S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 6 Chapter 109

The Culinary Murderer 61 – Recipe

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Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had caught countless perverts over the years, but in this world, there was no such thing as the most perverted, only more perverted.

After listening to Zhao Jue's whole account, Zhan Zhao felt as though his entire worldview had shattered. He realised how young and inexperienced he still was – So many years studying psychology, all for nothing!

Seeing Zhan Zhao's unusually vivid expression, Bai Yutang asked him what was going on.

Just then, the phone rang. It was Zhao Hu calling.

Bai Yutang answered, and from the other end came Hu Zi's startled, excitable voice, relaying everything Uncle Chopsticks had just told them.

Zhan Zhao saw his own expression mirrored on Bai Yutang's face.

But Bai Yutang mulled over what Zhao Hu had said and seized on one detail. "Uncle Chopsticks said there are several places in the world where you can eat it? Meaning, this food isn't just provided by a single restaurant?"

Zhan Zhao's face was full of disdain. "What? Is it a global chain or something?"

Zhao Hu simply handed the phone to Eleven.

After listening to Bai Yutang's question, Uncle Chopsticks said he'd look into it, and so he contacted one of his broker friends.

"There really isn't just one." Uncle Chopsticks asked around, and a friend enthusiastically shared a "menu" with him.

Eleven forwarded it to Bai Yutang.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang huddled together to examine the "menu." It turned out that screaming oysters were only one of the dishes, there were plenty of other bizarre items listed that made people's hair stand on end.

"My god, it's enough to fill an entire banquet table!" Zhan Zhao held his phone and examined it carefully, while Bai Yutang's neat-freak tendencies kicked in. His stomach churned violently as though overturned by waves, and he wanted nothing more than a second pair of eyes that had never seen these things. How was he ever supposed to eat seafood again?!

"Yutang, look!" After studying it for a while, Zhan Zhao noticed that several "restaurants" seemed to belong to two different companies. There were two logos, one a ship's anchor, the other a triangle.

The two of them stared for a moment, then exchanged glances – Surely not...

Zhan Zhao tucked his phone away, glanced left and right, and whispered, "Are those two lovebirds in the same business?"

Bai Yutang thought it more accurate to say, "More like the relationship between Pepsi and Coca-Cola?"

"Competitors?" Zhan Zhao pondered. "But weren't these recipes originally from the research of a cook on a pirate ship? Then could it be that they belong to the same cuisine?"

"Cuisine, really?" Bai Yutang was amused by Zhan Zhao's suggestion. "Hell cuisine?"

Zhan Zhao thought it would be better to call it "Abyss" cuisine... since it was all from the sea, not from the underworld...

Bai Yutang gave him a wary look – Cat, if you say anything more about Hannibal eating corpses... we're going vegetarian from now on!

Zhan Zhao shook his head – Felines are carnivores, how can they switch to vegetarian? That's animal abuse! Besides, Hannibal never ate corpses either... huh?

Zhan Zhao was still joking around when he suddenly seemed to think of something. Crossing his arms, he muttered, "Eating habits are regional and hereditary. Once a person's eating habits are formed, they are very difficult to change. Although this group of people have left their identities as pirates and moved to the land to live under the identities of others, impersonating others does not mean that they can become others. It's like asking a Sichuanese person to be a Cantonese person from today onwards. Does that mean they won't eat spicy hot pot?"

Bai Yutang looked at him – What does that prove?

"Shi Yanshuo's family also made their fortune at sea. Could it be that besides the same cuisine, their ancestral home is also the same?" Zhan Zhao asked. "Besides being in the same industry, is it possible that their ancestors were one family?"

"Relatives?" Bai Yutang glanced at Zhan Zhao and asked, "Then... is Shi Yanshuo really himself? And is his mother truly Wang Zhen?"

Zhan Zhao frowned and thought for a moment, "We suspected that it was Guan Mei's side who was taking revenge... But if Shi Yanshuo's family was in the same situation as Yu Hui's family, they should have replaced a lot of people. Not to mention the older ones, the landlord family who rented the house to Zhu Yi was replaced, weren't they?"

"So if it wasn't Guan Mei, Tan Wen, and the others who were taking revenge, could it be the people who were replaced by Shi Yanshuo's side, the survivors or their families... who came to take revenge?"

The more Zhan Zhao thought about it, the more suspicious he became. "Although these two groups are competitors in the same industry, they are essentially the same kind of people. If someone is looking for trouble with both families at the same time, then it is possible that they are victims of either side, or even that these victims have formed an alliance or something. The avengers are in the dark, while they are in the open, and both sides want to find an opportunity to wipe out the other side in one fell swoop. Is this why this marriage has to happen? It's reasonable, but it seems a little far-fetched..."

Bai Yutang glanced around. Guests were beginning to arrive in greater numbers, and at the same time, more security and service staff had appeared.

Zhan Zhao whispered to Bai Yutang, "How could you wipe out so many people at once?"

Bai Yutang gestured at the food on the table.

Zhan Zhao no longer dared to touch anything to eat or drink, and asked, "But they might not eat it... Don't these people communicate with each other? They're just waiting for the avengers to kill them? And look, they even brought children!"

Bai Yutang looked over, and sure enough, some guests had brought children to the wedding banquet. But then again, that was normal – there were always flocks of children running around at weddings.

Zhan Zhao frowned. "Logically speaking, both sides knew this wedding banquet was highly likely to end in bloodshed, maybe even total annihilation. So why bring children? And why does everything feel so normal, no one seems panicked or anxious? Don't they communicate internally?"

Bai Yutang nodded. "I feel something's off too..."

At the surveillance point, Zhao Hu and Ma Han both turned to Issel, who was standing there with his hands in his pockets, scanning the surroundings. They asked whether he had found any assassins lurking in the dark, whether there was any danger, and whether there were any bombs planted underground.

Issel stared at the estate for a long time, then shook his head. "No."

Ma Han and Zhao Hu were both surprised. "Nothing?"

Issel kept watching the guests arriving for the wedding, frowning as he shook his head. "So far, I haven't seen anyone dangerous."

"Nothing?" Eleven asked.

Issel nodded, puzzled. "It's just... an ordinary wedding atmosphere."

"But there are so many security guards and servers..." Zhao Hu pointed to the staff below who were holding plates and seemed to have nothing to do. "Aren't they suspicious?"

Issel watched a while longer, then shook his head again. "There are a lot of people, yes... but I haven't seen anyone carrying murderous intent or giving off a dangerous aura... just ordinary workers."

Ma Han and Zhao Hu exchanged a glance... Why does it still feel wrong? Are we overlooking something?

The same doubt gnawed at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, who were at the wedding itself. The longer they stayed, the stronger their sense that... something wasn't right!

"How terrible..." At that moment, Zhan Zhao tugged at Bai Yutang. "We're stuck in a mental set!"

Bai Yutang frowned – A mental set?

Zhan Zhao was just about to explain when the crowd suddenly erupted in screams. People were looking up, pointing.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang raised their heads too, just in time to see a window in the middle of the second-floor gallery flung open. A person was standing at the window, clutching their neck... Red blood was dripping down the windowsill.

The figure swayed twice at the window before suddenly plummeting downward.

As the crowd scattered in screams, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang rushed up and saw that the one who fell was actually Shi Yanshuo's mother, Wang Zhen.

Wang Zhen was wearing a magnificent gown, dressed exactly as one would expect at her son's wedding... except that there was a vicious gash across her neck, blood gushing out in a steady flow.

"Mom!"

At that moment, Shi Yanshuo burst out in a suit, with Yu Hui in her wedding dress right behind him.

The scene was in total chaos. Bai Yutang kept glancing up at the second floor, then back down at Wang Zhen lying on the ground... Had someone attacked her upstairs just now? At such close range, how could he not have sensed anything at all?

Zhan Zhao was also assessing Wang Zhen's condition. Although the knife wound looked very serious, it seemed to have been cut a little off the target. Wang Zhen didn't die immediately, though the blood wouldn't stop flowing.

The crowd was in an uproar. Someone had already called the police and an ambulance. Shi Yanshuo and Yu Hui were, of course, not in the mood to get married. Several security guards ran in with a stretcher, put the seriously injured Wang Zhen onto it, and a group of people ran out to send her to the hospital.

Zhan Zhao tugged at Bai Yutang, about to speak, when suddenly another commotion broke out. Several people collapsed without warning, foaming at the mouth.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were both shocked.

Bai Yutang frowned in confusion. He had been paying close attention to the people coming in just now. Those who had collapsed were among the newcomers, he hadn't seen them eat anything...

On the other hand, some guests who had been there for a while, still holding champagne and hors d'oeuvres, were completely fine.

The disturbance in the estate naturally drew the attention of those at the surveillance point.

Ma Han and Zhao Hu stood craning their necks, while Eleven turned to look at Issel.

Issel rubbed the back of his neck, looking rather baffled. "That makes no sense... I didn't sense any danger at all..."

"So many people have collapsed, is it a mass poisoning?" Ma Han lifted his binoculars to check the garden.

"It's really strange. Dinner hasn't even started yet, and a few of them had just got out of their cars, where on earth could they have been poisoned?"

Just as they were puzzling over it, Zhan Zhao got in touch with Zhao Hu. "Hu Zi, you and Ma Han keep an eye on Shi Yanshuo."

"Oh, we'll head straight to the hospital," Zhao Hu was about to leave when he heard Zhan Zhao say, "Keep an eye on Shi Yanshuo! If he goes to the hospital, then you go to the hospital!"

Zhao Hu dragged Ma Han downstairs, muttering in confusion, "Isn't Shi Yanshuo going to the hospital?"

"His mom's hurt like that, where else would he go?" Ma Han followed Zhao Hu into the car... Issel and Eleven got in as well.

Uncle Chopsticks still wasn't interested, he had been planning to head home and practise filleting fish, but Issel hauled him into the car.

Zhao Hu drove to the entrance of the estate, arriving just in time to see an ambulance pulling out, with Shi Yanshuo's car driven by Wang Yong following behind.

Hu Zi was just about to tail them, but Issel stopped him. "Wait."

Zhao Hu turned back.

Issel gestured for him to look ahead.

Zhao Hu and Ma Han both looked towards the main gate...

At the entrance, there was sudden chaos, with a number of reporters chasing after the car. At this point, the large group of security guards came in handy, blocking the reporters who were chasing the car and maintaining order. Just then, within the chaotic crowd, two people in security uniforms ran off in the opposite direction.

As they crossed the street, one of them turned their head slightly. Ma Han caught a glimpse of the profile. "Yu Hui?"

Zhao Hu also looked at the other person's back and saw that it was Shi Yanshuo. "Are these two... avoiding reporters? Why didn't they go to the hospital in the car?"

Ma Han saw the pair cross the road and head towards an intersection further away, and he urged Zhao Hu to follow.

Zhao Hu drove over and saw them get into a car that had been parked at the corner, then drive off. He quickly followed.

The car left the small road and went straight onto the highway.

Zhao Hu followed for a while and realised they had gone onto the airport expressway. He was completely baffled. "These two... aren't going to the hospital? They don't care about his mother?"

Ma Han was already in contact with Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang.

The wedding venue was in utter chaos now, with quite a few people showing symptoms of poisoning. Outside, the entrance was swarmed with reporters, and in the distance, there were the wailing sirens of ambulances and police cars rushing in.

Bai Yutang was being dragged out by Zhan Zhao, listening to Ma Han's call. "Shi Yanshuo really doesn't care about his mother, he went straight to the airport with Yu Hui."

"They're the ones who poisoned everyone inside!" Zhan Zhao sounded a little frustrated. "Mental set! Mental set!"

......

At the villa, after breakfast, Bai Jintang and Gongsun were discussing where to go on a date.

Zhao Zhen, holding the remote control, gestured for them to stop showing off and watch the news.

The news channel was interrupting programming to show live footage from the wedding venue. A number of ambulances were parked at the entrance of the estate, and medical staff were carrying out stretchers.

Bai Jintang asked Gongsun, "Those carried out wrapped in black bags, does that mean they're dead?"

Gongsun's jaw dropped, and he called Jiang Ping to ask what was going on.

Jiang Ping was just as bewildered. Xiao Bai Chi said, "The operation hasn't even started yet, we have no idea what's happening. Brother and the others went to the airport, and the SWAT operation has been turned into a rescue mission."

After hanging up, Bai Chi got out of the surveillance van just as Xiaofei came over with two teams of officers carrying breaching equipment.

Bai Chi immediately followed them.

Xiaofei had just received a call from Zhan Zhao, telling him to lead people into the estate to search for the girls being held captive.

Fei Mu had also arrived with his team, Zhan Zhao had told him to search the estate for smuggled contraband.

Both Xiaofei and Fei Mu were completely out of the loop, wondering why the action had been moved forward. What about the process? What about the criminals?

At the hospital, after his call with Zhan Zhao, Zhao Jue went downstairs to buy a drink. He saw a crowd gathered in front of the television in the cafeteria, watching the news.

Zhao Jue walked over to have a look.

Walking over to have a look, Zhao Jue paused slightly in surprise. He stroked his chin, muttered an "oh", then shook his head. "Fell into a mental set, didn't you, Kitten!"

‿︵‿︵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: September 9, 2025 by Angel

Edited: November 10, 2025 by Angel