S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 3 Chapter 66

Ghost Murderer 33 – Wealth and Codes

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The drive to the small airfield was not far, but it felt long, especially for Zhan Zhao, who was eager to read Zhao Jue's research materials from back then and couldn't wait a second!

The car eventually stopped at the outskirts of the small airfield. Zhan Zhao got out and was about to run over to it when Bao Zheng grabbed him, "Do you want to die?

Zhan Zhao looked at Bao Zheng distrustfully.

"Ahem." Bao Zheng coughed and said, "You don't need to be suspicious, I haven't informed Qitian and Yunwen about this… I'll let you see the things first when they come out, you wait here obediently!"

"Seriously?" He was really afraid that just like the last time when Li Ying was caught, the truth that was right in front of him would fly away.

Bao Zheng was a bit helpless, "Who could understand those ghostly things that Zhao Jue hid except for you, it's useless to take them away."

Bai Yutang then saw Qin Ou already carrying the bomb together with Chen Mi towards the centre of the airport tarmac, and frowned slightly, "Considering about the contents of the box, will it be dangerous for Qin Ou to defuse the bomb like this?"

With Bai Yutang a little nervous, the group couldn't help but be a little nervous.

Indeed, this bomb could not be dismantled by the other side even after finding so many experts… In addition, there are quite a few unanswered questions about Chen Mi; surprisingly, he is Chen Yu's half-brother, does Old man Chen know about his existence?

Zhan Zhao and the others went back to the car to watch the live footage through the camera on Qin Ou's eyes, which was more direct.

It was only when they were witnessing the whole process of dismantling the bomb that they realised how intense and complicated the job was.

They saw Qin Ou carefully removing the top cover, peeling off all the dozens of wires inside, carefully identifying the circuits in which the copper wires were contained, and then cutting them off one by one; a process in which even one wrong step could cause a fatal crisis.

"Holy shit." Zhao Hu couldn't help but say, "This is even more meticulous than surgery!"

The group couldn't help but nod their heads, it was indeed amazing!

The process of defusing the bomb was very long, and in a flash, most of the day had passed.

Bao Zheng was worried that the low light would affect his vision, so he specially asked someone to turn on the searchlight at the airport to illuminate Qin Ou.

In the middle of the scene, Qin Ou had already cut the last copper wire and gently peeled away a layer of life jacket-like explosives wrapped in a military canvas bag.

"Is it disarmed?" Zhan Zhao asked Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang shrugged, it looked as if it was almost done.

Qin Ou called in the disarming team and the crowd saw the formidable metal box again. The bomb was placed inside, covered, and carried away from the scene.

At this point, Qin Ou's voice was heard over the walkie-talkie, "The outer bomb has been dismantled, only the lower layer of the small powerful inner bomb remains. You can come over and see it, but don't come with too many people. The internal bomb is very delicate, I need to take my contact lenses off."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang glanced at each other, and Bao Zheng nodded, "Go!" With that, he led the crowd towards the tarmac, stopping about two metres away from Qin Ou and his group, holding their breath as they watched.

Looking at Qin Ou again, he set the bomb up on a small table and sat himself down on a seat, choosing a more comfortable angle.

His contact lenses had been removed and he concentrated on dismantling the inner bomb, which seemed to be a more delicate process.

The group could not help, so they waited anxiously.

......

Soon, it was completely dark and Qin Ou's clothes were drenched in sweat… It wasn't really hot at this time, so it was evident that the high level of concentration was causing it.

Bai Chi crouched behind him, Qin Ou gently turned his face sideways, and he hurriedly helped him wipe the sweat that was going to obscure his vision.

Finally, a soft "click" was heard by the group… A ring of metal bomb netting tied to the lid of the box was peeled away. All that remained was a small box protruding from where the lid had been locked, with a few bulging pouches around it; the last of the bombs.

"This is quite an ingenious design!" Qin Ou pointed to the bulging pouches and said, "This is filled with a flammable liquid, and there is an ignition device inside. As soon as the code is incorrectly entered, the mechanism will automatically spray fuel and ignite the fire inside, and the contents will go up in flames."

The group nodded – something like the ancient Chinese mechanisms.

Qin Ou opened the box and inside was a ring-shaped combination lock, the shape of which was similar to the lock of a safe, which was meant to be turned to enter the code.

"Hoo…" Qin Ou frowned.

"What is it?" Zhan Zhao saw his face looking troubled and knelt down to ask.

"This kind of lock is the most difficult to open." Qin Ou said, "The key is that it is a livelock, and I don't know if it goes to the left or the right." (Angel: A livelock is a lock in which the states of the processes involved constantly change with regard to one another.)

"To the right." Chen Mi suddenly spoke.

Qin Ou raised his eyes to look at him, "Are you sure?"

Chen Mi shrugged, "My dad has always wanted a daughter and he was going crazy, so I guess it’s to the right"

"Uh…" Qin Ou looked at Zhan Zhao somewhat helplessly, as if asking – is this reason reliable?

Zhan Zhao frowned and asked, "Is there no other basis?"

"The person who made the bomb should be left-handed." Qin Ou said, "From the technique, it looks like the entire bomb was built along the left side."

"Zhao Jue is also left-handed, right?" Bai Chi asked, "I saw him draw with his left hand."

"For Zhao Jue, there should be no distinction between the left and right hand." Zhan Zhao shook his head, "His left and right hands are the same for him, there is no difference at all."

"How do you know?" Bao Zheng took a good look at Zhan Zhao.

"Because Cat is like that too." Bai Yutang answered for Zhan Zhao and thought for a moment, "Why don't we ask Zhao Jue?"

Zhan Zhao thought this was a good suggestion, so he took out his phone, but he saw that there was a missed text message.

When working or on the move, Zhan Zhao always mutes his phone or just turns it off, so a text message at this time…

When he opened it, he saw that the sender was Zhao Jue, and the message had one word written on it – Right!

Zhan Zhao frowned slightly and looked at Bai Yutang.

"Right?" Bai Yutang was also puzzled.

"What should I choose?" Qin Ou asked Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang; it may be too late.

Zhan Zhao looked at the text message again, put away the phone and said to Qin Ou, "Left."

……

When Zhan Zhao spoke, everyone looked at him.

Bao Zheng also seemed to be a bit sceptical, "Are you sure? Isn't Zhao Jue's text message worthy of consideration?"

Zhan Zhao shrugged his shoulders, "I just consulted Zhao Jue's suggestion."

Bao Zheng frowned slightly, "This is not the time to be temperamental."

Zhan Zhao seemed a little displeased.

Bai Yutang glanced at Bao Zheng and said with a straight face, "This is professional advice, Cat can clearly distinguish between public and private."

The group gasped… Bai Yutang lectured Bao Zheng.

Bao Zheng was a little embarrassed, Bai Yutang is not protecting his shortcomings, indeed… he himself doubted that Zhan Zhao was a little biassed at this time, but what Zhan Zhao gave is indeed his own professional opinion.

"Can you tell us the reason?" Qin Ou asked.

Zhan Zhao tilted his head and thought about it, "Intuition…"

……

The group deflated. Bai Yutang gave Zhan Zhao a somewhat helpless look. Zhan Zhao raised his eyebrows, seemingly satisfied with his reaction, then turned his face to Qin Ou and said, "I think it's the left side."

Seeing that it was already too late, Qin Ou said, "Let's try it."

Saying that, he put on something like a stethoscope, leaned over the top of the case, and after asking Chen Mi for the code, began to rotate it... to the left to find the code cells.

The password is 911276. As to what the specific meaning is, it is not known, and Chen Mi did not say it.

When he turned left to the eighth cell, Qin Ou subconsciously gulped, if it didn't open… then it meant the direction was reversed…

When he turned down the ninth cell, he heard a "click" from inside the box.

Qin Ou's heart trembled, it was correct!

One more turn and there was another click.

Qin Ou quickly finished turning all of the code… and then, a sound like a gear sliding came from inside the small box – the box was opened.

"It's done!" Qin Ou breathed a sigh of relief and gently opened the lid, the mechanism came to a halt and he handed it over to his assistant.

The group felt their hearts drop from their throats, and they all subconsciously glanced at Zhan Zhao, who was quite steady and didn't seem to doubt his own ideas… Of course, equally steady was Bai Yutang.

Zhan Zhao walked over and squatted down… looking inside the box where the secret had been sealed for twenty years.

There were not many things in the box; there were two file bags and two black boxes.

Bai Yutang walked over and handed a pair of gloves for evidence collection to Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao put on the gloves and opened the first file bag… There were two pieces of paper inside.

The group all moved over to look.

"What is this?" Zhao Hu didn't understand.

"It's a cashier's check!" Bao Zheng sighed, "This is quite a few years old, it's usually used when large amounts are transferred!"

"Is it Zhao Jue's money?" Zhan Zhao held it in front of his eyes and took a closer look at the denomination before drawing a cold breath.

"A lot of money!"

Before Zhan Zhao could feel any emotion, he saw the name of the recipient of the cashier's check again and drew another cold breath, "Uh…"

On the column of the beneficiary, they saw that the names Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were written on it, one for each person and each of the same amount.

The group was speechless for a moment; is this the money that Zhao Jue gave to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang?

Not bothering to pursue the reason, Zhan Zhao put the cashier's check back into the bag and looked at the bag of documents below, which was thicker.

For money, cheques and so on, Zhan Zhao really has no interest. There were only two document bags in the box. He was really afraid that if he opened the last one, he would drop it if it was a bond invoice or something like that.

Opening the second bag, which contained plastic-sealed documents, Zhan Zhao's heart lifted.

A small envelope fell out of the bag.

The envelope had the word "Zhao" written on it, and Zhan Zhao knew the handwriting – it belonged to Zhao Jue! Inside the envelope was only a small piece of paper with a sentence written on it – Can you understand it? (Angel: The 'Zhao' written was the Zhao from Zhan Zhao, 昭, not the Zhao from Zhao Jue, 赵.) 

Bai Yutang saw that Zhan Zhao was so excited that his hands were slightly shaking… as he unwrapped one of the plastic envelopes and opened the document to look…

The group was dumbfounded!

Because inside were dense numbers and symbols, and many pictures.

"He wrote it in code?!" Zhan Zhao was truly unsure whether to laugh or cry, "Or created his own password, this guy!"

"Heh, it really looks like his style." Bao Zheng shook his head.

"Cat, take it back and study it slowly." Seeing Zhan Zhao's frustration, Bai Yutang told him to take it easy and read the contents of the two boxes first.

Zhan Zhao was helpless, so he had to put the documents away carefully and put them on his lap, not giving them to anyone else.

Of course, Bao Zheng didn't have the heart to grab it from him, it was too much of a brain drain, so it was better to let Zhan Zhao decode it and translate it into Chinese before reading it himself.

Bai Chi was very interested in the pile of codes, and would probably be able to study them with Zhan Zhao later.

Of the two black boxes, Zhan Zhao chose to open the larger one first. Inside were some small pieces of paper, scattered photos, and many, many newspaper clippings. Not knowing what clues there were, Zhan Zhao planned to study them later.

When he finally opened the smaller box, he saw that inside was a necklace. On the necklace was a square pendant that could be opened… Opening the pendant revealed a photograph inside.

The small black and white photo was of two newborn babies together, sleeping together looking arrogant.

Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang, who raised an eyebrow at him… This is a picture of the two of them as children.

After everything was looked at, Zhan Zhao put the things away and was silent.

How can I put it? It was worse than the best outcome, and better than the worst outcome; it was really Zhao Jue's usual style.

Bao Zheng looked at the time and saw that it was getting late, so he told everyone to collect the team and go back. They finally passed this hurdle without any danger, and many clues were revealed.

Chen Mi was suspended and arrested, then brought back to the police station to wait for Bai Yutang and the others to interrogate him.

On the way back.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were in the same car, and in the back were Bai Chi and Qin Ou, who was tired and resting against the side.

Zhan Zhao sat in the passenger seat, quietly looking at the documents.

Bai Chi suddenly asked, "Brother, how did you know that Zhao Jue lied to you?"

Zhan Zhao shook his head, " Zhao Jue didn't lie to me."

The group was puzzled.

"According to what I know about him, he wouldn't just send an answer over so simply and call it a day." Zhan Zhao smiled and took out his phone, "How can he give up without messing around a bit?" Saying that, he opened up the text message that he had just received and kept scrolling down… After flipping the page, he saw three words appear at the bottom of the screen – lying to you.

……

Thinking of the box containing important documents and a significant cashier’s check, the group had the urge to hit the wall, but Zhan Zhao obviously knew and still didn't say anything, causing everyone to be anxious and impatient; his character is also quite bad.

Putting away the phone, Zhan Zhao stared at the documents and smiled, "I guess I’ll be having fun these next few days."

"We have to go back and analyse the case first." Qin Ou yawned, "Let's finish the case soon, I can't stand it anymore, I want to sleep all day and then take Xiao Yi to an amusement park."

"Hmm." Zhan Zhao nodded, "It's almost over."

"Huh?" Bai Chi looked up with wide eyes, "But the ghost killer hasn't been caught yet."

"But the answer is already in front of us." Zhan Zhao smiled and turned to look at Bai Yutang. Seeing that he didn't seem too surprised, he leaned over, "Speaking of which, Xiao Bai."

"Hm?" Bai Yutang gave him a look.

"I appreciate the way you reacted just now!" Zhan Zhao said, his fingers teasing Bai Yutang's chin.

Bai Yutang hurriedly braked sharply to pull the car to the side of the road.

"It's better to pay attention to safety." Bai Chi grabbed the back of his seat to remind the two of them.

Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang in bewilderment, "No way, so unable to withstand the excitement?"

Bai Yutang parked the car, "There's probably someone looking for you."

Zhan Zhao froze, but there were two knocks on the window beside him.

Turning to look, Zhan Zhao recognised it just from the shape of his fingers – the person who came was Zhao Jue!

With the car window rolled down, Zhao Jue bent down and greeted Zhan Zhao, "Good performance."

Zhan Zhao looked at him somewhat speechlessly, "Why are you here?"

Zhao Jue stretched out his hand, "Give me something."

Zhan Zhao was stunned.

Beside him, Bai Yutang took out the necklace from the box and gave it to Zhao Jue.

Zhao Jue took it and put it on, winking at Bai Yutang, "So sweet." (Angel: He said this in English.)

Bai Yutang raised an eyebrow, and Zhan Zhao narrowed his eyes, glaring at Zhao Jue.

"I'm going to disappear again for a while." Zhao Jue said, reaching out as if to shake hands with Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao looked at him suspiciously, but still instinctively shook his hand… and felt something in Zhao Jue's hand that passed into his own.

Zhan Zhao froze.

"Shhh." Zhao Jue signalled for silence and smiled provocatively at Zhan Zhao, "Those codes, can you decipher them?"

Zhan Zhao mentally replied, "Just wait and see."

Satisfied with the expression on his face, Zhao Jue said bye to the group and turned to leave.

Zhan Zhao then saw him get into a black Bentley in front of them and the car slowly drove away.

"Is Zhao Jue still with Leonard?" Bai Chi asked, "The flowery shirt who was driving seems to be Eugene."

Bai Yutang started the car and looked at Zhan Zhao – what did he give you?

Zhan Zhao gently shook his hand; it was an SD card. When he inserted it into his phone and took a look, Zhan Zhao smiled.

"Let's go for a big meal tonight!" Zhan Zhao suggested, "Bring Yang Yang and Xiao Yi along."

"What about the killer?" Bai Chi and Qin Ou both looked at him.

"Of course we're going to catch them!" Zhan Zhao smiled, "It's really a day to celebrate, a good day."

‿︵‿︵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: February 28, 2022