S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 4 Chapter 84

Toothless Murderer 07 – Intuition and Reasoning

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Where is the missing diary?

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang walked out side by side.

Zhan Zhao suddenly asked Bai Yutang, "Do you know?"

Bai Yutang thought for a moment, "I probably know."

"Then where shall we look?" Zhan Zhao seemed to want to test Bai Yutang.

"We're going to find someone to ask, right?" Bai Yutang asked.

Zhan Zhao slightly raised an eyebrow, "That's right, you should have guessed this kind of thing before Zhao Jue and I did."

When Bai Yutang heard Zhan Zhao say this, he was a little puzzled, "Why do you say that?"

"Because it has something to do with feelings." Zhan Zhao said seriously, "Zhao Jue and I aren't quite normal in this regard, you're more normal."

Bai Yutang was helpless and caressed Zhan Zhao's head, "Where are you not normal?"

Zhan Zhao opened the car door and got into the passenger seat, "This case is very special."

Bai Yutang started the car and drove away, nodding as he did so, "This case, we have a chance to stop the murders from happening, and conversely, if we fail, then we will be watching people die."

Who were Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang going to find?

Bai Yutang first called Ma Han and asked him if Ran Shaoqi was with him and Chen Jiayi.

Ma Han nodded and said that Chen Jiayi was worried that Ran Shaoqi wasn't too stable, so she sent him home first to take care of him.

Bai Yutang nodded and asked Ma Han, "Ask Ran Shaoqi for me, if Chang Yan were to hide a letter addressed to him, where would she hide it?"

Ma Han didn't quite understand, but still walked over and asked Ran Shaoqi.

Ran Shaoqi was holding a teacup at this moment, and was silent for a long time before sighing softly, "She would hide it inside the stone wall of the porch at the west gate of Castle Park at the peak of the Western Mountains."

Bai Yutang frowned after hearing this long answer – Western Mountains...

"It's so far away." Zhan Zhao also frowned.

"It'll take at least an hour to drive there, and it'll take at least an hour to climb to the top of the mountain to find the porch of that park." Bai Yutang sighed, "It seems like physical work."

"What's wrong?" Ma Han asked Bai Yutang.

"It's nothing." Bai Yutang heard that Ma Han's voice seemed a bit helpless, and knew that he was getting bored. Everyone else was investigating the case while he had nothing to do, he probably couldn't stand it anymore, so he said, "By the way, do you think that Ran Shaoqi is a good guy or a bad guy?"

Ma Han froze, and even Zhan Zhao beside him turned his face to look at Bai Yutang.

Ma Han thought for a moment and asked, "Which standpoint do you want me to answer from?"

Bai Yutang laughed, "Whatever you want."

Ma Han was silent for a while, and footsteps and the sound of a door closing could be heard.

Ma Han closed the door and went out into the hallway, replying indifferently, "I hate this kind of man."

Zhan Zhao held his chin and asked over speakerphone, "Oh? Why? He's a national treasure artist."

Ma Han walked over to the windowsill, lit a cigarette, and answered slowly, "Does he have any other value besides being able to play the piano?"

"Wow... the evaluation is so low!" Zhan Zhao tsked twice, "Do you like listening to Chang Yan's songs?"

"Can't understand them." Ma Han looked out the window with a cigarette in his mouth, there were a lot of trees planted around Ran Shaoqi's villa, and the line of sight wasn't too clear.

"She sang it in Chinese!" Zhan Zhao reminded.

"I prefer to listen to Qi Le's band." Ma Han replied.

"Oh?" Zhan Zhao was interested in analysing Ma Han's psychology, but Bai Yutang interrupted him, "The murderer said that all the people he wants to kill are bad people, if you think he's a bad person..."

Zhan Zhao turned his face to look at Bai Yutang, curious, "You think the first person the murderer wants to kill is Ran Shaoqi? Is there any basis for your reasoning?"

Bai Yutang ended the call and said indifferently, "It's just a feeling."

"Oh? Speaking from intuition?" Zhan Zhao perked up, Bai Yutang's intuition had always been the psychological subject he wanted to study the most!

"I just feel that if I were a fan of Chang Yan's songs, then the first person I would want to kill would be Ran Shaoqi." Bai Yutang said indifferently.

"Why?" Zhan Zhao asked with a smile, "To kill a love rival?"

"No, it's to let him go down to accompany Chang Yan." Bai Yutang said, "If love can be equal, then a life for a life, it's normal!"

Zhan Zhao stroked his chin.

"In Ma Han's opinion, Ran Shaoqi's love is not worth anything at all." Bai Yutang said indifferently, "He loves his music the most, and Chang Yan second, but Chang Yan loved him the most, and her own life second. So if I loved Chang Yan very much, I would definitely kill Ran Shaoqi first, so that he could return this love to Chang Yan."

Zhan Zhao blinked, "Intuition and feelings... your way of reasoning is really different."

"What reasoning is needed for this?" Bai Yutang laughed, "It's just the feelings of an ordinary person. It's like if Chang Yan's fans now knew what Chang Yan had given for Ran Shaoqi during her lifetime, and Ran Shaoqi had never dared to disclose his feelings for her, many people would have scolded him saying 'Why didn't you accompany her to her death?' It's just that most people just talk about it and won't do anything about it."

"Then how do you know that the diary was hidden by Chang Yan, in a place that only Ran Shaoqi knows about?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"How did you know that?" Bai Yutang asked.

"It's simple reasoning. Chang Yan basically lived for her master in her life, so the place where she hid the items must have something to do with Ran Shaoqi, so asking Ran Shaoqi would lead to clues." Zhan Zhao said.

Bai Yutang smiled but didn't say anything.

"What are you smiling at? My reasoning was wrong?"

"No, your reasoning has always been correct." Bai Yutang replied, "But it's not romantic at all."

"Romantic?!" Zhan Zhao narrowed his eyes, "This abstract, irrational, psychologically unexplainable word is one of the words I hate the most."

Bai Yutang couldn't laugh or cry.

Zhan Zhao poked him, "Go on, what's the romantic reasoning?"

Bai Yutang thought for a moment, "As you said before, Chang Yan's diary is essentially filled with narratives, with little emotional description... it's probably because she's romantically unattached in this life, so there's nothing worth writing about. However, Chen Jiayi said that she was very happy during the time she was in a relationship with Ran Shaoqi, so I think that she purposely took that book out. That book probably doesn't have any narrative in it, only writing about the little bits and pieces of feelings she had during the time she was in a relationship."

Zhan Zhao frowned, "Baseless reasoning..."

"So I'm just guessing." Bai Yutang said, "She knew that she would not have long to live. If I were her, I would hide this diary recording every bit of happiness during the time she was in love in a place where only Ran Shaoqi would be able to find it, and no one else would be able to find it. In this way, when Ran Shaoqi revisits his hometown one day in the future, he will suddenly find... that this diary will be a lifelong memory for him, as if she was still accompanying him. Giving him the diary through this method is much more romantic than giving it to him directly."

"You think that diary is equivalent to Chang Yan's love letter to Ran Shaoqi, so the first person the other party wants to kill is Ran Shaoqi...." Zhan Zhao frowned, "Interesting."

"You trust my intuition?" Bai Yutang asked.

Zhan Zhao held his chin, "Although I've never been able to explain it, it seems to be pretty accurate, Zhao Jue said that you inherited the blood of a wild beast!"

Bai Yutang was helpless, "Maybe it's wrong, it's better to go find the diary, it's safer for you to reason it out."

"Then do you want someone to protect Ran Shaoqi?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"Don't worry, Ma Han is there. Besides, the other party also said that the murder happened in three days." Bai Yutang said, "Let's talk about it after reading the diary."

Zhan Zhao nodded, thought about it and quietly reached for Bai Yutang's cell phone, shrinking aside to send a text message.

Bai Yutang was about to drive, and caught a glimpse of Zhan Zhao sneaking around in the corner of his eyes, and was puzzled, "Who are you texting?"

Zhan Zhao glanced at him, "Drive carefully!"

Bai Yutang didn't ask anymore and drove to the Western Mountains.

Who did Zhan Zhao text?

He sent a text message to Zhao Jue, "Guess what's written in the diary?"

Not a moment later, Zhao Jue sent one back, "Have you finished reading it?"

"I haven't seen it, the diary hasn't arrived yet. Guess what's in it!" Zhan Zhao sent over an emoji with its tongue out.

Soon after, Zhao Jue sent a scowling emoji back, adding in passing, "How can I guess this? Those kinds of mortals usually do a lot of abnormal things."

Zhan Zhao typed again, typing Bai Yutang's speculation and sending it over to Zhao Jue, asking him, "What do you think?"

In the middle of the day, Zhao Jue replied, "What is this reasoning based on?"

"Xiao Bai said it was intuition." Zhan Zhao continued to text.

After a long time, Zhao Jue sent over an emoji of spreading his hands, "Those surnamed Bai are really in a realm unreachable by psychology."

Zhan Zhao seemed to be in a good mood and did not reply again.

After a while, Zhao Jue sent another one over – Why are you telling me this?

After thinking about it, Zhan Zhao typed a series of words – You also can't understand it, I'm relieved!

Zhao Jue sent a smiley face over – Good cat!

Zhan Zhao sent a smiley face back – Foolish!

After that, Zhan Zhao happily put his cell phone away and looked at the roadside scenery.

On the other side, Bai Ye looked at Zhao Jue who flipped the table for the second time, "You've argued with your cell phone twice in one day, why don't we go back?"

"No!" Zhao Jue huffed and kicked a sofa cushion, "Dead cat!"

......

Ma Han extinguished the cigarette butt, opened the door and returned to the living room.

Ran Shaoqi had already fallen asleep on the sofa... After all, he was already old and had suffered a lot of stimulation, and his face was very haggard.

Chen Jiayi sat on the sofa next to him, dazed.

Ma Han walked to the window and smoothly pulled the curtains closed.

Chen Jiayi came back to her senses and turned her face to look... Ma Han stood behind the curtains, gently opening a little gap with one hand and looking outside.

Chen Jiayi leaned sideways on the armrest of the sofa, looking at Ma Han's profile, thinking back to something in the past.

She and Chang Yan were like sisters, and when she found a boyfriend, she naturally brought him to show her.

Chang Yan once asked her, "You're a big star, and he's a sniper, are you playing a realistic bodyguard game? He's cold as a rock and he's good looking, but if you want a handsome guy, you can grab them by the handful, what do you see in him?"

Jiayi was dumbfounded, how did she answer at that time? Right, it seems she told Chang Yan this: "This man could still pull me in from outside the window sill with a broken hand, and he didn't love me at that time. If he loved me, how strong would his love be? How happy would I be?"

"Jiayi."

Chen Jiayi looked up and saw Ma Han calling out to her, looking more serious than usual.

"Hmm?" Chen Jiayi stood up, aware that something might be going on.

"Does this villa have a basement?"

Chen Jiayi thought about it.

At this time, Ran Shaoqi, who was just resting, woke up. He probably heard him and said, "Yes, there is, there is a storage room."

Ma Han beckoned to the two, meaning – Both of you get up.

Jiayi helped Ran Shaoqi up, and the three of them quickly headed in the direction of the basement.

"What happened?" Ran Shaoqi asked.

Ma Han opened the door of the basement and checked it, there were two doors, very safe, but not too hidden.

"Go in and stand against the wall, wait about ten minutes." Ma Han said to Jiayi while pulling out his gun.

Chen Jiayi didn't say a word of nonsense. She first helped Ran Shaoqi to go down, then quickly turned back to give Ma Han a kiss on the cheek, "Be careful."

Ma Han nodded and waited for her to go down before closing the door to the basement.

Ma Han walked to the outer doorway of the basement and stood there. In front of him was a long hallway, with no windows on any of the sides.

Ma Han pulled the bolt of the gun, and calculated... It probably wouldn't take ten minutes. While thinking about it, he took out his cell phone and dialled a number.

Zhao Hu was checking the surveillance videos in the film and television city, and saw several waves of crews filming, and it was quite interesting... At this time, his phone rang.

Zhao Hu saw that it was Ma Han calling, and said after connecting, "I say, you miss me after just a little while apart..."

Before Zhao Hu could finish his words, he heard a gunshot from the other end.

"Fuck!" Zhao Hu jumped, flew to his car, and started it, but the call had already been disconnected.

Zhao Hu called Bai Yutang, "Head! There's shooting where my CP is!"

And Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, who had received the call, glanced at each other.

Zhan Zhao stroked his chin, "That means your guess was right?"

Bai Yutang said to Zhao Hu, "Bring some backup over to him, he's at Ran Shaoqi's villa."

"I'm almost there!" Zhao Hu raced to Ran Shaoqi's villa, took out his gun and ran inside, thinking – Leave two for me!

But unfortunately, when Zhao Hu arrived at the entrance to the villa's basement, he saw three killers with guns who had all taken a shot to the shoulder. These hits were accurate, they all hit the same position, in the shoulder groove above the clavicle, a spot where it won't injure any internal organs nor bleed a lot, but it hurts to death!

The three killers were cuffed, and Ma Han was calling for an ambulance.

In the room, Ran Shaoqi and Chen Jiayi had already come up.

Jiayi was holding her face and was falling into her obsession, it was estimated that she wouldn't be able to wake up for a while.

"What's the situation?" Zhao Hu asked Ma Han.

Ma Han looked at the three killers and said, "It's a bit strange."

"Yeah, didn't they say that they would kill after three days? Why did they come so early?" Zhao Hu frowned, "Not keeping their word?"

Ma Han couldn't figure it out either.

......

"No problem at all." Zhan Zhao rested his hands on the back of his head, slowly and methodically saying to Bai Yutang, who was driving the car and was equally confused, "They can simply capture Ran Shaoqi and then kill him three days later."

Bai Yutang frowned, "He's playing tricks?"

"In other words..." Zhan Zhao said, "during these three days, Ran Shaoqi will still be in danger."

Bai Yutang's face sank, "It seems like we need to find Bao Sir to get reinforcements. In addition to investigating the case, our manpower will have to be divided to protect those targeted by the other side... And the diary will still have to be analysed, in case after three days, he kills someone else related to the diary..."

"This murderer is very clever." Zhan Zhao's finger gently tapped on the car window, "A question with countless answers, it seems that we have to change our method of dealing with him, otherwise we can only let him lead us by the nose."

‿︵‿︵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: August 20, 2023 by Angel

Edited: August 25, 2023 by Angel