S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 180

Special Files – Witches 27 – Important Message

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Gongsun hurriedly brought the forensic team and the small squad of medical examiners to dig up "Shen Yan's" grave.

Once the earth was cleared, a small coffin was revealed.

Everyone suddenly realised that the police should not have done this job; archaeologists should have been called instead.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang followed Ma Xin to the edge of the grave. They both took a look inside the excavated tomb and were stunned.

"Oh my god..." Zhao Hu, who followed closely behind, was so scared that he jumped and accidentally stepped on Ma Han behind him.

This coffin was only half the size of a regular one, looking more like a box.

And this box was no ordinary one, it was a stone box.

The dark grey stone slab was carved with extensive patterns.

The patterns appeared particularly eerie, with irregular lines of varying thickness resembling net-like ropes, covering the entire surface of the coffin. In the spaces between these lines, there were many large circles within small circles, similar to eyes.

The entire stone slab carving was crudely done, and combined with extensive erosion and damage, it had an ancient feel... adding to its mystery.

The dense lines and circles made the onlookers uneasy.

Zhao Hu rubbed his head, saying his scalp was tingling, and that the pattern looked really disgusting.

Zhan Zhao couldn't help but mock, "What the hell is this? Cthulhu?"

Coincidentally, most of the forensic team and the medical examiners were fans of horror literature. They all looked up at Zhan Zhao, "It does have that vibe!"

Bai Yutang looked up at the sky, waved his hand to stop the group of nerds from messing around, and asked Gongsun and Zhan Zhao, "Is this some sort of burial custom?"

Zhan Zhao and Gongsun looked at each other, and in the end, both shrugged – Neither were experts in this area.

Bai Yutang had no choice but to call for "experts" for help.

Before long, the "experts" arrived.

Zhang Yu and Chen Feng, the two occultists, were "summoned."

By this time, it was almost dark, and the SCI team was waiting nearby. Gongsun was anxious and just wanted to open the coffin and take a look.

Zhang Yu walked to the grave, glanced at the tombstone beside it, and frowned slightly.

Chen Feng was clearly an outsider in terms of burial customs, but after a glance at the stone coffin, he blurted out, "Is it that new?"

Everyone asked in return, "New? It looks very old."

Chen Feng, with his arms crossed and head tilted, looked at the coffin and asked Zhang Yu, "It just looks old..."

Zhang Yu also took a look at the coffin, smiled slightly, and asked, "What era is this grave from?"

"About fifty years ago," Bai Yutang replied.

Zhang Yu shook his head, "Impossible."

Everyone looked at him – What did he mean?

Zhang Yu pointed to the tombstone and said, "Fifty years ago, there weren't tombstones made from this type of stone."

Bai Yutang frowned and pointed to the stone coffin, "What about this coffin?"

"I don't know what the patterns mean," Zhang Yu shook his head, "but these patterns weren't carved with a chisel, they were carved with an electric engraver."

"Are you sure?"

The forensic team members were very meticulous, thinking this needed to be confirmed with machines.

Zhang Yu helplessly waved his hand, "I've seen too many of these. If you don't believe me, go back and check with the machines."

Everyone looked at each other – Was Shen Yan's grave a fake?

Bai Yutang suddenly felt something was wrong and signalled for everyone to disperse.

Zhan Zhao asked him, "Yutang, do you think that leapfrog guy led us here on purpose?"

Bai Yutang nodded, "Who knows what's inside the coffin."

After saying this, he called in the bomb squad and the biohazard team.

It became quite a scene, with so much police presence gathered in the wilderness that even Bao Sir showed up.

After thorough inspections, both the bomb squad and the biohazard team cleared the area of any danger. Finally, they used a crane to pack up the stone coffin and tombstone and transported them to the forensic lab to be opened there.

Just as Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang finished and were climbing the slope to get into their car, Luo Tian called with bad news – S University's artificial lake had been drained, and sure enough, Chen Yan's body was found inside.

Qin Ou examined it briefly and noted that the back of the head had an injury, suggesting it wasn't a suicide.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao hurriedly took Gongsun, who was anxious to go back and open the coffin, to S University first.

......

In the car, Zhan Zhao took out his phone to browse the S University campus forum.

"Sure enough, news like this spreads fast." Zhan Zhao noticed the forum's front page was already flooded with posts about "Chen Yan being murdered."

He took Bai Yutang's phone to call Jiang Ping, asking him to monitor the campus forum discussions for any clues from students familiar with Chen Yan.

After hanging up, Zhan Zhao began reading the posts.

"I have to say, Chen Yan was quite the figure." Zhan Zhao stroked his chin, looking at his phone. "Look at these titles: 'Campus Heartthrob's Body Found in Artificial Lake,' 'Suspected Love Murder of Campus Heartthrob'... but Chen Yan's looks don't really qualify him as a heartthrob, do they?"

"A love murder?" Bai Yutang asked, "Any leads?"

"Tsk, tsk." Zhan Zhao continued reading the comments, "Chen Yan's love life seems pretty colourful; he often changed girlfriends."

"Any suspects?" Bai Yutang asked while glancing occasionally at the rear-view mirror.

"Hmm... the strange thing is..." Zhan Zhao said, "everyone says he's a player, but no one mentions the name of any girl he's dated. Isn't that odd?"

Zhan Zhao looked up and saw Bai Yutang watching the rear-view mirror.

Zhan Zhao also turned to look...

Behind them was Ma Han's jeep, nothing unusual.

Not understanding what Bai Yutang was looking at, Zhan Zhao asked, "What's up?"

"Cat, look at that mountain in the distance," Bai Yutang slowed down the car.

As Bai Yutang's car slowed, so did Ma Han's behind them.

Zhao Hu was curious, "Why are we slowing down?"

Seeing Zhan Zhao looking back, Ma Han asked Zhao Hu to check what was behind them.

Zhao Hu, puzzled, opened the window and looked back.

At this point, Bai Yutang pulled over, and Ma Han did the same.

Zhan Zhao got out and ran to the back of the car, looking into the distance.

Zhao Hu and Ma Han also got out and asked, puzzled, "What's wrong?"

Zhan Zhao pointed to a distant mountain.

In the outskirts of S City, there were several tall mountains with winding roads and meticulously maintained greenery.

Everyone looked into the distance and saw that the mountain roads resembled net-like lines, and the round flower beds looked particularly like eyes...

Although not as dense as the patterns on the stone coffin, the style felt eerily similar...

Bai Yutang, who had caught a glimpse of it while driving, found the resemblance uncanny the more he looked.

"Damn," Zhao Hu couldn't help but comment, "it didn't seem like it at first, but once you accept the idea, it looks creepier and creepier!"

Zhan Zhao took a few photos with his phone and asked, "Could the patterns on the stone slab be some kind of map or riddle?"

Bai Yutang shrugged – Who knew, trying to guess a madman's thoughts was futile.

Everyone got back in the cars and headed to S University.

In the car, Zhan Zhao continued browsing the campus forum. In just the few minutes he had stopped, several more pages of posts had appeared.

"Wow," Zhan Zhao noted the increasingly sensational titles, "Chen Yan isn't just a heartthrob anymore. He's involved in debts, online gambling, cheating, and even allegedly seducing a rich woman, leading to her divorce..."

Bai Yutang shook his head in disbelief, "Is there any evidence for all this?"

"It's all rumours, hearsay, someone said, it's said..." Zhan Zhao kept scrolling until he suddenly fell silent, staring at his phone.

Bai Yutang asked if he had found something.

Zhan Zhao nodded, "Mhmm, here's something interesting... this poster says they saw Chen Yan walking past building three early this morning, with a girl following him."

"Early morning?" Bai Yutang was puzzled, "Is the poster a student? Why would they be up so early?"

"They might be," Zhan Zhao replied. “Building three is the lab building. Students stay up all night working on experiments and papers, and it's near the artificial lake." He called Jiang Ping to find out who had posted the post.

"But the post isn't sensational enough, so not many people noticed it." Zhan Zhao decided to leave a comment himself, asking the poster, "Did you see who the girl was?"

Zhan Zhao refreshed the page a few times, and the original poster had replied, saying, "A particularly good-looking girl, definitely not from their school."

Zhan Zhao asked him to describe the girl's appearance and attire, but after refreshing for a long time, there was no reply.

At this moment, Jiang Ping sent Zhan Zhao a name and phone number, along with a brief resume. It was a master's student from S University named Wang Zhengyu.

Jiang Ping told Zhan Zhao that the person who posted was this guy.

Zhan Zhao couldn't help but click his tongue and remarked, "The internet is really scary."

Bai Yutang also smiled.

Zhan Zhao forwarded the information to Luo Tian, asking him to find the student.

He refreshed the post again, but it displayed – the post has been deleted.

Zhan Zhao frowned and asked Jiang Ping if the administrator had deleted the post.

Jiang Ping said that he was currently managing the campus network and collecting data, and he hadn't deleted any posts.

Bai Yutang heard Zhan Zhao's fingers start tapping on his phone and knew he was getting anxious.

Fortunately, the school gate was right in front of them.

The car drove all the way to the vicinity of the artificial lake before stopping. The order by the lake was quite good, with not many onlookers.

The forensics team arrived first. Gongsun and Ma Xin were already at the bottom of the artificial lake.

Qin Ou waved at Zhan Zhao and the others.

Zhan Zhao asked him, "Where is Luo Tian?"

"He went to find that student named Wang Zhengyu. Several officers went with him, but he was neither in the classroom nor the dormitory." Qin Ou noticed Zhan Zhao pointing at his phone and shook his head. "Jiang Ping checked, his phone might be turned off and can't be located. The last place it appeared was near the artificial lake."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a glance – Had he posted near the artificial lake?

"Is there surveillance around here?" Zhao Hu and Ma Han both looked around.

Qin Ou shook his head and pointed to a camera on a distant tree, "The only surveillance camera is broken."

Everyone sighed – Why do surveillance cameras always break at crucial moments?

"Wang Zhengyu likely witnessed the murderer." Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao, "Could he have been discovered and silenced?"

Zhan Zhao, though worried about this possibility, still found it a bit exaggerated, "Not necessarily..."

Just then, they saw Luo Tian returning.

Everyone noticed that he didn't have anyone with him and couldn't help but feel disappointed.

"Found him!"

But hearing Luo Tian's tone and seeing his expression, hope was rekindled.

"Where is he?" Bai Yutang hurriedly asked.

Luo Tian said, "At the campus hospital. I left officers with him... He said he was knocked out from behind and his phone was stolen."

"His phone was taken?" Zhan Zhao asked, "What was on his phone?"

Luo Tian sighed, "This morning he saw Chen Yan and a girl walking past building three. He thought Chen Yan was staying off-campus and there might be some gossip, so he secretly took a photo."

"So he got his phone stolen because he photographed the murderer?" Zhao Hu asked, "Did he get a good look? We should take him to the police station to create a sketch..."

But before Zhao Hu finished, Zhan Zhao shook his head, "Wait a moment."

Everyone looked at him.

Zhan Zhao rubbed his chin and made a meaningful sound, "Hmm."

Beside him, Bai Yutang also suddenly smiled, "Cat."

Zhan Zhao looked at him.

Bai Yutang asked, "Did you think the same thing?"

Zhan Zhao nodded, "Probably."

Everyone else looked at them – What kind of riddle were they speaking in?

"Let's go meet Wang Zhengyu first," Bai Yutang gestured for Luo Tian to lead the way.

Zhan Zhao quietly said a few words to Ma Han and Zhao Hu.

They nodded and left with a few officers.

‿︵‿︵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 17, 2024 by Angel

Edited: December 19, 2024 by Soojin