S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 6 Chapter 19

The Card Murderer 19 – Old House

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In Zhan Zhao's impression, Pei Xiu should be a relatively cultured person, at least not hot-tempered.

However, the way he had stormed into Pei Yun's office today and his tone of voice, he could only be described as "irritable."  

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang analysed the situation at hand. Pei Xiu had just seen the two of them following Pei Yun inside, and now he had barged in, furious, most likely because Pei Yun had called them here.  

Earlier, Pei Yun had mentioned that Zhang Yuancheng and Liu Jing were somewhat unusual. Now, she had also said that she had called them to clean up Pei Xiu's mess... Could there be some sort of connection?  

Pei Yun and Pei Xiu appeared to be of similar age. As Zhan Zhao recalled, after Pei Yun was adopted, Pei Tian's family had moved into the old house... Not long after, Pei Xiu's mother had met with misfortune... At that time, both Pei Yun and Pei Xiu had been in middle school. Pei Xiu had been sent to live with his grandmother for a year, then he had gone abroad. During that period, Pei Tian had married two more times, having Pei Lin and Pei Wen. Within the span of three years, there had been barely any gaps between marriages, both wives had also passed away, and the old house was destroyed in a fire... During those years, Pei Yun and Pei Xiu had been transferring schools and studying abroad... By the time they returned, Pei Lin and Pei Wen were still very young. Ever since the old house had burned down, it seemed as though nothing major had happened to the Pei family. The past decade or so had been relatively stable, and the family business had flourished.  

Zhan Zhao stroked his chin – So, it's a haunted house story? It doesn't feel like it.  

Bai Yutang hadn't looked too closely at the personnel files earlier. What caught his attention more was Pei Yun's comment that Zhang Yuancheng and Liu Jing were unusual.

"In what way are Zhang Yuancheng and Liu Jing unusual?" Bai Yutang asked Pei Yun.  

Hearing this, Pei Xiu became even angrier. "I already told you, those are just baseless rumours!"  

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao both turned to Pei Yun.  

"The script for the stage play Zhang Yuancheng was preparing was actually written by him," Pei Yun gestured towards Pei Xiu.  

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both silently turned to glance at Pei Xiu. At the same time, they both recalled the rumour about him being a "murderous playwright." Was it really this eerie?  

"And then?" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang remained impassive. After all, what they had heard were merely rumours, it's more useful to hear the real situation directly from the person involved.

"Was Zhang Yuancheng's murder related to this script?"  

Pei Yun let out a dry laugh. "Whether it was related to the script itself is unclear, but it's definitely tied to the person who wrote it."  

Pei Xiu rolled his eyes at Pei Yun, looking exasperated. "What exactly are you trying to say?"  

Bai Yutang waved his hand, signalling for them not to argue and to just explain things clearly.  

Zhan Zhao also gestured towards the sofa, indicating that Pei Xiu should sit down and talk properly.  

Pei Xiu chose the single-seater farthest away from Pei Yun and plopped himself down.  

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao glanced at the two of them, as if asking – Who's going to speak?  

Pei Xiu sat there sulking, so Pei Yun took the lead. "Zhang Yuancheng's small theatre troupe that was staging Mingdi's new book was actually funded by him."  

As she spoke, she pointed at Pei Xiu.  

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both looked at Pei Xiu.  

Pei Xiu spread his hands indifferently. "Well, I've loved doing stage plays since I was a kid. What's the problem? Who doesn't have a hobby?"

Pei Yun didn't argue with him, she simply continued speaking to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang. "Back in middle school, he was transferred to the countryside to study for a year. Even there, he started some kind of drama club, which ended in someone dying. Then he was sent abroad for high school, same story, another drama club, and the school's beauty queen went missing, never to be found. Later, at university, he continued to run a drama club and, again, another death. His name's even on some foreign police watch lists, people suspect he's a serial killer. Now, after all that, he finally came back to China to run a publishing house and started a theatre troupe. Except this time, he kept himself in the background and let Zhang Yuancheng take the fall for him. And now... of the young couples, one is dead and one is critically injured."  

"What's that got to do with me? I didn't kill anyone!" Pei Xiu looked thoroughly fed up. "I already said it was an accident."

"An accident?" Pei Yun scoffed. "You should get yourself checked by an expert. Maybe you've got dissociative identity disorder and your other personality is out there killing people without you even realising it."  

Pei Xiu kicked the coffee table. "Why don't you get checked instead? Every time I transferred schools, you somehow ended up transferring too. Every time someone dies, you're always there. Who's to say it's not you who's the psycho killing people and pinning it on me?"  

The siblings seemed to have some deep-seated grudge, glaring and bickering at each other, as if they were sworn enemies.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang gleaned a lot of information from a conversation.

It turns out that every time Pei Xiu really writes a script, a murder case occurs. According to Pei Yun, it wasn't just the case of the missing high school beauty, there was also the incident at the middle school he transferred to, the university he later attended, and now this theatre troupe. Every single time, something had happened?!  

And every time Pei Xiu transferred schools, Pei Yun transferred with him.  

To be fair, both of their accusations seemed plausible – Either Pei Xiu had dissociative identity disorder and was unknowingly committing murders, or Pei Yun was the real killer, framing him...  

Of course, beyond that, there were a few details worth scrutinising – Pei Xiu's middle school transfer happened the same year he took that group photo with Wang Qiu and Fang Jie... The fact that the three of them had taken a photo together suggested they had been quite close back then. So, if a murder had happened at that time, were Wang Qiu and Fang Jie also involved? How could there be so many coincidences...  

"Do you know Wang Qiu?" Zhan Zhao suddenly asked Pei Xiu.  

Pei Xiu was momentarily taken aback, then frowned. "Who?"  

Zhan Zhao studied Pei Xiu's expression and felt like he genuinely didn't remember...  

Could someone forget their middle school classmates? Of course! By now, Pei Xiu must have graduated from middle school nearly twenty years ago. Forgetting classmates from twenty years ago was completely normal. But if they had been close enough to take a private graduation photo together, then the likelihood of forgetting was much lower. Some people had uneventful middle school years and naturally wouldn't remember the people from that time... but if a theatre group Pei Xiu had formed had resulted in a murder, surely that would have been a memorable middle school experience, did he really not remember?  

And on top of that, both Wang Qiu and Zhang Yuancheng had been part of that theatre troupe...  

"Who is it?"  

Pei Xiu, seeing that he couldn't recall anything, didn't ask further. Instead, it was Pei Yun who inquired.  

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang didn't say much more. The murder at White Sand Campground hadn't yet made the news, so not many people should have known about it.  

Bai Yutang continued questioning them. "Were you two familiar with Zhang Yuancheng and Liu Jing?"  

Pei Yun shook her head, indicating she wasn't.  

Pei Xiu, however, nodded. "The part they are responsible for is the one I interact with the most."  

"I heard they had been arguing a lot lately. Is that true?" Zhan Zhao asked Pei Xiu.  

Pei Xiu frowned. "It seems like I've seen them argue before. Liu Jing said Zhang Yuancheng had an affair or something..."  

"Do you know who the affair was with?"

Pei Xiu shrugged. "I don't concern myself with other people's private lives. Besides, I think Zhang Yuancheng really loved Liu Jing. I don't believe he would have had an affair."  

As Zhan Zhao observed Pei Xiu's changing expressions while he spoke, Bai Yutang noticed that when Zhan Zhao brought up Zhang Yuancheng's alleged affair, Pei Yun subtly shifted, as if she had something to say.  

Bai Yutang turned to Pei Yun. "Do you know? Who was Zhang Yuancheng having an affair with?"  

Pei Yun hesitated for a moment. "I don't know for certain, but I have a suspicion."  

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao both nodded – Having a suspect is good.  

"You both saw her just now," Pei Yun gave an answer that took Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang by surprise. "The receptionist."  

Zhan Zhao exchanged a glance with Bai Yutang.  

Bai Yutang frowned – Is it really that receptionist, the one who had seemed so frightened of Pei Yun?  

Pei Xiu seemed to be taken aback as well, asking Pei Yun. "Which receptionist?"  

Pei Yun rolled her eyes at him. "The one you personally picked to play the female lead."  

Pei Xiu was dumbfounded. "Seriously? Her and Zhang Yuancheng?"  

"It's just a guess. There were two times before when I saw her and Zhang Yuancheng sneaking around in the hallway, talking about something. As soon as they saw me, they quickly separated," Pei Yun said. "And you saw it too, every time she sees me, she looks like she's seen a ghost."  

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao never expected that the receptionist was afraid of Pei Yun for this reason...

"You said earlier that she's playing the female lead?" Zhan Zhao asked Pei Xiu. "And you were the one who cast her?"  

Pei Xiu nodded. "She's part of the theatre troupe as well..."  

After a pause, Pei Xiu turned to Pei Yun. "Are you sure? One is a screenwriter and the other is the lead actor. They were just discussing the plot, right?"  

"Have you ever done anything that would make the receptionist afraid of you?" Zhan Zhao asked Pei Yun.  

Pei Yun shook her head. "Company personnel matters aren't my responsibility. I've never fired or punished anyone."  

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang instinctively glanced around at the office's décor.  

Pei Xiu thought for a moment before nodding. "You still know how to win people over."  

Pei Yun shot him a glare.  

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang felt their trip hadn't been in vain, at the very least, they had stumbled upon an unexpected lead, so they asked Pei Yun for the receptionist's details.  

Pei Yun instructed her secretary to prepare them.

Bai Yutang asked Pei Xiu, "You've never suspected it yourself? That every time you write a script, someone dies?"  

Zhan Zhao also nodded. "If it's happened this many times, it's hard to call it a coincidence..."  

Pei Xiu jerked his chin towards Pei Yun – She did it!

Pei Yun shot him a glare.  

Pei Xiu let out a final tsk and said, "Even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me."  

"Let's hear it." 

Pei Xiu sighed, adjusted his posture, placing both hands on his knees, and finally looked a little more serious...  

"It's because of that old house."  

As Pei Xiu spoke, he rubbed his hands together and glanced at Pei Yun.  

Pei Yun frowned.  

"The old house?" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang continued to feign ignorance, waiting for them to say it themselves.  

Zhan Zhao also noticed that, despite the fact that they were bickering the whole time, the moment Pei Xiu mentioned the house, the two seemed to be in complete agreement.

"My oldest uncle secretly kept a woman hidden in that old house," Pei Xiu said. "When I was a child, I went to my uncle's house and saw her, a woman with her face wrapped in bandages!"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both frowned. What kind of horror film and anime crossover was this?  

They both turned to Pei Yun... Pei Yun should have grown up in that house, if Pei Xiu had seen the woman, she must have as well.  

Seeing their expectant looks, Pei Yun sighed helplessly. "I did see her."  

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other.

Pei Yun continued helplessly, "I saw her once or twice when I was little. I had no idea who she was, her face was always wrapped in bandages. Sometimes she'd come out and walk around. She scared me twice, but then she just disappeared..."  

"You never asked your father who she was?" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were now slightly concerned – Was there really a woman in the house? Did she escape after the house caught fire?

"My dad never admitted to it, he said that I imagined it when I had nightmares as a child," Pei Yun shrugged. "I always thought what he said was true, maybe it really was just a nightmare."  

"I've seen her a few times since then," Pei Xiu insisted that this matter is true. "Even after I transferred schools, I kept seeing her, just a quick glimpse in a crowd, but when I looked closely, she was gone."  

Bai Yutang glanced at Zhan Zhao – How is the mental state of these two siblings?  

Zhan Zhao wasn't sure either. How many secrets was this family hiding?

‿︵‿︵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: March 27, 2025 by Angel

Edited: May 19, 2025 by Soojin