S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 2 Chapter 104

Love Murderer 11 – Throat Circumcision

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After hearing the screams, everyone immediately rushed out of the cabin. The screams continued to come from the forest. Bai Yutang and the others rushed over. Bao Zheng illuminated the area with the flashlight and everyone frowned.

They saw the couple who had just been driven away. The girl was sitting on the ground and screaming with blood on her hands, while the boy… was lying on his back and twitching on the ground, with blood constantly pouring out of his neck. There was a low growl coming from his mouth, which weas unusually weird.

“The aorta wasn’t hit!” Zhan Qitian walked over immediately, reaching out to hold down the struggling boy. Bai Yunwen also went over to hold him down, not letting him move, and Zhan Zhao quickly called for an ambulance.

“Who did it?” Bai Yutang asked the girl.

“I… I don’t know… They wore black clothes and a white mask…” The girl was incoherent due to fear.

“Where did they go?” Bai Yutang asked.

“There!” The girl reached out and pointed towards the forest. Bai Yutang took out his gun and chased after them. Bao Zheng, Xiao Ding, and Zhao Zhen all followed.

Bai Chi wanted to follow too, but Zhao Zhen waved to him, “You guys wait here.” After he spoke, the four of them disappeared in the forest.

Zhan Zhao was also a little anxious. At that moment, he heard footsteps approaching from a distance; Bai Jintang and Gongsun heard the noises and rushed over.

Gongsun frowned when he saw the situation the boy was in on the ground. He ran over to check him, “Very professional, the cut is between the aorta and the vocal cords, right on the jugular vein. Don’t let him move, he can last more than ten minutes!” As he spoke, he stretched his hand out and pressed hard on the vein above the wound. He comforted the boy, “Don’t move, can you hear the wind? Don’t move, calm down, the more you move, the faster your blood will flow.”

The boy calmed down slowly, and everyone looked at each other… the sound of the wind… in fact, it was the sound of his own veins bleeding out. It is said that people who have their throats cut can hear something similar to the wind at the Grand Canyon. The whirling sound, like a gust of wind whirling inside your body, desolate but beautiful… this is the legendary sound, the sound of death.

Mother Bai came over and hugged the girl who was hysterically crying from fright, and gently patted her on the back to calm her down.

At that time, they heard a gunshot in the distance.

Victor barked in the direction of the sound and ran off into the forest. Zhan Zhao was really worried about Bai Yutang, so he wanted to follow. As he took a few steps forward, he saw a dark shadow running towards him. Bai Yutang chased after it and yelled, “Cat, be careful!”

Zhan Zhao was stunned that the person had already gotten in front of him. Before he had time to escape, Zhan Zhao saw a figure appear next to him. Mother Zhan didn’t know when she got next to him, but she kicked the knee of the black shadow who had rushed forward, and the man snorted. She reached her hands out and grabbed the man’s shoulders, turning him around, and throwing him to the ground. Da Ding rushed over to hold him down, and Bai Yutang and Xiao Ding rushed over to help hold him.

Zhan Zhao widened his eyes and looked at his mother, and saw Mother Zhan grabbing him and asking, “Zhan Zhao, are you okay?”

Zhan Zhao laughed twice and looked up and down his delicate, quiet, and petite mother. From the side, Bai Chi said, “… Aunt Zhan is amazing!”

“Uh…” Mother Zhan smiled embarrassedly, looked at Zhan Zhao, and made a face.

Zhan Zhao looked back at his father. He remembered that his father had little skill. He was a gentleman, but his expression was scary.

Zhan Qitian held the injured boy down without making a sound. He heard Bai Yunwen laugh and speak to Zhan Zhao, “Have you never heard about it? Your mother used to be a police flower and a black belt in judo.” (Angel: A police flower is the most beautiful female police officer in every police system.)

“Heh…” Zhan Zhao took a breath. He always thought that his mother was a full-time housewife.

Bai Yutang handcuffed the person they were holding down, and looked at Mother Zhan with some surprise, “Auntie, can you teach me a trick or two sometime?”

Mother Bai glared at Bai Yutang, “No respect for elders.”

At that time, the siren of an ambulance could be heard in the distance. The ambulance drove closer and stopped nearby. When the paramedics who came saw the situation, someone took Gongsun’s place and held the wound. They carefully moved the boy into the ambulance, and drove to the hospital. Bai Chi, Zhao Zhen, Da Ding, and Xiao Ding followed the ambulance to the hospital.

Bao Zheng called the police station and asked someone to bring a K-9 team to help search the forest.

Bai Yutang pulled the person up and asked the girl, “It this him?”

The girl shook her head, “It’s not… that person wore a mask… and was much taller than him.”

When everyone looked at the man again, they saw that he was wearing a very old shirt and had a bald head. He was stout and sturdy, and his face looked a bit vicious.

“Who are you? What are you doing in the woods in the middle of the night?” Bai Yutang asked him.

The man raised his eyes and glanced at Bai Yutang, “Are you a police officer?”

“Yes.” Bai Yutang nodded.

“I saw the person you are trying to catch.” The man said, “Is he very tall, wearing a white mask with two holes in it, and wearing a black jacket and black pants?”

“Yes.” The girl nodded quickly, “That’s right.”

“He ran away.” The man said, “He hit me, I was almost scared to death by him.”

Bao Zheng asked the man, “What is your name? Why did you show up here in the middle of the night?”

The man sighed, “My name is Qian Gui. I used to sell drugs and am wanted by the police. I wanted to avoid being seen, so I stayed in the forest for two days. Unexpectedly, I met that man and was nearly scared to death, then I saw you, and I had to run away.”

Bai Yutang frowned and looked at him. He wanted to look for him in the forest, but it was pitch black outside now, and the man should have fled already, so he had no choice but to wait for the K-9 unit to arrive.

Zhan Zhao asked the girl, “Didn’t you go back to the village? How come you are still here?”

“We…” The girl spoke regretfully while crying, “I was going to go back, but Gang said that we had done the work but didn’t finish, and that it was terribly uncomfortable. So we went into the forest to finish… and then.”

Everyone shook their heads; these two young people don’t know how to distinguish importance.

“Then…” The girl continued crying, “We had just gotten to the tree… When we kissed, Gang leaned against the tree, and then a man suddenly flashed out, took out a knife, waved it around quickly, and cut Gang’s neck. I screamed in fright, then he turned around and ran away.”

“You mean, when you came, the person was already behind the tree?” Zhan Zhao asked.

“En.” The girl nodded, “We didn’t see anyone approaching, so he should have been hiding behind the tree.”

“In other words, when we came here, he was already nearby.” Bao Zheng said, “Who is it? Why would they kill a student for no reason?”

Everyone shook their heads. Gongsun patted Bai Yutang and said, “Where is the forest ranger’s body? I’ll go do a preliminary autopsy.”

“Okay.” Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao returned to the cabin with Gongsun. Bai Jintang and the others put away the tents, put out the bonfire, and gathered by the cabin.

Lisbon took Luban and Lilia, who were walking around and playing, to the cabin. Luban’s attention always seemed to be attracted by things on the side of the road. Lisbon bit the back of his neck with his mouth and threw him out front.

Not long after, the SCI car arrived. Zhao Hu and the others came over, yawning.

Ma Xin wandered into the cabin carrying her box, and went to perform the preliminary autopsy with Gongsun.

Zhao Hu spoke to Bai Yutang, “I say Captain, what is your trick? Murderers follow you wherever you go.”

Bai Yutang rolled his eyes and asked, “What nonsense are you spouting? Did you bring the K-9 unit?”

“We brought them.” Zhao Hu nodded and waved to the person behind him.

Several officers walked over with police dogs.

Bai Yutang told them that someone had fled into the forest and that they are to search for him. Several K-9 team members asked, “Captain Bai, do you have a something with his scent on it?”

“Flavour source?” Zhao Hu asked, “Eight-treasure porridge or juice?” (Angel: Zhao hu says 味源, or flavour source, which is the same wording that the K-9 unit uses to ask for something with the man’s scent on it.)

Before he finished speaking, Ma Han grabbed his collar and threw him into the cabin. Bai Yutang shook his head and brought the K-9 team over to the tree, “He was standing here.”

The police dogs sniffed around. Still seeming to be unclear, they sat on the ground and looked up at their handlers.

“Is there anything stronger?” The K-9 team asked, “Clothing is best.”

Zhan Zhao thought for a while, then suddenly ran back to the cabin. He grabbed a cup and a book, both of which seemed relatively new, and handed them to the K-9 unit, “Are these okay?”

“Yes.” The officer handed them to the police dogs, who sniffed it. After the police dogs sniffed it, they squatted to the side and looked in a certain direction, which was the direction that Bai Yutang and the other had ran off in earlier.

“Found it!” The officer said to Bai Yutang, “Are we chasing him?”

“En.” Bai Yutang brought Luo Tian, Wang Chao, and Zhang Long with him, and Zhan Zhao followed everyone, following the K-9 unit into the forest.

The police dogs sniffed and followed the scent the whole way, and walked to the outskirts of the forest. Everyone exited the forest and stopped when they saw a road in front of them. The police dogs sat beside a pile of things.

Bai Yutang walked over, knelt down, and illuminated it with his flashlight, “It’s clothes.”

There was a black hoodie on the ground, as well as a white mask. It was a common white mask without any decorations, just two holes.

“Why did he leave his clothes here?” Zhan Zhao puzzled.

“Captain, the tire tracks here are quite new.” Luo Tian said to Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang walked over and took a look, saying in surprise, “A bike?”

“En.” Luo Tian nodded, “Looking at the tire track, it should be a bicycle.”

Everyone looked at each other, thinking, ‘… Riding a bicycle to kill someone in the forest?’

“The bicycle might not belong to him.” Zhan Zhao said, “The forest ranger may come to work on a bicycle.”

Everyone nodded, and Wang Chao said to Bai Yutang, “Captain, he shouldn’t be able to get too far away on a bike, I will ask someone to block off this area.”

Bai Yutang nodded, and Wang Chao went off to make the call.

“Cat…” Bai Yutang sighed and shrugged, “It’s quite evil.”

Zhan Zhao nodded and asked, “Was the corpse of the forest ranger drained of blood?”

Bai Yutang laughed dryly, “I didn’t really see it clearly, it was dark underground. I turned the flashlight on and I saw a pale face staring at me, and my eyes widened.”

Zhan Zhao couldn’t laugh or cry, “Were you afraid too?”

Bai Yutang raised his eyebrows, “Clearly, with that scene, even ghosts would be scared. It’s already very good that I didn’t sit on the ground.”

Police officers were left to collect the tire prints, and everyone else returned to the cabin.

Mother Zhan and Mother Bai took the group of pets back first. The province was hindering the police from handling this case. Bai Jintang sat in the cabin and looked at the old books. Gongsun and Ma Xin lit up the basement with bright lights and performed a preliminary autopsy.

“How is it?” Bai Yutang asked the two.

“He’s been dead for two days. It’s not too hot now, so it doesn’t smell too bad. He died because of his cuts, the technique is the same as the one used on that student just now.” Gongsun replied, “He has an armband on his arm!” The red armband was shown to everyone, and it had the words ‘Lin Guang’ written on it.

Everyone nodded. After the evidence collection, Gongsun took the body back for further examination.

As soon as they got busy, the sky lightened.

Looking at sun rising in the valley, Zhan Zhao walked to the side of the cabin. He saw that the cabin was built on a small soil slope, with a mountain road winding below it. In the distance, there were patches of rapeseed and mulberry fields, and houses with white walls and black tiles. Most of the farmers were hardworking, getting up very early to work on the farm. The whole village was indescribably quiet and peaceful.

“That village is really inconsistent with this wooden cabin.” Bai Yutang frowned.

Zhan Zhao nodded, looking at the book in his hands, “That person should have been here a few days ago. He lived in the abandoned cabin and killed the forest ranger. He should have gone out, and when he came back, he saw someone in his house. He didn’t enter, and instead observed from a distance, then he attacked the boy.”

“Why did he attack the boy?” Ma Han was a little puzzled, “If he is able to hide well, he should not have been spotted.”

Zhan Zhao shook his head, “The timing of his appearance is too coincidental, and it makes people clueless.”

Bai Yutang thought for a while and said, “His method of killing is very special.”

“You mean, cutting the throat?” Zhan Zhao asked.

“En.” Bai Yutang nodded, “Gongsun said that the angles and the wounds were exactly the same… This technique is very professional.”

“You mean, instead of cutting the carotid artery, cutting the vocal cords the jugular vein?” Zhan Zhao asked.

“That’s right.” Bai Yutang thought for a while and said, “If the carotid artery is cut, blood will rush out like a fountain, and people can make noise… But with that position, on one hand, the vocal cords are cut and the person can’t make noise, and on the other hand, they have cut the veins… leaving people with a few minutes before death… This is not a normal cut to the throat.”

“Is it throat circumcision?” Zhan Zhao asked.

“Throat circumcision?” Zhao Hu looked at Zhan Zhao puzzledly, “What is throat circumcision?”

“Westerners use it sometimes. It is an insulting and threatening action, just like the middle finger.” Zhan Zhao said, “It originated in the Colosseum of Ancient Rome. After the slaves fought, if the audience was dissatisfied with the performance of the slaves, they would put their thumbs down, and the chairman of the arena would shout for the people to cut his throat.”

Everyone looked at each other.

“This kind of killing method sure has a symbolic meaning, and it cannot be practiced overnight.” Bai Yutang frowned, “Seeing that he is so proficient with this technique, I doubt that he has received no training.”

While talking, his phone rang. Bai Yutang answered it, listened, then hung up, and said to everyone, “Bai Chi said that the boy has been saved.”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, as he was okay.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Go Mother Zhan, she is a badass 😍😍

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

Translated: May 27, 2021