S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 6 Chapter 164

The Wisteria Murderer 08 – Sound

---

Hei Zhen suddenly seemed to have been possessed, and for no apparent reason, he flew off the floor and began plummeting towards the floor below.

Bai Yutang was quick enough to react. The moment he saw that something was wrong, he took off after him, but even so, he was a step too late. By the time he reached the edge of the floor, Hei Zhen had already fallen. He reached out, but grabbed nothing... Fortunately, before he could make a move, a shadow beside him shot out even faster than he did. It was Yang Xiaogao.

Bai Yutang failed to catch Hei Zhen, but he managed to grab Yang Xiaogao's legs.

Yang Xiaogao caught Hei Zhen by the wrist.

Hei Zhen and Yang Xiaogao had both gone completely over the edge. The sudden weight of the two of them pulled Bai Yutang off as well.

Luo Tian also lunged forward from behind, throwing himself flat on the edge of the floor and grabbing Bai Yutang by both feet. Zhao Hu and Ma Han arrived just in time and each pressed down on one of Luo Tian's legs.

In an instant, a whole string of people was hanging over the edge of the floor.

At the very bottom, Hei Zhen was being held by both wrists by Yang Xiaogao, and he could feel himself slowly slipping downwards.

Zhao Hu and Ma Han were holding Luo Tian down. Although Luo Tian was strong, there were three people hanging below him, and he was lying on the edge of the floor without much leverage. He could feel that he wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer.

Zhan Zhao ran to the edge of the floor and also felt that the situation was critical. Just as he was wondering what to do, a figure flashed beside him and, with a sudden whoosh... a figure shot out, while something furry was simultaneously shoved into his hands.

Zhan Zhao looked down and saw that it was the little teddy bear Mia had been carrying when she left.

Amid the cries of alarm from onlookers, Xiao Wei, Tian Bian and the people who had come out to watch from the surrounding floors after hearing the commotion, Mia leapt off the rooftop and jumped down. She landed beside Xiao Yang, grabbed the belt around his waist with one hand, then kicked out with one foot, sending Hei Zhen flying into the eighth floor.

Then she tucked herself upwards, planting both feet on Yang Xiaogao's back. The moment Bai Yutang let go, Mia grabbed his hands with both of hers and kicked Yang Xiaogao upwards towards the ninth floor with both feet, sending him flying into the ninth floor.

Bai Yutang grabbed Mia and swung her outwards, then flung her towards the ninth floor with all his strength... Mia flew into the ninth floor.

Luo Tian shouted from above, "Pull!"

Zhao Hu and Ma Han grabbed both of his legs and pulled him in, and Bai Yutang was hauled up to the tenth floor.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Bai Yutang got up from the ground and gestured for everyone to hurry downstairs and check on them.

On the ninth floor, after Yang Xiaogao had crashed into the floor, he saw Mia leap in, landing beside him on both feet, as silent and soundless as a cat... She then reached out and helped him to his feet.

Yang Xiaogao stood up and stretched his arms and legs, finding that he wasn't injured. His back was just a little sore from Mia's kick.

Mia dusted him off and gave him a thumbs-up.

Xiao Yang felt rather embarrassed.

Footsteps came from the stairwell. Qin Ou ran to the doorway, glanced inside and asked, "Is everyone all right?"

Mia and Xiao Yang nodded together.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao also ran downstairs. Seeing that the two of them were fine, everyone headed towards the eighth floor, with Mia and Xiao Yang following along.

When they reached the eighth floor, they saw Hei Zhen sitting on the floor, taking off his shoes.

Hei Zhen was still shaken. He took off the pair of roller skates that were still flashing with light, then tilted his head back and lay down again.

The SCI members came running down, and Xiao Wei and Tian Bian went over to check on Hei Zhen, who tilted his face up and kept clasping his hands towards everyone. "Thank you all for saving my life..."

"What's wrong with you?"

Seeing that Hei Zhen was fine, Xiao Wei asked him, "Why did you suddenly try to get yourself killed...?"

Hei Zhen had calmed down by now. He shook his head and said, "I didn't..." Then he turned his head towards the pair of shoes he'd thrown on the floor.

"I was just standing there... but then the shoes suddenly moved by themselves..."

Zhao Hu reached out and picked up both shoes. They were still glowing, but the wheels weren't turning.

Bai Yutang told him to take them back for Jiang Ping to examine. Considering that the location for filming the advertisement had been specifically chosen by the advertiser, there was a possibility that it was a planned murder.

Luo Tian collected all three pairs of shoes and asked them about the advertiser.

The three of them gave them the contact details and other information, and Ma Han sent the information to Jiang Ping to investigate the advertiser.

At this point, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang weren't concerned about the advertiser. The two of them had their eyes on Yang Xiaogao instead.

Before Hei Zhen shot off the floor, Bai Yutang had been closest to him, yet Yang Xiaogao had rushed out to save Hei Zhen before Bai Yutang did... This meant that Xiao Yang had noticed something was wrong before Bai Yutang.

However, there had been no warning before Hei Zhen shot out. Given Bai Yutang's reaction speed and agility, there was no way Yang Xiaogao could have reached him first unless he'd known beforehand that someone was going to go over the edge.

Noticing the two of them staring at him, Xiao Yang seemed to have guessed what they wanted to ask. He raised a hand and pointed to his ear. "There was a sound just now."

"A sound?" Zhan Zhao was puzzled. Bai Yutang frowned slightly. "There was, actually... Something like..."

"Some kind of harsh wind sound, right?" Xiao Yang asked.

Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang doubtfully – Had there really been such a sound?

Bai Yutang thought back carefully. There had indeed been a sound at the time, but everything had happened so suddenly that he hadn't paid much attention to it.

"This sound is what's commonly known as the 'wind of the underworld.' It's a very strange, abrupt gust of wind, sometimes rising in pitch and sometimes falling. In our line of work, we call a rising pitch 'the gates of the underworld opening', this sound usually occurs when someone is on the verge of death. A falling pitch is more often heard when collecting a body, and is called 'the gates of the underworld closing'. If you hear the rising pitch, there might still be a chance to save them. But if you hear the falling pitch, there's no hope left." Xiao Yang explained it all to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang with the utmost seriousness.

Bai Yutang looked utterly baffled as he listened. He turned to Zhan Zhao – Is he serious, or is he just making this up, or is it some kind of superstition?

Zhan Zhao stroked his chin as he observed Xiao Yang. Given his unusual profession, it might have been some kind of experience or psychological suggestion... But he hadn't heard anything at all himself, which made him rather curious about what the sound was actually like.

Bai Yutang looked at Luo Tian, Qin Ou and the others again.

The situation had been so urgent just now that they couldn't say whether they'd heard it or not. Thinking back on it now, it seemed as though they had heard something, yet at the same time, perhaps they hadn't...

This sudden incident had left the SCI members feeling a little spooked. Zhao Hu felt that the building had an eerie atmosphere and that there was something rather sinister about it.

Xiao Yang waved his hand, indicating that he couldn't really explain it. Anyway, in a place like this, they shouldn't do anything reckless. Even if they didn't believe in it, they shouldn't provoke it.

As the sky gradually darkened, the people who had been filming videos inside the building seemed to have a tacit understanding and left the building one after another before it got dark.

Bai Yutang and the others also went downstairs.

They still had to go and look at the wisteria tree afterwards, so Bai Yutang told Luo Tian and Qin Ou to take Hei Zhen and the other two back to the police station first and take a simple statement from them.

The others would go to the former site of the Wisteria Hotel to have a look at the wisteria tree.

Xiao Yang got into the car and continued to lead the way.

The wisteria tree wasn't far from the building. It took just five minutes to drive there.

All the surrounding buildings had already been demolished, leaving only a single wisteria growing wildly. It was no smaller than the one at Wisteria Manor, and someone had put up quite a few supports to hold up all the vines.

Zhan Zhao tilted his head back and looked at the clusters of wisteria flowers hanging down. He couldn't help feeling that it was a shame. If the area weren't so desolate, they could turn it into a park. What a beautiful tree...

Bai Yutang was studying the terrain around them. Apart from the vast expanse of wisteria and the rubble left behind by the demolished buildings, there wasn't much else to see.

Just then, someone bumped into him from behind.

Bai Yutang turned around and saw Mia clutching her teddy bear, glancing back towards somewhere in the distance as she edged closer to him.

"What's wrong?" Seeing that the child seemed a little frightened, Bai Yutang looked in the direction she was staring.

Zhao Hu and Ma Han both looked in the same direction.

"Who's there?" Ma Han seemed to catch a glimpse of a dark shadow flickering in the distance.

Zhao Hu walked in that direction. After going quite a long way, he looked around, but there was no one nearby. There was some construction debris left behind from the demolished buildings, and some of the broken walls had water stains and mould on them. From a distance, they probably looked a little like a human figure.

Mia gestured to Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, indicating that this place was haunted! There was a ghost following them.

Yang Xiaogao continued reciting his Great Compassion Mantra.

By now, it was completely dark, and there were no streetlights around, so visibility was extremely poor.

Bai Yutang signalled for everyone to head back.

Yang Xiaogao quickly led the way, and everyone returned to the main road and headed towards the exit.

Mia was holding Zhao Hu with one hand and Ma Han with the other, looking back as she walked.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were walking right behind them, occasionally glancing back.

Zhao Hu carried Mia's teddy bear for her. He couldn't shake the feeling that he could hear footsteps beside him, while eerie winds seemed to blow all around them.

After finally making it out through the exit, everyone hurried to the parking lot, got into the cars and drove away.

Afterwards, they split into two groups. Zhao Hu and Ma Han dropped Yang Xiaogao off at home before heading home themselves.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were responsible for taking Mia home, and while they were at it, they would also pay a visit to Zhao Jue and Bai Ye.

Putting aside all the strange incidents they'd encountered that day, they still needed Bao Sir's approval before they could investigate the case... Originally, it seemed like it wouldn't be too difficult, especially since someone had nearly lost their life that day. But Bao Sir had clearly been hiding something earlier. From Qiu Yizi to Qiu Xiaoyu, they were all connected to the wisteria, as well as to Xu Wei, whom they had investigated previously... What was Bao Sir hiding? Why was he so tight-lipped about the fire at the Wisteria Hotel? The Zhao Mingxi case was classified as well... It felt like the two were connected.

As the car pulled up outside the house, a large pack of dogs came to greet us as usual.

Bai Ye was watering the garden. When he saw Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao getting out of the car, he asked the two of them whether they'd eaten...

Before he could finish asking, Mia jumped out of the car and shot into the house with a whoosh, like a gust of wind.

In the living room.

Zhao Jue had just returned and was in the kitchen making himself some black tea...

Uncle Chopsticks was sitting opposite him, flipping through the restaurant renovation plans.

Issel was sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed, holding a cellphone in one hand and a half-eaten peach in the other.

Suddenly, Mia came rushing in through the door. She tossed her teddy bear onto the sofa and threw herself at her dad.

Issel looked at his daughter, who had burrowed into his arms like a frightened quail, and the peach slipped from his hand. "What's wrong?"

Issel blinked and looked at Eleven opposite him.

Uncle Chopsticks was puzzled too – The girl is gesturing that there was a ghost.

Mia held out one hand and made a gesture in front of her dad.

Zhao Jue walked into the living room carrying his tea and saw Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang coming in with Bai Ye.

The two of them, one on the left and one on the right, were whispering something to Bai Ye.

Uncle Ye listened to the two of them talking the whole way about the wisteria and the haunted house, as well as Bao Sir hiding things from them and so on...

"If Bao Xiao Hei is hiding something from you, then it's probably not an ordinary case." Zhao Jue observed Mia's condition, then turned back to look at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang – How did the child get so frightened?

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang thought Mia had only become frightened after they went to see that wisteria tree. She'd been perfectly normal when they'd been inside the building rescuing people earlier.

The two of them felt rather guilty about it too. If they'd known, they wouldn't have taken her to the abandoned site. But thinking back on it, if Mia hadn't been there in that situation today, they really might not have been able to save Hei Zhen.

Issel comforted his daughter while also finding it strange – Mia wasn't exactly timid. She'd seen plenty of mummified corpses, zombie models and the like. She and her mom had even collected enough death records to fill an entire storeroom. She played video games, took part in murder-mystery games and went through haunted houses... yet she'd never seemed frightened by any of it.

After being comforted for a while, Mia seemed to feel a little better. Eleven went to get two large crabs and a small dish of vinegar, bringing them over for her to eat.

Bai Ye also asked Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, "Do you two want some crabs?"

"Crabs?" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang followed Bai Ye into the kitchen, where they saw several boxes of swimming crabs. They looked big, plump and delicious.

"A friend gave them to me, they were just caught. They're suitable for dry-roasting or steaming." Bai Ye carried two boxes out to Bai Yutang's car for him.

When they were getting into the car, Bai Ye slipped a note to Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang saw that there was a string of numbers and symbols written on the note.

The two of them looked at Bai Ye in confusion.

Bai Ye lowered his voice and said, "Bao Xiao Hei's encrypted password."

The two of them widened their eyes and looked at Bai Ye – Is this for real? Uncle Ye is amazing!

"Ask him about it first. If you really can't get anything out of him, then sneak a look." Bai Ye gestured for the two of them to keep it secret.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, feeling very satisfied, drove home with the crabs

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

Previous Chapter | TOC |

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: August 28, 2026 by Angel

Edited: August 28, 2026 by Angel