S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 3 Chapter 59

Ghost Murderer 27 - Dolls and Quirky Signs

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"Ugh…" Zhan Zhao slumped towards the bed, "So tired… so sleepy."

Bai Yutang sat beside him, still worried, "Cat, is Brother really okay?"

"Don't worry about it." Zhan Zhao craned his neck to choose a more comfortable angle, yawned, and nodded, "Other than having that part of his memory locked up, everything else has recovered, and he should not be as violent and vulnerable to losing control as he was before. It's best not to touch the forbidden area of memories though, or it might trigger certain pain, after all, that person is not like Zhao Jue who uses gentle methods. "

Bai Yutang sighed, "Who on earth did that…"

At this time, the little lion came up to the bed, probably missing Zhan Zhao after not seeing him for a few days, so he nuzzled his way up to him, his mouth grunting and calling out something.

Zhan Zhao reached out to rub its stomach, "Mianmian…"

Bai Yutang frowned, "When did you change its name to Mianmian? Wasn't it called Bingbing a while ago?"

"Because a while ago it liked to eat omelettes, but haven't you noticed that recently it likes to eat the pasta you make."

Bai Yutang looked up at the sky and sighed, falling down on his back and leaning on Zhan Zhao's side.

Just as he laid down, there was a heavy weight on his stomach. When Bai Yutang looked, he found that it was Luban who had jumped up on him.

Bai Yutang propped his hands behind his head and looked at him. Although he had slimmed down quite a bit, he was still a cute fat cat, "Luban, your weight is really not what a cat should be…"

"Meow." Luban rolled up on Bai Yutang's chest, he had been very sensitive lately and especially doesn't like to hear the word fat.

"Where's Lilia?" Zhan Zhao reached out and pinched Luban's ear.

Luban was lying on Bai Yutang's chest, licking his paws.

"Probably keeping Xiao Yi company." Bai Yutang gently stroked Luban's fur, "Xiao Yi seems to love Lilia a lot."

"En." Zhan Zhao thought about it, "Indeed, it is said that felines are more aware of attracting the opposite sex. Lilia is a little beauty, so of course she will be attracted to Xiao Yi… Xiao Yi is very cute."

"That's true." Bai Yutang smiled and tapped Zhan Zhao's eyebrow, "Cat, we didn't dye our hair when we were kids, otherwise I would have given you blonde hair, and the effect would have been the same as Xiao Yi's."

"You're talking about yourself." Zhan Zhao rolled over and poked Bai Yutang's cheek.

The two were staring at each other when there was a gentle knock on the door.

Raising their eyes to look out, they saw Xiao Yi poking his head in, and sure enough, he was holding Lilia in his hands.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at him and asked with a smile, "Xiao Yi, what's wrong?"

"I have something to say."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other. Bai Yutang stood up and pulled him through the door, closing it behind him. When Zhan Zhao waved to him, Xiao Yi walked over.

"What do you want to say?" Zhan Zhao asked Xiao Yi very gently.

"Well..." Xiao Yi hugged Lilia and sat on the edge of the bed, "it's about… the person who was trying to harm my dad before."

Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang froze, and Bai Yutang asked, "It's about Liang Yan?"

"En." Xiao Yi sat down cross-legged and seemed a little timid.

Zhan Zhao glared at Bai Yutang – Don't be so fierce!

Bai Yutang looked at the sky – How am I being fierce?

Zhan Zhao turned back to Xiao Yi and smiled, grabbing both the little lion and Luban and placing them next to him so that he would not be so nervous, asking, "What do you know?"

Xiao Yi hesitated for a moment before pulling something out of his pocket and handing it to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang.

When Zhan Zhao took it and looked at it, he saw that it was a small handmade doll, entirely hand-stitched. It looked very old, like a small pig, so small that it could be cupped in his hand, similar to the size of a keychain pendant. It wasn't exactly delicate.

"What is this?" Zhan Zhao asked Xiao Yi.

"That person gave it to me." Xiao Yi said.

"Liang Yan?" Bai Yutang asked him as he flinched and crouched down.

"En." Xiao Yi wrapped his arm around Lilia and nodded, and Zhan Zhao glared at Bai Yutang again - Smile, smile!

Bai Yutang was embarrassed and tried to look at Xiao Yi with a gentle expression, asking, "Xiao Yi, this doll, did Liang Yan give it to you?"

Xiao Yi nodded and said, "En, after I saw his photo, I realised that that man, who was the one who harmed dad, came to school to look for me."

"How old were you when he came looking for you?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"Just last year… well, at New Year's."

......

Xiao Yi's answer made Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang's mouths open wide, "What?!"

"You mean, he looked for you last year?!" Bai Yutang climbed off the bed to find the picture of Liang Yan in the file and handed it to Xiao Yi, "Are you sure it was him?!"

"Yes." Xiao Yi nodded, "That's it."

The expression on Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang's face at this moment could only be described as shock.

"Cat…"

"Hmm?"

"Shouldn't he be dead?!" Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao, "How could…"

Zhan Zhao shook his head sharply. This case was already more or less related to the ghost case, and now it was even more unbelievable.

"Xiao Yi, are you sure it's this person? Did he say his name?"

Xiao Yi shook his head, "He didn't, he just asked me if I was Qin Yi."

"En, then what happened?"

"Then he gave me this toy." Xiao Yi said, "He said that it was something that was very, very important to Daddy."

"So why didn't you give it to your dad?" Bai Yutang asked.

"What about if it's dangerous?" Xiao Yi shook his head.

The corners of Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang's mouths couldn't help but twitch - So he gave it to them? What a protective child.

"Why not give it to Zhao Jue?" Zhan Zhao was puzzled.

"I don't know if he's a good person or not." Xiao Yi muttered, "Daddy said that you can't trust strangers, but yesterday Daddy said that you guys can be trusted."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both nodded; this little kid was nice, just like Luo Yang, another filial child.

Bai Yutang took the small cloth doll and squeezed it, then weighed it in his hand and found that there seemed to be something inside.

Zhan Zhao took it and asked Xiao Yi, "Can we take it apart?"

Xiao Yi blinked.

"Don't worry, let's see what's inside and then have sister Xin Xin sew it up for you afterwards."

"Mm, okay!" Xiao Yi nodded his head.

Zhan Zhao brought the scissors and Bai Yutang took them. Zhan Zhao frowned as if he wanted to do it himself, but Bai Yutang looked at him with contempt – What do you want to do when you have almost zero hands-on skills? Be careful not to poke your fingers!

Zhan Zhao could only hand over everything to Bai Yutang in frustration.

Bai Yutang squeezed the inside and found a hard object inside, a thin piece the size of a coin - Was it just a coin?

"Could there be any danger?" Zhan Zhao moved over to look.

"I don't think so." Bai Yutang pondered for a moment, "Would there be a bomb that hasn't exploded in over a year?"

"Or else… get Qin Ou to take a look at it?"

"No, we can only show it to dad if there is no danger!" Qin Yi immediately frowned.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were helpless, so biassed!

Joking aside, Bai Yutang did it anyway, carefully unwrapping the threads that sealed the doll. Inside were some scraps of cloth that looked a bit old, just like the scraps of cloth mops they used at home when they were kids.

Zhan Zhao took the stuffing and looked at it, saying, "It couldn't have been made a year ago, it's a few years old at first glance."

"En." After Bai Yutang emptied the insides, he found a piece of silvery metal in the middle, a thin piece that really resembled a coin.

Bai Yutang took the object and weighed it in his hand, saying, "Well… it's heavy, it should be tin."

"There's a pattern on it." Zhan Zhao said, reaching over and pointing to one of the sides.

"What is this?" Bai Yutang didn't quite understand. It was an irregular diagram made of odd lines wrapping around it and a string of numbers.

"Hmm…" Zhan Zhao rubbed his chin, "numbers…"

"There's a pattern on the other side." Bai Yutang turned the piece of tin over and saw a symbol on the back, which was weird; it was an odd bird with a six-pointed star underneath.

"A six-pointed star." Zhan Zhao frowned slightly, "There are many symbolic meanings of the six-pointed star. Two common ones are said to be derived from ancient Indian religions, symbolising the power of unity between men and women. Another is known to be the symbol of Judaism, holy and incorruptible. It shouldn't be the latter meaning, Judaism would never let a strange bird override their holy six-pointed star."

"Anything else?" Bai Yutang asked.

"Well… there's also the summoning of demons, I think, because it symbolises the union of two sexes… so it's as versatile as the five-pointed star, and many cults use it as a symbol."

"Only cults use it, huh?"

"Because of male and female double cultivation?" Zhan Zhao said, "That secret sect of Tibetan Buddhism, Huanxi Buddha, doesn't it also look like a hexagonal shape?"

"…" Bai Yutang was silent for a moment and pulled Zhan Zhao.

"What?" Zhan Zhao did not understand.

"Let's pose in that position and see if it looks like that…"

"Go away." Zhan Zhao glared at Bai Yutang and looked aside at Xiao Yi – the kid is here!

Bai Yutang shrugged his shoulders and stopped, then asked "What kind of bird is this? An eagle that doesn't look like an eagle, and a vulture that doesn't look like a vulture… what species is it?"

"Well… I'm not as good at this as Chi Chi, he's more into nature and geography stuff and reads a lot of books on the subject." Zhan Zhao thought and asked, "Where's Chi Chi? Still reading books?"

"En, he's still studying demons and cults and stuff like that. Wasn't he just saying that he was going crazy?" Bai Yutang was a bit helpless.

Zhan Zhao pondered for a moment, then took out his phone and dialled…

Not long after, Bai Chi arrived at the door with a thick book, his face listless.

"… Chi Chi, why are you so haggard?" Bai Yutang asked with a smile.

Bai Chi had a hard time saying that since Zhao Zhen had recuperated in the past few days, he had been acting crazy at night. He had been reading some strange and weird things, so he was unable to sleep, and when he couldn't sleep, he went to Zhao Zhen's place… and as a result, of course, he was eaten. So he was scared during the day and had to accept Zhao Zhen's crazy nonsense at night, which was physically and mentally exhausting.

"What's up?" Bai Chi walked in and sat down on the bed, pulling Xiao Yi over and stroking his hair. Bai Chi was particularly fond of children and was discussing adoption with Zhao Zhen. He was particularly envious of people like Angelina Jolie, who could adopt children from all over the world and have a little UN at home. How fun would that be? It would be possible for him to do so with Zhao Zhen's financial resources.

However, Zhao Zhen didn't want to do it. It wasn't that he didn't have a heart, but he hadn't had enough of the two of them alone yet, not until he was 40! So Bai Chi, who originally gave his overflowing love to the little animals, now gives it to Luo Yang and Xiao Yi.

"Chi Chi, what kind of bird is this?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Bai Chi took the coin and looked at it, then froze, "Ah!"

"What's wrong?" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang asked him.

"This is a hoatzin." Bai Chi said, running back to his room and bringing over a super thick encyclopaedia.

Luo Yang came over to watch the fun and climbed into bed to sit with Xiao Yi.

Bai Chi opened the encyclopaedia, turned to a certain page, and placed it in front of Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, saying, "Look! This is a hoatzin, they live in the jungles of South America, and are very rare. They are similar to ducks, and are very good at swimming but not good at flying."

Bai Yutang stared at the pheasant with the fat body and small head for a long time, "It's so ugly."

"Exactly." Zhan Zhao also nodded his head, "The body proportions are seriously out of proportion!"

Luo Yang and Xiao Yi agreed. Xiao Yi pointed to the picture and said, "It looks like a chicken, and its belly is so fat."

"You can't say that about it!" Bai Chi was anxious and hurriedly said, "The hoatzin is not an ordinary bird, it is a prehistoric animal, the most primitive bird in the world!"

"Such a big deal…" Bai Yutang rubbed his chin and said to Zhan Zhao, "Apart from pandas, I've got another animal to suspect…"

"What's wrong with pandas?!" Xiao Yi and Luo Yang turned together to look at Bai Yutang seriously, "Pandas are cute!"

Bai Yutang was a bit helpless and said, "No… the point is, you can see that it is so fat, so stupid, and also so picky about its food. It takes half a day to give birth to a child that is so small, it can only feed one after having two, and it will accidentally crush the child to death… how can they have lived for so long?"

Xiao Yi and Luo Yang looked at each other and seriously retorted, "No way, pandas are very smart!"

Bai Yutang surrendered helplessly, "Yes, yes, it's my fault, I shouldn't have doubted them."

Only then did the two children let him go.

"Is there anything special about this hoatzin?" Zhan Zhao asked Bai Chi, "Like anything symbolic?"

"Symbolism… nothing special." Bai Chi shook his head, "This animal is also not as fierce and magical as eagles, hawks, and the like. To put it bluntly, it's just a pheasant with weird long hair that can swim…"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang nodded together, "The description is appropriate!"

Bai Chi laughed dryly, "Oh… right, but the hoatzin's habits are quite strange, or at least rare within the bird species."

"What habits?"

"It's that… they live in groups and in family units. Generally, a family consists of a dozen hoatzins together."

Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang frowned.

"Tch…" Zhan Zhao shook his head, "This kind of family habit doesn't mean anything, nor does it have that kind of evil implication… and this figure and number…"

"Cat," Bai Yutang stood up and asked, "are you still sleepy?"

Zhan Zhao shook his head, "I woke up a long time ago."

"Let's go back to the SCI office for a meeting, you have some clues about the case, right?"

"En." Zhan Zhao also stood up, "Indeed, there are too many interfering factors in this case, so the original simplicity of the case has become complicated. We need to strip away the irrelevant aspects, so let's go back and sort it out."

"Okay." Bai Yutang changed his clothes and sent a message to the SCI members to all gather at the office.

After saying that, the two of them left together. Bai Chi couldn't sit still, so he went with them, and naturally Zhao Zhen followed with an even more diligent Lisbon.

……

Sitting in Bai Jintang's car, Gongsun peeked at him and asked, "Is it true that your memory has returned? "

Bai Jintang nodded, "Well, nevermind."

"What do you mean by that?" Gongsun asked him, "You said you remembered."

At this moment, the car happened to pass by the subway entrance, and Bai Jintang smiled faintly, "Do you remember this subway?"

Gongsun was stunned when he heard Bai Jintang whisper, "I remember, it was three stops in total, and I will never forget it…"

Gongsun's ears were a little red and he glared at him fiercely, but fortunately… he finally remembered.

"What about the… childhood ones?" Gongsun felt that Bai Jintang seemed to have something on his mind, so he asked a follow-up question.

"They can only let me remember this section for now, if I remember more, I'm afraid there will be trouble." Bai Jintang smiled helplessly, "I'll tell you more about it slowly when I have the chance."

"En." Gongsun nodded, relieved, "In fact, it originally didn't matter how much you remembered, all that matters is that you don't forget these past few years!"

Bai Jintang had known that Gongsun would say that, he was indeed the person he had taken a liking to.

"That's right" Gongsun's previous tiredness was swept away and he looked much happier, asking, "where are we going?"

"I still owe you a present." Bai Jintang stopped the car and reached out to gently lift Gongsun's chin, "I'll give it to you now…"

‿︵‿︵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: January 24, 2022