S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 2 Chapter 8

The Innocent Murderer 08 - Catch Me

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The appearance of Bai Jintang instantly extinguished the arrogance of the woman. Her face changed from domineering and ruthless to aggrieved and weak. Even her cry of "Jintang" had been severely weakened. Gongsun couldn't help but feel a chill from the cry. Seeing the curiosity on Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao's face, Gongsun shook his head, took a sip from the cup, and turned around to continue watching the show.

Bai Jintang frowned and stared at the woman.

"I'm sorry, Jintang." The woman hurriedly reached out to wipe the wine stains on his chest.

Bai Jintang took a step back slowly, turned to look at the twins behind him, and said something that made everyone's jaws drop, "Who is she? She looks familiar."

The people who thought they could have witnessed a chaotic love triangle became discouraged. Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other, and at the same time they curled their lips – Cut, boring!

But the ugliest face was the woman who stood still with her hands still in the air. She refused to accept it but also refused to reject it.

At this embarrassing moment, they heard someone laugh behind them, "Boss Bai is really a noble man, how forgetful he is."

When everyone turned their heads, they saw two people walking up slowly. One was a well-dressed, slightly blessed old man, and the other was a young man in his thirties.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at the old man in a daze – Isn't this Pang Ji? 

However, what puzzled the two of them was that it was only half a year since they last met Pang Ji. Why is he so old now? Seeing that his hair was all white and his face was full of wrinkles, he looked like someone in his eighties despite the fact that he was actually in his sixties.

Bai Jintang looked back and saw that it was Pang Ji, but he was a little puzzled. Da Ding hurried up and said in his ear, "Boss, you have a bad memory. She is Pang Ji's daughter, Pang Xiaoqin. You have met her before."

Bai Jintang blinked, looking at Da Ding with a dazed expression, "Really?"

The people around him are even more disappointed. The feelings were only Pang Xiaoqin's wishful thinking.

Bai Yutang grabbed Xiao Ding next to him and asked, "Then why does she say that she is half the host?"

Xiao Ding curled his lips, "This international hotel was bought by Boss from old man Pang, Bai holding 51%, Pang 20%, and Yan Li 25%." 

"Oh~~" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang glanced at each other – Sure enough, it was just her own wishful thinking.

Bai Jintang still couldn't remember who she was, but he was a little bit upset over Pang Xiaoqin pouring water on Gongsun just now. He frowned and looked at Pang Xiaoqin, who was still nervous behind him, and asked coldly, "What were you doing just now?"

"I..." Pang Xiaoqin wanted to refute but Bai Jintang didn't bother to pay attention. He turned his face to look at the twins and ordered, "Get her out of here!"

The others were taken aback, while Pang Ji's face became red and white.

"President Bai, what a fierce tone." The young man behind Pang Ji walked up and looked at Bai Jintang. "Today's banquet should be organised by the boss. If you want to make people leave then you should be the one to do it."

"Ahem..." As soon as his words fell, there was a soft cough next to him. Yan Li had noticed the movement here, and she walked over, standing beside Fang Wo.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao's eyes were immediately attracted by Fang Wo, and they waited quietly to see the development of the situation.

"Then I'm sorry, but I must ask Miss to leave first." Yan Li said with a smile.

Pang Ji frowned, looking at Yan Li with a cold face, "Boss Yan... this is a bit rude."

Yan Li smiled, "Although I am the host, the true host is the Bai family, and I agree that this lady's behaviour is indeed a bit improper... So, I must either ask this lady to leave first, or ask Old Pang to leave with her. "

The face of the young man behind Pang Ji turned sour and he sneered, "It's unreasonable to say that. You are too unreasonable, Boss Yan."

On the side, Bai Jintang was too lazy to watch the drama here. He stretched out his hand to hold Gongsun's shoulder, took a sip from the wine glass in his hand, and walked to the side, "I'm exhausted."

Gongsun looked up and saw that his expression seemed a little tired, so he asked, "Did you just get off the plane?"

"Mhmm." Bai Jintang raised his head and drank the champagne. Then he ordered another glass from the waiter, leaned over to Gongsun's ear and whispered, "Did you miss me?"

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao trembled twice, and looked at each other – Brother is really good; flirting so blatantly under the eyes of everyone.

"My sister was invited by Boss Yan, but now she wants her to leave." The young man behind Pang Ji sneered, "That's not good."

Yan Li smiled bitterly and shook her head. She lowered her voice and said to Pang Ji, "Old Pang, you should learn when to retreat. Look at who you are offending. Having her leave without further conflict is already saving her face. Then again, it's probably a good thing that the wine didn't touch Gongsun just now. Otherwise, you would have had to collect her body tonight.

Pang Ji's face changed a few times. He glanced at Pang Xiaoqin helplessly, and nodded to her. Pang Xiaoqin's eyes reddened, and Bai Jintang and Gongsun stared fiercely. She then turned and ran away, covering his face.

"Dad, I'm going to see my sister." The young man behind Pang Ji handed the champagne to the waiter, then turned and chased Pang Xiaoqin.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom." Fang Wo smiled at everyone. He bowed his head and kissed Yan Li's cheek gracefully. Before leaving, he said "I'll be back soon."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other – The show is over.

Yan Li smiled at the guests around them. Everyone was sensible; they continued to talk and laugh as if nothing had happened just now.

"Hey!" Bai Yutang patted Xiao Ding and asked, "Why is that Pang guy so afraid of Brother?"

Xiao Ding looked at Bai Yutang and rolled his eyes, "That's real brothers for you. He is doing it for you two."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other then looked at him puzzledly, "What do you mean?"

"Did you forget about Pang Yu's case?" Xiao Ding said in a low voice, "Pang Yu is Pang Ji's favourite son. Big Brother is afraid that he will retaliate against you so this year's business has been targeting Pang Ji. Now eighty percent of Pan Ji's property has been acquired by Big Brother. Don't look at their superficial appearance. The truth is that Pang Ji's property is only an empty shell; you won't get any value from it."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were surprised to hear that Bai Jintang had done things so thoroughly for them. In a blink of an eye, they saw Bai Jintang who was talking with Gongsun on the side. They don't know what Gongsun said but Bai Jintang's eyes narrowed with laughter.

Zhan Zhao suddenly patted Bai Yutang lightly and whispered something to him. Bai Yutang followed his line of sight and saw Bai Yunwen standing not far away, frowning while looking at Bai Jintang from a distance.

"The old man is upset." Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao exchanged glances. They took two steps forward, pretending to inadvertently block Bai Yunwen's view of Bai Jintang.

"Smelly boy!" Bai Yunwen cursed in a low voice.

Beside him, Zhan Qitian stretched out his hand and patted him, "Forget it, don't they just have to be alive and kicking? They just want to be happy. I'm leaving, will you leave too? "

"Alright, let's go." Bai Yunwen nodded and walked out saying, "The more I look, the angrier I get!"

Zhan Qitian shook his head and walked outside with him with a smile.

Seeing that the two elders had left, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at each other. They looked around again and decided to find out if there was anything exciting that they could join. 

Not far away, Bai Chi and Zhao Zhen were standing at the table. Zhao Zhen was holding a plate of food to eat, and Bai Chi looked up at him, they were talking about something. At this time, three young men in black suits suddenly gathered around them.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other and decided to go there, only to see that the twins next to them were also walking there. The four of them met each other and they all felt that there was about to be something exciting to watch.

Bai Chi gave Zhao Zhen something to eat. Although Zhao Zhen said he was hungry, he only ate two bites. He held a plate and chatted with Bai Chi. Bai Chi felt that Zhao Zhen seemed to be in a bad mood today. Did something happen?

Bai Chi was trying to find an opportunity to ask him what was going on, but he heard someone next to him say, "Isn't this Zhao?!"

Bai Chi turned his face, and saw three people walking around them. They were all foreigners! 

The first man was in his thirties. He had blond hair pulled up into a ponytail and he looked pretty good. Bai Chi didn't know if it was due to his viewing angle, but he felt like his nose looked crooked and strange. He was the one that spoke. 

The second man looked like an Asian, but he seemed to be a cross between European and Asian. He donned a cold expression on his face.

The third one looked like a teenager. He had short blond hair, flawless white skin, big blue eyes, and a small but curled nose. He was short, similar to a blond-haired doll. Bai Chi couldn't help but feel surprised; was this person a male or a female? As soon as he spoke, Bai Chi was able to tell that he was a male with a low and neutral voice.

Unlike the other two, the young one had an excited expression on his face. He said to Zhao Zhen in an excited tone, "Ah, you really are Zhao Zhen?! You look more handsome than on TV. My name is Matthew. I am your idol... ah, no, you are my idol!"

Zhao Zhen seemed to know the first person with blonde hair and a crooked nose, but did not know the other two people. He nodded to the first person as a greeting while still keeping that feeling of listlessness.

Bai Chi looked at them curiously, and asked Zhao Zhen, "Your friend?"

The one who answered was the blonde-haired man with a crooked nose. He smiled and nodded to Bai Chi, "Hello, my name is Stewart, this is Rick." As he spoke, he stretched out his hand as if to shake hands with Bai Chi.

Of course, Bai Chi shook his hand politely. However, as soon as he shook his hand, he felt that something was wrong; the other party's hand was so cold. How could a living person's hand be so cold? While thinking, Bai Chi was startled when he heard the man scream.

"Ah!" Stewart stepped back, squatting down while holding his arm in pain.

Bai Chi was taken aback as he felt that the cold touch on his hand was still there despite the fact that the other party had already moved several steps away. When he looked at Stewart, Bai Chi was startled and cried out "Ah!" He saw that Stewart was holding his arm which appeared to be missing a hand.

"Hahaha..." Stewart, who seemed to be in pain, suddenly started laughing. The two people around him also laughed. 

The doll-like Matthew stomped his feet and pointed to Bai Chi, "You're so slow! You're even scared of this!"

Bai Chi took another look and saw Stewart's hand which was clearly inside his sleeve. He looked down and saw that he was holding a prosthetic hand...

Bai Chi really wanted to throw away the prosthetic hand, but he noticed that the prosthetic hand seemed to be adhered to his real hand and he was unable to pull it off. 

He panicked until he heard Zhao Zhen say to him, "Don't move." Bai Chi stopped shaking the hand immediately and looked pitifully at Zhao Zhen. 

Zhao Zhen reached out and gently pulled on the fake arm, causing it to fall off. Bai Chi looked at his palm curiously, and there was no trace of adhesion.

"How? How did that happen?" Bai Chi asked Zhao Zhen, as he looked up at his face.

Zhao Zhen raised his eyebrows and said, "He is also a magician."

"We are all here to participate in Magic Week." Matthew said to Bai Chi with a smile, "We saw you and Zhao are familiar with each other, so we thought you were also a master. But I didn't expect to be a layman."

"Hey..." The twins who had been watching the scene couldn't help but step forward. They hugged Bai Chi and said to the three, "Regardless of if they are an amateur or a master, one would be frightened by this. Why are you so mean?"

Stewart smiled disdainfully, "It's just that he is a scaredy-cat."

Seeing that the twins were standing up for him, Bai Chi feared that the situation could become more serious. After all, the owner of the venue was Bai Chi's cousin and the organiser of the event was Zhao Zhen's partner. It would not be smart to start a conflict with the other party, so Bai Chi turned to the twins with a smile and said, "It's okay, I'm just too timid. It's just for fun."

"Heh..." Matthew smiled and looked at Bai Chi, "You really have no character."

Bai Chi was a little embarrassed. The twins narrowed their eyes and said in their hearts – How dare you bully our little brother?

"Take it." Zhao Zhen, who had been silent next to him, suddenly flicked his hand and threw the prosthetic hand to Matthew. Matthew instinctively reached for it, but he felt that the hand was slippery. Suddenly, the hand seemed to move. Matthew looked down...

"Ah!" Matthew yelled in fright, and saw that the hand had turned into a one-metre-long snake. And the snake was alive! The snake was very agile; it wrapped around Matthew's arm and made its way to circle his neck. It raised its head, opened its mouth and flicked its tongue. 

Matthew was so nervous that he didn't even dare to move. At that moment, he heard someone clapping their hands. When he looked back, he saw Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao clapping their hands, admiring, "It's amazing!"

Matthew's originally pale face was now as white as a piece of paper. His eyes were staring at the snake in horror, not daring to move.

Next to him, Stewart and Rick were also at a loss. Finally, Stewart helplessly said to Zhao Zhen," Zhao, it was just a joke. No need to be so serious, he is still a child and is a bit immature."

Zhao Zhen stared at Matthew. Matthew reacted quickly and hurriedly said to Bai Chi, "I'm sorry..."

Bai Chi was even more at a loss now. What did Zhao Zhen just do? Did he bring a python with him? But he has a single coat on him, where was the snake hidden?

After Matthew finished apologising, Zhao Zhen lazily snapped his fingers. With a poof, the snake entwined around Matthew's neck suddenly flashed and burned, disappearing in an instant.

Everyone was stunned. Matthew opened his eyes wide and couldn't believe it. If it wasn't for the faint burnt smell around him, he would have thought that Zhao Zhen had hypnotised him and caused him to have hallucinations.

Zhao Zhen put down the plate in his hand, pulled Bai Chi over, and said, "Sleepy."

Bai Chi was still confused. He turned around blankly and saw that there were two sofas by the window in the corner of the room, and he pulled Zhao Zhen out of the crowd.

Leaning on the sofa, Zhao Zhen quickly fell asleep. Bai Chi took off his suit jacket and used it to cover Zhao Zhen. Bai Chi became more worried about Zhao Zhen, so he just sat next to him and watched over him as he slept.

"Zhao Zhen... it seems like something is wrong with him." Zhan Zhao frowned slightly, looking at Bai Yutang, "Why do I think he seems to be too tired?"

Bai Yutang nodded, but his eyes were still on the three people. He saw Matthew blushing after being frightened, and whispered to the two people next to him, "Just now, what was the trick?"

Stewart and Rick glanced at each other. They both shook their heads at him a little frustratedly and comforted him, "Just get used to it."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were worried about Zhao Zhen's state, but suddenly an excited voice came from behind them, "You... are you really Dr. Zhan?!"

When Zhan Zhao turned to look, he saw a girl who looked like she was sixteen or seventeen years old. She had a cute baby face and black hair, was wearing a white dress, and was holding a book in both hands. It was Zhan Zhao's latest book, and her face was full of excitement.

"Are you Dr. Zhan?" Seeing that Zhan Zhao didn't respond, the girl asked again.

"Mhmm..." Zhan Zhao nodded hesitantly.

"Please sign this for me." The girl was even more excited, "I am your loyal reader." Probably because of her excitement, her voice was quite loud and attracted the attention of many people around her.

"Uh..." Zhan Zhao was a little embarrassed. At this moment, a person quickly walked over and said harshly, "Jia Jia, don't be rude!"

It was Yan Li who walked over to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang. She reached out to touch the head of the cute girl named Jia Jia, and said apologetically, "Dr. Zhan, I'm sorry. This kid has always liked reading your books."

Zhan Zhao smiled slightly, reached his hand out to take the book and pen that Jia Jia handed over, and signed the book for her. Jia Jia was full of excitement.

"Your handwriting is so beautiful!" Jia Jia held the book and looked at it with a look of affection. At this time, the surrounding lights were dimmed, a spot light illuminated the smiling faces of Yan Li and Fang Wo, and a waiter pushed a huge engagement cake through the door.

"Ah, it's starting!" Jia Jia hugged the book and hurriedly ran to Yan Li's side.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" The polite emcee walked over to Yan Li and Fang Wo, "Tonight's reception is to commend the elites of the S City police force! However, before the thank you reception starts, we must first bless the new couple..." As he said, he raised his hand and gestured to Yan Li and Fang Wo next to him. "Let's congratulate Miss Yan Li and Mr. Fang Wo on their engagement."

The guests immediately clapped and warm music started playing. Fang Wo and Yan Li took the cake knife that Jia Jia handed them and walked towards the gorgeous engagement cake.

Bai Yutang clapped his hands and whispered to Zhan Zhao, "Cat, Fang Wo is ten years younger than Yan Li, right?"

Zhan Zhao nodded and said, "He should be. I always feel that he is not as happy as Yan Li."

"This kid." Bai Yutang sneered, "Though he might just be a stranger, he is definitely not an ordinary person."

Zhan Zhao smiled, "But at least he showed up. It makes it convenient for us to monitor him, right?"

The two were chatting when they suddenly heard a scream come from the crowd. Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao raised their heads and saw everyone staring ahead in horror. They turned to look, only to see Fang Wo and Yan Li holding the cake knife in the air. The cake knife had been inserted into the middle of the cake, which was nearly one person tall. However, a bright red liquid oozed from the place where the knife cut.

Bai Yutang frowned and shouted to the side, "Turn on the lights!"

The waiter hurriedly turned on the light. When the light turned on, everyone shouted in surprise. They saw red liquid leaking from the cut edge of the cake. Now almost half of the cake was red.

Standing in the front, Bao Zheng also frowned. He took two steps, took the knife from their hands, and cut the cake open some more.

With a thud, a bloody human hand fell from the opening of the cake.

"Ahhhhh..." The crowd immediately cried out.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other and hurriedly ran forward. Bao Zheng opened the cake up even more and saw pieces of a corpse inside.

In the middle was a section of an upper body with its back facing everyone. It was a woman. The backless dress she was wearing was familiar, and the snow-white back was carved with a few words – 'Catch me.'

Bai Yutang reached his hand out and helped Bao Zheng break open the cake. They saw long hair get exposed... The curly long hair and the evening dress, a bad feeling arose in everyone's hearts. 

Sure enough, after the whole cake was broken apart, there was a woman's head and a pair of wide-open eyes looking at them. After seeing it, commotion spread through the crowd.

Just then, a heart-piercing shout rang through the crowd, "Xiao Qin!"

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Note

Bai Jintang really has no luck when it comes to events held at that hotel. I agree with Bai Yutang; Bai Jintang should ditch that building and just run a funeral parlour instead.

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

Translated: March 13/14, 2021

Re-edited: December 7, 2023