Conan: Ran turns into an elementary school student and calls me dad.

Chapter 81 The Mischievous Child Who Caused Trouble

I not only knew she had a problem, but I also knew she was the leader of this gang of robbers!

Lin Xiuyi inwardly grumbled, but could only offer a casual excuse aloud.

"A woman hiding in such an obvious corner of the jewelry counter, the robbers searched this floor but didn't find her, which is suspicious in itself."

"Just because of that?"

Chris raised an eyebrow in disbelief, squatted down, carefully examined the woman's injuries, and then pulled a sharp dagger and a small pistol from the pocket on her back.

She pulled down the butt of the gun and saw that it was empty, without a single bullet.

"Looks like she's out of bullets. That's why this woman is pretending to be pitiful to lure you in before attacking with her dagger."

Chris toyed with the dagger in her hand, her tone carrying a hint of approval.

"I didn't expect you to be so wary. I thought you would be fooled by her."

Lin Xiuyi didn't reply, her anxiety growing stronger. Where were Xiaolan and the others?

He dared not delay any longer and ran towards the stairwell on the ninth floor.

Chris pursed her lips, put away her dagger and pistol, and quickly followed behind him.

The two arrived on the ninth floor, turned on the light switch, and searched every corner one by one: behind the counter, in the storage room, at the end of the corridor...

They searched the entire ninth floor but couldn't find Xiaolan, Ayumi, or the others.

"Strange, this is already the top floor. Have we come to the wrong place?"

Chris frowned, her face full of confusion.

"Or have the children already been taken away by the kidnappers?"

"No, Xiaolan and the others are definitely here," Lin Xiuyi said with certainty.

But why is there no response when we call their names?

Unless... Xiaolan and the others are no longer on this floor?

Lin Xiuyi's heart skipped a beat, and she suddenly turned around and ran back to the stairwell.

At intervals along the walls of the stairwell, iron bars are embedded, forming a simple climbing ladder that extends all the way to the ceiling.

And on the ceiling, there is a closed skylight.

"Did those kids climb up to the roof?" Chris followed behind Lin Xiuyi and immediately understood his thoughts when she saw the iron ladder and skylight on the wall.

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Lin Xiuyi reach out and grab the iron bar, climbing upwards using both hands and feet.

Chris bit her red lips, swallowing back the words "I'll go up first" that were on the tip of her tongue. She then took out her pistol, aiming the muzzle at the metal plate of the skylight, ready to fire immediately if there was any unusual movement inside.

Lin Xiuyi climbed to the ceiling and pushed the iron cover that was covering the skylight.

The iron lid was extremely heavy, as if something was pressing down on it.

Lin Xiu gritted her teeth, used all her strength, and suddenly pushed the iron cover open!

He was about to climb up the iron ladder when he felt a gust of wind hit him as soon as he poked his head out of the skylight.

Fortunately, thanks to Chris's previous on-site instruction, Lin Xiuyi remained highly vigilant and immediately pulled his head back after noticing something was wrong.

Immediately afterwards, he saw a smooth calf sweep past his head with a gust of wind.

If I had reacted a fraction slower, I probably would have been kicked in the head.

"Xiao Lan! It's me!" Lin Xiuyi shouted hurriedly towards the skylight.

The rooftop fell silent.

A moment later, a small head cautiously peeked out from the edge of the skylight and looked down.

Upon seeing Lin Xiuyi's face, Xiaolan's tense expression instantly broke into a joyful smile, and tears welled up in her eyes: "You've finally come!"

Seeing that Xiaolan was alright, Lin Xiuyi's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down.

He quickly climbed the iron ladder to the rooftop. As soon as he stood still, the three little devils, Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta, immediately surrounded him, chattering about their "great achievements" just now.

"Teacher Lin! We were really amazing just now! Yuan Tai blocked the robbers' path with the shelves!"

"Me and Mitsuhiko too! We deliberately drew the robbers' attention, allowing Ran to take down three bad guys!"

"Yes, Teacher Lin, Xiaolan is so brave! Those robbers had guns, but Xiaolan wasn't afraid at all, and she even protected us and hid!"

"You did a good job."

Lin Xiuyi looked at the three kids and a "kind" smile appeared on his face.

"Really?"

Yuan Tai blinked innocently, completely unaware of Lin Xiuyi's strange behavior, and thought he had really been praised.

Ayumi and Mitsuhiko, who were standing nearby, keenly noticed that something was wrong with Hayashi Hideichi's expression.

The two exchanged a glance and were about to turn and run away when they heard two muffled thuds.

Genta and Mitsuhiko were both hit hard on the head by Hayashi Hideichi, and they squatted on the ground, grimacing and yelling in pain.

When it was Ayumi's turn, the little girl was so frightened that she immediately covered her head and crouched down in defense, looking at Lin Xiuyi with teary eyes, looking pitiful.

Lin Xiuyi naturally wouldn't treat her the same way he would treat boys; he simply extended a finger and lightly flicked her forehead.

"Don't take such risks again next time, understand?"

Just then, Chris climbed up through the skylight. The three mischievous children immediately forgot their pain and ran to her, chattering and complaining all at once.

"Officer Sato! Teacher Lin is bullying us!"

"Officer Sato, that was scary! There were bad guys chasing us!"

"Officer Sato, you've finally arrived!"

Xiao Lan slowly walked to Lin Xiuyi's side, her head lowered, her voice tinged with guilt.

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I didn't take good care of Ayumi and the others, and I made you worry."

"What exactly happened?" Lin Xiuyi frowned, her tone softening slightly. "This mall closes in the evening, how did you get in?"

"this……"

Xiaolan looked somewhat helpless. She opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say.

Seeing this, Ayumi, fearing that Lin Xiuyi would blame Xiaolan, quickly stepped forward to explain on her behalf.

"Actually, it's all Yuan Tai's fault! He insisted on playing hide-and-seek in the mall, and ended up hiding behind a counter and falling asleep. We searched for him for a long time but couldn't find him."

"We've been looking for Yuanta, but somehow the mall closed, and we're trapped inside."

Mitsuhiko continued, his face full of regret.

"Later, those bad guys came in. They spotted us while they were stealing jewelry on the fourth floor, and then they started chasing us."

"Xiao Lan wanted to call you for help, but that bad woman found out."

Yuan Tai lowered his head, his voice soft and filled with self-reproach.

"She fired a shot at us. As we ran, Ran dropped her phone while trying to save Ayumi..."

"So, Teacher Lin, this isn't Xiaolan's fault!"

The three little devils stood in front of Lin Xiuyi, their little faces tilted up, and said in unison,

"Blame us! It's our fault; we shouldn't have played hide-and-seek in the mall!"