S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 3 Chapter 21

Smiling Murderer 20 - Morbid

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“Cat, how do you want me to cooperate later?” Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao.

“Well, you can just improvise, I don’t know how it will go, but… I’ll go in first, you wait ten minutes and then rush in, and as if I am angry with you, you come get me.” Zhan Zhao explained.

Bai Yutang nodded and asked, “And we’re a couple?”

“That’s right.” Zhan Zhao nodded. Thinking about it, he called Bai Jintang, Gongsun, and the twins to tell them about the general arrangements. All of them are extremely smart and nodded their heads in agreement.

Afterwards, Zhan Zhao took the lead, got out of the car, and walked towards the bar alone.

Eugene looked at Zhan Zhao’s figure from the back seat and asked in disbelief, “Is that what the cat looks like when he is alone or is he acting now?”

Bai Yutang frowned slightly… In the distance, under the streetlight, Zhan Zhao’s figure seemed to be no different from normal, it just looked very lonely. Looking at it gave him some kind of impulse to immediately walk over to him… Most likely because they were together so much, Bai Yutang felt very unfamiliar with Zhan Zhao's back.

“Hey,” Eugene couldn’t take it anymore and said to Bai Yutang, “there’s no need to be so sad, right? You’ll only be separated for a while.”

Bai Yutang sighed and watched Zhan Zhao enter the bar before looking down at his watch, counting the time second by second… At the same time, he saw Gongsun and Bai Jintang walking towards the bar.

Bai Yutang was once again sure that the view of Zhan Zhao’s back was a pretense, because no one else could see the loneliness… and he thought to himself that he must take a good look at it later when he gets the chance.

As Zhan Zhao walked towards the bar alone, he suddenly felt lonely… smiling to himself, he realized that he didn’t know when he had gotten used to being inseparable from Bai Yutang.

Zhan Zhao has always been worried about words such as ‘deep love does not last forever’… He and Bai Yutang seem to have some kind of hot love. Having so much love, will it end very quickly? But the two of them have maintained such a high temperature until now, so it should go on for a long, long time.

In other words… it's the boiling point of something like emotion that's the highest and most intense.

When he reached the entrance of the bar, Zhan Zhao looked at the security guard at the entrance and saw that he was sizing him up.

Zhan Zhao hesitated for a moment and took out the ticket that Eugene had given him from his pocket.

After the security guard took it, he opened the door and let him in.

Zhan Zhao was well prepared to see chaos when he entered, but to his surprise, it was an elegant bar.

All the people coming in and out were well dressed, and the bar's decor was indescribably simple and elegant, with soft music that was relaxing…

From a professional point of view, Zhan Zhao immediately realized that the music here seemed a little off once he stepped into the bar.

He walked up to the front of the bar with his head down, and a bartender smiled and asked, “What can I get you?”

Zhan Zhao looked at him and said, “Absinthe.”

The bartender raised an eyebrow and smiled, “Okay, wait a minute.”

When the bartender turned around to prepare the drink, Zhan Zhao carefully studied the music… he heard that there was something else mixed into the song – it was a beat that is used to relax people during psychotherapy.

Zhan Zhao frowned slightly. Holding the absinthe brought to him by the bartender, he turned back to look around and saw that several people were looking disoriented, seemingly unable to focus or relax their minds.

At a time like this, the only thing that could stimulate those weak and inert nerves was a strong drink like absinthe.

Zhan Zhao sat there quietly drinking his drink. Watching the people coming and going, he saw that there were men and women, and that they all seemed to have good reputations and taste, unlike those high on drugs and crazy drunk punks.

After taking two sips of his drink, Zhan Zhao’s eyes gradually blurred. Naturally, he knew how to control the progression of the effects, so he pretended to gradually let his guard down so that someone would come talk to him.  

What he is more worried about now is Bai Yutang and the others… However, Bai Yutang, Bai Jintang, and Gongsun are people who have a strong desire for control, once they feel anything unusual, they will certainly immediately check it out. As for the twins and Eugene, although they look like fools, Zhan Zhao knew in his heart that these three are quite powerful and that he should not have to worry about them.

At this time, seeing that Zhan Zhao seemed to have become somewhat dazed, the bartender asked, “You alone?”

Zhan Zhao looked up at him and frowned slightly. Not paying him any attention, he lowered his head and continued to drink. Unlike the somewhat nervous look that he had when he first came in, he now became extremely cold and indifferent. Sitting there, he calmed down and his whole body emitted a cold feeling.

The bartender gazed at Zhan Zhao for a while and frowned slightly… and at the same time, Zhan Zhao noticed that the phone on the bar rang… The sound of this phone was not consistent and soft, it was a dududu~~ sound that matched the rhythm of the music.

Looking at the bartender again, sure enough, he could see that he was wearing an earbud in one ear which seemed to be used to interfere with the music.

The bartender went to the phone and picked it up… After listening to a few sentences, he nodded and said “Got it.”, then hung up the phone. The bartender looked at Zhan Zhao and asked, “Hey, handsome, do you need more alcohol?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he saw Zhan Zhao raise an eyebrow and look at him with a certain degree of warning and fierceness in his eyes.

The bartender was stunned.

At this time, two more people came through the door… it was Gongsun and Bai Jintang.

The two settled down at a table for two, and a waiter immediately came up and asked what they wanted to drink. Bai Jintang and Gongsun both ordered different spirits and Zhan Zhao's heart dropped… Sure enough, they’re not easy to deal with.

“Hey,” The bartender suddenly leaned over the counter and asked Zhan Zhao, “are you alone?”

Zhan Zhao gave him a cold look, his eyes still hostile and unkind.

The bartender laughed and said, “Why are you so mean? We don't have customers here who casually harass people, don't worry.”

Zhan Zhao faintly looked at him for a moment, and then, he suddenly raised the corner of his mouth, revealing a slightly evil smile.

The bartender was startled and stared at Zhan Zhao with wide eyes, somewhat confused by the situation.

Zhan Zhao seems to have turned into another person. With one hand under his chin, he smiled at the bartender… and at the same time… a man came rushing through the door.

The bartender looked up, and Zhan Zhao calculated the time, so he knew it must be Bai Yutang.

He turned back to see Bai Yutang hurrying in and looking around. After a glance at Zhan Zhao, he hurried over, seemingly relieved.

Zhan Zhao turned his back to Bai Yutang, immediately revealing a hint of disgust before instantly returning to his calm state, and… the change did not escape the eyes of the bartender or the camera in the corner.

“Why did you run here alone without waiting for me?” Bai Yutang ran up to the bar and turned his face to ask Zhan Zhao with concern.

Zhan Zhao looked at the bartender, “Give me another glass of alcohol.” The tone of his voice seemed to be one of anger.

The bartender handed him another glass of absinthe. Zhan Zhao took the glass and turned towards a two-person table. As Bai Yutang wanted to follow him, the bartender asked, “Would you like anything, sir?” However, Bai Yutang didn’t seem to hear it as he ran over to sit down next to Zhan Zhao, asking, “What’s wrong with you?”

Zhan Zhao shook his head, lowered it, and did not say anything. He looked naive and nervous, but… still angry.

Bai Yutang really wanted to laugh, this was the most naive he has seen Zhan Zhao, and he thought that it would be nice if he could be this amusing in normal life.

At this time, the waiter came over and asked Bai Yutang, “What would you like to drink, sir?”

“Uh… beer is good.” Bai Yutang ordered casually. In fact… he already sensed that something was wrong, but when he walked in, he noticed that Bai Jintang and Gongsun had strong alcohol on their table, and that Zhan Zhao had deliberately ordered a glass of strong alcohol in his presence… so to avoid arousing suspicion, he asked for a glass of beer.

However… Zhan Zhao is not worried about this. Bai Yutang just needs to consciously resist the influence of the music. He is able to completely control himself, as he is a person with extremely strong self-control. Such a person is very difficult to influence, even positive psychological intervention is unlikely to succeed on such a person, let alone just a few beats added to a song.

Bai Yutang sat beside Zhan Zhao with his glass of alcohol and patiently kept him company. At that time, Eugene and the twins walked in together.

“What is wrong with you? Weren’t you going to see a psychiatrist? If you don’t want to go, then don’t go, why are you so angry?” Bai Yutang asked.

In his heart, Zhan Zhao said… Xiao Bai, I love you, you are so smart!

Raising his eyes, Bai Yutang had already gained the greatest satisfaction from the extremely, extremely subtle glimpse of appreciation that flashed through Zhan Zhao’s eyes. And so, it was as if Zhan Zhao saw the tail of a certain mouse, who was pretending to be serious, sticking up high and being waved around proudly.

“I’m not sick, what’s the point of seeing a doctor?!” Zhan Zhao said with dissatisfaction, taking another drink and continuing to look extremely nervous.

Probably because Zhan Zhao’s acting was too realistic, Bai Yutang hurriedly reached out and grabbed his hand to comfort him, “Okay, if you don’t want to go, don’t go, it’s up to you, don’t be angry.”

“Do you… think I’m crazy too?” Zhan Zhao asked, “Think I’m not normal?”

“No,” Bai Yutang hurriedly shook his head, “you just get nervous too easily.”

Zhan Zhao turned his face away, but in that instant, the expression on his face stiffened… a certain kind of coldness followed by a certain kind of mockery flashed across his face.

This kind of expression, Zhan Zhao originally wanted to do it at an angle from which Bai Yutang could see it, however, he was well aware of how well Bai Yutang knew him… Even if he hid the expression, it would be seen by that person… Although Bai Yutang knew that it was just an act, Zhan Zhao understood that he would still be hurt by his expression, so he pretended to turn his face away to do it and didn’t let him see it.

When Bai Yutang saw that Zhan Zhao had turned his face away, his heart vaguely understood. Reaching out and grabbing Zhan Zhao’s hand, he said, “The environment here is nice, let’s stop talking about unhappy things and talk about something happy, hmm?” Bai Yutang smiled and asked, “Where do you want to go for a late-night snack later? Or do you want to go watch a movie?”

“Let’s watch a movie.” Zhan Zhao said.

“En, which one?” Bai Yutang asked, “I just saw Alice in Wonderland, do you want to watch it?

Zhan Zhao was so happy that if he didn't know that there were people watching, he would have wanted to reach over and pinch Bai Yutang's cheek and give it a good twist – How can he be so smart?

“Well… don’t want to watch it.” Zhan Zhao muttered in a low voice.

Bai Yutang thought about it and asked, “Then what should we watch? Tell me what you want to watch, or shall we go and choose later?”

Zhan Zhao hesitated for a moment, then raised his eyes to look at Bai Yutang, and his expression suddenly had a little bit of eagerness in it as he asked, “That… Wasn’t there a famous horror movie that came out? I want to watch it.”

Bai Yutang froze, staring at Zhan Zhao’s eyes.

At this moment, Zhan Zhao’s eyes were filled with an unfamiliar creepy feeling… With Bai Yutang's familiarity with Zhan Zhao, he was sure that this person was not Zhan Zhao at all, but rather some poor, vicious person who bore the same appearance as Zhan Zhao, and he couldn’t help but shiver.

For a moment, Zhan Zhao almost had some trouble maintaining his performance. The astonishment in Bai Yutang’s eyes spoke volumes about the success of his performance, but… he was still a little sad in his heart. 

Showing Bai Yutang the most terrible side of himself… that’s right, in the words of Zhao Jue, everyone has some kind of monster in them. To be with a monster for a long time, how much courage and perseverance does that take?

Bai Yutang stared at Zhan Zhao for a long time, then suddenly reached out and held his hand tightly, “Okay, we can watch whatever you want.”

Zhan Zhao was momentarily stunned… Then he returned to his original appearance. He nodded and smiled somewhat shyly, but his heart was relieved – Even if he really turned into a monster one day, Bai Yutang would not care, that’s what he just showed.

…...

In a room on the first floor, a man was holding a white squirrel in his hands, and he was gently stroking the fur on its neck as a smile appeared on his face.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

I’m a bit concerned about the foreshadowing about Zhan Zhao becoming a monster, they foreshadowed it when Bai Yutang was taken by Benjamin too… At least we know that whatever happens, Bai Yutang will always be there for Zhan Zhao.

Also, you've probably noticed, but I have updated the blog! Apart from a visual update, I added a reading progress bar! I was very proud of myself for getting the coding to work and I hope you all enjoy it 🥰

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

Translated: August 28/29, 2021