Chapter 355 Have you heard of the fruit of wisdom?
Chapter 361 Have you heard of the fruit of wisdom?

"Then let me explain. There are also regulations for picking pine mushrooms here. Adults can only pick three, and children can pick two. We will serve you dishes immediately after you bring them back. Do you understand?"

Over the weekend, I accompanied the children to camp for the second time as promised. Today we went to the mountains to pick mushrooms, and tomorrow we went to the creek for real camping. Although Conan had told the children that I would give them some special training before coming, seeing the children running around with great interest, even Shiho beside him knew that Conan's words were in vain.

"Also, don't cross the barbed wire over there. The area two fences over there is the hunting area. There are bears there. Of course, there are no bears here."

The administrator's words made the children breathe a sigh of relief. In the children's cognition, bears are already extremely scary. But soon, the concentration and excitement of collecting made the children forget what the administrator just said.

"Damn it... Is that administrator uncle lying?" Half an hour later, under a big tree, Yuantai turned over the weeds under the roots of the tree over and over again, but did not even see the shadow of the pine mushroom.

"Maybe someone else has picked them all up." Ayumi frowned.

"How is that possible? There's such a huge forest." Mitsuhiko stretched out his hand and drew a huge circle in front of him. "We must not have found the right place yet."

"Not necessarily." Yuan Tai thought for a moment and said, "The nutritional value of Matsutake mushrooms is so high, there must be a lot of people who want to collect them. It is said that its nutritional content is higher than that of apples."

"You think this is a doomsday survival story? They've all been collected." Conan's mouth twitched slightly. Just as he was about to tell everyone the correct way to collect and search, he heard the brown-haired girl next to him refute Yuanta's words.

"Really? But in the Bible, after Adam and Eve ate the apple, God banished them from the Garden of Eden to the human world. This forbidden fruit is the fruit of wisdom that allows people to distinguish right from wrong. Compared to the matsutake mushroom, I think it is much more mysterious."

"Well, I prefer apples to mushrooms." A pale blond boy next to the brown-haired girl said. "Have you heard of the fruit of wisdom? Apples are known as the earliest fruit of wisdom. Speaking of the fruit of wisdom, we have to talk about the fruit of life. It is said that before Adam and Eve met, there was a woman named Lilith. Adam and Lilith gave birth to 18 children, 17 of whom ate the fruit of life, and the youngest child, Li Lin, failed to eat the fruit of life and died... Wow!!! It hurts... Xiao Ai, let go... Let go, your ears are going to fall off!"

"You've changed the subject too much." Shiho raised her eyebrows and pulled my ear. "But the saying of the fruit of wisdom is just a folk legend. As for what Xun said, you should probably read it in another book."

"Uh... It's a rare opportunity for me to advertise, why are you stopping me..." I rubbed my ears and looked at Shiho a little aggrieved. But what I got in return was a roll of the eyes from Shiho.

"..."

"Huh? Mitsuhiko, what's wrong with you? Why does your expression look so weird?" Just as Shiho and I were chatting casually, Conan noticed that Mitsuhiko's expression seemed a little strange beside him.

"There's nothing wrong with that." Mitsuhiko suddenly blushed. "I... I was just concentrating on looking at her." After saying that, Mitsuhiko's eyes returned to the object of his gaze again.

"She means... Haibara?" Conan followed her gaze.

"Yes. Although Huiyuan-san always speaks in a cold and aloof tone, I find that she seems to be very knowledgeable. Her behavior is always mature and calm. Don't you think she always gives people a mysterious feeling that makes people want to find out more about her?"

"this..."

"Ah, but I don't mean anything else by saying this!" Mitsuhiko quickly withdrew the hope in his eyes.

"... Mitsuhiko, although I understand your thoughts." Conan's voice was earnest. "I don't want to pour cold water on you, but I advise you to give up. She is definitely not someone you can pursue. And with another bastard around, you definitely don't have a chance."

"Ok?"

"Ok?"

Hearing Conan's commotion, Shiho and I turned back at the same time, only to see Conan smiling and waving his hands to indicate that nothing was wrong. But seeing Mitsuhiko's red face and a hint of nervousness in his eyes, it was obvious that nothing was wrong.

"Hmph... Hmph! I, I'm not afraid!" After a roar, I saw Mitsuhiko walking towards me with his hands and feet together, and he seemed to swallow his saliva to give himself courage.

"Kaoru...Kaoru-kun!"

"...Hi?" I tilted my head, looking confused.

"I... I know you are very capable and smart... But I, I will not lose to you!" After saying that, Mitsuhiko closed his eyes, plucked up his courage, and continued to move forward with his hands and feet together. "... Huh?"

————The scent of orchids, the scent of lavender, the scent of home & the wings of angels, the wings of demons, the wings of guardians————

"Ah! I can't find it anymore!" After walking along a mountain road, Yuan Tai finally gave up. "There are no clues at all, how can I find it!"

"In fact, it's not that we don't have any clues. We just need to understand the growth environment of pine mushrooms." It was time for Conan to show his skills, and he would not miss this opportunity. "Look carefully at the pine trees around. Some of the pine leaves have turned yellow-green, right?" Conan began to attract everyone's attention. "Pine mushrooms usually absorb nutrients from the roots of red pine trees. That's why the pine leaves have such mixed colors. On the other hand, red pine trees usually grow in an environment with good sunlight, ventilation and drainage, so if we search according to these conditions..." Conan came to a red pine tree and said, "Look, the criminal is hiding here."

"Wow! It really is there!" The children who came over couldn't help but shout out excitedly when they saw the graceful pine mushrooms standing under the tree.

"Look! There is another similar pine needle tree over there!" Mitsuhiko turned around and immediately found the next target, and the children ran over to search for the next pine mushroom, and even Dr. Agasa joined in.

"Ah, it seems like everyone is enjoying it." Behind the crowd, Shiho and I walked in the forest together. As for picking mushrooms, Shiho just smiled indifferently and reached out to pick them when she saw them. If she missed them, she would look at the excited smiles of the children and shake her head with a faint smile. "But you, don't you want to join in?" Shiho turned her head and looked at the boy next to her who looked relaxed.

"Honestly, I'm not interested." I put my hands behind my head and said in a relaxed manner. "Compared to picking pine mushrooms, I'd rather go to the other side and fight with bears."

"You..." Shiho rolled her eyes at me. "For the children, it's fine to just come to the forest and mountain areas to pick mushrooms. They should not get involved in hunting or anything like that."

"Yeah, after all, they are only six or seven years old, so we shouldn't let their young minds be overshadowed." I grinned. "But then again, what were we doing when we were six or seven years old? I think I killed the first person."

"Can you please stop ruining the atmosphere like this?" Shiho stretched out her hand and twisted my waist hard. "You ruined my good mood."

"Hey, let me put it another way." I thought about it. "When I was six or seven years old... I think I started pursuing you."

"How dare you say that." Shiho sighed helplessly. "I was six years old that year, but you were already close to twenty, right?"

"Haha, that's what I said." I smiled awkwardly. "But, humans are really a very strange creature." I raised my head through the trees in the forest and looked at the blue sky. My purple eyes were filled with endless satisfaction and yearning. "I am obviously a soul in my twenties, but I injected it into that young body. I feel like I have become younger. Thinking back to many childish things that happened when I was a child... Haha, I find it funny now."

"The hormones secreted by the human body also change with age. It's normal for you to feel that way." Shiho put her hands behind her back and looked at me as she walked. Then she looked up at the sky with tenderness in her eyes. "The desire for safety and warmth, and the desire for care and dependence. Who doesn't feel that way?"

"Indeed." I turned my head to look at that delicate face, and said slyly, "So, do you regret getting on this pirate ship of mine?"

"If I could live my life over again with my memories, I would definitely not be with a bastard like you." Shiho's smile was also teasing.

"Oh?" Shiho's words made me raise my eyebrows slightly.

"I will bring your memories with me, and gain a place in the organization when you were six years old. Then I will transfer you to my side. You will have to rely on me. Then, I will tie you up tightly."

"Huh? Phew. Hahahaha!" I couldn't help but burst out laughing when I heard what Shiho said. Yes, if I had really been dependent on Shiho, maybe I wouldn't have had so many opportunities to interact with Ling, and Shizuru wouldn't have been forced to let me perform a cover-up because of my mission. Maybe even the memory won't be restored. Oh, but in this world, how can anyone other than me have the opportunity to start over? But I can understand Shiho's thoughts. Of course, as a time traveler, even if time really flows backwards and we have memories of each other back to the age of six. Our relationship will still be the same. Because the love for each other has never diminished because of other people. And if there really is such an opportunity, we will definitely be more successful in the organization with our own memories and our attachment to each other.

"..."

"Hmm? Mitsuhiko, what's wrong with you?" Conan, who was picking mushrooms, turned around and saw Mitsuhiko's worried face again. It turned out that when I was chatting with Shiho, my laughter also attracted everyone's attention. Ayumi was still immersed in the joy of picking mushrooms, and the doctor just looked up and glanced at us before continuing to work on his own things. Mitsuhiko looked lost, and this scene happened to fall into Conan's eyes.

"Nothing." Mitsuhiko shook his head. "We have known Kaoru for such a long time, but we rarely see Kaoru smile. However, when Haibara-san is with him, Kaoru always smiles so happily. The same is true for the serious Haibara-san. She is sharp and intelligent, but she rarely acts like a child in front of us. She only smiles when she is talking to Kaoru."

"Ha, it's not your fault." Conan smiled and patted Mitsuhiko's shoulder. "First of all, those two are childhood sweethearts. They have known each other since they were very young. Naturally, they can talk to each other very well. Isn't it the same with you, Genta, and Ayumi? Secondly, these two are not ordinary children. And they are a bit unsociable." As he said this, Conan's eyes flashed with a hint of malice.

“Ah… I always feel like you three would occasionally have conversations like adults. Are you hiding something from us?” Mitsuhiko scratched his hair in annoyance.

"Haha, ahahaha. Don't worry about these details." Conan had no choice but to smile bitterly and looked around to try to change the subject. "By the way... where did Genta go?"

(End of this chapter)