Conan: I'm Really Not the Manipulator

The boy retreated angrily.

He noticed that Pu Siqinglan was looking at him not far away, so he raised his head and gave her a bright smile like a child.

Pu Siqinglan also smiled at him.

The secret passage was not deep. After walking about one floor high, they successfully reached the ground. Several of them looked around with flashlights.

"It's better than I expected," said Aoyagi Akimitsu.

He was not the only one who thought so. The passage in front of him was wide and there were not many forks in the road at first glance. It was not the underground maze that often appeared in some treasure hunting movies.

"Don't let your guard down. The butler said there are many traps in the castle, and there may be some here as well." The tall Russian secretary reminded.

"Of course, I'll pay attention."

The FBI agent from the United States responded to his reminder with a good-natured smile.

The group walked forward, with Aoyagi Binguang still walking in front to explore the way. After walking for about five minutes, they stopped in front of a door with a double-headed eagle engraved on it.

Seeing the eagle, Qingliu Binguang turned the flashlight and continuously scanned the entire heavy door up and down. When the light passed over the crown on the eagle's head, a violent vibration came from under everyone's feet.

Everyone looked at this scene in amazement. The ground slowly opened up and a staircase leading downwards appeared before them.

Pu Siqinglan looked at the downward passage. The strong heart that had been nurtured through long-term killing was now beating faster in intense excitement.

Thump, thump.

More than one person's heart was beating violently in the darkness.

Aoyagi Binguang looked calm and was the first to go down.

After he went down and looked around, he immediately took out a lighter with a shiny gold shell and two human faces facing each other on it. He bent down and lit the surrounding candlesticks one by one.

Orange candlelight was lit in the room. Pu Si Qinglan watched him casually smooth his hair that had fallen to his shoulders and push it back to the back of his head. A warm color also jumped into his light brown eyes.

The others put away their flashlights. He stood in front of a large wooden box and politely said to Kosaka Natsumi, "Ms. Kosaka, I remember you brought a key. Would you like to try it?"

Natsumi Kosaka should have been the person most curious about this underground space among the group, but she hadn't spoken a word since she entered the secret passage. When she heard Aoyagi Akimitsu speak, she even shuddered.

"Good, good."

She hurried over to Aoyagi Binguang and took out the key from her bag. The candlelight illuminated her face, which was full of tension.

She took a deep breath, carefully inserted the key into the keyhole, and turned it gently. The heavy lock fell with a click.

Aoyagi Akimichi lowered his head to estimate the weight of the top cover in front of him, and pressed it with his right hand. He looked up and said to Kosaka Natsumi, "I want to open it and take a look. Is that okay?"

Kosaka Natsumi nodded, and quickly stepped aside as if she was afraid of the dust.

"Squeak-"

A slow, heavy sound rang out in the room, echoing under the dome of the tomb.

The wooden box was actually a coffin, and inside it lay a skeleton that was no longer recognizable. The only way to tell that it was the remains of a woman was because she was wearing a skirt.

She folded her hands and placed them on her abdomen, with a red egg of memories quietly placed beside her hand.

Aoyagi Akimichi politely asked Kosaka Natsumi for her opinion again, and after getting her consent, he took out the egg directly and held it in one hand without any respect, as if it was just a worthless toy.

Pu Siqinglan's eyebrows jumped and murderous intent surged up in his mind.

"Mr. Qingliu, what do you want to do?"

Edogawa Conan noticed him walking towards a stone platform half a person's height.

"On the Shinkansen this afternoon, I looked at the design that Ms. Kosaka brought. It explained the design principle - it's similar to Russian nesting dolls. Just put one inside the other and shine a light from below to see the memories stored by the Tsar's family."

"It just so happens that Chairman Suzuki gave me another egg of memories. I can try it out here... Could you please put out the candle over there?"

Aoyagi Binkou took out another egg of memory from his bag, combined them into one and placed it on the stone platform, then turned around and spoke to them.

Pu Siqinglan walked to the candle closest to her and leaned over to blow it out. With this action, she once again observed the positions and environment of the people around her.

The tomb chamber was very large. In addition to the passage they had just come from, there was another passage - right behind the stone platform.

Kogoro Mouri stood behind her, blowing out two candles; the kid named Edogawa Conan was in front of Kosaka Natsumi, farthest away from her; the Russian secretary was opposite her, walking towards the last candlestick.

Aoyagi Binkou stood alone at the edge of the stone platform. The wind blew in from the passage behind him, lifting his black hair, and emeralds sparkled in his hair.

Pu Siqinglan was pleasantly surprised to find that her current position was so convenient.

As long as she shot Aoyagi Hikari, she could rush over and grab his hair ornaments and the egg of memories next to him, and then run away unimpeded from the passage behind. With the positions of the others, they couldn't stop her at all...

"Mr. Chinnikov?"

Aoyagi Binguang shouted, he held the flashlight but did not turn it on for the time being, as if waiting for the other party to make a move.

The tall Russian silently snuffed out the last candle with his fingers.

——Darkness suddenly fell.

……

"boom!"

In a bar, Vodka suddenly jumped up from his seat, and instinctively reached for his inner pocket to take out the gun, but when he turned around, he met Gin's gaze that looked like a fool.

He was startled and his eyes slowly moved downwards.

There was a glass lying on the ground, which Gin had held in his hand just a few seconds ago. The milky white liquor was all over the ground, and the faint smell of anise filled the air.

"...brother?"

Vodka shouted and looked at his eldest brother cautiously, not understanding why he suddenly smashed the wine glass.

Gin ignored him and the bartender who came to clean up. He watched the other party quickly clean up the accidentally fallen wine glass and the remaining aniseed liquor on the ground, and reached into his pocket.

Through the thin fabric, he felt the phone lying there. From the moment he entered the bar until now, his phone had been silent and no messages had come in.

He uttered a low tut in dissatisfaction.

...What on earth is that guy doing?

Chapter 287 Everyone is a good actor

Inside the tomb.

At the same moment when darkness fell, Pu Siqinglan quickly put on night vision goggles and raised his gun in the direction of Qingliu Binguang.

The whole set of movements was extremely fast, without any hesitation.

Like a carefully honed killing machine.

……

Pu Siqinglan is twenty-seven years old this year.

She committed her first murder twelve years ago.

That year, she had not yet left the United States to search for the treasures of the Romanov dynasty around the world. She was still in a training camp for a killer organization. After determining that she had a good talent for shooting, the instructor took her to the edge of a slum.

He gives her a real gun and motions for her to look across the street.

"This lesson is very important." The instructor said lightly, "I will teach you how to kill people. These people are your training props today."

Pu Siqinglan was stunned.

She could see that they were homeless people. There were piles of worn-out clothes, bedding and bags around them. Some scraps that could be sold were carefully placed against the wall to prevent them from being taken away suddenly.

They are people on the margins of society. Even if they go missing or are killed, it will not attract other people's attention, will not be on the news, and will not attract police investigation... They are indeed very good "teaching materials".

But at this time, the "student" Pu Siqinglan just stared at them blankly. Her hand holding the gun became stiff, and a trace of panic and confusion appeared on her face.

She knew this day would come.

From the moment she entered the training camp, she knew that she would reach this point sooner or later.

…But when she actually picked up the gun and was about to point it at a group of living people, she still hesitated.

She found herself unable to do it.

The instructor noticed that she was holding the gun but hadn't pulled the trigger, and looked over at her.

The instructor looked to be in his early thirties, thin and not in good health. But he had a special status in the training camp, and those who usually bossed them around always treated him with respect.

So Pu Si Qinglan did not dare to disrespect him. Her fear of him was even deeper than that of those cruel guys.

She looked him in the eyes, and she saw that in the moonlight above, those eyes were like two fine emeralds, and he said to her, "What are you hesitating about?"

Pu Siqinglan nodded, her finger reaching for the trigger, still trembling a little.

Seeing her actions, the instructor laughed.

His laughter was very light, almost inaudible in the dark night with noise in the distance, but Pu Siqinglan, who was standing next to him, heard it clearly.

For a moment, she felt as if a poisonous snake was crawling along her skin, and its tongue was slowly licking the last soft spot in her heart.

"Are you feeling sorry for those people?" he asked.

Pu Siqinglan was stunned and subconsciously wanted to deny it, but she saw the instructor smile again.

"They are indeed pitiful."

He looked at them and spoke softly.

"Not all the wanderers are self-indulgent people. Some of them are from a country that is in chaos. Some are middle-class and working-class people who used to work hard but went bankrupt due to illness. Some are retired soldiers who were already suffering from injuries and illnesses in the battlefield, and the country did not provide them with any help... They are just a group of ordinary people who want to climb out of the quagmire, or struggle just to avoid falling deeper..."

His voice was so light that Pu Siqinglan even heard a hint of gentle compassion in it.

"But what does this have to do with you?"

The instructor changed the subject, and there was only calmness in his emerald green eyes.

"Their past experiences, morals, and life pursuits have nothing to do with you - to you, they are just teaching props now."

"Let go of your reverence for life." He looked at Pu Siqinglan. "Ordinary people need to pay attention to this, but we don't. People who deal with crime all year round and still want to keep their conscience will only make themselves suffer."

A few seconds later, several gunshots broke the tranquility of the street.

……

Let go of your reverence for life.

Pu Siqinglan, who had been away from the training camp for many years, suddenly had the words of the instructor from many years ago flashing through his mind.