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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