S.C.I. Mystery Vol. 1, Ch. 58

Magic Murderer 13: Magic

Leaving the pedestrian street, Bai Yutang whispered to Ma Han to find someone to watch the gallery to see who went in and out of it. After Ma Han agreed, he returned Chen Jiayi, who had no idea what was going on, to the Entertainment City. Then, he went to arrange the monitoring.

Bai Yutang drove Zhan Zhao back to the S.C.I., and the two of them kept silent. Zhan Zhao looked quietly at the scenery outside the window. After the car drove out of the lively urban area, Bai Yutang changed his mind and went up the highway to the Mid-Levels (1).

"Where are you going?" Zhan Zhao asked Bai Yutang with some doubt when he noticed that it was not the way back to the police station.

"To get familiar with the terrain." Bai Yutang answered casually.

"What terrain?" Zhan Zhao was even more puzzled.

"The spa villa. Christmas is coming."

"..." Zhan Zhao didn't react at first. Then, when he heard the word "Christmas", he blushed and clenched his teeth, "White Mouse, what time do you think it is? You’re still in a mood to joke?!"

"Who's joking?!" Bai Yutang raised an eyebrow. "I'm counting the days. There’s only a few to go!"

"You can't stop thinking about this case!" Zhan Zhao stared at him fiercely!

"Then, we have to work hard to close the case before Christmas!" Bai Yutang winked, "For~ our~ happiness~~"

Zhan Zhao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, "Xiao Bai, do you have any ideas?"

Bai Yutang stopped the car. Zhan Zhao looked out the window and found that they were in the Mid-Levels, with a vast collection of exquisite small villas scattered behind them and the night view of the city in front.

After getting out of the car, Bai Yutang leaned on the door and looked at the twinkling lights of the night cityscape and the traffic weaving to and fro at the foot of the mountain. He said with a smile, "I have no idea, but I want to hear your idea."

Zhan Zhao walked to his side and laughed, "I have an idea?!"

"Kitty, you seem awfully excited." Bai Yutang turned to look at Zhan Zhao. "Let's hear it."

"Why do you think Zhao Jue appeared in front of us this time?"

Bai Yutang shook his head, "I can't guess."

Zhan Zhao thought for a while, then whispered, "I can't clearly see his real purpose, but, for this case... I got some hints."

"What hints?"

"Games and toys!" Zhan Zhao said slowly.

"You’re saying that this case is a game of Zhao Jue’s, and the people involved are toys?!" Bai Yutang asked after pondering for a moment.

"Right~~ This long-cold case is a game that Zhao Jue discovered... And the people who were part of the case in the past and now are toys, including the victims, those who know about it~~ and the murderer."

"The murderer is also under his control?" Bai Yutang was slightly surprised.

"Yes..." Zhan Zhao nodded. "Kong Liping's case—No one could handle that except Zhao Jue."

"Did he kill Kong Liping?"

"No~~" Zhan Zhao shook his head. "To be exact, Kong Liping killed herself."

"Why do you say that?"

"She treated herself the way the Magic Murderer deals with his prey." Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang, "What does that bring to mind?"

"Why did he master this method?" Bai Yutang followed Zhan Zhao's thoughts. "When I first arrived at the murder scene, it was very strange. Kong Liping's death method was completely like she was killed by the magic murderer, but she killed herself. That is... she is the Magic Murderer?! "

Zhan Zhao nodded, "Yes, but no!"

"Kitty, can you speak Chinese?!" Bai Yutang frowned.

Zhan Zhao smiled. Bai Yutang hadn’t asked him to speak Chinese for a long time, "It should be that precisely when she killed herself, she became the Magic Murderer."

...! ... Bai Yutang was a little speechless.

Zhan Zhao saw the shock on his face and explained, "Think about it. Earlier, in Chen Jiayi’s case, Zhao Jue could implant another memory to confuse her original memory, so why couldn't he do so with Kong Liping?!"

After being silent for a while, Bai Yutang nodded. "I understand. Zhao Jue gave Kong Liping a hypnotic suggestion that made her think that she was the Magic Murderer at a certain time, and that particular time should have been when she was sleeping. "

"En!" Zhan Zhao rubbed Bai Yutang's hair approvingly, "Smart. What else can you think of?"

"Zhao Jue was imprisoned in the research center for 20 years. The murders of the Magic Murderer stopped just ten years ago. That is to say, Zhao Jue is not the Magic Murderer. How could he be familiar with the memory of the Magic Murderer?" Zhan Zhao looked at him, and Bai Yutang understood, "Unless, he knows the real Magic Murderer and read his memory."

Zhan Zhao nodded with satisfaction, "According to what we know now, this case is an instance where there are at least two murderers: the real Magic Murderer, and the murderer who killed Xu Jiali."

"Right!" Bai Yutang agreed. "The Magic Murderer cases from that time were one phase, and Xu Jiali's case was another phase. In fact, the only people who really knew the truth of that day were Shen Ling, Kong Liping, and Zhang Zhenzhen. Zhang Zhenzhen died. Aside from that magic array, the purpose of that killing was more like a simple homicide! "

"Now, Liping Kong is also dead." Zhan Zhao went on to say, "In other words, only Shen Ling knows what happened."

"If Shen Ling is fine..." Bai Yutang said, "then that proves either she or someone close to her was the perpetrator."

"Very right. In addition to that, we have two threads to follow left!" Zhan Zhao said, "One is Wei Yong's case, and the other is Sun Qian."

"Wei Yong was going to kill Li Xu... I originally thought it might also have something to do with that fortune-teller, but..." Bai Yutang paused. "This matter was not purposeful, and it was not very beautiful. It wasn’t like Zhao Jue’s style."

"Hehe... beautiful~~" Zhan Zhao laughed, "It is said that the devil has no integrity and no principles, just some sense of aesthetic~~ Indeed, such a lack of 'a sense of beauty' is definitely not Zhao Jue's style."

"Who would it be, then?!" Bai Yutang was puzzled.

"This is something I haven't figured out yet, but fortunately, Wei Yong is in our hands now, so... there should be a breakthrough in the interrogation when we go back... I am more concerned about Sun Qian's case." Zhan Zhao frowned, his face heavy, "It's like some kind of starting ceremony."

"Do you still think that Sun Qian has nothing to do with this series of cases, but that it’s the Magic Murderer back again?" Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao, "Do you think this is part of Zhao Jue's game?"

Zhan Zhao shook his head, "It's still that same phrase. I don’t think it is beautiful enough... I have read the previous information on Zhao Jue, what those related to the victims have said... They all somewhat deserved it, although the tactics were extreme, but he has never killed a child."

"He shot a shot at my brother's head when he was a child!" Bai Yutang seemed to have a bit of a problem with that statement.

Zhan Zhao smiled, "Why didn't he run?"

... Bai Yutang was taken aback for a moment. Indeed, he had heard that Zhao Jue not only did not ran, but he instead called someone and ran to the data room to burn some records of cases. He was arrested as a result. “Kitty, it couldn’t be. What happened then... "

Zhan Zhao shrugged, "I am only guessing this, but I felt it was a little bit strange. You also saw Zhao Jue's palm. That large-scale fingerprint melting did not seem to have been completed recently.”

"Huh~~" Bai Yutang gave a long sigh, "I don't really know what happened in those days. Those old men only talk about what happened in that year cryptically."

"Nnnn~~" Zhan Zhao responded, lowering his head as if he were thinking.

"Kitty, what did you think of?" Bai Yutang was familiar with Zhan Zhao's expressions. When he discovered anything, it was usually like that.

"There are not many people who meet the conditions to be the Magic Murderer." Zhan Zhao sighed.

"Indeed."

"We may be able to use some silly methods."

"..." Bai Yutang thought about it for a while and nodded, "Kitty, you mean make a list, exclude all the people it couldn’t be, and whoever is left is the real murderer?!"

"En!" Zhan Zhao nodded.

"Then there must be a scope of people?" Bai Yutang touched his chin. "Give me a rough range."

"Something happened in the last ten years. For example, going abroad, getting ill... A professional who has access to magic arrays... age between 35 and 50... Male. Single." Zhan Zhao slowly listed the examples, "The last thing is... he knows Zhao Jue."

"These are indeed daring guesses." Bai Yutang smiled and opened the door. "But since it is an expert opinion... we have to follow suit."

The two got into the car, and Bai Yutang restarted it. He suddenly said, "Oh, that’s right. Kitty, my preparations for Christmas are ready."

"Preparations?" Zhan Zhao was a bit distracted, "What preparations?!"

Bai Yutang pointed to an exquisite little case in his hand, "Look... be prepared!"

Opening the case suspiciously, Zhan Zhao took a look... froze, and immediately his face turned bright red, and smoke almost rose from the top of his head.

"Bai Yutang! You pervert!" Zhan Zhao flew into a rage out of humiliation, reaching for the case and trying to throw it out of the window.

"Ah!" Bai Yutang quickly snatched it back, "Kitty, I finally got the twins to prepare it for me after great difficulty!" He said, hiding it behind him.

Zhan Zhao's blush deepened till he almost looked like an apple, and he stared at Bai Yutang incredulously, "You... you told the twins?!"

"Yeah~~ My brother said that the preparation work must be done well, and also taught me some basic knowledge..."

"Ya!!!" Zhan Zhao stretched out his hand and covered Bai Yutang’s mouth. "Shut up! You throw it away!"

"Kitty, listen to my elder brother. He and Gongsun were in the car for the first time." Bai Yutang said while dodging.

"Shut up!" Zhan Zhao stretched out his other hand to aid in his attempt to cover Bai Yutang’s mouth, "Neither of you brothers are good! You are a policeman. How could there be that kind of thing in the car?"

"Police are people too, all right? Who says that they cannot use insurance..."

"Ya! Don't say it!"

"Kitty, why are you so shy? You can’t even talk about it. What will you do when the moment comes?"

"What the hell are you thinking about! Throw it away!"

"Don't throw it~~ Right, Kitty, I bought a lot of them~~ Don't you like the taste of lemon..."

"Ah~~ Bai Yutang! Dammed Mouse! I want to destroy you on behalf of all mankind!"

"Kitty, I'm driving!"

"I don’t care!"

"This is Mid-Levels. It's over if you fall off!"

"It's best to die!"

……………………

In the Entertainment City, Zhao Zhen's magic show, the finale of the opening event that night, was soon to be staged.

The content of the performance was in full view of the public. It was a massive signboard that would be erected on the outer wall of the originally empty Entertainment City exterior.

The spectators gathered one after another on carefully arranged squares outside the Entertainment City. Two helicopters were hovering in the air.

Xiao Bai Chi looked up from the crowd. He knew that Zhao Zhen was in a helicopter. His performance tonight was to put down two huge curtains with the two helicopters, cover the Entertainment City wall with them, and then ignite the curtain made of special materials. On the outer wall of the Entertainment City, a huge neon signboard with a height of nearly ten meters would appear~~ Exaggerated and gorgeous, consistent with the Zhao family style.

With an exclamation from the crowd, Zhao Zhen jumped out of the helicopter and stood in the air.

Bai Chi pouted. There must be a wire hanging!!

Then, Zhao Zhen pulled a slender white rope from his hand and connected it to the brackets of the two helicopters. After he snapped his fingers, the rope unfolded into a huge curtain, enclosing the entire Entertainment City.

Amidst the applause from the crowd, Zhao Zhen slowly descended to the ground. No hooks could be seen on his body.

Shen Qian was quite proud to walk to the podium in the front of the venue and announce the official opening of the Entertainment City.

As his words fell, Zhao Zhen reached out and gently waved in the air. The pure white curtain suddenly ignited, and the blue flame quickly burned to the top. On the outer wall of the originally empty Entertainment City exterior, a huge neon sign appeared out of nowhere. At the same time, gunshots of a salute rang out, and in the night sky, the fireworks bloomed...

However, the crowd suddenly quieted. People’s eyes were wide as though they saw something shocking, and abruptly—a scream of horror erupted.

Bai Chi stood blankly, staring closely at the dazzling flashing lights of the huge neon sign. There was a huge magic array in the space in the middle. A woman was pinned in the center of the array, hanging straight, a knife sticking from her throat.

Just then they heard Shen Qian's cry of sorrow— "LingLing..."





Translation Notes:

(1) The Mid-Levels (Ban Shan Qu) is a residential area in Hong Kong on the lower slopes of the mountains. I know that technically this takes place in “S City”…but yeah it’s Hong Kong.

T/L note: I can see why they didn't replicate that magic trick in the TV show lol.
And here are CatxMouse this chapter as emoticons because why not.

(⁄ ⁄•⁄ꇴ⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄      (*＾▽＾)b ˳˚̊̊⌖∙◌˳⚛˳̊̊̊☃˚˳̊◌˚̊⌖♡

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S.C.I. Mystery Vol. 1, Ch. 57

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Magic Murderer 12: Numerologist

Ma Han went to the security monitoring room of the Entertainment City. After showing his ID, he drove the security guard away and watched the surveillance videos alone.

According to Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, in the hall within the last ten minutes there would be—Zhao Jue.

The name was undoubtedly a bombshell for the entire S.C.I. team. He really hoped that Bai Yutang was just joking.

The meticulous Ma Han pulled up the entirety of the ten-minutes of footage and looked at it frame by frame. A figure clearly appeared in the frame of view... his hair was longer, and the silencer was gone~~ But it was Zhao Jue. He even deliberately glanced at the surveillance camera~~ With a sneering smile on his face, as if he was laughing at someone. He was not afraid of being discovered.

Ma Han's psychological qualities were good, but he still felt his heartbeat speed up. What did it mean? He pulled over the security guard’s chair from behind him to sit down and stabilize his emotions a little. At that moment, there was suddenly a slight footstep that sounded from outside the door... It was extremely quiet, like a person walking barefoot~~

Quickly flashing to the door, Ma Han listened to the movement outside. Soon, he heard the footsteps from just behind the door, and after a while, the door was pushed open a little bit...

Ma Han took a step back, grabbed the doorknob, and pulled hard. He reached out to grab the person who fell in and threw them towards the floor in the middle of the room. He heard a scream—a woman.

As soon as he looked, he saw a woman in a luxurious evening dress with long hair sitting on the floor, rubbing her ankles and staring angrily at Ma Han.

"Why is it you?" Ma Han looked at Chen Jiayi on the ground, very puzzled.

"Why is it me? You know I'm still trying so hard!" Chen Jiayi stood up next to the stool. The heels of her stilettos had broken, so she sat on the stool and rubbed her feet.

"What are you doing?" Ma Han asked with a frown.

"I wanted to see what you are doing in the surveillance room..." Chen Jiayi said carefully, "Are you a spy?"

Ma Han shook his head, then walked to the computer and started exporting the video. He asked her casually, "Are you all right?"

"My feet hurt a bit." Chen Jiayi looked at the busy Ma Han. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." Ma Han burned the video onto a disk, ready to take back to the S.C.I. Afterwards, he opened other videos and took a quick look, scanning for the presence of Zhao Jue.

"Huh? Isn't that Master Zhao?" Chen Jiayi suddenly pointed to Zhao Jue in a video.

"What?" Mahan looked back at her in surprise, "Do you know him?"

"En." Jiayi nodded. "He is my numerologist (1)."

"Numerologist?!" Ma Han adjusted his emotions and tried to calm down. "You just called him Master Zhao. What's his name?"

"It seemed to be... Zhao Jue." Chen Jiayi thought for a while, "My friend introduced me to him. He’s very amazing (2)."

Ma Han sat on the other chair and said to himself, "My God..."



Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao followed Shen Qian to an event room where Shen Ling was chatting with a few friends.

"Ling Ling, these two police officers want to talk to you." Shen Qian pushed open the door and walked in.

Shen Ling was slightly stunned and nodded. Her friends all stood up and left tactfully. Kong Cheng stood up and walked up to Shen Qian, "Boss, do I need to stay?"

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao gave Kong Cheng a curious look.

Shen Qian introduced him, "He is my lawyer." After that, he nodded to Kong Cheng.

Kong Cheng smiled at Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, "Is this a formal police inquiry?"

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other: to deal with the lawyer—Tactic C.
Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang embarrassedly, "Xiao Bai, we don't have the relevant permissions."

"Hmm~~" Bai Yutang touched his chin. "It’s true that if it’s informal, she has the right to refuse to answer questions."

Zhan Zhao nodded, "Well, you go back and apply for an arrest warrant."

"Arrest warrant?" Bai Yutang wondered. "Arrest her for a retrail?"

"Nn~~ According to the relevant evidence, Miss Shen is suspected of committing murder ten years ago, and Boss Shen is suspected of covering it up..." Zhan Zhao looked at the lawyer, "Does Attorney Kong think that we should just talk like this, or should we go back for official procedures? "

Bai Yutang nodded twice, "Yes, ah, today is the opening of the Entertainment City. The Boss hasn’t even made a speech, and both the brother and sister were invited to the police station. Shen Group's stock may fall very badly tomorrow."

Kong Cheng smiled a little awkwardly, "Are you two police officers intimidating us?"

Bai Yutang also smiled innocently, "I didn't show a police officer identification~~ Isn't this a private meeting? Moreover, it’s the question-and-answer type."

Shen Qian patted Kong Cheng, "You go out. We can talk in private."

The lawyer was sent away, and everyone else sat in the room.

Shen Ling kept her head down and seemed nervous.

"Whatever you want to ask, just ask," Shen Qian smiled and lit a cigarette, leaning his legs against the sofa.

Bai Yutang looked at Shen Ling and asked, "Miss Shen, can you recall the case of Xu Jiali ten years ago for us?"

"..." Shen Ling was silent for a while. "It’s been a long time. I can't remember it clearly."

"We have already asked Kong Liping and Li Xu in advance and have a certain understanding of the events at that time." Zhan Zhao said seriously, "I don't think your experience at that time was of the kind that could be forgotten casually."

Taking a deep breath, Shen Ling said, "Jiali was killed by Tong Ming. I saw it."

"What was the specific situation?" Bai Yutang asked.

"At the time, Zhenzhen, Liping and I had finished dancing, and we went to the dressing room when we ran into Tong Ming coming out. He was covered with blood and stumbled off. We went in and saw Jiali lying there." Shen Ling took a sip of water, then continued, "We were going to call the police, but then Li Xu and Qingyao came in. They decided to help Tong Ming cover up the crime... Then, we forged the scene."

"Why did you three help?" Bai Yutang asked.

"We had to keep Tong Ming. He was our coach, and we had an important show coming up. It was an opportunity for each of us."

Zhan Zhao stared at Bai Yutang and asked Shen Qian instead, "Why did you help Kong Liping last night?"

"She said she had very important things to do and asked me to help her look after the child." Shen Qian answered readily.

"She asked you to take care of the child, so you went?" Bai Yutang expressed doubt, "You didn't seem to be on such close terms."

Shen Qian laughed helplessly, "I am the boss of the Shen family. She is just a housewife, but she could tell the media that my sister once forged the last case of a famous serial murder case... so generally, I have to do what she asks. "

"This is the reason why you have been so interested in this case since the beginning?" Bai Yutang asked.

"Yes." Shen Qian nodded. "Recently, the serial killer started to commit crimes again, and the victim was so coincidentally that Zhang Zhenzhen. I have to be vigilant."

Nodding, Bai Yutang glanced at Zhan Zhao, meaning—How is it?

Zhan Zhao winked at him—We’re almost at the breaking point.
So, the two got up and said goodbye.

Going out the door and walking into the elevator, Zhan Zhao asked Bai Yutang, "Do you think that what he said is true?"

Bai Yutang thought for a while, "It's half true and half fake."

Going downstairs, they saw Ma Han in the distance, standing next to his car and waiting. There was a beautiful woman beside him~~ someone familiar.

When Zhan Zhao saw Ma Han, he suddenly remembered Zhao Jue's affairs and rushed over. He grabbed Ma Han and asked, "How was it? Was there anything?"

Ma Han nodded and took out the disc, "Clearly."

Although Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao had made certain mental preparations, they briefly lost their abilities to speak—Zhao Jue was really not dead.

Coming back to reality first, Bai Yutang looked at Chen Jiayi next to Ma Han in bewilderment.

Ma Han said, "There are more unusual things. She knows Zhao Jue."

"What?" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were surprised.

"Is there anything strange? He’s my numerologist." Chen Jiayi said, "A lot of people have consulted with him."

"Numerologist?" Zhan Zhao almost cried in shock, "Like fortune telling?"

"En." Chen Jiayi nodded, "Redeeming sins, guiding the way of life."

"Do you know where he lives?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"I know where his studio is, if he lives there..."

"Take us!" Without saying another word, Bai Yutang opened the door and stuffed Chen Jiayi in. Everyone got in the car and drove as fast as Chen Jiayi could speak.

The car entered the city center of S City. As Chen Jiayi said that the location was a pedestrian street, everyone got out of the car since it couldn’t enter.

The street was one of S City’s shopping malls and had a large number of fashion brand stores, large shopping centers, and high-end restaurants.

Under the guidance of Chen Jiayi, the four came to the door of a quaintly decorated gallery.

When they entered the gallery, there was a young man with fine clothes and braids, full of artistic style.

"Jiayi?" The young man said in not-so-fluent Chinese, "I don’t remember you making an appointment today."

As they got closer, they realized that the person who spoke was not Asian. He somewhat resembled an Italian.

"Andy, is Master Zhao here?" Chen Jiayi asked, "I have a few friends who said they would like to meet him."

"Oh... wow!" Andy glanced at everyone. Just as he was about to speak more, his eyes fell on Zhan Zhao's face, and he suddenly cried, "Are you the model of that painting?!"

"What model?" Bai Yutang was puzzled.

"Ah! You too!" Andy pointed to Bai Yutang excitedly.

He was confusing everyone.

"Let's go see." Andy walked up the second floor with the four others. The old wooden stairs made a creaking noise. The upper floor was like a studio, piled with a lot of oil paintings. The two most prominent ones in the middle were placed on easels. They were portraits of Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang. They were so beautiful that they were almost like real people. No wonder Andy was so shocked.

"Andy, do we have guests?" A man slowly walked down alone from the third floor... He had a white sweater and long black hair...

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked up at him, feeling like it was a little unreal~~

"Zhao Jue!" Bai Yutang frowned, reaching for the handcuffs on his waist and walking over.

"Ya~~" Zhao Jue escaped with some panic, hiding behind Zhan Zhao. He showed a terrified look and grasped Zhan Zhao's shoulders with both hands. Seeing that Bai Yutang's face was pale, he blinked slightly mischievously and rubbed Zhan Zhao’s shoulders.

Bai Yutang said coldly, "You are suspected of multiple murders. I want to take you back to the police station."

Zhao Jue blinked innocently and leaned into Zhan Zhao's ear to say, "He is so fierce."

Zhan Zhao had recovered from his shocked state. He slowly turned around, looked at Zhao Jue, and laughed, "You were not afraid that we would find you. That is to say, you are fully prepared. Isn't that it?"

Zhao Jue nodded proudly, then walked to Andy and asked, "Andy, how long have you been working here for me?"

"Ah? ... three years." Andy was a little confused.

"Three years?" Ma Han looked at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang incredulously. Zhao Jue escaped only a few months ago. How could it have been three years?

"Jiayi, how long have I been consulting for you?" Zhao Jue continued to ask.

Chen Jiayi thought for a while, "It's been almost a year," After she spoke, she looked at Bai Yutang and the others, "So you wanted me to bring you here because you wanted to catch him? You must be wrong. Master Zhao is a good person!"

Zhan Zhao said nothing, but stared at Zhao Jue's eyes, "Implanting memories with hypnotism?"

Zhao Jue smiled innocently, then shook his head again. He stretched out his hands to show Zhan Zhao.

Everyone was surprised to find that his palm was flat, without fingerprints, palm prints, or anything.

"The game has started again, hasn't it?" Zhan Zhao asked Zhao Jue.

Zhao Jue stretched out his hand and gently touched Zhan Zhao's jaw. He noticed Bai Yutang's cold face and quickly withdrew his hand, laughing, "Because there are good playmates, there are many more toys."

After Zhan Zhao listened to him quietly, he looked around slowly, ignoring Zhao Jue. Instead, he turned to look at Chen Jiayi. He gently reached out and snapped his fingers in her ear.

Chen Jiayi froze for a moment, and suddenly became a little dazed. Zhan Zhao patted her shoulder gently, leaned into her ear and whispered for nearly three minutes. Then, he patted her shoulder again.

After doing all this, Zhan Zhao asked, "Miss Chen, when was your first time here?"

"Uh..." Chen Jiayi rubbed her temples and looked around, "Well... yes, three days ago~~ I have a headache..."

After she finished speaking, Zhan Zhao reached out again and snapped a finger in her ear.

Chen Jiayi's eyes returned to their original state, and she looked around in a puzzled manner. Why was everyone looking at her like that?

"Hah~~" Zhan Zhao shook his head. "You painted those two paintings for instruction. For the purpose of today. Anyone who has seen us will automatically enter the hypnotic state you specified, and their memory will be confused."

Zhao Jue happily clapped and laughed. Finally, he put away his smile and said with great distress, "So, will you arrest me?"

Zhan Zhao shook his head. "No. No, we have no evidence."

Bai Yutang put away the handcuffs and pulled Zhan Zhao, "Kitty, let's go."

Zhan Zhao turned and went downstairs, and Zhao Jue reluctantly kept up with them for the first few steps, just like a child whose playmates were leaving.

Bai Yutang turned around at the last moment, preparing to go downstairs. Zhao Jue suddenly said, "Life is like a game~~ Isn't it?"

Looking back, Bai Yutang stared at Zhao Jue for a long time and nodded, "Yes, but games are not life."

Zhao Jue tilted his head, somewhat puzzled.

"A person who thinks of a game as life is destined to play in it... isn't that right?" After that, Bai Yutang turned around and walked away without looking back.

Zhao Jue watched them leave and became quieter. He went over to the two paintings and reached out to gently stroke the faces of the people in the paintings... In his eyes there was faint sadness.




Translation Notes:

(1) A type of fortune teller

(2) The word used for amazing (slang) literally translates to deity.

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S.C.I. Mystery Vol. 1, Ch. 56

T/L Note: As per usual, it you're uncomfortable with the scene in this chapter at all, this time it goes all the way to the end.

Magic Murderer 11: Gambling

"Who did you see?" Bai Yutang asked again with some disbelief.

"Zhao Jue." Zhan Zhao repeated it seriously.

"... Kitty ..." Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao, "Zhao Jue is dead."

"We didn't find the body, did we?" Zhan Zhao argued.

"You really saw him?"

"N!"

Bai Yutang glanced around, then took out his mobile phone and dialed Ma Han.

"Boss?" Ma Han answered the phone.

"Ma Han, are you in the Entertainment City?"

"I am."

"Go to the security monitoring room now and watch the surveillance video in the lobby. Find someone from within the last ten minutes."

"Okay, who are you looking for?" Ma Han hurried away.

"Zhao Jue."

... Ma Han at the other end of the phone froze for a while before answering, "Okay."

Hanging up the phone, Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao, "If it’s Zhao Jue, it will be clear after watching the surveillance video, but now..."

"I understand." Zhan Zhao nodded, "We must concentrate on dealing with Shen Qian!"

The two approached the elevator, and Bai Yutang suddenly asked, "Kitty, if Zhao Jue is not dead, would you be happy or unhappy?"

"Why do you ask?" Zhan Zhao glanced at him.

"You seemed surprised and anxious earlier, and that you’ve calmed down... and a little bit more excited~~~" Bai Yutang concluded.

Zhan Zhao thought it was ridiculous, "What the hell do you want to say?"

"You're very happy that Zhao Jue didn't die." Bai Yutang quickly concluded.

The elevator door opened, and Zhan Zhao nodded, "It is true."

An assistant took the two to the VIP room on the top floor, and they found Shen Qian in the middle of rubbing medicinal wine onto his hand.

"Officer Bai is indeed a skilled man." Shen Qian said half-jokingly and rubbed his swollen wrist.

Zhan Zhao glanced at Bai Yutang—What did you do to him?

Bai Yutang blinked—Nothing. I just flicked him.

Zhan Zhao stared at you him—You are a policeman. How could you hit people?

Bai Yutang gave a look of disdain—I did not hit anyone. He was lucky to have not touched you, otherwise this young master would have crippled him.

He squinted—Violent mouse!

He squinted back—Flowers attract bees and butterflies, Cat!!!

Anger—Who are you talking about?!!

Anger—I’m talking about you! (Please imagine the image of a cat and a mouse. Backs arched, hair standing on end, fangs bared as they glared at each other accompanied by the “hu hu” of breathing.)

"Hem hem~~" Shen Qian coughed, interrupting the "amorous glances" of the two in front of him, and asked with a smile, "The two came to me. Is something wrong?"

"Some business," Bai Yutang replied.

"Oh~~" Shen Qian nodded and asked the two to sit down. "Is that business about the murder at my construction site?"

"It is not." Bai Yutang replied with a smile.

Shen Qian didn't seem surprised. He randomly opened a deck of cards from the table and fiddled with them in his hands. "Please speak."

"Do you know Kong Liping?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"Hmm~~" Shen Qian thought for a while, "The name is a bit familiar, but there is no deep impression."

"You should have just seen her last night." Bai Yutang looked at the cards that Shen Qian had placed before him with a bit of bewilderment.

"I see a lot of people every day, I can't remember them all." Shen Qian finished the deal, "Interested in a game?"

"You saw her between 11 o'clock last night and 1 o'clock this morning." Bai Yutang picked the cards up off the table and sorted them.

"I was busy with today’s opening last night." Shen Qian threw out a pair of Jacks.

"We have witnesses who saw you with her last night." Bai Yutang threw a pair of Queens.

A pair of Aces. Shen Qian smiled, "That is not strange."

"Why do you say that?" Bai Yutang motioned for him to play.

"I just said, I saw a lot of people last night because of the opening." Shen Qian threw out a set of 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 straight hearts, "It is not strange to see me with a woman." He looked at the two Ace cards, and then look at the seven cards in Bai Yutang's hand, "I seem to be winning."

Bai Yutang laughed, "I still have seven cards. How can you be sure that I don't have a bigger straight than you?"

"Hehe." Shen Qian smiled, "Officer Bai does not play cards very often." He said, referring to the cards in Bai Yutang's hands, "When a novice plays cards, they like to separate the cards according to their types. Your cards, five of them are slightly to the left, two cards are slightly to the right, and two of the five cards to the left are slightly higher. That is to say, those five cards are three with a pair, the other two are a pair... so, you don't have a straight."

Bai Yutang listened to him quietly and shook his head. "You always feel that everything is within your plan, but there are always things in this world that are beyond your expectations." As he spoke, he took out the five cards. They were a straight of the 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace of spades. "In fact, from the beginning of the conversation to the present, I had never said that Kong Liping was a woman."

Shen Qian’s face slightly discolored, and he quickly recovered his composure, "Most people who hear that name think that it’s a woman, right?"

Zhan Zhao on the side nodded, "Indeed, if the average person heard this name and felt it familiar, then they would ask ‘man or woman,’ right?"

"Hoo~~" Shen Qian threw the two cards in his hand to the table and raised his hand. "I admit defeat. You two are great... I know Kong Liping. Is this always illegal?"

"Your and her identity are very different. How do you know her? Because of the matter of your younger sister Ling ten years ago?!" Bai Yutang dove straight in.

Shen Qian seemed unable to parry and lit a cigarette. "My sister has nothing to do with this matter. Don't drag her into it."

"Kong Liping is dead," Zhan Zhao said suddenly.

"What?" Shen Qian was startled.

"Do you know Li Xu?" Bai Yutang asked.

After hesitating for a while, Shen Qian nodded.

"She was also killed." Zhan Zhao said, and Bai Yutang glanced at him, silently smiling.

"God... how could this be?" Shen Qian seemed confused, "Who killed them?!"

"Do you think it was the same person who killed all of them?" Bai Yutang stared at him, "Or, do you have a clue about the murderer?!"

"This matter can't be made clear in such a short time." Shen Qian extinguished the cigarette. "I’ll go to find my sister. You can ask her, maybe she can make it clearer."

"En." Bai Yutang nodded and stood up. "Good idea! Let's go with you."

Shen Qian smiled, "Officer Bai, are you afraid I’ll collude to create a false story with her?"

"No." Zhan Zhao shook his head. "You are two brother and sister. If you wanted to collude, you'd have already done it, wouldn’t you?"

"Yes." Bai Yutang went on to say, "It happened ten years ago. Why wait until now."

"Oh." Shen Qian laughed twice, then turned and went out.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao kept up.

As he was heading out, Zhan Zhao glanced at Bai Yutang and said softly, "Well done, Xiao Bai. That game was won beautifully."

Bai Yutang blinked at him, "Haven't you deceived me too many times?! It's called learning from your past mistakes~~"



Downstairs from the police station, Gongsun stood by the road waiting for Bai Jintang's car. Recently, he seldom drove his own car because Bai Jintang "forcibly" requested to send him to work every morning and pick him up every night~~ To strengthen their communication.

He always waited downstairs. Today, he didn't know why, but he was so late.

He looked around, then suddenly felt a tight waist. Before he could make a sound, he was embraced and kissed on the cheek.

That familiar and domineering atmosphere, he didn’t need to look at the person to know who it was. Gongsun pushed away the mischievous Bai Jintang, "How old are you?! This is the entrance to the police station!"

"Hehe." Bai Jintang raised his lips and smiled. "You waited ten minutes."

Gongsun looked at him with some surprise, and then gritted his teeth, "You! You arrived long ago, but never come out?!"

Bai Jintang stretched his arms around Gongsun’s shoulders intimately, "I just watched you from afar... the expression on your face seemed to be worry~~"

"... Senseless!" Gongsun glanced at Bai Jintang and turned away to leave.

Bai Jintang kept up and asked, "You didn't blame me for making you wait, but worried that something happened to me, right?!" Seeing Gongsun's face flushed, and that he wasn’t speaking, Bai Jintang was in a good mood. He rubbed shoulders with him and said, "My car broke down. Let’s go back by subway."

Gongsun thought he seemed to have some bad intentions, but he didn't think too much about it, so he pulled him to the subway station~~

Unexpectedly, he had caught up with the evening rush hour. Gongsun just wanted to say, "Let’s go back in a taxi, it's too crowded." But he was pulled by Bai Jintang, and he got on the car with the crowd.

Gongsun was pulled into the corner between the two carriages. Bai Jintang put his hands on the wall at a right angle, protecting Gongsun in front of him. He smiled and looking down at him. Gongsun was sheltered by Bai Jintang, and when he looked up, he saw Bai Jintang staring at him closely. The expression on his face was dubious. Gongsun wisely decided to turn his back to him, lest this super pervert would kiss him in the crowd. He didn’t want to be embarrassed on the subway.

The car rocked slightly, making Bai Jintang lose balance and lean on Gongsun.

But from Gongsun’s view, the actions of person behind him were absolutely intentional. He turned back to stare at the man fiercely, just wanting to speak, but was surprised that Bai Jintang's hand reached into the hem of his trench coat. It slowly traced down along his waist.

"... Are you crazy?!" Gongsun gritted his teeth and grabbed the hand.

"Hush~~" Bai Jintang raised the corner of his mouth and smiled. He lowered his heaed down to kiss Gongsun's hair. "Shhh~~ I don't want others to see you so sexy."

"You... pervert~~" Gongsun stretched out his hand to support himself against the wall, frowning and cursing.

"Hehe~~ Since you said that I was a pervert." Bai Jintang leaned over and said in his ear, "Then I should do something perverted... right?"

Gongsun was angry enough to kill, but Bai Jintang was not aware of such things. He was unmoved by force or persuasion. He would have to stab him with a knife to avoid the flirtation~~ He was so horny!!

"Hmm..." As Bai Jintang's hand got to important matters first and expertly caressed and kneaded between his pants, Gongsun's rigid heart filled, and his hands braced against the wall. He could only say in a trembling voice, "Stop."

"Good..." Bai Jintang rubbed the side of Gongsun's face with his chin. "Don’t you think that a crowded place is more exciting?" As he spoke, he carefully undid Gongsun's pants and groped in.

"Ah~~" Gongsun whispered in shock, and bit his lower lip and pulled on Bai Jintang's hand, "You... you crazy, ah..."

"Hush~~" Bai Jintang hugged him tighter, leaned into his ear and said, "Shhh, others will find out." After that, he increased his strength.

"Uh..." Gongsun was suffering so much that he had to lean his head against the back of the hand holding the wall, and cover his mouth with the other so as not to make a sound.

The subway arrived at the station in ten minutes, and Gongsun was helplessly pulled off of the platform by Bai Jintang and tucked into the black Mercedes-Benz parked outside the station.

"You... why is your car here?" Gongsun sluggishly came to and widened his eyes at Bai Jintang.

"Um~~ Because it's been repaired..." Bai Jintang smiled shamelessly and quickly parked the car into the underground parking lot of Gongsun's apartment.

"Bai Jintang, you bastard! You had it planned!" When Gongsun swung his arm, Bai Jintang grabbed his hand and pressed him against the back of the chair to kiss him

Seeing that he was in a enthused state of mind, Gongsun took the opportunity, and lifted his knee and to hit him. Bai Jintang hurried to protect the key parts, but he was still hit on the thigh, sucked air in through his teeth, "Darling, do you want to cripple me? "

Gongsun undid his seat belt, grabbed the perfume that was in the car in front of him, and sprayed it at Bai Jintang, "You are a scum! You better wake up!!"

After throwing away the perfume, Gongsun pushed open the door of the car and turned and ran. He went upstairs and closed the door fiercely, still unsettled. He took off his shoes and scolded, "Rogue, sooner or later I will get rid of you! Shit... Ah!"

With a cry, he was pressed against the door by the man behind him, who bowed his head and kissed him without a word.

"You... how did you come in?" Gongsun pushed at Bai Jintang in front of him.

"Hole in the room. Don't forget that I live next door to you." Bai Jintang smiled proudly, Gongsun tried to knee him again, but this time Bai Jintang was ready and embraced him, "Why are you so vicious? Do you want me to tie you up? "

"Ah~~ Let go... Let me down..." Gongsun struggled.

Bai Jintang walked into the bedroom while carrying him. He kicked the door open with one foot, then lifted him and threw Gongsun onto the KING-SIZE bed he had gotten specially made. He untied his tie, "Darling, we did half on the subway. We should finish it..."

"Ah~~~~"



<- Previous Chapter | Next Chapter ->

S.C.I. Mystery Vol. 1, Ch. 55

IMPORTANT TRANSLATION NOTE: Zhao Yan’s name was always supposed to be translated as Zhao Zhen. I don’t remember why I chose to do it differently in the first place (there was a reason, I swear), but since then, I’ve just been keeping it as Zhao Yan because having both a Zhan Zhao and a Zhao Zhen as main characters…well you can see why that might be a tad confusing. I’ve switched it to Zhao Zhen in this chapter, so let me know in the comments which name you would prefer. If nobody has said anything by 4/13/2020, then I’ll just switch everything to Zhao Zhen permanently.

Also, regarding the Zhaos...They aren't all the same Zhao...

Zhan Zhao: 昭 (Bright)

Zhao Zhen, Zhao Jue, Zhao Hu: 赵 (Name of one of the warring states/common surname). This does not necessarily mean Zhao Hu is related to the other two.

Magic Murderer 10: Farewell

The lights in the operating room of the hospital were on, and Chen Yu has been in surgery for almost three hours.

Qi Le stood blankly by the door, with no expression on her face. Her eyes were fixed on the operating room door.

However, if you looked closely, you could still see her body shaking slightly.

The clothes on her body were a little wet because she had been hiding in the corner of the alley. Zhao Hu, who was standing behind her, looked at her, wondering whether she was shaking because of the cold or because of fear.

"Qi Le." He could not help but call out to her.

Qi Le was stunned for a moment before she turned her head to look at him. Her eyes were vacant.

Zhao Hu took off his coat and handed it to her, "Go and change."

After receiving his jacket, Qi Le slowly turned around and walked to the bathroom... After a while, she put it on and came out and resumed standing still in a daze.

Zhao Hu was very familiar with Qi Le. In the last case, he had always been responsible for protecting her safety, so he could feel her worry.

Touching his head, Zhao Hu thought, should he comfort her? What should he say~~~

"That..." He organized his thoughts, "Don't worry too much. Chen Yu will be fine."

Qi Le ignored him.

Zhao Hu sighed in his heart and blamed himself for having such a clumsy tongue~~ Even his words of comfort were so low-level.

"If Xiao Yu also dies, then I really won't have any loved ones." Qi Le suddenly said.

Zhao Hu froze for a moment, opened his mouth, and couldn't say a word.

Qi Le didn't seem to expect him to comfort her, but continued to talk to herself, "Me and Xiao Yu have known each other since she was very young. She is more straightforward and outgoing than me. She might seem immature... But in fact, she has always been taking care of me."

Zhao Hu looked at her quietly and waited for her to continue speaking.

"After my brother died, she moved to live with me... in fact, her home is local. She is just afraid that I will be lonely alone... Earlier, if she hadn’t grabbed the man and told us to hurry up and run, we would all be dead. I'm really useless. "

Zhao Hu suddenly laughed and reached out to pat her shoulder, "Okay, girl, cheer up. It’s not as bad as you said!"

Qi Le looked up at him with some doubt.

Zhao Hu scratched his head again, "Think about it. If you hadn't run at that time, then all three of you would be dead! You didn’t only run by yourself, but you also brought the injured Li Xu, and called our Captain~ In reality, you saved the lives of all three of you. How could you say you are useless? "

Qi Le opened her eyes in distress and looked at Zhao Hu, "But, I think I'm unlucky, and everyone close to me will be unlucky!"

"Rest assured!" Zhao Hu patted his chest and asked, "Haven’t you ever met the people from the S.C.I.?"

"En~~" Zhao Hu suddenly changed the subject, leaving Qi Le a little dazed.

"I tell you, we are all elites in the S.C.I. Our boss, Dr. Zhan, and Gongsun, I don't need to explain. Like Ma Han, he’s the most powerful sharpshooter of the Flying Tigers; Xu Qing, he’s a special mechanic for the military; Jiang Ping, give him a computer and he can invade the Pentagon; Zhang Long and Wang Chao are veteran detectives~~ And look at me again, don’t I look like an elite? "

Qi Le shook her head very honestly and said Zhao Hu looked like a tiger, right? How could he be even half a cop.

Zhao Hu was amused by her words and said with a smile, "I’ll tell you. Team Bai chose me because I have been undercover for five years, and I haven't even lost a piece of skin~~ I’m good luck!!"

Seeing that Qi Le's eyes seemed to be somewhat hopeful, Zhao Hu quite confidently said, "I don't dare to guarantee anything else. Say luck, how much you want here, how much is there... Chen Yu is definitely fine!"

As soon as the words fell from his mouth, the lights in the operating room went out. After a moment, a doctor wearing a surgical gown came out.

"Doctor... she..." Even Qi Le’s voice shook.

"Hoo~~" The doctor breathed out. "She's really lucky. After a few passes by the gates of Hell, I finally got her back."

"So she... is she okay?" Qi Le eyes filled with pleasant surprise.

"She's all right." The doctor took off his gloves. "She’s currently under anesthesia. She’ll wake up tonight."

Watching the doctor leave, Zhao Hu smiled smugly, "See~~~~~?"

He was startled because Qi Le rushed up, hugged him, and burst into tears~~~

When Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang rushed to the hospital, they saw exactly that scene—Zhao Hu stiffened like a piece of wood, and Qi Le leaning into his chest, crying so loudly...

After Qi Le calmed down, Zhan Zhao and and Bai Yutang asked her for the whole story.

According to Qi Le, Li Xu’s emotions had been very off in recent days. Although she would sometimes get drunk and talk nonsense, she wouldn’t normally get drunk every day like she had been doing of late. After answering the phone in the morning, Li Xu rushed out in a panic. Qi Le and Chen Yu saw that she couldn't even stand properly, and they were caught up in the fear that she might have an accident and chased after her. Seeing the man in black holding a knife to cut Li Xu, the two quickly stepped forward to help. Li Xu was shoved a bit and passed out after hitting the wall. Chen Yu grabbed the man and let Qi Le run away quickly with Li Xu. Then, Qi Le ran out with Li Xu, hid, and texted Bai Yutang.

"Do you know why he tried to kill Li Xu?" Bai Yutang asked.

Qi Le shook her head, "We have known Sister Li for some time, but she rarely mentions past affairs. Even when she’s drunk, she only talks about some good man and killing in exchange for a life and other nonsense."

"Qi Le, do you know anything about the murder case of the Magic Murderer?" Zhan Zhao suddenly asked.

"Ah~~ I know about that. We saw the news the other day, and it said that he had killed a teacher, and later a child... right!" Qi Le suddenly cried, "Li Xu became abnormal when we saw that news that day. "

"What was wrong?" Zhan Zhao asked quickly.

"When we were watching the news that day, we were having breakfast. Sister Li seemed to have been shocked. She was so surprised that she even smashed her bowl. Then she shut herself in her room. She wouldn't open the door when we knocked on it. It sounded like she was on the phone with someone, shouting loudly. We didn’t pay attention to the specifics... Later, she started drinking arbitrarily and became how she is now."

After Qi Le finished speaking, she hurried to see Chen Yu. Bai Yutang instructed Zhao Hu to take care of Qi Le temporarily, and then, with Zhan Zhao, went to Li Xu's ward.

Outside the ward, Wang Chao was leaning his shoulders against the doorway. When he saw Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, he quickly stood up straight.

"How is she?" Bai Yutang asked.

"It's okay. She was a little emotional just a moment ago. Later when she heard that Chen Yu was okay, her emotions stabilized."

Nodding, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang pushed open the door into the ward.

Li Xu sat alone on the hospital bed, looking out the window. She looked a little confused.

"Li Xu." Bai Yutang called to her.

Li Xu said nothing. It seemed that she had not heard.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao glanced at each other.

"Xu Jiali." Zhan Zhao suddenly called out softly.

...! ... Li Xu shuddered violently and turned back, "Jia... Jiali is here? Where is she?"

Seeing her response, Bai Yutang said lightly, "Xu Jiali is dead. How she died... you should know best."

"I... I don't know." Li Xu shook her head in a panic. "I don't know."

"Do you know Kong Liping?" Zhan Zhao asked her. "She is also dead."

"What..." Li Xu seemed to be a little shocked, "Liping... also dead... it’s karma... retribution!"

Zhan Zhao looked at Li Xu's morbid reaction and frowned slightly, "You, Zhang Zhenzhen, Kong Liping, An Qingyao and Shen Ling... Why did you kill Xu Jiali?"

"No... it's not that we killed her! We just..."

"Just forged the scene?" Bai Yutang interrupted her. "Why? Who did you want to cover for?"

"We... we thought it was fun... Jiali was usually arrogant..." Li Xu said, but even she felt a lack of confidence.

"Don't be kidding!" Zhan Zhao shook his head. "Let me guess... Was it for a man?"

"..." Li Xu widened her eyes in shock and looked at Zhan Zhao. "How did you know?"

"Who was it?" Bai Yutang asked, "Tell us the truth, otherwise you will get more people killed. You’ll also let down Qi Le and Chen Yu who even saved your life."

With a sigh, Li Xu's eyes began to soften, "He, his surname is Tong... called Tong Ming. He was our dance coach."

"Did he kill Xu Jiali?"

"……Yes."

"Did you see?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"No." Li Xu shook her head. "Shen Ling ... Shen Ling and Zhenzhen saw... In addition, Liping also saw it."

"Why did Tong Ming kill Xu Jiali, and why did you help him hide it?"

"Tong Ming... he, he likes younger girls..."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were slightly surprised when they heard that.

"Xu Jiali was only 13 years old. Isn’t that comparatively young? Is he a pedophile?" Bai Yutang said coldly, "Not someone compelled to kill?"

"He... it was just an accident. At that time, Qingyao and I liked him very much... I thought about it and helped him cover up the crime." Li Xu whispered. “After that, I felt guilty and went abroad for a while. When I returned, Tong Ming was already Qingyao’s boyfriend."

"Who was the caller on the phone that morning?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"It was Liping who called me. She said that she had important things to tell me."

……………………

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang walked out of the hospital at exactly six o'clock in the evening.

"How about it, Kitty? Should we go to that Entertainment City of Shen Qian’s?"

"Nn." Zhan Zhao nodded but said nothing.

He called Zhang Long and asked him to find out what An Qingyao and Tong Ming were doing and to take them back to the police station. Bai Yutang turned to look at Zhan Zhao, "What's wrong, Kitty? You’re restless. What are you thinking about?"

"Nn~~ Li Xu's words are worthy of scrutiny." Zhan Zhao thought deeply. "Consider it. There were only three real witnesses. Kong Liping and Zhang Zhenzhen are dead. Only Shen Ling is left. That is to say, if Shen Ling dies than there will be no more witnesses to say that Tong Ming killed Xu Jiali. "

"That's true." Bai Yutang nodded and started the car. "This case is super complicated, but at least there are a few clues... What Kong Liping wanted to tell Li Xu might have been the truth from that year."

"Do you think that the murderer was not Tong Ming?" Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang.

"Oh~~" Bai Yutang laughed, "Kitty, are you testing me? Isn't it you who thinks the murderer was someone else!"

"I think Li Xu and An Qingyao were likely deceived by Shen Ling." Zhan Zhao said.

"I think so too. Originally, murder is not a child's play. An Qingyao and Li Xu were blinded by love to cover up the crime for Tong Ming. This is reasonable. But the other three people had no reason at all..."

"And the strangest thing is..." Zhan Zhao continued his words, "Zhang Zhenzhen and Kong Liping died, but not Li Xu and An Qingyao~~~ And not Shen Ling."

"Go to meet her and we’ll understand the pair of sisters," Bai Yutang finished, stepping on the accelerator and speeding up. 

Shen Qian stood in front of the wall of screens in the monitoring room and frowned at the twins and Bai Chi at the gaming table in the screen.

"How much did he win?" Shen Qian asked his men.

"In total, it is almost three million (about $423,000)." The men replied.

"Oh~~" Shen Qian sneered. "Well done, Bai Jintang. You found someone to make a fool of me on my opening day~~ He hasn’t cheated?"

"No." The men shook their heads. "He won both turntables and blackjack..."

"Understood." Shen Qian nodded. "The cute little kid who looks like he’s underage is a legendary number genius, right."

"Boss, do you want to stop him?"

"No." Shen Qian waved his hand and smiled, "For this small amount of money, why bother? I'm very interested in the kid."

………………

In the casino, the twins counted their money until their hands were limp from exhaustion and were in quite a good mood! It was not because they won money, but because—they won Shen Qian’s money!!! They thought about it. He was named "Save Money (1)", and they won so much money from him in one go. Wouldn't that hurt him?? So enjoyable~~~~

Zhao Zhen on the side could not stand it anymore. He squeezed into the crowd and pulled Xiao Bai Chi out, "Okay, come over here now."

Bai Chi was confused, and he wasn’t sure how much he had won. He didn't have any specific concept of gambling. He just used his brain and counted cards~~~

It was only after being pulled back by Zhao Zhen that he reacted. He was the biggest "enemy" in his life. He threw his hands up at him and said fiercely, "What are you doing?! Why do you care~~"

Zhao Zhen was angry, "Little devil! I'm doing it for you!" Unconsciously, the tone of his voice became heavier.

Bai Chi felt attacked and stared at him, his face aggrieved.

Zhao Zhen softened immediately and said, "Little devil~~ How could I have been so blind to talent when I was a kid (2), and I incited such a grudge~~~"

Da Ding and Xiao Ding came over and saw that Zhao Zhen had a bad expression. They wrapped their arms around Xiao Bai Chi one by one and sneered coldly at Zhao Zhen, "You dare bully someone from the Bai family? You don't want to live?"

Zhao Zhen didn't know the twins and thought to himself, I only bullied him when I was a kid?!! He sighed, "That’s enough. Stop it. It's so conspicuous."

The twins glanced at each other. This Zhao Zhen didn't get cold feet from their aura~~ Moreover, the way he spoke was full of grandeur. Thinking about it, they had overplayed a bit that day. If something really happened to Bai Chi, it would be an offense to the S.C.I. Of course, this would not have previously been terrible~~ At most, they would have to fight with Bai Yutang~~, but now they had a "sister-in-law"~~ It they offended the S.C.I. it was likely that Bai Jintang would throw them into the Pacific Ocean to feed the sharks.

"Xiao ChiChi~~ Let’s call it here today~~" They said, pushing Bai Chi into Zhao Zhen's arms and waving their hands, "We’ll buy you a gift tomorrow~~~," then turned away.

Zhao Zhen instinctively grabbed Bai Chi who was pushed into his arms and was slightly surprised. "This little thing is so small."

Bai Chi acted as though he was being hugged by a hedgehog (3). He quickly pushed Zhao Zhen away, turned around, and left. From his direction—to the bathroom. He hated the place where that disgusting person had touched him. It should be disinfected~~

He left the noisy hall, crossed the aisle, and walked to the bathroom.

There was a sudden woosh of someone flashing past. Bai Chi was unprepared and bumped into his arms.

Rubbing his nose and looking up, he saw that the person who was standing in front of him... was actually Shen Qian.

"Are you all right?" Shen Qian smiled and reached out to help him rub his forehead. "I blame myself for going too fast."

"No... no." Bai Chi said, slightly nervous... He was finally talking to Shen Qian.

"You are great." Shen Qian said, "You can be promoted to VIP membership."

"VIP?" Bai Chi was puzzled.

"Mmm~~ Generally, the downstairs halls are all ordinary gamblers, and the more professional masters are all in the VIP room... Would you like me to show you?" Shen Qian said with a smile, "I happen to be going there, too. "

Bai Chi hesitated slightly and nodded, "Okay."

Ma Han saw from afar that Bai Chi seemed to be going with Shen Qian. He was anxious. The twins had played a bit too much just earlier. Although Bai Chi had a high IQ, he was careless. He was about to walk up but felt his arm get pulled back. Looking behind him, he saw Zhao Zhen. The magician shook his head at him and pointed at himself, meaning—he would go.

Ma Han nodded, and Zhao Zhen hurriedly followed.

In the distance, Chen Jiayi had been quietly observing Ma Han~~~ Now, she was grinding her teeth in anger~~~ Why did all the good men of late like to stare at other men?? Was this old lady not attractive???

Thinking again, no. This young lady was extremely interested. Even if she had to bend, she would straighten (4) this man out!!!!!

Ma Han’s nose itched, and he sneezed. He felt a shiver run down his back~~~

Shen Qian hugged Bai Chi's shoulder intimately and led him to walk deep down the corridor. Bai Chi felt a little awkward, but it was difficult to pin down why. It faintly seemed as though Shen Qian was not well-intentioned~~~ Someone called out, "Small thing! The restroom is not over there."

By the time the words fell, Zhao Zhen had approached the two of them. He reached out and pulled Bai Chi over, then looked at Shen Qian with some surprise, "Boss Shen? What a coincidence?"

"... Great Magician Zhao~~" Shen Qian returned to normal after a slight shock, and he greeted him with a smile, "I look forward to your performance later."

"Okay." Zhao Zhen smiled and stretched his hand over Bai Chi's shoulder. "This is my assistant for this performance."

"Oh~~ Is he~~" Shen Qian nodded with a smile. He was about to speak more but was interrupted by Zhao Zhen. "We still have things to do. See you later when we perform." After that, he walked back with his arms around Bai Chi.

Shen Qian stared at the backs of the two men meaningfully for a while, then sneered and left.

Zhao Zhen took Bai Chi out of the corridor and went to the bathroom door. When he turned back, he saw that Shen Qian had already gone. He was relieved and looked down at Bai Chi. "Are you all right?"

Bai Chi was a good kid with a clear standpoint on people’s standing and a clear sense of love and hate, so he reached out and pinched Zhao Zhen's sleeve with two fingers, throwing it away like a dead cockroach. He patted the dust from his shoulders, then turned and pushed open the bathroom door behind him. He walked in and hummed "disinfection!!!" and closed the door.

Zhao Zhen stomped and cursed Bai Chi’s mother outside—dammed boy! Be careful!!! Not cute at all!!!!! 

Walking to the washbasin in the bathroom, Bai Chi turned on the faucet and scooped up a handful of cold water to wash his face... and took a breath.

To be honest, it was fortunate that Zhao Zhen had come just earlier. Otherwise, he really would't know what to do. As he was thinking about it, he suddenly felt like there was someone near him. Startled, he suddenly raised his face. He saw a person standing beside him in the huge mirror...

After seeing the man's appearance, Bai Chi froze... He had a pale face, long black hair, slanted phoenix eyes, a faint air of authority...

"It's you?" He turned to look at him in surprise, "Why are you here? Thanks to you last time..."

Bai Chi's words were not finished yet. The man tilted his head to reveal the innocent smile and bowed his head gently to Bai Chi's forehead.

There was an instantaneous short circuit in his brain, and Bai Chi looked up at him blankly.

Lifting his head, he stuck out his tongue to lick his lips. Laughing again, he whispered into Bai Chi's ear and said softly, "The sharp edge shouldn't be too exposed~~ There might be trouble. Smart people should learn to pretend to be stupid." He gently combed Bai Chi's hair and softly asked, "Do you understand?"

"En..." Bai Chi nodded.

"Good~~" He bowed his head again, kissed Bai Chi's soft hair, and turned away.

By the time Bai Chi jolted from his dumbfounded state, he found that the man had disappeared. He accused himself of uselessness, quickly rushed out, and ran into Zhao Zhen, who was planning to open the door and come in.

"..." Zhao Zhen rubbed his chest, "What are you doing? Was a ghost chasing you?!"

Bai Chi heard the word "ghost" and suddenly thought about how the man would come and go without a trace like that every time. It felt like he was a ghost...

"Hello!" Zhao Zhen reached out and waved a hand in front of Bai Chi. "Are you all right? What's wrong? Was it really a ghost?"

After his soul returned from its fright, he looked into the distance. Was there still a shadow of that man anywhere~~ Zhao Zhen was still waving his hand in front of his eyes like an idiot.

He thought that if Zhao Zhen hadn’t been blocking the way, he might have been able to chase that person... Xiao Bai Chi cursed... This star of calamity!!!

Anger bloomed from his heart, and the evil spread toward his gallbladder~~ Bai Chi lifted his foot and stepped hard on the back of Zhao Zhen's~~

"Wah~~"

Seeing Bai Chi yelling in anger and swinging his arms, Zhao Zhen quickly left. It was so painful that he grimaced and angrily scratched the wall~~ Who did he provoke, his grandfather?!!

Bai Yutang's car arrived at the Entertainment City. Zhan Zhao got out of the car first, looked up, then looked down at the gate... Suddenly, he immediately broke into a run.

"Kitty?" Bai Yutang was parking the car in the parking space. Seeing Zhan Zhao running away, he hurriedly parked the car and took off his seat belt.

Zhan Zhao rushed straight through the door and looked around... He had just seen a figure... Although it was only for a moment, he was sure that he did not mistake it... That person's presence was too strong, so he must be right.

"Dr. Zhan?" A man came by and greeted him with some surprise.

Zhan Zhao turned his face and found that it was Shen Qian.

"Hello~~" He didn’t have time to talk to him, so Zhan Zhao greeted him and then looked around for the man.

"What's the matter?" Shen Qian took a few steps forward and observed Zhan Zhao up close. In terms of beauty, this one was the best, and he was flawless when viewed from up close...

"Your face doesn’t look very good. What can I do for you?" As he spoke, Shen Qian reached out and tried to touch Zhan Zhao's cheek. Before his fingers touched the fair skin that was slightly translucent, he saw a white shadow to the side—There was a dull pain in his wrist. Bai Yutang had an icy expression and snapped his hand away.

Shen Qian frowned. Bai Yutang was from a martial family (5). He didn't even hit the back of his hand or his arm. He just hit his wrist... and there was severe pain! He clenched his teeth and didn't make a noise. He didn't know if his wrist was broken.

When he turned his head to look at Bai Yutang, he saw the frost on his face... He thought—he is worthy of being his younger brother, and his things are absolutely not allowed to be touched by others. I think this small one is scarier than the big one~~
Shrugging, Shen Qian nodded politely. Then, he turned and left tactfully.

"Kitty, what's wrong with you? What did you see?" Bai Yutang stared at Zhan Zhao with some worry.

"Yutang, I saw a person just now..." Zhan Zhao said as he grabbed Bai Yutang's open trench coat with a flustered expression.

Bai Yutang was amused, "Really? How ferocious was he? That only you saw him?!"

"I'm not kidding you!" Zhan Zhao was a little angry.

"Well, who did you see?" Bai Yutang asked with a smile.

"........." Zhan Zhao raised his head, stared at his eyes, and said slowly, "Zhao Jue~~~"

……………………

Outside the hall, a person walked slowly past the glass door. He gazed affectionately at the two of them in the hall. He reached out, kissed two fingers gently, and pressed them against the mirror-like glass door before turning around to leave~~~~~~

The ethereal voice said softly, "Goodbye, my angels..."





Translation Notes:

(1) Shen Qian’s name means Shen (liquid, common surname) Qian (hidden or concealed). However, “Save money” is “Sheng qian,” which is nearly the same pronunciation.

(2) Idiom: to have eyes but fail to recognize Mt Tai. Meaning to fail to recognize something important or someone's great talent. To be blind to the fact.

(3) As a hedgehog owner, I will testify that hedgehogs can be quite soft and cuddly when they want to be.

(4) Slang for turning someone gay straight. Sorry, Chen Jiayi. I think Ma Han is one of the few already-straight characters in this story.

(5) Literally a training or drilling family, but that sounds weird.

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S.C.I. Mystery Vol. 1, Ch. 54

T/L Note: There is a chapter tonight, and there will be a chapter tomorrow night, and one more on Sunday night (and that will get me all caught up from the weeks I missed)! Been a crazy few weeks for everyone, I'm sure. I was out of electricity range, then my job was pulling us all out of the field due to COVID-19. Now I'm in quarantine (don't worry, I don't seem to be sick).  But hey, I have nothing else to do, so after these three chapters, you'll get a few more in the next two weeks. After that, I will be updating on Saturday nights until my job resumes.

Here's my promised fanart! It was quite difficult because my mind imagines them as the actors from the drama, but I was doing my best to create my own interpretation.

Magic Murderer 9: Guess

"What's your name? Hurry up and tell me!" After Chen Jiayi kissed Ma Han fiercely, she grabbed his collar and wouldn’t let go so that he would have to tell her his name.

Looking at Ma Han again, it seemed as though he probably hadn't been so embarrassed in his entire life. He looked at the little girl’s face full of excitement with horror~~ What was the matter with modern women??

"What's with your expression?!" Chen Jiayi gripped Ma Han's collar a bit violently and shook it twice. "It's as if I took advantage of you?!"

The two were at a deadlock. Then, they heard the man who had just fallen to the ground behind them shout, "Hey!"

Ma Han and Chen Jiayi turned around and saw that Shen Ling had gotten up from the ground. She was wearing the man's jacket, and her face was still full of shock. The man’s air was completely different from his stupid and cowardly one moments before—he had a look of anger.

"You!" The man pointed at Ma Han and asked, "Why did you just let them go?!"

Ma Han was distracted for a moment and thought it was a bit ridiculous, but he was a man who did not like talking very much, and he would not quarrel with others. Ignoring the man, he decided to go back inside. He knew that he should not have come out earlier.

"Stop!" Noticing that Ma Han was not speaking, the man was reluctant to let him go and took a several steps towards him. "You aren’t with those guys from earlier, are you?"

Ma Han didn't like talking, but that didn’t mean he had a good temper! Having said that, in the whole of S.C.I., none of them were good-tempered, and they were all basically aggressive carnivores except for Zhan Zhao~~ But then again, the S.C.I. was a team composed of the elites from the entire police station. There were no senseless people in it. Ma Han understood that there was still a task ahead of him. A dispute with people here may cause trouble, not to mention that Shen Ling was next to him.

However, even though Ma Han could tolerate it, Chen Jiayi beside him couldn't. She sneered and said, "You are so good. You just sat on the ground and were trembling with fear. Now you’re fine. Are you just here to bite the hand that feeds you?! Useless. Scoundrel~"

"What did you say?!" The man took a few more steps.

Chen Jiayi quickly hid behind Ma Han, then leaned out and continued, "You look like you have nothing to show. What's the matter? Are your legs still weak? Were you scared just now? Coward."

"You~~" The man's face turned shades of red and green.

Chen Jiayi patted Ma Han and said, "Stuffy gourd (1)! Don't hesitate! Hit him!"

Glancing at the Chen Jiayi who wished for the whole world to be in chaos, Ma Han suddenly felt that she was a bit like Ma Xin. She seemed to be about the same age. But he shook his head for lack of a better option, "Let's go."

Chen Jiayi saw that Ma Han had a smile on his face, and was quite content to want to follow him back...

"Don't go! Leave your name! We need to investigate!" The man took a few more steps aggressively.

Ma Han halted, then walked back towards him with no expression on his face~~ His steps were not fast nor slow, and undeviating.

Seeing that Ma Han was approaching, and had not yet stopped, the man stepped back subconsciously and said, "You... what do you want..."

Ma Han stood still and stared at him for a while, then smiled slightly, "Look around here, is there a camera?"

............ The man was startled.

"Heh~~" Ma Han laughed and looked at Shen Ling, "They came here to kidnap you. They should have known that there was no camera in advance and should have run away when they were scared. This kidnapper is extremely stupid~~ and the one in the car… Well, he was passed out for an extremely long time..." After having said that, he patted the man's shoulder, "I don't know who is running this drama..."

The other three people present were choking in surprise, and the expression on the man's face was changing in a rather wonderful way. Then Shen Ling next to him seemed to suddenly wake up and turned to look at the man in surprise.

After Ma Han had spoken, he turned around and left without turning back. He heard a loud slap behind him, and Shen Ling pointed at the man in accusation, "Kong Cheng, did you deliberately put on an act to deceive me? Go die!"

"Shen Ling, Shen Ling, listen to me and let me explain..."

………………

Chen Jiayi watched with interest, then overtook Ma Han, "I see. The man deliberately found someone to act and wanted to be kidnapped with the woman. However, you ruined it before the show was finished... How did you find out? It was amazing! "

Ma Han walked to the door of the casino. "Can you pretend you don't know me?"

Chen Jiayi was dumfounded, but nodded, "Okay."

"Thanks." Ma Han opened the door and walked in quickly.

Chen Jiayi thought for a while... still hadn't asked for a name~~~



Meanwhile, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao returned to the S.C.I. office.

"Jiang Ping, check if this Wei Yong is the same as policeman Wei Yong." Bai Yutang said.

"OK." Jiang Ping quickly retrieved the former personnel file from the computer.

"Kitty, what are you looking at?" Bai Yutang frowned when he saw Zhan Zhao staring at a document and stepped forward curiously.

"Kong Liping gave us a few names that day. These are their files... they’re a little weird." Zhan Zhao said.

"How is it strange?"

"Look!" Zhan Zhao flipped through the files and said, "These people—Kong Liping is 31 years old, and was 21 all those years ago. Zhang Zhenzhen, An Qingyao, and Li Xu are 28 years old, so they were 18. The youngest Shen Ling is 27 years old this year, which means that he was 17 years old, but Xu Jiali was only 13 years old when she died! "

Bai Yutang looked at the information carefully, and he was also puzzled, "Right, what would people around 20 usually have to do with a 13-year-old child? And... the age difference is so big. Why would they learn to dance together?"

"It's a pity that this school was closed after that case happened." Zhan Zhao looked through the information and looked depressed. "Otherwise, I could still find someone to ask."

"Heh~~" Jiang Ping suddenly laughed.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao turned to look at her.

"Why are you laughing?" Bai Yutang was puzzled.

"Oh~~ Boss, do you know why Wei Yong was fired?" Jiang Ping looked at the information.

"Why was he?" The two stepped forward.

"Look!" Jiang Ping drew up Wei Yong's information and said, "He intentionally destroyed the scene."

"Destroyed the scene?" Zhan Zhao frowned. "What's going on?"

She brought up Wei Yong’s firing document, "Failure to abide by the basic rules of police officers. Intentionally damaged the scene of the murder."

"Can you find out which case?" Bai Yutang asked.

"... Ah, this was Xu Jiali's case. Look, it's written here!" Jiang Ping pointed out the information. "He changed the magic array."

"What did he look like?" Zhan Zhao asked eagerly. "Are there any photos?"

"Without photos, we’ll have to look through the evidence first." Jiang Ping searched but failed.

"Kitty," Bai Yutang recalled, "I asked Uncle Wen downstairs that day. When I spoke about Wei Yong, his face discolored as if he was hiding something.”

“And, Li Xu was also there that day. When she was drunk, she said a good man was going to die as payment for a life and such."

"Investigate Wei Yong first, and then find Li Xu!" Zhan Zhao closed the documents.

"Same as what I was thinking!" The two were about to go out, and the phone on Jiang Ping's desk rang. Then she shouted in shock, "Boss, Kong Liping is dead!"

"What?!" Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were a little dazed.

"Didn't you have the crime team watch her? How could she die?!" Bai Yutang was angry.

"She committed suicide," Jiang Ping said.

…………

Fifteen minutes later, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao rushed to the door of Kong Liping's house and saw Ai Hu and several police officers from the serious crime team lingering outside the scene. They went in.

"Gongsun?" Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at him in surprise, "how did you get here?"

Gongsun frowned and sneered. "What? When did Captain Bai fire me?"

"... No, didn't you ask for leave?" Bai Yutang hurriedly laughed and gave Zhan Zhao a look—he had a tendency to vent his anger~~

Turning his head away, Gongsun's face was upset. "I received a text message saying there was a homicide here, so I came. The people in the forensics department didn't know I asked for leave~~ Working another night~~ beasts!”

"Why haven’t you gone in?" Bai Yutang looked at everyone.

Gongsun shook his head, "No one dares to go in." After that, he gently opened the door of the empty room.

Bai Yutang first felt a sense of novelty after hearing it. What had made them afraid to go in? Ghosts? So many police.

When the door was pushed open, the two looked inside...

They saw Kong Liping's body hanging from the ceiling fan in the room with a long knife wound across her neck. Blood was spilled all over the place. Looking around, the ceiling, walls, and the ground... were painted with magic arrays... The scene was extremely strange.

Bai Yutang understood that everyone else wasn’t afraid to go in, but they were afraid of damaging the scene.

Gongsun said, "I told them not to go in first. In this scene, it's better to let Xiao Zhan take a look first."

Zhan Zhao stood at the door and remained silent for a while. Then, he asked Gongsun, "Do you think she committed suicide?"

Gongsun nodded. "What do you think?"

"Suicide," Zhan Zhao replied briefly, "but it should be involuntary."

Ai Hu moved up and blushed. "Captain, my people didn't keep an eye on her. They didn't exert themselves enough, and they made such a big mistake."

Bai Yutang patted her shoulder and asked, "Who had been watching her?"

"It was us." Two seemingly capable policemen came up. "We haven't moved an inch. We only watched her. She never went out, and nobody entered her house. Later, she didn't go to work. I didn’t think it was right. No one answered when we knocked on the door. I saw it like this after I opened it.”

Bai Yutang nodded and asked Zhan Zhao, "Kitty, did you just say she committed suicide involuntarily?"

Zhan Zhao nodded. "What do you think is wrong in this room?"

Bai Yutang was silent for a while, "No footprints."

"Yes!" Zhan Zhao nodded and said, "These pictures look messy, but they are very regular when you look closely. They are spiraling inwards."

"The end point is the pool of blood under the deceased... if someone had drawn a picture and disguised it as hanging, there would no reason for them to have not left footprints." Bai Yutang continued, "The police also said no one had come out."

"Look at her hand!" Gongsun pointed at Kong Liping's hand.

Everyone looked up at her hands and arms. They were full of wounds, already red with blood—self-harm?

"She should have cut her arm and painted them with the blood. Those above her head seem like they were painted a long time ago. They have dried up. The brightness is not the same." Gongsun sighed, "This is not what normal people would do. "

"Sensory hypnosis," Zhan Zhao said suddenly.

"What?" Everyone looked at him puzzled.

Gongsun asked, "Similar to hypnoanesthesia (2)?"

"Yes!" Zhan Zhao nodded. "It’s true that such tricks have been used in the medical field."

"Hypnoanesthesia?" Bai Yutang was puzzled.

"Some people are immune to narcotic drugs, which means that it can take a very large amount to produce an anesthetic effect, or some can't be completely anesthetized at all. You know, using too much anesthetic has been known to be harmful to the body, so there was a case where a hypnotist hypnotized a person's senses. They temporarily deprived the patient's ability to feel pain and woke the person after the operation." Zhan Zhao explained patiently.

"..." After the audience listened quietly, Bai Yutang asked one question, "Isn't that a supernatural power?" The other police officers nodded.

Gongsun and Zhan Zhao stared at the crowd sternly, as if they were saying “you herd of ignorant people”~~~

"Wait a minute~~" Bai Yutang waved his hand and said, "You mean, Kong Liping first filled the room with magic arrays of her own blood, then hung herself, and didn’t forget to cut her own neck in the process?” He glanced at Zhan Zhao, "Who could make someone be so cruel to themselves?"

Zhan Zhao turned to stare at him, and said slowly, "She~ her~ self~"

... ? ...

After their colleagues from the Forensics Department took photos, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang walked through the door and looked around. Looking at it from the middle of the room, the scene felt even more shocking!

Gongsun asked someone to remove Kong Liping's body and performed a simple examination. "She died just this morning, no more than three hours ago... The weapon was the blade of a paper cutter, which fell into the pool of blood on the ground. I didn’t notice it earlier." Gongsun stood up and said briefly, "There are too many injuries on her body. There are old and new ones... To know the specific circumstances, I will have take her back and report to you after the autopsy. "

"Gongsun." Zhan Zhao suddenly called to Gongsun, who turned around to leave, "when you are performing the autopsy, could you help me count the number of wounds on the deceased that occurred at different times?"

Gongsun froze slightly, then nodded, "OK."

"Kitty, what the hell are you thinking?" Bai Yutang stretched his arm around Zhan Zhao's shoulder, "Tell me!"

Zhan Zhao slapped his hand, "Take your paw off!"

Bai Yutang pulled his hand back and saw the ring on Zhan Zhao's left hand that was identical to his own. His heart rose in delight.

"Eh~~~~" Zhan Zhao also noticed the ring, and suddenly uttered a soft exclamation. Bai Yutang was briefly distracted. Then, both of them thought about a very serious question—where was Kong Liping's child?

They quickly searched each room—not there!

"Shhhhhh!" Bai Yutang suddenly said to everyone, "Don't say anything!"

The other police officers went quiet... the scene became silent... faintly~~ there seemed to be a sound... like a kitten was crying.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao followed the sound and went over to the balcony.

Kong Liping's house was an old-fashioned residential house with a balcony of about three square meters... a washing machine was placed on the balcony... the lid of the washing machine was propped up by a towel and was not closed—the sound was coming from the inside.

Stepping forward to open the lid of the washing machine, Bai Yutang reached in. He lifted a little baby out of it... he was almost one year old...

The child seemed to be just waking up and looked up at Bai Yutang, who was holding him, with curiousity. He stretched out his hands and seemed to be a little uncomfortable, struggling, kicking both feet, and scrunching his face.

Bai Yutang hugged him with both hands and didn't dare to move. He asked Zhan Zhao, "Kitty, what should I do?"

Zhan Zhao shook his head, "Xiao Bai, how could you hold a child like that. It looks like you are throwing a ball!"

"Dammed cat! Don't kid me... he's so soft. Will he be crushed to death~~?" Bai Yutang's palms started to sweat. This was the first time in his life that he has held such a small child.

"He seems very uncomfortable!" Zhan Zhao also panicked. "You used a little force!"

"I didn't use any!"

"Stupid mouse! You can’t even hold a child?"

"Then you do it!"

"I do not know how."

"Why on earth would I?!"

"You do housework! And you are a mammal!"

…………

As they were quarreling, the baby suddenly pouted and looked up, then started to cry "Wah!"

...! ...

"He's crying!" Zhan Zhao glared at Bai Yutang. "Quickly think of something!”

"Dammed cat!" Bai Yutang looked back at the crowd, "Are there any women?"

Ai Hu and other police officers looked at each other and shook their heads.

The child started crying louder.

"Xiao Bai! Did you hurt him?" Zhan Zhao retreated a step and pointed at the child.

"I haven’t, right?" Bai Yutang's head began to sweat. "I didn't use any strength~~ Who has any ideas!"

"Captain! I found a cradle!" Ai Hu pulled an elaborate cradle from the room.

"Come here!" With relief, Bai Yutang quickly put the child into the cradle.

The child lay in the cradle and rocked for a little bit. He stopped crying and began babbling, wondering what was being said.

Bai Yutang wiped his sweat and breathed a sigh of relief.

For the first time, Zhan Zhao saw Bai Yutang's at a loss of what to do and found it helarious.

"Why did Kong Liping put the child in the washing machine?" Bai Yutang was confused. He reached out to tease the child carefully, and the child reached out and grabbed his finger.

"Maybe..." Zhan Zhao looked at the patterns around the room, "She was afraid she might hurt this child."

"Kitty, you just asked Gongsun to count the number of wounds on the deceased from different times. What did you mean by that?"

"You count, how many patterns are there on the ceiling?" Zhan Zhao pointed over his head.

"..." Bai Yutang counted, "Thirteen."

"What about on the floors and walls?"

Bai Yutang counted again, and was surprised by what he found, "Both thirteen?!"

Zhan Zhao nodded, "Do you remember when Kong Liping went to the scene of Zhang Zhenzhen and Sun Qian and burned some paper talismans?"

Bai Yutang nodded. "You mean, this is some kind of... religious ceremony, ritual or something?"

"By Kong Liping's appearance, she could have been in a trance," said Zhan Zhao, "She could have been hypnotized."

"Hypnotized?" Bai Yutang didn’t understand.

"Consider it." Zhan Zhao touched his chin. "Kong Liping was obviously hiding something about that year, and she was very miserable... That magic array ought to be a shadow she has been unable to escape from under~~ And she seems to be living a rough life. So, what would a woman of this type be likely to do to ask for help... "

"Fortune telling!" Bai Yutang responded suddenly, and then said, "You mean the fortune teller hypnotized her?"

Zhan Zhao said, "Hypnotism is unconscious. If you were Kong Liping, and when you woke up you found that the ceiling of your home was filled with these familiar magic arrays, what would you think?"

Bai Yutang laughed. "If I had done something bad, I would be scared to death."

"Then you heard that Zhang Zhen had really died soon after." Zhan Zhao guided step by step.

"I would think it was my turn next," Bai Yutang answered. "Then Sun Qian died as well. She thought it would be her son's turn next time, so she hid the child."

Zhan Zhao tugged his sleeve, "Xiao Bai, you are so smart!"

Bai Yutang also pulled on his sleeve, "Kitty, can you not call me 'Xiao Bai' when you praise me for being smart?"

"But this is just a guess..." Zhan Zhao said, "Somewhat bold."

Bai Yutang instructed Ai Hu and others to help search Kong Liping's home thoroughly, and he went to her company to investigate. In particular, he asked her colleagues and friends if they had heard anything about fortune telling.

"That's right," Bai Yutang said suddenly, "Since I'm guessing anyway, I have an even bolder idea."

Zhan Zhao looked at him and laughed. "Do you think that Wei Yong's behavior may also be related to that fortune teller?"

Bai Yutang laughed and glanced left and right. No one was around, and he leaned in to Zhan Zhao's ear and said, "Kitty, our hearts and minds are really connected~~ Do you know what I want most? Remember to give it to me for Christmas~~"

Zhan Zhao's face turned red, and he raised his foot and firmly stepped on Bai Yutang. He gritted his teeth, "Dammed mouse!"

"Hai hai~~" Bai Yutang pretended to cough, and said, "After we go back, we can also look into Wei Yong from this angle."

Zhan Zhao rolled his eyes and said, "I don’t think we’ll go back today. We’ll go to another place."

Bai Yutang moved close to his ear and said, "It's my turn to guess now. Did you want to go to Shen Qian’s Entertainment City opening event? After all, he was the last person to see Kong Liping last night!"

"Heng!" Zhan Zhao raised his eyebrows. "Roundworm (3)!"

As soon as Bai Yutang heard that, he was happy and laughed with a smile. Keeping his voice down, he said, "In your stomach? When did it squeeze in?"

"Shut up!" Zhan Zhao blushed and lifted his foot to kick. "Dammed Mouse, disgusting!"

"Let's go." Bai Yutang took out the car key and pulled Zhan Zhao away, but he heard Ai Hu shout, "Boss! You take the child away!"

"Ha?!" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang opened their mouths wide.

Ai Hu smugly brought the cradle over and shoved it into Bai Yutang's hands, saying, "After the scene is closed, no one will take him. Take him back. He is also a witness. According to the procedure, he’s yours."

Bai Yutang bitterly took the child and went downstairs with Zhan Zhao.

"Ai Hu, that despicable fellow, has grown up!" Bai Yutang ground his teeth, "He still knows to follow procedure!"

Putting the cradle on his lap, Zhan Zhao smiled, "If you hadn’t brought him along, which of young master Bai’s men would be willing to suffer?"

"Why isn’t he crying?" Bai Yutang started the car and glanced curiously at the child.

Zhan Zhao reached out and poked the child's belly slightly, which made him "gege" and laugh.

"It's fun! He's soft." Zhan Zhao poked him a few more times, but the final poke must have hurt because the child pouted and began to cry “wah” again.

"Yutang! He’s crying! What should I do if he’s crying?" Zhan Zhao, who had been just having fun, immediately panicked.

"I didn’t make him cry!" Bai Yutang rejoiced.

"Why is it wet..." Zhan Zhao felt underneath the cradle... "Yah! He’s peeing!" As soon as he finished speaking, he pulled the cradle off his lap.

"Kitty! It’s dripping in the car!" Bai Yutang was alarmed!

"It's all over my pants, do you have time to care about the car?!" Zhan Zhao bitterly groaned, making a face.

"Your pants are wet? Take them off!"

"Okay!.................... go to Hell!" He raised his hand and pushed the cradle over.

"Hey~~ Kitty! I'm driving... get it away, it's getting on my clothes......"

"To endure misfortunes together (4)!"

……………………

On the way back to the S.C.I., the car continued to snake around in an S-shape~~~






Translation Notes:

(1) Stuffy Gourd -> Silent, mysterious person.

(2) Use of hypnosis to replicate anesthesia (dull pain/awareness)

(3) The parasitic type of roundworm, but it doesn’t specify a species. A human intestinal parasite.

(4) The full idiom is “to enjoy blessings and endure misfortunes together,” or stick together through thick and thin. Zhan Zhao only says the second half.



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