments were all upstairs.
But Jangxia was heading down.
Conan: "..."
This wasn't a guy going to get examined.
This was a guy trying to escape.
He turned to Ran, hoping she'd notice and maybe flex her force value.
If not, they might need Uncle Kogoro too.
But unfortunately, neither of them picked up on Conan's signal.
Just as Conan took a deep breath, ready to shout "That's suspicious,"
Jangxia beat him to it.
He slipped the form into his pocket, looked at the doctor with the potted plant, and asked, "This is…?"
The doctor was holding a lovely pot of morning glories.
Jangxia recognized the flower, of course.
He was just making conversation.
Because seeing Conan and the Mouri family usually meant a case was around the corner.
And that meant more shikigami… or murderousness.
He couldn't help being interested.
He had to find a way to get involved…
Glossary :
European Emperor: A person with absurdly good luck, especially with random chances or rare rewards.
Bear child: A slang term for a bratty or mischievous child.