S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 112

Screen Murderer 08 – Jinx

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Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao drove to the film and television city with the twins to find Jin He to understand the situation.

During the ride, the twins reached out to acquaintances to inquire more about this new director.

Jin He was indeed a newcomer in the film industry, but he was quite famous in the gaming industry. According to industry insiders, he was talented but tended to go off the rails.

In recent years, Jin He has been involved in the development of many games, mostly horror-themed ones, and has also worked on numerous game animations. His speciality was that he frequently caused trouble, and eventually, no game company dared to hire him anymore.

When asked what kind of trouble he had caused, the answer was simple – he scared people.

Former colleagues of Jin He mentioned that he was neurotic; not only did he enjoy scaring people in his games, but he also liked pulling pranks in his daily life, causing psychological trauma to others from time to time.

It was said that he once put a cow's eyeball in the yoghurt a female colleague had in the fridge, scaring the poor girl so much that she developed a psychological shadow and had to see a doctor.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both frowned – This was going too far!

Jin He had offended too many people, and almost the entire gaming industry had blacklisted him. Surprisingly, he had now transformed into a film director.

As a result, his first film almost caused fatalities, and not only the outcome but also the process of filming was reportedly fraught with difficulties.

Some insiders informed the twins that during the filming process, Jin He had offended Tang Xing, nearly scaring him to death. It seemed that Tang Xing's fans were aware of this incident, and some even talked about egging Jin He's house... Besides the actors, many crew members had also been offended by him and quite a few had vowed never to work with him again.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were speechless, shaking their heads – How low must one's emotional intelligence be to offend so many people?

However, many of those who had interacted with Jin He mentioned that perhaps his knack for offending people wasn't due to low emotional intelligence but rather some underlying psychological issues.

Zhan Zhao then asked several former colleagues of Jin He how Jin He reacted after scaring them, did he laugh it off or apologise to them? What was his specific reaction?

The majority of the responses they received were, "He didn't care at all."

Those former colleagues mentioned that when Jin He played his pranks and scared people, he didn't seem to derive any pleasure from their fear or show any remorse afterwards. Instead, he remained calm and composed, which only added to their unease. Moreover, it was said that Jin He particularly enjoyed scaring timid individuals. The more timid someone was, the more he seemed to want to scare them. For instance, since Tang Xing was known for being timid, Jin He would often target him for pranks, nearly causing him to wet his pants several times. Even company personnel had warned him, but he remained unapologetic.

Zhan Zhao became somewhat interested in Jin He after hearing this.

......

The car arrived at the film and television city, and everyone got out.

At the entrance, an area had been fenced off, seemingly for some kind of entrance ceremony rehearsal.

The twins glanced at the stage being set up in the distance and seemed quite satisfied. They could conduct a red carpet rehearsal in a couple of days.

The four of them didn't linger much in the film festival area; instead, they headed straight to the film and television city.

Bai Group's film and television city was grand in scale, currently utilising three major filming locations, with some still under construction. These locations were large square studios where scenes could be constructed. The most prominent feature was the massive green screens, facilitating special effects during filming, and making them highly modernised studios.

All three studios had crews busy at work, with everyone rushing to meet deadlines, making it bustling with activity and brightly lit.

The studio Jin He and his team were in was studio three.

As they approached the entrance of studio three, they noticed a crowd of people.

At a glance, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang recognized Tang Xing.

Tang Xing was wearing a black raincoat, his clothes still damp and his hair wet. He was sitting on a folding chair, with two makeup artists working on his makeup.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang took one look at Tang Xing's appearance and felt it was quite miserable. In the chilly evening, he was wearing a rubber raincoat, with wet hair plastered to his head and his face splattered with blood.

A crew member saw someone approaching and hurried over to stop them, but upon seeing the twins, they were also somewhat puzzled.

"Hey, A'Tang." The twins greeted Tang Xing.

"Ding Ge!" Tang Xing responded immediately, seeming quite obedient. Anyway, he was much better behaved than that arrogant Xu Lie.

In Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang's eyes, the twins were just two unreliable jokers. But in reality, they were second in command in the Bai Group, practically running half of the Bai Group's affairs. That puts them at the level of bosses.

A production assistant rushed over to the twins and asked why they were there, were they busy with the film festival?

The twins pointed to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, saying, "We're looking for your director, is he around?"

The production assistant frowned, "We've been looking for him. He just finished shooting a scene and went to take a call. Xiao Tang's makeup is so uncomfortable; I wish he'd hurry up!"

"Taking a call?"

The twins glanced around... It wasn't noisy nearby, wouldn't it be fine if he stepped a few paces away from the studio to take a call?

"How long has he been gone?" Bai Yutang couldn't help feeling a bit worried. Ever since they got in the car a while ago and said they were coming to find Jin He, he had a strange premonition, but he dared not say anything. The twins always said he was a jinx.

"Dunno where he went," Tang Xing said. "he suddenly ran off with his phone."

"Should we go look for him?" The twins asked.

"Don't!"

It was rather amusing. The twins suggested searching for him but the production assistant, Tang Xing, the two makeup artists, and even the props person nearby all shook their heads.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao exchanged a puzzled look. "Why not?"

"If he suddenly disappears, it's never a good sign!" Tang Xing said disdainfully. "In this darkness, if you go looking for him, he might be hiding in the bushes ready to scare you. Let him be, he'll come out if he's being bitten by mosquitoes in the bushes."

Zhan Zhao couldn't help but chuckle – How many people had been frightened by this before?

But Bai Yutang asked, "Which way did he go?"

Everyone pointed towards an alley between studios three and two.

Bai Yutang walked over. The alley led to a basketball court.

Xiao Ding followed along, and the production assistant dragged two crew members to go as well, shouting as they walked, "Director Jin! Someone's looking for you!"

However, Zhan Zhao didn't go with them; instead, he pulled up a chair and sat next to Tang Xing to chat.

Da Ding seemed to know the cameraman and went to watch the footage he was shooting.

Tang Xing glanced at Zhan Zhao and asked, "Are you new here?"

The two makeup artists also curiously looked at Zhan Zhao, asking which company he was from and if he had a manager.

Da Ding laughed and said, "He's from our company! Be careful, he bites!"

Zhan Zhao glanced at Da Ding.

Meanwhile, Tang Xing inquired from Zhan Zhao, "What about that handsome guy just now? Is he from your company too? What are you two looking for Jin He for?"

Zhan Zhao replied, "We're looking for him to ask about the previous film you worked on."

"The previous film..." Tang Xing pondered for a moment, then chuckled, "Don't Open Your Eyes?"

Zhan Zhao nodded.

Tang Xing sighed helplessly, "I hope this one will be better than the last. If it's at the same level, I reckon I'll become a B-movie star."

Zhan Zhao sized up Tang Xing.

Although he wasn't familiar with entertainment stars, most young idols were good-looking. Tang Xing seemed average in terms of appearance and physique but was apparently quite popular. Zhan Zhao didn't understand why he was popular, probably because he didn't follow entertainment shows much.

"Why do you keep filming so many horror movies if you're scared?" Zhan Zhao was curious.

Tang Xing gazed up at the sky. "Who said I'm scared? I'm perfectly normal! Jin He is just a psycho, anyone would be scared of him!"

"Is that so?" Zhan Zhao asked.

The two makeup artists nearby couldn't help but suppress their laughter.

Tang Xing muttered, "I may not be particularly brave, but I'm not as cowardly as they say."

"Have you watched the previous film?" Zhan Zhao continued.

Tang Xing looked a bit embarrassed, hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "No... I don't watch horror movies."

Both makeup artists chuckled, finished their work, and left, advising Tang Xing not to move.

Tang Xing, with wet hair and shivering from the cold, grumbled, "Where the hell is Jin He...?"

Before he could finish saying his name, there was a rustling sound coming from the nearby bushes.

There were many bushes in front of the studio, and the landscaping was well done, with many low trees trimmed into spheres.

Several people heard the noise and looked towards the greenery.

They saw the bushes sway for a moment, and then suddenly, a person emerged from them.

These trees weren't very tall, only reaching up to about chest height for a person. The man who emerged from the bushes was wearing a black hoodie, crouching with his head down.

Tang Xing exclaimed, "Oh my god!"

Zhan Zhao wasn't startled by the man emerging from the bushes, but he was startled by Tang Xing's sudden shout. He turned to look at him and saw Tang Xing's face had gone pale as he jumped up from his chair.

At this moment, Bai Yutang and Xiao Ding returned from the alley with a few crew members, seemingly not having found Jin He.

Everyone now saw the man who had emerged from the bushes.

The production assistant shouted, "Hey, Director Jin! There he is!"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, seeing that the person the production assistant was pointing at was the one who had just emerged from the bushes, felt a bit speechless – Did he really hide in the bushes?

Zhan Zhao turned to glance at Tang Xing again.

Tang Xing, having recovered from his earlier scare, ripped off the towel around his neck that he had been using to shield himself from the rain. His carefully styled hair was now dishevelled, likely adding to his annoyance.

Throwing the towel aside, Tang Xing yelled, "Are you crazy?! What are you doing in the middle of the night? I'm almost catching a cold!"

But Jin He didn't respond. After emerging from the bushes, he stumbled forward as if not feeling well, hunched over and looking quite uncomfortable, as if he was struggling.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang also noticed his strange pallor, becoming paler by the moment.

Da Ding frowned and asked, "Is he injured?"

Tang Xing scoffed, "He's acting, just ignore him!"

But Jin He was now reaching his hand out towards everyone, his mouth open as if he couldn't speak.

Bai Yutang, realising the seriousness of the situation, immediately ran over.

But by the time he reached Jin He's side, Jin He had collapsed.

Tang Xing also approached, still saying, "Stop playing dead, get up!"

The twins felt something was seriously wrong. "Is he sick? Call an ambulance!"

Bai Yutang reached out to feel Jin He's breath, then withdrew his hand.

Zhan Zhao saw Bai Yutang's expression and knew it was bad.

Tang Xing, seeing Jin He unmoving, furrowed his brow. "What's wrong with him?"

"He's dead." Bai Yutang said, and the onlookers from the crew gasped in shock.

"He..." Tang Xing seemed incredulous. He went over, crouched down, and nudged Jin He. As he was about to speak, he felt something sticky on his hand. He looked at it and was horrified.

Tang Xing sat down abruptly on the ground, shouting, "Blood! Blood..."

His shout caused chaos among the crew.

Bai Yutang instructed the lighting technician to bring a spotlight over.

Under the light, Jin He lay on the ground, now a lifeless body. There was a hole in his hoodie around his chest area, and blood had soaked through.

The twins looked extremely worried; the film festival hadn't even started yet...

Bai Yutang assessed the situation based on the wound and suspected it might be a gunshot, so he called Gongsun.

Meanwhile, Zhan Zhao stood aside. He didn't look at Jin He's body but instead was quite interested in Tang Xing, who sat on the ground, pale and terrified.

‿︵‿︵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: April 6, 2024 by Angel

Edited: April 10, 2024 by Angel