S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 4 Chapter 29

A Requiem for a Murderer 29 – Gift

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Under the moonlight, at opposite ends of the church, a square door at one end and a bullet hole in the shape of a cross at the other, light and shadow intertwine on both sides, but one was clear and the other was obscure.

The one standing at the door with the gun was none other than Bai Yutang, who had come out in pursuit.

And the one who was busy packing up his things underneath the huge church cross was an old man with a creased face. From the way he was walking just now, one could tell that he had some lameness.

He was currently squatting next to a box under the church cross, a revolver in his hand, with two bullets in the chamber and more spilled all over the floor.

Bai Yutang had seen this person before, and it was exactly as they had deduced before. Zhao Jue had given them a hint that morning – The rhythmic ringing of the bells, the special finger movements bringing out a fixed melody, this old man, the church bell ringer, the only one left to maintain the church. No one would pay attention to him, but he was the most noteworthy one. From the first day they arrived in T City, the first time they came to the church, they had already seen him.

Bai Yutang met his eyes.

The old man was half-squatting on the ground, his hands seemed to be trembling a little as he grabbed his revolver and loaded it with bullets in a panic.

Bai Yutang slowly crouched down and stared at him, and after keeping his gaze level, he spoke, "If I use that cat's professional analysis, the hand tremor is the result of nervousness, which should shake the body, in other words, the person with the hand tremor should not just have his hands shaking, but his whole body should be shaking, along with the other signs of nervousness, sweating, etc... You're the most composed person I've ever seen with hand tremors, your acting skills still need to be improved."

Sure enough, the old man's trembling hand was like a pendulum, gradually swinging smaller and smaller, eventually stopping, and a smoothness came out of the stillness. The revolver was placed on the ground casually, while the man slowly stood up, "I originally thought the one who would come after me would be Bai Ye, but I didn't expect it to be you."

Bai Yutang also stood up, "Aren't you tired of pretending to be a cripple?"

The old man slowly took off his shoes, and reached out to rip off the huge jacket that was draped over him; his whole body thinned down and he was much shorter. His voice changed as he opened his mouth, somewhat neutral, "You and Bai Ye are really alike, especially in your powers of observation. "

Bai Yutang looked up and down, and suddenly understood why there were rumours about Ghost being a young beauty; the person in front of him was wearing a black leather jacket, was very thin and slim, his height was visually estimated to be around one metre sixty-five, and his appearance was, how to describe it, not clean and not ugly, but very flat, in other words, no distinguishing features at all, very malleable. This kind of face is very suitable for make-up, with short black hair, and whether it was the mannerisms or the voice, he seemed very neutral and androgynous. The age was also not much of an uncle, and the simulated human skin mask affixed to his face was naturally free of wrinkles when it was ripped off, revealing a young and boyish face. Of course... whether the eyes were mature or not, Bai Yutang had no time to investigate and was not interested, what interested him more was the faint smell of gunpowder that permeated the air. Bai Yutang knew that there was another gun, and that it was loaded and had just been fired.

"Can you guess who I am?" The indistinguishable person of indistinguishable gender, indistinguishable age and even more indistinguishable identity on the other side stood up straight, his figure very slender and slightly misshapen in the moonlight.

Bai Yutang thought for a moment, "You're Ghost?"

"Heh." The other party found a table behind him and half leaned, half sat, "Ever since Zhao Jue appeared in T City, I knew things might get worse. He's like maggots stuck to the bones of the dead, can't be driven away."

After hearing what he said, Bai Yutang spoke, "You should use a creature that is a little more aesthetically pleasing as an analogy, something like maggots and dead people would be more suitable for you."

The other party stared at Bai Yutang for a long time and suddenly laughed, "You're a soldier, while Zhao Jue is a thief, how can you say good things for him?"

"There are many kinds of thieves." Bai Yutang didn't know why he wanted to say something on behalf of Zhao Jue. He always felt that there was an inexplicable similarity and connection between Zhao Jue and Zhan Zhao, and insulting Zhao Jue was tantamount to insulting Zhan Zhao, which irritated him, "There are high-class and low-class, some are disgusting and some are admirable."

"You admire Zhao Jue?" The other party laughed exaggeratedly and shook his head repeatedly, "That's probably the funniest joke I've ever heard, it's like the undead being killed by an atomic bomb appreciating Oppenheimer, ironic theatrics."

Bai Yutang could understand the meaning of his words as well as the implication that he was saying that it was Zhao Jue who created and hurt him, that he was the one who started everything!

However, Bai Yutang, as the head of the SCI, was the one who made the decisions, so of course he had the ability to distinguish between right and wrong, and even more so, he had his own opinion. No matter how credible the other party's words were, they were still one-sided, and he believed more in the evidence. On the other hand, he did not feel that scientists needed to shoulder any responsibility for the ambition and greed of politicians. From the beginning of mankind, those who made weapons and those who used them to slaughter were usually two types of people.

Seeing that Bai Yutang was unmoved, the other man was slightly lost. His hand remained at the side of his body, presenting a state that seemed relaxed and tense. Bai Yutang knew that he was waiting for the opportunity to draw his gun, and that everything he said now was in preparation for his subsequent movements. It was just that if he didn't let his guard down, he wouldn't have a chance to shoot, but the longer the stalemate went on, the worse it would be for him, so he would definitely try his best to fight for his last chance of survival. In addition, and more importantly, Bai Yutang had yet to find out who the real killer in this case was.

Just when both sides were at a stalemate, the sound of footsteps, not too soft and not too heavy, came from the doorway.

Both sides faintly glanced towards the doorway, and Bai Yutang felt the scent behind him, not familiar yet not unfamiliar either – it should be Zhao Jue.

"Yo."

Walking to the doorway, Zhao Jue stood on the threshold and peered into the dark church, "Tch, it turns out to be a flat chested one!"

The other party pulled back slightly, "You're so cunning!"

Zhao Jue walked behind Bai Yutang, put his chin up to Bai Yutang's ear and whispered, "Hey, this guy, he's PTW, take a good look!"

Bai Yutang faintly stared.

"Besides being PTW, he's also Ghost." Zhao Jue spoke in a whisper, "And the one you just killed..."

"Also Ghost?" Bai Yutang figured out the connection and frowned, "Ghost is not a person, but PTW itself? It was rumoured that PTW's experiment failed back then, and he had to destroy all the failed products, but he ran away, leaving behind a ghost to protect himself. But the truth is that it could have been the other way around. All the failed products killed the founder and then disguised themselves as the founder on the run, leaving only one ghost behind... The reason why Ghost is the strongest killer is because she is not a person at all."

"Haha..." The man across the table couldn't help but clap his hands and laugh, "So clever and smart, but there is one wrong guess."

Bai Yutang waited for him to speak, and at the same time, felt what seemed to be another aura which was approaching.

"The old man wasn't killed by us, but by someone else, and by such a coincidence, his death left us with only this way to live." The man said, looking serious, "But we are not the losers, PTW was truly the correct plan, not you, and sooner or later we will prove that you were the one who was wrong!" With that, he reached out and pointed a finger at Zhao Jue.

Zhao Jue stared at him for a moment, unable to resist speaking, "Idiot, completely."

Bai Yutang raised his eyebrows, he was scolding him well.

"Bai Yutang." The man got up from the table, "How about we make a deal?"

Bai Yutang kept silent, gesturing for him to continue on.

"We don't actually have a grudge, and we have a common enemy, I can give you some information and clues that you never had."

"And the conditions?" Bai Yutang asked.

"Spare us."

Bai Yutang asked in return, "What about the children who were kidnapped before?"

"Those were all failures." The other party said matter-of-factly, "They were born with congenital deficiencies and terminal illnesses, and there were only two outcomes, they either died or were killed."

"Just tell me where the children are." Bai Yutang resented his verbosity.

"The cemetery." The other man spoke, his tone even, "The best place for them to go."

"Why didn't you go there?" Bai Yutang frowned slightly, "It's not up to you to decide where others belong."

"You mean you won't cooperate?"

Bai Yutang smiled coldly, "If I were to cooperate, the person in the back would be more valuable than you. What do I need some abandoned goods for when I have the best?"

Zhao Jue nodded his head on the side and clapped his hands, well said! At the same time, his eyes darted to the cross-shaped bullet holes in the far wall.

At that moment, Bai Yutang suddenly reached out and gently pushed Zhao Jue to the side...

Zhao Jue stumbled and staggered to the side as he heard a 'ping', and the sound of the wind signalled that a bullet had passed through the gap between them...

At the same time, behind Bai Yutang and Zhao Jue, a man fell on his back, with a bullet hole in his forehead and a pistol in his hand. He seemed to have just approached from behind the door, ready to sneak up on them. The bullet that killed him had come in through the cross-shaped bullet holes, killing him with a single, accurate shot.

The ghost standing at that end frowned slightly and looked back at the cross-shaped bullet holes, "Truly a master."

On the far side, on the second floor, Ma Han ejected the empty cartridge with a pull of the bolt and continued to aim, while complaining, "Bai Ye's gun is so hard to use."

Zhao Hu was holding his gun at the side for cover, "Well done, Xiao Ma Ge!"

Ma Han muttered to himself, "Those cross-shaped bullet holes are definitely not simple."

"What do you mean?"

"No dead ends! You can shoot anywhere in the church," Ma Han whispered, "I have a feeling."

"What feeling?"

"It was made by Bai Ye, that cross-shaped bullet hole array."

"Well... his words are quite convincing, but..." Zhao Hu frowned and asked Ma Han, "That little kid who was killed by mistake before, and Bai Ye who often comes here to pay his respects, shouldn't it be him who accidentally killed Xin Xin?"

Ma Han didn't say anything, "Maybe..."

"I always thought it was Eleven before," Zhao Hu said as he watched the surroundings, helping Ma Han watch his back, "because of what Eleven said to you, something about collateral damage and all that."

Ma Han didn't say anything, "He should have told me that much earlier, maybe..."

"Maybe what?"

"Maybe, Eleven would be here for a different purpose." Ma Han frowned, aimed for the other side and fired another shot, pulling back the bolt and ejecting the casing. The golden yellow casing made a nice arc through the air, falling to the ground and rolling with a grunt to the stairway to the second floor rooftop, right to the feet of a man walking up.

Zhao Hu was surprised, "Dr. Zhan, why did you come up here?"

With binoculars in his hand, Zhan Zhao walked up slowly with one hand in his pocket, "Zhao Jue asked me to come here, saying that there was a good show or something."

"A good show?" Zhao Hu was puzzled. At the same time, he saw that behind Zhan Zhao, Bai Ye, who had originally said that he was going to go separately to find Bai Yutang, also walked up, and it seemed that he had come with Zhan Zhao.

"Huh?" Zhao Hu was surprised, "Big Brother, didn't you go looking for our captain?"

Bai Ye walked over to the balcony and looked into the distance, whispering, "Zhao Jue sent me here."

"Him again?" Zhao Hu was surprised, "Hey, why aren't any of you helping our captain and are instead coming here to see what all the fuss is about?"

Bai Ye lifted his binoculars and looked around, finally stopping at a spot and looking into the distance.

Zhan Zhao also grabbed his binoculars and looked in the same direction as him, finding that it was a mountainous area, and thought about it, "Is that the location of the valley over there?"

"The same valley where Gongsun and the others went before?" Zhao Hu also came over.

Ma Han fired a third shot, killing the third man who had attempted to sneak closer to the church to attack Bai Yutang.

On the other side, Zhao Jue yawned and said to Bai Yutang, "Xiao Ma Ge has good marksmanship."

Bai Yutang didn't say much, feeling that something seemed a little fishy.

Just then, Zhao Jue suddenly blew into his ear.

Bai Yutang was startled and knew he was in trouble. He thought he would be attacked by Ghost if he revealed his weakness, but strangely enough, Ghost dodged and ran away... into the darkness.

Bai Yutang was going to chase after it, and Zhao Jue grabbed him, "Why are you chasing?"

Bai Yutang was a little speechless, "You're not only not helping, but adding to the chaos."

"Shhh." Zhao Jue stretched out a finger and wiggled it lightly, "Go that way."

Seeing that he was pointing in the opposite direction, Bai Yutang was a little puzzled, "What do you mean?"

Zhao Jue smiled mysteriously, "There is a saying that the mantis catches the cicada and the yellow bird is behind it, there is a good show to watch."

In the distance, Zhan Zhao put down his binoculars and turned to look at Bai Ye, "Is this the gift that Zhao Jue wants to give you?"

Bai Ye was silent for a long time and shook his head helplessly, "It takes a strong heart to be with him."

"That's true." Zhan Zhao muttered to himself, "There is no craziest, only crazier. Taking everything to the extreme is Zhao Jue's taste."

‿︵‿︵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 21, 2023 by Angel

Edited: March 20, 2023 by Angel