S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 6 Chapter 29

The Card Murderer 29 – Hot Pot

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After spending the whole morning investigating the case and being bombarded with information, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang took the chance to clear their heads. Before the case analysis meeting that afternoon, they decided to take a break and have a meal with Zhao Jue, while also investigating the identity of that woman with the bandages.

Zhao Jue had chosen a new-style hotpot restaurant on the pedestrian street. What was "new-style"? Well, the flavours were decidedly eccentric.

Zhao Jue had booked a large table. He arrived with Bai Ye and Mia, apparently having just come from an outing, they'd bought a whole bunch of things.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang arrived on their own. Eleven, along with Ma Han and Zhao Hu, had gone to lunch with Chen Jiayi and Qi Le, and Bai Yutang had told the rest of the team to go eat as well, they'd hold the meeting later in the afternoon.

At the big square table, Zhao Jue and Bai Ye sat on one side, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang on the other, with Mia sitting in the inner corner on the side.

Mia was responsible for ordering food. She poked at her phone repeatedly, occasionally glancing up to gesture at Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue.

Both Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue nodded seriously – Double portions!

Bai Ye and Bai Yutang, sitting on the outer side, stared at the promotional posters on the wall. Things like "Mango meat rolls, swish for 30 seconds"... The two of them simultaneously gestured to Mia – Two bowls of plain rice, nothing else.

Mia blinked and shook her head to indicate that there was no plain rice. Want to try coconut latte rice?

Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue's eyes lit up  – Want to try it!

Bai Yutang and Bai Ye were silent for a moment – Two portions of coconut latte rice, but serve the rice and the coconut latte separately!

The hotpot place seemed to be one of those internet-famous spots, business was booming. Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked suspiciously at Zhao Jue – So many people queuing outside, how did you get a table? You obviously booked this days ago!

Zhao Jue waved it off, indicating – That's not important!

Zhan Zhao reached out and pointed at the folder Zhao Jue had placed beside him – Is this the information? Let me take a look!

Zhao Jue patted the folder – No rush, let's eat first!

Zhan Zhao narrowed his eyes at him – Looking for trouble?

Zhao Jue leaned over and muttered a few words to Mia.

Mia shook her head at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, signing with her hands – You can't just work all the time and never rest! Your feelings will fade, I heard that's how my mum and dad got divorced!

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang stared wide-eyed at Mia – Kalin and Issel have been married and divorced? And surprisingly, it had been because of work that they neglected their relationship? Was it that one of them had been too busy with their career, or both? They both seemed like they were hiding a lot of secrets...

At that moment, the hotpot base arrived. Bai Yutang and Bai Ye looked at it with complex expressions, it looked like a colour palette... What exactly is the flavour of this?

Bai Ye gestured to Bai Yutang – Some of those colours look especially suspicious, best be careful!

Bai Yutang looked solemnly at Zhan Zhao – Cat, we've still got a meeting this afternoon, what if this stuff kills us?

Zhan Zhao grabbed a flavour guide and handed it to him.

Bai Yutang held up something that looked like a periodic table and asked – What is this?

Zhan Zhao replied, "It's brilliant! All the flavours are mixable! Look, they even use a cryptic format!"

Bai Yutang frowned as he tried to decipher it, things like "Volcanic Lava with Lime Cement" and "Wind, Rain, Thunder and Lightning, with Reinforced Concrete"... None of the flavours had anything to do with the food...

Soon, all the dishes were served. Bai Yutang and Bai Ye looked at the two lattes and two bowls of rice, tilting their heads slightly – This chef actually listened to feedback? Maybe not so bad after all...

As the hotpot began to bubble away, Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue immediately started dipping meat into the broth.

Bai Yutang and Bai Ye first sipped their lattes and found them surprisingly good, though they didn't taste much like coconut... Then they poked at the rice with their chopsticks and found little white bits in it, which looked like coconut flesh.

They both frowned.

Over on the other side, Zhao Jue and Zhan Zhao had taken a bite of the meat and immediately went for Bai Ye and Bai Yutang's coffee.

After two big gulps each, they finally opened their mouths to speak, "So spicy!"

For once, both Bai Yutang and Bai Ye showed genuine surprise on their usually expressionless faces – You two found it spicy?

They instinctively looked at the chart. That particular combo read – Doomsday Spicy with Infernal Numbing Heat...

Bai Yutang and Bai Ye silently withdrew their hands, which had been reaching for the hotpot. Maybe better to stick with plain rice... though the coconut in it still felt a little dangerous.

At that moment, Mia took a bite of the coconut latte rice. Her eyes went round as saucers, and her cheeks puffed out as she gave them all a big thumbs-up to say – Delicious!

Bai Yutang and Bai Ye exchanged a glance, Mia's sense of taste seemed to be perfectly normal.

Bai Yutang picked up a grain of rice with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth. He tasted it carefully, sweet... it didn't seem particularly dangerous.

Taking a spoonful and trying a proper bite, Bai Yutang raised an eyebrow slightly... it tasted like coconut sticky rice, sweet but not greasy, not bad at all!

"Yutang, try this!" Zhan Zhao pointed to a yellow section in the hotpot. "The pineapple-lemon-wasabi base is great for cooking prawns!"

Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao with little trust– Pineapple, lemon, and wasabi? What sort of flavour was that?

He checked the periodic table again. It read – Island Vibes with Prehistoric World.

Bai Yutang was a bit confused... Island Vibes he could understand, pineapple and seafood... But what on earth was Prehistoric World?

Bai Ye had a look at the guide and thought it was worth a try, so picked up a prawn to test it for Bai Yutang.

After chewing for a moment, Uncle Ye paused, then nodded at Bai Yutang.

So Bai Yutang dipped a prawn into the broth as well... and after a bite – Wow! Summer beach vibes and prehistoric mood, I instantly got it! It really does feel like watching a prehistoric planet... though Bai Yutang couldn't quite explain why.

"Tasty, right?" Zhan Zhao encouraged Bai Yutang to try more flavours. Bai Yutang found that as long as he avoided the ones labelled with things like "Doomsday", "Earth-Shattering", or "Heaven and Hell", the rest were actually quite good.

Bai Ye thought so too. Although the menu was a bit overcomplicated, the flavours were genuinely innovative, no wonder the place was doing such good business.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were quite happy. Bai Yutang even ordered an ice cream cake for dessert. But he let his guard down too much and ran into trouble, he'd chosen a chocolate-flavoured "BaBa Bear"... only to find, once it arrived at the table, that it was actually Poop Bear. Bai Yutang held his spoon, hesitated for ages, and just couldn't bring himself to dig in. In the end, he gave it to Mia.

Mia had a mouthful of the chocolate powder and gave them all another thumbs-up – It doesn't taste like poop at all!

Once eating almost everything, Zhao Jue handed the documents over to Zhan Zhao.

As Zhan Zhao flipped through the materials, a curious Mia leaned over to look with him, still clutching the teddy bear Bai Ye had bought her earlier.

Now that he was full and in a good mood, Zhao Jue started explaining what he knew to Bai Yutang.

"Wait a minute..." Bai Yutang interrupted when he heard Zhao Jue mention that the rehabilitation centre had been built on the former site of the amusement park. He asked, "Isn't that amusement park quite far from the hospital on Sparrow Mountain?"

"Sparrow Mountain?" Zhao Jue looked confused. "Where's that?"

Bai Yutang briefly explained the situation regarding Sparrow Mountain.

"So there's more than just two sites?" Zhao Jue stroked his chin. "I've come across similar situations at other rehabilitation centres before."

Bai Yutang frowned. "Are these kinds of cases really that common?"

"There were quite a few incidents in psychiatric hospitals back then, especially in smaller ones," Zhao Jue said. "Not all violent tendencies are outwardly visible. The patients who are constantly aggressive aren't actually the scariest, because their violence is visible and can be guarded against. The truly dangerous ones are those who are not only violent, but capable of hiding it."

Zhan Zhao nodded as well. "And some people don't even realise they have severe violent tendencies. Incorrect treatment not only can't suppress them but might even trigger them. Of course... everything is based on the premise that the patient actually committed the murder."

"So were there patients that committed murder?" Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao had finished going through the stack of documents and was now frowning, looking a little troubled. "It's odd... each crime scene is more over-the-top than the last. Why does it feel like they were staged?"

"Sure enough." Zhao Jue clearly had the same suspicion.

"But there really were violent incidents, so why exaggerate the scenes like that?" Bai Yutang was a bit puzzled.

"The timing is critical," Zhan Zhao seemed to have noticed the problem. Was the scene created after the incident took place, or was it set up first, triggering what happened afterwards?

Bai Yutang thought about what Zhan Zhao had said, then asked, "Are you suggesting that the scene itself might have provoked the killing?"

"Oh." Across the table, Zhao Jue was busy finishing Mia's ice cream and nodded in praise. "See, with a full stomach and a good rest, the mind clears right up. No wonder you SCI are like amoebas, it's because you're sleep-deprived!"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both looked at Zhao Jue – So is it true?

Just then, Mia poked at a photograph inside the folder and pointed to the teddy bear in her arms for Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both stared curiously at the little bear.

Because Mia's mental age was still quite young, everyone treated her like a child. Her family often bought her stuffed animals, and she had two favourites: bears and rabbits. Whichever one she chose to carry each day would reflect her mood. Born as a gifted child, Mia had more than a few psychological peculiarities, and both Zhao Jue and Zhan Zhao often studied her.

They both found that when Mia was in a good mood and someone asked her which stuffed animal she wanted, she would point to the bear. If she was in a bad mood, she would point to the rabbit.

Zhan Zhao looked at Mia, who was pointing at the bear, and after a moment of thought, asked, "You think the person who set up that scene was in a good mood?"

Mia nodded.

After studying the photograph more carefully, Zhan Zhao seemed to agree. "It's really..."

"Can this be seen?" Bai Yutang was curious.

"Mhmm, if it had just been thrown haphazardly, the arcs wouldn't be so complete... This really does look like someone was happily, even gleefully splashing it about, maybe even with music playing," Zhan Zhao felt that perhaps thanks to being well-fed, his mind was clearer than usual.

"What do you mean?" Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao held up two fingers. "The person who created all this was either a dangerous doctor, or a dangerous patient."

"If the one happily splattering blood to create the scene was a doctor, then he might have been conducting some kind of experiment that triggered the killings. If the one happily splattering blood to create the scene was a patient, then he could have been extremely dangerous and enjoying the moment of killing." Zhang Zhao shook his head, "Each has its own danger..."

As he spoke, he pulled out the most crucial photograph, the one of the bandaged woman. "Either way, she likely wasn't involved in the splashing session, as her clothes were far too clean. But she still looks eerie."

"So who is she?" Bai Yutang asked.

Zhan Zhao thought for a moment. "Perhaps, she's a particularly unusual witness."

‿︵‿︵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 21, 2025 by Angel

Edited: June 7, 2025 by Soojin