S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 3 Chapter 1

Smiling Murderer 01 - Death Smile

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“Brother Ma, want an ice cream?” Zhao Hu passed the ice cream in his hand to Ma Han next to him.

Ma Han tilted his head and looked up at the sky weakly. Today, they are going to catch a murderer. They have already locked on to their target. He and Zhao Hu are in charge of sitting at the door of the mall, waiting for the person to come out. Bai Yutang and the others will give them news from inside the mall.

It is already winter, so there is a bit of a chill in the wind, but today is Sunday, so the flow of people passing through the mall entrance is still very large.

The person SCI wants to arrest this time is Yellow Wolf; he killed four people, all young women.

Since the case of the Red-Lipped Killer was suspended last time, the SCI captain’s combative personality has surfaced, and he has a crazy desire to solve cases. However, there have been no major cases recently, so Bai Yutang took all of the cases that the serious crimes team was too busy to handle… These days, everyone who sees him in the police station evades him after catching sight of him because his aura is more intimidating and they are afraid he will harm the fish in the pond. (Angel: Harming the fish in the pond is a metaphor for harming for no reason.)

“Don’t you all talk about global warming?” Zhao Hu pulled up the collar of his sweater, holding the ice cream in one hand and hiding the other in his armpit, “I think it is global cooling in this case. Didn’t the experts say that the earth is about to usher in a new ice age? By the way, after reading about it, I bought a lighter and hung it on my body.”

“Why did you start wearing a lighter the day after reading it?” Ma Han asked incomprehensibly, while thinking in his heart that you said you are cold yet you still eat ice cream.

“Zippo.” Zhou Hu took out the flying saucer-shaped lighter from around his neck and showed it to Ma Han, “Isn’t it handsome, it’s the same as the galaxy in Men in Black!”

“You don’t smoke,” Ma Han frowned, “why did you bring a lighter?” As he spoke, he took it and opened it. After trying for a long time, there were no sparks.

“I haven’t filled it with lighter fluid yet.” Zhao Hu chuckled, “I will buy it when I go back later, and when the day comes, I will use it to burn materials in the police station to keep warm.”

On one hand, Ma Han has always had Zhao Hu as his partner, and on the other, they have completely different temperaments and personalities. Think about it, Zhao Hu used to be an undercover police officer, full of scorn, and Ma Han was a sniper, serious as a popsicle, but after Bai Yutang had the two of them work together, there are always unexpected surprises, probably because they complement each other in character.

“Hey, Brother Ma, if that day really comes, or if the world ends, I know of the place where I want to hide.” Zhao Hu said with a smile.

“Huh?” Ma Han looked at him.

“It’s in the south of the city…”

Before Zhao Hu finished speaking, he heard Bai Yutang’s voice in his earbuds, “Ma Han, Hu Zi, heading towards you.”

When the two heard it, they immediately became serious. Zhao Hu gave the remaining half of his ice cream to a little boy, patted him on the butt, and said, “Run.”

The little boy really ran away.

The two separated to the two sides of the mall entrance. It is very troublesome to catch people in such a downtown area. Yellow Wolf had no gun, but this kid had four lives on him. Just like his name, the anxious wolf can do anything, so they must take advantage of it.

It didn’t take long before they saw a sloppy young man with half-dyed yellow hair coming out.

Zhao Hu and Ma Han exchanged glances. Zhao Hu coughed, shook his arm pretending to be a ruffian, and deliberately hit Yellow Wolf.

“Do you know how to walk?” Zhao Hu stared at Yellow Wolf.

Yellow Wolf seemed to have noticed that a police officer was following him, so he didn’t want to talk much. Turning, he ran.

Zhao Hu grabbed him, reluctantly saying, “Oh, you don’t pay when you hit someone?!”

“You are looking for death!” Yellow Wolf was anxious, stretched his hand out, and took the sharp knife hidden in his clothes, then stabbed it at Zhao Hu.

Zhao Hu had been prepared for a long time. He flashed to the side, then raised his foot and kicked Yellow Wolf’s knee.

Yellow Wolf is not as strong as a gangster. As he realized that Zhao Hu might be a police officer, he felt someone behind him kick his calf.

As soon as his leg weakened, he fell forward and knelt on one knee. He felt something hard behind his head, and heard someone speak coldly, “Police, if you move again, you will be shot. Put down the knife and raise your hands.”

Yellow Wolf honestly put down the knife and raised his hands. Zhao Hu pulled him up and put his hands behind his back, allowing Yellow Wolf to clearly see that what Ma Han was holding was not a gun at all, but… a car key.

“You tricked me?” Yellow Wolf gritted his teeth.

Ma Han shrugged, “The police have a sense of humor.”

The corner of Yellow Wolf’s mouth twitched. Zhao Hu thought it was funny, and laughed in his face.

“Laughing, did you catch him?” Bai Yutang’s voice came from the earbuds.

“Caught him Head.” Ma Han replied.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were on the elevator on the second floor. Bai Yutang turned around and asked Zhan Zhao, “Okay, Cat, how did you know that Yellow Wolf would come to this mall?”

“It’s very simple.” Zhan Zhao said, “Yellow Wolf is a pervert, he kills to satisfy his sexual needs, so he will specifically select a beautiful woman. However, he has been watched closely recently, so he can’t feel the woman’s uncomfortable panic, and so he has missed – women’s underwear. This behaviour is very common in sexual crimes. However, going into a lingerie shop can easily arouse suspicion and it would be easy to be caught, so he chose a large shopping mall.”

After Zhan Zhao finished speaking, he handed an advertising flyer to Bai Yutang, who saw that it read, ‘Underwear sale, all sizes sold at half price. Perfect for the chest of beauties, don’t miss it!’

Bai Yutang was a little dumbfounded. He shook his head and stuffed the flyer into a trash can outside the elevator.

Not far away, Luo Tian, Bai Chi, and the others came over… Just when Bai Yutang was about to call everyone back, suddenly…

“BAM BAM BAM…”

From the entrance of the mall, there were three consecutive gunshots.

With a ‘crash’, there seemed to be broken tempered glass on the street outside… This kind of glass would not break into shards, but rather it would fall apart and scatter like little stones, and the broken glass frightened the pedestrians on the street.

“Who fired the gun?” Bai Yutang asked Ma Han and the others at the door, and ran to the door with the group.

At this time, Ma Han and Zhao Hu were also looking for the source of the gunfire…

The gunshots were very close, not far away. The two followed the sound and saw that on the sidewalk in front of them, a young man in gray sportswear was holding a gun and shouting into the sky, “Coming, he is coming… I’m going to die… I don’t want to die, I didn’t hurt anybody…”

Ma Han and Zhao Hu looked at each other. This man seemed to be in an abnormal state of mind, but how could a student like him have a gun?

“He fired five shots,” Ma Han said to Zhao Hu.

“There is one more bullet.” Zhao Hu said.

“Maybe not.” Ma Han said, pointing to the side of Zhao Hu, motioning to outflank him.

Fortunately, the young man turned their back to them at this time and didn’t pay them any attention.

Bai Yutang and the others went outside, and Luo Tian was ready to pounce at any time.

Just when Zhao Hu and Ma Han got close to the mentally unstable man, they heard Yellow Wolf, who was handcuffed behind them, suddenly yell, “Behind!”

The man turned his head sharply… Ma Han happened to be right behind him.

The man seemed to be taken aback and he shouted, “Don’t kill me!” He raised his hand and shot.

Before Ma Han had time to react, he felt Zhao Hu push him away… Almost at the same time, the gun went off and Ma Han saw the bullet hit Zhao Hu.

“Hu Zi!” Ma Han yelled. Luo Tian had already rushed over and threw the out-of-control young man down and subdued him.

“Hu Zi!” The rest of the SCI members rushed over. Ma Han turned him over. Thinking about what just happened, he was very angry!

However, after being turned over, everyone saw Zhao Hu rubbing his chest, grinning, “Mother… It hurts to death, the revolver is so fucking strong.”

“How are you?” Ma Han pulled his hand away to look at the wound.

Zhao Hu covered it and said, “Don’t make a move on me on the street, I have a girlfriend.”

“Tsk…” Ma Han was going to get angry at him, but seeing his hippie smile, he couldn’t hold on to his anger…

“How is it?” Bai Yutang and the others squatted down to look at Zhao Hu.

They saw him sit up, pull a lighter with a bullet stuck in it up from his chest, and say, “Head… what about my Zippo 300, can you reimburse it?”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Bai Chi sat on the steps on the side, “My hair almost turned white in fright.”

Everyone felt helpless. Hasn’t Zhao Hu survived by luck like this once or twice? Is his body immortal like in the legends?

There was silence for a while, then everyone stretched their hands out at the same time and grabbed Zhao Hu’s hair… he scared them to death.

Wang Chao helped him up, and Ma Han turned his head back to look at Yellow Wolf, who stood aside watching the excitement.

“Hehe.” Yellow Wolf laughed, looking at Ma Han, who had a gloomy expression in front of him, “Murderers also have a sense of humor.”

Ma Han frowned.

“Want to beat me?” Yellow Wolf smirked, “I heard that the police break the law if they beat a handcuffed criminal. Now, under the blue sky and white sun, just do it if you want to.”

On the side, Zhan Zhao heard the exchange and suddenly called out, “Ma Han!”

Ma Han turned his face to look back at him, and Zhan Zhao said, “You handled this improperly and almost got your partner injured or killed, therefore you are suspended for the rest of the day. Hand in your gun and police badge, you are no longer an officer as of right now. Reflect on yourself and come back to work tomorrow.”

Ma Han was stunned for a moment, then he lifted the corners of his mouth, and took out his gun and police ID, handing them to Zhan Zhao. After turning around, he didn’t say anything and just slapped Yellow Wolf.

Finally, Yellow Wolf was taken away. Ma Han walked back and Zhan Zhao returned his gun and police ID. Ma Han bowed his head and said thank you. Looking up, he saw Zhao Hu on the side, excited, “My little Ma is so handsome, you are the first man to fight for me.”

Everyone was helpless, and Bai Yutang looked at him, “Go to the hospital for a check. You two can rest for the afternoon and come back tomorrow morning.”

“There’s no need, is there?” Zhao Hu rubbed his chest, “He didn’t even rub the skin off.”

“Oh, just go.” Bai Chi pushed him, “It’s free anyway, and while you are there, get a full-body examination.”

Reluctantly, Zhao Hu had to go with Ma Han. As the two walked away, Zhao Hu was still muttering, “Hey, want to know? Where I will hide when that day comes?”

Ma Han maintained his cool appearance and ignored him, but he glanced at the Zippo on Zhao Hu’s chest and continued to move forward.

After the two of them were gone, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang turned their heads to look at the crazy young man who Luo Tian was pressing on the ground.

Even though the young man was suppressed, he was still yelling, “Let me go, I didn’t hurt anyone… Don’t kill me, don’t kill me, it’s none of my business.”

“Captain, he is very abnormal.” Luo Tian said to Bai Yutang.

“Cat, is there something wrong with him?” Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao leaned forward, stretched his hand out, and opened the man’s eyelids to take a look at his pupils. Frowning slightly, he said, “It’s weird.”

Bai Yutang also went over to look, “What’s weird?” Just as he asked, he suddenly saw the young man start twitching violently, then, a big smile appeared on his face.

The expression was so strange that Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang took a breath. Looking at him again, the young man kept smiling… his pupils dilated… and his breathing stopped.

“Dead?” Bai Chi was taken aback.

Bai Yutang stretched his hand out to press on his carotid artery and shook his head, “Dead.”

“Why did he smile before he died?” Luo Tian raised his face to look in the direction he was looking , but there was nothing… it was just tall buildings and the sky. Who was he smiling at?

“Hmm.” Zhan Zhao stood up, stretched his hand out, and gently touched his chin.

“Cat, what do you think?” Bai Yutang asked him.

Zhan Zhao thought for a while and asked everyone, “Have you heard of the Phoenicians in Sardinia in the Mediterranean?”

“Huh?” No one understood why Zhan Zhao suddenly changed the subject, and they all blankly shook their heads.

“When a Phoenician dies, they will first go through a period of madness, and then they will have that strange smile on their face when they die. Everyone called this phenomenon the death smile.” As Zhan Zhao spoke, his eyes fell on a folk-custom pendant that was worn on the man’s chest. Kneeling down, he reached out and picked up the pendant; it was a small wooden sculpture. The sculpture was of a mask that was the size of a coin. The man in the mask had his eyes bent downward and his mouth bent upward, and his smile was strangely weird.

“What is this?” Bai Yutang asked.

Zhan Zhao held it and looked at it for a while, then said, “The Phoenician totem called the Smiling Death Mask.”

……

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Welcome to book 3! 

Since I started my summer class this week, uploads won't be daily like they were for book 2. However, I will still upload frequently. 

Zhan Zhao 'suspending' Ma Han just so he could slap Yellow Wolf was so satisfying.

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

Translated: June 16, 2021