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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Thank you for translating!
ReplyDeleteThey really have no idea what to do with a baby.... I can't say that I would do much better though
ReplyDeleteHave they forgot about Chi Chi? He is farther from "aggressive carnivore" than Zhao Zhan. He is, to be precise, cinnamon bun or marshmallow ;)
ReplyDelete