Chapter 354: The Secret Shadow Closes in on Haibara 5
Walking a few steps past the rusted warning sign, Conan's gaze locked onto the police officers cordoning off the area. They were examining a freshly discovered body, confirming the dark premonition that had been gnawing at his gut.
Meanwhile, deep in the woods, Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi were still wandering through the dense underbrush, desperately searching for the path back to their campsite.
Inside a dilapidated wooden cabin, Haibara and Qiqi finally found a moment of respite. Haibara quickly threw the heavy iron bolt across the door, locking it from the inside. She let out a long, shaky breath, her legs giving out as she prepared to sink onto the dusty floorboards to rest.
Qiqi, however, did not share Haibara's exhaustion. As a zombie, her stamina operated on an entirely different metric. She still had plenty of energy to wander around, her wide, blank magenta eyes scanning the shadowy interior of the cabin.
The little zombie padded softly into an adjoining room. A few moments later, she emerged, her talisman fluttering slightly as she squatted down next to the exhausted Haibara.
"Haibara," Qiqi said, her voice flat and perfectly calm. "There is an axe in that room. It has a lot of blood on it."
Haibara froze. Her breath hitched in her throat. For a split second, her exhausted brain struggled to process the sheer gravity of the little girl's deadpan statement.
The chilling reality quickly crashed down on her. If Qiqi wasn't mistaken—and she rarely was about such visceral details—this isolated cabin wasn't just a hiding spot. It was the murderer's primary crime scene. The killer would inevitably return to dispose of the evidence. They were sitting right in the center of a death trap. They had to leave immediately.
As if the universe itself were answering her grim realization, violent noise erupted. Just as Haibara grabbed Qiqi's small, icy hand and lunged toward the exit, heavy fists slammed against the exterior wood. Bang! Bang! Bang! The door rattled furiously in its frame. Someone outside was throwing their entire body weight against the wood, desperately trying to force their way inside.
Qiqi stood perfectly still, obediently letting Haibara grip her left hand. She watched the violently shaking door with mild curiosity. After a few seconds, she turned her head, blinked her large eyes slowly, and looked up at the older girl. "Haibara. You were right. The murderer really did return to the crime scene."
Haibara's eye twitched. Is that really what we should be focusing on right now?
She stared down at the little zombie, utterly speechless. Did Qiqi possess even a single ounce of fear?
It had been the exact same story when they stumbled upon the murderer's makeshift burial site earlier. Qiqi's expression hadn't shifted a millimeter. When they had to run, her physical reaction time was always a beat too slow, yet she somehow managed to offer highly practical, monotone survival suggestions while jogging away. Haibara honestly couldn't tell if the girl was incredibly brave, or just naturally spaced out to a terminal degree.
The bizarre internal tangent distracted Haibara just long enough to calm her racing heart. By the time she snapped her attention back to the door, the violent banging had ceased. Dead silence hung in the air. It seemed the killer had given up, realizing the heavy bolt wouldn't give way so easily.
A new wave of anxiety washed over Haibara. If the murderer couldn't get to them, would he redirect his hunting instincts toward the other children? Her hands curled into tight fists. She was powerless trapped in here. All she could do was pray that Genta and the others had already made it back to the safety of the campsite.
Qiqi watched Haibara zone out again. The little zombie tilted her head, observing the older girl's flushed cheeks and ragged breathing. Reaching out with her right hand, Qiqi pressed her palm flat against Haibara's forehead. "Haibara. You are sick."
"Cough... cough!" Haibara violently flinched. Qiqi's skin was unnaturally freezing, like a block of solid ice pressed against her feverish skin. The sudden shock jolted her back to reality. She covered her mouth, a harsh cough wracking her small frame, before forcing a reassuring smile. "I must have caught Edogawa's cold. Don't worry about me. I just feel a little chilly right now. It shouldn't be anything serious."
Qiqi stared at her for a long, unblinking moment. Then, she reached into the small satchel slung across her shoulder—the very same bag that currently housed Changsheng, the white snake. She rummaged around the coils of the resting reptile, pulled out a small medicinal pill, and held it up to Haibara. "Here. Cold medicine."
"Um... thank you." Haibara stared at the offered pill, her smile freezing in place. She took it mechanically, holding it in her palm. "Cough... I'll take it later."
She carefully tucked the pill away, deciding to hold off. For one, she didn't feel her symptoms warranted medication just yet. More, she simply couldn't overcome the psychological hurdle of swallowing a pill that had been marinating inside a bag with a live snake.
Qiqi didn't push the issue. She simply nodded.
But a second later, her purple eyes darted toward the door. Her zombie senses, highly attuned to temperature shifts, picked up on a dangerous change.
"What is it?" Haibara asked, her voice tight. Had the killer come back with a tool to break the lock?
"It is hot outside," Qiqi stated, taking a slight step back. "It seems like a fire."
Haibara's blood ran cold. A fire! The murderer's logic was horrifyingly clear. If he couldn't break in, he would simply burn the cabin to the ground. It was the perfect way to incinerate the primary crime scene, the bloody axe, and the two inconvenient witnesses all at once.
Ignoring the danger, Haibara rushed forward and carefully unbolted the door, pulling it open just a fraction of an inch to assess the situation. Metal ground against metal. The door stopped abruptly. She quickly realized the killer had wrapped a heavy chain around the exterior handles, locking them inside.
Thick, acrid black smoke immediately curled through the narrow gap, carrying the unmistakable stench of burning wood and accelerant. Qiqi was right. The cabin was being set ablaze.
Haibara slammed the door shut and darted toward the windows. She yanked at the wooden frames, but they were nailed completely shut. The glass was too thick for a child to break without tools. They were entirely trapped inside a burning wooden box.
"Qiqi... cough, cough!" The smoke seeping through the floorboards immediately aggravated Haibara's lungs. "Someone outside will definitely see the smoke... cough! Someone will come to rescue us soon!"
The toxic fumes made her chest burn, triggering a violent fit of coughing. Even as her vision blurred, her protective instincts flared. She had to keep the younger girl calm. "Cough, cough... so don't worry... cough... you must stay..."
Calm. She was about to say calm.
But as Ai Haibara wiped her watering eyes and looked down, she saw Qiqi staring back at her. The little zombie's expression remained perfectly placid, though a hint of genuine concern flickered in her blank eyes. Haibara immediately swallowed her words.
A helpless, wry smile touched Haibara's lips. "Alright... cough, cough... it seems I'm not nearly as calm as you are, Qiqi."
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]