S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 3 Chapter 24

Smiling Murderer 23 - Counterattack

---

“Captain, I suggest we meet with him first and see what he says!” Ma Xin said.

Bai Yutang frowned slightly and said, “You’re not a field officer, you haven’t been trained…”

“Should we bring a female officer over?” Zhan Zhao asked.

“I’ll go, it’s okay.” Ma Xin seemed eager to go.

“You can ask Ma Han to accompany Xin Xin, right?” Gongsun asked, “It’s normal to take your brother with you in this situation! It seems a little more real, it would be abnormal for a girl to not take someone with her when she went to meet a male psychologist who she has never met before in the middle of the night.”

“Makes sense!” Bai Yutang nodded back.

“Let’s do that.” Zhan Zhao said, “We’ll lay in ambush nearby, you guys can put on the bugs and go in. Remember to be careful! When you go in, talk to him for a while and see what happens… Right!”

“Okay!” Ma Xin and Ma Han both nodded. Jiang Ping started to prepare the bugs for the two of them, and Bai Chi called the others to inform them to come and gather at the captain’s house for a mission.

Zhan Zhao suddenly remembered something. Taking out a box of mints, he gave one to Ma Xin and said, “Put it in your mouth.” After saying that, he started to rummage through a box, looking for something.

“Cat, what are you looking for?” Bai Yutang asked him.

“Where is the ring I used to stab you when I was a child?” Zhan Zhao asked.

The group was speechless…

Bai Yutang reached out and pointed, “In the fourth small drawer in the third row from the left above the wall cabinet on the second floor, there is a small yellow box.”

……

Zhan Zhao glanced at him.

“All the things you played with as a child are there.” Bai Yutang said.

Zhan Zhao turned around and went upstairs, and a moment later, he ran out and yelled, “Bai Yutang, you have a cleaning addiction!  Your cleaning addiction has gotten even worse!”

Bai Yutang’s eyebrows twitched… who told you not to clean up your things!

Zhan Zhao ran down and handed a small ring to Ma Xin, who tried it on. It fit perfectly on her pinky finger, and she asked, “It’s quite pretty, what’s it for?”

“Can you see that one side is pointed?” Zhan Zhao asked, “The pointed side is facing inwards. After you enter Jia Yuhua’s house, pretend to be nervous and clench your hand tightly, then use the pointed side of the ring to pierce the back of your hand, enough so that it hurts. Don’t relax even a little, do you understand?”

A little puzzled, Ma Xin asked, “Why?”

“Jia Yuhua is professionally trained. He has done some research on hypnosis and suggestion and will most likely use some covert tactics on you. Try to keep yourself conscious for as long as you can, it won’t be long… Remember, don’t meet his eyes.”

“Don’t look into someone’s eyes… this seems a bit difficult, right?” Bai Chi asked, “Every time I talk to someone, I feel that it’s rude not to look them in the eye. Also, avoiding eye contact can make people feel like you are lying.” 

“It’s easy,” Zhan Zhao said, “just look at his forehead, or his eyebrows, or his nose, or a certain spot on his face… and consciously avoid his eyes. As long as the hypnotist can’t make eye contact with you, he’ll have a hard time hypnotizing you. If he notices something is up, just tell him that you are nearsighted. Like this, the probability of being hypnotized will be reduced by more than half, unless he is very powerful, however there shouldn’t be too many of these masters, and I don’t think he has achieved that level!”

“En.” Ma Xin nodded and got ready, and Ma Han asked, “Do I need to do anything?”

Zhan Zhao thought for a moment and said, “Just pretend your sister is really like that. Haven’t you pretended to have split personalities before? Just help her from the sidelines.”

“Okay.” Ma Han nodded.

“Hmm?” Ma Xin looked at Ma Han in confusion, “You’ve pretended too? When?”

Ma Han smiled, gesturing for her to mind her own business and ask less questions. Ma Xin narrowed her eyes and glanced at Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, who turned their faces away, pretending not to see.

After that, everyone moved out. Ma Xin sat in Ma Han’s car and they drove to the address given by Jia Yuhua. When they arrived, they saw that the lights were already on. The two got out of the car and looked up… they found that the clinic was a small two-story villa with what appeared to be a condo above… It appears that this Jia Yuhua lives here.

The two looked at each other. Ma Xin had already eaten the mint before getting out of the car, and she carefully clutched her hands together, looking very nervous.

Ma Han took her arm with one hand and put his other hand behind her, on top of her other arm, helping her walk.

Ma Xin has rarely seen this kind of protective gesture from Ma Han… mainly because she has been tough since she was a child, and generally no boy or girl would dare to bully her. She was also always the leader of the children, acting as a protector for the others.

But Ma Xin knew that there were times when she offended people, and that it was Ma Han who helped her deal with them. However, Ma Han never said anything about it and always indulged her kind of flamboyant personality.

When the two of them reached the door of the clinic, Ma Han reached out and rang the doorbell.

Ma Xin was a little nervous. Ma Han had already noticed that there were cameras all around the area and knew that someone must be secretly watching. He reached out and patted Ma Xin, gesturing for her to relax a bit.

Ma Xin nodded, and when Ma Han saw that no one came to the door, he rang the bell again.

After a moment, the door was opened and a man in his thirties appeared in the doorway. He looked similar to the photo; he was wearing a pair of glasses and his face was really unflattering… The reason why the group thought this man was abnormal at first glance was because his face gave off a certain inconsistent feeling that didn’t match his eyes, and his facial expression was cold and stiff, as if he had used a fake photo.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were waiting in ambush a good distance away. What Zhan Zhao had meant earlier was that this Jia Yuhua is very cautious and careful, and should have installed security cameras in many places, so they must be careful.

They were divided into several different cars, with one person driving and the others sitting in the back seat. The first car drove to a nearby apartment building, then Zhao Hu got out and pretended to lock the car. Because the windows were all blacked out, it looked like an ordinary person returning to their home, and no one would suspect that there was anyone else in the car. A while later, another car came, and Luo Tian got out and did the same thing.

Luo Tian and Zhou Hu then met up far from the cars, and the two quietly avoided the obvious cameras and slipped away to lie in ambush near the clinic.

After Jia Yuhua opened the door and looked at the two of them, Ma Xin asked, “Dr. Jia? I just spoke to you on the phone…”

“Oh, you are Miss Ma?” Jia Yuhua nodded.

“That’s right.” Ma Xin replied.

Jia Yuhua then turned his face to look at Ma Han… Ma Han and Ma Xin were similar in many ways in terms of their appearance; a brother and sister whose blood relation could be seen at a glance.

Nonetheless, Jia Yuhua looked at Ma Han, “This is?” 

“I’m her brother.” Ma Han said.

“Oh, hello.” Jia Yuhua nodded, opened the door, and said, “Please come in!”

The two of them followed Jia Yuhua into the building, and Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both leaned back into their seats because they were afraid of being discovered.

Zhan Zhao laid across Bai Yutang’s lap and asked, “Xiao Bai, that Jia Yuhua, from the sound of his voice, he was the one hiding in the bar and talking to me through the speaker. Guess, is he a big fish or a little fish this time?”

Bai Yutang froze and said, “I think… we might have caught a big fish, right? Anyway, he’s a lot more important than those few small fish.”

“En.” Zhan Zhao nodded, “Later, if he wants to hypnotize Ma Xin and it doesn’t work, we can call and harass him!”

Bai Yutang nodded and said, “That’s true”

The two heard the sound of Ma Xin and Ma Han sitting down on the sofa and Jia Yuhua pouring tea, so they both stopped talking and listened quietly.

“Miss Ma, there’s no need to be nervous.” Seeing that Ma Xin was clutching her hand nervously, Jia Yuhua smiled and asked “How old are you this year? You seem to be very young, what kind of career are you in?”

Ma Xin raised her eyes to look at Ma Han, who said, “My sister is twenty-three years old and is a trainee doctor.”

“Oh.” Jia Yuhua nodded and asked Ma Han, “What about Mr. Ma?”

Ma Han hesitated for a moment and said, “I’m a police officer.”

Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao, who smiled and nodded, “That’s right, Xiao Ma is smart!”

Bai Yutang couldn’t laugh or cry. Ever since Zhao Hu had invented that nickname, even Bao Zheng jokingly called Ma Han Xiao Ma.

“Oh.” Jia Yuhua nodded and said, “So you’re the police, I’ll have to be careful about what I say.”

“I’m not on duty right now,” Ma Han said, “I’m more worried about my sister’s matter right now, can you cure her?”

Jia Yuhua smiled and nodded, then took out a notebook and looked at Ma Xin, “Can you roughly tell me about your situation?”

“En.” Ma Xin slowly told Jia Yuhua everything that Zhan Zhao told her, with Ma Han adding a few words every so often.

Jia Yuhua listened carefully, then patiently took notes and said, “Does Miss Ma usually eat regularly?”

“Ah,” Zhan Zhao frowned slightly, “this old fox doesn’t seem to be in a hurry at all and is starting to sidestep… this one might be difficult.”

“What he asked was not a psychological question?” Bai Yutang asked.

“En, it’s easy for a person to psychologically convince themselves that they have a split personality by just imagining that state of mind. However, if someone has to act as though they have a split personality, that’s a problem.” Zhan Zhao shook his head, “No one has experience with this kind of thing, and everyone is different from each other.”

Bai Yutang couldn’t help but frown.

“There are good and bad times.” Ma Xin was having trouble answering, so Ma Han answered first, saying, “Sometimes she eats a lot, sometimes she doesn’t eat at all.”

“Mm-hmm.” Zhan Zhao nodded, “Good job Xiao Ma, good job!” (Angel: Zhan Zhao said the second good job in English.)

“Oh.” Jia Yuhua wrote something down and asked, “May I ask, is there any chance you are pregnant?”

“No!” Ma Xin hurriedly shook her head.

“My sister doesn't mess around with boyfriends, she’s a devout Christian and resists all pre-marital immorality!”

“Good!” Zhan Zhao nodded his head, “Laying the groundwork first, he can fallback to this Christian positioning later if he needs to. Xiao Ma is Xiao Ma indeed! Experienced and unfazed!”

“Oh, Miss Ma is religious?” Jia Yuhua asked.

“He’s going to start from here, the old fox.” Zhan Zhao shook his head and said, “Ma Xin, don’t fall for it! Answer him boldly!”

“En.” Ma Xin nodded and pulled out a cross pendant that was hidden under her shirt, “I hold it every night to fall asleep.”

In fact, the pendant was bought by Luo Yang when he went to the amusement park. He thought it looked nice so he gave it to Ma Xin. It’s a child’s toy but Ma Xin liked it so much that she put it on a nice string and wore it around her neck all the time.

“Oh, that is indeed a good solution, but it’s still useless in the long run.” Jia Yuhua said.

“You’re right” Ma Han nodded and said, “she can’t sleep well these days.”

“Smart and clever!” Zhan Zhao couldn’t stop nodding, “Always defending is not the way to go, take initiative and lure him out!”

……

“Cat…” At this time, Bai Yutang suddenly called out to Zhan Zhao.

“Hmm?” Zhan Zhao raised his eyes and saw that Bai Yutang’s face was a little white. Startled, he hurriedly asked, “What’s wrong?”

Bai Yutang pressed on his head and said, “That… you’re laying on my lap, don’t move your head so much!”

Zhan Zhao reacted instantly and hurriedly moved away. He looked at Bai Yutang with some dissatisfaction and embarrassment., and Bai Yutang smiled at him.

Zhan Zhao looked at his smile, and he was inexplicably angry.

At that moment, they heard Jia Yuhua say, “Let’s do a simple counselling session, shall we? How about listening to a relaxing piece of music?”

Zhan Zhao frowned, “Here we go!”

Bai Yutang and the others were all a little nervous.

Ma Han looked at Ma Xin and said, “I want to stay here with her.”

“Of course,” Jia Yuhua nodded, “your presence here helps her relax.” When he finished speaking, he turned on the old stereo on the table.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

  Previous Chapter | TOC | Next Chapter

Translator Notes

I recently started watching Ji Xiao Bing's (our Zhan Zhao ❤❤) 2020 drama, Be With You. Have any of you watched it? I am about half way through and I love his character, he is so funny. 😂

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

Translated: September 5/6, 2021