S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 2 Chapter 35

Murderer vs Murderer 08 - Sneak Attack

---

Ouyang Chun and the members of SCI got along very well when they worked together previously. When he saw Luo Tian, Ouyang Chun couldn’t believe his eyes. In just a few months, Luo Tian was completely reborn; he looked a lot younger and had become a police officer.

While they were chatting, Luoyang suddenly came out of Zhan Zhao’s office and exclaimed, “Ah, it’s the bad police uncle.”

Ouyang Chun was a little dumbfounded. Luo Tian quickly pulled Luoyang over and asked him to call him Uncle Ouyang

After a few words of greeting, everyone began to talk about the case. Bai Yutang, Zhan Zhao, and Ouyang Chun went into Bai Yutang’s office and closed the door.

“With regards to Ben, there are some things that I would like to discuss.” Ouyang Chun said.

“Oh.” Zhan Zhao sensed a strange feeling from Ouyang Chun. “You mean that there is a problem regarding Ben?”

Ouyang Chun sighed. He looked at Zhan Zhao and smiled, “Dr. Zhan is truly getting more and more keen.”

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang glanced at each other before they each grabbed a chair and sat down. “Tell us about the situation.”

Ouyang Chun glanced out the office window towards the lounge, “Right now, we have a very difficult problem to deal with.”

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other and raised their eyebrows. — ‘We already knew that it was difficult; why would he have looked for us if it wasn’t?’

“Those seven people were very special.” Ouyang Chun said. “They are the only people in the world who have seen Karula’s face.”

“What?” Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other — ‘It is even more complicated than we thought.’

“Karula’s TVA was originally the target of one of Interpol’s big investigations. However, this person has always been mysterious and not many people have seen his true face.”

“Only those seven people have met him. You sent them here under the guise of a technical exchange, however, their true purpose is to find Karula?” Bai Yutang asked.

“To be precise, their purpose was just to confirm if he is here or not.” Ouyang Chun nodded. “I had received information that Karula appeared near here, so I needed to confirm it.”

“Then what happened to ZJ?” Zhan Zhao asked.

“That’s the problem.” Ouyang Chun sighed helplessly. “According to the information we have obtained, the way ZJ is run is mysterious. They do not just take assassination jobs, but they also take business in the form of theft or hacking. So, it’s a little messy now.”

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao frowned for a bit. After thinking, Zhan Zhao smiled and said, “It’s a messy situation. Zhang San took Li Si's crown."

Ouyang Chun, who had not lived in the country for very long, admitted that he had a limited understanding of Chinese. He looked over at Bai Yutang humbly. Bai Yutang explained, “What the cat means is that right now, ZJ and TVA are trying to frame each other. It’s messy and hard to figure out.”

Ouyang Chun nodded, “That pretty much sums up the situation.”

“Well, should we allow Ben to participate in the investigation of this case?” Ouyang Chun asked. “Or should we lock him up first?”

Bai Yutang glanced and Zhan Zhao, who nodded. “Let him participate.”

“So, it’s okay for him to participate?” Ouyang Chun frowned slightly. “There is a 50% chance that there is a problem with him.”

Zhan Zhao smiled, “I think it’s more than 70%.”

“There is more than a 70% chance and yet we are still letting him participate?” Ouyang Chun was confused.

Bai Yutang smiled slightly, “As you mentioned earlier, he is the only person left alive who has seen Karula’s face. Because of that, we must keep him close to us.”

Zhan Zhao took the sketch from the table and said, “If Ben is not telling the truth, then this person is not Karula at all.”

……

Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang, and Ouyang Chun studied the case in the office as the others waited outside. Bai Chi sat on a swivel chair, scratching his leg from time to time.

“Chi Chi, what’s the matter?” Luoyang leaned over. After being around Bai Chi for a while, Luoyang felt that Bai Chi’s mental age was about the same as his own, so he refused to call him brother. Instead, he calls him ‘Chi Chi’ like the adults do.

“I was stung by a bee.” Bai Chi helplessly said.

“A bee?” Luoyang was interested. “How come there were bees?”

“Yeah, why were there bees?” Ma Han and Zhao Hu also felt that it was strange. Zhao Hu reached out and lifted Bai Chi’s pant leg a little. “Wow, it’s so red!”

Bai Chi cried out “It’s so itchy and painful!”

“How did you get stung?” Jiang Ping was curious.

“Zhao Zhen’s next magic trick seems to have something to do with bees. He has been raising a lot of bees in the backyard.” Bai Chi wrinkled his nose. “Those bees are domestically raised and are not too venomous; their stings only itch for a day or two.”

“Wow, Zhao Zhen is still performing magic?” Zhang Long exclaimed. “Does he get stung too?”

Bai Chi narrowed his mouth, “If the bees aren’t stinging him or Lisbon, they will come to sting me.”

Everyone was stunned. Jiang Ping suddenly said “Oh! They are pet bees, right?”

Bai Chi was even more depressed, “What is a pet bee? Can someone even keep a bee as a pet?”

Everyone couldn’t help but laugh. Luoyang stretched his hand out to pat Bai Chi and said “Chi Chi, you are despised by the bees.”

Everyone laughed at his words; even the Interpol members that came with Ouyang Chun laughed. At that moment, the door of Bai Yutang’s office opened and Zhan Zhao walked out with the other behind him.

“What made you guys laugh so hard?” Zhan Zhao walked over with a smile and was a little surprised when he saw the sting on Bai Chi’s leg.

‘Ring~~Ring~~’ The phone on Jiang Ping’s desk rang. Jiang Ping reached out and answered “Hello, S.C.I…..” After a bit of silence, Jiang Ping glanced at Bai Yutang, “Captain, he said that he is from ZJ.”

The people around him were stunned. Jiang Ping turned on speaker phone.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other, before Bai Yutang asked “You said that you are from ZJ?”

The noise coming from the other end of the phone sounded like it was outside; there was some traffic noise but it was not overly noisy.

Jiang Ping had already started to track the location of the call.

“That is correct.” The other party replied in English. It was a man’s voice.

“Why are you calling us?” Bai Yutang asked.

“We ask that you to release our leader.” The other party replied.

“Who is your leader?” Bai Yutang asked.

“He is Zhao Jue.” The other party said this sentence in Chinese.

Everyone listening was shocked. Zhan Zhao frowned and asked “You said that Zhao Jue is your leader?”

“Release Zhao Jue immediately… hiss…” The other party suddenly paused in the middle of his sentence, but then he continued, “Otherwise, we will put a bomb in S City’s subway.”

“Zhao Jue is not in our hands.” Zhan Zhao replied.

“I will only repeat it once. Zhao Jue must be released in the next 24 hours, otherwise, you will regret it.” After he finished, he hung up the phone.

“Did you find the location?” Bai Yutang asked Jiang Ping.

“I have found the number.” Jiang Ping replied. “It’s a public phone. I need to screen the number to determine the location of the phone.”

Everyone looked at each other and didn’t know what to say. Ouyang Chun frowned, “Zhao Jue’s name is really notorious.”

Bai Yutang turned to look at him, “Have you heard of him?”

Ouyang Chun nodded, “He is a person that was being closely watched by Interpol. However, once he escaped from the Special Psychological Research Center, he was registered as dead.”

Bai Yutang turned and saw Zhan Zhao staring at Bai Chi’s leg in a daze.

“Cat, what’s the mater?” Bai Yutang asked.

Zhan Zhao tilted his head a bit, “You heard him scream just now. Did you also hear that there were some buzzing noises?”

Bai Yutang nodded and replayed the phone call. After listening, everyone noticed the buzzing noises.

Looking at the sting on Bai Chi’s leg, Zhan Zhao muttered to himself “They are looking for Zhao Jue…”

“They might go to Zhao Zhen!” Bai Chi stood up quickly, “That…”

“Captain, I found the location. It’s in the villa neighborhood on Huayuan Road.” Jiang Ping said. “The call was made from a public telephone in the neighborhood.”

Bai Chi was shocked, “That’s near Zhao Zhen’s house… The buzzing noise, was it from a bee?”

“Chi Chi, call Zhao Zhen.” Zhan Zhao said.

“He can’t use his cell phone and his landline is down; he didn’t fix it after the last time it was bitten by Lisbon…” Bai Chi was anxious.

Bai Yutang picked up his coat. “Let’s go take a look.”

Everyone left the police station and drove to Zhao Zhen’s villa. Bai Chi’s anxious face turned white, and Zhan Zhao comforted him, “Don’t worry. Zhao Zhen is not an average citizen. Neither is Lisbon.”

Bai Chi nodded, but he was still worried, “But… Those people are terrorists…”

Bai Yutang frowned without saying anything and drove faster.

……

Zhao Zhen had been resting at home for a while. His body was almost fully recovered, but Bai Chi still forbids him to go out, to drink alcohol, or to use his cell phone. All he can do is watch TV on the sofa with Lisbon.

Flipping though the channels one by one, he saw the news about the Interpol members who were killed. Zhao Zhen shook his head and patted Lisbon, “This world is too dangerous.”

As he was talking, he saw the lazy Lisbon suddenly stand up. He let out a low growl and squinted his eyes at the door.

Zhao Zhen looked back; the door of the living room was closed…

After letting go of Lisbon, Zhao Zhen quietly made a "shush" gesture and walked over to the door.

Gently pulling on the curtain by the door, he revealed a small portion of the window looking outside. Glancing at a mirror that was facing the window, Zhao Zhen was able to see that there were several men in black clothes, who were armed with guns, standing outside.

Zhao Zhen raised his eyebrows and looked at Lisbon. He slowly went around the sofa and pulled Lisbon to the second floor.

After arriving on the second floor, Zhao Zhen entered his studio. He pulled six throwing knives off of a shelf on the wall. Taking them in his hand, he led Lisbon to the area behind the partition of the changing area.

Zhao Zhen stepped on a stool and reached up to open a trap door on the ceiling. He pulled down an iron ladder and pushed Lisbon up onto it.

Lisbon seemed a little reluctant, and he grunted twice. Zhao Zhen smiled at him and said, “Hey, those bad guys have guns. I will open the back door for you later and you can come out then, okay?”

Lisbon obediently climbed up the iron ladder. Zhao Zhen retracted the ladder, closed the trap door, and removed the stool.

Zhao Zhen’s studio is quite large. It is filled with props that he uses for his magic performances and there are a lot of hidden compartments around it. Zhao Zhen hid in a compartment behind one of the walls; because the four walls are mirrors, it is difficult for people to determine whether it is a solid wall or if there are hidden compartments. In reality, there are compartments behind each of the mirrors that let the person in them look into the room.

Zhao Zhen hid inside and listened to the movement outside; he listened to the breathing and the sound of footsteps in the hallway. The extraordinary observation skills of a magician made it easy for Zhao Zhen to determine that there were six people in total.

He heard the sounds of the footsteps scattering; two went in the direction of the bedroom, two went downstairs towards the backyard, and the last two went towards the studio.

Zhao Zhen smiled slightly. He looked at the throwing knife in his hand and licked his upper lip — ‘It’s time for some fun’

The door of the studio was slowly opened and two men dressed in black clothes walked in. As soon as they entered the studio, they were startled by the mirrors on the wall. They saw their reflections on the walls and the two began to search the room. However, they noticed that something wasn’t right. ‘Why is this mirror different?’ They thought. There should be two figures on each mirror, but there was only one in the mirror in front of them. ‘No, that’s not right. When did the rest of the mirrors start reflecting three people?’

When the two felt that it was wrong, they turned their heads and saw that one of the mirrors had opened. Zhao Zhen stood behind them and smiled, “Too slow.” After he spoke, two cold flashes came from his moving hand.

Before having a chance to react, the two were nailed by a sharp throwing knife directly in the shoulder.

“Hmm...” The two snorted in pain. Before they were able to shout out, Zhao Zhen rushed forward and punched both of them in the abdomen.

After a grunt, the two rolled their eyes back and collapsed.

Zhao Zhen grabbed a rope. He put their hands and feet behind them and tied them with a knot. It was like the two of them were practicing yoga, but they were unable to move.

Zhao Zhen took off one of their masks to take a look; it was a foreigner.

After walking out of the studio, Zhao Zhen went towards the door of the bedroom. He heard that the two inside had finished their inspection and were about to come out. Zhao Zhen climbed up onto the railing next to the door and made his way to the doorframe above. 

The door was opened and two men came out. Zhao Zhen jumped down and landed directly on one of their shoulders. He kicked the other one over the railing, causing him to fall down to the first floor. Zhao Zhen stayed on the shoulders of the man he landed on and punched him in the temple. The man fainted without letting out a sound.

The one who fell down to the first floor wanted to stand up. At that moment, Zhao Zhen jumped down from the second floor and landed on him.

“Hmm…” Zhao Zhen heard the sound of ribs breaking under his feet and he shook his head, — ‘That must be painful.’

At the moment, the sound of police sirens came in from outside. Zhao Zhen smiled, “They came that quickly?” Zhao Zhen walked over to the door and pressed a small red button next to it. He then opened the door and walked out.

“Zhen!” Bai Chi yelled and ran over; he was relieved to see that Zhao Zhen was safe. Zhao Zhen gently touched Bai Chi’s hair to comfort him.

“Are you okay?” Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao walked over.

Zhao Zhen shrugged and said “There are two in the studio, one in the hallway, and one is in the living room. As for the other two…” Before he could finish speaking, they all heard a scream coming from the back of the villa.

Two people dressed in black ran out; they were surrounded by a large swarm of bees.

Zhao Zhen took out a tennis ball and threw it away. The bees ignored the two men and flocked towards the ball.

The two people finally came back to their senses. When they saw that Bai Yutang and the others were coming, they turned away and wanted to run.

Ma Han and a few other officers aimed their guns at the men, “Stop!”

The two men were about to reach the corner of the backyard so they didn’t stop. Suddenly, they heard a low growl behind them and a huge white lion appeared.

“Ah!” The two yelled and wanted to fire their guns, but Bai Yutang had already reached the two. He reached out and grabbed the heads of the two and smashed them together.

The two fell to the ground unconscious. Lisbon came up and rubbed Bai Yutang’s calf. He flicked his tail then ran towards Bai Chi and Zhan Zhao.

Ma Han and the others went to arrest the people inside the villa. All six terrorists were captured alive and everyone was happy.

Zhan Zhao stood to the side and looked at Lisbon thoughtfully. Bai Yutang walked over, “Cat, what’s wrong? What are you thinking about?”

Zhan Zhao looked at Lisbon and then at Bai Yutang, “It would be great if Lisbon was a lioness. We could raise one ourselves for S.C.I.”

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

Previous Chapter | TOC | Next Chapter

Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: March 26/27, 2021