S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 6 Chapter 26

The Card Murderer 26 – Unexpected Gain

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Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had never expected that investigating this case would be like stirring up a hornet's nest, the deeper they dug, the more they uncovered.  

The case started less than two days ago, yet there were already three dead, one injured, and one missing. Not only had it dragged up a pile of old cases, but it had also brought out a string of urban legends. Now, even more people claiming to know the truth had come forward, not just Zhao Jue, but even Uncle Chopsticks knew about it... So, were they the only ones completely in the dark?  

The two forest rangers that Luo Tian and Qin Ou had found were an older man and a younger one.  

The older ranger, known as Lao Jia, looked to be nearly sixty. His skin was dark, and he had a somewhat sullen appearance. The younger ranger, Xiao Liu, was just in his early twenties. He, too, was tanned from the sun, but he looked much more cheerful.  

Lao Jia had supposedly worked in this forest for over thirty years. The hospital case had taken place more than twenty years ago... meaning Lao Jia should have been a witness at that time.

When Luo Tian and Qin Ou approached them, they had already mentioned their plan to visit the abandoned hospital. Whether it was because of that or not, Lao Jia's expression had turned even darker.  

"You mean that terrifying-looking ruin?" Xiao Liu asked. "Are you guys investigating the missing university student from that Courage Training Squad?"  

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were stunned – Here we go again!  

Both of them were a bit speechless. Had they somehow stepped into a parallel universe? What Courage Training Squad? What missing university student? Was this still S City? Why did they know nothing about any of this?!  

Lao Jia shot Xiao Liu a glance as if he resented him for talking too much.

Luo Tian and Qin Ou had previously investigated the campground and had heard staff members mention the case.  

"They said that about six months ago, a group of university students from S University formed a team, brought along filming equipment, and went to that abandoned hospital for an adventure, filming short videos and things like that. But during the shoot, strange things kept happening, and in the end, one team member disappeared."  

Bai Yutang frowned. They're really trying to get themselves killed in every possible way... or maybe they just don't have enough homework!

"They still haven't found them?" Zhan Zhao asked.  

Luo Tian shook his head. He had asked a colleague in charge of missing persons at the police station yesterday, and the student had never been found.  

But the case was extremely complicated. The expedition had taken place at night, and within the team, someone had deliberately played pranks, or maybe something else had happened... Whatever the reason, things had escalated into pure panic, and the group had scattered in fear. After escaping, they each returned to their dormitories, not bothering to check on each other. It wasn't until the next day that they realised one of their teammates hadn't come back, but they still didn't take it seriously. It was only three days later, when the missing classmate's family couldn't reach their child and contacted the university, that the school investigated and reported it to the police.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were speechless – What kind of classmates were these, their friend had been missing for three days, and none of them had thought to look for them?  

"After that, the police organised a search team and searched the mountain and the surrounding areas, but they found neither the person nor a body," Luo Tian said. "According to the missing student's parents, he had a hereditary mental illness. Some doctors analysed the situation and suggested that he might have suffered a mental breakdown due to fright and ended up wandering off. So, the search is still ongoing."  

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both frowned... yet another connected incident that came out of nowhere.

"What those kids said can't be fully trusted," Lao Jia suddenly spoke up. "What lost or missing? For all we know, he might have been scared to death."  

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang turned to him and asked, "Why do you say that?"  

"I've been patrolling these mountains for years. I watched that hospital go from newly built to abandoned, I know exactly what's in there and what isn't," Lao Jia said. "When the police searched the mountain, I went into the ruins myself and noticed something that wasn't there before."  

"What was it?"  

"Shards of a mirror."  

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were momentarily stunned. "Mirror shards?"  

Lao Jia nodded. "Tell me, how do you make a ruin look haunted?"  

Zhan Zhao thought for a moment, then nodded. "Install a few extra mirrors."  

Lao Jia motioned towards the campground. "When this place was first built, business wasn't great. The owner racked his brains trying to attract customers and ended up targeting the ruins in the forest, planning to turn them into some kind of haunted house adventure. But it still didn't take off. What really made this campground popular were those viral short videos online... At first, the ruins alone weren't much to look at, but then a bunch of supposedly paranormal videos started spreading like wildfire, all because of the illusions created by the mirrors... This got the campground a lot more business. Then, after the student went missing, the mirrors were quietly removed. Some pieces were probably broken during transport and left behind in the ruins."  

"So, you suspect that the student didn't just wander off, but actually died of fright inside the ruins, and then someone disposed of the body?" Bai Yutang asked.

Lao Jia took out a cigarette and lit it. "People are different. Some might suffer a mental breakdown from fear, and naturally, some could be scared to death. If someone could quietly transport mirrors into the mountains and remove them without anyone noticing, would it really be that difficult to transport a person?"  

Bai Yutang asked, "Did you not tell the police about this?"  

"I don't have any evidence. Besides, don't you suspect this campground?" Lao Jia gestured towards the parking lot, which was packed full of campers. "Someone died here just two days ago, and look how good business is today!"  

Behind him, Xiao Liu tugged at Lao Jia, trying to get him to hold his tongue, these words could easily offend people.  

Zhan Zhao felt that Lao Jia had a certain attachment to the old hospital, while his attitude towards the campground and those who entered the hospital ruins was one of resentment.  

"You said you watched the hospital being built and then abandoned... so do you know about the murder case that happened there back then?" Zhan Zhao asked.  

Lao Jia paused slightly, looking a little surprised. He glanced at the group and asked, "Aren't you guys here to investigate the missing person case?"  

Zhan Zhao stared at him and smiled. "We're here to investigate the case from the day before yesterday."  

Lao Jia hesitated briefly before nodding...  

"You seem particularly concerned about that missing person case," Zhan Zhao smiled and looked at him.

Lao Jia took a drag from his cigarette and shook his head. "It's just wild guesses..."  

"What about the case at the hospital back then?" Zhan Zhao said, then suddenly beckoned Pei Xiu over.  

Pei Xiu walked over, a little puzzled.  

Zhan Zhao pointed at him and said to Lao Jia, "When he was a kid, he also went on adventures near the hospital. They say he even got caught by a forest ranger with the surname Jia. Do you remember him?"

Pei Xiu blinked and looked at Zhan Zhao – When did I ever say I was caught? And who even is this old man?

Lao Jia suddenly became a bit flustered, as if trying hard to remember, "Oh... I think I have a bit of an impression."  

Pei Xiu watched the old man, who was smoking with his head down, his hand holding the cigarette slightly trembling. He never looked at Pei Xiu from beginning to end.

Zhan Zhao glanced at Bai Yutang.  

Bai Yutang noticed Zhan Zhao's expression and said nothing. It was obvious that Zhan Zhao was bluffing Lao Jia, and Lao Jia... seemed to be slipping up.  

Bai Yutang glanced over at Ma Han and Zhao Hu.  

Zhao Hu took two steps behind Lao Jia.  

"Why don't we talk about how you managed to escape from that hospital back then?"

With just one sentence from Zhan Zhao, Xiao Liu beside Lao Jia was stunned. Looking at Lao Jia again, he suddenly turned around... and started to run.

But he hadn't expected Zhao Hu to have shifted position, completely blocking his escape route... Lao Jia nearly crashed straight into him. He tried to shove Zhao Hu aside and bolt, but Ma Han reached out and yanked him back.  

"Ai..." Xiao Liu was terrified by the sudden turn of events.  

Ma Han and Zhao Hu restrained Lao Jia, while Pei Xiu narrowed his eyes at him. So he really fell for it? Who are you?

Eleven, on the other hand, was just watching the fun with a cigarette in his mouth.

Zhan Zhao reached into Lao Jia's coat pocket and pulled out a small medicine bottle. Opening it, he examined the contents. Inside were pills, half yellow and half white.  

Zhan Zhao shook the bottle. "This medicine should have been discontinued for a long time. Did you stock up on a lot of it?"

Then, he stuffed the bottle back into Lao Jia's pocket, "What happened to the original ranger?"  

Lao Jia's face was completely drained of colour. He shook his head, insisting that he didn't know, that he hadn't killed anyone.  

Xiao Liu's eyes widened in horror as he instinctively backed away – Killed someone?  

After the unexpected twist, there was an unexpected gain. Initially, Zhan Zhao had only found Lao Jia's behaviour odd while they were chatting and decided to probe him a little, but he hadn't expected the man to be so easy to trick... he had given himself away instantly.  

Bai Yutang instructed Luo Tian and Qin Ou to take Lao Jia back to the SCI office for further investigation. He suspected that the man wasn't actually the forest ranger known as Lao Jia.  

Xiao Liu stared dumbfounded at Lao Jia being taken away. He had been working in the forest area for over a year now and had spent nearly every day patrolling the mountains with this man... What's going on? Isn't this Lao Jia? Then who is he? A murderer? Have I been guarding the forest with a murderer for over a year?

Xiao Liu was utterly shaken.  

Bai Yutang told him to stop overthinking things and just lead the way to the ruins first.  

Zhao Hu walked ahead with Xiao Liu, chatting with him and asking questions about Lao Jia.  

Ma Han, Eleven, and Pei Xiu followed in the middle, while Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao walked at the back, discussing what had just happened.  

"Was Lao Jia a former patient at that hospital?" Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao.

"My guess is that he was a doctor or an orderly," Zhan Zhao speculated. "He doesn't seem curious about that hospital, only fond of it. He has a very familiar feeling towards it, a sense of protection, like he doesn't want anyone to enter. On the other hand, he harbours deep hostility towards the campground and the people who intrude into the hospital ruins... Additionally, certain traits about him suggest he's been on medication for stress or depression for a long time... In short, at least there's some gain."  

Saying that, they both reached out and poked Eleven.  

Eleven turned around.  

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang silently looked at him – What about you? Any clues to offer?

Eleven pointed at Ma Han.  

Ma Han had no choice but to recount what Eleven had told him over the phone earlier about his experience in the ruins.  

"Someone left two bullets for you?" Bai Yutang was a bit puzzled. "Were you being watched, or did someone notice you were investigating? How did they even know you had been to that ruin?"  

Eleven nodded, this was precisely what had been puzzling him. "Not to mention that no one nearby can monitor me, even if someone were watching from hundreds of meters away with binoculars... which I doubt was possible in that environment, I should've noticed."  

Beside him, Ma Han also nodded. Top snipers are experts in surveillance and tracking, so their counter-surveillance skills are also very strong.

"I suspect I was discovered when I later asked around about the area... but even that seems unlikely," Eleven spread his hands as if to say – After all, I'm a 'professional'.

"Could there be some other way?" Bai Yutang asked. "Lao Jia just mentioned moving mirrors in and out of the forest without anyone noticing, almost as if he was hinting at a secret route into the forest."  

Zhan Zhao asked, "Could there be an underground passage?"

"Possibly," Eleven also thought it was possible. "Hospitals usually have basements. Morgues, bomb shelters... those are always underground."  

"Did you find a basement back then?" Bai Yutang asked.  

Eleven shrugged. "I didn't deliberately look for one, but... I also didn't see an obvious entrance to the basement."  

Everyone frowned – So the question arises, why hide the basement entrance?

‿︵‿︵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: April 3, 2025 by Angel

Edited: June 7, 2025 by Soojin