S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 6 Chapter 40

The Card Murderer 40 – Visual Effects

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The so-called courage-testing video filmed by the university student drama club was riddled with strangeness.

From the filming techniques to the angles used, everything made one suspect that this was not a courage-testing video at all, but rather the scene of a kidnapping.

And just as everyone was speculating whether the missing male student had been kidnapped or murdered... the reflection in the mirror on screen suddenly revealed the eerie image of the bandaged woman.

Everyone in the SCI team stared at the image Bai Yutang had discovered, falling into deep thought... What was more terrifying?

This was already a very "frightening" video in itself.

Originally, it was just a "courage test" video with a chaotic filming technique – the sense of fear it gave people was actually limited, and it was more of a curiosity, like a horror movie with crude filming techniques.

With further analysis, it became apparent that it might be a real crime scene... The impact of that realism sent chills down one's spine. Coupled with the student's disappearance and the abnormal behaviour of several other students who had participated in the courage-testing activity afterwards, it gave rise to a creeping, horrifying sense of unease the more one thought about it.

And when the bandaged woman reappeared, everyone's perception shifted once again.

This eerie "bandaged woman," who had been present throughout the entire case, felt like a specific character, as if she were playing a fixed role... Moreover, every time she appeared, she had the same distinctive, bizarre gait: tiptoeing while lifting the hem of her clothes.

From her first appearance to now, this strange figure of the bandaged woman had spanned nearly thirty years, making it clearly impossible for her to have been the same person all along. Yet every time she appeared, her mannerisms were identical, as though deliberately crafted to create the impression of being "the same person" or "the same female ghost."

According to previous investigations, it could be deduced that the bandaged woman who had appeared at the rehabilitation centre where Lao Tu worked, the one with a mole on her eyelid, was very likely Lin Fei, Pei Tian's third wife.

But judging by the timeline, the bandaged woman whom Pei Xiu and Pei Yun had seen when they were children could not have been Lin Fei.

And now Zhou Li was claiming that she was the bandaged woman...

It seemed that this had been divided into several stages, with different individuals taking on the role of the bandaged woman.

According to Zhou Li, it seemed that the bandaged woman was a female ghost, summoned through some sort of ritual involving the drawing of tarot-like cards, possessing someone's body to commit murder before ultimately committing suicide.

Then, the series of incidents that had occurred previously, and the individuals who had "committed suicide" after being involved, from Fang Jie, who had run over and killed the wife and daughter of the editor Lao Chen, to "Wang Qiu," who had attacked Zhang Yuancheng and Liu Jing and then taken his own life... all of them shared some subtle connection.

Were these murders and subsequent suicides also related to this bandaged woman and the card-drawing ritual?

But the only variable here was Liu Jing... she claimed that it was the card man and the bandaged woman who attacked her.

Was it because of her brain tumour that she had confused the characters from Mingdi's novel with reality?

But up to this point, the bandaged woman was certainly a figure who had consistently appeared in the case. Because her head was always wrapped in bandages, she could have been impersonated by anyone.

And in this case, there was likely another murderer, a man. He had initially contacted Zhan Zhao and the others via cell phone, provided a series of encrypted messages, and "kidnapped" Zhou Li.

In other words, it was highly possible that this case had been committed by a man and a woman working together, the woman disguised as the bandaged woman, and the man... What had caused Liu Jing to mistake him for the card man from Mingdi's book?

The element of the cards had appeared multiple times in the case, and even that mysterious summoning ritual had used them.

So – where had this card man come from? Could he really be connected to Mingdi's novel?

......

"There seems to be something off about the proportions."

At that moment, Gongsun's voice broke the silence in the office.

Everyone once again turned their attention to the screen.

"Indeed."

Zhan Zhao also felt that the bandaged woman in the mirror looked odd in terms of angle.

"Could it be digitally composited?" Bai Chi found the image defied physics... Because the shot had been captured with a handheld camera, why wasn't the person holding the camera visible in the mirror, but instead the bandaged woman appeared? Could light bend?

"Hmm..." Jiang Ping analysed the video, then nodded and said with confidence, "It's a post-production composite."

"So the bandaged woman was added in later?" Bai Yutang asked.

Jiang Ping sighed. "Was the editing done to deceive people?"

Zhan Zhao asked Zhao Hu and Ma Han, "Did the university drama club hand the footage over to you directly?"

"Yes, they copied it from the computer, saying it was originally meant to be part of a documentary project, but after a student went missing, the school banned it, so the project was terminated." Zhao Hu clicked his tongue. "The students in that club didn't seem particularly honest. They also mentioned in passing that the footage had been copied from Zhang Yuancheng's side."

"Zhang Yuancheng?"

"Mhmm." Both Ma Han and Zhao Hu nodded. "Zhang Yuancheng had a partnership with the university's drama club, they borrowed a lot of equipment from him, so after filming, much of the footage was backed up from his end."

"So those students were subtly implying that if anything was wrong with the video, it was Zhang Yuancheng's doing and nothing to do with them?" Zhan Zhao picked up on the implication.

Zhao Hu and Ma Han both nodded – Now that I think about it, that did indeed seem to be the case.

"What's the background on those students?" Zhan Zhao asked Jiang Ping to look into them further.

Jiang Ping continued investigating, but still found it strange. "There are so many people..."

Bai Chi felt the same. "Could it really be some sort of cult? So many people involved?"

"But it doesn't quite fit the usual characteristics of a cult." Bai Yutang had handled quite a few cult-related cases. Typically, there were certain traits, at the very least, there would be a cult leader. And cults usually had something they were after, if not money, then sex. What had they gained here? According to Lao Tu's experience, it seemed they were even putting money into it themselves.

"Pathological experiments?" Zhao Jue thought the rehabilitation centre resembled a kind of psychological experiment, with the patients inside acting like volunteers.

"If they are investing so much money, there has to be an experimental goal." Zhan Zhao agreed it had a certain resemblance, but the objective was unclear. "Is it to promote some special therapy? Or to trial some new drug? It feels like some rich person lost their mind, an experiment with absolutely no cost-efficiency, and what kind of experiment recruits all homeless people as participants? The medical staff weren't even professionals. Does that sound legitimate?"

Everyone once again fell into doubt.

At that moment, Zhang Yu, who had been listening in as the so-called "professional", suddenly asked, "Could it be some kind of film or television project?"

Everyone was taken aback and looked at him. "A film or television project?"

"Like a horror movie in the style of a reality show or documentary?" Zhang Yu suggested.

"Reality show... horror movie..." Everyone frowned.

"There are all sorts of reality shows, and I've received all kinds of strange proposals myself, like ghost hunting in cemeteries, exploring haunted houses, spirit board and pen fairy rituals..."

Everyone stared at him – That kind of thing... doesn't it involve fraud?

"Hey, TV shows always say 'any resemblance is purely coincidental'" Zhang Yu waved his hand dismissively. "Besides, those kinds of shows usually rely on handheld cameras and all sorts of vague suggestions, making it seem like they've actually encountered ghosts. After dragging it out for ages, it eventually becomes... Approaching Science."

Everyone looked slightly disgusted.

"There are also plenty with a kind of human observation angle, like hidden camera setups and such," Zhang Yu added. "Just because it's called a reality show doesn't mean it's fully unscripted and based on spontaneous reactions, most of them follow scripts, and the director films according to that."

"Maybe it's because there used to be similar urban legends, like the bandaged woman. They probably wanted to follow the legend to make the film, and they did a good job keeping it under wraps." Zhang Yu speculated. "As a result, it got out of hand and ended in a murder. The production team didn't dare admit it... so they scrapped the project. But years later, those who didn't know the truth thought it was a real event..."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a glance – To be fair, it wasn't entirely impossible.

Zhao Jue stroked his chin thoughtfully...

At that moment, the elevator doors opened with a ding, and someone stepped out.

Everyone turned around and saw that it was Mingdi.

Bai Yutang glanced at Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao nodded. Mingdi had been called over by him. Since they had failed to detect any ghosts with the naked eye earlier, and Zhou Li was going to carry out the ritual later, Mingdi's "special ability" might just come in handy.

After entering, Mingdi greeted everyone and pulled over a chair to sit down.

Just as he sat, a book and a pen were handed to him.

Mingdi took them, it was one of his own novels. He looked up... the person handing him the book was Zhao Jue.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both silently turned to look at Zhao Jue.

Zhao Jue was delighted to see Mingdi, he grinned and gestured enthusiastically – I'm a fan, sign it for me!

Zhan Zhao put a hand to his forehead.

Mingdi signed the book and handed it back.

Zhao Jue took it with a pleased smile. Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao glanced at the book – Isn't that evidence...

Bai Yutang looked curiously at Zhao Jue – You're actually a fan of Mingdi? Weren't you just mocking how bad the novels were...

Zhao Jue looked at the signature on the book and was quite satisfied – So what if it's badly written? In this day and age, it isn't easy to find something that makes people happy. That novel brought me a lot of joy!

Zhang Yu knew Mingdi as well, they'd even had a bit of a falling out before because of Chen Feng.

But Zhang Yu remembered Mingdi as quite a cheerful person. Why did he seem to be in a bad mood today?

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang also noticed that Mingdi seemed to have something on his mind.

"What's wrong?" Bai Yutang asked him.

"Er..." Mingdi glanced at Bai Yutang, then at Zhan Zhao, before finally saying, "I think someone's following me."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a glance. "A stalker?"

"Not exactly. I've had obsessive fans of my book who've followed me and all that, but this feels different, this time it's just malice," Mingdi frowned. "Actually, it's been going on for a while... but recently it's felt more intense, and the malice has grown stronger."

"When did it start?" Bai Yutang asked him.

"Just... around the time I went to the campground for inspiration. When I was in the villa, I vaguely felt like someone with malicious intent was watching me," Mingdi recalled. "After Liu Jing's accident, I could clearly sense the malice close by at the hospital, and it's been getting worse lately. This morning, I woke up feeling inexplicably anxious, and then I noticed the sofa in my apartment seemed to have been moved."

Bai Yutang frowned deeply when he heard this. "You mean someone got into your apartment?"

Mingdi nodded. "I live in a duplex. At night I sleep in the upstairs bedroom. My house has two bedrooms."  

Mingdi gave everyone a rough explanation. "When I'm not in a great state, I sleep in a hidden bedroom in the study."

"You've got a hidden bedroom in your home?" Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue were rather curious. "Like a secret room?"

Mingdi nodded. "It's behind the wall in the study. Once it's locked from the inside, it's nearly impossible to open from the outside. The main thing is that it's well soundproofed."

"You said you sleep in there when you're not in a good state?" Bai Yutang asked. "What do you mean by 'not in a good state'?"

Mingdi scratched his head. "There are periods when I become particularly sensitive, and the people around me also experience significant emotional fluctuations, such as when colleagues or neighbours go through major changes or arguments. My sleep at night might be affected, I might feel anxious, can't fall asleep, then have nightmares, and feel down, and so on... so I choose to retreat into a closed space to rest. Recently, I've not been in a great state, so I've been sleeping in the secret room. When I got up this morning, I had this strange feeling, as if someone had been in my apartment and rummaged through my things."

"Do you have surveillance at home?" Bai Yutang asked. "Or anything at the door, in the corridor, or near the elevator? Have you checked?"

Mingdi sighed. "I checked, and I regret it now. I wish I hadn't..."

Zhao Hu teased him, "What happened? Is your place haunted?"

Mingdi gave him a long-suffering look.

Hu Zi was startled. Ma Han also asked, "Seriously haunted?"

Mingdi took a USB stick out of his pocket. "Why don't you have a look for yourselves?"

Jiang Ping quickly took the USB and plugged it into the computer, projecting the footage onto the big screen for everyone to "enjoy" together.

Everyone looked up at the large screen... it showed surveillance footage of a spacious living room.

After a moment, a figure appeared in the living room. It was a woman, dressed in pyjamas, with a bandage wrapped around her head. She lifted her skirt hem slightly as she tiptoed into view, walked to the sofa in the living room, and sat on it.

The entire SCI team widened their eyes – Isn't that the bandaged woman...

Mingdi covered half his face with his hand, peeking through his fingers and muttering, "Just keep watching..."

Everyone stared at the screen. Suddenly, the bandaged woman reached up and removed the head wrapped in bandages from her head...

"What the hell?!"

Zhao Hu jumped up in fright. The rest of them were already shocked by the bandaged woman, but Hu Zi's sudden outburst gave them another scare.

"How is it possible..." Zhan Zhao pointed at the screen and asked Jiang Ping, "Is this some kind of special effect?"

Jiang Ping nodded rapidly. "It must be, isn't it too much?!"

Bai Yutang, however, was frowning as he stared at the screen, at the bandaged woman whose head and body were separated... Why would she go all the way to Mingdi's apartment just to haunt it?

‿︵‿︵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: May 1, 2025 by Angel

Edited: July 1, 2025 by Soojin