S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 6 Chapter 28

The Card Murderer 28 – Contact

---

"There's someone upstairs!"

For anyone walking into a ruin, hearing "footsteps" from within was enough to make one's hair stand on end, thankfully... it was broad daylight.

Everyone quickly rushed downstairs... heading for the stairwell of the building in the middle.

To be fair, it could be seen as a sort of "blessing in disguise". Due to the bizarre architecture of this building, anyone lingering on the fourth floor was almost "trapped", since there was only one way up or down.

Bai Yutang was in the stairwell and blocked someone who was hurrying down the stairs.

The two came face-to-face. Because Bai Yutang had suddenly "appeared out of nowhere", the person running down the stairs let out a frightened "Waah!" and landed hard on the steps, nearly tumbling down. Fortunately, Bai Yutang managed to grab hold of him.

The others had caught up by then.

They saw that the person who had been caught in the act was neither a "zombie" nor a homeless man. His overall demeanour didn't quite match the "ruins" around them.

The man appeared to be in his early thirties, dressed in a tracksuit and trainers, carrying a backpack, with a camera bag slung across his body and a DSLR camera in his hands.

Everyone frowned slightly at his appearance – Could he be some sort of photography enthusiast?

"Xu Bin?"

Pei Xiu followed the others up the stairs and, upon seeing the man, seemed to recognise him and blurted it out.

The man called "Xu Bin" looked equally surprised when he saw Pei Xiu. "Boss?"

"You know him?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both looked at Pei Xiu.

Pei Xiu said somewhat helplessly, "He's a freelance photographer we work with at the publishing house."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both furrowed their brows, staring at the "suspicious" photographer Xu Bin, who had turned up in the ruins. Another coincidence? Why would he show up here, of all times?

"What are you doing here?" Pei Xiu asked the question on everyone's minds, stepping in for Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, and indeed, as the boss, there was a certain authority in his tone that demanded an answer.

"I came to check on something," Xu Bin replied a little vaguely as he climbed to his feet and brushed off his trousers.

But Pei Xiu wasn't going to let him fob it off so easily, and followed up with, "Check on what?"

Xu Bin glanced around at the group, clearly hesitant.

Bai Yutang took out his badge and showed it to him.

Xu Bin shook his head, indicating that he already knew who they were. "I'm trying to look into something Xiao Jing was investigating."

"You came because of Liu Jing?" Bai Yutang asked. "Are you two close?"

Xu Bin didn't try to hide anything. "We're good friends and close partners."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang glanced at Pei Xiu.

Pei Xiu shrugged... The two often worked on projects together, but as for personal matters of subordinates, I wouldn't really know.

"What's Liu Jing's connection to this ruin?" Zhan Zhao asked, voicing a question that had been lingering all along. "Do you know why Liu Jing and Zhang Yuancheng came here for a holiday?"

"They didn't come here for a holiday." Xu Bin checked his camera, found it hadn't been damaged, slung it back over his shoulder, and sighed. "They came to get a divorce."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both frowned at him – Such a personal matter, you seem to know quite a bit about it.

"I told you, we're good friends. Jing Jing often waited at my studio while I processed her photos, she'd talk to me about her relationship problems too."

"Then why did they come here to get a divorce?" Zhan Zhao felt that whether it was a holiday or a divorce, there had to be some reason they'd chosen this campground.

"Jing Jing told me there's evidence here of Zhang Yuancheng's affair. If they divorced here, Zhang Yuancheng wouldn't be able to deny it." Xu Bin muttered, "But who knew something like that would happen as soon as they arrived, I suspect the person Zhang Yuancheng had an affair with might even be here."

"Who is Zhang Yuancheng's affair partner?" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both pondered – Pei Yun had previously flagged Zhou Li as suspicious... but what was her connection to this place?

"I don't know. I asked Xiao Jing, but she wouldn't say. But when the disappearance case happened here before, Zhang Yuancheng wrote a report about it. It was on a few of S City's famous urban legends, and he'd been here to take photos. So I suspect he might have met someone working at the campground back then."

"You mean, Zhang Yuancheng has been here before?" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a glance and felt that something didn't add up. No matter who they spoke to, no one mentioned that Zhang Yuancheng had been to these ruins.

"I suspect Yuancheng simply never came," Xu Bin still felt a little conflicted when talking about this matter. "Yuancheng did do that column, but he wasn't keen on it. When the editor-in-chief suggested it, he even said it was exploiting a tragedy, writing about urban legends when the missing student hadn't even been found. Later, when I read the article and saw the photos... I had a feeling Yuancheng didn't write it himself."

"What do you mean?" Pei Xiu asked. "Was it a submission? Even then, the contributor's name should've been listed..."

Xu Bin shook his head, looking rather evasive.

Pei Xiu frowned. "You mean Zhang Yuancheng got someone else to take photos and write the article for him?"

"How would I know the exact details!" Xu Bin said. "It just so happens the incident took place nearby, so I came to take a look..."

Bai Yutang glanced at Zhan Zhao – Can this guy be trusted? For such a reason, he came to the ruins alone to take photos?

Zhan Zhao was observing Xu Bin as well. He had indeed shared a few things, but it was clear there were still things he hadn't said... because his reasons and actions didn't quite add up.

If he suspected Zhang Yuancheng's lover was in the campground, then he should've gone to investigate the campground. Why come to the ruins? What's in the ruins? Surely it wouldn't be Zhang Yuancheng's lover, unless he was having an affair with a ghost.

Suspicious. Still suspicious.

Right now, as Bai Yutang looked around at this group of people, he felt each of them knew something, but each was also keeping something back... Was there some kind of secret in this magazine company?

"Just for this little reason?" Pei Xiu's mouth fired off again. "What clue to a lover could be in these ruins? Was Zhang Yuancheng sleeping with a ghost or something?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang silently looked at Pei Xiu – Well said!

Xu Bin hesitated for a moment. Seeing that there was no talking his way out of it, he finally said, "Xiao Jing received a letter."

Everyone turned to look at him – A letter?

"There was only a photo inside, and she asked me to help her identify the woman in the picture." As he spoke, Xu Bin took an envelope out of his pocket.

The letter had been sent to the magazine office, using the same type of reader feedback envelope as the threatening letter Pei Yun had shown them.

Inside the envelope, there was only one photograph.

It showed a woman with her back to the camera, walking into a rust-streaked blue iron gate... the same gate that stood at the front of the ruins.

The photo had something of a Nordic cold-art aesthetic to it. From behind, the woman's age couldn't be determined. She had shoulder-length black hair and was dressed in a black sweater, black leather skirt, and black knee-high boots. Her silhouette gave off a strangely stylish, slightly desolate vibe.

Zhan Zhao turned the photograph over, and on the back, there was a small drawing of a smiling face. Somehow, it gave off a strangely provocative feeling.

Seeing the others looking puzzled, Xu Bin explained, "That's Yuancheng's photography style. He took a lot of photos like that of Jing Jing... So Jing Jing suspects that the woman in the picture is the one Yuancheng had an affair with. Sending the photo was a way of taunting her!"

Everyone studied the photograph more closely. Though the face wasn't visible, judging from the hairstyle, figure, and overall vibe, this woman probably wasn't Zhou Li!

"I brought the photo with me, intending to check the campground first, to see if there were any female staff who resembled her... If there were, then she'd be a suspect, wouldn't she?" Xu Bin spread his hands. "But I already looked through all the female staff at the campground, and couldn't find anyone similar. So since I was already here... I thought I'd have a wander around the ruins. I went all the way up to the fourth floor and found I could see the campground from there, so I took a few photos. Then I thought I heard someone downstairs, and it startled me, so I hurried down... and ended up bumping into all of you."

Bai Yutang gestured, asking if he could have a look at the camera.

Xu Bin handed him the camera, and the group continued heading upstairs.

The view from the fourth floor was rather open, and in addition, it was late autumn and many of the leaves in the woods had fallen, so there were wide gaps between the trees.

The fourth floor looked a good deal cleaner than the floors below. Ma Han and Eleven couldn't help glancing towards the floor near the window, where there were a number of cigarette butts. It looked like someone had been smoking there while keeping watch, and had stayed for quite some time.

Perhaps it was just a professional instinct, but Ma Han and Eleven both moved to the window, checking where the person might have stood or sat, then looked out into the distance, curious as to what someone watching from here might have been observing.

From this angle, they could just about make out the road, which was probably near the tunnel.

Zhao Hu crouched down and picked up one of the cigarette butts for a closer look. "It's from within the last three days, right?"

Ma Han and Eleven both nodded.

Zhao Hu pulled out an evidence bag and collected a few of them.

Bai Yutang checked the photos and, finding nothing amiss, returned the camera to Xu Bin.

Pei Xiu was still staring at Xu Bin. "How much do you actually know about Zhang Yuancheng and Liu Jing's case?"

"I don't know much..." Xu Bin shook his head.

"Do you mean you don't know, or you don't know enough?" Pei Xiu, true to his background in written work, was rather sharp. "Is there anything you're still holding back? Think carefully, this concerns a life!"

Xu Bin thought for a moment. "Ah, right... Did you find Xiao Jing's notebook?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang remained silent. Indeed... they'd also been looking for Liu Jing's personal notebook and still hadn't found it.

"The day before Xiao Jing's accident, she stayed at my studio for ages, and she was on the phone the entire time. It sounded like she was investigating something. I remember hearing her mention M University, the drama club, and the mountaineering club."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both frowned – The drama club again? And now something to do with the mountaineering club?

"The courage-training team from that student disappearance case was made up of people from those two M University clubs," Xu Bin said in a rather mysterious tone.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang sighed again. Is it related to the missing student case? What is Liu Jing investigating?

"Anything else?" Pei Xiu pressed.

"There's more..." Xu Bin continued.

Everyone gave him the same exasperated look – What is he, a tube of toothpaste? Have to squeeze him just to get a bit out each time. Can't he just say it all in one go?

"Zhang Yuancheng was really enthusiastic about the drama club. He was working on a programme in collaboration with M University's drama club, the missing boy was actually one of the troupe's members," Xu Bin said. "After the disappearance, the production was cancelled... During that period, Zhang Yuancheng was going in and out of M University quite often, which made Xiao Jing suspect that maybe it was a student or even a teacher from M University."

Everyone frowned – A married man having an affair with a female university student? What a bloody drama.

Still, in a roundabout way, it did seem like everything was somehow connected. If Zhang Yuancheng hadn't written his own drafts and had a ghostwriter, and if the drama and mountaineering clubs had come to this ruin to shoot something, was there a possible link between them all?

Bai Yutang glanced at the time. He wasn't sure if there was still time to head over to M University.

Just as he was thinking, Zhan Zhao's phone buzzed a few times. He picked it up, looked at the screen, then showed it to Bai Yutang – Zhao Jue was calling incessantly, saying they were going to watch a soccer game in the evening, and they decided to have hotpot for lunch, right now!

Bai Yutang looked helplessly at Zhan Zhao – Where to first?

Zhan Zhao reckoned identifying the bandaged woman took priority. After all, Zhou Li was still kidnapped.

Bai Yutang nodded helplessly – All right then, let's go have lunch with that ancestor first...

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

Previous Chapter | TOC | Next Chapter

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 20, 2025 by Angel

Edited: June 7, 2025 by Soojin