S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 171

Special Files – Witches 18 – Accident

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Zhao Jue "took in" Hou Yingqi. Not only that, but he also gave her a vacant cottage next to the villa, which he renovated into a studio.

Hou Yingqi could hardly believe it. This so-called cottage had two floors and an industrial-style rooftop. It was an incredibly cool space for her live-streaming studio.

Zhao Jue even kicked Issel and Eleven over to help Hou Yingqi with the renovation and moving.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang found it increasingly strange. What was Zhao Jue up to?

While they were busy moving, another car drove up outside the villa. The car door opened, and Anna stepped out. From the back seat, a little boy with a backpack also got out. This mixed-race boy was particularly adorable, holding a football and wearing a football shirt, as if he had just returned from playing.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were both slightly taken aback.

Mia ran out from the villa, grabbed the boy's hand, and ran off to change clothes. Anna saw Zhan Zhao and the others and quickly greeted them.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang already knew that Anna had moved to S City. After Dong Yuan's case ended, Anna didn't take over the Dong Group's mess. She said she would settle in S City to accompany her son as he grew up peacefully. That little boy should be Dong Yuan's child, appearing slightly younger than Luo Yang.

Anna told Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang that she also lived here, sharing a house in the back garden with Kalin.

Zhan Zhao was surprised, "Has Kalin returned?"

"Kalin occasionally comes back to stay with Mia for a while. She's still abroad these days." Anna chatted with Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, seemingly having become friends with Kalin. She had planned to take Mia grocery shopping and asked Zhao Jue and the others what they wanted to eat. Eleven and Issel, who were doing manual labour, wanted meat, so Anna said she'd cook steak in the evening.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang found the atmosphere in this area incredibly lively, with children and dogs everywhere...

Both of them curiously watched Zhao Jue.

Zhao Jue waved them off disdainfully – there were too many people at home, no food for them!

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had to take Hu Zi and Ma Han back.

Upon returning to the SCI office, Ma Han made a phone call to Jiayi.

Jiayi and Qi Le said they were at Big Brother Bai's villa.

Zhan Zhao nudged Ma Han, asking him to check if Xu Lie and the others had finished filming.

Ma Han put his phone on speaker.

Jiayi said, "Don't mention it, they were supposed to wrap up today, but now it's delayed until tomorrow."

Zhan Zhao asked, "So will the film crew be staying in the village tonight?"

Before Jiayi could answer, Chen Yu chimed in, "Are you guys going there tonight?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a glance, they were planning to visit the Shen family's old house.

"Then take my brother along when you go!"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were puzzled, "Chen Mi?"

Chen Yu sighed, "I just saw that Xu Lie is about to collapse. The twins are worried he'll run back to S City tonight, so take my brother to check on him and make sure he finishes filming."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang thought it wouldn't be difficult, so they decided to make a trip to pick him up.

Ma Han and Zhao Hu were still on holiday, so Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang let them stay with Jiayi and Qi Le.

Since Zhao Zhen had no plans for the evening, and Bai Chi was busy preparing for an internal police exam, Zhao Zhen couldn't bother him. Zhao Zhen, needing to prepare for his next tour and intrigued by the talk of wizards, decided to join them.

As a horror film enthusiast, Gongsun also wanted to join the fun, but Big Brother Bai had to work overtime. Weighing his options, Gongsun brought champagne and takeout and headed to the Bai Group.

However, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both felt... it might have been better for him to just go home, how could they work properly like this?

......

Around 7:30 in the evening, Bai Yutang drove with Zhan Zhao, Zhao Zhen, and Chen Mi towards the suburbs.

Since the cornfield was previously a crime scene with three bodies, the film crew was too scared to enter it. Most of the other cornfields had already been harvested, so the village head found them another unharvested field. This new field was smaller and farther from the original site.

Conveniently, this cornfield was quite close to the Shen family's old house.

In the evening, the newly paved roads were in good condition, but to reach the cornfield, they had to travel a stretch of old road and cross Sanbo Bridge.

As they passed Sanbo Bridge, Bai Yutang stopped the car, and everyone got out to inspect the railing.

Based on old records, they could roughly determine where the railing had broken.

Everyone agreed that given the damage to the railing, it was impossible for the car not to have flown off the bridge.

But even if the car fell from here and was washed away by the current, it couldn't have ended up in the fish pond...

After crossing the bridge, the old road was bumpy and unlit, so Bai Yutang drove especially slowly.

On the way, Zhan Zhao explained the case to Zhao Zhen and Chen Mi.

"Is that the cement factory?" Chen Mi pointed to a solitary factory not far away.

"Mhmm." Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both nodded.

Chen Mi asked, "I think I might know why the missing Shen Xin was in debt."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were surprised – Was there a clue?

Chen Mi explained, "About five or six years ago, there was an accident at this cement factory. Two workers were repairing the conveyor belt when someone suddenly turned it on, causing both workers to fall off and die."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both frowned – How could someone turn on the conveyor belt while others were on it? Was it really an accident? It sounded like murder...

"Normally, cases like this wouldn't involve our bomb disposal team, but later it was said that several workers were going to sue the factory for inadequate safety measures, with substantial compensation claims. There were also rumours that some victims' families were planning to blow up the factory, causing panic among the nearby residents." Chen Mi said. "Since the cement factory's coal dust and carbide slag are highly explosive, and there are many residents near the factory, we were sent to assess the safety risks."

"Was there a danger of explosion?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"No," Chen Mi shook his head, "but out of curiosity, I investigated the conveyor belt... While it was a sloped conveyor, it wasn't high enough that an adult falling off would die. It was said to be very unfortunate that day, several steel frames had just been welded next to the conveyor. The two workers fell and hit their heads on the steel frames, which caused their deaths."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both frowned deeper – The more they heard, the more it sounded like murder.

"Who turned on the conveyor belt?" Zhao Zhen thought the person who started the machine was very suspicious.

"A little girl."

Chen Mi's words stunned everyone, "A little girl?"

"Mhmm." Chen Mi nodded, "At the time, there were only four people in the factory. Besides the two deceased who were repairing the conveyor belt, there were two other workers inspecting other machines nearby.

"The two workers said they saw a little girl run by and thought she was a coworker's child, so they didn't pay much attention. Right after the child ran past them, the conveyor belt started. When the workers fell, they were frightened and rushed to help, but the child had disappeared." Chen Mi, as usual, spoke calmly and unhurriedly, "Later, when I inquired with the villagers, no one wanted to mention the incident of the child turning on the conveyor belt. As the owner, Shen Xin reportedly paid a lot in compensation, which likely led to his debts. At the time, I didn't think much of it, assuming it was a child sneaking in to play and causing an accident, with the villagers collectively hiding the truth to protect the child. But considering what you just mentioned about the Shen family's ancestral wizard rumours, perhaps a different story can be told."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang couldn't help but think of the little witch from the Shen family, feeling as if the air conditioning in the car was set too low, chilling the air.

Soon, they saw the film crew's vehicles ahead, and the lively atmosphere quickly dispelled the eerie feeling inside the car.

Everyone got out and first handed Chen Mi over to Xu Lie.

Even though the sun had set, it was still hot. Xu Lie was fanning himself with a palm fan, looking listless. The twins had mentioned that this was a sign he was about to act out, he always seemed deflated right before causing trouble.

Fortunately, Chen Yu administered the medicine in time. The moment Xu Lie saw Chen Mi, his whole demeanour brightened up.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang noticed that his eyes lit up as if he had seen a "cold drink" arrive...

Bai Yutang opened the car's trunk and took out the cold drinks Chen Yu had prepared for the crew.

The director called everyone over to take a break and have some cold drinks before resuming work.

Everyone gathered in small groups.

Tony came over and asked Zhan Zhao and the others if they had caught the killer and if it was the person running the crystal shop.

Zhan Zhao said no, but they had indeed caught the killer, and Tony had played a part in it.

Tony grinned and said if he hadn't gone to drama school, he would have joined the police academy. Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at him, speechless – such a big career leap...

Lin Tian also came over, wiping sweat from his brow, opened a drink, took a sip, and stuck out his tongue, "It's too sweet, if only it were ice-cold beer."

Tony teased him, still dared to drink alcohol? He'd tell his wife!

Lin Tian pouted, "Ai, can't I even think about it?"

Tony told him to take out a picture of his daughter. Once he saw it, he wouldn't want to drink anymore.

Lin Tian smiled and went off with his phone to video chat with his daughter.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang found it quite amusing. Lin Tian had the face of a villain, looking particularly sinister, yet in private, he was a doting father.

The film crew, with victory in sight, was in high spirits. Amidst the chatting and laughing, one person stood out awkwardly.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang noticed a woman in her thirties wearing glasses and looking very competent running around while talking on her phone. Despite the heat, she was sweating profusely, as if searching for someone.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang recognised her, they had seen her that morning, she was Su Feifei's manager.

Zhan Zhao took a couple of steps forward and overheard the manager asking everyone she met, "Have you seen Feifei?"

The staff all said they hadn't, suggesting she might have gone to the restroom.

The manager frowned and said she had already checked the RV, but Su Feifei wasn't there.

Tony noticed she was looking for someone and called out, "Sis, Feifei just went off with a little girl. Maybe she's back in the RV?"

"A little girl?" The manager and Zhan Zhao spoke almost simultaneously.

"What little girl?" Bai Yutang also asked.

"Very cute, with two braids, wearing a little Tang suit... or was it a cheongsam?" Tony described.

Everyone silently watched him. Su Feifei's manager seemed sceptical, while Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang, and a curious Zhao Zhen wore complex expressions... Tang suit, cheongsam... or funeral clothes?

Bai Yutang looked around, and indeed, the crowd had gathered there, but Su Feifei was nowhere in sight.

He approached the director and borrowed a loudspeaker. Climbing up to the cameraman's position, he asked the crowd below, "Has anyone seen Su Feifei?"

The crowd immediately fell silent and looked around, all realising that Su Feifei was missing.

"Has anyone seen her with a little girl?" Bai Yutang continued.

Tony raised his hand...

But from his high vantage point, Bai Yutang saw that Tony was the only one who had seen her.

Tony, still holding up his hand, looked puzzled – Had no one else seen her?

"Has anyone seen her recently?" Bai Yutang asked.

A few people raised their hands this time, all pointing in the same direction, saying, "We saw her walking alone that way..."

Everyone turned to look in the direction they pointed.

That area was a temporary parking lot where the actors' RVs and the staff's vehicles were parked.

"Maybe she really went back to the RV to rest." The manager said, continuing to call but getting no answer.

Bai Yutang got down from the crane and, along with Zhan Zhao and the others, headed to the parking lot.

The staff checked every vehicle, even looking under them, and called out for Su Feifei, but there was no sign of her.

Now the director and others were getting anxious – the lead actress was missing!

The manager was in tears – Su Feifei had just recovered from depression. Could something have happened to her?

Bai Yutang was frowning, thinking of getting a flashlight to search around, when he felt Zhan Zhao gently tug his sleeve.

Turning around, Bai Yutang saw Zhan Zhao nod towards the front.

Raising his head, Bai Yutang noticed a house not far behind the parking lot.

In the darkness, the house looked eerily familiar. They had seen it many times in the information provided by Hou Yingqi... Wasn't that the Shen family's old house?

Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao – Could it be?

Zhan Zhao tilted his head – Let's check it out. Maybe that little witch invited her over as a guest?

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Happy new year!

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: June 5, 2024 by Angel

Edited: December 18, 2024 by Soojin