Even with the help of Kimie Shimabukuro, a shrine maiden who is quite famous on the island, in the end, everyone did not find the missing Karasawa.

"It's not very appropriate to say that, but guys, if he really got lost in the mountains and forests...... "Shimabukuro Kimie tilted her head in embarrassment, "Then you may have to wait until tomorrow's festival is over, and let the prefectural police send more manpower to find him." ”

Although the area of the island of the United States is not very large, due to the small population, the degree of development is still very insufficient, and more than half of the area of the island is a jungle with extremely complex terrain and relatively primitive ecology.

According to Kimie Shimabukuro, even if it is a local who has been in and out of the mountains and forests for many years, it is difficult and time-consuming to go to the farthest point, and if Karasawa disappeared because he had an accident in the mountains and forests, he lost consciousness and could not move on his own, and it would be difficult to complete the search with only one or two skilled guides.

"In the past, there have been no cases of tourists going missing, and the local residents can't help in finding them?" When Kogoro Maori, who had an unpleasant face, said this, he was almost questioning.

Shimabukuro-kune smiled bitterly and shook his head: "It has also happened, but everyone on the island can't find time to help now." That's why I said it would take until after the festival was over. ”

She looked at the only brightly lit commercial street under the purple night sky, with some helplessness and bitterness in her expression.

"Since the boom in tourism on the island, some islanders have completely abandoned traditional industries such as fishing and made a living from the tourism industry. Now they will not allow anyone to spoil this major festival. Shimabukuro Kimie straightened her shrine maiden costume and replied seriously, "Even if I say it, nothing will change." ”

“…… There was still no signal on his phone. Mao Lilan, who had finished dialing again, pinched his phone with a mist in his eyes.

"What did the police say?" Kogoro Mori looked at Heiji Hattori, who had finished broadcasting the call and returned to the room.

"They said that the wind and waves were too strong today, and it may take the day after tomorrow to go to the island to assist in the search for people." Hattori repeated the reply he had received, his brow furrowed.

Although the nearby sea is full of reefs and the current is fast, he doesn't think the local county police will really exaggerate to such a slow level.

This is likely to be a pretext for them to be well aware of the resistance they are facing at this time, and instead choose to avoid its edge.

Sensing this underlying logic, it aggravated Hattori's worries.

If the unfriendliness of the residents of this island has reached the county police and they feel troublesome and don't want to conflict with it, then the missing Tang Ze, will it be the same......

"Let's go eat, everyone." After a moment of silence, Mori Kogoro was the first to stand up, "It's useless to be anxious now, save your energy." If we're all too tired to support ourselves, that kid will only be more helpless. ”

Several people looked at each other a few times, and slowly followed in the footsteps of Maori Kogoro.

Although the worries are still there, although the anxiety is still there, but as this sentence says.

As Tang Ze's backing, they can't fall before they find him because of negative emotions.

This anxiety was like a heavy stone that fell on their hearts until the beginning of the dugong festival the next day, along with the fact that the search was fruitless.

"Knock knock—"

The drums beat noisily, and the bustling crowds all head in the direction of the shrine, and in the darkening sky, the crowd of people going up the mountain is like migrating ants, and small black dots cover the stairs, pulling out a long line.

Conan and his party, who were standing in the crowd and following everyone along, looked out of place with the people around them who were looking forward to excitement and talking and laughing.

They stood at the back of the barrier, looking at the islanders singing and dancing, their faces very complicated.

This festival is undoubtedly the reason why the vast majority of tourists come to this island, and it should have been a great event to look forward to.

However, when they realized that this celebration was the biggest obstacle in front of their rescue comrades, and that they were forced to miss the culprit of the golden 48 hours, they looked at the rally in front of them and tasted something different.

"For the sake of a carnival, it is necessary to overcome all difficulties, even ignore the possible suffering, and all must be compromised for it...... It's too cold and utilitarian. Hattori Heiji, with his hands in his pockets, looked at the fire burning in front of the shrine in front of him with a cold face, and the corners of his mouth were tense.

"We shouldn't have left him alone in the hotel." Yuanshan and Ye lowered their heads, looked at the wooden card in their hands, and squeezed it hard.

Youth and beauty are certainly desirable wishes, but if it comes at the cost of watching the relatives and friends around them go away, it seems to have become a vicious curse.

No matter where the god is, whether it is a mermaid or not, if there is really a blessing, then I wish Tang Ze peace and sound......

Hattori Heiji looked at the carefully prepared festival performance, only to feel that the more he looked at it, the more irritated he became, so he simply looked away and looked down at Conan who was standing beside him.

Then he found that Conan was holding his cell phone and dialing the number.

"Are you still dialing Kudo?" He bent down to Conan's ear, "Don't waste your phone's battery." ”

Yesterday, they had basically determined that Tang Ze might have fainted somewhere in the mountains and forests, or had lost consciousness after being attacked, and his mobile phone had probably fallen into an area without signal, so he had hardly tried it today.

Conan's mobile phone, as expected, sounded a prompt that the other party was not in the service area or had been turned off.

Hattori shook his head, and Conan hung up the phone, but his expression relaxed a little.

He said that since the people of the Strange Thieves were also on the island, it was impossible for them to sit back and watch Tang Ze encounter a major risk.

Hearing that Joker's mobile phone had also lost signal, he guessed that they were probably also searching for Tang Ze, and even said that they had followed Tang Ze's footsteps.

After calming down a little, he finally raised his head and looked at the shrine in front of him.

Although Karasawa's sudden disappearance disrupted their plans, he hadn't forgotten the many mysteries of the island and the unaccounted for client, Saori Monri.

This dugong festival is like the climax of the music, in the blazing firelight, pushing everything to the highest point.

"Oh, are you coming—"

"Lady Goddess, it's Lady Goddess who is coming out!"

"Wow! The door is really open! ”

Amid the sudden cacophony of cheers from tourists and islanders, the sliding door in front of it was slowly pulled open by the people on both sides, revealing a gray-haired figure kneeling in the center of the screen.

As if disturbed by the movement behind him, the man slowly got to his feet and turned his head slowly, revealing a face that had been painted extremely pale, but could be seen with a slight wrinkle.

She picked up the long pole on the shelf in front of her, turned around slowly, used the stick in her hand as a crutch, and dragged the clogs with great difficulty, and moved little by little to the front of the steps.

"Okay, what a small ......" Looking at the person standing up in front of him who was only half as tall as a normal person, Maori Kogoro was taken aback, "Has the body shrunk to this extent?" ”

“…… It's just an old woman with heavy makeup. Hattori pouted.

If the so-called eternal youth and immortality are like this, maintaining the appearance of dying old age, dragging the body that is still breathing, and living until their children and grandchildren pass away......

Isn't this immortality a pure torture?

Thinking of this, Hattori Heiji looked down at the hair spin above Conan's head and secretly gritted his teeth.

So, this guy must be protected, and this secret must be protected.

This is the door to the taboo, the Pandora's box that opens and releases calamity.

As they spoke, the old man in front of the shrine slowly stretched out the pole in his hand and leaned in front of the fire in front of him, igniting the strip of cloth at the top.

Then she turned, raised the stick in her hand, and leaned into the paper door.

"Huh? Is it possible to ignite a fire directly on a paper door? Is fire safety okay? Startled, Kogoro Maori leaned back reflexively.

The paper door of this material will be lit up as soon as it is close to the open flame...... Is it a question whether the residents here will have fire extinguishers......

However, instead of engulfing the paper and wood door as he expected, the flames left a burning mark on the door as she traced.

She wrote one stroke at a time, and soon, a number of three Chinese characters was left on the door.

"Actually, I used this method to write the number drawn......" Kogoro Maori, who had palpitations, touched his neck and breathed a sigh of relief.

And in the crowd, an irrepressible cheer has already sounded.

"Actually, it's me!" Ebihara Shoumi, who had met them, looked at the sign in her hand with bright eyes, and couldn't hide her excitement, "Great, I'm so lucky!" ”

Conan, who had been attracted by her voice, frowned as he watched her excitement to the point of exuberance.

This person is very wrong.

Ebihara Sumi is a beautiful woman with long hair and fluttering hair.

Compared with Kimie Shimabukuro's gentle and beautiful face, her beauty is a more dense and atmospheric showy, and with the wide dress she always wears, she is a very visually appealing beauty at first sight.

However, at this moment, her face was pale, and under her eyelids was an unmistakable black and gray, coupled with the folds on the lying silkworm, like a guy who was overexcited and hadn't slept for a few days.

To put it bluntly, at first glance, it looks like a female ghost.

He had seen people in a similar state before, for example, Naoko Kuroe who was yelling at Karasawa yesterday.

After Tang Ze's disappearance, these residents who had shown unfriendliness to him naturally became his key observers.

Combined with the map left in Karazawa's room, Conan even felt that maybe a certain resident of the island had seized some excuse to trick Karasawa out of the hotel.

Today, Kuroe Naoko also went to work in the gift shop, but judging from her appearance, she seemed to be frightened by something, her face was pale, and she was still chanting something in her mouth from time to time.

Just like the current appearance of Ebihara Sumi.

"Huh......?" Looking up at the distant mountains and leaves for a while, he stared absentmindedly at the numbers on the door, and after a few seconds, he reacted slowly, "I, I seem, ...... draw?"

"Really......" Maolilan leaned over to look at her sign, her eyes wide.

"Looks like my prayer has taken effect." Yuan Shan and Ye cheered up and clenched the wooden sign in their palms, "We will definitely find Tang Ze's soon!" ”

"Uh, Dugong Arrow, does it still have this effect?" Maolilan, who didn't understand, scratched her cheek blankly.

"Miss Shimabukuro said, this kind of arrow has no effect of blessing people with immortality, it is a forbidden arrow that can break evil and not be disturbed by demons and monsters, it will definitely work!" Toyama and Ye clenched their fists and cheered themselves up.

So, what do you want, choose which one to believe?

Heiji Hattori, who was speechless by her adaptive prayer, couldn't help but shake his head.

As they spoke, several women in kimonos had already stepped forward with water-soaked brushes to extinguish the flames on the door.

In the midst of the white mist, Kimie Shimabukuro walked out from behind the screen, with her head held high, and walked to the front of the steps with a dignified posture.

"So, guys, we're going to start making this year's arrows now, and we'll give them to everyone who draws them." Shimabukuro-kune raised his voice and announced to the crowd in front of him, "Please go to the mermaid waterfall and wait!" ”

"Mermaid Falls, it sounds like a location in the mountains......" Conan, who crossed his arms, muttered the name, "When we were looking for people in the past two days, have you ever seen a place like a waterfall?" ”

The island is densely forested, with a large difference in altitude and elevation, and the main area of human activity is a gentle area near the coast, which does not sound like a waterfall.

"So, it's a place we haven't been looking for in the past two days?" Hearing him say this, Hattori's eyes lit up suddenly.

Almost impatiently, a few people followed the islanders who guided the tourists, climbed down the steps of the shrine, followed the torch-lit path, and into the tall jungle.

This is a forest that is dark enough to be illuminated by the canopy of trees that shades the sky during the day, and at night, even under the guidance of the fire, the surrounding trees are still so dark that it is impossible to see the details at all.

The path carved out between the trees was not spacious, and under the cover of the tall trees, it was impossible to see the sky above, and it was as if they had walked directly into the dark abyss.

If it weren't for the crowds of tourists filling this road, you would have felt a deep and lonely fear when you entered this place alone, even during the day.

"No wonder we didn't find it at all." After looking up and trying hard for a while, Hattori Heiji, who still couldn't see the top of the tree clearly, pursed his lips, "This path, if you don't light a torch and walk over directly, you shouldn't be able to find a road here at all." ”

"It's too hidden, this place should be known only to the locals, right?" Conan also nodded and said, quickening his pace.

Only locals know that the roads are hidden and hard to find...... The more I talked about it, the more suspicious I felt.

Could it be that Tang Ze was lured here by a certain resident and then attacked......

Even if they are anxious, surrounded by tourists, they have no room to speed up their running, so they can only follow the moving crowd, slowly step on the dead leaves and stones under their feet, and walk along the mountain road into the jungle.

At the end of the road is an apparently cleared open space that barely holds a lot of people.

A line of waterfalls, falling from a height of tens of meters, falls into the waterhole below, and the fence pulled up by the locals has drawn a circle around this waterhole.

In front of him was clearly a place for the host to stand, and several ignited braziers were erected there, and the water and waterfall behind them all emitted a faint light with the light of the fire.

It's as if it's really a wonderland in the dark woodland.

"It's quite atmospheric......" Maori Kogoro, who was looking at the venue, muttered.

"If you don't do that, you won't be able to become a tourist hotspot, right?" I don't care about the ceremony ahead, I just want to end the clearance as soon as possible, and Hattori Heiji, who is convenient for finding someone, muttered.

When the tourists occupied the open space here, Shimabukuro Kimi, who was holding a few arrows in his hand, stepped on the clogs, passed through the passage specially left, and walked into everyone's field of vision.

"Then, please ask the three lucky winners who have won the lottery to come forward and receive the arrows!"

"So, I'm over, huh?" Toyama Kazuha took a breath, waved his hand at his companions, and bent over the fence in front of him.

At the same time, Naoko Kuroe, who was dressed in black, also crossed the isolation rope, wrapped the windbreaker on her body, and approached silently.

"What about the other one, isn't he there?" Kimie Shimabukuro looked left and right for a moment and asked loudly.

"Here it is, here it is." A hoarse voice sounded, and an uncle with a drunken face lifted the rope in front of him and walked into the clearing.

"Hey, it's not that person......" Conan, who was impressed by Ebihara Shoumi, quickly frowned.

She doesn't look like a guy who will give up at all, huh?

Shimabukuro-kune glanced at the visitor's face, nodded, didn't say anything, and waited for the three of them to stand still in front of him and start distributing arrows.

At the same time, several islanders who had been preparing for a long time straightened the salute in their hands and began to light the fuse.

"The light of happiness shines on the three lucky winners......" As the fireworks were lit into the air, Kimie Shimabukuro began to chant aloud.

Soon, however, her voice was interrupted by a noisy crowd of tourists.

"Over there, what's that ......!" With the light of the salute, the tourists who saw the waterfall behind her screamed.

Something that clearly looked like a human shape was slowly swaying in the small and delicate waterfall waterfall.

"Mermaid, it's a mermaid!" Naoko Kuroe, who was standing in front of Kimie Shimabukuro, let out a terrible scream and fell to the ground.

With her movements, the arrow in her hand snapped off.

And Conan and Hattori Heiji, who were always paying attention to the changes in the field, shouted uncontrollably the moment they saw that figure clearly.

"Karasawa ——!"

(End of chapter)