S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 87

Countdown from the Murderer 17 – Night of Fantasy

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With modern criminal investigation technology being so advanced, it is very difficult to fool the police with some magic tricks.

Nevertheless, there are still individuals who, based on the principle of 'one would not be in trouble had one not asked for it', challenge the authorities. Similar to today's situation, they ended up swiftly apprehended by SCI, caught red-handed, and even brought along a mole.

Because of the "special circumstances", Bao Zheng was picked up by the two fathers of Zhan and Bai to go home for "observation". Because he was over-stimulated today, Bai Yutang decided not to inform him about the incident for now, suggesting they discuss it tomorrow morning and allowing him to rest peacefully for the night.

When the SCI crowd returned to the office, it was already close to midnight.

At present, a bunch of people involved in the case have been arrested, but no one has had time to interrogate them, the media attention on the case is extremely high, there are many lives involved... and most importantly, the pharmacist has set a time limit for the case.

The fourteen day countdown, one day had already passed without realising it.

When Zhan Zhao returned to the office, he reached out and rubbed his face. Like a cat with short arms that can't reach his face, he was both cute and distressed and was close to rolling around.

Bai Yutang reached out to stop him – Don't rub it, such a good-looking face, there's no way to replace it if you ruin it!

Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang dejectedly, "Wasted a day!"

Bai Yutang was helpless, "How can arresting so many people in one day be considered a waste? Even Bao Sir was caught! This day is worth several years!"

Zhan Zhao looked at him – Your mouth is more flexible than usual today!

"It's already twelve o'clock, let's go back first." Bai Yutang looked at his watch, instructing everyone to go home first, "Let's get some sleep and investigate in the morning."

To be honest, everyone was tired and went home after getting off work.

When they left the office, Zhan Zhao took the two paintings with him.

Bai Yutang asked him in disbelief, "Cat, where are you going to put them?"

Zhan Zhao stated, "At home!"

Bai Yutang was speechless, "This... Bao Sir just..."

Zhan Zhao nodded, "Let's try it too. Set up a video camera next to them and see if we'll sleepwalk tonight!"

Bai Yutang muttered, "Setting up a camera just to film sleepwalking?"

Zhan Zhao pushed him, "Then what do you want to film?"

Bai Yutang tsked and pulled Zhan Zhao into the elevator.

......

Back in the villa, the others hadn't rested yet. The family members ate too much at the dinner party and were consuming their excess energy in the living room.

Big Brother Bai was sitting on the sofa, reading a document, the twins were watching soccer, and on the sofa behind them, Zhao Zhen was lying against Lisbon and napping.

Zhan Zhao entered the house, looked at the four people lazing around in the living room, and looked at Bai Yutang with dissatisfaction – Why are we both so busy?

Bai Yutang nodded and added, "The busiest yet not making money!"

Zhan Zhao was angry – The misery of a labourer!

Xiao Bai Chi was probably tired as well, he ran to the sofa and just plopped down on Lisbon.

Zhao Zhen patted his chest, which meant, lie on me, why lie on Lisbon?

Bai Chi wrapped around Lisbon and rubbed against him, saying that his feet were sore.

Zhao Zhen was quite distressed and looked at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang – Why is my family this exhausted?

Bai Jintang saw Gongsun and waved, signalling him to go over.

Gongsun was also tired. He went over and leaned directly on Bai Jintang, saying that his neck hurt and his eyes were tired.

Big Brother Bai gave him a shoulder rub while looking at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang – Why is my family this exhausted?

Zhan Zhao was dissatisfied and looked at Bai Yutang – We are also tired! These people! It's great to be pampered, isn't it?

Bai Yutang, on the other hand, was a little confused and looked at Zhan Zhao in disbelief – Is it that tiring?

Zhan Zhao looked at the sky – This stamina monster!

Bai Yutang went upstairs to take a bath and didn't forget to tell Zhan Zhao not to put the paintings in the bedroom.

Zhao Jue also followed them to the villa. He found a sofa and sat down, picked up the little lion and rubbed his fur while asking Zhan Zhao, "Where are you going to hang these two paintings?"

Hearing Zhao Jue say "paintings", Bai Jintang and Zhao Zhen both looked up.

The twins were also curious, "Is it the painting that Bao Sir was struck by?"

Zhan Zhao looked at Zhao Jue speechlessly – Did you send it to the group? Why does everyone know about it?

Zhao Jue smiled and reached for a snack on the table to eat.

Zhan Zhao yawned, put the paintings on the coffee table, and said he was going to take a bath.

Upstairs, Bai Yutang, who just grabbed a towel and came out of his room, heard it and asked, "Together?"

Zhan Zhao ran upstairs with a smile, and the two of them entered the bathroom together.

Everyone glanced upwards.

Bai Jintang looked at Gongsun, while Zhao Zhen looked at Bai Chi.

Gongsun stretched his hands out and made an X, indicating – No! I'm tired, I want to sleep!

Xiao Bai Chi had already fallen asleep.

Big Brother Bai and the great magician both express their dissatisfaction – Work interferes with a happy life!

Bai Jintang and Zhao Zhen first moved Gongsun and Bai Chi back to their rooms for the two to rest, then went downstairs and went back to the sofa, gesturing to the twins – Open the packaging and look at the two paintings!

The twins reached out to remove the kraft paper.

Xiao Ding suddenly retracted his hand and asked, "Will it be dangerous?"

Da Ding also felt scared, "Bao Sir took a look and got caught!"

Zhao Zhen didn't care about this and said that he would like to take it apart and have a look. If it was really so divine, he would try using it in his next magic show.

After thinking about it, the great magician reached out and opened the kraft paper bag.

When the paintings came out, a big one and a small one, they were placed against the coffee table.

Bai Jintang and Zhao Zhen stepped back a little while the twins hid behind the sofa, and the four of them stared at the two paintings for about a minute.

With a "meow", Luban walked past the paintings with his big tail wagging.

It was only then that the four finally came back to their senses and looked at each other, as if waiting for a miracle to happen.

But three minutes passed and there was absolutely no difference between the four of them. The twins didn't feel sleepy, and Bai Jintang and Zhao Zhen didn't have the symptoms of sleepwalking, they just had a common feeling – what an ugly painting!

"Hahaha..." Zhao Jue laughed.

"That's it?"

After a long time, Big Brother Bai showed disdain.

Zhao Zhen also found it unbelievable, "It's not like Bao Sir had a bad stomach, right? It probably has nothing to do with this painting."

The twins nodded as well, unable to see anything magical about this painting.

Seeing that it was almost one o'clock, everyone went back to their rooms to get ready for bed.

The twins ran to hit the bathroom door, shouting to the inside, "You two, restrain yourselves, it's been almost an hour... aiya."

Before he finished speaking, Bai Yutang opened the door. The twins hurried to escape, but they were still hit by a bar of soap.

Zhan Zhao yawned and slipped out, rubbing his hair as he glanced at the living room.

Zhao Jue said that he would stay there tonight and he wouldn't sleep in a guest room even if there was one, he would just squeeze onto the sofa and use Lisbon as a pillow. Lisbon looked quite disgusted with him.

"You want to sleep in the living room?" Zhan Zhao asked him.

Zhao Jue smiled slightly, closed his eyes, reached out and gently pressed his lips, signalling Zhan Zhao – Don't make any noise!

Zhan Zhao was speechless and turned back to prepare to go to sleep, then noticed that the two paintings were already open and were placed by the coffee table next to Zhao Jue.

Zhan Zhao suggested to Bai Yutang, "Let's put those two paintings in the room..."

But before he could finish his words, he was dragged back into the room by Bai Yutang.

Not long after, the lights went out in each room.

On the sofa, Zhao Jue opened his eyes and clapped his hands.

After two claps, the main lights in the living room went out, leaving only the dim and faint sensor lights still on.

Zhao Jue took another look at the two paintings beside him, and the corner of his mouth slightly raised into an arc.

......

In the early hours of the morning, at around three-thirty, Bai Yutang, who was sleeping peacefully, suddenly opened his eyes.

Frowning and sitting up, Bai Yutang sat on the bed and listened, then reached out and gently nudged Zhan Zhao.

"Cat."

"......"

"Cat!"

"Mhmm?"

Zhan Zhao woke up and opened his eyes in a daze. In the darkness, Bai Yutang was gently nudging him.

"What is it, Yutang?" Zhan Zhao rubbed his eyes and propped himself up a little while looking at the clock on the bedside table – It wasn't even four o'clock yet.

Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang with some confusion.

Bai Yutang reached out and pointed to his ear, saying, "Listen!"

Zhan Zhao blinked and listened. In the early hours of the morning, when it should have been quiet, he seemed to hear a sound in the living room... It sounded like the television was on, like it was broadcasting a soccer game?

Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang in disbelief – Did the twins get up to watch a soccer game?

Bai Yutang shook his head, "It's the sounds they make when they are playing, it seems like the two are actually playing soccer."

Zhan Zhao sat up and indeed, listening carefully, there was the sound of crackling and clicking the gamepad.

Both of them woke up from their drowsiness, so they got out of bed and opened the door to the room.

The moment they opened the door to the room, the sounds coming from the living room downstairs became even clearer. Indeed, it was the twins' usual noisy state when they were playing the game, and on top of that, there was also the smell of coffee as well as the sound of flipping through a newspaper.

Zhan Zhao felt that all these sounds were very familiar, as if it was the scene every morning... This sound of flipping newspapers...

Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang nodded, it was the sound of his older brother when he woke up early to read the newspaper.

"And this coffee smell!" Bai Yutang pointed to his nose.

Zhan Zhao also nodded, it was the smell of that coffee Zhao Zhen drank in the morning.

As the two were confused, they saw the door to Zhao Zhen and Bai Chi's room open at the side.

Xiao Bai Chi yawned and walked out. Looking around, he found that Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were standing in the hallway, and Bai Chi was also a little confused.

The two parties looked at each other for a moment. Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both asked Bai Chi, "Awake?"

Bai Chi must have woken up for the night, rubbing his head in confusion, "Where did Zhen go?"

He then also woke up from his dazed state and heard the movement in the living room.

The three of them simply crossed the hallway and walked to the stairs, looking towards the living room.

At this moment, the state of the living room was quite bizarre, and even had a bit of a "fantasy" flavour.

The main light in the living room was not on. This smart light system was just installed by the twins recently and was synchronised with the alarm clocks of everyone. After the lights went out at night, unless someone turned them on, they would not be turned on until the next morning, when the alarm clocks went off.

At this moment, there was only a dim night light in the living room.

But in front of the sofa in the middle of the living room, the twins were playing soccer... the two were as noisy as ever.

Next to them, Zhao Zhen was brewing coffee.

As a young master, Zhao Zhen was as picky as ever. He got an espresso maker and was making coffee, and the whole room was filled with the aroma of coffee.

Bai Jintang was even more ridiculous. The older brother was sitting on the same sofa that he usually sat on, in the darkness, flipping through the newspaper.

Unlike these four people who were in their "daily" state, Zhao Jue was standing in front of the TV with his hands behind his back.

That's right, he was standing between the twins playing the game and the TV, blocking the screen, but the twins didn't seem to notice.

Zhao Jue smiled as he looked at the four "busy" people, and seemed to notice the arrival of Zhan Zhao and the others. He looked up, looked at the three dumbfounded people upstairs, and revealed a wicked smile.

Beside Zhao Jue, all the felines were there, two lions and a group of cats, and they were all looking at the four "busy" people with confusion.

Lisbon's eyes were even more funny. The king of beasts looked at Zhao Zhen and then looked at Zhao Jue, as if asking – Is my master crazy?

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

What do you want to film, Yutang? (/ω＼)

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: March 19, 2024 by Angel

Edited: August 1, 2024 by Angel