S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 4 Chapter 122

The Murderer Who Returned From Hell 21 – Monster in the Apple Orchard

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Zhan Zhao offered to interrogate Cheng Mu.

Bai Yutang asked Wang Chao and Zhang Long, "Have you interrogated him already?"

Zhang Long nodded, “We tried, but Cheng Mu didn't say anything, so he's now being held in the detention room on the seventh floor.

Wang Chao took out a form, "Because he's a seriously dangerous prisoner, a signature is required for interrogation."

Bai Yutang signed the form. Just after signing and dating it and handing it over to Zhang Long, a violent alarm could be heard ringing out.

Everyone froze.

The others stood up, and that was when they heard the phone ring sharply.

Jiang Ping picked up the phone and after listening to it, he said to Bai Yutang, "Boss, Cheng Mu has run away!"

"What?!" The crowd spoke in unison.

Zhao Hu's mouth opened wide, "How could he run away? The seventh floor is heavily guarded!"

“He didn't run from the seventh floor." Jiang Ping pressed the speakerphone button. The one who called was Lu Fang, who explained, "The police officer in charge of guarding the seventh floor said that he suddenly collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth, and his pulse was almost gone when the medical staff examined him. Since he was as skinny as a skeleton, he was urgently rushed to the infirmary. He suddenly jumped up when the doctor was giving him chest compressions, smashed through the glass of the seventh floor infirmary, and climbed downstairs."

“You guys aren't chasing after him?" Bai Yutang rushed to the window to look down, there were a lot of cars down there, but Cheng Mu was nowhere to be found.

"A cool car seemed to be meeting him, he scurried into the car and fled. The car didn't have a licence plate." Lu Fang was helpless, "A manhunt has already begun, all the officers on shift at this time on the seventh floor will be investigated. In addition, the female doctor who treated Cheng Mu said that Cheng Mu said some strange things."

"What things?" Zhan Zhao was curious.

"I'll bring her up." Lu Fang hung up the phone, and not long after, he was seen walking in with a female doctor in her thirties.

Everyone knew her, her surname was Yuan, and her name was Yuan Ting. She had been working at the police station for about ten years, and she basically dealt with any medical emergencies at the station. Dr. Yuan had gauze wrapped around her arm and seemed to be injured.

Gongsun saw it and frowned, "He attacked you?"

"I can't say it was an attack, he pushed me when he was running.” Dr. Yuan was quite chagrined, "I went to grab him and didn't hold on, and I was cut by the instrument."

“Tell Xiao Bai and the others about the situation at that time." Lu Fang said.

Yuan Ting nodded, "At that time, several of our doctors were administering first aid to him. He already had no heartbeat and I was giving him chest compressions, while the two police officers in charge of guarding him were on the sidelines. Just... he suddenly jumped up and shook off my hand that instinctively went to grab him, and directly smashed through the window and went down. His reaction speed is simply faster than the average human..."

Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang frowned slightly and gently stroked his chin.

Gongsun asked Yuan Ting, "What did you say he said just now?"

"Oh!" Yuan Ting frowned and said, "The two officers chased him to the window, and when I opened the other window to look at him, he happened to climb below me and tilted his face to see me."

Everyone looked at Yuan Ting.

"He suddenly said something." Yuan Ting said, "I'm not quite sure if I misheard."

Zhan Zhao asked, "What did he say?"

"He said that it's too late, the apple is ripe." Yuan Ting seemed confused as well, "I don't know if he was talking about apples..."

Zhan Zhao and the others were all unusually sensitive to apples at this time – The apple is ripe...

"Xu Lie." Bai Yutang turned around, calling for Xu Lie in the lounge.

Xu Lie ran out, "Hmm?"

"That apple orchard in the suburbs that you said you saw before, do you still remember the location?"

Xu Lie thought for a moment, "I'm not sure, I don't know the roads very well, but Xiao Lou probably remembers it. You guys also know that he used to be a thief, so the roads would be familiar."

Bai Yutang handed him the phone, "Tell him to arrive within three minutes."

Xu Lie hurriedly called.

About three minutes later, the elevator door opened, Lou Waigua almost fell out, running straight and gasping, "Brother Lie, what did you say about extremely urgent?"

Xu Lie then asked him about the apple orchard.

"Oh, I remember." Lou Waigua said, coming up to Bai Yutang, "I say Captain Bai, is there something wrong with that place?"

Bai Yutang looked at him, "You checked?"

"Hehe." Lou Waigua smiled slightly, "Professional instinct? Even if I don't steal anymore, there's always a bit of curiosity. That factory building, made to look like no man's land, it cost enough to build a flying saucer, how could it be used to grow apples? So I looked for someone to ask about it."

Zhan Zhao asked with great interest, "What kind of person did you find to ask?"

"Hehe, of course it's not someone from the neighbourhood, there's definitely no one in that neighbourhood." Lou Waigua smiled, "I asked the person who knows the most secrets in this world."

The crowd was a little curious, "Who is it?"

"Gossip reporters!" Lou Waigua smiled, "Brother Lie has filmed in that area before, and those paparazzi are pervasive. People have three urgencies, Brother Lie will always look for a convenient place, but those reporters will run around even more."

"Smart." The crowd nodded.

Lou Waigua was naturally pleased to hear the SCI members’ praise, but at this time, his expression was slightly tangled, "I inquired about some... rather scary things, curiosity killed the cat ah!"

"What did you find out?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Lou Waigua stretched out two fingers, "Two reporters died."

Everyone froze.

"What?" Zhan Zhao was surprised.

"It was two paparazzi." Lou Waigua said, "I inquired about it from a paparazzo I know very well. He said that the place was full of evil, and one of the dead ones happened to be his friend. As you know, if paparazzi have news, of course they will follow it themselves, the money for an exclusive is greater. That day that paparazzo seemed to have seen me and Brother Lie, so he followed us all the way, but then he disappeared. Three days later, his body was found on another mountain, far away and completely out of bounds. The coroner said he died from a fall."

"Fell to death?" Bai Yutang was puzzled, "How is that possible, there are no high mountains over there."

"That's right, the few dirt piles aren't steep and there are bushes everywhere, it takes some skill to fall to your death there." Zhao Hu also said.

Lou Waigua rubbed his nose, "The paparazzi were 'killed in the line of duty’. The magazine paid out a lot of money in order to settle the matter, so the family didn't pursue the matter much, and soon the body was cremated. But someone saw the body at that time, guess what?"

Xu Lie kicked Lou Waigua, "Don't talk like a writer, hurry up!"

Lou Waigua shook his head, "They said, his hands, feet and knees were all bloody, all worn out. Then his shoes fell off, and the soles of his feet were all bloody and scarred, and there were so many abrasions on his body and face. He eventually rolled halfway down the hill and died when his head hit a tree."

Gongsun frowned slightly, "The palms of his hands, the soles of his feet and his knees were all bloody?"

Lou Waigua nodded, "The fingernails were all ground off!"

Gongsun stroked his chin, "These are injuries caused by fighting to escape in the wilderness ah..."

"Escape?" Zhan Zhao frowned, "Someone chased him?"

"The one chasing him wasn't a person." Lou Waigua shrugged and stuck out his tongue.

“What is it if it's not a person?" Bai Chi felt a bit horrified.

"Don't I say that two paparazzi died!" Lou Waigua said, "One fell to his death, the second one was even more outrageous, he was bitten to death!"

The crowd stared at Lou Waigua.

"How is that possible?" Zhao Hu was puzzled, "There isn't even a big rat in that forest area, what would bite someone to death?"

Lou Waigua shrugged, "Officially, it was a leopard."

"Where is there a leopard in that place?" Gongsun shook his head repeatedly, "Impossible."

"The case is closed?" Bai Yutang found it unbelievable.

"Later, the forest rangers and firefighters went out to search the mountain, and really caught a leopard. It seemed to be some kind of leopard, or a second class national protected animal, and it was sent to the zoo. It is said that it escaped because of management negligence. That paparazzo is considered to have died in vain, once again saying that he died in the line of duty, and the magazine continued to lose money."

"What kind of zoo is that, letting such a big leopard escape?" Ma Xin was dissatisfied.

"Things are actually not that simple." Lou Waigua said, "After that paparazzo died, a few of his peers who knew each other well always felt that there was something fishy. They investigated and found out that the leopard escaped on the same day that the reporter disappeared, and it was in the evening."

"The problem lies there?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"The zoo is actually quite far from there. A leopard crossed the highway and then ran into the forest, and no one noticed it along the way?" Lou Waigua asked, "Besides, the zoo's leopards are all raised from a young age, where are their fighting abilities? It seems that it is still a young leopard, catching a chicken and a rabbit is nothing, but actively attacking people, why does it feel so unreliable?

Zhao Hu looked at Lou Waigua, happy, “You kid, did you find out what it is?"

Lou Waigua smiled, "Brother Hu has indeed been on the street ah, you also know the rules, I am obliged to help you investigate ah, for a cost."

Bai Yutang took out his wallet and asked, "How much?"

Lou Waigua stretched out a hand, "Five thousand."

"Wow, you’re attacking the land owner?" Zhao Hu raised an eyebrow, "The rule is five hundred."

"Brother Hu, this is something my friend risked his life to get back!" Lou Waigua was mysterious, "It's definitely worth every penny!"

Bai Yutang was speechless, but still paid him.

Lou Waigua tucked away the money and took out his own cell phone, "Nowadays, paparazzi are very well-equipped. That paparazzo who was bitten to death wore a watch on his hand with a pinhole camera on it, and he wore it basically all day long. For one, in order to steal emissions easily, for another, reporters are at high risk ah, keep it for good defence, and when you die, others will know how you died. When my friend received his belongings, the watch came along. He took out the internal storage and put it on his computer for me to see, and I copied it."

Everyone then saw that what Lou Waigua copied was a video with a constantly shaking image. They saw that in the image, someone was running on his hands and knees. Voices could also be heard, there were gasps and cries for help, and an eerie howling sound.

Everyone frowned at the video with strange visual effects, and suddenly... the video captured an image. The fleeing man screamed miserably, and was yanked down a hill by a furry arm.

This was followed by an even more chaotic video, which was bloody as hell, with a monkey frantically tearing at the man's flesh...

"Monkey!" Zhan Zhao was horrified, "That's a monkey right?"

The crowd nodded.

On the side, Bai Chi, who had always loved monkeys, turned pale. The white T-shirt he was wearing had a Yoho Monkey pattern on it, but this monkey was too terrifying, like a raging, mad monkey.

"Why does this monkey look bigger than normal monkeys?" Ma Han frowned.

Due to the shaking of the video, the crowd couldn't see it too clearly, but based on the proportions, this monkey did look big.

"Is there a monkey missing from the zoo?" Zhao Hu couldn't help but ask.

"It simply can't be an ordinary monkey!" Gongsun shook his head vigorously, "No matter how violent a monkey is, it wouldn't be possible for it to attack a human like this, there's something wrong with this monkey!"

Everyone looked at him.

"This is a monkey used for biological experiments..." Before Gongsun finished his words, a whistle suddenly sounded from the cell phone video.

The monkey that was attacking people suddenly stopped.

"There's someone!" The crowd stared intently at the screen.

Lou Waigua prompted from the side, "Look carefully! The main event is coming!"

‿︵‿︵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: December 20, 2023 by Angel

Edited: January 2, 2024 by Angel