S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 2 Chapter 81

Password Murderer 19 – Go to the Grave

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Going to the cemetery in the middle of the night sounds like an extremely scary thing to most people, but for Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, they find it interesting. If you ask why, they can’t tell you.

Because Zhan Zhao said that today’s main purpose is to observe and try not to make any moves, Bai Yutang bought two pairs of binoculars. He drove the car to a hillside with a good view of the cemetery and parked. The two observed the cemetery from a distance.

“I can’t see anything in the darkness.” Bai Yutang took the binoculars and looked through them.

“Look at Qiao Weiming’s house over there.” Zhan Zhao pointed at Qiao Weiming’s house behind the cemetery.

Bai Yutang looked at it, “The curtains are open, but the lights are off. Do you think that person is there?”

Zhan Zhao shrugged, “There is no car in front of the cemetery. It seems that the person hasn’t come yet.”

“Cat, who are you talking about?” Bai Yutang asked.

Zhan Zhao was silent for a while before answering, “… Liu Fang.”

“Liu Fang?” Bai Yutang frowned slightly, “I think he is cynical. Do you think his heart is like water?”

Zhan Zhao smiled slightly, and pointed at Bai Yutang’s chin with his finger, “You look like a playboy, who know that you are like the sea?”

Bai Yutang touched his chin and smiled, “That’s true.”

Zhan Zhao shook his head and thought about it, “Most people who keep cats are afraid of loneliness and noise.”

“Indeed.” Bai Yutang thought for a while and nodded, “If you are really afraid of loneliness, then raising a dog would be livelier than raising a cat. But if you are afraid of noise, then you probably wouldn’t even raise a cat.”

“Liu Fang is not very good at concealing himself. He doesn’t want Qiao Weiming to be so deliberate, but even so, he didn’t reveal much information to me, so I said that he doesn’t have emotions anymore. But what he said still made me feel very weird.” Zhan Zhao said.

“Which part?” Bai Yutang stretched his hand out and squeezed Zhan Zhao’s neck, “Say the whole part.”

Zhan Zhao thought for a while, then said, “Do you still remember that we told him that if Chen Jianxian was the murderer in this case, it is very likely that he would be the next victim?”

“En.” Bia Yutang nodded.

“How did he answer?” Zhan Zhao asked.

“Impossible.” Bai Yutang answered, “His attitude showed that he was very sure of this.”

Zhan Zhao smiled, “What’s the reason?”

Bai Yutang thought for a while, “Because he saved Chen Jianxian’s life.”

“This does not constitute a reason for why Chen Jianxian will never kill him!” Zhan Zhao said. “He said ‘impossible’, not ‘no way’, or ‘unlikely’.”

Bai Yutang recalled it and nodded, “Cat, you mean that Liu Fang is pretty sure that Chen Jianxian will not kill him?”

Zhan Zhao nodded.

“Why?” Bai Yutang frowned, “Thinking about it now, it’s really weird!”

“He quickly ruled out the possibility that Chen Jianxian would kill him.” Zhan Zhao said, “According to his statement, he hasn’t seen Chen Jianxian for a long time, so why would be so sure about his judgement of someone that he hasn’t seen for a long time?”

Bai Yutang touched his chin, “It’s really weird… Unless, he has full confidence…” At this point, Bai Yutang raised his eyebrows and widened his eyes as he looked at Zhan Zhao, “Cat… Is there any chance that maybe, the mute uncle isn’t Chen Jianxian?”

Zhan Zhao was taken aback and looked at Bai Yutang, “Why would you make such a guess? This is not a reasoning, it’s not something you would normally say.”

Bai Yutang smiled weakly, “Because… I was actually wondering this a while ago. The mute uncle is very likely pretending to be mute. Why? Also, when we asked him his name, his answer was flickering.”

Zhan Zhao nodded, “It’s reasonable.”

“Have you had this kind of suspicion?” Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao.

“En.” Zhan Zhao nodded, “I care more about what my dad told us.”

“About Chen Jianxian’s sudden withdrawal of the lawsuit?” Bai Yutang asked,

“En.” Zhan Zhao nodded again. He thought for a while, then asked, “Xiao Bai… How does that Liu Fang look?”

Bai Yutang was taken aback, “You changed the subject?”

Zhan Zhao smiled, “Answer honestly.”

“Not bad.” Bai Yutang thought for a while, “Just too thin.”

Zhan Zhao nodded, “Did you notice the burn on his hand?”

Bai Yutang nodded, “I also have doubts about this. He was burned very badly, almost his entire arm, even the inside, was burned… It was not summer when the fire happened, so how could the burn be like this?”

“Unless he takes off his coat.” Zhan Zhao sighed, “If it was just an ordinary classmate, would he risk life and death and rush into the fire, then take off his clothes and fight with his life to save that classmate?” Having said that, Zhan Zhao stretched his hand out and rolled up Bai Yutang’s sleeve, “This is what you did for me… I don’t think that ordinary classmates would do this.”

“You mean that the relationship between Liu Fang and Chen Jianxian may not be that simple?” Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao, “Do you suspect that they are lovers?”

Zhan Zhao shrugged, “We might as well assume that they are, as this is also a possibility, right? If Liu Fang really loves Chen Jianxian to the point of dying for him, he will love him even if he is disfigured. Besides, now that science and technology are so advanced, Liu Fang’s living conditions are particularly good, and the mute uncle’s condition is not that serious, they could go for plastic surgery. Any method is okay… So why haven’t they done anything?”

Bai Yutang leaned back on the seat, “Cat, these are all guess, the human heart can be unpredictable.”

Zhan Zhao nodded and smiled, “Actually, I have a bolder idea… It’s just that I need to confirm it tonight.”

Bai Yutang leaned over, “Cat, why do you keep so many secrets from me?”

Zhan Zhao smiled, “Naturally.”

The two waited for a while…

“They came!” Bai Yutang suddenly pointed to the intersection at the bottom of the mountain, as a royal blue Toyota slowly drove into the cemetery.

“They got out!” Zhan Zhao looked at the car with the binoculars, and saw that the door opened. A man got out of the car with a flashlight in one hand and a bunch of white daisies in the other. Walking up the steps on the hillside, according to their figure, it really was Liu Fang!

“Cat!” Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao, “This kid really came to sweep graves!”

Zhan Zhao nodded, “Remember the location of the tombstone he goes to.”

At that time, Liu Fang had already walked over to a tombstone familiarly, staring down at it for a long time. Then, he put down the daisies in his hand, took out a cigarette, and stood by the tombstone smoking… One after another.

As time passed, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang watched quietly in the car. Liu Fang just kept smoking in from of the tombstone.

“Huh…” After watching for about an hour, Bai Yutang shook his head and looked at Zhan Zhao, “This person… Turns out he came to the cemetery to commit suicide.”

Zhan Zhao puzzled, “Suicide?”

“En.” Bai Yutang nodded, “A vain attempt to kill himself with nicotine.”

“Heh…” Zhan Zhao shook his head, “I don’t know how long he will stand there.”

“Cat!” Bai Yutang called out while pointing at Qiao Weiming’s house.

Zhan Zhao looked in the direction that Bai Yutang was pointing, and saw a faint light from the window of Qiao Weiming’s house, like the reflection of a lens of something like a telescope.

“Is the reason why Qiao Weiming lives next to the cemetery to watch him?” Bai Yutang shook his head, “What is this kid thinking?”

Zhan Zhao looked at it for a long time, “Qiao Weiming seems to be very persistent towards Liu Fang.”

“That’s true.” Bai Yutang raised his legs, “But what I am more curious about is how the two of them intersect each other.”

“It’s really puzzling.” Zhan Zhao yawned.

Bai Yutang reclined Zhan Zhao’s seat for him, “This kid will probably stand there for a while. Cat, you should sleep for a while, I will wake you up when he leaves.”

Zhan Zhao squinted and laid down. Bai Yutang took a pillow from the back seat and stuffed it under his head, then took out a blanket to cover him.

After that, Bai Yutang leaned back on his seat and looked at Zhan Zhao’s sleeping face next to him. He watched Liu Fang standing in the cemetery for a while, then switched to watching Qiao Weiming’s house…  He watched them mechanically until the sky fell.

Bai Yutang rubbed his neck, Liu Fang really smoked a night of cigarettes. Now he knows why this person is so thin. It is hard for Bai Yutang to imagine the colour of his lungs.

Finally, when the sun was slowly rising, Liu Fang threw the last cigarette to the ground, then stepped on it. Turning around, he went down the mountain,

“Cat.” Bai Yutang gently nudged Zhan Zhao, “Liu Fang is gone!”

“Huh?” Zhan Zhao was asleep, but he quickly sat up and looked down the mountain. As expected, Liu Fang walked down the mountain and drove away from the cemetery.

“Where is Qiao Weiming?” Zhan Zhao asked.

Bai Yutang picked up the binoculars and looked at his house, “The curtains are closed.”

Zhan Zhao nodded, “Um… Let’s go to the cemetery…”

Seeing that Zhan Zhao was still confused, Bai Yutang knew that he was not awake. He stretched his hand out and squeezed Zhan Zhao’s cheek, opened a bottle of mineral water, and handed it over, “Wake up first.”

Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang with a silly expression “Huh?”

Bai Yutang shook his head and took a sip of cold water, then leaned over and poured it into Zhan Zhao’s mouth.

“Hmm…” Zhan Zhao really woke up. He swallowed helplessly and looked at Bai Yutang with a flustered look on his face, “I haven’t brushed my teeth yet. Don’t you have mysophobia?”

Bai Yutang smiled and dampened a napkin with mineral water, handing it over to Zhan Zhao so he could wipe his face, “My mysophobia is immune to you. Even if you are a dirty cat that has been rolling in the quagmire, I am happy to kiss you.”

Zhan Zhao took the napkin and wiped his face, muttering softly, “Thick-skinned mouse.”

The two drove the car to the front of the cemetery, got out of the car, and climbed the steps into the cemetery. Zhan Zhao accurately remembered the place where Liu Fang had stood, and there was still a pile of cigarette butts and a bunch of daisies there.

The two of them walked to the tombstone and looked down… Both of them were stunned. They saw that it was not a single tombstone, but a double tombstone, one side with Chen Jianxian written on it and the other with Liu Fang…

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at it for a long time, then looked at each other — ‘What’s this situation?’

“I wanted to exclude one at first… But now I’m still choosing one of the two.” Bai Yutang couldn’t laugh or cry, “Did this Liu Fang go to his own grave?”

Zhan Zhao shook his head quietly, “The daisies are on the right side, it should be in front of Chen Jianxian’s grave…. and the cigarette butts are in front of Liu Fang’s grave.”

Bai Yutang frowned, “He stood in Liu Fang’s position and stayed with Chen Jianxian all night, right?”

Zhan Zhao pondered it for a while, “If this tombstone is Chen Jianxian’s… Who is the mute uncle?”

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Bai Yutang's mysophobia is immune to Zhan Zhao (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

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

Translated: May 4/5, 2021