S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 3 Chapter 132

Mad Doctor Murderer 27 – Double Game

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After Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang returned to the SCI office, they asked the police officers in charge of monitoring Xue Qin to pay close attention to her movements. If she does not escape tonight, then the person who will attack tomorrow may be the missing Cen Yi, and there will be another person who should cooperate with him, but it is not clear who this person is. However, Cen Yi should know that the police will have a lot of people on guard that day, so when he wants to escape, there must be someone to meet him.

After Cen Yi's accident, he must be the first to notify him, and he is the last clue for everyone to find Zhao Qin.

And Xue Qin is also likely to think of sneaking away at the end, so she should be followed as well, as she may know where Zhao Qin is being held.

Therefore, Bai Yutang carefully arranged the plan of action for tomorrow.

Ma Han and Zhao Hu went up to the high point of the hospital roof.

The twins also found two extras as stand-ins for the two. After all, if escorting Chen Keqing to the hospital, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang not accompanying them will cause the other side to be suspicious.

Those two are professional actors of the Bai family, and really look like them after putting on makeup. For the others, Zhan Zhao made careful arrangements.

He arranged for Luo Tian and Qin Ou to follow Chen Keqing into the hospital, while the twins would be nearby, where they would ambush. Once the sniper shot to kill Chen Keqing was unsuccessful, it was likely that someone would carry out a second assassination attempt. That is expected to be the real thing... and the mysterious woman who attacked Chen Kefeng with a crossbow the first time is expected to show up. Just like the teaching hospital where he was that day, the white coated female doctor naturally moved around freely.

Just in case, Zhan Zhao also asked the person in charge of the personnel department of the hospital to stand in front of the surveillance screens with Bai Chi, who had read all the doctors and nurses' information in detail and remembered every face, in order to find a suspicious woman. Of course... she may not be wearing a white coat. They have to look at so many surveillance screens at once. Only Bai Chi has this kind of superpower.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang prepared at the top of another building, where there was a helipad. Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao together with Jiang Ping had a bird's-eye view of the surrounding area of the hospital, and they were in command. If there was really a need, Bai Yutang could overcome his addiction to pilot a police helicopter to chase the fugitives.

Everything was arranged, everyone was rested and prepared, but Zhao Hu could not fall asleep.

As per Ma Han's request, he was dispatched two hours ahead of schedule, which left him with two hours to sleep. All of SCI stayed in a hotel suite near Bai Jintang's hospital for convenience, making good use of the time to refresh.

Zhan Zhao took a pile of information to analyse, while Bai Yutang lay down to catch up on sleep.

Zhan Zhao was halfway through reading the information when he heard someone knocking on the door. He turned around to look at Bai Yutang, and saw that he was still awake, and seemed to be tired.

Zhan Zhao hurriedly pushed aside Luban and the little lion who were cradling his knees and rushed to the door, violently opening it and glaring at the person who dared to disturb Bai Yutang's pre-war rest.

When he opened the door, Zhan Zhao froze and saw Zhao Hu standing in the doorway, hugging a whale pillow.

Zhan Zhao was puzzled. Zhao Hu seemed to be very haggard, so he hurriedly closed the door and walked outside, "What? You're not sleeping yet?"

Zhao Hu looked at Zhan Zhao somberly, "Dr. Zhan, I need psychological counselling."

Zhan Zhao knew that it was probably because Zhao Hu was under too much psychological pressure as he had to help Ma Han counter-snipe tomorrow.

"Hey, Hu Zi," Zhan Zhao put one hand on his shoulder, “who do you think has the best mental capacity out of everyone?"

Zhao Hu reached out and pointed at Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao raised an eyebrow, “Who else?"

Zhao Hu tapped his head, "Gongsun!"

"Mm hmm!" Zhan Zhao smiled and sent him away, "Gongsun and Brother are in the suite, if you can get the true teachings from them both, you are guaranteed to have nerves of steel... tsk."

By the time Zhao Hu understood, Zhan Zhao had already gone back into his room.

Sighing, Zhao Hu boldly went to knock on the door of Gongsun and Bai Jintang's room.

After knocking twice, Zhao Hu prepared himself to run away, in case Big Brother Bai and Gongsun were seriously ‘studying' an important issue, wouldn't he be looking for death?

After knocking on the door a few times, Gongsun came out with a pillow in his arms, "What's going on?"

Zhao Hu looked inside the room, which was dark, "That, Gongsun, I'm a little nervous..."

"Oh!" Gongsun clapped his hands, "Want to refresh your mind, right? Perfect, come in come in!"

Zhao Hu was pulled into the room by Gongsun and saw the twins sitting in front of the TV with their snack bags, together with Zhao Zhen who was lying on his stomach and yawning with Lisbon.

Bai Jintang was leaning against the window and seemed to be reading something. When a scream came from the TV, Zhao Hu was startled, "What are you doing?"

Zhao Zhen looked at him, "Bai Chi is going over the list and kicked me out, horror movies are the only genre here."

Gongsun grimly patted Zhao Hu's shoulder, "Hu Zi, watching horror films can relieve your stress, come on, which one do you want? I have a new film here!"

Zhao Hu turned and fled. Next door, Bai Chi was probably still memorising that thick stack of personnel lists, while several others should be asleep. Finally... Zhao Hu decided to go to the rooftop to blow off some steam and calm down.

As soon as he got to the rooftop, he found Ma Han sitting there with a cigarette in his mouth and a lighter clicking in his hand.

"Hey." Zhao Hu walked over and nudged him, "You're not sleeping in the middle of the night and you're here playing it cool."

Ma Han saw that he had a whale pillow in his hand and frowned, "What's with the look?"

"It's all your fault." Zhao Hu sat down on the ground, "I can't sleep. If I have a heart attack you have to pay for my surgery."

Ma Han leaned against the roof indifferently and continued to fiddle with the lighter, "It's normal to not be able to sleep."

"Hey, Xiao Ma Ge, you can't sleep either, huh?" Zhao Hu was curious, "There's no reason for that, you've been a sniper for so many years and have been on many of the most exciting missions, yet you're still nervous?"

Ma Han looked at the lighter and asked Zhao Hu, "Would you be nervous about shooting right now?"

"No."

"Shooting with a hostage?"

"Well, a little."

"The hostage is someone you know."

"Slightly."

"The person to be shot is a relative."

"This one is a bit..."

"Killed to find out it was the wrong person."

"Wow... that's too tragic."

"Someone came after you for revenge after that?"

"That doesn't matter."

"Got kicked out."

"Tsk, there's no place for that."

"No money to pay the mortgage."

"I've got a family fortune!"

"The girl doesn't want you."

"Cut it out, that girl's a clinger."

"Can't be a cop anymore."

"Well... I can be a private detective."

"Then what are you afraid of?"

Zhao Hu rubbed his head and felt as if there was nothing to be afraid of. Turning his eyes, he saw that Ma Han was still playing with the lighter and asked, "Then what about you? Why are you still nervous? Are you afraid too?"

Ma Han laughed, "I'm not afraid of the consequences of shooting."

Zhao Hu looked at him with his chin on the railing, "Then what are you afraid of?"

"I'm afraid of not being able to pull the trigger." Ma Han stared at the lighter in disbelief.

"Hey, you always hold this lighter before and after every mission, did your girlfriend give it to you?"

Ma Han saw Zhao Hu pull out a cigarette and handed him the lighter, "You're not the one pulling the trigger anyway, what are you afraid of, just go with your shit luck and answer whatever I ask." After saying that, Ma Han kicked him, "Go to sleep early."

Zhao Hu opened the lighter and took a look at it. It seemed to be hand-carved, with a carving of a bullet entering at one end and a carving of a bullet exiting at the other. It was an interesting design, and there was a string of quirky letters that seemed to be in Russian. The other four corners also had antique floral patterns, and right in the middle of the bullet were a few very deep, uniquely styled letters engraved - HADES.

Zhao Hu didn't move for a while, and thought about the pronunciation – HADES... Hades the Underworld King?

Lighting a cigarette and following Ma Han downstairs, Zhao Hu returned the lighter to him, “Ai, you have a clumsy mouth and a dumb tongue, who told you those words?"

"The man who taught me how to shoot."

“Hu hu, who? The instructor at the police academy?" Zhao Hu tapped his head, "Oh, wasn't it your dad?"

Ma Han's mouth twitched, "Neither."

"Mysterious." Zhao Hu snapped back, "I see, a superior in the force?"

"It's the strongest sniper." Ma Han gave him a look and smiled, "No one can compare to them."

……

In the room, Zhan Zhao was lying on the edge of the bed watching the night scene, the high-altitude warning lights at the top of the tall buildings in the distance flickering on and off. The city was covered with tall buildings, so unknowingly, such lights replaced the natural stars and took over the entire sky of the city, causing people in the city to occasionally look up and see what seemed like all the stars bleeding.

Zhan Zhao suddenly thought, in fact, there are two kinds of people who freely walk through the city at night and during the day. While some people are suited to the night, others are suited to the day.

Zhan Zhao was lost in thought when the phone vibrated.

Picking up the phone and taking a look, Zhan Zhao was surprised... The ringing phone belonged to Bai Yutang, but the number calling was not displayed.

Looking at Bai Yutang, who was still asleep, Zhan Zhao took the phone to the bathroom and closed the door to answer it, "Hello?"

"Oh? Is it Kitty answering the phone? Where's your little tiger, I'm looking for him for something!"

As soon as Zhan Zhao heard that familiar and obnoxious ‘oh' at the beginning, his heart skipped a beat and he frowned, "Zhao Jue, you're haunted!"

Zhao Jue, who called, seemed to be eating something, and said vaguely, "Do you have any conscience, calling me haunted after not seeing me for so long, you dead child!"

"What are you eating?"

"Ice cream with dried mangoes and shrimp crisps."

Zhan Zhao's brow furrowed, and he said, "Go ahead, eat it, I'll kill you!” He then asked, "Why are you looking for Yutang?"

"Can I talk to him about love?"

"You are looking for death!" Zhan Zhao made a gesture to turn off the phone.

“Ai! Wait!" Zhao Jue hurriedly shouted, "Can't take a joke! Forget it, you can tell him for me, hasn't it been a long time since you guys took a holiday?"

Zhan Zhao then felt a slight pain in his brain, "What do you want now?"

"Oh, do you want to come to T City?" Zhao Jue asked with a smile, "Hot springs oh hot springs! The land of hot springs!"

Zhan Zhao looked at the sky, "T City... do you know how far away it is? Besides, what's the difference between it and S City? If I'm going on holiday, of course I'll go to a beach with a pleasant climate to bask in the sun."

"It's true that the nature of a cat is hard to change." Zhao Jue laughed, "Is your little tiger sleeping? Are you tired recently?"

Zhan Zhao raised his eyebrows slightly, "No, he's just not interested in you."

"Oh, it seems like a big case has come up, do you want me to help?"

Zhan Zhao was slightly smug, "The case will be solved tomorrow, no need for you to get involved."

"That's great, you guys come to T City next week, I'll be waiting for you." After saying that, it felt like he was going to hang up the phone.

"Hey!" Zhan Zhao hurriedly shouted, "What are you doing in T City?"

"I'll rent your entire SCI team from Bao Zheng." Zhao Jue smiled faintly, "I want you guys to help me catch a ghost."

"A ghost..."

Before Zhan Zhao finished his sentence, he heard a hefty laugh from Zhao Jue's end, "It's a suitable deal for Bao Zheng, so he'll definitely agree, then, see you in a week."

"Wait!" Zhan Zhao hurriedly called out.

"What, miss me, huh?"

“Stop playing, what's the case about?" Zhan Zhao pursued, simply feeling that those involved with Zhao Jue were definitely not good cases and he had to ask about them beforehand.

"Spring is in full bloom, it's a good time for new students to change schools!"

"Huh?" Zhan Zhao was bewildered, "What are you talking about?"

“Hey, Kitty." The tone of Zhao Jue's voice at this moment reminded Zhan Zhao of the way he squinted, "Have you ever heard of requiem?"

Zhan Zhao froze, "Which one are you talking about?"

"The earliest one!"

"Hmm, the kind of requiem song for the dead?" Zhan Zhao didn't understand why Zhao Jue was asking about such nonsense.

“Tsk tsk." Zhao Jue reminded him, "The early documentation of requiem said that it originated from religious or theatrical literature, but in fact, it was born on the battlefield."

"Battlefield?" Zhan Zhao had some interest and sat down on the tub, holding his chin and listening to Zhao Jue continue.

"The dark Middle Ages, after many long wars and disasters, saw the emergence of battlefield ruins with a large number of piles of corpses or ravines where corpses were piled up."

Zhan Zhao nodded, "And then?"

"The corpses were eaten in large numbers by vultures, rats and the like, leaving behind white bones which appeared hollow because they were fragmented... so there were many natural whistles, flutes, bindings and so on lying all over the battlefield, and the bone orchestra was born there." Zhao Jue said quite energetically, "Every time the wind passed through the canyon, a beautiful musical sound would come out, low and soothing with a touch of ethereal longevity. Each time the sound was heavy and poignant. Occasionally, when the terrain was more complex, the echo of the surging wind hitting the stone wall could be heard. That kind of sound cannot be described in words. Thousands of dead spirits are singing underground, this kind of tune is the real requiem."

Zhan Zhao raised his eyebrows as he listened, clearly interested, "What does all this have to do with you wanting to ask us to catch a ghost?"

"We'll talk about the specifics when the time comes, I won't let you down." After saying that, Zhao Jue was ready to hang up the phone, but before hanging up, he suddenly thought of something, "By the way, your SCI, there is a young man who is a sniper?"

Zhan Zhao's eyes narrowed, alert, "What do you want?"

"I am just asking, what are you nervous about? I seem to have some impression of him, not very talkative, right?" Zhao Jue smiled faintly, "Does he carry a lighter with him? This time, you guys remember, bring him along, he has some connections with the ghost, hehe."

Zhan Zhao looked at the sky, "Which smoker doesn't have a lighter, stop talking nonsense. If you strike at the SCI members again, be careful, I'll break you."

"You little bastard!"

"You old bastard!"

"Heh heh." Zhao Jue suddenly laughed mysteriously and changed the tactics of quarrelling, "Your little tiger, his marksmanship is also very accurate, right? How about you? Can you hit the first ring? Or do you just mop up?"

Zhan Zhao's nose was wrinkled with anger, "I can at least hit the third ring!" After saying that, he viciously ended the call. He looked up... only to see Bai Yutang leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed, looking at him unable to laugh or cry, "Cat, wait until I export the information before you throw it."

Zhan Zhao stayed there for a long time before returning the phone that was almost thrown to Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang didn't ask further questions and put away the phone, "It's about time."

Zhan Zhao's expression became serious, "Is everything ready?"

Bai Yutang had a piece of paper in his hand, "Jiang Ping made the three-dimensional drawing as you requested."

Zhan Zhao took the drawing and opened it.

Bai Yutang asked him, "Cat, why do you think Ma Han can do it?"

Zhan Zhao smiled faintly, "Actually, it doesn't matter if Ma Han can do it or not."

Bai Yutang was stunned and frowned, "Cat... you are not afraid of hitting innocent people?"

Zhan Zhao waved his hand, "Without certainty, Ma Han won't shoot."

"Then..."

"Whether he shoots or not doesn't affect the arrests we will make afterwards. It's a two-headed game, with different paths leading to the same destination. Both sides have already fallen into our trap, and no matter which side they come from, they are only waiting to be counted." Zhan Zhao turned on the tap and washed his hands, "Everything is just a game, a double-counting game and a win-win game, the only difference is that no matter which side of them has a problem, the winner will always be us and the loser will be still and one of them."

Bai Yutang understood what Zhan Zhao meant, "Cat, you don't care if Chen Keqing lives or dies do you? "

“That’s right, I only want to save Zhao Qin and catch the murderer. Oh, yes, we are the ones who are right." Zhan Zhao nodded unapologetically, "From a psychological point of view, punishment in the legal sense and psychological punishment cannot be equalised."

Bai Yutang thought for a moment, "The so-called theory that even if the murderer dies, the victim will not come back to life, that the damage done will never be healed?"

"Of course." Zhan Zhao nodded bluntly, "There are only two paths that can sustain a revenge seeker. First, the murderer is on the run and he uses all his efforts to chase after them. Second, to kill his enemy and die without regret or atone for the additional damage caused by revenge along the way."

"So this game you're using is designed as two different traps for the avenger and the avenged, but no matter how they go, they can't get out anymore?" Bai Yutang reached out and stroked Zhan Zhao's head, "Cat, it's not good for your health to overuse your brain. The amount of thinking you do is beyond the comprehension of so many people put together, learn to relax once in a while, take a little rest for a while."

Zhan Zhao frowned, "I'm doing this against the absolute justice of the police, you're not going to criticise and educate me, Captain Bai?"

Bai Yutang smiled helplessly, "There is no absolute justice in the world."

Zhan Zhao narrowed his eyes, but he saw Bai Yutang suddenly turn around, "What if Ma Han manages to do it?"

Zhan Zhao frowned, remembering again the sudden mention of the sniper by Zhao Jue just now - "The lighter? Knowing the ghost... Ma Han comes from a clear and proper background, his family has been police officers for generations and has not produced any bad guys, how could he be related to all this mess?"

"Hmm?" Bai Yutang did not understand.

"Oh, it's nothing." Zhan Zhao casually waved his hand, "It's also possible, Xiao Ma Ge might be able to perform a miracle."

Although Bai Yutang sensed that Zhan Zhao still had some concerns, he didn't ask more, guessing it was something irrelevant, so he should go all out to catch the murderer this time.

When they arrived at the entrance and gathered the entire SCI team, it was almost time for the hunt to begin.

‿︵‿︵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: November 7, 2022 by Angel

Edited: November 21, 2022 by Angel