S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 172

Special Files – Witches 19 – Wake Up

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Su Feifei's disappearance led everyone to focus on the old Shen family home, not far from the film crew's parking lot.

Since the incident, no one has lived in the Shen family house.

Shen Xin's ex-wife, Wang Hua, as the legal heir to the house, had the authority to decide how to deal with it. Perhaps because her daughter Shen Yan had never returned, Wang Hua, although she had held a funeral and accepted that her daughter was gone, still paid the water and electricity bills every month. After all, as a biological mother, she always hoped that if her daughter did come home, the house would still be there.

Everyone gathered at the entrance of the Shen house.

Because Su Feifei's safety was at stake, they couldn't take the time to carefully observe. Bai Yutang, holding a flashlight, went to the basement first with Zhan Zhao.

Fortunately, having previously read Hou Yingqi's detailed investigation report, Bai Yutang had a rough idea of the house's internal structure.

Their first target to search was naturally the basement.

Chen Mi and Xu Lie also took the crew's lighting and, along with Zhao Zhen, followed Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang down to the basement.

The house's basement had two entrances, one from the front door, through the living room, and down the stairs.

The other was from the back door.

At the back of the house, there was a roller shutter door. Once opened, it revealed a utility room that shared a staircase to the basement with the living room.

The group made their way around to the back of the house. If they needed to force entry, the roller shutter door would be easier to open than the front door.

However, when they reached the back of the house, they found the roller shutter door to the utility room fully raised.

Bai Yutang furrowed his brow slightly, grabbed Zhan Zhao, who was eager to rush ahead, and positioned him behind himself.

Xu Lie and Chen Mi followed closely.

Zhao Zhen, who was walking at the rear, was unhurried, glancing around as he walked.

In a fleeting moment, unsure whether it was a trick of the light or not, Zhao Zhen seemed to see a figure in the distance, moving in a strange manner. He turned his head lightly, his hand gently stroking his chin, standing there staring into the dark road in the distance. The figure didn't reappear... Was it an illusion?

Meanwhile, Bai Yutang had already entered the utility room with a flashlight in hand.

There wasn't much in the utility room, just an old bicycle, two tyres, and some worn-out tables and chairs.

Navigating around the clutter, the stairs leading downwards became visible.

Beneath the dim light, Bai Yutang noticed something under the old wooden staircase, a faint glow.

Bai Yutang glanced at Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao craned his neck to look below, but Bai Yutang gently pushed him back, urging him to follow Xu Lie while Chen Mi came up.

With a flashlight in hand, Chen Mi followed Bai Yutang down the stairs.

Zhan Zhao and Xu Lie followed behind, with Zhao Zhen bringing up the rear, continuing to glance around as they descended into the eerie basement.

The staircase leading down was split into two sections, with a bend. Halfway down, only a wall was visible, requiring a change of direction to see the basement.

The first level of the basement resembled a tool room, lit dimly by a wall lamp.

Bai Yutang and Chen Mi descended into the tool room, while Xu Lie remained at the staircase, helping Bai Yutang hold back the eager Zhan Zhao.

Zhao Zhen also descended, standing behind the two and peering into the tool room.

At this moment, everyone's attention was focused on the open basement door.

Just as described by Hou Yingqi, below the basement, there was a thick manual valve door, similar to the hatch on a tank, and now... that door was open.

Below the door, there was still light, albeit dim.

But Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao had just seen the photos, and their impression of the basement was of a much brighter and cosier place. How did they manage to create such a gloomy light source down there, flickering like that...

Approaching the valve door, Chen Mi signalled to Bai Yutang, "Kerosene lamps."

Bai Yutang also faintly smelled the scent of kerosene – What era was this? They were still using oil lamps down here?

At the same time, both of them saw something floating below, seeming to be moving... Silk? Or was some cloth draped over it?

Regardless, Bai Yutang, seeing that the basement wasn't too high, decided to jump down.

Chen Mi grabbed onto the iron ladder next to the well cover leading down to the basement and followed.

At the doorway, Xu Lie continued to hold back the eager Zhan Zhao for Bai Yutang.

Zhan Zhao shot him an annoyed glance.

Xu Lie pointed to his ear – Bai Yutang said he should call for him to come down.

Almost simultaneously, they heard Bai Yutang's voice from below, "Cat!"

Xu Lie let go, and Zhan Zhao nearly tumbled down the hole, fortunately caught by Zhao Zhen and Xu Lie.

Descending down the ladder, the sight before Zhan Zhao surprised him.

In what used to be a cosy and exquisite underground room, there were four quite old-fashioned kerosene lamps placed in each of the four corners.

At the same time, several semi-transparent black veils were hanging from the ceiling. These pieces were about a meter wide and nearly two meters long, hanging irregularly from the ceiling.

There were also ventilation windows on the ceiling, and it seemed like the ventilation fan was running... As the wind blew in, these black veils swayed gently.

The originally dim and unstable light from the oil lamps became even more eerie due to the swaying black veils, making the atmosphere in the room overly spooky.

What made it even more unsettling was that around the room, on top of cabinets, tables, and almost anywhere that could hold something, there were old and tattered dolls placed.

These dolls, both plush and plastic, were all very old-fashioned and showed signs of wear and tear, giving them a very aged appearance.

Xu Lie couldn't help but curse, feeling that this set was definitely for shooting a horror film.

Bai Yutang and Chen Mi were standing by the bed in the room.

Because lying on the bed was Su Feifei.

From the slight rise and fall of her chest, she didn't seem like a corpse, which relieved everyone.

Chen Mi was checking her pulse, while Bai Yutang motioned for Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao walked over quickly, observing Su Feifei lying on the bed.

At first glance, it was too eerie. Su Feifei's face looked as if she had applied non-waterproof eyeliner and then cried heavily, with clear black tear streaks below her eyes.

She seemed to be asleep, or perhaps unconscious...

Chen Mi confirmed that her pulse and breathing were normal.

Bai Yutang had just tried shaking her, but Su Feifei didn't wake up. Based on their experience, she probably wasn't in natural sleep, she might have been drugged.

Bai Yutang called for an ambulance, and as Zhan Zhao approached, he bent down to observe the unconscious Su Feifei.

At that moment, there was a click, and the lights turned on.

It turned out Zhao Zhen had found the light switch.

Bai Yutang quickly looked towards him.

Zhao Zhen extended his gloved hand towards Bai Yutang, showing him the hand – This is a rule he still understands.

As the lights came on, Zhan Zhao was still looking at Su Feifei, with Xu Lie also leaning in curiously to take a look.

Earlier, everyone thought the tear streaks on Su Feifei's face were caused by makeup.

But now, with the lights on, they realised that those marks weren't black but rather a dark red... more like bloodstains.

Everyone was startled – Had her eyes been injured?!

Zhan Zhao was about to lift Su Feifei's eyelids to check when, just as his hand was about to touch her eye, Su Feifei suddenly opened her eyes.

Both Zhan Zhao and Xu Lie looked down at her, startled by her sudden awakening. Zhan Zhao instinctively raised his head, bumping his head against Xu Lie's chin.

"Aiya!"

Both of them cried out in pain. Bai Yutang had just put down the phone and saw Zhan Zhao holding his head and crouching down, while Xu Lie was holding his chin and stomping his foot in place.

Bai Yutang checked Zhan Zhao's head while Chen Mi checked Xu Lie's chin. Zhan Zhao had a bump on his head, and Xu Lie had a red mark on his chin.

Meanwhile, Zhao Zhen was more focused on the suddenly awakened Su Feifei.

Judging from her opening her eyes, her eyes didn't seem injured, and there was no blood in her eye sockets. So, those bloodstains on her cheeks should be drawn on.

Xu Lie, still holding his chin, asked Chen Mi to check if it was dislocated. That would be a bigger problem...

Chen Mi said it wasn't dislocated.

Xu Lie insisted that it was.

Chen Mi, feeling helpless, patted his face gently, saying it was now back in place.

Xu Lie leaned the other half of his face over, saying it still felt crooked.

Bai Yutang coughed lightly.

Zhan Zhao also looked at the two of them with contempt – In this situation, you two still have the heart to flirt?

Seeing Su Feifei wake up and hearing the sound of the ambulance arriving outside, Chen Mi quickly pulled Xu Lie out first to check if his chin was really dislocated.

Zhan Zhao rubbed his head while checking Su Feifei's condition.

Although she had opened her eyes, she still didn't seem quite right... because she wasn't speaking or reacting, just staring blankly with her eyes open... This was not the behavior of someone who had just woken up. Could it be that she wasn't fully awake yet?

Zhan Zhao snapped his fingers in front of Su Feifei's eyes, but she continued to stare blankly upwards without any reaction to the noise.

He waved his hand in front of her eyes, but she didn't blink.

Then, Zhan Zhao clapped his hands on both sides of Su Feifei's ears, but she still didn't respond.

If it weren't for the obvious signs of breathing, Bai Yutang would have suspected she was dead...

At that moment, the paramedics had arrived with a stretcher above the basement, peering down.

Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao – What should we do?

Zhan Zhao was also uncertain. Should they take her to the hospital for further examination?

Suddenly, Zhao Zhen spoke up, "She blinked."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang immediately looked down and saw Su Feifei indeed blink a few times. Her eyes, which had been fixed, began to move slowly, as if she was observing her surroundings.

Bai Yutang was about to call out to her, but Zhan Zhao gently extended his hand, stopping him. He waved to the paramedics at the door, indicating for them to step back a bit.

The paramedics exchanged glances. Su Feifei's manager was upstairs, also afraid that things would get out of hand, so they took the medical staff out first.

Su Feifei's consciousness seemed to be gradually returning.

Finally, her gaze fell on the people standing by her bedside.

Logically, she had just seen Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang in the morning, so she should recognise them.

But her eyes looked very strange at this moment. She seemed confused, as if she was looking at two strangers.

"Who are you guys?" Su Feifei asked, "And why are you in my house?"

Bai Yutang furrowed his brow slightly – What?

Zhao Zhen was also puzzled – Had she been traumatised?

"Your house?" Zhan Zhao observed Su Feifei and asked, "Who are you?"

Su Feifei frowned and sat up. "What do you mean? Who am I? Who are you guys? How did you get in? Dad! Dad!"

Su Feifei shouted towards the basement door for her father, her expression... seemed somewhat different from the Su Feifei Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had encountered earlier in the morning.

After calling twice without receiving a response, Su Feifei seemed a bit panicked.

"Is your father Shen Xin?" Zhan Zhao suddenly asked.

Bai Yutang and Zhao Zhen's first reaction was – Isn't her father's surname Su? Isn't Shen Xin the owner of the cement factory?

But Su Feifei nodded and asked, "Are you here to see my dad?"

"Are you Shen Yan?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Su Feifei nodded, "Mhmm."

Zhan Zhao stared at her, while Bai Yutang and Zhao Zhen silently took a half step back – This development... was getting eerie...

‿︵‿︵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: June 5, 2024 by Angel

Edited: December 18, 2024 by Soojin