S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 114

Screen Murderer 10 – Abnormal Behaviour

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Director Zhou looked quite confident, claiming to know the true culprit behind Jin He's murder.

Naturally, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao wanted to know more from him.

However, Director Zhou teased them, adopting a cunning expression, and coughed, saying, "Ah, I can't just tell you that easily."

Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang frowned.

"Hehe." Director Zhou smirked, being tactful, "Of course, I don't want to hinder your investigation, right? How about a little something in return?"

As he spoke, Director Zhou extended his fingers, indicating a short distance. "Just a little bit!"

Zhan Zhao asked him, "What do you want in return?"

Director Zhou grinned at Bai Yutang and pointed to the spaceship behind them.

Bai Yutang didn't understand, and Zhan Zhao was puzzled too. "Why?"

"The actions of these two, they're just not up to par!" Director Zhou said, "It's not what I want! Captain Bai, help me demonstrate. If this scene is done well, then I'll tell you!"

Bai Yutang glanced at him, and Director Zhou quickly backed away, adding, "I really do know important clues!"

Zhan Zhao found it quite interesting and nudged Bai Yutang – Xiao Bai, go!

Bai Yutang was a bit puzzled and asked Zhou Yi, "What are you filming?"

"Oh!" Zhou Yi, seeing an opportunity, got excited. "My entire movie is full of special effects, and this fight scene is no exception. So I want it to be extra special, something that will excite the audience. These two need to fight an alien on a bumpy spaceship!"

Bai Yutang and the others then noticed a person in green clothes standing in front of the green screen background. The person was completely green, with only their eyes visible, and there were some light-coloured dots at their joints, almost perfectly blending into the green screen background. It was quite eye-catching upon closer inspection.

"Hehe, the monster effect will be added in post-production." Zhou Yi said while making the two actors redo the scene.

The actors had just taken a break while they were chatting here, but upon hearing Zhou Yi's request, they repeated the scene.

In fact, their fight was already quite impressive, both Zhan Zhao and Zhao Hu thought it looked great.

Bai Yutang was puzzled, "Isn't it good enough? Making movies isn't about real fighting. Why aren't you satisfied?"

Zhou Yi shook his head, "I'm not satisfied! It's too ordinary, lacks impact!"

Bai Yutang thought for a moment, then walked over and boarded the spaceship.

Zhou Yi, seeing his action, clapped his hands, "Ah! So handsome, so cool! That's what I'm talking about!"

Zhan Zhao glanced at Zhou Yi speechlessly, feeling that rather than being dissatisfied with the action, he was purely infatuated with Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang made some minor adjustments to the actors' movements and then patted their backs to signal them to stand straight.

After some adjustments, Bai Yutang jumped down from the spaceship and asked them to redo the scene.

After redoing it, it was indeed different.

After filming, Bai Yutang gave Zhou Yi a thumbs up, who clapped enthusiastically, "That's the feeling we want!"

The twins were not pleased, "Hey, hey! We deserve a cut of the box office!"

Zhou Yi was amused by their protest and voluntarily offered to cooperate with the police.

Leading Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao towards the door, Zhou Yi whispered, "It should be Wang Meiyun who killed Jin He."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked puzzled and frowned at him, "Do you have any evidence?"

"Tsk." Zhou Yi smirked, "At noon today, I was having lunch at the entrance, and Jin He came to eat with me. He even had a beer and seemed to be in a good mood. The news about Wang Meiyun inheriting the Dong Group has spread throughout the industry today. It's well-known that Jin He and Wang Meiyun don't have a good relationship."

Zhan Zhao asked, "Why don't they get along?"

"Oh, there was quite a big conflict between Wang Meiyun and Jin He during their last collaboration on that film. Wang Meiyun looked down on Tang Xing, but for some reason, Jin He insisted on having Tang Xing as the male lead. Wang Meiyun and Jin He had a fierce argument on set... Jin He is now a director at Dong Group, and with Wang Meiyun suddenly becoming the boss, isn't that unfavourable for Jin He? I even asked him if Wang Meiyun taking over the Dong Group in a few days would cause trouble for him." Zhou Yi smirked mysteriously. "Guess what he said?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang urged him not to keep them in suspense!

"Jin He not only wasn't worried, he seemed quite pleased, saying, 'Cause trouble? She has to treat me like a deity'. Jin He is quite confident. He even told me he had something on Wang Meiyun, something she couldn't touch him about. He also said, despite Wang Meiyun acting all high and mighty, she's as dumb as a brick. Her success is all thanks to someone guiding her from behind."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both asked, "Did he mention who this 'someone' is?"

Zhou Yi shook his head, "I asked him the same thing, but he didn't say it directly. He just mentioned how deep the waters are here, and it's not just about making money!"

"What does that mean?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"Um, how did he put it..." Zhou Yi pondered for a moment, then snapped his fingers. "Right, he said he wants to go to the 'new world'!"

"New world?" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang frowned – What on earth is that?

Zhao Hu and Ma Han, listening in, were equally puzzled – Which shopping mall is that?

Zhou Yi shrugged, "I only know this much, I didn't dig deeper. It's better to mind one's own business, you know. But anyway, he died shortly after saying all that, and Wang Meiyun just got out of prison, doesn't that make her highly suspicious?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang indeed thought this was a lead. What did Jin He know that led to his demise? And what exactly is this 'new world'?

Leaving studio two, they continued on their way to the control room.

Bai Yutang called Jiang Ping, asking him to investigate Wang Meiyun's whereabouts after her release. Zhan Zhao chimed in, suggesting he also look into Tang Xing.

After hanging up the phone, Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao, "Cat, you think something's wrong with Tang Xing?"

Zhan Zhao nodded, surprising everyone with his statement, "I think he might have known in advance that Jin He would die."

They all looked at him together – What made him say that?

"His reaction just now was particularly strange." Zhan Zhao explained. "Firstly, he intentionally or unintentionally emphasised several times that Jin He hadn't returned after answering the phone, implying he was hiding and playing a prank. He even mentioned hiding in the bushes to feed mosquitoes... There was only one spot with bushes nearby, under the camphor tree. Also, I asked specifically about Jin He's specific pranks; the makeup artist mentioned he used a fake hand, then there was the incident of putting a cow's eyeball in the yoghurt of a female actress and the dead mouse in the makeup room... In summary, he prefers to use props for his pranks. These are actually some items used during filming, and he just grabbed them to scare people. So, Jin He's pranks were triggered by something, and it's quite complicated."

Everyone pondered this term, "Complicated?"

Zhan Zhao nodded, "Jin He's pranks were quite sophisticated, some he would plan meticulously and make good use of props. This type of prank is different from suddenly jumping out of a corner with a 'boo'."

"Of course, this requires a lot of data to support. For example, how many times Jin He played pranks in total, how many times he used props, and how many times he didn't... Without experimental data, all conclusions can only be speculative and cannot be considered evidence." Zhan Zhao continued, "But Tang Xing's reaction when Jin He emerged from the bushes was severely abnormal!"

Everyone listened attentively, "What was abnormal about it?"

"When Jin He came out of the bushes, Tang Xing was so scared that he jumped up from his chair." Zhan Zhao asked Da Ding, who was with him at the time, "Was it really terrifying?"

Da Ding shook his head, "But Tang Xing is famously timid..."

"The problem lies in his timidity." Zhan Zhao began to explain his inference, "Let's take an example, Luban."

Everyone involuntarily thought of the chubby ragdoll Luban at home.

"Do you remember the toy that Yang Yang bought for Luban before, a rubber egg that squeaked when squeezed and a little chick popped out?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Bai Yutang nodded, "Luban was terrified of that egg."

"The first two times we used that egg to scare Luban, as soon as it squeaked, Luban would run away in fear." Zhan Zhao chuckled, "But over time, Luban knew that the egg would squeak when squeezed and that we were trying to scare him, so whenever one of us approached him with the egg, he would meow at us, right?"

Everyone nodded – That's right.

"Who likes to scare Luban the most?" Zhan Zhao continued to ask.

Bai Yutang pointed to Zhan Zhao, "You."

Zhan Zhao nodded with a smile, "Yes, I can scare Luban, but my success rate in scaring Luban is actually the lowest, did you notice?"

Bai Yutang thought for a moment and nodded – Indeed, because Zhan Zhao often scared Luban, Luban was more cautious around him.

Everyone understood the point of Zhan Zhao's example – Jin He often scared Tang Xing, so Tang Xing should be more wary of him.

"We were about ten metres away from that bush, and when Jin He emerged from it, he didn't scream or have any scary props, he just stumbled out of the bushes. Moreover, there were quite a few people around Tang Xing, and I was standing right next to him. Given the situation, Tang Xing, who has been scared by Jin He many times, who was extremely cautious and repeatedly warned us that Jin He might be hiding to scare people, wouldn't he have been prepared enough not to jump up in fear?" Zhan Zhao said.

They all nodded – Indeed... it shouldn't have been such a big reaction.

"A living person emerging from a bush is not scary at all," Zhan Zhao added, "but who would be scary if they emerged from a bush?"

Before anyone could answer, Zhan Zhao gave the answer, "A dead person."

Bai Yutang nodded, "Indeed, if Tang Xing knew in advance that Jin He died in the bushes, and then a person who was clearly dead emerged from the bushes... it would be reasonable for him to jump up in fear like that!"

"He went over and pushed the body, pushing at his chest." Zhan Zhao continued listing Tang Xing's various abnormalities, "Usually, when pushing someone who has fallen to the ground, you'd push their shoulders or arms, right? Why did he immediately reach out to push the chest? And then he asked, 'Is he dead? Is he really dead?' instead of 'Is he dead? How could he be?' Tang Xing's abnormal behaviour is caused by a deviation in the information he received. People react based on the information they receive, and if the information is incorrect, the reaction will naturally be abnormal. To give another example, imagine two actors performing a scene, with the camera focused on one actor. They're supposed to act out a scene that's quite sad, with the actor facing the camera showing sadness. But outside the camera's view, the other person is making funny faces and trying to make them laugh. This is a classic case of receiving conflicting information and behaviour. Logically, if someone is trying to make you laugh, you should laugh, but if the script demands tears, your reaction at that moment is a result of choice rather than a natural reaction. As long as there's a choice, there's potential for abnormal behaviour!"

The twins nodded vigorously from behind, while Zhao Hu and Ma Han struggled to keep up with the initial rhythm and eventually became confused.

Bai Yutang sighed as well, accustomed to Zhan Zhao's lengthy explanations. But whether they understood every word wasn't important; the gist was clear – Zhan Zhao indeed had reasons to believe Tang Xing knew in advance that Jin He would die.

Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao, "Should we bring him in for questioning?"

Zhan Zhao nodded, "Yes!"

Bai Yutang then called Luo Tian, instructing him to bring Tang Xing to the police station. Zhan Zhao didn't forget to add, "Also, bring Jin He's raincoat back with you."

‿︵‿︵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 7, 2024 by Angel

Edited: April 10, 2024 by Angel