S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 6 Chapter 140

Special Files – Collector 25 – Missing

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Han Li's sudden appearance made everyone feel confused, but thinking about it carefully, it also seemed reasonable.

Han Li's biological father had been killed in this very forest, and what made it even more unusual was that her father himself had been a serial killer.

As Han Li's psychologist, Zhan Zhao knew a little about her past, though not much.

From a doctor's perspective, Zhan Zhao felt that Han Li was a very "well-behaved" patient. She had only one goal, which was not to become a killer like her father.

Zhan Zhao had set a series of "self-control rules" for her, and Han Li strictly followed and carried out every single one of them, so her control had been very good.

During the treatment, Zhan Zhao had never discovered any particular obsession in her. Was she curious about the cause of her father's death? Yes, she was. But she listened well, not only to Zhan Zhao but also to her father's words: do not go near this forest.

But why had she appeared today? And why had she come together with Bao Sir?

Han Li took out some materials from her backpack and handed them to Zhan Zhao. "These are some things my dad left behind."

Zhan Zhao took the folders and found that each one had a label stuck on it: "Exhibition 1, Exhibition 2, Exhibition 3..."

There were sixteen folders in total.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were both a little shocked. "This many?"

At that moment, a hand reached out from beside him, asking Zhan Zhao for the files.

Zhan Zhao looked up and saw that it was Zhao Jue, so he handed all the documents to him.

Han Li set down her bag and said, "These are the notes my father left behind that I organised. I suspect that back then he chose one among the many 'exhibitions' and then came here, to be collected."

"Collected?" Bai Yutang was a little confused.

Han Li pointed at her own head and made a horizontal slicing motion at the level of her neck...

Everyone understood – When her father had been found all those years ago, he had been a headless corpse. His head had never been found, and during the mountain search, they might even have lost another person. The matter was never resolved.

"These collections... what's the difference between them?" Bai Yutang asked Han Li.

"I'm not too sure. I only had my dad's notes to study, I've never been to any specific one..." After speaking, Han Li muttered to herself, "Self-control rule number one, stay away from any potentially dangerous area."

Zhan Zhao nodded with satisfaction.

Wen Xiaorou looked at her curiously – Does this count as approaching a dangerous area now?

Han Li caught her gaze, but seemed unable to interpret it, so she said, "Please describe your doubt clearly using words."

Wen Xiaorou blinked a few times and had no choice but to ask honestly, "But you've come now, haven't you? This is considered a dangerous area."

Han Li nodded. "Self-control rule number three, release pressure appropriately to ease anxiety."

Wen Xiaorou asked curiously, "Then what is self-control rule number two?"

"Self-control rule number two, clearly describe your own pressure and anxiety using words." Han Li answered expressionlessly. "Self-control rule number four, do not act alone. Seek help from someone trustworthy." After speaking, she pointed at Bao Zheng.

Wen Xiaorou rubbed her chin, her curiosity deepening. She pointed at Zhan Zhao and then at Xiaofei, asking, "Aren't these two trustworthy?"

Han Li continued answering, first pointing at Zhan Zhao, "Doctor."

Then she pointed at Xiaofei, "Friend."

After that, she pointed at Bao Zheng, "Authority."

"All three are considered trustworthy," Han Li stated bluntly. "A doctor provides medical value, a friend provides emotional value, and an authority provides reference value. My current state is good and my emotions are stable, therefore I do not need assistance from the doctor or the friend."

"Oh..." Wen Xiaorou seemed to find that extremely reasonable and admired, "What an efficient way to handle interpersonal relationships."

A faint hint of a smile flashed across Han Li's otherwise expressionless face, and she nodded to Wen Xiaorou.

Xiaofei asked Han Li with some curiosity, "Happy?"

Han Li thought for a moment and pointed at Wen Xiaorou. "I felt understood and shown kindness."

Xiaorou reached out a hand. "High five!"

Han Li returned the high five.

Xiaofei looked at their manner of communication in puzzlement.

By then, Zhao Jue had already flipped quickly through several folders. After finishing them, he handed all the materials back to Zhan Zhao. Without saying a word, he simply frowned and stared blankly.

At this time, the officers had finished organising themselves. Wearing protective gear, they divided tasks according to the designated search areas.

Bao Sir received the layout map of Wisteria House.

"This manor is still private property, but the owner is not the original builder, only a relative. After obtaining the inheritance, they never came here, nor did any repairs, so these buildings have been in disrepair for a long time. You must pay attention to safety during the investigation," Bao Sir assigned the tasks. "This time the main goal is to thoroughly search the interior of the manor, looking for basements, hidden rooms, underground passages, and so on."

The forensic team distributed markers to the search team. Whenever something unusual was found, they were to place a marker...

After arrangements were completed, each department took their positions and began searching. After determining the scent source from Laughing Bird's cell phone, the police K9 unit started tracking.

SCI and the SWAT team remained on standby for the moment. Zhan Zhao sat in the back seat of the car, going through the materials.

Bai Yutang and Xiaofei spread out a map on the car's trunk and studied the terrain of the surrounding forest.

Strictly speaking, the forest was not large in size, but the complexity of the terrain was beyond expectation.

"How is it?" Xiaofei asked Bai Yutang.

"There are many valleys, and the height differences are huge, it's extremely dangerous." Bai Yutang felt that this kind of terrain was not very suitable for hiding.

Glancing at Han Li, who was chatting with Wen Xiaorou in the distance, Bai Yutang lowered his voice and asked Xiaofei, "Han Li's father, after he entered this forest back then, how long did it take before his corpse was found?"

Xiaofei thought for a moment. "A day or two... He should've been killed the same day he entered the forest, and his body was found the next day when the mountain was searched."

"That fast?" Bai Yutang found it strange. "Unless he ran into another killer on the very first day. Otherwise... how could he have been killed so quickly?"

Xiaofei had seen some of the old crime scene photos and the forensic autopsy report. "There were no other external injuries on the body. When the corpse was found, it was hanging upside down from a tree. There were no signs of traps being set up around, no signs of struggle... and there were no signs of poisoning on the body."

"This... doesn't it feel like it was arranged?" Bai Yutang asked.

Xiaofei nodded. He had felt the same when reading the case files earlier. "He might have voluntarily become a collection piece. Or even..."

"He killed people because he wanted to become a collection?" Bai Yutang asked.

Xiaofei looked up toward Han Li in the distance. "I looked into her father's background and upbringing. When he was young, he worked in a forested area."

As he spoke, Xiaofei took out his phone and pulled up a map of the outskirts of S City. "Originally, this whole area was a large forest, but later, it was redeveloped into a holiday resort..."

Bai Yutang stared at the map. "Isn't that the holiday resort where we're staying?"

Xiaofei raised an eyebrow and looked at Bai Yutang – Is it such a coincidence?

"There used to be a forestry company here, which felled trees to make furniture..." Xiaofei paused for a moment. "Han Li's father worked here as a lumberjack when he was young, but later, several of the company executives went missing, and the company went bankrupt."

"Several people went missing?" Bai Yutang didn't quite understand. "Did they run away with the company funds?"

"Not that kind of missing. The company was profitable, and there were no problems at all with finances or accounts. They simply disappeared in the literal sense." Xiaofei said, "And they didn't usually live at the logging site. They all worked at the company office in the city and only travelled to the forest once a month or so for business trips... and every one of them disappeared while on those business trips."

"They were never found afterwards?" Bai Yutang found it unbelievable. Just how many people had vanished?

"There was one person in particular." Xiaofei seemed to have investigated Han Li's father's case very thoroughly, and his phone held a lot of information.

He found a photo and showed it to Bai Yutang.

Because of the age, it was a black-and-white photograph that looked like it had been cut from a newspaper. The facial features weren't very clear, but it appeared to be a slightly overweight, middle-aged man with a balding head and thick, drooping eyebrows. His face looked rather kind.

"This man was called Lin Wu, the deputy manager of the forestry company. He was the last person to go missing." Xiaofei showed Bai Yutang the next picture, which was a sheet of lined paper, torn from a notebook. A few crooked words had been scribbled in ballpoint pen: "I am locked in collection hall one. If you find this, please call the police!"

"Collection hall one?" Bai Yutang recalled what Big Brother Bai and Zhao Zhen had said earlier about getting lost in the forest, they had also found the words "collection hall" carved on a tree.

Thinking back carefully, all the strange incidents seemed to have happened after those few went to chop firewood and came back out.

"Collection hall two..." Bai Yutang looked around. "It shouldn't be referring to that underground storage room we just visited, right?"

Xiaofei agreed it wasn't. "If it were, we should've found a severed head, right?"

At that moment, Bai Yutang saw a familiar vehicle driving up the mountain road. It was SCI's command vehicle, meaning Jiang Ping had arrived.

Bai Yutang was a little embarrassed. Jiang Ping worked year-round with no holidays, so he had hoped to use this opportunity to force him to take a break for a few days, but now he was working overtime again. At this rate, Jiang Ping would never be able to find a girlfriend.......

The vehicle stopped, and as soon as the rear door opened, Jiang Ping jumped out, followed by an Old English Sheepdog...

Bai Yutang froze. Isn't that Mwah Mwah...?

Following Mwah Mwah out of the vehicle was his owner, Fei Mu.

Bai Yutang was even more puzzled. Why did Fei Mu come?

Mwah Mwah hopped off and ran straight towards Wen Xiaorou, wagging its tail when it reached her.

Wen Xiaorou commanded it, "Sit! Shake!"

Mwah Mwah obediently sat down and offered a paw.

While shaking its paw, Wen Xiaorou introduced Mwah Mwah to Han Li.

Human–dog diplomacy proceeded smoothly.

Fei Mu got out of the vehicle and walked straight over to Bai Yutang.

At this moment, Zhan Zhao had just finished reading the materials. He vaguely felt an indescribable sense of familiarity... Had he seen something related to these "collection halls" before?

"How come you're here?" Bai Yutang and Xiaofei asked in unison.

Fei Mu pointed at Jiang Ping. "I was originally at Jiang Ping's place playing games, but after he finished the call with you guys, he started looking into Laughing Bird..."

Bai Yutang nodded, still not understanding why Fei Mu had come.

"This Laughing Bird, did you know he's got a rich girlfriend?" Fei Mu pulled out his phone and showed a photo to Bai Yutang and Xiaofei.

It was a picture of a very stern-looking middle-aged woman.

"This is Laughing Bird's girlfriend?" Bai Yutang thought... that they didn't match in the slightest.

"She's a con artist!" Fei Mu made a gesture of slitting his throat. "The type who kills her husbands to scam inheritance and insurance!"

Bai Yutang and Xiaofei both widened their eyes.

Zhan Zhao, apparently hungry, had gone to the car to grab a container of yoghurt and came over while struggling to peel off the lid.

Hearing this, he was startled as well and took the phone to look at the photo.

Bai Yutang took the yoghurt container, which was covered in bite marks, and tore the lid open for him.

"This woman's involved in quite a few economic crimes. We and the criminal investigation team are both investigating her. She's been married five times, always to seventy- or eighty-year-old tycoons, and every husband died within half a year of the wedding. She not only inherited their estates but also collected large insurance payouts." Fei Mu showed the group the files. "Laughing Bird is her latest boyfriend. Compared to her previous pattern, this is completely different, something's off."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both felt this woman was worth investigating. They wondered whether Laughing Bird would contact her.

"The problem is, she's disappeared!" Fei Mu said. "It's been almost half a month since anyone last saw her. We've searched everywhere but can't find her..."

Bai Yutang frowned. Two of Laughing Bird's girlfriends have vanished?

Zhan Zhao turned and looked at Little Dolphin and the cameraman waiting by the car in the distance.

Judging from the descriptions given by Laughing Bird's team, he seemed like a complete muddle-headed fool. But judging from his track record, this was now the second girlfriend to disappear. Could it be that he, too, is a serial killer?

‿︵‿︵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: November 27, 2025 by Angel

Edited: December 4, 2025 by Angel