S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 2 Chapter 44

Murderer vs Murderer 17 – Tomb of Jackal

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The feeling that Zhao Jue gives off is very strange. Logically speaking, he is an extremely sinful person, but when you first see him, you will find that he is surprisingly clean, simple, and beautiful.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang no longer know how to face Zhao Jue. Since this person appeared, he has more or less affected their lives. Seeing him walking over with a smile, it really makes them feel overwhelmed. Bai Yutang turned to look at Zhan Zhao and saw that his expression was that of a cat when they see other cats; vigilant and guarded, but also curious. It’s useless for Zhan Zhao to deny it; he really is interested in Zhao Jue.

After Zhao Jue walked in front of them, he looked at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang before reaching his hand out to shake Ouyang Chun’s hand.

Ouyang Chun politely shook hands with Zhao Jue, “Hello. Didn’t we agree to meet when we go to Italy?”

Zhao Jue smiled lightly at Ouyang Chun, “I missed them.”

Ouyang Chun was taken aback for a moment, then he looked back at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang. His eyes seemed to ask — ‘Didn’t I hear that your relationship is very bad?’

Zhan Zhao raised his eyebrows and smiled, “It depends on how you think about it.”

Bai Yutang and Ouyang Chun looked at each other — ‘I can smell the gunpowder.”

Zhao Ju laughed and walked over to be in between Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao. He stretched his hand out and wrapped his arm around Bai Yutang’s, affectionately saying “Are you hungry? I know a good French restaurant.”

Bai Yutang looked at Zhao Jue, who was holding his arm, and was a little surprised; ‘How can this person feel so young? Is he really in his forties?’ He has to admit that Zhao Jue really is beautiful, although it’s not the same as the beauty of his cat…

As he was thinking about it, Zhan Zhao suddenly grabbed his arm and dragged him over. He glared at Zhao Jue with a look of warning, causing Zhao Jue to laugh. Zhao Jue stretched his hand out and patted Ouyang Chun, saying “Let’s go. I invite all of you to dinner.”

“I’m sorry…” Ouyang Chun wanted to politely decline, but he was pulled away by Zhao Jue. When he left, Zhao Jue didn’t forget to send Zhan Zhao a provocative wink and smile.

When Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao again, he could see how tense he was. Bai Yutang reached his hand out and helplessly pinched his cheek, speaking in a low voice, “You get your hair in a twist when you get teased, so he wants to tease you all the time.”

Zhan Zhao wrinkled his nose unhappily and warned Bai Yutang “You stay away from him. Be careful of him giving you psychological hints or hypnotizing you.”

Bai Yutang stretched his hand out and wrapped it around Zhan Zhao’s shoulders, laughing “Don’t worry, you are with me… Well, then again, maybe you are the one who is hypnotizing me or giving me psychological hints. You are the only thing that’s in my head all day long, Cat.”

A smile appeared on Zhan Zhao’s face; that white mouse, his flirty words are too natural… His mood instantly cleared up.

Zhao Jue, who was walking in front, looked back at the two of them. He slowed down a bit and handed Zhan Zhao the book that he had been reading.

“What is it?” Zhan Zhao took the book and looked at it. It was a Japanese version of the novel The Tomb of the Jackal.

“Why is it a Japanese novel?” Zhan Zhao looked up and asked Zhao Jue in confusion, “I remember that the original novel was in English.”

Zhao Jue glanced at Zhan Zhao with a smile, “Reading it in another language makes it more flavourful.”

Zhan Zhao frowned slightly and looked at Zhao Jue.

“By looking at a book from another person’s perspective…” Zhao Jue smiled, “you can see the thoughts of two people at a time.”

Zhan Zhao raised his eyebrows; he had some reservations about Zhao Jue’s words.

“What book is it?” Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao with interest.

“A World War II novel.” Zhan Zhao said indifferently, “It’s about an allied army, with the code name Jackal, destroying Nazi concentration camps and competing with Nazi war criminals that also had the code name Jackal.”

“Which wolf won?” Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao smiled indifferently, “What is winning or losing when it comes to war? The Allied forces won in the end, but the war destroyed many things along the way. The reason why it’s called The Jackal’s Tomb is because jackals bite the throat of the animals that they are hunting. Even if they get away, the wound will never heal; being bitten means that you have to enter a grave forever.”

Bai Yutang took the book and whistled, “Sounds really good. Who wrote it?”

“It was rewritten by later generations.” Zhan Zhao said, “No one knows who the real author is. It is said to be adapted from a real story that a soldier left behind.”

Zhao Jue also smiled and said “This novel is very cold. Have you read such a novel?”

Zhan Zhao nodded, “I like to read novels that don’t have authors.”

“Why?” Zhao Jue was a little surprised.

“It shows that the author didn’t write the book for themselves.” Zhan Zhao put his hands in his pockets, “The unsung hero is more interesting than the famous hero.”

Zhao Jue nodded and asked “Then in this book, which part left the deepest impression on you?”

Zhan Zhao smiled softly, “The part where Jackal’s captain had a duel with the Nazi Jackal in the military factory.”

Zhao Jue nodded in satisfaction, “Well, it is the same for me.”

After speaking, the two began to talk about other things. After walking for a while, the formation of the four shifted; Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue were walking in the front, chatting about weird things, while Bai Yutang and Ouyang Chun were walking behind them. As he walked, Bai Yutang was flipping through the book, looking for the fight between the two Jackals.

Hearing Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue talking, Ouyang Chun couldn’t join or understand them, so he asked Bai Yutang, “What are they talking about?”

Bai Yutang continued to flip through the book and answered indifferently, “It’s better not to know. It’s all details that are outside the scope of normal people’s understanding.”

“Details?” Ouyang Chun was confused. He looked at Bai Yutang and the book, “Do you understand Japanese?”

Bai Yutang shook his head, “I don’t understand.”

“Then why are you reading it?” Ouyang Chun was even more confused.

“There are Chinese characters.” Bai Yutang blinked, “I guess it should be the same. Regardless, I already know the plot.”

… Ouyang Chun wisely decided to shut his mouth and he ran to the front to open the door for everyone.

After they arrived at the restaurant that Zhao Jue recommended, the group had a delicious French meal. When they were finished, the group drove back to Bai Jintang’s villa. It was almost dark by the time they arrived.

As soon as the car arrived at the villa, they heard a gust of wind and the sound of propellers in the air. Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao got out of the car and looked up. They saw a helicopter slowly land on the helicopter pad in the middle of the yard. Luoyang got out of the helicopter and happily ran over. He hugged Zhan Zhao’s leg and shouted “Uncle Zhan!”

Zhan Zhao picked him up. Seeing the excitement on Luoyang’s face, he asked “Was Disneyland fun?”

“Fun!” Luoyang was very happy, “The helicopter was so cool!”

Bai Yutang glanced at the pure black helicopter; it was the same model as the pure white one that Bai Jintang gave him last time. It seems as though he had purchased more than one. (Angel: Just how rich is Bai Jintang?? He has purchased a villa in France, two helicopters, a private jet, Bai Yutang’s Spyker, and probably countless other things we don’t know about.)

After Luoyang greeted Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang, and Ouyang Chun, he looked at Zhao Jue with some curiosity.

Zhao Jue stepped forward. He poked Luoyang’s cheek with his finger and smiled, “Hello.”

Luoyang put his arms around Zhan Zhao’s neck and whispered into Zhan Zhao’s ear, “This uncle looks like Uncle Zhao. Are they brothers?”

Unexpectedly, Zhan Zhao spoke to Luoyang in a serious tone, “Yang Yang, he is Zhao Zhen’s uncle. He is the same age as Uncle Bao. You should call him Old Uncle Zhao!”

“Huh?” Luoyang stared at Zhao Jue in surprise. His face showed a worried expression and he suddenly asked Zhan Zhao “Why is Uncle Bao so old? What happened to him?”

Zhao Jue covered his mouth and smirked. Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were also dumbfounded. At that time, Luo Tian got off of the helicopter. Seeing that Zhan Zhao and the others had returned, he walked over to them while holding the Mickey Mouse that he had bought for Luo Yang. However, he stopped three or four steps away from the group.

“Dad?” Luoyang waved to Luo Tian, but Luo Tian didn’t move. Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked back at Luo Tian and saw him staring blankly at Zhao Jue. His eyes were wide open with shock and he seemed to be a little flustered.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other and they were both a little confused. They had known Luo Tian for so long and knew that even in the face of a terrible situation, Luo Tian would never show a hint of panic on his face; he had gone through special training during his time as an experiment subject in order to achieve this.

Zhan Zhao followed Luo Tian’s line of sight and landed on Zhao Jue. He saw that he was tilting his head and touching his chin; it looked as though he felt that Luo Tian was familiar. After he looked at him for a while, Zhao Jue suddenly raised his eyebrows, “Oh… It’s you.”

Luoyang stared at Luo Tian for a while, then suddenly spoke to Zhao Jue, “Are you a bad guy? Don’t stare at my father!”

Zhao Jue turned to look at Luoyang in surprise. The two looked at each other for a while. Zhao Jue aggrievedly hid behind Bai Yutang and said “This kid is so fierce. He even bullies the adults!”

Luoyang was stunned and looked at Zhao Jue with a puzzled expression. He thought to himself, ‘Why is this adult so timid?’. He looked at Zhan Zhao puzzledly and Zhan Zhao put him down. Luoyang ran over to Luo Tian. Luo Tian hugged Luoyang and looked at Zhao Jue with a look of vigilance.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang realized the seriousness of the matter. When Bai Yutang was about to ask, Zhan Zhao waved his hand slightly. At that moment, Da Ding, Xiao Ding, Zhao Hu, Ma Han, and the others came back. They were all very happy after their day of shopping, however, when they entered the yard, they saw the strange scene in front of them.

When everyone’s eyes fell on Zhao Jue, they were all stunned. They looked at each other and they all became alert. Although they had known for a while that they would be cooperating with him this time, Zhao Jue’s sudden appearance still triggered the instincts of the police officers.

Zhao Jue looked at all of the people around him that were staring at him. He shook his head and laughed, “There are many beasts.”

Zhan Zhao spoke to Ma Han, “Take Yang Yang inside. The rest of you should go into the villa and rest early, we will be rushing to Italy tomorrow morning. Call Bai Chi and the others, have them come back either tonight or tomorrow morning before 8 o’clock.”

With so many people here, Zhan Zhao chose Ma Han because Ma Han is the one who would never asks questions, and Zhao Hu, the one that always questions, listens to Ma Han. Although there were still doubts in his heart, Ma Han grabbed Zhao Hu, who was unhappy, walked to Luo Tian’s side, picked up Luoyang, and walked inside. The others followed. The twins wanted to watch the show, but Bai Yutang glared at them and they went into the villa obediently. Ouyang Chun is a person who cares about time management and who doesn’t want to deal with these kinds of personal issues, so he left the group and went home.

When everyone was gone, only Bai Yutang, Zhan Zhao, Luo Tian, and Zhao Jue remained in the yard.

“What’s the matter?” Bai Yutang asked Luo Tian.

Luo Tian looked at Zhao Jue and said “I saw him on the island.”

Zhan Zhao was taken aback and reacted fiercely, “He is the genius who made Allen Poe crazy? He is the one who inspired Allen Poe to create Yang Yang?”

Luo Tian nodded and looked at Zhao Jue with a complicated expression.

Zhao Jue put his hands in his pockets and smiled indifferently, “That idiot Allen Poe… You and Yang Yang should be the only good things he created.”

“Your appearance directly caused the death of the other test subjects.” Luo Tian suddenly frowned. The anger on his face made Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao a little worried. Luo Tian hadn’t been this angry in a long time.

Even though Zhao Jue saw that Luo Tian was angry, he was not afraid to die. He laughed, “So now you call them test subjects too.”

“You…” Luo Tian gritted his teeth. Zhao Jue’s words were painful, but they were facts…. Test subjects can be sacrificed at any time.

Just as the four of them reached a stalemate, a sigh could be heard from not far away.

Everyone was taken aback and looked up. They saw Bai Jintang leaning on the balcony of the second floor. He took the cigarette out of his mouth, exhaled the smoke, and whispered “What are you guys doing standing at the door?”

Bai Yutang nodded. He walked over and reached his hand out to bring Luo Tian back into the villa. Bai Jintang glanced at Zhao Jue before he pinched out his cigarette, placed it in the ashtray next to him, and walked back into the room.

Suddenly, Zhan Zhao heard Zhao Jue smile softly next him. He turned to look at him and saw Zhao Jue raising his head, staring at the back of Bai Jintang. As he disappeared into the villa, Zhao Jue gently said “He’s already so big…”

 ‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Happy Easter!!

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

Translated: April 2, 2021