S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 6 Chapter 23

The Card Murderer 23 – Condition

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Based on the current progress of the case, Zhou Li was likely in grave danger.  

The murderer had obviously planned everything meticulously. However, aside from the murderer, everyone present seemed rather strange.  

After reading the contents of the suicide note, Zhan Zhao frowned slightly – The writing style was somewhat similar to Wang Qiu's note, but the content was entirely different.  

Both suicide notes were written in an extremely sloppy handwriting, suggesting that the writers had been in a state of heightened agitation.  

There was a strong sense of emotional outpouring in both texts. However, Wang Qiu's letter had a clear target, it was to criticise Zhang Yuancheng.  

Zhou Li's note also contained relentless insults directed at someone, but no name was mentioned, she just used "you" to refer to the person.  

Reading through the entire letter, Zhan Zhao felt that, in summary, it could be distilled into a recurring theme: "It's all your fault. I'm going to kill you, you brought this upon yourself..."  

The note was filled with venting and curses, yet there was no specific person, incident, or even a clear timeline.  

The diary-style paper had a pre-printed date format at the top, but no numbers had been filled in, making it seem both normal and abnormal at the same time.  

Zhan Zhao had a strong feeling that this was only half of the letter, there should have been another part before this. The first part would have recorded certain events with specific dates, followed by pages full of emotional outbursts. That would have made sense!  

Bai Yutang also found the situation quite frustrating. He sent Ma Han and Zhao Hu to check the surveillance footage in the area through the property management office. However, when they returned, they reported that, since it was a newly developed district, the system had not yet been properly configured, and the nearby surveillance cameras were non-functional, purely for show.  

Bai Yutang was already in the mood to curse, but fortunately, there was another way... Both Mingdi and Pei Wen's cars had dashcams.

The two of them took out their phones to review the dashcam footage...  

And an even more baffling event occurred.  

Mingdi's car had arrived first, he had come with Gao Min. Getting out of the car, the two of them entered the theatre.  

Not long after, Pei Wen's car arrived.  

Pei Wen hurriedly got out of the car and also ran into the theatre.  

Just as Pei Wen stepped inside, a taxi pulled up in front of the two parked cars. Kevin got out, ran into the theatre, and the taxi drove off.  

At that moment, a red SUV drove past the two parked cars.  

And then, something unbelievable happened.  

Neither dashcam captured anyone getting out of the SUV that had stopped right beside them. The view from Mingdi's dashcam was obstructed by Pei Wen's car, which had not been parked properly.

And Pei Wen's car, which was even closer to the SUV, had been parked improperly, causing its dashcam to be angled more towards Mingdi's car... As a result, it too had coincidentally failed to capture the SUV beside it.  

Bai Yutang frowned and asked himself – Is it really just a coincidence? Could there really be such a coincidence?!  

"Why are you guys here?" Bai Yutang asked Mingdi, Gao Min, and Pei Wen.  

The three of them briefly explained their movements.  

That morning, before heading to work, Gao Min had gone to the hospital to visit Liu Jing. Although Liu Jing had survived the critical period, she still hadn't regained consciousness. The doctor said her condition wasn't optimistic and that there was a risk she might end up in a vegetative state. Her parents were in tears.  

When Gao Min returned to the publishing house, she had no mood for work. She saw the news and overheard some colleagues in the editorial department discussing how they suspected Zhang Yuancheng had been cheating on his wife, suggesting that this whole incident might have been caused by an affair or something.  

Coincidentally, Lao Chen had taken the day off. With no motivation to work, Gao Min decided to take half a day off as well and headed out to find the theatre troupe to ask who exactly had been involved in the rumours with Zhang Yuancheng.  

As soon as she stepped out of the office, she ran into Mingdi.  

Mingdi followed her out and asked where she was going.  

When Gao Min said she was heading to the theatre troupe, Mingdi offered to drive her... Since Gao Min didn't know anyone in the troupe, but Mingdi likely did, he should be able to talk to the people there, so she decided to go with him.  

Pei Wen, on the other hand, had rushed over to the adjacent editorial building looking for Mingdi, but came back empty-handed. A colleague told her that Mingdi had just left and seemed to have gone to the theatre with Gao Min.

Using thirst as an excuse, Pei Wen sent Kevin off to buy drinks, then quietly slipped downstairs, got in her car, and drove after Mingdi.  

When Kevin returned with the drinks and found that the young lady had vanished, he also wanted to go downstairs and drive after her... However, a car accident at the entrance had blocked the road, leaving him with no choice but to go back upstairs and hail a taxi to chase after her.  

After listening to their explanations, Bai Yutang remained silent, but mentally went over the timeline again and again... Too normal! Every step had been accounted for down to the second... without the slightest flaw, yet it all felt suspicious.  

He then questioned a few members of the theatre troupe.  

The girl who had been eating an apple earlier was the troupe's director.  

Most of the actors, costume people, and props people had already arrived. Since it was a small theatre troupe, there weren't very clear divisions of labour, and many people took on multiple responsibilities.  

Bai Yutang also found it rather odd. The troupe had never had that many members to begin with, and now, all at once, they had lost three...

At this thought, Bai Yutang asked, "Is Cotton Candy part of your theatre troupe?"  

Everyone nodded and said she handled art and makeup.  

Bai Yutang was speechless – Losing four people all at once, with three dead and one injured, and they still had the mood to rehearse?  

Zhan Zhao held the letter, took out his phone, and asked if anyone had Zhou Li's number.  

One of the troupe members gave him a number.  

Zhan Zhao dialled it.  

Bai Yutang first glanced toward the cars...  

Fortunately, there was no ringing coming from inside them... That meant the phone was still with Zhou Li, or rather, the murderer.  

Although Zhan Zhao had made the call, he hadn't expected anyone to answer. But after just a few beeps, the call was suddenly picked up.  

Zhan Zhao's eyes lit up, and he looked at Bai Yutang.  

Bai Yutang immediately leaned in, pressing his ear against Zhan Zhao's hand to listen.  

"Hello?"  

Seeing that the call had gone through, but there was no response, Zhan Zhao spoke first.  

After a brief silence, a very "steady" male voice came from the other end, "Hello."  

Bai Yutang frowned. The speaker wasn't a woman, meaning it wasn't Zhou Li... The murderer? His voice sounded similar to what both the taxi driver and Lao Chen had described, a young man with a voice that sounded very mild temperament.  

"Dr. Zhan?"  

"The murderer?"  

"Heh heh heh..."  

A "smooth" chuckle came through, followed by, "Zhou Li is still alive."  

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang hadn't anticipated that the caller would take the initiative to say this.

"So, what are your conditions?" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had handled many cases before and were very experienced... If they kidnap someone and don't kill them, there has to be something to negotiate.  

Bai Yutang had already received news... Jiang Ping had been tracking Zhou Li's phone signal, but it had been switched off the whole time. Now, it had suddenly reappeared.  

"Captain, they're near you!"  

Jiang Ping sent Bai Yutang a location... the flashing red dot was right in their vicinity.  

Bai Yutang immediately led Ma Han and Zhao Hu and ran towards the marked location.  

Meanwhile, on Zhan Zhao's end, the murderer made his request over the phone. "Help me find someone."

"Who?"  

"They're in Zhou Li's phone."  

After saying that, the call was abruptly cut off.  

Zhan Zhao immediately redialled.  

Following the navigation, Bai Yutang ran forward, and soon heard the sound of a phone ringing...  

Zhao Hu picked up a ringing phone from a small flowerbed.

Bai Yutang and Ma Han searched around... Just beyond the flowerbed was the road, where there were plenty of pedestrians. The nearby elevated spots... had no surveillance cameras.  

Bai Yutang frowned – Downtown S City was almost fully covered by CCTV, so how did the murderer find so many blind spots? Just how long had this case been planned?  

He answered the call and informed Zhan Zhao that the person had escaped.  

Zhan Zhao asked him to check if there were any photos or similar files on the phone.  

"Photos?" Bai Yutang lifted the phone and glanced at the screen, only to be startled.  

"Damn!" Zhao Hu, standing beside him, caught a glimpse and was startled as well. "Who is that?"  

Bai Yutang frowned and took a closer look... On the phone's screen was an open photo, one that looked like a scene from a horror film.  

At the end of a dark corridor, a door was ajar, light spilling from within.  

Standing at the threshold was a woman in a long nightgown, barefoot, holding up the hem of her dress with both hands.  

The woman was turned slightly to the side, gazing in the direction of the camera, and her face... was wrapped in bandages.  

Back in the parking lot, Bai Yutang handed the phone to Zhan Zhao.  

When Zhan Zhao saw the photo, he frowned... This photo was quite terrifying.

Actually, from a compositional standpoint, the structure was simple, and the woman's outfit wasn't particularly scary... The image was clean with distinct colours, no bloody or gory scenes, and no exaggerated demonic or monstrous designs. But just this woman staring blankly at the camera gave one a chilling feeling at first glance.

Zhan Zhao glanced at Pei Xiu, who was standing nearby... This woman seemed to match the description he had given of the ghost he saw in the basement of the old house when he was a child.

Should I show it to him?  

Zhan Zhao hesitated.  

Check Zhou Li's phone... There were quite a lot of messages on the phone and a whole bunch of photos.

"One hundred thousand photos..." Zhan Zhao looked at the number of photos on Zhou Li's phone and was a bit shocked, thinking to himself, How much does she love taking pictures?

Browsing through the albums, he found that this person really loves performing in stage plays. There were hundreds of folders filled with stage play photos, categorised meticulously by roles and themes, covering both domestic and international productions.  

Zhan Zhao thought this phone would be best handed over to Bai Chi for proper sorting.  

After sending the photo of the bandaged woman to his own phone, Zhan Zhao glanced at Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang lowered his voice and asked Zhan Zhao – Is Zhou Li really still alive?  

Zhan Zhao shook his head – We know too little about the murderer to accurately judge his intentions right now. Besides, this person might be an expert in psychology...

Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao – An expert?

Zhan Zhao nodded – His behaviour could actually lead to two completely different analytical conclusions.  

Bai Yutang shook his head, indicating that he didn't understand.  

Zhan Zhao thought about how he should explain it to him. After brewing on it for a moment, he was just about to speak when Bai Yutang said, "Explain it in one sentence."  

Zhan Zhao shut his mouth again and continued thinking.  

Bai Yutang called Gongsun to ask about the progress of the forensics and medical examination teams. Gongsun said it would take another two hours or so.  

Bai Yutang instructed Zhao Hu and Ma Han to take detailed statements from the theatre troupe, whatever they knew about Zhang Yuancheng, Liu Jing, Wang Qiu, and Cotton Candy. The more detailed and gossip-filled, the better.  

Zhan Zhao waved to Pei Xiu.  

Pei Xiu walked over.  

"Your family's old house was burned down, wasn't it?" Zhan Zhao asked.  

Pei Xiu nodded.  

"To what extent?"  

Pei Xiu frowned slightly. "It's just a ruin now."  

"Is it still preserved?"  

"You want to go there?" Pei Xiu was straightforward. "I can take you. That area has been sealed off for years."  

Bai Yutang wanted to calculate whether two hours round trip would be enough, so he asked, "Is it far?"  

Pei Xiu shook his head. "Not too bad, it's near Sparrow Forest."  

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both stopped in their tracks and frowned at him. "Sparrow Forest?"  

Pei Xiu nodded. "There's a forest area over there, it's a sparrow conservation zone..."  

"Is it close to Sparrow Tunnel?"  

"It's right nearby."  

As Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang walked towards the car, Zhan Zhao quietly asked Bai Yutang, "Know what I'm thinking?"  

Bai Yutang asked, "That urban legend?"  

Zhan Zhao smiled slightly.  

They both turned back to Pei Xiu and asked, "Did you grow up in that area?"  

Pei Xiu replied, "More or less..."  

"So, where the campground is now, was it once a cosmetic surgery hospital?"  

Pei Xiu thought for a moment. "There was a hospital there before, but I seem to remember it being a psychiatric hospital..."

‿︵‿︵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 31, 2025 by Angel

Edited: June 1, 2025 by Soojin