S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 4 Chapter 61

Ghost Ship Murderer 25 – The Source of Anger

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He Ying rested her chin on her hands and watched Jiang Ping change the sketches piece by piece.

"What about this one?"

"Not like that."

"This one?"

"Hmm..."

"This one?"

"Well..."

"Hey, Miss," Jiang Ping tried more than sixty or seventy face shapes alone, and finally looked at He Ying helplessly, "do you remember it or not?"

He Ying scratched her head, "I don't know… every one looks the same."

"You're face blind, huh?" Jiang Ping was anxious, "It's obvious that every face is different, where is the resemblance?"

He Ying held her chin and squinted at him, and after a long time, one word emerged, "Otaku!"

The corners of Jiang Ping's mouth twitched and he looked at He Ying for a long time before speaking, "Leftover girl."

......

"Aiya!"

The crowd in the ward, who were chatting about the Blue Undead ring, heard a commotion next door and then saw Jiang Ping rushing in, holding his head, with He Ying holding up a white pillow from the hospital bed and smacking him from behind.

Zhao Hu hurriedly went to stop her, "Wow… Miss, calm down, the crime of assaulting a police officer is very serious, and, didn't you just lose a lot of blood, are you full of blood so quickly?"

He Ying was gasping for breath and pointed at Jiang Ping, "I won't spare you."

Jiang Ping hid behind Bai Yutang. He was a technician, different from ordinary SCI police officers of course, a standard nerd who doesn't exercise, similar to Zhan Zhao and Gongsun, who both belonged to the type of people who move their mouths but not their hands. However, Gongsun has a poisonous tongue and can send a scalpel flying when it matters. Zhan Zhao doesn't move his mouth, but if he did, he could take someone's life if they were within a few feet. Jiang Ping was more miserable, if you give him a keyboard, he can invade the Pentagon or something, but the rest is useless.

Zhan Zhao asked Jiang Ping curiously, "What did you do to provoke her?"

Jiang Ping scowled, "After half a day of doing sketches, we couldn't even determine the face shape."

Zhan Zhao froze slightly.

Bai Yutang looked at He Ying.

He Ying's temper cooled off and she frowned, "I don't know if I fainted from the fall, I can't remember what that face looked like, obviously I remembered it very clearly before."

After hearing this, Zhan Zhao gently rubbed his chin and looked back at Zhao Jue.

Zhao Jue was lying on the sofa as if nothing was wrong, his fingers fiddling with the bunch of blue hyacinths on the coffee table.

Zhan Zhao looked at the hyacinths again and frowned slightly.

A smile appeared on Zhao Jue's face and he opened his mouth, gesturing to Zhan Zhao.

When Zhan Zhao looked at his mouth shape, he only said two words – Good cat.

Zhan Zhao turned around and thought to himself – Could it be that Zhao Jue was thinking the same thing he was?

At that moment, Bai Yutang received a call from Bao Zheng.

"Bao Sir?" Bai Yutang answered the call and headed out, and after a while, he walked back in with a sullen expression.

Zhan Zhao was familiar with Bai Yutang's expression, it was the expression he made when he was very upset but also very helpless...

"What's wrong?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Bai Yutang came up to Zhan Zhao's ear and whispered, "Bao Sir just called and said that Stephen's sister woke up and identified Nguyen Van Gao as the one who attacked her and the butler, and he urged us to close the case."

"Urging us to close the case?" Zhan Zhao was a little amused, "What's the rush?"

Bai Yutang raised an eyebrow slightly, "There are several families who have frequent dealings with the upper ranks of the police."

"Bao Sir won't accept this, right?" Zhan Zhao frowned.

"It's true that he doesn't accept it, but there's no reason not to close the case at the moment." Bai Yutang was helpless, "Should he tell them that the suspect is a ghost?"

Zhan Zhao frowned, it was true that they couldn't say it, they wouldn't even believe it themselves if they did.

"What's wrong?" Lin Ruo asked.

"Uh..." Zhan Zhao looked at Lin Ruo and then at Han Wei on the bed, then glanced at Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang sighed – If Nguyen Van Gao's attempt to attack Lin Ruo was considered a proven crime, then he had already been arrested, and the patient who had just attacked Lin Ruo at the hospital was mentally ill, so it could be passed off as a coincidence in the end.

"What kind of rush are Stephen and the others in?" Zhan Zhao wondered, "Why are they in a hurry to close the case?"

"Because of the bad publicity."

The crowd froze and turned around to see He Ying, who was standing to the side, muttering.

"What's the impact?" Zhan Zhao asked curiously.

He Ying blinked, "You guys don't... read gossip news, do you?"

Everyone looked at each other in confusion.

Jiang Ping wondered, "What gossip?"

"Why don't you all read it?" He Ying asked the two nurses to bring a pile of magazines back from the duty room and showed them to the crowd. They saw that the magazines were like serialised novels, with detailed reports on the 'Rose Garden Bloodbath'.

"The rose garden bloodbath?" Zhan Zhao frowned, "Is it about the case in Stephen's garden?"

Bai Yutang flipped through the pages, then was extremely surprised, "... Who wrote this? What family feud, where did they get this lead?"

"Very suspicious indeed!" Zhan Zhao nodded, "Surprisingly, they even knew that Stephen had six girlfriends before, why didn't we investigate this!"

He Ying looked at the sky, "Of course the gossip magazines are writing nonsense."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang froze and looked at her together, "Nonsense?"

"Yeah, but normally everyone takes it seriously except for the police, and some of the gossipy cops might take it seriously too." He Ying smiled, "Today's issue hasn't come out yet, you can buy it at the newsstand when you get off work later."

"The report didn't mention Emilia at all, it seems to be just speculation based on some superficial information, but the writing is really wonderful." Bai Yutang shook his head and looked at Zhan Zhao, "This magazine is very good at attracting attention, the headlines are very shocking, and it also touches on more sensitive topics like hatred of the rich, ill-gotten gains, and family history, somewhat stirring up hatred for that group of high-flying rich people."

Zhan Zhao hugged his arms, "People like to read these. These days, people generally think that the second generation of rich people should be unforgivable, so who cares if they write about starting with nothing, self-improvement, being polite and having a strict family upbringing?"

Bai Yutang put down the magazine, "Let's procrastinate, there's no reason to close the case just because he wants to." As he spoke, he looked at Zhan Zhao, "Cat, that looks like a good excuse!"

Zhan Zhao was speechless – Whenever there was such a thing, he allowed himself to think of excuses.

"Hmm..." Zhan Zhao rubbed his chin and thought about it.

Then they heard Zhao Jue in the back of the room slowly say, "Nguyen Van Gao is not a rabbit in a cage, he can say whatever you want him to say, just tell him to bite the bullet and say there is a mastermind behind this."

Everyone turned back to look at him.

Bai Yutang raised an eyebrow – That's a good idea.

Zhan Zhao cast a sideways glance at Zhao Jue – Heresy.

Zhao Jue smiled and touched the hyacinth again.

The corners of Zhan Zhao's mouth twitched and he wanted to kick him twice, preferably on his bearded chin!

"By the way," Zhan Zhao asked Lin Ruo, "since Han Wei has woken up, there's no need for you to continue the Emilia plan any further, right? "

Lin Ruo listened and looked slightly helpless, "I never planned for the Emilia to go to sea either, it was Stephen and the others..."

"Can't you get the plan cancelled?" Bai Yutang asked, "If this ship goes to sea, something will most likely go wrong."

"I've talked to Stephen about this before, but the business investment is so huge that I'm afraid if it's cancelled on short notice, he'll lose a lot of money and he won't be able to explain to those investors and shareholders. Also..." Lin Ruo paused for a moment, "do know why Stephen wants to rush you guys to close the case?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other, and were silent for a moment, understanding in their hearts.

Zhao Hu didn't quite understand and nudged Ma Han with his arm, "What does that mean?"

Ma Han whispered, "They want to get revenge personally."

"Oh..." Zhao Hu understood and nodded, "Those noble sons can't bear to swallow this anger, so they want to kill the murderer themselves."

"Do they know about you and Han Wei?" Zhan Zhao asked Lin Ruo.

Lin Ruo looked at Han Wei, "Knowing is knowing..."

"I don't know them too well." Han Wei saw that Lin Ruo seemed to have some kind of dilemma, so he helped him, "They don't like me very much."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang understood in their hearts – They were indeed not from the same world.

"By the way," Han Wei suddenly asked Lin Ruo, "have your friends all been well these past few years?"

Lin Ruo laughed bitterly. He didn't tell Han Wei about the recent string of murders, why would he tell him that?

On the matter of 'Emilia', Lin Ruo had already made it very clear. Of course, except for Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue, everyone only felt that they had heard one more horror story.

Bai Yutang wanted to ask Zhan Zhao if he had found anything, but before he could say anything, there were chaotic noises coming from the doorway.

Everyone turned to look over and saw several tall men in black standing in the doorway.

Bai Yutang frowned slightly.

At that moment, an old man appeared in front of the crowd.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang recognised him as the butler of Lin Ruo's family.

The butler's face was rather gloomy, "Young Master."

As soon as Lin Ruo saw him, his face became bitter and he scratched his head.

"Young Master, Master has heard about your attack and knows about..." said the butler, who glanced at Han Wei on the side, then said, "Master told you to hurry home."

Lin Ruo looked at the posture of the group of black-clad men behind him, it seemed that the old man had given the order to kidnap him if he didn't go back.

Lin Ruo stood up and whispered as he passed by Bai Yutang, "During this time, please take care of Han Wei for me, I might not be able to come out for a while."

Bai Yutang was slightly stunned and nodded.

Lin Ruo turned around and patted Han Wei's shoulder. Han Wei seemed to understand and nodded to say goodbye to him.

Lin Ruo followed the butler back, surrounded by bodyguards in front and behind, which was quite imposing. 

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang glanced at each other – Did they get wind of this so quickly?

Just as he was wondering, Zhan Zhao noticed that Zhao Jue had gotten off the sofa and moved to the side of Han Wei's bed, finding a stool and sitting down while crossing his legs, "His dad doesn't like you, huh?"

Han Wei sighed and whispered, "Uncle doesn't like Lin Ruo and I interacting too much."

"Why?" Zhao Jue was curious.

Zhan Zhao found it strange – Would Zhao Jue gossip about this?

"Uncle is very demanding of Lin Ruo's future." Han Wei said lightly, "He thinks it's a waste of time to befriend people who can't help him."

"Oh." Zhao Jue nodded and narrowed his eyes, "It's really the kind of values successful people should have."

"Things like success are relative." Han Wei vaguely muttered a sentence, then stopped talking and asked the doctor who came to check on him about the arrangements for rehabilitation and physiotherapy, seemingly very eager to recover his body.

After Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang made arrangements, they said goodbye to Han Wei and left two police officers in charge of security, as Han Wei already had someone to take care of him, which Lin Ruo had arranged.

The patient who attacked Lin Ruo was brought back to the police station by Ma Han and Zhao Hu. After Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang got into the car, Zhao Jue climbed into the back seat, flopped back into the seat and said, "I'm starving, let's go eat!"

Before Bai Yutang could say anything, Zhan Zhao asked him, "Doesn't Han Wei have any family?"

Bai Yutang shook his head, "It seems that no one cares if he lives or dies."

The corners of Zhao Jue's mouth twitched – He was being ignored!

"Does Han Wei mean that Lin Ruo's father is resentful of his son hanging out with him because they're from different social classes?" Bai Yutang drove on, frowning, "I don't think it's very reasonable."

"How is it unreasonable?" Zhan Zhao asked with interest, "What is your sixth sense telling you?"

Bai Yutang smiled, "I think Master Lin's attitude towards the butler, bodyguards and the family's underlings is very kind, not like someone who is quite snobbish, and judging from Lin Ruo's character, he wasn't raised to be a nobleman."

"Hey!" Zhao Jue glared at the two, "I'm hungry!"

Zhan Zhao held his chin in thought and looked at Bai Yutang, "Stephen and the others are so sure the murderer will be on board?"

"Apparently they have clues that we don't, that even Lin Ruo doesn't have. I keep thinking that these guys have something to do with what happened back then." When Bai Yutang finished his answer, behind him, Zhao Jue suddenly jumped up and covered his eyes, "I'm starving to death!"

......

Ma Han and Zhao Hu saw Bai Yutang's car in front of them suddenly move in an S-shape, and raised their eyebrows – The captain hadn't driven like this for a long time.

Zhan Zhao wrestled Zhao Jue away from him so that Bai Yutang could drive steadily and avoid the consequences of a car crash.

Zhan Zhao glared at Zhao Jue, "Starve to death!"

Zhao Jue crossed his arms, "Brat, you dare to ignore me, I won't tell you what the Blue Undead is!"

......

Zhao Hu and Ma Han then saw Bai Yutang's car in front of them suddenly brake sharply.

"Motherfu-!" Zhao Hu shouted, and Ma Han hurriedly slammed on the brakes, almost rear-ending them.

Bai Yutang turned back to look at Zhao Jue who had hit his head on the back of the seat, "Do you know what the Blue Undead is? Do you know where that ring came from?"

Zhao Jue scowled and rubbed his head, "I want to eat something delicious."

Bai Yutang looked at the sky for a moment and then looked at Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao patiently asked, "What do you want to eat?"

Zhao Jue smiled and looked at him from behind his seat, "Admit your mistake first."

Zhan Zhao's eyes twitched as he reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out his cell phone.

Zhao Jue tilted his head and didn't understand, "What? Ordering takeaway? I don't want takeaway, I want to eat at the restaurant."

"Oh." Zhan Zhao slowly and methodically said, "Before, Bai Ye gave me a phone number, saying that if you make trouble, I can..."

Before Zhan Zhao could finish his sentence, Zhao Jue grabbed his phone and glared at him, "Traitor!"

Zhan Zhao withdrew his hand, "Obviously I'm on the same side as Bai Ye, who wants to be in cahoots with you?!" He said, about to dial the number again.

"I want paella, duck tongue, and durian flavoured ice cream, I also want to eat bean paste buns..." Zhao Jue leaned back, "And no calling that plague demon!"

Zhan Zhao imagined that mix of flavours and bristled as he muttered, "Kill you!"

But there was no way out, Bai Yutang let Zhao Hu and the others take the man back first, and drove themselves... to a restaurant of Bai Jintang's that was doing well.

Naturally, there were seats for Bai Yutang when he came, so a private room was prepared and he ordered Zhao Jue whatever he wanted to eat.

Seeing that Zhao Jue was in a much better mood after eating, Zhan Zhao asked, "Do you know about the Blue Undead?"

Zhao Jue took a spoonful of paella and then a spoonful of ice cream, "This ring, it's worth a lot of money."

"In other words, back then, Logan used that ring to trick Emilia. It wasn't a legend, it was really there?" Zhan Zhao frowned.

"Hehe." Zhao Jue took another bite of his bean paste bun, "If this ring really exists, then it would explain where Emilia's anger that has no end comes from."

‿︵‿︵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: June 10, 2023 by Angel

Edited: July 6, 2023 by Angel