S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 3 Chapter 55

Ghost Murderer 23 - Understand

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Yuan Lin took out a photograph and placed it in front of the group.

The photo was of a woman in her thirties, who looked beautiful and had wavy hair.

"Oh," Zhan Zhao picked up the photo and looked at it, “she, ah…"

"This woman often appears in our cases," Bai Yutang asked Yuan Lin, “but we know very little about her. Do you know who she is?"

"I know a little." Yuan Lin said, "I've been investigating her for a long time, she has dealings with the real Ghost Dancer… I got in touch with her through a fake identity, but after meeting her, she seemed to have some suspicions about my identity and disconnected after that."

Zhan Zhao frowned slightly and said to Bai Yutang, "In other words, you tried to snatch the grass and you startled the snake."

"En," Bai Yutang nodded, “that's what happened."

The corners of Yuan Lin's mouth twitched, "I can't be blamed for this, I blame that old demon for being too shrewd."

"Old demon?" Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other.

"Here's another photo." Yuan Lin took out another old black and white photo and put it in front of Zhan Zhao, saying, "This is a photo from a file thirty years ago, when the authorities were investigating a case and his woman was the main suspect, but then she was said to have disappeared."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang took the photo to compare… and found that the two people were almost identical. Were they mother and daughter? People with similarities? A disguise… or the same person?

"Apart from these two photos, how much do you know about this woman?" Bai Yutang asked.

"She hasn't been seen for a long time. According to previous information, she has been involved in many assassinations… There seems to be some powerful power group behind her, but it's always been mysterious."

"Can't find the reason or motive?" Zhao Zhen picked up the two photos and compared them, frowning slightly as if something had occurred to him.

"What's wrong?" Zhan Zhao asked, "Is something wrong?"

Zhao Zhen raised an eyebrow, "I've seen her somewhere…"

"You've seen her too?" Bai Yutang was curious.

"En, I met her when I was a child, I think she had dealings with Zhao Jue." Zhao Zhen took the photo and looked it over, then suddenly said to Bai Yutang, "Why don't we drive back to the old house later?"

"Your original home?" Bai Yutang asked.

"En." Zhao Zhen thought for a moment, "That old house is an extension of the original old house, the whole family lived there before."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a look and decided to go together.

"What now?" Bai Yutang looked at Yuan Lin, "What other direction do you want to investigate?"

"My actions have been kept secret so far because I have one more person to find." As he said that, he took out another photo, and Zhan Zhao wanted to laugh, "How many photos do you have in total? Can you take them all out at once?"

"There are a few more, I'll take them out one by one to ask for clarity." Yuan Lin smiled.

Zhan Zhao looked down at the photo – a junior high school girl.

"A girl?” Zhan Zhao wondered.

"I'm not quite sure whether the gender is a girl or not, after all, boys of this age can look like this if they are more delicate."

"They look familiar." Zhao Zhen leaned over to look.

"Looks familiar again?" Bai Yutang was curious, "You met them when you were a child?"

Zhao Zhen shrugged his shoulders, "I forgot."

"Uh… it seems like we've met before too." Zhan Zhao patted Bai Yutang's shoulder.

Bai Yutang took a closer look at the photo and raised an eyebrow, "Is this a living person?!"

Yuan Lin seemed to have found a clue and asked with some excitement, "Why do you ask?" 

"Is it the same person as the girl in the ghost murderer case?" Bai Yutang asked Zhao Zhen.

"Yes!" Zhao Zhen also saw it, "At that time, there was a big white face on the video, she looked like a corpse. Was she this pretty when she was alive?"

"Is she a fan of yours?" Yuan Lin suddenly asked Zhao Zhen.

Zhao Zhen was startled and shook his head, "I don't know… I don't think so, magicians are a niche and I'm not much of an appealing person."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both looked at him and laughed, "You're too kind, at least half of the people in the police station are your fans."

Zhao Zhen was embarrassed.

"Does she have anything to do with Zhao Zhen?" Zhan Zhao asked Yuan Lin.

"Well… the crimes committed by the ghost murderer didn't start here." Yuan Lin said as he took out a copy of the material and gave it to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang.

The fierce foreigner next to him came over and said, "The first appearance was in France, and later, similar cases of this kind of ghost encounter in taxis occurred in the United States and the United Kingdom, where the drivers at the time all identified an Asian female ghost as the cause of their car accident."

"And then what happened?" Bai Yutang asked, "What does it have to do with Zhao Zhen?"

"All of the times that young girl appeared were when Zhao Zhen was there doing his tour." The investigator said, "I was investigating this case specifically. Because of the bizarre methods of this case, we always suspected Zhao Zhen was the mastermind of everything at the time, but there were no clues to confirm it."

Zhao Zhen smiled, "Then what was found later that ruled out my suspicion?"

"We found this young girl."

When Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang heard this, they froze and both frowned.

"Wait a minute… You said you found this girl? She's still alive?” Bai Yutang asked.

"That's right." Yuan Lin nodded.

"That's too evil." Bai Yutang frowned, "We found out that this girl was dead, but her family has disappeared and has not been found."

At that, the group froze and felt an eerie gust of wind.

"Where did you find her?" Zhan Zhao asked, "Where is she now?"

"She's in New York. Three months ago, she attacked a taxi driver there, but the driver was a devil culture enthusiast who thought he was an exorcist… so he captured her with the fishing nets, holy water, and silver chains he had with him. However, the girl later said the driver was delusional. She told the judge that she was coming home from a costume party when the driver attacked her and said she was a ghost."

"You took her picture and asked the other victims, and everyone confirmed that they had seen this female ghost before, right?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"That is indeed the case." Yuan Lin shrugged, "It's just a pity that the evidence we had was insufficient, and the judge thought that it was a waste of his time and the taxpayers' money for us to say that the murderer was a ghost… so the case was closed.

"What about the follow-up?" Bai Yutang asked, "There was no more investigation?"

"Of course I still want to investigate, but the girl left." Yuan Lin said with some regret, "She came here."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao both frowned, that was when the ghost murderer started to operate locally.

"Three months ago, I had an event in New York." Zhao Zhen crossed his legs and frowned slightly, "Was it a coincidence or… did they really just operate where I showed up?"

"It can't be that coincidental." Zhan Zhao stroked his chin and muttered to himself, "Strange, why would someone who is dead still appear?"

"Could it be that the girl Jiang Ping found last time is similar to this girl?" Bai Yutang patted Zhan Zhao, "Go back and tell him to check again."

"En." Zhan Zhao nodded his head and looked at Yuan Lin, "What about the other photos?"

"The last three." Yuan Lin took out the last three photos, they were of three men, one old, two middle aged… all three men all wearing black suits.

"Recognise them?" Yuan Lin asked Zhao Zhen.

"En." Zhao Zhen nodded, "A fairly famous trio in the magic world, representatives of three schools, though two are said to be dead."

"Not two, but all three are dead." Yuan Lin flipped the photos, and there was the time of their deaths on the back, one relatively recent.

"I know you don't like to interact too much with your peers in the industry, you're well known in the magic world but also very secretive." Yuan Lin looked at Zhao Zhen, "Do you know how these people died?'

Zhao Zhen shook his head, "Magicians are in a high-risk profession."

"Not death by magic." Yuan Lin's face was heavy, "They all died suddenly, their hearts suddenly stopped beating as if their lives had been taken away by God."

"This statement is a bit chilling." Zhao Zhen smiled, "Did all three die the same way… by poison?"

"Probably some kind of heart paralyzing poison that is currently undetectable." Yuan Lin said and asked Zhao Zhen, "Have you been threatened… or intimidated?"

Zhao Zhen froze.

Out of instinctive professional habit, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang asked, "Before the deaths of the others, they were all threatened?"

"En." Yuan Lin nodded, "Something like a countdown letter from a perverted fan."

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen gently teased the corners of his mouth into a slight smile, while Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang subconsciously tensed up – it can't really be such a coincidence, can it?!

"Have you received any similar letters?" Yuan Lin asked Zhao Zhen once more.

Zhao Zhen put down the photos of the dead magicians and shook his head lightly, "No."

Zhao Zhen and Bai Yutang remained silent, listening on the side.

"No?" Yuan Lin frowned, "Could it be that you don't know? Do you need to ask your agent?"

Zhao Zhen shrugged, "There was indeed none. If there was, with so many police officers around me, she would naturally tell me."

There was clearly doubt on Yuan Lin's face as he said to his assistant, "Go and ask that pretty female agent, it's better to ask clearly."

The assistant left, and not long after, they saw the door open. Li Ying was holding a bottle of wine in her hand, and seemed to be in a very good mood, "Hey, handsome guys, shall we go down for a drink? The grilled prawns here are very good!"

The group was a little speechless, this woman belonged to the bold and unrestrained school of thought.

Zhan Zhao raised an eyebrow at Zhao Zhen – she seemed to have had too much to drink, can she keep it a secret?

Zhao Zhen smiled, seemingly unsure.

Yuan Lin asked Li Ying, "I heard that Zhao Zhen received a lot of threatening letters with a countdown, can you describe them in detail?"

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao's sweat began to trickle down, it would be awkward if Li Ying said it out loud.

However, they saw Li Ying blink and look at Zhao Zhen with a bewildered expression, "Zhen? You're being threatened? Who is so bold? I'll find someone to destroy him for you!"

Zhao Zhen smiled faintly, "Officer Yuan was just joking."

"Officer?!" Li Ying reached out and pointed at Yuan Lin, "Aren't you a star? Since when did you become a police officer?!"

Yuan Lin hurried to her, “Shhh…" while looking at Zhao Zhen somewhat impotently. Zhao Zhen shrugged his shoulders, "Oops, I let my mouth slip, sorry, I've never been very mindful."

Yuan Lin was embarrassed. Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at the ceiling while holding their glasses. Aiya, he really is that man's nephew… the bad personality is obviously hereditary.

"Alright." Yuan Lin and Zhao Zhen exchanged phone numbers with each other, "I won't go out and talk nonsense about anything, and you guys please help me keep it a secret. If my identity is blown, the subsequent clues will be broken."

Zhan Zhao and the others nodded, and Yuan Lin said goodbye, promising to contact each other later if they had any news.

When they left, the group got into the car and drove to Zhao Zhen's old house.

Li Ying asked, "Zhen, why did you hide the fact that you are being threatened? What if there's danger?"

Zhao Zhen smiled, "Isn't there a police officer protecting me?"

Saying this, he looked at Bai Yutang who was driving in front of him.

Zhan Zhao turned back to lean on the back of his chair and asked Zhao Zhen, "Is it possible that you don't want anyone to follow you?"

Zhao Zhen smiled, "Smart."

"You remembered something, didn't you?" Bai Yutang asked, "So you want to go to the old house?"

"En." Zhao Zhen nodded gently, "There are some very important clues, and very important people…” saying that, he looked at Zhan Zhao, "Do you understand?"

Zhan Zhao slightly narrowed his eyes, "Understand~"

Zhao Zhen nodded his head at ease.

Bai Yutang looked in the rearview mirror, and when he turned his eyes, he saw that Zhan Zhao was holding his phone and texting someone, "Looking for someone?"

"En." Zhan Zhao smiled, "Asking that person to see if he knows anything."

Bai Yutang smiled and didn't say anything more.

Thus, all three men were silent all the way. Li Ying looked left and right, and somewhat sadly took out her compact to fix her makeup, "I say, why don't good men like to talk?"

Zhao Zhen smiled and looked at her, "What kind of men do you like?"

Li Ying raised an eyebrow and leaned back to look at Zhao Zhen, "A man like you is good, why? Are you going to kick Xiao Bai Chi out and follow me?"

Zhao Zhen shook his head, "No."

"Why?" Li Ying had a sad face.

"Chi Chi is cuter than you." Just as Zhao Zhen finished his words, the car stopped outside the old house.

Since the old butler died, Zhao Zhen and Bai Chi lived there for a while before moving out, as they didn't really like the atmosphere of the old house.

Opening the gate of the property, Zhao Zhen walked inside and said to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, "There's a basement… back then, Zhao Jue hid a lot of things in it."

The group walked to the greenhouse in the backyard. Zhao Zhen fumbled around on the ground for a while and found a pull ring, opening the door to the basement. He walked inside, saying to the group as he did so, "Be careful."

Li Ying also wanted to follow him down, but Zhan Zhao said, "Aren't you afraid? Just wait outside."

“I’ll only be scared if you guys leave me outside, okay?"

Li Ying had to follow them down, and Zhan Zhao couldn't stop her.

Bai Yutang went down last.

Zhao Zhen turned on the lights in the basement.

Zhan Zhao saw that it was really like a grocery store, there was everything; mountains of materials, toys, and books.

"Back then, he hid a lot of things here." Zhao Zhen said, "I was just talking to Yuan Lin when I suddenly remembered a detail from my childhood."

"What?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"That woman… I saw her when I was a child." Zhao Zhen recalled, “She was beautiful and young, but there was something strange about her walking posture."

Everyone was slightly confused.

"I remembered that time, Zhao Jue told me that I should be careful when I see a woman who walks like that."

"Why?" Zhan Zhao asked with a smile.

"Because she's got a gun hidden on her leg." Zhao Zhen finished speaking and glanced back at Li Ying.

Li Ying had a smile on her face, but unlike the cute and friendly one she had just had, it looked a bit grim…

She slowly took a step back, only to have a gun pressed against her back as Bai Yutang appeared behind her and whispered, "Don't move."

Zhan Zhao glanced at her one-step skirt and rubbed his chin. (Angel: I searched so much and apparently "one-step skirt" is the proper name for this. It’s a tight-fitting skirt that only allows the wearer to take one step at a time because it is so tight.)

"Want to search for it?" Li Ying raised an eyebrow at Zhan Zhao, "I don't mind letting you touch."

Zhan Zhao gave a dry laugh as a woman's voice came from the side, "He seems to mind."

Li Ying froze as Zhan Zhao walked over and turned on another light, lighting up the entire dark part of the basement. It turned out that in the darkness, behind the boxes and cabinets, there were three other people hiding: Luo Tian, Ma Xin, and Bai Chi.

From above came the voices of Ma Han and the others, "Head, how's it going?

Bai Yutang nodded, "Just keep watch."

"Yes Sir!"

Ma Xin walked out, looked Li Ying up and down, sizing her up, and frowned, "Almost let the vixen fool me!"

Luo Tian took out a pair of handcuffs and helped Bai Yutang to put them on Li Ying, while Ma Xin retrieved two pocket pistols and a circle of flying knives from Li Ying's skirt, "Sure enough, a full set of equipment!"

Zhan Zhao, on the other hand, rummaged through Li Ying's bag and found a bottle of make-up remover, poured some on top of a make-up sponge and wiped it over Li Ying's face… a familiar face appeared, just like the beautiful woman in her thirties in the photo from ten years ago… and thirty years ago.

"Well!" Zhan Zhao raised his eyebrows, "This is a really good make-up technique, but it's even better in person. It would be even better if it came with big black curly hair."

Li Ying smiled and asked Zhao Zhen, "When did you find out?"

Zhao Zhen thought for a moment, "Just now."

"Then how did these people get here?" Li Ying looked at Bai Chi and the others and asked Zhan Zhao, "Did you just send a text message telling them to come here? But this is your first time here, right?"

"I was just texting Chi Chi." Zhan Zhao nodded, "Didn't I tell you earlier that we understand,  and that if I don't understand, others will understand."

Li Ying laughed, "Is this some kind of code for children? Sure enough, I'm getting old."

"So they say." Zhao Zhen hugged the shoulders of Bai Chi who ran up beside him and walked out, "Chi Chi is much cuter than you."

Luo Tian escorted Li Ying up and Bai Chi got a little excited, "We caught a big fish this time!"

Bai Yutang put away his gun, and when he saw Zhan Zhao stroking his chin in a daze, he asked, "Cat, do you want to check the stuff here? I'll have someone move it all back."

"Well…" Zhan Zhao shook his head and raised his eyes to look at Bai Yutang, “there's a very serious problem!"

"What?" Bai Yutang's face turned grim.

Zhan Zhao clenched his fist and punched Bai Yutang on the chest, "I've been robbed of the limelight by Chi Chi!"

Bai Yutang couldn't laugh or cry. He reached out and grabbed a certain cat, carrying it out of the basement.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

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

Translated: December 28/30, 2021