Once the words were spoken, naturally there was nothing more.
Sonoko blushed and handed the chocolate to Kyogoku Makoto, who accepted it bashfully, marking a conclusion to the matter.
But it was clear Kyogoku Makoto still had something to say to Fang Zheng.
"Mr. Fang Zheng, have you also trained in martial arts?"
Staring at Fang Zheng, Kyogoku Makoto’s expression was unusually serious. Although he knew Fang Zheng was just praising earlier, the issue... clearly didn’t lie there.
"More or less, I know a bit, just a little bit."
Fang Zheng took a sip of water and responded with a grin, while Kyogoku Makoto looked at him.
"With all due respect, you mentioned during the fight that karate is flashy but impractical... I can’t agree with that."
"Eh? Did Mr. Fang Zheng say something like that?"
Upon hearing this, Ran was shocked, but Fang Zheng merely shrugged.
"It’s a fact, speaking as a martial artist, karate is indeed flashy but impractical, focusing on form rather than force. To be honest, whether it’s you or Ran, you’re mostly dealing with powerless wastrels or those with only basic skills. Truly mastering martial arts would be like this..."
While continuing to speak, Fang Zheng stretched out his hand, grinning at Kyogoku Makoto.
"I could take you down with one hand."
"......"
Faced with Fang Zheng’s words, Kyogoku Makoto was silent. Indeed, as Fang Zheng said, he had already expended all his energy earlier. Due to Fang Zheng’s "performance", at that time, Kyogoku Makoto was burning with rage, far wilder than in the ring, but was still played around by Fang Zheng, resulting in his own bruised and battered state without Fang Zheng even breaking a sweat, which spoke volumes.
"But no matter what, you shouldn’t have beaten Arata like this."
Sonoko was speaking up for her husband now, this fair-weather friend.
"I didn’t hit him."
Fang Zheng raised both hands.
"I used a move called Big Dipper Shift, simply put, I return the force used against me. However much force he used against me, I returned that to him. So I didn’t beat him up like this; he did it to himself."
"Is there really a move like that?!"
Hearing this, both Ran and Conan were shocked.
"Of course, but given your abilities, it’s sufficient for simple competitions and righting wrongs. I’m not expecting you to encounter a master killer on the street, so no need to be too tense."
"But I still can’t beat you, can I?"
Kyogoku Makoto questioned Fang Zheng, who merely chuckled in response.
All was understood without further words.
While Kyogoku Makoto considered saying more, suddenly there was a knock on the door, and Ran stepped forward to open it, revealing two women in coats walking in.
"Sorry, have you seen Mr. Futakaku?"
"What happened to him?"
If Fang Zheng remembered correctly, Futakaku was the photographer they had encountered at the hotel entrance before. He mentioned he was going to photograph the Snow Woman. These two women were his friends, who had previously taught Ran and others how to make chocolates.
"He hasn’t returned."
Upon Fang Zheng’s inquiry, the short-haired woman replied uneasily.
"Earlier, seeing it start to snow, we planned to find him, but after searching, we couldn’t see any sign of him. Now the snow is getting heavier..."
At this, everyone looked out the window, only to find the sky had darkened, and outside, there was a continuous snowstorm.
"Let’s go out and look for him then."
Fang Zheng stood up and quickly made a decision, while the others nodded, and soon everyone left the hotel, heading towards the depths of the forest.
Fang Zheng walked behind, patting Conan’s head.
"I think I’ve won."
"What are you talking about?"
Conan was puzzled by Fang Zheng’s sudden remark.
"Earlier when the woman said she couldn’t find her boyfriend, although she appeared anxious, her behavior was very calm, without the typical worry and panic one would show when their loved one disappears."
Saying this, Fang Zheng sneered, looking at the short-haired woman calling out her boyfriend’s name up ahead.
"In situations like this, either she doesn’t truly love him, or she knows where he is. You know, if someone knows the answer deep down but pretends not to know, their behavior becomes contradictory. Next, when we find that person, if he’s warm or stone cold, we’ll know the answer."
"So you’re saying..."
Conan’s expression darkened, understanding the implication in Fang Zheng’s words. If the photographer’s girlfriend knew his whereabouts but pretended not to and brought them out to search, there would only be one possibility...
"That’s why I said, when out with you, someone always ends up dead, and you didn’t believe me."
"I........."
Conan almost gasped for breath, nearly fainting.
If I wasn’t a kid, I would fight with you right now... but it seems I can’t win!
So frustrating!
In the end, everyone still found the photographer’s corpse under a tree, along with a bloodied stick thrown next to him, so it was already clear — this was a murder!
And what scared everyone even more was that there was still a piece of chocolate placed on the corpse’s leg, exactly the same as the ones they had made earlier in the kitchen!
Regardless, everyone quickly chose to call the police, but... shortly a message came from down the mountain, an avalanche had occurred, and the police couldn’t come up for the time being, so everyone had to return to the lodge. Furthermore, they speculated that with such heavy snow, the culprit was unlikely to continue hiding in the deep forest in such a snowstorm, which meant — the culprit was very likely among them!
After returning to the lodge, everyone had no other choice. Eventually, Ran and the long-haired woman from the duo went to develop Mr. Futakaku’s camera photos to see if they could find any clues, while Fang Zheng took Conan and the others to watch the video they recorded yesterday to see if they could find anything.
After watching all four tapes, they didn’t find any clues, but it was Ran who discovered something when developing the photos — the last film on the camera captured a bloodstained photo, and the weather was still bright at the time, leading everyone to conclude that the photographer had been dead before the snow started falling.
After that, Conan and Ran stayed in the hall to continue watching tapes for clues, while Fang Zheng appeared somewhat bored, and Kyogoku Makoto stayed by Sonoko’s side. And just at that moment......
"Ah-----!"
Suddenly, a scream rang out, causing everyone to be shocked and quickly leave the living room, running towards the direction of the scream. Then they saw the duo of a short-haired woman and a long-haired woman standing in shock at their room’s doorway, staring inside with stunned expressions.
"What happened?"
Fang Zheng walked over and asked, and seeing Fang Zheng appear, the long-haired woman hurriedly pointed angrily into the room.
"You’re outrageous! These two people just barged into someone else’s room and are rummaging through stuff without knowing what they’re looking for!"
"What?"
Everyone looked up to find that there were two men in the short-haired woman’s room, and these two men were the hunters who had arrived at the lodge today. Previously, when Fang Zheng and the others were looking for Mr. Futakaku, they met one of them, and before returning to the lodge, they joined up with the other one, so they had some impression of the two.
They were quite flustered in the room, and seeing everyone appear, the short and stout man hurriedly raised his hands.
"We just wanted to see if there was any clue to solve the case......"
"That’s right, that’s right."
The tall man also quickly nodded.
"We didn’t take anything, though."
While saying this, the two were heading towards the door, intending to make a swift exit. But just as they reached the door, Fang Zheng blocked their way.
"Alright, you two, trespassing in someone else’s room and suspected theft, you’ve already committed a crime, extend your hands."
"Why?"
Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s words, the two men’s faces changed.
"You’re not a police officer, we’re just trying to solve the case."
"Sorry, I actually am."
Fang Zheng silently took out his credentials and flashed them in front of the two.
"I am Fang Zheng, special consultant to the Metropolitan Police Department. Alright, you two, I’m arresting you now on suspicion of illegal trespass and theft. Extend your hands."
"Ugh.........."
Seeing Fang Zheng’s credentials, the two men’s faces slightly changed, then they obediently extended their hands, and Fang Zheng took out handcuffs and cuffed them.
"Old lady, please prepare two empty rooms; I need to separate them for questioning."
"Understood."
At Fang Zheng’s request, the old lady nodded and turned to get keys, while Fang Zheng quickly issued orders to others.
"Ran, come over and help me with the record-taking; Sonoko, you and these two ladies stay here and see if there’s anything that needs assistance; Mr. Kyogoku, I’ll leave their safety to you."
"Understood."
Kyogoku Makoto also knew now was not the time for nonsense, and said nothing more, just nodded and stood behind Sonoko.
"Wait, what about me?"
At this moment, Mira couldn’t sit still any longer and hurriedly asked, while Fang Zheng smiled.
"You’re responsible for questioning the other one."
"Me?"
Confronted with Fang Zheng’s assignment, Mira was somewhat surprised; she had only been a princess and a queen, never a police officer, how could she interrogate suspects?
But Fang Zheng gave her a look, and Mira immediately understood and nodded.
"Leave it to me!"

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