S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 143

Screen Murderer 39 – The Bait

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After the previous case concluded, Zhan Zhao and the others actually considered that Qian Yu seemed to have quite ambitious aspirations, but what he ultimately intended to do remained a question.

What the crowd didn't expect was that Qian Yu's ambitions were even greater than imagined.

The twins couldn't help but comment, "That kid seems to fancy himself a dark emperor, quite ambitious indeed."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both looked at the twins. "Dark emperor?"

"That kind of surveillance on an ordinary person, engaging in assassination and PvP around her, then betting online, and if things go wrong, shifting the blame to the victim... In simple terms, it's the kind of scheme those villains on the dark web enjoy. If Qian Yu could extend his reach into that type of organisation, his sphere of influence would expand and break many constraints. Controlling one game could lead to controlling another game, infiltrating various organisations one by one, and ultimately developing a group of devotees like Wang Meiyun... wouldn't he become a dark emperor?"

"Hehe."

At this moment, Bai Yutang remembered something amusing and chuckled while sitting on the sofa.

Everyone looked at him – What's wrong?

Bai Yutang shook his head. "Nothing, I just remembered that organisation we were investigating before."

Everyone asked – What about the organisation?

"I find it amusing that even villains have the trouble of being phased out by the times." Bai Yutang said, "Before, if you wanted to find a pervert, you had to look in special prisons or mental hospitals, now, you can just find them online."

Everyone found Bai Yutang's remark quite amusing, scary, and a bit sad at the same time...

After finishing the fruits and with nothing much left to do, everyone continued resting in the living room. Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao then received a WeChat message from Mia, with a photo of her and a group of dogs.

Zhan Zhao stroked his chin and remembered that last night, Bai Ye was looking at the introduction of a pet adoption centre, saying he wanted to take Mia to adopt a dog.

"Is this at the adoption centre?" Zhan Zhao felt the background looked more like Zhao Jue's garden... didn’t he say to adopt just one, why a group...

Bai Chi also counted, "Five, six... There are a total of eight, huh!"

Zhan Zhao subconsciously counted the number of cats at home: Lisbon,  the little lion, Luban, Lilia, plus three kittens...

"Seven..." Zhan Zhao slapped the cushion, "I lost!"

Everyone felt somewhat speechless – What's the point of comparison here?

Bai Yutang counted as well but said he hadn't lost, there were eight.

Zhan Zhao was puzzled, and counted his fingers again, "It's seven..."

After thinking about it, Zhan Zhao asked Gongsun, "Does your chinchilla count as a cat?"

Bai Jintang said somewhat disdainfully, "That's a rat."

Gongsun stretched out a finger and gestured, "A chinchilla is a chinchilla! Not a cat, not a rat!"

Zhan Zhao glanced at Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang pointed out, "Lisbon, little lion, Luban, Lilia, the three kittens, plus you – that's a total of eight felines."

The people around burst into laughter, Zhan Zhao didn't count himself among the cats.

Zhan Zhao glanced at everyone and messaged Zhao Jue, "Wasn't it supposed to be adopting just one? Why are there so many?"

Zhao Jue sent over a "sigh" emoji and said, "It’s a long story..."

Zhan Zhao said they had some time to rest in the afternoon, and asked if they should come pet the dogs.

Zhao Jue urged them to hurry up and come, it would be best if they could adopt a few and take them away!

Zhan Zhao asked Bai Yutang if he wanted to go see the dogs, and Bai Yutang was busy grabbing Luban to comb his fur while nodding.

Zhan Zhao asked the others. Big Brother Bai said he was going to watch the final rehearsal of the film festival later and asked if Zhan Zhao and the others wanted to join after seeing the dogs.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were both curious and asked, "So, is Wang Meiyun and Anna's program still happening?"

Bai Jintang glanced at the twins.

When the twins heard this, they immediately became possessed by the drama, lying down on the sofa and rolling around, "Aiya, it’s so complicated!"

Bai Yutang put the freshly groomed Luban on the sofa. The twins hugged Luban and complained about their troubles.

......

Afterwards, everyone dispersed. Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang went to Zhao Jue's villa first.

As soon as they entered, they heard a chorus of barking. Walking into the yard, they saw a group of dogs of all sizes playing happily.

Zhan Zhao, with his genius perspective, took a glance and noticed something off – There were not just eight, but over ten...

Issel and Mia were playing happily with a frisbee with the dogs.

Zhan Zhao assessed and found a variety of breeds, many of them mixed breeds.

Bai Ye and Eleven were building a kennel nearby. In the veranda, Zhao Jue and Anna were sunbathing, Zhao Jue was holding a teacup while Anna read a book with a small white Pomeranian lying on her lap.

Zhan Zhao went to sit under the veranda, while Bai Yutang went to see the dog kennel Bai Ye and the others had made.

"Weren’t you supposed to adopt one?" Bai Yutang asked Bai Ye.

Bai Ye sighed and pointed to Eleven, "Ask him."

Eleven was helpless too, and spread his hands.

As Zhan Zhao sat down under the veranda, Zhao Jue said that neither he nor Bai Ye were available today, so they had Eleven and Issel accompany Mia to adopt a dog.

Zhao Jue pointed to the small Pomeranian on Anna's lap, "I thought we were just going to adopt this little guy, but who knew we would end up adopting all the dogs from the shelter!"

Zhan Zhao was surprised, "All of them?"

As Zhao Jue spoke, he glanced back at Issel, who had come back to get a glass of water.

Eleven described the scene to Bai Yutang, "The shelter wasn't big, but the environment was okay. It’s just that the dogs were all kept in small cages. Mia thought the dogs were pitiful and suggested bringing them all home since we have a big yard. As a result, the guy from the centre, I suspect he might have been in marketing before, just said, might as well take them all, there are only a dozen dogs, and they were all well-behaved... Issel agreed readily... There were only three of us there, and I was the only one thinking sensibly, but that father and daughter kept pleading with puppy eyes, 'Take them all home! Please!'"

"I couldn't resist and just ended up nodding out of habit..." Eleven finished, then turned his head, "And besides, if I didn't agree, wouldn't it make me look like a bad guy?"

Bai Yutang and Bai Ye looked at him somewhat surprised – How come he’s positioning himself as a good guy?

Eleven snorted, dropped the shovel, and said he was done, then went to the veranda to eat fruit.

But as soon as he entered the veranda, Zhao Jue started complaining, "I sent you there to keep an eye on those two, and look at you! You're useless!"

Eleven grabbed a bag of dog food and went to feed the dogs.

Zhan Zhao asked, "What are you going to do with so many dogs?"

Zhao Jue shrugged, "I sent out photos to see if any of my acquaintances want to adopt them."

Zhan Zhao looked at Zhao Jue with some suspicion, "Acquaintances? Your acquaintances don't seem very reputable... We should find reliable owners for the dogs!"

Zhao Jue looked at him somewhat disdainfully, "Aren't you busy? Have you finished investigating the case?"

Zhan Zhao said they were off today, Bao Sir gave them a vacation.

Anna asked Zhan Zhao about the progress of the case.

Zhan Zhao suddenly hesitated – should he tell Anna about their speculation... Anna and Dong Yuan seemed to have a good relationship, if she knew Dong Yuan was just a gamer or someone monitoring her, it might hurt her deeply.

Zhan Zhao was unsure how to respond.

Zhao Jue shook his head beside him, "You call yourself a psychological expert, you can't even lie properly."

Zhan Zhao gave Zhao Jue a sideways glance.

Anna frowned slightly and asked Zhan Zhao, "Is there something you can't say?"

Before Zhan Zhao could respond, Zhao Jue said, "It's probably about what I mentioned to you before."

Anna paused for a moment, then responded with a faint "oh", "It’s really like that..."

Zhan Zhao glanced at Zhao Jue – How did you know?

Under the grape arbour in the garden, Bai Yutang, who had taken Eleven's place to build the dog kennel with Bai Ye, briefly explained what they had deduced about the case to Bai Ye.

Bai Ye furrowed his brow after hearing it, but he wasn't too surprised, saying, "Zhao Jue has been doing psychological conditioning for Anna, telling her not to romanticise Dong Yuan's image in her memory. He probably considered this aspect as well."

Bai Yutang was a bit surprised, had Zhao Jue already thought of this possibility?

Bai Ye nodded, "Anna mentioned that the monitor disappeared after she married Dong Yuan, so Zhao Jue suspected Dong Yuan was the monitor."

Bai Yutang smiled – Indeed, nothing could be hidden from Zhao Jue.

Mia, tired from playing, came over to drink tea, followed by several small dogs that had already become familiar with her.

While taking a sip, Mia observed Anna's expression and glanced at Zhao Jue.

Zhan Zhao noticed Mia was exceptionally observant and empathic.

Zhao Jue nodded slightly in agreement.

Mia set down her tea cup and pulled Anna inside for some snacks.

When Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue were left under the veranda, Zhan Zhao asked him, "You're drinking tea so calmly?"

Zhao Jue held up his teacup and asked Zhan Zhao, "Do you want some? It's this year's new tea."

Zhan Zhao was helpless, "I meant, Qian Yi's so ambitious..."

Zhao Jue chuckled, "Villains all have grand ambitions these days, how can you be a villain without grand ambitions?"

Zhan Zhao tilted his head – Although that made sense...

"Do you think there hasn't been anyone like Qian Yu before?" Zhao Jue asked Zhan Zhao rhetorically.

Zhan Zhao furrowed his brow, "Well..."

"Trying to control a small group of people is difficult, let alone controlling a group of dangerous animals." Zhao Jue had his own perspective, "It's not a bad thing for them to kill each other. After all, eliminating one villain is always a good thing. Besides, it's rare for a challenger to appear, the challenged party should be somewhat pleased, shouldn't they?"

"They might be pleased, but we're exhausted." Zhan Zhao muttered.

Zhao Jue reminded him, "I think they all want to keep you in a state of exhaustion."

Zhan Zhao clicked his tongue.

"Seeing as you've both been quite obedient recently, I'll give you a break." Zhao Jue said, then opened a video on his phone and handed it to Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao took the phone somewhat puzzled, and saw that the video showed a hospital room with a person resting, leaning on the bed with an IV drip in their hand.

Zhan Zhao felt this person looked familiar. Where had he seen him before...

"Ah!" Zhan Zhao suddenly remembered.

In the garden, Bai Yutang also heard the commotion from Zhan Zhao's side and took off his gloves to walk over.

Bai Ye also sat down for a moment's rest, only to be surrounded by a group of small dogs as soon as he picked up his water.

Bai Ye smiled and reached out to feed the dogs water.

Zhan Zhao recognised the patient in the video as the assassin who had tried to kill Dong Fei when he and Bai Yutang were having dinner at the restaurant... Viper

"What happened to him?" Zhan Zhao curiously asked Zhao Jue.

Bai Yutang also looked at Zhao Jue.

"He accidentally poisoned himself." Zhao Jue said, with a slight smirk playing on his lips.

Both Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at Zhao Jue, "Accidentally?"

Zhao Jue shrugged, and said to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, "Vipers are excellent bait, especially weak ones like him. On the ground, there are mongoose, in the sky, there are birds of prey, and even other snakes... all want to eat him."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at Zhao Jue, "So, you want to use him as bait?"

Zhao Jue continued to sip his tea leisurely, "What does it have to do with me? It's your case to investigate, not mine."

‿︵‿︵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 11, 2024 by Angel

Edited: November 8, 2024 by Soojin