S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 6 Chapter 165

The Wisteria Murderer 09 – Two Exceptions

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Later, when Big Brother Bai and the others who'd gone out to play all came back, they could smell the aroma of seafood the moment they walked through the door.

Bai Chi had spent the whole day at the amusement park and had eaten quite a lot, so he really wasn't hungry. But when he caught the smell of the crab, he headed straight for the kitchen to have a look. Sure enough, they were making dry-roasted swimming crabs in the pot.

"Wow! What huge crabs!" the twins exclaimed noisily, saying they wanted some stir-fried rice cakes.

Gongsun sat down on the sofa and asked Zhan Zhao, who was watching a video, "How's the investigation on the wisteria going?"

Zhan Zhao said they'd made a whole load of unexpected discoveries, then handed the tablet in his hand to Gongsun. "Have a look."

Gongsun took the tablet and asked, "What am I looking at?"

"These are the outlines of the bodies that were left on the ground after the fire happened." Zhan Zhao asked the forensic pathologist to give his opinion.

Gongsun looked at it for a while and frowned slightly. "Something's not right."

"Right?" Zhan Zhao said that Qin Ou had just said it didn't look like they'd died in the fire either; it looked more like they'd all been poisoned.

"It does." Gongsun nodded. As a forensic pathologist, his instinct was to ask, "Were any of the bodies preserved?"

Zhan Zhao waved his hand. "Of course not. They were all cremated, and there was very little information in the archives... It's all encrypted, but..."

Zhan Zhao waved the slip of paper with the password that Bai Ye had just given him and boasted. "We've got this!"

Bai Jintang took off his suit jacket and sat down on the sofa. Looking at the two people opposite him who were conspiring to sneak a look at Bao Sir's encrypted files, he had a feeling that these two might be in for a beating.

Besides, Bai Jintang didn't have the same rose-tinted view of Bai Ye that Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang did. Big Brother Bai had observed him at close quarters, and it was obvious that Bai Ye was even more scheming than Zhao Jue... He'd given the two of them Bao Sir's password that easily? Just because he was being helpful?

The two kids were quite amusing. Whenever Zhao Jue did anything, they were always on their guard, yet Bai Ye had clearly set them up several times, and they still thought Uncle Ye was the best...

Bai Jintang shook his head, always feeling there might be some sort of trap involved. He even felt a little sorry for Zhao Jue. So, the characterisation you make when you first appear really is important, if you make your entrance as the villain, it isn't easy to clear your name later on.

Just then, Bai Chi came running over carrying a plate of crabs. He sat down on the sofa and said they tasted absolutely amazing.

Zhan Zhao and Gongsun exchanged a glance, abandoned the tablet and went to get something to eat.

Bai Chi put the plate on the table and called Zhao Zhen over to eat with them. As he did so, he picked up the tablet from the sofa, intending to put it on the table as well.

Just then, the previous video finished playing and jumped to the next one.

Bai Chi glanced at it and went, "Huh?" before quickly pushing it away. "What new horror movie is this? It's terrifying."

Bai Jintang glanced at the tablet too, but couldn't make out anything. It was just a pitch-black stretch of video, seemingly showing some ruins and a tree.

Once the crabs were served, whether everyone was simply hungry after a busy day, or whether Bai Yutang's cooking was particularly good and the crabs were especially fresh... whatever the reason, everyone ate happily. Afterwards, Bai Chi brought over the enhanced version of the Monopoly game they'd bought that day, spread it all over the floor, and a whole group of them started playing.

Compared with the lively, noisy younger group here, things were much quieter in the elderly group next door that evening.

Bai Ye and Uncle Chopsticks were repairing something resembling a motor in the yard, Zhao Jue was studying some materials in the study, and Issel and Kalin had gone out on a date.

Mia was lying on the sofa hugging a pillow and scrolling through her phone, occasionally glancing at the television in front of her, which was showing a cooking competition.

After watching for a while, Mia reached out to take some snacks from the coffee table... but just as she bent down, she suddenly felt the light around her dim for a moment.

Mia raised her head in confusion and looked at the ceiling light... Only one ambient light was on in the living room, leaving the surroundings fairly dark... Just as she turned her head to look behind her, she suddenly saw a black shadow flash across the glass panel of the fridge with a whoosh.

The bag of snacks fell from Mia's hand, and she sprang up from the sofa, grabbed a bottle from the table, and threw it straight at the moving shadow in front of her.

Upstairs, Zhao Jue was adjusting his glasses as he studied a document, deeply engrossed in it, when he suddenly heard a loud crash from downstairs.

At the doorway, Bai Ye and Eleven froze for a moment. They dropped their tools and ran inside. The moment they entered the living room, something suddenly came flying straight at them. Uncle Chopsticks reacted quickly and caught it in one hand, it was a globe.

Bai Ye saw Mia pick up a glass ornament from the coffee table and throw it towards the window beside her, so he hurried over and caught it.

Upstairs, Zhao Jue reached the top of the stairs and turned on the lights. "What are you doing?"

The lights came on in the dim room, revealing Mia just about to grab the vase from the table. Uncle Chopsticks quickly put the globe down and ran over to stop her. "Hey, hey, hey! What's happened? Why are you so angry?"

When Zhao Jue came downstairs, he also assumed that someone had upset the girl. However, after taking a closer look, he realised something wasn't quite right. She didn't seem to be angry at all, instead, she seemed frightened. Her emotions were rather unstable, and she was somewhat agitated.

Bai Ye, however, noticed that Mia's eyes were still moving, her gaze seeming to follow some moving object...

But apart from them, there was no one else in the room. There were only dogs outside, and if a stranger had come in, the dogs would definitely have barked. Yet there hadn't been a sound, and besides, he and Eleven had been outside just moments ago.

Upon closer observation, Bai Ye realised that Mia was only staring at things that could reflect light, such as the windows, glass partitions, mirrored cabinet panels and the fridge door...

"What can you see?" Eleven noticed it too and asked Mia as he turned his head.

Mia pointed towards the window and gestured – There's a ghost!

Bai Ye and Eleven exchanged a glance – A ghost?

The two of them ran over to the window to look, while Uncle Chopsticks even went outside to have a look around for a while. They were both being cautious, thinking that perhaps Mia had somehow attracted some pervert, so they decided to check carefully.

But after searching all around the house, inside and outside, there wasn't a single person to be seen, let alone any sign of a ghost.

Zhao Jue observed Mia for a while from inside the room. She was still very tense, her eyes constantly moving, which meant she could see something moving, and it was right there in the room.

Rubbing his chin, Zhao Jue found it rather strange. The child had never shown any signs of having yin-yang eyes before. She'd only gone out with the two kids that afternoon to investigate the wisteria, so how had she come back talking about seeing ghosts?

Bai Ye returned to the living room and spread his hands at Zhao Jue.

Zhao Jue gestured for Uncle Chopsticks, who had come in behind him, to call the child's parents. He then took out his phone and called Zhan Zhao in the house next door.

......

Things were lively next door at the moment. Nobody knew who had come up with this version of Monopoly, but the game was full of provocative antics.

As usual, Zhan Zhao was hopeless at Monopoly, going bankrupt in all sorts of ways. A whole group of adults were shouting and bickering, and they were practically at the point of throwing crab shells at each other.

Just then, Zhan Zhao's phone rang, and he saw that it was Zhao Jue calling.

Zhan Zhao was too busy to answer it, so he shoved the phone into Bai Yutang's hands.

Bai Yutang stood up and went into the kitchen to take the call. Even from there, Zhao Jue could still hear the racket on the other end about buying houses, selling land and opening farms...

Bai Yutang asked Zhao Jue what was wrong.

Zhao Jue's tone sounded rather serious. "Where did you and the kitten take Mia this afternoon?"

"Er..." Bai Yutang was honest, saying they went to the funeral home first and then to the haunted building...

Zhao Jue clicked his tongue. "No wonder she saw a ghost... Hurry up and come over to see what's going on, the child's broken!"

Bai Yutang was slightly taken aback. "What?"

"Basically, she's acting abnormally. She says she's seeing ghosts and has been throwing things around..." Zhao Jue reminded the two of them, "The parents will be back at the scene in ten minutes, you two figure it out!"

Bai Yutang hung up and immediately ran over, grabbed Zhan Zhao and pulled him outside.

The people inside were all completely baffled and all looked up to see what was happening outside.

Bai Yutang reached the doorway, thought about it, then pulled Zhan Zhao back to open the car door, and whistled to Lisbon while he was at it.

Lisbon got to his feet, shook his mane, and trotted outside before getting into Bai Yutang's car.

After Bai Yutang gave Zhan Zhao a rough explanation of what had happened in the car, Zhan Zhao stroked his chin. "Actually, Mia was completely fine when we were at the haunted building earlier. It was only after we went near that wisteria tree that she said she saw a ghost. Then again... why did you bring Lisbon?"

"Isn't he pure yang?" Bai Yutang suggested. "If all else fails, we can leave Lisbon there to keep Mia company."

Zhan Zhao tilted his head. "Isn't a tiger supposed to have a pure yang constitution? Lions are animals from the tropical savannah, why would they have a pure yang constitution? They can't even keep up with the sun protection..."

Bai Yutang had been a little anxious to begin with, but Zhan Zhao's comment made him laugh.

Since it was right next door, they arrived very quickly.

The moment the two of them got out of the car with the lion, another car came speeding through the entrance.

Kalin and Issel had rushed back.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang immediately stood up straight obediently and watched the two frantic parents.

Kalin burst into the room, while Issel asked the two of them what had happened.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had no choice but to honestly explain the whole situation to Issel. Once they'd finished, they stood there obediently, waiting to be scolded.

Strangely enough, though, Issel didn't react particularly strongly. He stood there in a daze for a moment, then raised one finger and scratched his cheek. "Only she can see it?"

The two of them both nodded.

Issel was silent for three seconds before saying, "Then there must be a ghost."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were startled and hurried inside after Issel.

In the living room, Lisbon was lying on the sofa, while Kalin was holding Mia against him.

It had to be said, bringing Lisbon over really did seem to have a calming effect.

Issel entered the room and first looked around carefully...

Mia had smashed a few things earlier, and she'd indeed damaged some of them. Issel spotted at a glance that they were all smooth, reflective surfaces.

He'd probably already worked out what was going on, so Issel gestured for Kalin to take their daughter back to her room and find some soft, non-reflective fabric to cover anything that could reflect light.

Eleven pulled several curtains and helped set things up in the room.

"What's going on?" Zhao Jue asked Issel, who clearly seemed to have some idea.

Issel sat down on the sofa and said, "Since she saw a ghost, then there must be a ghost."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang continued sitting obediently to one side without saying a word.

Zhao Jue and Bai Ye exchanged a glance. If an ordinary parent had said that, it might have been because they were simply spoiling their child, but Issel was different.

"There must be something," Issel explained. "When I was little, I often couldn't tell whether something was a person or a ghost either. Special abilities all have a process of development."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were both surprised. "So Mia's going to become a radar too?"

Issel smiled. "Probably not without special training, but she'll definitely be different from ordinary people... The most important thing right now..."

Issel stood up. "You two, take me to the place where she saw the ghost!"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both looked up at Uncle Radar – Wow! Suddenly so imposing! Is this the power of a father's love?

Issel was speechless and urged the two of them, "Hurry up!"

Zhao Jue and Bai Ye indicated that they wanted to go too.

They'd only just walked out of the front door and hadn't even got into the car yet when Zhan Zhao's phone rang again. This time, it was Gongsun calling.

When he answered, there was a clatter of sounds on the other end. It didn't sound much like they were playing Monopoly.

"What's wrong?" Zhan Zhao asked, puzzled.

"Chi Chi says there's a ghost!" Gongsun, hiding behind the sofa, urged the two of them to hurry back and have a look. "We're catching the ghost right now... It's really fierce! It's throwing things too!"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both froze. They turned around together and looked at Issel. "You only have one daughter, right?"

Issel rolled his eyes – Don't talk nonsense!

"Then why are Bai Chi and Mia showing the same symptoms?" Zhan Zhao asked, puzzled. "Is Chi Chi developing some special ability too?"

"That doesn't make sense..." Bai Yutang reminded Zhan Zhao. "Bai Chi didn't even come to the scene with us just now, what ghost could he have seen?"

Zhao Jue and Bai Ye looked at the two of them and shook their heads – What case are you two investigating, exactly? Did you bring a ghost back with you?

‿︵‿︵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 30, 2026 by Angel

Edited: October 1, 2026 by Angel