S.C.I. Mystery Vol. 1, Ch. 63

T/L note: Everyone is gay~~~~~ (except Zhang Long/Qi Le and Ma Han/Chen Jiayi)

Magic Murderer 18: Free

"I want to eat an apple." Zhao Zhen leaned on the sofa in the luxurious single ward, stretching out his legs.

Xiao Bai Chi glared at him and gave him an apple.

"Peel it~~" Zhao Zhen glanced at the round apple, feeling that it was similar to Bai Chi.

Bai Chi looked at the apple and glared at Zhao Zhen again, "The skin... is nutritious."

Zhao Zhen thought about it and nodded, "Then, cut it into small pieces~~"

Xiao Bai Chi ground his teeth and picked up the knife. He treated the apple as though it were Zhao Zhen, slicing it with the knife, and then slicing it again~~

Zhao Zhen looked at the cold aura emanating from Bai Chi’s back, "That, ChiChi, I want to eat apple, not apple puree~~~"

"You’re not allowed to call me that!" Bai Chi threw the apple pieces onto a plate and handed it to him.

"Ah~~" Zhao Zhen didn't take it, but instead opened his mouth and asked Bai Chi to feed him.

Bai Chi froze for a moment~~~ This person's every move… last time he had kissed his forehead and touched his hair~~ And now he was asking someone to feed him, as though they were super close...

He inserted a toothpick into a piece of apple and carefully threw it into his mouth.

Zhao Zhen ate the apple with satisfaction.

Bai Chi took a closer look at him~~ There really was a strong resemblance (1).

"More." Zhao Zhen opened his mouth again.

Bai Chi stabbed another piece and delivered it. Because he had been thinking about things, he withdrew his hand slightly slower. Zhao Zhen wasn’t sure if it was unintentional or intentional, but he claimed a mouthful of Bai Chi’s fingers along with the bite.

"Yah!" Bai Chi felt the warm, wet touch on his fingers, and threw the toothpick in surprise.

"What's wrong?" Zhao Zhen pretended to be puzzled. "Continue. I haven't eaten enough yet."

"You~~" Bai Chi blushed and looked at Zhao Zhen carefully, noticing that even his face looked the same—was it just a coincidence? Was he too sensitive?

The kind and innocent Xiao Bai Chi felt like he’d perhaps overreacted, reflected on himself, and picked up the plate to continue to feed the apple to Zhao Zhen.

"Aren’t you tired?" Zhao Zhen looked at Bai Chi, who was staying far away and stretching his arms to feed him apples, and smiled, "Sit closer a little. What are you scared of? I won't bite."

Bai Chi saw him laughing at him, and immediately sat beside him, "Who is afraid?!"

"Is that so~~" Zhao Zhen smiled, and he also sat closer. When Bai Chi dipped his head to poke at the apple, he leaned in and kissed him on the forehead...

…………

Bai Chi clutched his forehead and stared at Zhao Zhen fiercely, "Are you... sick?! Why kiss me?"

"Because you are cute~~" Zhao Zhen stretched out his uninjured hand and gently lifted Bai Chi's chin.

Bai Chi snapped his hand away,"God... you nutjob! Don't kiss there!"

"Oh~~" Zhao Zhen nodded, "Then I’ll kiss another place~~" he said, bowing his head to Bai Chi's mouth.

Bai Chi's eyes widened in horror, staring at Zhao Zhen in front of him. His eyes unconsciously met the other man’s.

"Haha~~~" Zhao Zhen laughed when he saw Bai Chi looking startled and stunned and staring into his eyes.

At that moment, the door happened to be pushed open... Qin Bi, Zhao Zhen’s agent, appeared at the door. It was too embarrassing for him to go further in, but also too embarrassing for him to go back out. He had no choice but to smile apologetically.

Bai Chi's face was pale at first, and then it instantly turned red, becoming more and more crimson. His ears~~ neck~~ fingers~~

Zhao Zhen laughed louder, looking at this little thing. Maybe even his buttocks were red~~

Bai Chi stood up with a rustle, snapped the plate in his hand onto Zhao Zhen's face, turned angrily, rushed to the door, and ran out at his fastest speed.

Zhang Long at the door was baffled, "Xiao Bai Chi~~ Where are you going?"

Helpless Bai Chi didn't listen at all, he just ran away quickly. Zhang Long quickly followed.

When he ran outside of the hospital, he saw Bai Chi standing next to a trash can and stepping on a packing bag, saying, “Smelly cockroach! Damned cockroach! I’ll step on you!!!”

Zhang Long walked over, trembling with trepidation, "That, are you okay?"

Bai Chi breathed a few more breaths, pursed his lips, and looked at Zhang Long aggrievedly, "I don't want to stay here. I want to go back to the police station."

Zhang Long froze for three seconds, then nodded repeatedly, "Okay!~~ Good!~~~" He wiped his mouth and fished out the car key, then said, "So cute, so cute~~"



"Have you laughed enough?” Qin Bi shook his head and looked at Zhao Zhen. "Why don't you even let the kids go?"

"Don't you think he's fun?" Zhao Zhen laughed as he picked up the apple from on top of him.

Qin Bi looked at his hand, "I have asked the doctor, and you have to rest for at least two months."

With a shrug, Zhao Zhen fiddled with the knife on the table without saying a word.

"Do you know how much your hands are worth?" Qin Bi's face became serious. "It's not enough to just get shot, but also stabbed?!"

Zhao Zhen picked up a coat from the sofa, put it on, got up, and walked out.

"Where are you going?" Qin Bi was anxious.

"To hang out." Zhao Zhen said casually.

"The doctor said you should take a good rest! Zhen... Zhen!" He cried out a few times, but Zhao Zhen walked out of the ward without looking back.t

Back at the S.C.I.'s office, Bai Chi felt that the air was so pleasant.

Jiang Ping motioned to him quietly and pointed to Zhan Zhao's office.

When Bai Chi peeked in, he saw Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao on the couch with their heads tilted together, sleeping soundly.

"Why are you blushing so much?" Jiang Ping asked Bai Chi, puzzled.

"No~~ I’m not~~" Bai Chi shook his head. When he saw the two of them on the sofa, he suddenly thought of the way he’d seen them kissing in the car last time~~~ He was all flustered and panicked.

………………

The next morning, everyone was refreshed~~ There were too many things happening in the last two days, but fortunately, there had been great progress. The next thing to do was to further interrogate the prisoners and sort out the case.

Bai Yutang was just about to call everyone to a meeting, when Lu Fang pushed the door in, "Xiao Bai, there is news."

"What news?" Bai Yutang was a little puzzled.

"Did you ask people to find An Qingyao and Tong Ming last time?" Lu Fang said, "I couldn't find them in China, so I checked their entry and exit records. They went to the United States five years ago and have never returned. However, Tong Ming suddenly returned to China a month ago. I just contacted him..."

"What did you say?" Zhan Zhao interrupted Lu Fang's words from the side, "You mean that An Qingyao and Tong Ming are not dead?!"

"Ah?!" Lu Fang was also stunned. "No!"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang glanced at each other, and were speechless, "What about Li Xu?" Zhan Zhao asked Lu Fang in a hurry. “Can you find out? The real Li Xu!”

"Oh~~ I'll find someone to check~~" Lu Fang saw Zhan Zhao so excited for the first time and ran out quickly.

At about noon, Lu Fang ran back, "I found her. She is in H city."

"She's in China?" Bai Yutang was surprised.

"Yes." Lu Fang said, "Also, Tong Ming called just now, saying he was willing to surrender and explained the facts from that year~~ that is, we can arrest Li Xu and An Qingyao next."

"Wait~~" Jiang Ping said suddenly, "So, Xu Jiaqing didn't do anything... Then why would she plead guilty?!"

Zhan Zhao raised his head sharply, turned back to the office and pulled out a photo from the folder on the desk. Then, he hurried out the door.

Everyone was puzzled by the action, and Bai Yutang quickly followed him, "Kitty, what's going on?"

"I'm just guessing. Wait for Xu Jiaqing to confirm it for me!" Zhan Zhao kept walking, quickly ran to the interrogation room, and pushed the door open.

Xu Jiaqing was sitting there, waiting quietly. For her, the next thing to do was to wait for the trial and end her life~~ She had no regrets, because if she had not avenged her sister, her life would have be dominated by hatred. Since she got revenge, she would accept the proper outcome.

Zhan Zhao rushing in suddenly surprised her.

Zhan Zhao put the photo in his hand on the table and pushed it to Xu Jiaqing, "'For hatred, we must use hatred to solve it'. Did he say that?"

Xu Jiaqing looked down at the photo and nodded. "But my revenge has nothing to do with him. He is just my numerologist."

Bai Yutang had already run in by that time. Hearing Xu Jiaqing's words, he looked down and saw that the person in the photo was indeed Zhao Jue.

"How long have you been consulting with him?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"It's been more than three years. I was in the cemetery. After hearing Tong Ming's confession, I was very conflicted. I didn't know if I should take revenge. Later, a friend happened to invite me to see a fortune teller with her, and I met him."

"When did you hear Tong Ming's confession?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"Three... three years ago~~" Xu Jiaqing replied.

"How did you kill them?" Zhan Zhao sighed, moving a chair and sitting down. He looked directly at Xu Jiaqing, "Tell me more details!"

"I..." Xu Jiaqing thought for a moment, and there was a trace of confusion in his eyes, "I..."

"You only remember the fact that you killed them, but you don't remember the process?" Zhan Zhao put away the photo. "Did you know that Tong Ming just returned to China a month ago? Before he had lived abroad. When he went to your sister's tombstone to repent and you overheard him, it should have been recent."

"Wh...what...I~~" Xu Jiaqing frowned and patted her forehead. "I can't remember~~"

Zhan Zhao extended his hand to take off his watch and put it in front of Xu Jiaqing's eyes, "Now, stare at this watch and imagine the time going back, an hour ago~~"

Xu Jiaqing stared at the watch as Zhan Zhao said, and began to recall.

"One more day ago... a week ago... a month..." Slowly guiding her and seeing Xu Jiaqing gradually began to get confused, Zhan Zhao raised his hand and tapped her forehead lightly~~

"Ah~~" Xu Jiaqing raised her head violently, "I~~ I remembered~~ Yeah, right~~~ I...I met him a month ago... Then he said something to me..."

Bai Yutang watched Xu Jiaqing's changes and sat down. "Then, when you woke up, you were already in the middle of this plan and remembered that you had killed Li Xu, An Qingyao and Tong Ming, and were about to pretend to be Li Xu. To complete the next plan, what did you do afterwards?"

"After, I, as Li Xu, found someone to share a house with," Xu Jiaqing recalled. "I contacted other people from that year... and then..."

"Then, you introduced this numerologist to Kong Liping, didn't you?" Zhan Zhao said, seeing Xu Jiaqing nod, and then said, "Then you were attacked, and your plan got interrupted. You were under surveillance, but Shen Ling died, too. In the end, only Shen Qian was left. So, yesterday you went to complete your final revenge, right?"

Xu Jiaqing nodded, "Yes, but..."

"Yes." Bai Yutang took the key to open her handcuffs. "You did nothing but take Kong Liping to the numerologist."

"Then I..." Xu Jiaqing asked confusedly, "I avenged my sister..."

Zhan Zhao stood up, "Zhang Zhenzhen is dead, Kong Liping is dead, Shen Ling is dead, Shen Qian was seriously injured, and he has been disgraced; Tong Ming has already said that he will surrender, and Li Xu and An Qingyao will not escape the sanctions of the law. It’s what you call revenge. I think the ending is already tragic enough."

Bai Yutang sneered, "This is a gift from your numerologist. Your hands are not stained with any drops of blood, but you have had your revenge perfectly. Starting today, you should be free~~"

"I... free..." Xu Jiaqing looked at the two in front of her in disbelief, "I don't have to bear the hatred anymore~~"

"Right." Zhan Zhao nodded. "You don't have to bear hatred anymore, but you have to bear something else."

"Something else?" Xu Jiaqing was puzzled.

"Chen Yu and Qi Le almost died in order to save you, and now Chen Yu is still lying in the hospital." Bai Yutang said with a blank expression, "Kong Liping's one-year-old child has since become an orphan; there is also a Kong Cheng, although I don't know how he was stimulated to get revenge, but he did kill two people for you and your sister, and don’t forget the most innocent Sun Qian!"

"I... so what do I have to bear? Guilt? Repentance..." Xu Jiaqing was confused and her mind was chaotic. "Why is it like this?"

Zhan Zhao shook his head, "You are in the same state as the people who killed your sister. What you have to bear is not guilt and repentance, but the hatred of others against you—this is what is called, 'For hatred, you must use hatred to solve it.’ The true meaning.”

………………

After leaving the interrogation room, at Zhan Zhao’s request, Bai Yutang drove him to a place: the cemetery in S City.

In front of a small tombstone, there was a man sitting and reading a book. He read it gently, as if reading a bedtime story.

Lifting his head, he looked at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang who came up to him.

Zhan Zhao looked down at Zhao Jue sitting in front of the tombstone. The book he had was a "Little Prince". On the tombstone behind him, there was a young face—Sun Qian.

"She was out of your calculations, wasn't she?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Zhao Jue touched the photo on the tombstone with regret, "No one can account for everything~~ there will always be something we don't expect~~" he said, standing up and patting Zhan Zhao's shoulder, "That is why talented people are the best."

Placing the book in front of the tombstone, he turned around and leave. When passing by Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, he suddenly said, "Hurry up and catch the demon in front of me, alright? If you let me catch it first~~ Maybe there will be an even greater surprise..." Finished, he left.

Zhan Zhao lowered his head and picked up the "Little Prince" from the ground. He smiled helplessly and asked Bai Yutang, "Xiao Bai, do you remember watching the Little Prince's play as a child?"

Bai Yutang took the book and said, "I remember."

"Then do you remember why the pilot started to tell the story?" Zhan Zhao then asked.

"...Because he felt lonely. In the world of adults, he couldn’t find a person who spoke speculatively—adults, they are all too practical." Bai Yutang replied, looking at Zhan Zhao, "Kitty, what do you make of it?"

"I think, he told us..." Zhan Zhao paused and looked at the direction of Zhao Jue's departure. "Why Sun Qian was chosen—demons are impractical, so his next target is also a child."






Translation notes:

(1) Bai Chi is referring to how Zhao Jue had him feed him chocolate etc.

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