Chapter 5 Chapter Four Rescue the Hostages

On the other hand, after the bearded man and Kaoru stepped out of Shinshinsen Station, they came to the basement of a strange western-style building in a high-end residential area in the urban area. Inside the basement was originally a tavern. As soon as the two walked down the stairs, a small man with a pitiful face came out to greet them. "Oh! Boss, you are back!" "Hey! Little one, is there any movement here?" "No, even that girl is very good. Please come inside!" Led by the little man, the bearded man deliberately lowered his head, trying to avoid people's eyes and eyes. Kaoru also put down his veil to cover his face and walked through the tavern.

The tavern was full of people of the highest order, who drank and sang, and at the back of the tavern was a door with frosted glass, and on the other side of the door were two or three small rooms for secret meetings. When the bearded man and Kaoru disappeared behind the door, a man looked up from the corner table. This man was about thirty-five or six years old, and he always used to grab his bird's nest-like mess of hair, and put a crumpled blouse on top of his crumpled kimono, looking poor and down and out. Since just now, he had been lying on the table and sleeping for a while because of being drunk. At this moment, he suddenly raised his head and stood up staggeringly, so everyone around him was shocked by it.

"Hey, Bird's Nest, where are you going?" "I... I... went to pee." As he spoke, the man staggered through the crowd and disappeared behind the frosted glass door. The drunk man on the side looked at the man's back, turned his head and said to his companion: "Hey, that bird's nest looks very strange, which road is he on?" "That guy... He just wandered here from somewhere else recently. He used to be a charlatan who set up a fortune-telling stall on the street, nicknamed 'Tianyuntang'. I heard that fortune-telling is quite accurate! So I have some money on hand, but When it comes to wine, there is no resistance. Hehe! This kind of person is best settled."

"Well, that's true. However, we don't know him well, so we'd better be careful." "Haha! Don't worry! What kind of tricks can a good old man do? Come, have a drink!" If the man who said this sentence saw the Tianyun Hall behind the frosted glass door, he might be so surprised that he swallowed everything he just said. Because, when the frosted glass door snapped shut, the appearance of Tianyun Hall changed completely.His sleepy eyes, which were originally sleepy, suddenly became bright and bright. Who is this hairy, drunken man?He is a detective - Kosuke Kindaichi.

Of course, none of the people in the tavern knew that there was such a person. Kosuke Kindaichi looked around sharply, at this moment, there seemed to be the sound of a door opening somewhere.As soon as he heard the door open, he pretended to be drunk again. "What are you doing here?" The little man who came in just now asked him sharply. "Toilet, where is the toilet? Toilet, toilet, toilet... Oh! Don't get in my way, I can't hold it any longer!" "What? It's the Temple of Fortune? Seriously, the toilet is here! Humph, troublesome fortune-teller. Look, the toilet is here! Now you can release the flood as much as you want until dawn. Hahaha..."

After shrugging and laughing, the little man went back behind the door, dragging another thin figure from one room to another at the same time. Seeing this, Kindaichi Kosuke couldn't help but tremble all over. It's no wonder, because the thin figure just now was dragged away by the little man. When the little man passed the door of the toilet again, he saw that there were two more feet in the warehouse in front of the toilet, so he couldn't help but stop. "Who is here?" He asked loudly, but no one paid attention to him, replaced by thunderous snoring. "Who? Who is sleeping here?"

The little man looked with his head, and it turned out that Tianyuntang was lying on the ground in a big shape, sleeping soundly.He was even more furious now, and hurriedly shouted: "You bastard... Hey! Get up, get up!" However, no matter how much the little man yelled, Tianyuntang still did not respond, and the snoring became louder and louder. "You scum, let you sleep until dawn in this kind of place! Anyway, you can't do anything big. Hmph!" As the little man said, he raised the legs of Tianyuntang and pushed him into the warehouse. Then he opened the frosted glass door and walked to the entrance of the tavern, shaking his head.

A few minutes later, the snoring from the warehouse suddenly stopped, and then the door of the warehouse opened quietly, and Kosuke Kanedaichi poked his head out from inside. Kindaichi Kosuke opened his eyes wide to look around, then carefully opened the door of the warehouse, and quickly walked outside. He tiptoed towards the back corridor, and soon stopped in front of the room where the little man forcefully dragged a figure into. Kindaichi Kosuke put his ear to the door to listen to the movement inside, after a while, he nodded and jumped into the next room. There was no one in this room, and the lights were off, so it was very dark inside, but there was a ventilation hole in the wall shared with the next room, and a faint light was coming in from that hole.

Kosuke Kindaichi pressed his ear to the wall and searched the next room for a while, then looked around and found a large empty box. He moved the empty box under the vent and tried shaking the empty box. Luckily, the empty case is very strong and does not rattle at all. Overjoyed, Kosuke Kindaichi quickly climbed onto the empty box and peeped into the next room through the vent. I saw three people in the next room, one of them was a bearded man, one was a woman in black, and the other was a thirteen or fourteen-year-old child. He looked like a little beggar, with a ragged shirt and ragged trousers, and as for his face...

(Ah! What's going on here? The boy's face is actually wearing an iron mask!) Kindaichi Kosuke was almost dumbfounded. There were two holes in the iron mask, so the boy's eyes could be seen. However, there was a sharp spring in the mouth of the iron mask that held down the boy's tongue. Although the boy still has his breath and can see others, he has no way to tell others who he is, let alone ask others for help. Seeing this strange situation from the vent, Kindaichi Kosuke couldn't help shivering all over his body. At this moment, the bearded man suddenly laughed loudly with joy:

"Oh! Miss, are you okay?" (Miss? So, the person wearing the iron mask is a girl! How can they be so cruel to girls?) Thinking of this, Kosuke Kindaichi couldn't help feeling a tight pain in his chest. And the bearded man also deliberately said in a respectful tone: "Missy is in good health. It's really congratulations. It's just that I haven't seen your beautiful face for a long time. Alas! You are wearing a mask, so of course you can't see your face! Hey, Kaoru, take her Take off the mask." The woman in black——A Kaoru nodded, and opened the mask with a silver key, only to see a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl's face appearing under the mask. The girl burst into tears and stared at the bearded man with hatred. The bearded man looked at the girl with a half-smile, and then deliberately said to her respectfully: "Oh! Miss Sayoko, I'm really glad to see you're still healthy... Haha! No, I should say, you're still healthy, but I'm not very happy! Hey, Sayoko, why are you staring at me like that? Your eyes Staring at me fiercely, do you have any resentment in your heart?" When the girl heard this, she said bitterly: "You are a devil! You are a devil! You made me suffer..." "What? You say I'm a devil? Haha! You can say whatever you like! Even if you want to say that you are the granddaughter of the Marquis Yuchong, no one will believe it! My granddaughter—Miss Sayoko, was killed on a ship returning from Italy, so I advise you to stop telling such big lies!" "No, I'm not lying, I'm really Sayoko. Although I haven't seen Grandpa face to face for a long time, I am indeed Sayoko, the granddaughter of Marquis Tamamori!" "Lie, you lie! What evidence do you have to prove that you are Sayoko?" "evidence?" The girl raised her head fearlessly and said: "Yes, I have evidence, that is my fingerprints printed on the golden candlestick. As long as my fingerprints are consistent with the fingerprints on the golden candlestick, it can prove that I am a genuine Sayoko!" "Haha! Is this the candlestick you're talking about?" The bearded man said in a mocking tone, and took out a black box. When the girl saw the box, her face immediately turned pale as paper. "The fingerprints on this candlestick are the only evidence of your identity. If I break this candlestick... No, what will happen if I rub this fingerprint off the candlestick?" Hearing this, the girl immediately showed a look of fear on her face. "Ah! Please don't do that, if this candlestick breaks..." "Haha! In this way, the evidence that can prove that you are Sayoko will disappear without a trace. But if I don't remove the fingerprints, how can I rest easy?" "Ah! Devil! Devil! You..." The bearded man opened the lock of the black box happily, and took out something wrapped in black velvet cloth from inside. When he opened the velvet cloth with slightly trembling fingers, his face suddenly became very ugly. I saw that what was wrapped in the velvet cloth was not a bright golden candlestick, but an iron dumbbell that looked a bit, but not quite. Moreover, there was a piece of paper pasted on the dumbbell, with several large black characters written on it. The veins on the bearded man's forehead were exposed, and he was so angry that he couldn't speak for a while. After a while, he raised the dumbbell and slammed it hard on the ground. "Beast, beast! You little brat, next time I bump into you, I will twist your neck in half!" He was furious, and soon stared at the woman in black——A Xun with a fierce look on his face. "A Kaoru!" Kaoru had been trembling with fear from just now, and now when the bearded man called her name angrily, her whole body trembled like an electric shock. "Yes... I'm sorry, please forgive me. I didn't mean to make fun of you, so I brought this thing on purpose. I thought... I thought it was a golden candlestick..." The bearded man said fiercely: "Hmph! You've disgraced me, and you're still humiliating in front of this girl. Look carefully, this girl is laughing at me now! You incompetent guy, you can't even tell the difference between a dumbbell and a candlestick!" "But, brother, apart from this, I didn't find anything else like a candlestick! I've checked the kid's luggage several times, and there's nothing except this heavy item. Could it be that he sent it in a package?" have they gone?" "It shouldn't be possible. Haven't we already investigated in the fourth town of Xiajin? Didn't the child go out or go to the post office?" "Yes! That's true. However, the boy may ask his uncle to send it to the post office! Anyway, he must not have brought the golden candlestick to the train." Kaoru desperately defended herself, but the bearded man was still very angry. Just when he was about to curse, he suddenly opened his eyes wide as if he had discovered something, and stared at a small bronze mirror on the table. After a while, he smiled and pressed the call bell. The little man immediately responded. "Boss, what are your orders?" "Well, put the iron mask on her, and then take her to the place where she is usually held!" "Yes. Hey, little girl, come here." "Uncle, please, I will be obedient, don't let me wear that scary mask..." "Whispering! This stuff will make you really obedient." The little man grabbed the arm of the desperately resisting girl, forced her to put on the terrible iron mask, and dragged her out of the room. After the bearded man saw the two leave the room, he turned around and said to Kaoru: "Ah Kaoru, I have something to tell you, it's not convenient here, let's talk in the room over there." After speaking, he walked out of the room first.Kaoru's face was pale, and she timidly followed behind. The most pitiful thing is the girl wearing the iron mask - Sayoko. The little man took her to a cellar-like room with a rather rough bed in the corner and only a dimly lit small lamp on the ceiling. The little man pushed Sayoko into the room, and couldn't help saying sarcastically: "Hey! Be sensible, stay here for me obediently! Haha!" After speaking, he locked the door and hummed a tune all the way up the narrow stairs. After the little man left, Sayoko was left standing by the door alone. After a while, she slowly walked back to the bed and burst into tears. "Ah! Dad, Mom!" Sayoko opened her throat and shouted, but because she was wearing a scary mask, no one else could hear her cry. Her tears overflowed from the eye sockets of the iron mask, and wet the terrible mask. Xiao Yezi cried for a long time. Suddenly, she raised her head and cowered in a corner of the room in fear. Because she heard the sound of small footsteps approaching her room. (Has the little man folded back? No, it's impossible, if it was him, why should he walk on tiptoe? ) Sayoko wondered uneasily, her body couldn't help shaking frequently. Soon, there was the sound of someone turning the doorknob outside, and then the door opened with a "crack", and a face of a man that Xiao Yezi had never seen appeared through the crack of the door. Of course, that person was Kosuke Kindaichi, but Sayoko didn't know him. When Kosuke Kindaichi saw Sayoko, he immediately put his fingers between his lips, signaling her to keep silent, then carefully closed the door and came to Sayoko's side. Sayoko backed away in fright, her eyes fixed on the intruder. "Are you Yucho Sayoko? Don't be afraid, I'm not a bad person, I'm here to save you. Do you know Unino Kiyohiko?" Upon hearing Unino Kiyohiko's name, Sayoko couldn't help but want to speak, but sadly, because she was wearing that iron mask, she couldn't speak at all, so she could only nod her head vigorously. Kosuke Kindaichi also noticed this, quickly scratched his head, and said apologetically: "Ah! I'm so sorry, I forgot that you can't talk. Then answer my question with a nod and a shake of your head!" When Xiao Yezi heard this, she nodded immediately. "My name is Kosuke Kindaichi, and I am a friend of Kiyohiko Unino. This time, I was entrusted by Unino to find your whereabouts. It was hard to find out that you were imprisoned here, so I have been looking for opportunities to rescue you these days. Tonight I have finally waited for this opportunity. Now is a very rare opportunity! If I don’t escape now, I’m afraid I won’t have another chance in the future, what do you think?” Sayoko looked at Kindaichi Kosuke for a while before nodding again. "Okay, those people are currently drinking in the lobby, if you want to escape, you can take advantage of it now!" With the assistance of Kosuke Kindaichi, Sayoko stood up, but she still seemed a little hesitant. "What? Why are you trembling all over? If you miss this opportunity, your situation will be even more dangerous!" Sayoko trembled for a while, and finally nodded vigorously.Kindaichi Kosuke giggled and said: "Don't worry, I have investigated this building in detail. There is another staircase in this basement besides the one I came down just now. That staircase leads to the warehouse at the back. If we escape from there, It won’t be discovered by others. Well, let’s go now!” Sayoko nodded quickly this time. "Very good. Now please grab my body and I will turn off the light. In this way, even if someone peeps at the movement in the room, they will not find that you are not in the room." As soon as Kosuke Kaneda turned off the light, the whole room was pitch black, but he still took Sayoko's hand, slipped out of the room smoothly, and carefully locked the door. "In order to avoid people's discovery, we can't use flashlights, but don't worry, as long as you hold on to the corner of my clothes, there is nothing to be afraid of." After hearing this, Sayoko had no choice but to hold onto the corner of Kosuke Kindaichi's clothes tightly, trying not to make any noise even when walking.Her heart was beating rapidly, and she was sweating profusely all over her body. (If I am caught by the bad guys again, I don’t know what more tragic encounters will happen in the future...) Thinking of this, Xiao Yezi felt her legs go weak, and this dark corridor seemed to be endless, and she couldn't finish walking. However, they still came to the end of the corridor after all. "Ah! I finally came to the stairs. The stairs are very steep, Xiao Yezi, you go up first, and I will follow you. Be careful!" Since the stairs were very sloping and the surroundings were very dark, Sayoko almost had to climb up the stairs. Behind her, Kosuke Kindaichi tied the hem of his clothes to his waist and "climbed" up the stairs. Not long after, Sayoko's head seemed to hit something, and she stopped in panic. "Ah! Don't be nervous, that's the cover of the basement. You try to push it up, and it should be able to open." Sayoko tried to push the cover as she said, and a gust of cold wind rushed towards her. She hurriedly continued to climb up, but at this moment, a black curtain suddenly covered her, making her step on the floor desperately. "Xiao Yezi, what's wrong? Did you fall? I told you to be careful!" Kosuke Kindaichi also hurriedly climbed out of the stairs, but he was also covered by a black curtain. "Oops!" As soon as he yelled, he was pushed hard and fell to the ground. "Hey, little one, tie his feet up!" The bearded man smiled triumphantly. "Haha! The so-called catching a turtle in a urn is exactly what it is! You two don't know that we are here to wait for you, and you are still going here! By the way, you sloppy man!" As the bearded man said, he kicked Kindaichi Kosuke hard from the outside of the bag. "Just now when you were peeping at us from the next room, your face was already reflected on the bronze mirror on the table, but you didn't know it. Hey, little one, is Xiao Yezi's bag tightly tied?" "Don't worry, I'm tied pretty tight." "Very well, then do as I said just now!" "Yes, I see." In the dead of night, a mysterious motor boat came to the moonless and starless port of Kobe. The motor boat stopped when it reached the seashore, and a man stepped out of the boat and threw two big sacks into the sea. He watched the two sacks gurgling and sinking, and said: "Hehe! Even Shakyamuni Buddha doesn't know what's in the bag!" The man talking to himself was none other than the little man. After a while, he drove the motor boat again and disappeared on the sea in the dead of night.