Jangxia Tongzhi packed his luggage and himself. When he came downstairs again, everyone else had already gathered in the living room.
Aside from the four of them who'd come to the villa together, the rest were Suzuki Ayako's college classmates.
The group included three men and two women. In addition to Suzuki Ayako and the three guys Jangxia had been mentally tagging one by one, there was also a short-haired woman named Chikako Ikeda.
Ikeda Chikako seemed to be a minor celebrity.
Ran Mouri perked up when she heard the name. "You're the author of The Kingdom of Cyan? I love that novel!"
The Kingdom of Cyan had been Chikako Ikeda's debut back in college, and it even won a Best Newcomer Award.
It should have been something to brag about, but when Ran brought it up, Chikako Ikeda's expression darkened, and she changed the subject in a hurry.
Which was understandable.
Jangxia remembered that The Kingdom of Cyan had actually been plagiarized. The original author was a girl named Atsuko, who had been part of the college film club.
Two years ago, on the day The Kingdom of Cyan won the award, Atsuko had hanged herself.
As Jangxia recalled this, Suzuki Ayako sighed. "It's so nice to see everyone again. If only Atsuko hadn't… then maybe we—"
"Enough!" Chikako Ikeda suddenly exploded, slapping the table as she shot to her feet. "This is supposed to be a fun reunion! Can we not talk about dead people and ruin the mood?!"
Jangxia paused mid-reach for the biscuit tin. He glanced at the fat guy next to him, noting the man's murderous aura had ticked up. Too bad it hadn't improved the taste of the biscuits—they were still pretty meh.
Suzuki Ayako, now clearly flustered by her friend's outburst, got up to start prepping dinner.
Meanwhile, the fat classmate scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. "The weather forecast said it's gonna rain tonight, so I'm gonna reinforce the roof a bit. I noticed some damage when we got here—don't want leaks."
That was Ryoichi Takahashi. Yeah, he was fat, but he was a surprisingly agile fat man with great hands-on skills.
Whether it was fixing roofs... or dismembering bodies... the guy was scarily efficient.
Jangxia munched on his bland biscuit and watched Ryoichi Takahashi heading toward the balcony.
Whether it was Fat Brother's murderous aura or Jangxia's own "prophetic ability," it was obvious—Ryoichi Takahashi was the "bandaged man" they'd seen on the bridge.
The bandages weren't the strange part. The weird part was that no one would think this big guy could be that person.
But Ryoichi Takahashi wasn't actually that fat—his current beer belly was just stuffing.
He'd faked his weight to transport a corpse unnoticed and to mess with the estimated time of death. All part of his plan to kill Chikako Ikeda as revenge for Atsuko.
Takahashi grabbed his toolkit and climbed up to the roof. He quickly disappeared from view. No one noticed… except Jangxia.
At the dining table, the long-haired handsome guy among the male classmates pulled a wall-thump and tried to flirt with Ran. "Wanna take a walk in the rain?" he asked suavely.
Ran hesitated. She really wasn't interested in flirting right now.
Yeah, the guy was good-looking, but after spending time around Jangxia's face every day, she'd developed an above-average resistance to generic hot dudes.
She didn't turn him down flat, though—Ran wasn't great at saying no.
The long-haired guy saw her hesitation and made a bold move. In the name of "helping women make choices when they're indecisive," he grabbed her wrist and started dragging her toward the door.
"The mountain air in the evening is super fresh. Come on."
Jangxia, still lounging at the table, gave them a lazy glance and said coolly:
"There's a damp smell in the air—it's definitely about to rain. Once the branches get wet, the bugs can't hold on and fall right off.
"Most bugs are harmless. Worst case, they land in your hair and make a stylish accessory... But if it's a tick, try not to pull it out with your fingers. You might leave the head stuck in your skin."
He sipped his tea.
"Also, I heard there are a lot of snakes in this area. They like warm, wet weather and usually come out before or after rain. Be careful where you step—step on the wrong patch of leaves, and it might bite you.
"And if you do get bitten, don't run. Running makes the venom spread faster."
As Jangxia spoke, the long-haired handsome guy froze in place at the door.
He wasn't afraid of bugs or snakes per se... he just physically couldn't move anymore.
Because the previously docile high school girl he'd been dragging suddenly became immovable.
He turned back in confusion, tugged a little harder. Still nothing.
Ran stared back at him, pale and shaking. "Maybe you should go ahead without me," she whispered. "The woods at night are kinda scary…"
The long-haired guy really didn't want to give up.
But he just... couldn't budge her.
After a solid thirty seconds of awkward resistance, he silently let go of her hand.
Then he casually flipped his hair, trying to save face. "Haha, yeah, I guess you must be tired from the trip. Take a break."
Jangxia calmly went back to sipping his black tea.
Conan, sitting nearby, threw Jangxia a grateful glance and subtly nudged the sugar cubes closer for him.
But then... something dawned on Conan.
Wait a second.
Why had Jangxia gone out of his way to stop Ran from leaving with another handsome guy?
Could it be that…
Conan's eyes widened in horror as the thought took shape.
His face turned pale.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 30 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 28/50(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS*
Glossary
Fat Brother: A slightly ironic but not derogatory nickname for a chubby character (here, Ryoichi Takahashi), often used in Chinese fanfics.
Wall-thump: A trope where a character traps another against a wall, often used in romantic or dramatic scenes.
Prophetic ability: Jangxia's joke reference to his uncanny ability to "predict" murders—really just genre-savvy awareness.