S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 6 Chapter 24

The Card Murderer 24  – Ruins

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"A psychiatric hospital?" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang asked Pei Xiu. "Are you sure?"  

"Yes." Pei Xiu thought for a moment. "It really was a psychiatric hospital. When Pei Yun and I were kids, we went exploring and saw people wearing patient gowns there. At first, we thought it was a prison."  

Bai Yutang was driving, while Zhan Zhao sat in the passenger seat, gathering information from Pei Xiu in the back.  

Zhan Zhao didn't ask about the psychiatric hospital specifically, it felt more like a casual conversation.  

"It sounds like you and Pei Yun had a good relationship when you were young," Zhan Zhao said with a smile.  

Pei Xiu pulled a face. "Good relationship my ass, I've been bullied by her since I was little."  

"So why is there no trace of the hospital left?" Zhan Zhao asked curiously.  

"Half of it was demolished, and it seems like they sold the land... but the ward buildings should still be in the forest, that part of the land was never sold," Pei Xiu replied offhandedly. "It's been abandoned for ages."  

"You're saying the hospital's ward area is still in the forest?" It was the first time Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had heard of this.  

Pei Xiu nodded. "I remember the hospital and the ward area were separate. The hospital itself wasn't sealed off, but the ward area was deep in the forest, like a prison, surrounded by barbed wire. That's why we went exploring... It was a terrifying place when we were kids."  

"Is it close to your family's old house?"  

"Not too far." Pei Xiu asked Zhan Zhao curiously. "Does that hospital have something to do with my family? But I remember that hospital had been abandoned a long, long time ago."  

Zhan Zhao shook his head and sent a message to Jiang Ping, asking him to look into the hospital's records.  

"Right," Zhan Zhao changed the subject and asked Pei Xiu, "You were in a theatre troupe during middle school, high school, and university?"  

Pei Xiu looked up at the sky. "Are we talking about that thing about me writing a script that got someone killed again? I already told you it wasn't my fault."  

Zhan Zhao pulled up the group photo of Pei Xiu, Fang Jie, and Wang Qiu on his phone and showed it to him.

Pei Xiu stared at it for a while, somewhat puzzled. "Who are these two?"  

Even Bai Yutang couldn't help but glance at the rear-view mirror. Was Pei Xiu pretending not to recognise them?

Zhan Zhao had been observing Pei Xiu's expression through the rear-view mirror. When Pei Xiu saw the photo, his confusion and puzzlement didn't seem fake. Either he genuinely didn't remember these two people or his acting skills were so impeccable that even Zhan Zhao couldn't spot any flaws.  

Thinking of this, Zhan Zhao suddenly had an idea and forwarded the photo of the bandaged-faced woman to Zhao Jue.  

"Could this photo be doctored?"  

At that moment, Pei Xiu suddenly asked.  

Zhan Zhao asked him, "Do you have a reason to suspect that?"  

"I'm sure I never took this photo!" Pei Xiu said with absolute confidence.  

Hearing this, Bai Yutang frowned – So sure?  

Zhan Zhao also felt that if Pei Xiu really had graduated from that school, it would be easy to verify, there was no reason for him to lie about something so easily checked. So he contacted Jiang Ping and asked him to look into the photos found at Wang Qiu's house.  

While he was discussing things with Jiang Ping, Zhao Jue replied.  

Zhan Zhao opened the message and was momentarily stunned... because Zhao Jue had sent him an ellipsis.  

Zhan Zhao stared at the six dots on the screen, deep in thought – What is that supposed to mean?  

Just then, a message came from Zhao Hu's side. He said the questioning was over and the theatre troupe wanted to continue their rehearsal, so they had been kicked out.  

Bai Yutang was speechless, he didn't know what was wrong with these people. But since they were short on manpower, he told Zhao Hu to contact Qin Ou and Luo Tian. They were to meet near the campground and find an administrator familiar with the area to ask about the abandoned hospital in the forest.  

After ending the call, Zhao Hu kept muttering to Ma Han, "An abandoned hospital deep in the forest... Damn! What if zombies come out?"  

"There might actually be some." Ma Han got into the car, contacted the others, and prepared to drive to Sparrow Campground.  

After thinking for a moment, he suddenly said to Zhao Hu, "The mountain behind Sparrow Campground..."  

"What about that mountain?" Zhao Hu asked.  

"That's where I ran into Eleven when I was a kid," Ma Han said unexpectedly.  

Zhao Hu's eyes widened, he thought for a while before saying, "Did Uncle Chopsticks go hunting sparrows? Sparrows weren't a protected species back then, right?"  

Ma Han thought for a moment. "Eleven was probably practising shooting in that area. If there's an abandoned hospital in the woods, he might have seen it."  

"Was that a school summer camp when you were kids?" Zhao Hu shook his head disapprovingly. "Why would you go to such a remote and wild forest?"

"Back then, the place where we camped was probably near the current campground," Ma Han said. "At that time, the campground hadn't been developed, and it wasn't a popular social media spot like it is now. It was mainly used for summer camps and group activities, with large tents everywhere."  

"If there's an abandoned building, that would be an ideal place for a sniper to train," Zhao Hu suggested, "Should we call Eleven and ask him?"  

"But when he taught me to shoot, he didn't take me there, he picked a different location instead... And he told me not to play near that area."  

Zhao Hu clicked his tongue. "There won't really be zombies over there, right?"  

Ma Han thought for a moment and decided to call Eleven.  

When the call connected, it was quite noisy on Eleven's end, as if he was either gaming or watching a movie, with all sorts of sound effects in the background.  

"Hello?" Eleven answered while walking outside, shouting at Issel, who was playing a game behind him, "Turn the volume down!"  

Ma Han asked him if there was an abandoned hospital in the mountains near Sparrow Campground.  

Eleven was momentarily stunned and then asked, "Are you guys investigating the old case at that hospital?"  

Ma Han was caught off guard. "What old case?"  

Eleven seemed puzzled. "Aren't you guys investigating that serial murder case?"  

"What serial murder case?" Ma Han was a bit confused.  

Zhao Hu patted his chest in relief – Luckily it isn't zombies, just a serial killer.  

"You guys don't know how that hospital shut down?" Eleven seemed to find it amusing. "Then why are you looking for it? Going there to test your courage?"  

"How did the hospital shut down?" Ma Han pressed.  

"It went bankrupt," Eleven said teasingly.  

"A medical malpractice case?"  

"Mm... A bit more serious than that," Eleven replied with a wicked grin. "There was a large-scale massacre in the ward area, a lot of people died."  

Ma Han and Zhao Hu exchanged glances. As police officers, their immediate concern was obvious. "Was the murderer caught?"  

Eleven clicked his tongue. "So many people died just trying to catch the killer."  

Ma Han didn't quite understand, but Zhao Hu caught on quickly and asked, "A psychiatric hospital version of Werewolf?"

"Hyouka" Eleven gave a definite answer. "I later asked around, but no one knew what exactly happened in the ward area that night. All they knew was that a lot of people died. The hospital settled the matter with compensation, all the victims were patients, and their families didn't pursue it. No one knew how it started or how it ended." 

Ma Han frowned. "Then why did you say there was a serial killer?"  

"Because I went inside and had a look," Eleven said, sitting down on a swing in the courtyard, lighting a cigarette, and chatting with Ma Han and Zhao Hu. "I was in S City for a while on some business, so I went to Sparrow Mountain to practise shooting. That was when I picked you up."  

Ma Han muttered in his heart – Who picked up whom...  

"At the time, I didn't know anything about that hospital. I was just wandering in the woods when I came across an abandoned building complex that looked like a hospital. So, I went in for a look... and found something odd." Eleven took a drag from his cigarette and spoke leisurely. "There were a lot of old bloodstains inside... It looked like a horrific massacre had taken place. But based on my experience, those bloodstains were fake."  

"Fake?"  

"Yeah!" Eleven nodded. "It was obvious the bloodstains weren't caused by a killing, someone had deliberately splattered them there."  

Ma Han and Zhao Hu exchanged glances.  

"Why would someone fake a chaotic massacre scene?" Eleven chuckled. "Sometimes, when a lot of people are killed, the real target is only one of them. Likewise, when a chaotic crime scene is staged, the real purpose is often to cover up a much clearer one."

Ma Han and Zhao Hu were still processing this conversation when Eleven quickly added, "Over the years, I've seen a lot of ruins... Funny enough, what I saw at Sparrow Campground wasn't the first time I'd come across something like this."  

"There are other ruins like this?" Zhao Hu asked. "Oh, so Uncle, you think it was done by a serial killer?"  

"Maybe, I wasn't in the mood to investigate properly back then. It was only later that I happened to read some news related to that hospital. Out of curiosity, I asked around and went back to check out the ruins again. I was practising shooting nearby at the time, back when sparrows weren't an endangered species..."

Ma Han glanced somewhat helplessly at Zhao Hu.  

Hu Zi nodded – There used to be sparrows everywhere, but now you could hardly see any!  

"Guess what I found the last time I went to the ruins," Eleven asked.  

"What did you find?" Zhao Hu and Ma Han were both puzzled – Had someone else been to those ruins?  

"Someone had placed two bullets there, standing upright."  

Ma Han and Zhao Hu froze and exchanged a look – Two upright bullets form the number eleven. Is it just a coincidence?  

"Damn." Hu Zi got goosebumps and asked Ma Han. "So that's why Uncle Chopsticks didn't want you playing there?"  

"I don't know what's so special about that ruin, but it felt like whoever left those bullets was warning me to mind my own business," Eleven said indifferently. "Better to avoid trouble than to create more, so I wisely decided not to go anymore."

......

Meanwhile, Bai Yutang's car was driving down the highway as Zhan Zhao asked Pei Xiu about the famous school beauty disappearance case that had happened when he was studying abroad in middle school.  

"Ugh..." Pei Xiu let out a helpless sigh. "This matter again..."  

"There have been rumours at your school about you having something to do with this case," Zhan Zhao said as gently as possible.  

"Then let me tell you something that should immediately clear my suspicion," Pei Xiu said. "Did you know that before she went missing, the girl's parents took out three insurance policies on her?"  

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both froze – Three insurance policies?  

"After the girl disappeared, her parents received at least tens of millions of dollars in insurance payouts, plus a massive amount in donations. And even then, they still contacted my dad, trying to get a hefty compensation from him." Pei Xiu sighed helplessly. "Later, my lawyer helped by asking acquaintances and found out that her family was suspected of insurance fraud. The detective we hired also discovered that long before she disappeared, her family had hired a private investigator to dig into my background in China."  

"So, there's a possibility that the girl's parents were committing insurance fraud?" Zhan Zhao asked.  

"Insurance fraud, donation fraud, her parents were both gamblers," Pei Xiu spread his hands. "As for the girl, if she was lucky, she could have changed her identity and moved to another city. If she wasn't... well, a mirror can't take her to another world, but her parents probably could."  

"When I threatened her parents by saying I would tell the police about the insurance matter, they never bothered me again. They even came out to speak on my behalf." Pei Xiu scoffed. "Mirrors are never scary when no one's looking into them."

‿︵‿︵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 2, 2025 by Soojin