Chapter 853 It’s better to come sooner than to come sooner
Where else could this be? This was Mutsumi Nishikawa's dream, symbolizing her yearning for wealth and glory. It was also her current nightmare, a nightmare that she couldn't help but recall even if she saw some dancing open flames.
This is the bedroom belonging to the eldest daughter of Mamiya.
Gorgeous curtains, elegant decorations, all expensive and beautiful things that represent status, all look the same in the flames.
Musumi Nishikawa, who was lying on the ground, held her mouth firmly, restrained her urge to shout crazily, and stood up in embarrassment.
The flames that were burning quietly in the entire room suddenly started to flow violently as she stood up. The weird smell and high temperature made Nishikawa Mutsumi's face become unrecognizable with sweat pouring out.
Without thinking, she instinctively touched the wall lamp that was extremely hot in the fire scene and turned it twice.
After living here for so many years, she has already understood the intricate secret passages in the entire castle. Naturally, she knows how many entrances and exits there are in this deadly tower, and how to escape safely. .
Four years ago, this was how she escaped from the fire and faked her own death.
As the mechanism on the wall rotated, the wall behind her that was originally tightly closed began to rotate. Nishikawa Mutsumi had no time to carefully distinguish what was behind the wall, and immediately staggered back into the open passage. inside.
However, when the machine door completely rotated, Nishikawa Mutsumi felt that the light in front of her eyes was refracting repeatedly in a psychedelic dizziness, as if the whole world was spinning with the door.
When she regained her sight, there was still a blazing flame in front of her eyes.
This time, it was the servants' room in the tower, where Mutsumi Nishikawa once lived.
The Mamiya family, which has no shortage of living space, can be called generous in this regard. She has lived here for many years, sharing a room with another maid of similar age, and they get along harmoniously and friendly. .
Then four years ago, at that fatal moment, she was also burned to death in this tower.
It was too late to think about what was going on with the interconnected rooms that completely defied common sense. Before the fallen Pyro moved, he screamed again and opened the next passage.
When Nishikawa Mutsumi’s panicked figure completely disappeared, the secret door she entered rotated again.
Kang Ze, holding Conan in his hand, led his teammates and walked in leisurely.
"I was so scared that this woman must be the culprit of the arson four years ago." Conan reached out to touch the surrounding flames and said firmly, "I don't have much knowledge in forensic science. Research shows that the skeleton just now is consistent with Ms. Masuyo Mamiya in terms of age and physical characteristics. That is the real old lady of the Mamiya family."
The seemingly terrifying flames are there. When his fingers touched it, they wrapped around it gently, as if they were dipping into hot water, without causing any harm to him.
Compared to the room he entered from the oil painting in the hall, the sea of fire in this area looked more terrifying at first glance. However, as long as you concentrate and investigate carefully, you will soon find that this place is more like an "oil painting" than the sea of fire.
It doesn’t mean to hurt anyone, it just records the past quietly, as if time has been frozen on that sad night.
"You are right. If you didn't do it intentionally, how could you kill all the people in the family who knew the old lady very well in one go?" Tang Ze shrugged and reached out to tease her. "But it's safe for us here, but not for that woman."
Still thinking, "The world of oil painting is a sea of fire and purgatory, but the real sea of fire is a flowing oil painting." Conan was stunned by these dialectical questions: "Why, can the world still tell who is the real murderer and cause targeted harm to her?"
"Is there such a thing as what you said?" situation, but not here." Tangze said pertinently, "Having a specific reaction to a specific person is a very subjective mechanism that requires 'judgment and identification', and here, everything you see from midnight Everything is just a mirror of the real world. It only records reality truthfully and does not give much feedback.”
To give a specific response to a specific group of people, there must be a consciousness that can control and influence the space like the owner of the palace. This will not be the case in a public palace that belongs to everyone.
Although this place looks very much like the personal palace where they used to work on problems, its essence is still the impression space of the Mamiya family castle. It is a group thing, but it is particularly special because of the limitations of the group. .
Karasawa didn't explain much, but Conan's response was very quick.
He touched his chin and nodded thoughtfully: "If you put it this way, then I probably understand. The previous area is the power of public opinion and words, recording voyeurism and conspiracy theories. , so the attack is particularly strong, but here, it is more like a scene of true condolences and mourning, which is naturally very peaceful.”
As we crossed from room to room, we observed the expressions of different areas. , Conan has been able to understand a little bit about the operating logic of this world.
Joker has always emphasized that it is a mirror of the real world, and what is reflected in the mirror is naturally the impression that exists in reality.
"You react very quickly, Detective-kun." Tang Ze highly praised the detective's flexible mind.
"Then why did you say that the situation would be different for that woman?" Conan pointed to the direction where Nishikawa Mutsumi disappeared, "As long as she touches her a little bit, she will immediately realize that there is nothing here. Danger.”
My brain was occupied by the shocking images. Nishikawa Mutsumi panicked and fled, relying on her survival instinct and muscle memory.
Once she stops or is approached by the flames during a mistake, there is no reason why she cannot discover the secret of the room.
"Because this is a mirror." Miyano Akemi, who covered the lower half of her face with a fan, laughed. "You will see something in the mirror no matter what you look like. She is a murderer with thirteen lives in her hands. , faced with everything that recorded her sins, she felt fear and escape. "
It was like Mamiya Mitsuru, who exposed his greedy ambitions in front of the servants with a little guidance from Karasawa, caused an uproar in public opinion. , the cognitive world in the castle that they are violently clearing will fluctuate, and then there will be a chance to connect with reality again, allowing them to successfully throw Conan out to see the bones, and then kick Nishikawa Mutsumi in to make barbecue.
This impression space composed of a few people is itself supported by the so-called curse rumors and the treasure left by the master of the Mamiya family. The core is life. The special public opinion environment formed by this small group of people in the castle is weak and easily influenced.
When Mutsumi Saikawa’s overwhelming fear and imagination overlap with this world, what strengthens it is no longer the rules of the impression space, but the amplified terror of the evildoer itself.
"So, to her, this is a real fire place?" Conan suddenly opened his eyes in surprise.
For others, it is a place of mourning for the past; for her, it is the source of all fears and desires.
I am afraid that this is the reason why the Phantom Thieves brought this culprit to this world. She will be tortured here, experience fearful persecution and torture, and meet her end.
Even if she can leave here safe and sound, everything she has experienced is so unbelievable that it will only be regarded as a crazy hallucination under high pressure, and no one will know what happened to her.
"Is this the essence of your change of heart..." Conan's mind briefly flashed a few faces crying in front of the camera because of the intervention of the Phantom Thief of Hearts, and for a moment he didn't know how to praise them for their clever thinking. , or to say that the method is radical, after thinking about it, I can only comment, "Simple and crude, but really effective, what a powerful conspiracy." It is indeed a bit tortured, and it is indeed blameless.
It is not the Phantom Thieves who torture evil people, but the devil in their own hearts. What they drink is the bitter fruit brewed by themselves, so how can they blame others for being too cruel to them?
Just like today's murderer, even if she knows the Phantom Thieves' plan, what can she say? You have the ability to protest against lynching, but you have the ability not to set fire to it?
Tangze smiled, and when it fell into Conan's eyes, all he could see was the exaggerated arc of the lips under the joker's eyepatch.
"This is the power of cognition. Welcome to the world of cognition, little detective."
————
While the detective and the Phantom Thieves were leisurely discussing the nature of the world, Mutsumi Saikawa, who was running away like crazy, couldn't laugh at all.
The strong burnt smell had already filled her breath, and all she could see were human bodies that had lost their human form, leaving only a twisted silhouette.
Sometimes she entered a burning tower, sometimes she entered a secret passage filled with smoke, which completely overlapped with her memory of that night four years ago, and sometimes she suddenly entered an ordinary castle. room, and when she had a slight suspicion about whether she had escaped, the burning firemen caught up again and set the room on fire, which was no different from daily life.
Sometimes she enters the castle in the daylight, and sometimes she enters the dark secret passage. Her body should have been dehydrated and exhausted due to long-term strenuous exercise, but she is driven by the instinct of survival. , ran desperately to the next door.
She seemed to be trapped in boundless purgatory, unable to find a way out or an end.
In this state of losing basic judgment, Nishikawa Mutsumi certainly didn't realize that she had entered and exited the cognitive world several times during the Phantom Thieves' operations.
This world is very narrow. No matter what state the room is in, it is based on a real castle, with a real secret passage mixed in. Even Mutsumi Nishikawa, who is very familiar with it, has already I can no longer trust my perceived environment.
Her hair was burned in strands here and there by the flames, and her clothes were in tatters, making her look extremely miserable.
So when Karasawa, who had seen her almost bottoming out, put her back to reality and was about to let Conan use the real treasure reasoning to completely break her defenses, Nishikawa Mutsumi was completely unaware that she was really back. Into reality.
She just kept her head down and kept running, running through the long staircase in the hall, across the shiny marble floor, and across the long corridor that was wet by rain.
Standing on the lawn outside the castle, feeling the wetness of the rain falling from the sky that instantly wetted her body, Nishikawa Mutsumi's chaotic mind became slightly clearer.
It is a purgatory made of flames, and you know that there will be no rain in the purgatory of flames.
Musumi Nishikawa stretched out her hand blankly and caught some falling raindrops.
She was kicked into the cognitive world by Tang Ze around noon, and it was already past dusk when she fled in embarrassment.
It was dinner time at this moment, but everyone in the castle was still searching for the missing child outside, and no one noticed her strange state for a while.
Nishikawa Mutsumi thought for a moment in a trance, and his eyes blurred by sweat finally began to focus. When he raised his head, he saw something that definitely should not be an illusion.
The RV carrying outsiders was parked quietly in the heavy rain.
Did I finally escape?
Nishikawa Mutsumi swallowed hard and wanted to collapse to the ground. She remembered the scene where she had been deceived by the surrounding environment many times before. She just started to relax and was immediately overtaken by the Fire People. She couldn't help but feel doubts. .
But now the scene is outside the castle. Even if it is still an illusion, she has no way to escape.
Feeling wavering in his heart, Nishikawa Mutsumi gritted his teeth and finally decided to drag heavy steps towards the RV with all the lights turned off.
Maybe there will be one or two people up there. Even if there is no one, this thing that does not belong to the castle makes her feel more secure.
After running wildly for hours in the flames, she couldn't help but feel fear and flinch when she saw any part of the castle. She really didn't dare to look back and return to the place she should have known so well.
She walked to the door of the RV and pushed the door tentatively. Unexpectedly, she found that the RV was not locked, and the folding front door was pushed open with only a little force.
Nishikawa Mutsumi, as if she had received an amnesty, rolled and crawled onto the floor of the RV.
Haiyuan, who secretly ran into the car to check the data, was startled, and quickly shrank back, hiding among the pillows on the sofa seat, carefully hiding his figure.
Oops, she forgot to lock the door. She shouldn't take it lightly just because she came here to record data on a daily basis...
Nishikawa Mutsumi, whose SAN value was almost back to zero, had no time to notice. Such a tiny movement.
She lifted her steps and took two steps towards the spacious space behind the RV. She came face to face with the large white egg that was exposed after Haihara Ai briefly opened the wrapping paper to check the data.
The crystal-white eggshell exudes faint fluorescence, lying quietly in soft bubble wrap and fabric. This scene is really a bit surreal, and Nishikawa Mutsumi can't help but be stunned.
The next second, a loud explosion and fire suddenly exploded in front of her eyes.
A charred human body fell high and hit the floor in front of her.
Actually, when the man fell halfway down the road, the flames and explosive dust had been swept back as if rewinding. When the man actually fell to the ground, he was already intact and with a handsome face. young man.
But Mutsumi Nishikawa, who was completely emptied of her last bit of sanity by this frightening movement, fell to her knees on the ground and let out a tragic scream.
“They’re catching up, they’re catching up... Don’t come over, don’t come over, don’t come over!!!”
At the same time, Tang Ze, who was cutting a shadow into black mud with a sword in his hand in the Impression Space, turned his head thoughtfully.
"What is better than movement and stillness..."
(End of this chapter)