Chapter 46: A Genuine Feast at Swan Goose Gate

"Welcome, welcome!"

Shouichi clapped his hands as he greeted today's three distinguished guests.

Shouichi had told them they could bring friends along, but only Takeshi brought his wife, while the other two came entirely alone.

It was as if they regarded Shouichi's place as a den of dragons and tigers, daring to brave it solely on their own.

"At today's wrap party, we will be screening *Midnight Terror*. Once you see the quality of the film, you'll change your minds about the revenue split and screen allocations," Shouichi said.

"We are looking forward to it," Takeshi replied.

*I just hope you only intend to use the film's quality to sway us.*

"Takeshi, you have a heart condition; you shouldn't watch horror movies," Takeshi's wife reminded him.

Takeshi waved a hand and said, "Don't worry, my condition is very stable right now, and everyone is different. Watching horror movies is actually my way of relieving stress."

Takeshi's wife still looked worried.

However, Takeshi didn't take it to heart. It wasn't his first time watching a horror movie, and with so many people around, there was nothing to worry about.

Through Yoko Okino's invitation, Kogoro Mouri's family had also been invited to the wrap party.

The two groups walked together into a small private screening room.

The Mouri family and Shouichi's entourage finally met.

Ran and Conan were fine with Shouichi, but Kogoro Mouri's expression was exceptionally sour.

This was because the *Justice Daily*, which he had been subscribing to recently, published articles every single day criticizing Shouichi—and frequently dragged him, Kogoro Mouri, into the mix.

The articles claimed that he, a detective of justice, was actually Shouichi's lackey.

They even asserted that his rise to fame as a renowned detective across Tokyo was entirely driven by Shouichi—which was utter nonsense.

What he relied on was clearly... his sleeping self.

"This is Mr. Takeshi, and this is..." Shouichi wasn't in a hurry to show the movie; instead, he introduced Takeshi and the others to the Mouri family.

He loved making new friends, and he loved even more introducing his friends to one another.

Knowing that Kogoro Mouri was Shouichi's lackey, Takeshi and the others treated him with utmost politeness.

Yet, their inner unease only grew.

By dragging even Kogoro Mouri into this, was Shouichi genuinely planning to commit murder right here?

Yamashita felt a sudden tightening in his gut. He turned to Shouichi and said, "Oh my, I suddenly feel a bit unwell in my stomach. Could you tell me where the restroom is?"

Shouichi gave him a deep, lingering look that made Yamashita's scalp tingle.

"Take a right outside, or you can ask the other staff members," Shouichi said.

"Alright, I understand."

Granted permission by Shouichi, Yamashita practically fled the screening room.

Once outside the doorway, he gasped for breath and tremblingly touched his own chest.

He knew quite a bit about Chinese culture; this was undoubtedly a Hongmen Banquet!

With even Kogoro Mouri brought here, if this wasn't a setup for murder, what was it?

"Damn it!" Yamashita cursed under his breath.

If he made it back alive, even if it cost him his resignation, he would fight to secure Shouichi a 50% opening-day screen allocation and a 70% box office cut.

If he couldn't secure it, he would simply resign.

It was just a job, after all—how could it possibly be more important than his own life?

*At the feast, Lord Pei rose to visit the privy.*

Running away first showed true respect.

Inside the screening room, Takeshi and the others forced awkward smiles at Shouichi.

"Ha, Yamashita must have eaten something bad. Why did he have to go to the restroom now? He might miss the end of the film," Shouichi said with a tone of regret.

Shouichi's expression of regret only terrified Takeshi and Yamamoto even more.

Who knew what Shouichi's definition of "regret" actually entailed?

Ran looked at them in puzzlement. The atmosphere was so strange; they acted as though Brother Shouichi was a man-eating beast. Why were they all so afraid of him?

Clearly, Brother Shouichi had been acting quite amiable.

"I—" Yamamoto wanted to say something as well.

"Let's watch the movie," Shouichi interrupted him directly, denying him any chance to speak a second time.

Takeshi and Yamamoto sat nervously in their chairs.

They feared that a band of executioners with broadaxes might suddenly leap out from the shadows and chop them into mincemeat.

Then again, glancing at the little girl beside Shouichi—

He had a child with him, after all; surely he wouldn't be that cruel?

Shouichi intended to pull Ai to sit next to him.

However, the girl acted as if she had been triggered, darting away at high speed and shoving Ran over instead, insisting that Ran sit beside Shouichi.

Rebuffed, Shouichi curled his lip in disappointment, though he didn't mind.

Ai pushed Ran down into the seat. She knew all too well about Shouichi's bizarre habits when watching horror movies, and she had no desire to be hugged by Shouichi for over an hour.

Seeing her Ran-nee-san snatched away, Conan's mouth twitched. Then, noticing Kogoro Mouri cozying up to Yoko Okino, he had no choice but to find a random chair and sit down.

Conan sniffed the air and caught a pungent scent of disinfectant.

Tilting his head, he asked Mrs. Takeshi, "Auntie, why do you smell so strongly of disinfectant?"

"Because I just cleaned the house before I left and sprayed disinfectant everywhere," Mrs. Takeshi explained with a smile.

Hearing this, Takeshi frowned in displeasure from the side. "Who knows when you suddenly picked up this mysophobia, making the whole house smell like disinfectant every day."

Mrs. Takeshi offered an apologetic smile and then turned her gaze toward the screen where the movie was beginning.

As the horror film commenced, no longer having to face Shouichi directly, Takeshi and the others felt their sense of dread diminish quite a bit.

What movie could possibly be more terrifying than Shouichi?

If Shouichi's eerie smile were spliced into the film, it would undoubtedly qualify as the most terrifying movie of the year.

Ai didn't keep her attention entirely on the movie either.

She kept glancing secretly at Shouichi, only to find that he remained impeccably well-behaved, showing no inclination to take advantage of his fear to paw at Ran.

He even noticed Ai's stolen glances and winked right back at her.

As the film played on, Mrs. Takeshi whispered something into Takeshi's ear, then rose from her seat and walked out toward the exit.

Just as the movie showed Sadako crawling out of the dry well, a cat suddenly bolted across the floor, let out a piercing screech, bit its own lip, spun around in circles, and crashed directly into Takeshi.

"Ah!"

Takeshi clutched his chest, tumbling out of his chair and curling into a ball.

"Turn on the lights, quickly!" Conan shouted at the top of his lungs, sprinting to Takeshi's side.

Takeshi curled up tighter, his lips parting slightly.

"Medicine? Where is your medicine?" Conan demanded.

"Let me get it for him." Mrs. Takeshi had somehow returned. Shoving Conan aside, she reached into Takeshi's pocket and pulled out a medicine bottle.

She shook out two pills and forced them into Takeshi's mouth.

Shouichi walked over, took a look, and said, "Call an ambulance first. Mr. Takeshi doesn't look well at all."

"Y-Yes."

Yamamoto whipped out his cell phone and tremblingly dialed for an ambulance.