S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 140

Screen Murderer 36 – Battle Royal

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Anna recounted the strange encounters she'd had in the last half of her life to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang.

"I've imagined many possibilities," Anna said. "For example, I'm not my parents' biological child, and my real parents are secretly protecting me. Or I have a long-lost brother who's secretly protecting me. Or I might be the heir to the throne of some mysterious small country, so someone is secretly protecting me. Or, more exaggeratedly, I might be an alien, or there might be something valuable about me..."

At this point, Anna sighed, "But the truth is, none of these exist. I am indeed my parents' biological child, with no lost brothers, no special status, nothing out of the ordinary. By the time I reached my teens, I knew I was just an ordinary existence, just like my classmates at the girls' school. But despite being just like that, my life has been closely monitored by some mysterious entity from the beginning!"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at Anna, and for some reason, they both thought of a term – Guinea pig.

Zhan Zhao expressed his desire to ask a question.

Anna nodded.

Zhan Zhao then asked, "Has this angel who protects you ever killed anyone before the incident with those three girls?"

Anna shook her head. "No."

"And I don't think it's a guardian angel," Anna continued. "I think his criteria for choosing revenge targets are that the targets must be quite difficult to deal with."

Anna's explanation piqued the curiosity of Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, prompting them to ask her to elaborate.

"All three of those classmates, the former maid and my ex-husband have one thing in common," Anna said.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang listened intently – Clues were starting to emerge!

"They're all quite cunning and belong to the type that's not easy to deal with!"

Bai Yutang was puzzled. "Even the maid?"

Anna smiled. "Especially her, so she suffered the most gruesome fate."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a glance, somewhat perplexed.

In theory, those three girls caused Anna to lose her best friend, Anna's ex-husband even attempted to kill her directly, so why was it that the maid, who harmed Anna's pet, received the most severe punishment?

"Because the maid was the smartest," Anna said. "She had been with our family for many years and harboured some animosity towards me. Occasionally, she would torment me a bit, and I detested her since childhood. However, she disguised it very well. Every time I complained to my parents, I ended up being scolded instead. I couldn't find a way to deal with her. Just like with my little dog, she deliberately hurt it, but her reaction afterwards made it impossible for me to even scold her. So I felt she was actually the most difficult to deal with. As for those three girls, I could actually handle them. After they bullied my best friend, I invited them to the woods and showed them a draft of a report. It was about to be published in the local newspaper, with photos of them bullying the girls at school. Once that report was published, they would immediately be expelled from school, and there would always be a stain on their records. So at the time, the three of them apologised to my best friends and promised never to bully anyone again. As for my ex-husband, he didn't actually want to kill me, there were no emotions between us – it was a political marriage. Once the purpose of the marriage was achieved, we parted ways, but separation required a reason. Our divorce was also a transaction. He negotiated with my father, agreeing to play the role of a bad husband, and after the divorce, I couldn't take a penny from him. Additionally, they seemed to have reached some private agreements, and anyway, I was just a bargaining chip. But in the end, he still died, and I inherited all his property. Many rumours suggested that I was expelled from the family after this failed marriage, but in fact, it was a reward from the family rather than a punishment because I had earned a large amount of wealth for the family. So I got the freedom I wanted."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang listened to Anna's description. On the one hand, they felt a bit sympathetic towards her; on the other hand, they understood the relationships between several incidents.

"There is indeed a pattern to all of them." Zhan Zhao said. "The degree of difficulty, the methods of revenge, and your 'involvement'."

Anna sighed bitterly. "You're right. The simplest one was my ex-husband's case, where I was merely rumoured to be involved, with no evidence against me. Then there were the cases of the three classmates, where I was the prime suspect. The hardest one was the maid's case, where I was directly accused of being the killer."

Suddenly, Zhan Zhao asked Anna, "Are you sure you're normal?"

It was a somewhat rude and nonsensical question from Zhan Zhao, and Bai Yutang also felt that it was quite difficult to answer, yet undeniably important.

Anna said, "I went to the psychiatric hospital precisely for a comprehensive examination, I was afraid that I might actually be a murderer, that that angel was just my delusion, and that I might have some kind of delusional personality disorder or split personality or something. But after thorough examinations and a series of complex evaluations, I have absolutely no mental illness."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both nodded, realising that the complexity of the situation far exceeded their imagination, and...

Zhan Zhao glanced at Zhao Jue.

Zhao Jue smiled faintly.

Both psychology experts became deeply interested in the motives of this behind-the-scenes perpetrator.

Meanwhile, Bai Yutang asked a common-sense question, "Have you told your family about this?"

Anna was silent for a moment, then nodded. "I have."

Bai Yutang frowned. "Has your family offered you any advice or assistance..."

Anna shook her head. "My father is very busy, I hardly see him all day. He just thinks I might have some mental issues. My mother isn't concerned about these things, and I don't want to scare her, she's emotionally fragile. Luckily, I'm close to my aunt, and she can help me."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both nodded – Wasn't that Leonard's relative?

"Leonard has been very helpful too," Anna said.

Eugene shrugged. "Aunt Sophia is a very important presence to Bai Jintang, not to mention to Leonard."

Bai Yutang was slightly taken aback and asked Eugene, "I've heard the twins mention that when Brother was in Italy, he was taken care of by a lady who helped them a lot, was it her?"

Eugene nodded.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao once again looked at Anna – Both personally and professionally, they should rescue her from this almost desperate situation.

"Over these years, have you noticed any suspicious individuals around you?" Bai Yutang asked Anna.

It was reasonable to say that after so many years, if someone had been tailing her, there would surely be some clues. Moreover... Bai Yutang even suspected that maybe the 'angel' wasn't just one person but a team. Because no matter what, it would be impossible for one person to monitor another person for so long, right?

Anna sighed bitterly, "I've not only observed but also hired a private detective to shadow me for over a year, trying to find out who was monitoring my life... but the detective found nothing."

Bai Yutang and Bai Ye looked up upon hearing this, as if they were exchanging glances.

Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue noticed their slight frowns.

If Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue were adept at considering theoretical possibilities, then Bai Ye and Bai Yutang were more inclined to consider practical possibilities.

To monitor and tail someone for a long period, even infiltrating their life, required a significant amount of manpower. Especially since the other party had not detected any suspicious individuals... You see, if you were aware of being followed, you would definitely be suspicious if someone familiar repeatedly appeared around you! And yet, Anna hadn't even suspected anyone, which... seemed incredibly difficult to achieve, right? How did they manage to monitor Anna's every move?

Setting aside things they couldn't comprehend for now, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang continued to inquire about Dong Yuan from Anna.

Anna explained that she met Dong Yuan at an auction, and they got along well in many aspects. Dong Yuan liked Anna mainly because of their shared interests, and the fact that Anna's wealthy background would be beneficial for his life and career. Anna liked Dong Yuan because they had compatible temperaments, and she wanted to start a family, especially to have a child... Also, Dong Yuan lived in a distant land. Anna wanted to live far away from her hometown, so the other party couldn't continue to track her, right?

"However, after I married Dong Yuan, something strange happened," Anna said. "At the moment of my marriage, the angel disappeared."

Everyone was stunned.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both looked at the angel ornament on the table – Disappeared?

"Was it taken by someone?"

Anna nodded. "Since then, I've lived a comfortable and free life. The long-distance relationship suited us well. We occasionally communicated via video calls and phone calls, usually busy with our own business. Living with my aunt and my child made every day happy, until Dong Yuan encountered trouble..."

At this point, Anna looked at the guardian angel on the table and said, "That day, I saw my son sitting on the sofa watching TV, playing with something in his hands. I took a look... and found that this angel had returned. I asked him where it came from, and he said he woke up in the morning and saw the angel placed next to his pillow."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both frowned – It was almost like reincarnation.

As Anna spoke, her emotions fluctuated slightly. "At that moment, my only thought was that I absolutely couldn't let my son's life be like what I had experienced before! Even if it meant I had to die with those people."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both nodded. Indeed... it could instantly turn a mother's fear into anger.

"Furthermore, I had another feeling... It's actually an invitation," Anna said to herself. "Compared to Wang Meiyun, the former maid, ex-husband and classmates were all far inferior. The difficulty level with Wang Meiyun should be much higher than all the previous ones..."

"So you think the other party sending you this angel is actually an invitation to fight?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Anna nodded. "After discussing with Leonard and my aunt, I decided to come here, to enter this game of monsters fighting monsters."

‿︵‿︵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: May 5, 2024 by Angel

Edited: November 4, 2024 by Angel