S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 99

Countdown from the Murderer 29 – Medicine Bottle

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Zhan Zhao woke Zhao Jue up with a pillow and told him to "get to work."

In the hallway outside the interrogation room, Zhan Zhao asked Zhao Jue, "Did you notice something off about Qian Yu early in the morning?"

Zhao Jue shrugged indifferently, "More or less."

Zhan Zhao looked at him with puzzlement – Since when did he notice something was wrong?

"When Xiao Black got caught." Zhao Jue said.

That single sentence left Zhan Zhao stunned.

Although he was reluctant to admit it, Zhan Zhao had to acknowledge his defeat. He looked at Zhao Jue with some annoyance – What did he mean by that?

Seeing Zhan Zhao's expression, Zhao Jue smiled.

"It doesn't really matter when you noticed," Zhao Jue seemed to reassure Zhan Zhao, "because whether you noticed early or late, the occurrence of this incident couldn't have been stopped."

"Couldn't have been stopped?" Bai Yutang, who had come back with a bottle of water, appeared behind them.

Zhao Jue pointed towards the room where Qian Yu was being held. "For example, there's a little tiger..."

Bai Yutang raised an eyebrow slightly, while Zhan Zhao remained puzzled – Who are you referring to?

Zhao Jue looked up at the sky, "Don't be so sensitive, I'm talking about a real little tiger."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang gestured to him – Continue!

"This little tiger was raised among a flock of sheep from birth, fed with artificial meat. When the tiger grows up, will it know that it's the king of beasts?"

Zhao Jue's analogy seemed unrelated to what he said about "the occurrence of this incident couldn't have been stopped." However, in fact, as clever as Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were, they immediately grasped the profound meaning behind it. Indeed, that was the clearest answer to the question.

"Even if the tiger doesn't know it's a tiger, it doesn't change the fact that it is a tiger. As long as there's an opportunity for it to realise it's not a sheep at all, then that flock of sheep will suddenly shift from being its companions to its prey."

"You mean, Qian Yu didn't know about his abilities before being admitted to the mental hospital," Bai Yutang asked, "and only after entering that hospital did he understand his position in the food chain?"

"In the food chain..." Zhao Jue muttered, nodding as if he found the expression quite apt.

"He only discovered how special he was after being locked up, and then he planned this escape operation?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Zhao Jue nodded, "Mhmm, even if there was no Wang Meiyun, there would be Zhao Meiyun and Shen Meiyun. Even Xiao Black and those two family members with strong fighting abilities fell victim, indicating that most people can be affected. Those affected individuals may not necessarily be Wang Meiyun alone. But as more and more people are affected, characters like Wang Meiyun will inevitably emerge. As for Qian Fu, Zhou Ping and the others, regardless of how important their roles may seem, they are actually insignificant."

"Although the expression is convoluted, the meaning is clear." Bai Yutang said. "Are you suggesting that all these people are like Wang Meiyun, all inevitably existing and leading to the same outcome?"

Zhao Jue chuckled slightly, putting his arm around Zhan Zhao's shoulder. "See, your little tiger is both strong and smart."

Zhan Zhao nodded in agreement and continued his analysis. "So, the truly important individuals are not those influenced by the paintings to participate in this escape operation, but those who aren't affected – like Su Li?"

Zhao Jue smiled, "His uniqueness lies in his amnesia! He's a very special case."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at him – What do you mean?

"Usually, people without memories are easier to control!" Zhao Jue said. "He doesn't remember anything, so whatever you tell him, he'll believe, like a blank slate, right?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both nodded.

"The same goes the other way around." Zhao Jue continued. "No matter how well you draw or perfect it, the next day, it will still revert to a blank slate!"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both found this line of thought insightful – Controlling Su Li might be easy, but how do you ensure that Su Li remains under control? According to several nurses, the amnesia team lost track of Su Li. As a crucial part of the entire escape plan, how did Qian Yu manage to control Su Li?

"This situation may seem novel to humans, but it's quite commonplace for animals," Zhao Jue continued to give hints.

Bai Yutang didn't quite grasp this statement and turned to look at Zhan Zhao.

But Zhan Zhao, being more aligned with this topic professionally, immediately understood Zhao Jue's point. "Right... cats and dogs have short memories, especially dogs, yet they can remember their owners for a lifetime!"

Zhao Jue smiled slightly, teaching smart children can be very fulfilling

"There's someone who can control Su Li, he has a 'master'," Zhan Zhao said.

"Could it be that escaped Sun Xi?" Bai Yutang asked.

"It's possible." Zhan Zhao nodded.

Zhao Jue smiled helplessly and shook his head, thinking that even smart kids acting foolishly could be quite adorable.

At this point, Zhao Jue realised he might be contradicting himself... It seemed that he found both of them equally adorable, whether they were smart or silly...

Zhan Zhao squinted at him – What wasn't right?

"You've forgotten a crucial point." Zhao Jue said.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a glance – What crucial point?

"Who introduced Su Li to Wang Meiyun?"

"Ah!" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both suddenly remembered – It was Mark Fan!

"Among these people, only Su Li is uncontrollable, everyone else is controllable," Zhao Jue said calmly.

"Sun Xi might also be controllable... He was monitoring Su Li and Mark Fan on behalf of Qian Yu, ensuring that everything went according to his plan." Zhan Zhao analysed. "After completing all the plans and getting rid of Mark Fan, Su Li became a completely uncontrollable existence."

"Is that why Su Li has memories of you?" Bai Yutang asked Zhao Jue. "Because he followed Mark Fan, he was able to access your information?"

"Perhaps he received some training." Zhao Jue said nonchalantly. "Just like training police dogs, you need a simulated 'bad guy,' don't you?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang pondered it again and found one point they couldn't understand. "Then what about Wang Meiyun? Since Mark Fan is dead, who ordered Su Li to kill Wang Meiyun?"

"Heh." Zhao Jue shook his head helplessly. "I've said it before, imagine him as a pet raised by Mark Fan. When the owner dies, the pet might be saddened. But what if the owner was killed by someone?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exclaimed in realisation, "Avenge the owner!"

With this realisation, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang suddenly looked at Zhao Jue. "So, all these days, you've been teasing Hu Zi with various jokes, saying he's a Husky and so on... you were giving us hints?"

Zhao Jue shrugged, "No, but Huskies are indeed adorable."

After saying that, he waved his finger, indicating for Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang not to enter the interrogation room yet and to wait a bit before approaching Qian Yu.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a glance and followed Zhao Jue.

Zhao Jue led them to the office and found a sofa to sit on.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, perplexed, also took their seats across from him.

Zhao Jue looked at the two.

The two looked at Zhao Jue.

Zhao Jue tilted his head, "What?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both frowned – Didn't you ask us to come here?

Zhao Jue was speechless. "I want you two to think carefully before dealing with that person. You don't have many cards in your hands right now."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang frowned as well. Indeed – as long as Qian Yu continued to feign madness, they wouldn't have any way to deal with him. Moreover, even if they exposed Qian Yu's act, it might not necessarily be effective. With his intelligence and capabilities, he would likely continue pretending and become even more cautious.

"Qian Yu is quite tricky," Bai Yutang expressed his concern. "Before being sent to the mental hospital, he was just a harmless patient. But after being experimented on and messed with by those researchers, his abilities awakened, and it doesn't seem like he's a benevolent person... There will be no end to the trouble that will ensue if he's just released like this!"

Zhan Zhao agreed with this assessment. Furthermore, these people seemed capable of forming a group, which would pose an even greater threat.

"So, was it Qian Yu who instructed Sun Xi to kill Mark Fan?" Bai Yutang decided it would be better to take it one step at a time. Their top priority was to find Mark Fan's killer within fourteen days. Now it seemed that Mark Fan's death was an important part of Qian Yu's escape plan. In other words, regardless of who killed Mark Fan, the real mastermind behind it was Qian Yu.

Zhan hao also considered this possibility. "If we skip the process and go straight to the conclusion, once we prove that Qian Yu was indeed the mastermind behind Mark Fan's murder, what does that have to do with the pharmacist?"

Bai Yutang furrowed his brows. "At this point, the outcome seems clear. Qian Yu is the mastermind, but is there a connection between Qian Yu and the pharmacist? Or is the process of killing Mark Fan a clue leading us to the pharmacist?"

"We're looking for the pharmacist's whereabouts..." Zhan Zhao paused, as if he had just realised something. "Ah, wait a moment..."

Saying that, he suddenly looked up.

At this moment, everyone from the SCI team had unknowingly gathered there.

It turned out that everyone was silently listening to their discussion of the case without interrupting, just listening quietly.

Jiang Ping's hands paused on the keyboard and he turned his head to watch the two of them analyse the case.

Zhan Zhao quickly stood up from the sofa, rushed to Jiang Ping's side, and said, "Where's the segment of the video that the pharmacist left for us? Play it again for me!"

Jiang Ping nodded and opened that segment of the video.

Zhan Zhao asked Jiang Ping to pause at the part where the pharmacist was taking medicine.

"The medicine bottle!"

Everyone exclaimed simultaneously.

The medicine bottle the pharmacist was using was the same one as Mark Fan's and Wang Meiyun's. It was just from a slightly different angle, and it wasn't clear whether it was intentional, but when the pharmacist took the bottle, his hand covered most of it, leaving only a small part still visible. And judging from the pills he poured out, they indeed looked identical in colour and shape to those in Mark Fan's and Wang Meiyun's bottles.

"The pharmacist and Mark Fan must be connected, and there must have been some interaction between them. Could this bottle of medicine he's using be related to the two bottles of medicine found in this case?" Gongsun speculated, "Also, if it's the same type of medicine, the pharmacist wouldn't have a reason to take it."

Everyone looked at him. "No reason?"

Gongsun nodded. "This medicine is used for withdrawal treatment, only people dependent on addictive drugs would take this medicine to detoxify. The pharmacist mentioned signs of ageing and said he had less than two weeks to live... What addiction would he be detoxing from?"

Everyone thought Gongsun's reasoning made sense. Zhan Zhao asked, "Could that medicine have some effect on slowing over-aging?"

Gongsun rubbed his chin in thought. "Is that so? It doesn't seem to be related..."

After some consideration, everyone turned back together, wanting to see if Zhao Jue had any hints.

But when they turned around, they saw Zhao Jue lying on the sofa, already snoring with his arms around a pillow.

‿︵‿︵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: March 29, 2024 by Angel

Edited: August 22, 2024 by Angel