Saturday, March 14, 2020

S.C.I. Mystery Vol. 1, Ch. 53

Magic Murderer 8: Kidnapping


Qi Le's "help" text message really frightened half of their lives out of Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao—if Li Xu knew about the events of that year, she would likely be a target for being killed like Zhang Zhenzhen... Qi Le still lived with her and was likely to be implicated.

Bai Yutang floored the accelerator to 200kph and all but flew to Qi Le's residence.

At the entrance of the apartment, they quickly got out of the car and entered the building. Nothing seemed different. Fortunately, Bai Yutang had taken them back that day. It seemed that he had heard Chen Yu say that they lived on the top floor or something, so they rushed up the stairs.

It was an old-fashioned apartment. The building was very old and only had five floors. Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao took out their guns as they ran.

As soon as they reached the fifth floor, they frowned—it smelled of blood...

The door to Room 503 was open, and there was a faint moan.

The two rushed in quickly and saw Chen Yu lying in a pool of blood. She was curled up, a knife in her lower abdomen. She was still bleeding.

"Chen Yu..." Zhan Zhao took in a breath and quickly stepped forward to turn her over, reaching out to hold the leaking, bloody wound.

Bai Yutang pulled out his cell phone and called the S.C.I. personnel and an ambulance.

"LeLe..." Chen Yu suddenly grabbed Zhan Zhao's hand and said in a weak voice, "That man, kill... Sister Li... LeLe took her... escaped... He chased after..."

Zhan Zhao quickly looked up at Bai Yutang, "Yutang!"

Bai Yutang turned and rushed out the door.

"Quickly... save..." Chen Yu's consciousness seemed to be gradually blurring.

Zhan Zhao saw that her face was getting whiter and paler, and she seemed to be going to sleep, "Chen Yu, hold on! Don't sleep!"

"Nn……" Chen Yu nodded, trying to keep her eyelids open as they grew heavier and heavier.

Soon, the sound of chaotic footsteps rang outside of the door. Zhao Hu, etc. rushed over with medical staff. They took Chen Yu to a stretcher, rushed downstairs, and Wang Chao followed them to the hospital.

"Qi Le and Li Xu haven't been found yet!" Zhan Zhao said, "Everyone split up to find out where they could hide. They may be hiding."

"Yes~~" Everyone dispersed.

Zhan Zhao stood in front of the building and looked around, trying to simulate Qi Le's mentality at the time... Qi Le was very clever, so she would run to a crowded place.

On the left was a pedestrian street, similar to a snack street. There were not many people there during the day, but it was livelier than the other two avenues—Zhan Zhao quickly walked towards the pedestrian street.

Chen Yu said she had run with Li Xu... then getting Li Xu to move would not be very easy—there were two corners nearby... Qi Le was left-handed, and if she was with someone else, it should be more convenient to turn right— Zhan Zhao walked into the alley on the right.

It was a small, dirty alley with garbage, discarded cardboard boxes, trash cans, and broken plastic sheets on both sides...

She had texted, but did not dare to call, indicating that she was hiding somewhere that was easy to find—Zhan Zhao's eyes fell on a cardboard box covered by a plastic sheet. Looking at it closely, it seemed to shake slightly...

"Qi Le? ... Qi Le, I'm Zhan Zhao!" He slowly walked to the plastic sheet.

"Qi Le..."

A corner of the plastic sheet opened and Qi Le leaned her head out, looking up with trepidation. When she saw Zhan Zhao, she opened her mouth and called with a trembling voice, "Police Officer Zhan..."

Zhan Zhao helped her lift the plastic sheet. Li Xu was lying beside Qi Le, seemingly unconscious. Zhan Zhao stepped forward and felt her pulse, and breathed a sigh of relief.

He reached out and pulled her out of the dirty dump, "It's okay... don't be afraid..."

"En..." Qi Le nodded. Just as she was about to speak, she suddenly looked up at the alley in panic, "Ah!"

Zhan Zhao turned his head sharply, and saw a man rushing from the alley. He was wearing a black hoodie and had a bloody knife in his hand.

He reached for his gun. The man had rushed forward to a place less than ten steps away, and Zhan Zhao subconsciously protected Qi Le behind him.

At that moment, a white shadow pounced down from atop the low building next to them—Bai Yutang.

He threw the man to the ground, and the knife in his hand clattered to the pavement. Before he could get up, Bai Yutang reached out and grabbed his collar, throwing him against the wall, "Ah..."

The violent impact made him scream. Bai Yutang kept him in place by holding the back of his collar, and pulled off his hood. He turned around and asked Qi Le, "Is it him?"

"It's him!" Qi Le nodded, pointing at the man, "That’s him!"

Bai Yutang pulled out his handcuffs, put the man's hands behind his back, and handcuffed him.

"Boss!" From the distance, Zhao Hu and others rushed over.

Bai Yutang handed the man over to them, "Bring him back!"

Xu Qing and Zhang Long came over, propped up the unconscious Li Xu, and walked to a police car.

"How is Xiao Yu?" Qi Le asked Zhan Zhao nervously.

"She was seriously injured and has been taken to the hospital." Zhan Zhao said.

With tears in her eyes, Qi Le looked angrily at the man in Zhao Hu's custody. She walked up, raised her foot under the crotch of the man, and kicked him fiercely.

"Ah~~~~~" the man screamed in pain and knelt down on the ground, curled up.

The people present couldn't help but grimacing (1)... Now, that boy was probably going to be incapable of performing his duties as a man for the second half of his life... This girl was too cruel.

Qi Le, who seemed to be deflated, looked back at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, "Thank you. I want to go to Xiao Yu."

The two looked at Qi Le, and they couldn't help feeling sad. The last time when they had told her that Qi Lei was dead, she had acted like that. She wanted to cry, but instead she endured desperately.

"Zhao Hu, go with Qi Le and watch her. Kitty and I will take this kid back to interrogation!" Bai Yutang took charge of the man from Zhao Hu.

"OK." Zhao Hu nodded and rushed to the hospital with Qi Le.

Bai Yutang shoved the man, "What's your name?" He walked in the direction of the police car.

"... Wei Yong ..." The man answered, exceptionally calmly.

...?!! ……what?

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang stared at him in surprise, "Why did you try to kill Li Xu?!"

Wei Yong's eyes were soulless, and he said lightly, "Because she deserves to die!"

……………………



The Entertainment City of the Shen Group was called Happy World. The entire building looked like a luxury cruise ship. The nature of its operation, best known as Entertainment City, was large venues and hotel accommodations. However, the most important part was that there was a casino in the middle.

Zhao Yan took Bai Chi and Ma Han to the “ship". The scale of the casino was no less than that of a regular casino in Las Vegas... Ma Han frowned, wondering to himself why Shen Qian was not under the watch of the Commercial Crime Division. Couldn't he be making a bunch of dirty money?

Bai Chi rarely saw this kind of scene, and was slightly nervous. Zhao Yan was calm.

"ChiChi~~" He heard two voices of the same sound and tone. The Ding family twins had appeared beside Bai Chi, wrapping their arms around his shoulders from both directions.

"Ah~~ Elder Brother Ding, Second Brother Ding." Bai Chi obediently greeted them.

"Good boy~~~" Da Ding and Xiao Ding clasped him tightly and slowly moved forward, "You came to play too. Minors are not allowed here~~”

"I'm an adult!" He said, looking left and right before whispering to the twins, "Don't mess with me... I have a mission."

"Oh~~" The twins immediately came to their senses. "Is it that stinky bedbug named Shen?? He's a criminal?"

"Shhh~~" Bai Chi glared at them, "Why are you here?? Where’s big brother?"

"When the Boss heard the bug's name, he lost his appetite. When he received the invitation, he didn't even look at it, so he sent us~~" Da Ding waved his finger.

"Besides, he has more important tasks!" Xiao Ding said somewhat mysteriously, "It is necessary to take care of Sister-in-law~~"

"Sister-in-law?" Bai Chi was surprised, "Is Brother married? I haven't heard that..."

"Hehe~~" The twins smiled mysteriously.

"Let’s not talk about that!" The two successfully steered Bai Chi to the gambling table. "ChiChi, would you like to play?"

"I won't..." As soon as Bai Chi wanted to refuse, he heard Zhaohui whisper in his ear, "If you want to check on Shen Qian, it is best to get his attention first... today is the opening. If you win, he will lose a lot of money. This scum, the less money he has, the less evil he is!"

"Really?" Bai Chi nodded. "Then I understand~~"

While heading to the big turntable, Bai Chi started to move his all-powerful little brain......... Fast computation.

Zhao Yan was stunned and watched Bai Chi accurately bet on the seventh turntable in an hour…… The little guy won a million dollars in one hour~~~ Of course, the first bet of 10,000 was put down by the Ding family twins. That is to say, Bai Chi was making money for the twins—but Zhao Yan was still shocked. From an early age until just now, he had felt that Bai Chi was a person with a bad head. But now, Zhao Ye was sure... That brain was not something humans should have~~ Another question popped up—why did he go become a police officer? He would be more suitable to making an atomic bomb~~

Not too accustomed to the noise, Ma Han walked out of the casino. The fresh air outside made him feel a lot better... He didn't understand why so many people would prefer to abandon this fresh outdoors and choose to stay in that kind of turbulent and noisy space.

The high-end casino seemed to be full of people, and Ma Han walked into the parking lot to feel the quiet.

He sat on the high platform on the edge of the parking lot and took out a cigarette lighter.

The parking lot was three-dimensional and spiraled. Ma Han was on the top floor. Sitting there and looking out, the view was very good.

Chen Jiayi stepped out of the car and raised her eyes. She saw Ma Han smoking a cigarette on the high platform in the distance.

From a purely feminine point of view, the man was attractive. Chen Jiayi walked slowly towards him and observed him carefully as she did so. Black leather jacket, black jeans, extremely short hair. Likely because his body was lean, he was not very robust. However, his contours were deep, but also not very obtrusive... He was sitting there quietly, holding a cigarette in his mouth.

Chen Jiayi regretted that she did not bring her camera out with her. The man in front of her had a very special temperament. If you stood in a crowd of people, you would hardly notice him, but when he was alone, he was easy to remember...

For further assessment she went up to Ma Han, "Do you have a light?" Chen Jiayi asked, taking out the cigarette.

Ma Han had actually found out that someone was watching him, but he was really not willing to bother. He turned his head and saw Chen Jiayi holding the cigarette. Ma Han was slightly surprised... He knew this person. He had seen her information before. Fang Jing was her agent. Chen Jiayi was a signing actor with Bai Jintang’s Company and was now apparently quite famous.

He took out his lighter and passed it to her, then continued to look back at the scenery.

Chen Jiayi lit the cigarette and laughed, "I don’t have good scenery, do I (2)?"

"...?" Ma Han frowned and looked at her a little puzzledly. He didn't understand what she meant.

Chen Jiayi was very satisfied with his response. His frown was very sexy.

"My name is Chen Jiayi." She gave her name without prompting, "What about you?"

Ma Han had a headache. He just wanted to find a place to stay quietly for a while and then watch Shen Qian at the opening ceremony in the evening.

"Are you an idiot?" Chen Jiayi asked with a smile. "A beauty proactively greets you, yet you still ignore her. Isn't it cool?"

Ma Han came down from the high platform and reached out to take back the lighter in Chen Jiayi's hand. He looked around and asked, "Where is there a beautiful woman?"

...! ...

Chen Jiayi had been so ignored for so long, and he still dared to say that she was not a beauty?!!

"Hey! Stop!" Just as she was about to chase him some more, they heard the sound of hasty car breaks and then a woman’s scream.

The two turned and saw a white van parked in the middle of the road. Two men wearing black hoods were dragging a screaming woman into the car.

"What are you doing? Let her go!" A man in a suit and leather shoes fell to the ground with blood on his face, apparently the victim of a few punches.

Before Chen Jiayi even screamed, Ma Han rushed over.

Instead of saving the woman directly, he rushed to the van. He raised his elbow and slammed it into the driver brutally. Then, he reached over and pulled out the car keys.

He casually threw the keys downstairs, and smiled at the two hooded men, "Are you going to carry her?"

The sudden change made the two men feel a little dizzy and confused, and they stood blankly in place. Ma Han started to walk back with his hands in his pockets, and said lightly, "Let her go. The security guard will be here in at most a minute, but there’s still time to run right now."

The men put the woman down from in their hands and turned and ran.

The man sitting on the ground hurried forward and lifted the woman up. She was was obviously extremely frightened. "Shen Ling, are you all right?"

Ma Han stopped walking back—Shen Ling?

While he was thinking intently about the name, Chen Jiayi, who had been given a cold-shoulder, came up. She raised her hand and grabbed Ma Han's collar before pecking him on the cheek, "Oh my god... you are so handsome!"







Translation Notes:

(1) “Baring their teeth” Like you do when you wince/grimace.

(2) I don’t have good scenery -> Am I not beautiful? From what I understand, Ma Han doesn’t get that she’s referring to her looks, not the view. 




S.C.I. Mystery Vol. 1, Ch. 52



T/L Note: Sorry for being out of signal last weekend! As an apology, I've been working on some S.C.I. fan art which will likely be complete by next week. As promised, you will be getting two chapters this weekend--the next one will come out either tonight or tomorrow.


ADDITIONALLY: We all know things are rather crazy in China nowadays. Ya Ear hasn't posted a new chapter since early February, but it is usually 3-4 weeks between her posts, so we aren't too far overdue. I will let you know if anything happens.
Some of you may know about China's revamped censorship and site blocking as of 3/1. The sight S.C.I. is posted on, as far as I am aware, has not been blocked.

Anyways, we are about 450-or-so chapters behind anyways, so not much will change here, regardless.

Magic Murderer 7: Dense Fog (1)



By the time Bai Yutang had started his car and was about to take Zhan Zhao back to his apartment, it was almost three in the morning.

"Hehe~~" Zhan Zhao suddenly laughed, seemingly thinking of something interesting. This caused Bai Yutang beside him to laugh as well, "What's up, Kitty? Why are you so happy?"

Zhan Zhao turned to look at him, "I was thinking about what happened to Bai Chi and Zhao Yan when they were young."

"Oh~~~" Bai Yutang couldn't help laughing, "It's quite interesting. I can’t believe there is such a bad relationship."

"That Zhao Yan is worse than you when you were a kid!" Zhan Zhao smiled.

"Dammed Cat, when was I bad when I was a kid?!" Bai Yutang protested.

"You weren't you bad? Do you remember..." Zhan Zhao recalled with a smile, "That one time, you threw the two brothers from next door into the mound of dirt for the flower beds, poured water on them, and said that they should grow up quickly."

"Haha~~~" Bai Yutang also laughed, "Remember, remember, when you were eight years old... Those two brothers pulled out all the flowers you had planted. I taught them."

"The teacher who taught history in middle school..." Zhan Zhao said, "You glued him to the toilet seat!"

"Pff~~~~" Bai Yutang laughed even harder. "He was picked up with the toilet and sent to the hospital..."

Zhan Zhao smiled and covered his stomach, "He had a toilet on his ass... he couldn’t even put his pants on. He just walked out of the bathroom and everyone saw it..."

Bai Yutang nodded, "Who told him to wrongly accuse you of cheating and force you to stand as punishment... Getting a toilet glued to him was a cheap price for him to pay."

"Were you the one who released the mysterious homemade tear gas grenade in his office later?" Zhan Zhao asked. "It seems to still be an unsolved mystery of the school to this day."

"Hehe... I also locked his door. He jumped out of the window, and there was a smelly gutter below..." Bai Yutang was proud of himself. "After that, he never dared to look at you again, like you were the god of pestilence... Haha​​... "

"You still say you weren’t bad?" Zhan Zhao stared at him. "When you graduated, those teachers wanted to celebrate with firecrackers. They all said that the school was finally peaceful~~~"

"Who told them to provoke you?" Bai Yutang laughed and blurted out, "You are mine, and no one but me can touch you!"

………………

After saying that, he felt a little embarassed... Bai Yutang shook his head and smiled, "Now think about it: I was like a fly swatter when I was a kid. Whoever approached you, I would slap them hard!"

Zhan Zhao looked at the apartment building that was getting closer and closer and suddenly turned around. He said a little seriously, "Xiao Bai, let's not go back yet."

...? ...

Bai Yutang looked at him puzzledly, "Don't go back? It's nearly dawn; you’re not going to sleep?"

"Do you remember the beach we used to go to as kids?" Zhan Zhao said enthusiastically, "Shall we go there?"

"Now?" Bai Yutang asked, "It's far away!"

"I want to go..." Zhan Zhao said, "We often went when we were in school."

"Yeah, whenever you had something on your mind, you would go sit on the embankment. Go there and we would be able to find you." Bai Yutang said, "Do you really want to go?"

"Nn!" Zhan Zhao nodded.

Bai Yutang turned around and drove towards the beach in S city.

The beach there was not the sandy kind of beach, but the rocky kind. On one side was a huge dam that was surrounded with circular cement columns which were used to support it. People could walk up them. It was a nice place to admire the sea and watch the water slap against the reefs of the shoal.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao parked on the side of the highway and stepped down from the dam. They climbed the stone pillars and headed for the shore.

Where the sky met the sea, there was already a tinge of bright color. The sea breeze, with its salty, wet taste, poured into their lungs with the cold air. It felt refreshing and quiet...

Bai Yutang gently embraced Zhan Zhao from behind and drew close to his ear. "Kitty, do you have something on your mind?"

"... You noticed it again ..." Zhan Zhao leaned back slightly, feeling the warmth of Bai Yutang's chest.

"Did I not say that you are an expert in researching people... but I am an expert in researching you?" He said, kissing Zhan Zhao's neck and hair, "Kitty, tell me. What are you upset about?"

"I... I can feel... a kind of evil..." Zhan Zhao leaned into Bai Yutang. "This time, the case is different from the previous ones... this murderer... gives me a very strange feeling—evil, vicious, unstable... "

Bai Yutang tightened his arms and pulled Zhan Zhao closer, saying, "You felt it from Sun Qian’s scene, didn't you?"

Zhan Zhao looked back at him, "Did you feel it, too?"

Shaking his head, Bai Yutang smiled and pinched Zhan Zhao’s chin, "I don't have the kind of power you have to feel the human heart... but I can feel the change in your mood... Kitty, when you are happy, sad, afraid... I can feel all your emotions. "

Zhan Zhao shook his head gently, "I think... there will be someone else who gets killed... maybe an innocent child like Sun Qian... but we have no clues..."

Bai Yutang bowed his head and kissed Zhan Zhao's non-stop opening and closing lips, gradually quieting him.

"Kitty, I have something I want to give you... Don’t laugh." Bai Yutang said softly, slowly unwrapping his arms and releasing Zhan Zhao.

"Something?" Zhan Zhao looked up at him puzzledly. "What kind of something?"

Bai Yutang reached into his jacket pocket and took out a white velvet box. He opened it, and it held two silver rings... the style was simple and elegant...

"You?" Zhan Zhao looked at him with a little surprise, then lowered his head and laughed.

"Don't laugh!" Bai Yutang had a rare blush on his face. "I also know that I was a bit silly. I happened to see them one day and bought them when I was in a good mood..."

Having said that, he took a ring out of the box and gave it to Zhan Zhao, "I... I also bought a chain... if you don't want to wear it on your hand, you can hang it..."

Before he finished speaking, Zhan Zhao had reached out to pick up the ring and asked, "Are they identical?"

"Nn, they’re the same." Bai Yutang nodded. Yet, Zhan Zhao picked up his left hand and put the ring on the middle finger. Then, he took out the other and put it on his own middle finger.

Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao's action with shock, "Kitty... the chain..."

Zhan Zhao picked up the chain and held it in his hand. He asked, "Did you think I would mind others knowing about us... so I wouldn’t want to wear this ring. Yet you wanted me to take it with me... even if it was hanging around my neck?"

Nodding, Bai Yutang stared at Zhan Zhao and saw him turn with a smile and swing his arm into the distance. The silver chain made a wonderful arc in the air and fell into the sea.

"Kitty... uh..." Bai Yutang watched the chain fly away and was surprised. Zhan Zhao reached out and cupped his face in his hands, moved in close, and kissed him...

The affectionate kiss ended, and Zhan Zhao smiled. He rubbed Bai Yutang's hair with a surprised look, and said, "Yutang, you are so cute..."

After a short, dazed moment, Bai Yutang smiled weakly, "Kitty, you’re teasing me..."

Reaching for Zhan Zhao, he hugged him, "Kitty, take your time, just like every time before... find clues, analyze it layer by layer, and investigate everything in great detail (2). Then we will be able to seize even the most fearsome of criminals!"

Zhan Zhao looked up at him.

There was a faint flash of light within Bai Yutang’s eyes, "Kitty, we are the central nervous system of the S.C.I.! Do you understand?"

"En." Zhan Zhao nodded. "We can't be messy... we have to be confident and calm."

"Yes..." Bai Yutang stared into Zhan Zhao's eyes. "Especially you, Kitty. You rely on all of us, but we also all rely on you... No evil can come near you... especially since this fly swatter is here."

Zhan Zhao smiled and nodded.

Bai Yutang pulled his arms together and held Zhan Zhao tighter, saying, "You must believe in yourself... no evil can defeat your justice, and I will always guard you."

Zhan Zhao embraced Bai Yutang's neck and felt the warmth, strength, and lively vitality he gave him... He nodded earnestly, "En!"

A few rays of sunlight leaped above the horizon ahead of the sun and landed on the Earth… The blue of the sea water in harmony with the red clouds of the rising sun cast a fantastical purple glow on the horizon... The border of daybreak seemed like a symphony of light. The mixed colors were like interweaving movements, difficult to distinguish~~ One can only feel a sense of sorrow or motion.

However, when the sun rises... the light and shadow will separate. Day and night, each with its own destination... unchanging since times immemorial.



After clearing their minds, the two returned home for a short rest, then returned to S.C.I. in an excellent state.

As soon as they entered the office, they heard a thunderous sound, and Xu Qing pointed to Wang Chao lying on the sofa in the lounge.

It seemed that Wang Chao had been busy all night. They didn't know what he had learned from following Kong Liping the night before.

Although extremely unwilling to do so, Bai Yutang woke him gently.

"Huh! ... Ah! Boss!" Noticing that Bai Yutang was standing in front of him, Wang Chao jumped up suddenly, "I have found something! A great discovery!"

He turned and looked around, seeing that everyone in the S.C.I. was looked at him with smiles, scratching their heads in bewilderment, "What?" He didn't realize that his hair was messy like a chicken nest, or that there was saliva on the corner of his mouth~~~

"Go wash your face, then after the meeting go home and sleep again." Bai Yutang ordered concisely.

"Ah... OK!" Wang Chao rushed out and came back within half a minute. "Boss, Kong Liping met someone last night."

"Who?"

"I walked with her to her doorstep last night. A black car was waiting downstairs. She went up to it and whispered a few words to the person in the car, then picked a little baby up out of the car."

"A baby?" Zhan Zhao wondered, "her son?"

Wang Chao nodded and said, "I think so."

"Who was in the car?" Bai Yutang asked.

"I saw them. They were a man, and he seemed familiar... I only remembered after I thought about it for half a day. He came to our office yesterday!"

...! ...

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao glanced at each other. Who came the day before—"Shen Qian?"

"Yes!" Wang Chao nodded. "It was him!"

Bai Yutang groaned for a long while, "It seems that he came to the S.C.I. yesterday for more than just Gongsun..."

Zhan Zhao nodded, "Gongsun may be just a gimmick. He has another purpose."

"And that Li Xu!" Xu Qing said, "I checked. She did take classes at that dance school when she was a kid.”

"... is she the same person?!" Bai Yutang asked.

"Should be." Xu Qing handed over the collected information, and the photos were indeed Li Xu.

......

"By the way, where’s Bai Chi?" Zhan Zhao asked suddenly.

"Oh~~" Jiang Ping said, "He was here with Zhao Yan early in the morning. Zhao Yan said he had a performance in a short while... the opening ceremony of the Entertainment City of the Shen Group."

"I secretly told Xiao Bai Chi about Shen Qian last night, and then he went with Zhao Yan to ask about the situation." Wang Chao added, "Zhao Yan seemed to be quite willing to take him with him. It's just that the little guy had a rather blank face today..."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao only laughed bitterly. It would not be easy to forgive Zhao Yan for such a situation...

"He went alone?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"No, Ma Han followed." Xu Qing said.

Bai Yutang nodded, and after dispatching the crowd, he and Zhan Zhao left the police station. The two decided to go to Qi Le's apartment to find Li Xu.

As soon as the car drove out, Bai Yutang's phone got a text message.

The sender appeared to be unknown.

He opened it and saw the four words— "Help Qi Le."

Zhan Zhao frowned. "Yutang..."

"I understand!" Bai Yutang pulled on his seat belt and stepped on the throttle.





Translation Notes: 


(1) The title also connotates "completely misleading"

(2) “Pulling silk and removing cocoons” - the silk is drawn one thread at a time, and the cocoon is peeled layer by layer; describing the analysis of things being very detailed, and step by step.


T/L note cont: (Ɔ ˘⌣˘)♥(˘⌣˘ C)




Sunday, March 1, 2020

S.C.I. Mystery Vol. 1, Ch. 51

Magic Murderer 6: Misleading


For the next while, Zhao Yan introduced the general characteristics and development of the curse pattern to everyone in detail.

The young people were all leaders in various fields. Perhaps there was something common flowing in their blood or perhaps it was some kind of unexplainable fate. Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang and Zhao Yan talked more and more speculatively until even Bao Zheng couldn’t get involved in the conversation. They chatted and made jokes with each other... The rustiness between them was completely eliminated by the conversation.

Finally, Zhao Yan promised to go to S.C.I. the next day to assist the investigation, and the others decided to leave.

When they arrived, there were four people, but when they left, there were only three—because a minor incident had occurred.

When Bai Chi tried to leave, Lisbon bit the corner of his clothes tightly and wouldn’t let him go.

If it was a cat pulling on Bai Chi, then everyone could pull it away.

If it was a dog pulling on Bai Chi, then everyone could drive it away.

But~~~~ It was an adult African lion pulling on him!!! Therefore, Bao Zheng, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao reasonably decided to leave Bai Chi at Zhao Yan's house and let him come to the police station with Zhao Yan tomorrow morning.

The housekeeper showed everyone out. Only Zhao Yan, Bai Chi, and Lisbon remained in the living room.

The atmosphere was extremely awkward...

"Your name is Bai Chi..." Zhao Yan said, "I didn't know until now."

Xiao Bai Chi gave him a glance, "Yeah, you always called me ‘Hey,’ or if not that, then, ‘little thing’."

"Hai hai~~" Zhao Yan coughed twice helplessly and smiled awkwardly. He said in his heart, why is this kid so vengeful~~~

Bai Chi really wanted to pull away and leave, but Lisbon looked at him again, very reluctantly. And he really liked Lisbon and wanted to stay with him for a while...

Just while the two men were staring at each other with big eyes, the housekeeper came in and said, "Master Bai, you can stay in a room with Master tonight."

"What?" The two spoke in unison, turning to look at the housekeeper.

"..." The steward laughed. "Lisbon usually sleeps in Master's room... so..."

Zhao Yan suddenly felt that this might be a good opportunity to ease his relationship with Bai Chi. So he took a step forward and embraced Bai Chi's shoulders. He tried to put on an amiable look, saying, "We haven’t seen each other for a while. There is a lot to talk about... "

Bai Chi grabbed Zhao Yan's sleeve with two fingers, lifted the hand from his shoulder, and threw it away like a cockroach. Then, he brushed the dust off of his shoulder...

At the motion, Zhao Yan's face became livid and he ground his teeth... Dammed child~~~




Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had gotten a good harvest that night. They sat contentedly in Bao Zheng's car and returned to the police station. Originally, the three were chatting enthusiastically, and then Zhan Zhao gradually dropped out of the conversation. Bao Zheng looked back, and Bai Yutang smiled and made a silent gesture to him..... See? Zhan Zhao was leaning on his shoulder, already asleep.

Bai Yutang knew that Zhan Zhao had been very tired these days. He seemed to be very concerned about the case. Perhaps it was because the murderer had killed an innocent child, which had greatly stimulated Zhan Zhao. He was different from Bai Yutang. Zhan Zhao was more of a pure scholar than a police officer... It was difficult for him to face such a bloody killing.

Bai Yutang reached out his hands almost unconsciously to caringly help arrange Zhan Zhao’s hair. Bao Zheng looked through the rear-view mirror and saw the unbelievable love in Bai Yutang's eyes. He was slightly surprised... Those two children...

At the police station, Bai Yutang wanted to bring Zhan Zhao to his car and take him straight home to let him sleep well. At that moment, the phone rang...

When he answered the phone, Wang Chao’s voice came out, "Boss, that woman's condition is not so good!"

"Not so good?" Bai Yutang was puzzled. "What's going on?"

"She cried and said she had to go back, or someone would die." Wang Chao replied with a little urgency.

"Someone would die?" Bai Yutang was surprised.

"Let's go and see." Zhan Zhao said as he rubbed his sore neck. Who knew when he had woken up.

"We’re coming right away." Bai Yutang hung up the phone and stretched out his hands to rub Zhan Zhao's neck. "Do you recently often have neck pain?"

"Huh~~ some." Zhan Zhao moved his shoulders, and Bai Yutang pressed gently, making him sigh softly and comfortably.

Then, they walked side by side towards the elevator.

As soon as they arrived at the door of the detention room, they heard the noise from the woman inside, and Wang Chao came out rubbing his sore temples, "Boss!"

"Has her information been found?" Bai Yutang asked.

"I checked it." Wang Chao took out a document and said, "Her name is Kong Liping, 31 years old. She is a cashier for a foreign trade company in this city. Two years ago, her husband died in a car accident. She has a child who is younger than two. "

Bai Yutang looked at the information. "No wonder she said she was not doing well."

"Why did she say that she had to go back, or someone would die?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"Oh~~" Wang Chao sighed and said, "She said that her baby was home alone. If she doesn't go back by tomorrow morning, the baby might starve or freeze to death."

Bai Yutang frowned slightly and asked Zhan Zhao, "Kitty, why don’t you interrogate her now?"

Zhan Zhao thought about it, "Well, that's the only way we can do this."

Wang Chao turned back in and took Kong Liping to the interrogation room. He told her that as long as she cooperated with the investigation, she could go home as soon as possible.

Kong Liping calmed down immediately, sitting quietly in the interrogation room and waiting.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang did not rush in immediately, but instead stood in front of the one-way mirror and observed the person inside.

Kong Liping looked much older than 31 years old, with average looks and rough skin. Her hair was long and a little messy, and she had no makeup. Her clothes were cheap and a bit simplistic...

Zhan Zhao watched her actions intently: the blinking eyes, anxious look... The right hand turning the ring on the ring finger of the left hand from time to time...

He frowned slightly.

When Bai Yutang noticed Zhan Zhao’s expression change, he went up and asked, "Kitty, what's wrong?"

Zhan Zhao groaned for a moment then said, "She is lying."

"Lying?" Bai Yutang asked, "Why do you say that?"

"She is very disturbed..." Zhan Zhao watched Kong Liping's movements and said, "Her eyes keep looking downwards to the left... This means that she is thinking. The current situation may be what she had imagined. She dresses very simply but not sloppily... this means that she is a very organized and self-controlled person. She looks more anxious than worried, so she is not thinking about her child right now... "

Bai Yutang listened to Zhan Zhao's narrative, and stared at Kong Liping intently for a while. "Kitty, you mean... she intentionally got caught by us?"

Zhan Zhao touched his chin and said with a smile, "Maybe... she wants to tell us something, but she can't call the police directly."

"So..." Bai Yutang rubbed his hands together. "What should we do?"

They glanced at each other—Beat her at her own game!!!

Having decided, the two walked into the interrogation room.

When they were sitting face to face, without waiting for Zhan Zhao or Bai Yutang to speak, Kong Liping said eagerly, "Mr. Police Officer, can you make a long story short, I... my child is still at home... he is too young and he’s by himself..."

"So..." Bai Yutang groaned for a moment. "We can ask the social security staff to take care of him first."

"Ah! No need!" Kong Liping was startled and waved her hands repeatedly. "My son is very afraid of strangers... He will cry if he doesn’t see me when he wakes up..."

The two looked at each other.

Zhan Zhao raised his eyebrows—how about it?

Bai Yutang nodded. Kong Liping had been held at the police station for at least four hours! A mother, in this scenario, refused to have her child taken care of by the social security staff... There were only two possible reasons: either she did not love her child, or she knew that her child was safe.

"Let's get started," Bai Yutang nodded. "To make a long story short, was it you who went to the kindergarten classroom last night?"

"Yes..." Kong Liping nodded. "It was me."

"What were you doing at the scene of the murder?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"I... I go to the dead person and burn some money..." Kong Liping said.

"You didn't burn paper money but a talisman." Zhan Zhao said with a smile, "Like you were doing a ritual... or do you think this case was not done by a person?"

Kong Liping shuddered slightly and said nervously, "Yes... Yes, I know it's a ghost..."

"Whose ghost?" Bai Yutang asked, "Xu Jiali's?"

"How did you... did you know?" Kong Liping asked in alarm.

With his hand on his chin, Zhan Zhao asked her seriously, "How did Xu Jiali die?"

"She... she was killed..." Kong Liping said.

"Who was it?"

"I... I don't know."

Bai Yutang took out a document and said, "You and Xu Jiali had lessons together in a dance school when you were young, and Xu Jiali died in the school locker room... Do you know something?"

"..." Kong Liping took a deep breath and seemed to be determined. "Jiali... wasn’t killed by that serial killer."

"Who killed her?"

"I don't know... We, when we went in, she was already dead." Kong Liping shook her head and said, "We just... just forged the scene."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang glanced at each other and asked Kong Liping with surprise, "Did you draw the magic array? Why did you help the real murderer forge the scene?"

"I..." Kong Liping seemed to be rubbing her hair a little chaotically. "We just wanted to have some fun... And, and Jiali didn’t usually pay any attention to us. We wanted to teach her a lesson..."

Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao, meaning the lie was too obvious, right?

Zhan Zhao nodded and motioned to him. Beat her at her own game!
"So, you think Xu Jiali is coming back for revenge this time?"

"En..." Kong Liping said, "Zhang Zhenzhen... she was with us, then."

Zhan Zhao took out a piece of paper and gave it to her, "Write the names of everyone who faked the scene with you at the time."

Kong Liping’s pen trembled a little as she wrote down a bunch of names.

After receiving the paper she handed over, Bai Yutang nodded. "You can go back."

"... What?" Kong Liping seemed to be unbelieving, looking at Bai Yutang in doubt.

"You can go back, or is there something else you want to say?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"Oh... no... no more." Kong Liping quickly stood up and walked out. She took a few steps, then came back again and said hesitantly, "Mr. Police Officer... That... Xu Jiali has a sister. Did you know?"

"A sister?" Bai Yutang was surprised.

"Yeah... Jiali and her sister are orphans, and they were adopted by different people... but they had a good relationship."

"What's her sister's name?" Bai Yutang asked.

"Uh... that, I don't know. I haven't met her. I just used to hear her mention her often." After that, Kong Liping left in a panic.

Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao, "How was that, Kitty? She seemed as if she was intentionally telling us what happened in Xu Jiali's case back then."

"Also!" Zhan Zhao smiled. "She reminded us that Xu Jiali had a sister."

Bai Yutang quickly dialed the phone, "Wang Chao, follow Kong Liping!"

"Okay." Wang Chao hung up the phone and carefully followed Kong Liping.

Putting the phone away, Bai Yutang turned his head and saw that Zhan Zhao's face was pale... "Kitty, what's wrong with you?"

"Nnn? No... a little stomach ache." Zhan Zhao smiled and said, "Well, what names did Kong Liping write down? It is likely that one of them will be the next victim."

Bai Yutang looked at him anxiously, "Are you really all right? Go to the hospital, okay?"

"It isn't painful~~ You’re making a fuss about nothing." Zhan Zhao reached out and grabbed the paper from Bai Yutang's hand, saying, "Nn~~~ Zhang Zhenzhen, Shen Ling, An Qingyao, Li Xu..."

"What?!" Bai Yutang looked at it, grabbing the paper that Zhan Zhao had in his hands.

"What's wrong?" Zhan Zhao was curious.



"This Li Xu..." Bai Yutang pointed to the name on the paper, "Is very problematic~~"