S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 154

Special Files – Witches 01 – Cornfield

---

August, in the summer heat.

On this day, at the edge of a cornfield in the suburbs of S City, a group of people were busy.

A large amount of photography equipment and cranes had been set up, and several RVs and hundreds of staff members were working methodically.

Under a parasol, a chubby man in a yellow undershirt was fanning himself. Standing in front of him was a handsome guy dressed in black. Already dark-skinned, he had become even darker after several days under the blazing sun.

Although these workers were all sweating profusely, they weren't busy harvesting corn or doing farm work; they were filming a movie.

This is the Bai Group’s film crew shooting the final stages of a movie, and the lead actor is the handsome guy almost sunburnt to a crisp – Xu Lie.

Xu Lie has been filming this movie for almost half a year. The director is notoriously demanding, and Xu Lie, such a rugged guy, is exhausted, but can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The big star is as down-to-earth as ever; Xu Lie is currently munching on a watermelon with a palm-leaf fan in hand.

The twins brought cold drinks and fruit to comfort the crew. The director, while eating a popsicle, pointed to the distant cornfield and said to Xu Lie, "A’Lie, when you run at full speed later, watch the drone's angle, okay? Sprint to the middle without stopping!"

Xu Lie shook his head while gnawing on the watermelon, feeling more exhausted than during his special boxing training. This director must have been a herder in a past life, training people like livestock.

Just as he was complaining, his phone suddenly rang.

Xu Lie quickly took it out and happily replied to the message.

At this moment, someone beside him asked, "Aiyou, is it your girlfriend?"

Xu Lie looked over; it was Su Feifei, a fellow actress in the film.

Su Feifei wasn't one of the Bai Group’s actors, but she was recently popular and a very good actress. The twins really wanted to sign her to the Bai Group, so they were taking care of her.

Su Feifei had initially been somewhat interested in Xu Lie, but after filming together for a few months, it was obvious to anyone with eyes that Xu Lie had someone in mind and was still in the stage of pursuing them. Gossip is a natural human trait, so Su Feifei was curious about who had captivated Xu Lie.

Xu Lie was texting to arrange a dinner. With whom? Naturally, it was Chen Mi.

It was uncertain whether it was due to sincere effort or if Chen Mi was just too annoyed to resist, but now the two were neighbours, living next door to each other.

Both were very busy people, so they often had meals together. They either ate food prepared by Grandpa Chen or ordered takeout from Xiao Lou.

Xu Lie hadn't been home for a week in order to finish this scene and missed Chen Mi terribly. Seeing that filming was about to wrap up today, he invited Chen Mi to dinner at Bai Jintang's villa. Bai Yutang had been quite free lately and was cooking every day.

It wasn't that Xu Lie was stingy, always wanting to crash someone else's dinner, but given his level of fame, eating out would definitely attract paparazzi. Chen Mi was quite low-key and had a special status, so they tried to avoid the media as much as possible.

Moreover, Xu Lie found that although Chen Mi was very reclusive, he actually enjoyed having a lively home with many people around, so he tried to bring him to places with more people.

It wouldn't be accurate to say that Chen Mi had no feelings for Xu Lie at all. Xu Lie's persistent pursuit would warm even a stone. It’s just that Chen Mi had many concerns, but at this stage, they had more or less entered an ambiguous phase.

For this reason, Xu Lie specifically consulted Zhan Zhao, who told him – Victory is in sight, keep up the good work!

Xu Lie saw Chen Mi's reply, "It's hot, don't get sunburnt," and chuckled foolishly.

Su Feifei looked up and assessed the situation – This fool was clearly lovestruck.

"Hou."

At this moment, someone beside him spoke up, "How many people will be heartbroken because of this?"

Xu Lie was still grinning foolishly, and Su Feifei turned around to see the second male lead, Tony. Tony was his stage name; this tall, handsome mixed-race guy's real name was unknown to everyone.

Tony and Xu Lie were completely different types. Tony had a fair and refined look but had been typecast in too many roles as a gentlemanly villain, limiting his acting opportunities. This film was his attempt to change his image.

"Who's heartbroken?" Another man joined them, a distinctive-looking uncle named Lin Tian.

Lin Tian played the antagonist in this film. Because of his fierce appearance, he specialised in villain roles. He had worked with Xu Lie on several films and they had a good relationship.

Lin Tian patted Xu Lie's back with his large hand, "Got dumped?"

Xu Lie smirked and said, "Victory is in sight!"

The group laughed and joked around. The director checked his watch and asked the twins, "Where's Jiayi? She's not here yet?"

The twins were also messaging, "She said she's almost here, probably finding her way..."

This film was a big production, so many of the Bai Group’s actors had cameos. Jiang Nan and others had already appeared, and there was a scene with Chen Jiayi. The plot was simple; she played a passing village woman giving Xu Lie directions.

Jiayi had just returned from her honeymoon. Xiao Ding contacted her agent, who said Ma Han was bringing her over, and they'd arrive soon.

Sure enough, just as they hung up the phone, a large Jeep appeared on the distant road.

The car drove off the highway and along a dusty, sun-bleached dirt path through the fields. As it reached the edge of the cornfield, Qi Le, Chen Yu, and Jiayi jumped out from the back seat, followed by Zhao Hu from the passenger seat and Ma Han, who parked the car and got out leisurely.

"Sister Jiayi!"

Su Feifei waved at Chen Jiayi. Jiayi, dressed in a long, flowing dress with a wide-brimmed sun hat, looking as if she was still on vacation, waved back.

Tony and Lin Tian asked Xu Lie which one was Chen Jiayi's husband.

Xu Lie pointed his chin towards Ma Han getting out of the car.

Su Feifei whispered, "Is brother-in-law from SCI? So cool!"

Chen Yu and Qi Le were just there for fun. The group went with Jiayi to the makeup trailer, while Ma Han and Zhao Hu saw Xu Lie and greeted him.

Hu Zi had seen it earlier on the road, August was the perfect time for corn to ripen, and from a distance, the vast cornfield looked like an ocean.

Ma Han also took a glance. The scenery was indeed beautiful, but with such a large cornfield, it would be easy to get lost once inside.

......

When Jiayi came out after putting on her makeup, everyone wanted to laugh. She must have been too happy to hide it because this "village woman" looked so joyful, with laughter in her eyes.

The filming content was simple: the villain played by Lin Tian dragged Su Feifei into the cornfield.

Then, Xu Lie and Tony searched separately, and before entering, they encountered the village woman played by Jiayi.

Xu Lie asked the village woman if she had seen a man and a woman, and Jiayi pointed to the cornfield, followed by Su Feifei’s scream from inside.

A straightforward scene.

Everything was ready, and the director called "action" to start filming.

Xu Lie and Tony ran to the edge of the cornfield as Jiayi walked by with a basket on her back. Just as Xu Lie was about to speak, they heard Su Feifei scream from inside.

The director shouted through his megaphone, “Cut! She screamed too early...”

The assistant on the jib arm was also puzzled. The plan was for Su Feifei to scream when he raised the flag, so why did she scream early?

Almost simultaneously, a gust of wind arose.

The wind blew through the cornfield, causing large swathes of corn to sway gently, creating a wave-like rustle.

Everything suddenly fell silent, giving the atmosphere an eerie feel.

The director was about to shout through the megaphone to the two actors and the camera crew inside when he heard Lin Tian yell, “Wait a minute!”

Hearing a human voice, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

“What happened?” Xu Lie shouted from outside.

The group hadn’t gone too far in, so everyone ran in to take a look.

They saw the cameraman and other crew members, along with Lin Tian, crouching in the cornfield, searching for something, while Su Feifei sat on the ground, crying and looking around.

“What’s wrong?” The director was puzzled.

Su Feifei was touching her bare neck, saying that her necklace had fallen off.

The director looked up at the sky – He thought something serious had happened, but it was just a lost necklace...

Tony was about to make a sarcastic comment when Xu Lie kicked him.

Jiayi also glared at him and whispered, “That’s a keepsake from Feifei’s mother.”

Everyone was taken aback, and Tony quickly shut his mouth.

The director then instructed the surrounding crew to help find the necklace.

Ma Han and Zhao Hu came in too, thinking something serious had happened.

They heard that an important necklace was lost. Su Feifei mentioned it was still there before she came in, so it likely fell along the path they took to get in.

Jiayi comforted the distraught Su Feifei, while the others retraced their steps to search.

Zhao Hu asked about the necklace's description. It was a rose gold necklace with a heart charm...

Before he finished describing it, Tony suddenly shouted, "Found it!"

Everyone quickly looked his way.

Tony was lying on the ground, reaching out for something.

Ma Han and Zhao Hu walked over, both puzzled...

There was a pre-marked path through the cornfield for the actors to follow. But Tony was lying on the path's edge, reaching into the cornfield... If the necklace had fallen, it should have been on the path, not in the cornfield.

Just as they were wondering, Chen Yu suddenly shouted, "Is this it?"

Everyone turned to see Chen Yu picking up a rose gold necklace from the ground.

Su Feifei quickly nodded.

Chen Yu handed her the necklace, and she finally began to calm down.

Everyone sighed in relief, a false alarm.

At the same time, Xu Lie nudged Tony, who was still reaching into the cornfield, "Ai, it's been found."

"There's another necklace here!" Tony said, "I can almost grab it... seems to be caught on something."

The director asked, "Did anyone else lose a necklace?"

The crew shook their heads.

"Tsk." Tony stretched his hand further into the cornfield, trying to see what had snagged the necklace. Suddenly, he stopped moving.

Then Tony shouted, "Ah!" and scrambled back.

Everyone looked at him in confusion – What happened? Did a bug bite him?

"Hand... hand!" Tony stammered, pointing at the cornfield, "There's... there's a hand holding the necklace!"

Ma Han and Zhao Hu exchanged a glance, then parted the cornfield to look inside.

As the corn obstructing their view was pulled aside... a high-tension scene unfolded.

"Ah!"

Several crew members screamed, and the director was so startled he dropped his megaphone.

Zhao Hu and Ma Han released the corn and took two steps back.

Ma Han took out his phone and called Bai Yutang.

......

In Big Brother Bai’s villa, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, who were on vacation, were in the living room enjoying shaved ice. Xiao Bai Chi’s newly developed milk tea-flavoured shaved ice was excellent.

Speaking of which, the new owner of the trendy dessert shop downstairs from the police station was indeed Zhao Jue. Bai Chi had even developed several new flavours of shaved ice and milk tea for him, which were now popular items.

As they were deciding what to have for dinner, Bai Yutang's phone rang.

Picking up the phone and seeing it was Ma Han calling, Zhan Zhao asked, "Back from the honeymoon?"

"They said they got back the day before yesterday, they are probably going to invite us to dinner." Bai Yutang put the call on speaker.

However, instead of Jiayi’s cheerful invitation, Ma Han's extremely calm voice came through, "Boss."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao exchanged glances at the phone.

Even Bai Chi, who was busy adjusting a recipe, looked up – This tone was serious.

Sure enough, Ma Han followed up with, "A body was found."

Zhan Zhao opened his mouth, and Gongsun couldn't help but ask, "Where was it found?"

Ma Han replied concisely, "At Brother Bai’s film set."

Everyone simultaneously turned to look at Bai Jintang, who was sitting on the sofa reading documents.

Bai Jintang calmly flipped through his papers, his face showing no reaction as he asked, "Just one? Have them keep looking, there might be more..."

Before he could finish, Zhao Hu’s distant voice came through the phone, "Damn! There’s another one here!"

Bai Yutang, holding the phone, turned to look at his older brother.

Bai Jintang nodded silently – That's more like it...

———

The author has something to say:

The cases tagged with "Special Files" involve incidents related to the organisation, and they are files compiled by Zhao Jue. To put it simply, the perpetrators are former experimental subjects from the organisation, hiding among the public to commit crimes.

Zhao Jue’s workshop and the SCI team will collaborate on these cases.

This case is the final one in the fifth book. (Angel: This is a lie!)

This case is set three months after the previous one, during which the SCI team went on vacation, and Ma Han and Jiayi got married. (Details of the vacation and wedding will be updated as side stories in the sixth book, as this book's main content is already quite long.)

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

Previous Chapter | TOC |

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 27, 2024 by Angel

Edited: December 2, 2024 by Soojin