Killer Training Camp - Chapter 33 Training Camp
Qi Le brought the computer but did not know the password to it. Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao decided to bring the laptop back to the station to let Jiang Ping handle it.
The questioning of the other members of the band wasn't particularly fruitful, but the relationship between the few teens was surprisingly tight, and it did not seem like they were faking their grief.
Bai Yutang left Qi Le and the rest with his phone number so that they could contact him if anything else came to mind. Then, he left M University with Zhan Zhao and drove back to the police station.
"None of the band members appear to be in a very good state of mind,"
Zhan Zhao said with a frown when he got in the car.
"They're all a bunch of junkies, how could their mind be in a good
state!" Bai Yutang said while driving the car.
"They're just a group of students in their twenties, where would they get
drugs?" Zhan Zhao asked puzzledly.
"Ku... I doubt it's something like heroin or ice. It's probably something
cheap like ecstasy or some other inhalants that's more easily accessible."
Bai Yutang said with a shake of his head, "Wasting their lives
away."
"Generally speaking, people with certain hobbies or areas of expertise
are less likely to get themselves into drugs." There seemed to be
something Zhan Zhao couldn't quite figure out. "if Qi Lei's drug use is
caused by his illness, then what about the other band members?"
"Maybe it's because they feel empty..." Bai Yutang suggested after some thought, "but that is a clue we can look into. Perhaps finding the source of the drugs will help with this case."
"Shall we get help from the Narcotics Department?"
Bai Yutang shook his head. "It's better to send someone to keep an eye on things first, let's talk when we have a definite clue!"
During their conversation, they had arrived back at the police station.
in the S.C.I. office, the team that was sent out had already returned, and there were two additional people in the office, the Ding twins.
When Bai Yutang entered through the door to the office, he was greeted with the sight of the twins handing out something while saying, "this is the VIP Gold Card for food and beverage purchases at the Bai Group. You boys don't have to pay to eat at any of the Bai Group's restaurant chains around the world."
"What are the two of you doing?" Bai Yutang raged.
"Winning over the hearts of people for our boss!" the twins replied in unison.
"You dare to engage in bribery at a police station?! Are the two of you looking for death?!" Bai Yutang scowled at them and pointed at the door, "Get out!"
"Tch, what we're doing is considered personal exchange between friends. It's not bound by the law!" the twins said while patting on the shoulders of a dazed Zhao Hu from either side at the same, "Am I right, bro?"
"Uh..." Zhao Hu hesitated, looking to his left, then to his right before finally looking up at Bai Yutang at a loss.
To which he got a glare in return.
"Uh... No～～～" Zhao Hu said in a shaky voice.
"Ah? Aren't we best buds?" The twins held their chests like their were in pain. "We're so hurt～～～"
"Uh... Yes～～～～" Zhao Hu hurriedly shook his head.
"What?!" Bai Yutang gave him an even stronger death glare.
"Uh... no... uh... that..." Zhao Hu stuttered, struggling for a bit as he looked a the twins who were standing on either side of him and at Bai Yutang.
"AAaaaaAAaaah!" Zhao Hu screamed, turning around to pounce on the WangChao, who was behind him, "Why? Why? Why is it always me!!!"
...
It was a herculean task to send the Ding twins away, but they finally managed to do so. After that, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang called the team into the meeting room.
"Jiang Ping, this is Qi Lei's computer but it's been locked with a password; see if you can find a way in."
"No problem!" Jiang Ping received the laptop and hurriedly opened it. "Oh, it's just a simple user password, It can be accessed from the safe mode, I can get it done in ten minutes." With that, he went right at it.
"What about the rest? Did you guys gain anything?" Bai Yutang asked.
"I'll go first," Ma Han said with his hand raised, "I took the technical team down to the four crime scenes and found some problems." As he spoke, he took out a set of photos and continued while pointing at them, "Based on what we found on the four crimes, they should all have been done by the same person, that is, Qi Lei."
"Elaborate on it." Everyone gathered around to looked at the photos.
"The sniping distance that he chose was almost the same, it was all about 50 metres away." Ma Han said, "This is obviously a layman's approach!"
"A layman?" Everyone was puzzled.
Ma Han continued, "Leader, you shot at and killed Qi Lei from 50 metres away that day, right?"
Bai Yutang nodded.
"Generally, the effective range of a handgun is 50-100 metres, hence, no professional killer would shoot within 100 metres. The effective range of a sniper rifle is between 800-1000 meters, so if you shoot at too close a distance, there's a good chance it will go right through the target and end up injuring others as well."
"So what does this mean?" Zhan Zhao asked, he suddenly could understand why Bai Yutang always asked for him to speak in "human" every time he did a psychological analysis.
"Well, for a student to have relatively more comprehensive knowledge about sniping, the accuracy of his calculations whether it's in terms of the angle or wind direction were all very professional. This indicates that he had the theoretical knowledge and plenty of opportunities to practice. However..." Ma Han paused for a bit, "he didn't have the space to shoot."
"Oh～～" Bai Yutang nodded. "I get it, You're saying that he usually could only practice with a limited distance."
Ma Han nodded.
"He practiced at a shooting range?" Zhan Zhao asked.
"That was what I had thought!" Ma Han said, "Most shooting ranges are about 50-100 metres long, so I went to a shooting clubs in the city to investigate and I found that Qi Lei is a member at 'Guanglong' Shooting Club!"
"Guanglong?" Bai Yutang furrowed his brows. "That sounds somewhat familiar."
"Leader, how did you train out this entire body of muscles if you've never been to a fitness club?" Wang Chao chuckled from the side, "Most fitness gyms and sports clubs in the city are under the brand name 'Guanglong'."
"Ah～～" Bai Yutang remembered, that does appear to ring a bell.
"'Gunaglong' is under the Pang Group! The boss should be Pang Yu," Wang Chao pointed out.
"Pang Yu?" Zhan Zhao was a little stunned. Where did he hear that name before...
"Kitty, you know him?" Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao, a little surprised.
"No, but the name sounds familiar," Zhan Zhao tilted his head to the side in thought. That day, the man he met at the entrance to Dr. Wilson's lecture hall seemed to have said that his name was "Pang Yu".
"Do you have any photos?" Zhan Zhao asked.
"Yes." Ma Han took one out and placed it in front of Zhan Zhao.
Those cold features that gave off a harsh and sharp vibe. "I've seen this man before!" Zhan Zhao noted while pointing at the picture, "He was present at Dr. Wilson's psychology lecture!"
"That's the guy who spoke to you at the entrance of the auditorium that day?" Bai Yutang seemed to have some impression of that incident. "What did he say to you that day?"
Zhan Zhao shook his head in response, "Nothing much, he just told me that he's listened to my lectures."
"Does he enjoy listening to lectures?" Zhao Hu expressed his confusion, "Isn't he a businessman? Why would he go for such specialised psychology lectures?"
"Also!" Ma Han added, "I found this guy in the club's membership records!" Then, as he spoke, he took out yet another photo, "Remember him?"
When everyone looked down at the photo, they all got a shock, "Li Feifan?"
"The guy who was stalking the Cat!" Bai Yutang's expression turned grim. "There seems to be more than meets the eye to this."
Everyone nodded.
"Ma Han, do a thorough investigation of that shooting club!"
"Rest assured, Head!" Ma Han whipped out a card and said, "I've even had my membership all done up!"
"Bai Yutang laughed, "You rascal, be careful!"
"What about the other victims?" Zhan Zhao asked Wang Chao and Zhang Long, "Do they have anything in common?"
The two of them sighed at the same time, "If you insist on saying they had something in common, it would be that they were all good people."
"Good people?"
Zhang Long nodded and opened three copies of the victim's profiles. "One is a university lecturer; a businessman; a famous philanthropist and a vet at a veterinary hospital."
"If you include Dr. Wilson, a psychologist, and Jon King, an actor."
"They have nothing in common at all." Zhao Hu scratched his head.
"What is that Doctor and Jon doing now?" Bai Yutang asked.
"For the Doctor, due to his sudden heart attack, he has to remain in the hospital for treatment for some time."
"While Jon will be filming a movie soon."
"We must ensure the safety of their lives," Bai Yutang ordered.
"Don't worry, Sir, Ai Hu and his team have sent a substantial amount of police officers to protect them. And the two of them are quite cooperative about it," Wang Chao said, "We are planning to do some further investigations on them."
"As for the firearms, Xu Qing is still investigating on them, it seems to be smuggled goods," Zhao Hu added.
Bai Yutang nodded and ordered, "Everyone, let's continue to follow up! Zhao Hu, go down to M University to keep an eye on those few members of the band 'Boiling Point', especially Qi Le!"
"Yes!"
"There's also my autopsy report," Gongsun said while handing over Qi Lei's autopsy report, "He has a very serious case of self-harm and he also does drugs!"
Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a look. As they had suspected...
"Leader! Come have a look!" Just then, Jiang Ping, who was fiddling on the computer by the side suddenly called out.
Everyone rushed over to him.
"There's this very strange email that was received on 27th November, the day of the sniping incident. Then, Jiang Ping opened the email to reveal:
The time has come, wake up the demon! From here on out, you are no longer yourself!
Everyone was shocked by the sight.
"There's more!" Jiang Ping said as he clicked on several other emails, "There are a total of four emails with the same content and the other three were all sent on the dates the other three cases occurred."
"Who is it from?" Bai Yutang asked.
"It's signed off as... Killer Training Camp." Jiang Ping clicked on the sender's name icon for everyone to see.
"...Killer Training Camp..." Zhan Zhao looked at the name in surprise. "Killer training camp?"
(lilies: front part is said in English)
"Leader, look at the desktop of his computer," Jiang Ping said while maneuvering to display the desktop, which was a demon with a scythe against a black screen.
"Cat, what does this mean?" Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao.
Zhan Zhao remained silent for quite a while before he finally said, "Someone has been manipulating Qi Lei to murder people. Perhaps, this Killer Training Camp is a killer organisation!"
"Huu～～～" Bai Yutang exhaled deeply, "This case seems to be much more complicated than we expected. Jiang Ping, do a check on the sender!"
"Roger! But I'll be faced with some difficulties, Such identities are forged nine times out of ten1."
Zhan Zhao hesitated for a bit, saying, "We need to hurry! There might be more victims."
Everyone's expression turned sombre at the same time.
Zhan Zhao followed Bai Yutang into the latter's office and said, "Yutang, I'm a little worried."
"What's wrong?" Bai Yutang asked, seeing Zhan Zhao's unease.
"According to the descriptions of Qi Le and the others, Qi Lei's condition was not this serious at the beginning but deteriorated dramatically recently."
"So?" Bai Yutang expressed his puzzlement.
"I think that the determination of his condition was caused by psychological induction. Moreover, it's the malicious kind to boot!" Zhan Zhao answered, "Such a thing is extremely difficult to perform in psychology and it's quite dangerous as well!"
Bai Yutang fell silent.
"I don't know when it started, but psychology has become an instrument of murder. Zhan Zhao continued helplessly, "Sometimes, it appears to be even better than a gun."
Bai Yutang patted the former on the shoulder and was about to say some words of comfort when...
Dididdididdid～～～～
His phone rang and when Bai Yutang took it out, his face turned white as a sheet when he saw the caller ID on the display. "Kitty!" he exclaimed and lifted his hand to throw the phone at Zhan Zhao, "First-level emergency!"
Zhan Zhao caught the phone reflexively and when he glanced at the screen——Mom.
He hurried threw the phone back to Bai Yutang. "Answer it yourself!"
"Pick it up for me! Just say that I'm not here!" Bai Yutang threw it back again.
"I don't want to! I don't lie! You do this every time!" And the phone was tossed through the air yet again.
The phone continued ringing urgently as it flew through the air. After a series of back and forth, Bai Yutang caught the phone, pressed on the button to answer, and threw it at Zhan Zhao yet again.
"Hey! You!" Zhan Zhao wanted to throw the phone back but the person on the other end of the line had already heard his voice. "Hello? Hi hi? Is that Xiao Zhao?"
With no other choice, he could only give Bai Yutang the death glare while answering the phone, "Hello, Auntie."
"Oh Xiao Zhao, is Yutang beside you?" Mama Bai asked, her voice as gentle and loving as ever.
"Ah... Yutang～～" Zhan Zhao glanced at Bai Yutang and the latter hurriedly gestured with his arms.
"Oh～～ He's not here."
"He's not? Well, I guess if I tell you, the two of you better remember to come to my place for dinner tonight."
"Dinner?" Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang once more and the latter gestured with all his might; the meaning was a firm no!!
"Auntie, we have something on tonight..." Zhan Zhao said.
"Hmm～～" On the other side of the line, Mama Bai paused for a bit before saying," Xiao Zhao, put the phone on loudspeaker mode and face it at the person who's been gesturing at you."
"..." There was nothing Zhan Zhao could do but put the phone on speaker mode and pointed the phone at Bai Yutang.
Then, after a cough was heard coming from the phone, the sweet and gentle voice was gone without a trace and in its place, a fierce and angry roar, "Bai Yutang, the two of you better get your asses back home for dinner tonight! Otherwise, I will print poster-sized images of when you two were dressed as girls when you were younger and paste it at the entrance of your police station!"
Thump～～
And the phone was hung up.
The two of them poked at their ears that were still buzzing from what had just happened and sighed.
After that, Bai Yutang yelled at the onlookers crowding at the door, trying to hold back their laughter, "What are you all looking at?! Get out there and work on the case!!"
Covering their mouths, the crowd dispersed～～
When the night came, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang obediently went back to the Bai residence located in the city. Unsurprisingly, Mama Zhan was helping Mama Bai with the cooking in the kitchen. In the living room, Bai Yunwen and Zhan Qitian were chatting over tea. There was also a slightly portly middle-aged man with them.
"Dad, Uncle," the two kids greeted them obediently.
The middle-aged man said to them with a smile, "So this is Yutang and Xiao Zhao, they've grown so big huh? The elites of the police! Hahaha～～" The middle-aged man was very cheery but his words gave Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao a stun.
"This is your Uncle Feng2," Bai Yunwen introduced with a smile, "He's my younger cousin Bai Feng. You've met him when you were younger."
"Uncle Feng," they still obediently called him as they were told.
"Yutang, this is your Uncle Feng's kid, your cousin, who graduated from police school this year. It just so happens that he was assigned to S City, you must take care of him!" Bai Yunwen instructed.
"Bai Chí, your cousin is here, come out and greet him," Bai Feng called out in the direction of the kitchen.
Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were momentarily stupefied when they heard that name.
Then, from the kitchen, a visibly nervous young man appeared from behind Mama Bai. With his police uniform off and dressed in casual clothes instead, he appeared even younger. At a glance, he looked just like a college student...
It was that little policeman they met on the rooftop last night.
Bai Chí smiled somewhat awkwardly at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang. "L-Leader... Bai..."
Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other, surprised and amused by the situation.
"Haha～～" Bai Yunwen chuckled, "What Leader Bai? We are at home! Call Ge! Both of them are your brothers."
...
Bai Chí lowered his head, his face completely red. His mouth opened and closed several times like a fish but he still didn't manage to call them "Ge".
Zhan Zhao blinked at Bai Yutang, which meant: How rare, to think you still have this kind of variety in the Bai family.
Bai Yutang blinked back: Don't you think he doesn't look like a Bai family member? He's definitely adopted.
Zhan Zhao glared at him: Mouse, you're being mean!
Bai Yutang shrugged: It'll get troublesome in the future.
Bai Chí watched as his two brothers communicated with their eyes and his face turned into an even brighter shade of red. What do I do? I showed them such an embarrassing sight of me last night... They must be looking down on me. He thought to himself as he subconsciously lowered his head even more.
Coarse hail, and snow, and dirty-colored water
through the dark air are ever pouring down;
and foully smells the ground receiving them.
A wild beast, Cerberus, uncouth and cruel,
is barking with three throats, as would a dog,
over the people that are there submerged.
Red eyes he hath, a dark and greasy beard,
a belly big, and talons on his hands;
he claws the spirits, flays and quarters them.
The rainfall causes them to howl like dogs;
with one side they make shelter for the other;
oft do the poor profaners turn about.
——————————————《Divine Comedy》The Third Circle. Intemperance in Food3
Di～～～ Yet another email appeared on the screen.
The only one that can save them is you!
Bam.
The screen was smashed to smithereens by a stool. In a corner, a figure sat there holding their head as shrill and hoarse screams resounded throughout the room.
"Maybe it's because they feel empty..." Bai Yutang suggested after some thought, "but that is a clue we can look into. Perhaps finding the source of the drugs will help with this case."
"Shall we get help from the Narcotics Department?"
Bai Yutang shook his head. "It's better to send someone to keep an eye on things first, let's talk when we have a definite clue!"
During their conversation, they had arrived back at the police station.
in the S.C.I. office, the team that was sent out had already returned, and there were two additional people in the office, the Ding twins.
When Bai Yutang entered through the door to the office, he was greeted with the sight of the twins handing out something while saying, "this is the VIP Gold Card for food and beverage purchases at the Bai Group. You boys don't have to pay to eat at any of the Bai Group's restaurant chains around the world."
"What are the two of you doing?" Bai Yutang raged.
"Winning over the hearts of people for our boss!" the twins replied in unison.
"You dare to engage in bribery at a police station?! Are the two of you looking for death?!" Bai Yutang scowled at them and pointed at the door, "Get out!"
"Tch, what we're doing is considered personal exchange between friends. It's not bound by the law!" the twins said while patting on the shoulders of a dazed Zhao Hu from either side at the same, "Am I right, bro?"
"Uh..." Zhao Hu hesitated, looking to his left, then to his right before finally looking up at Bai Yutang at a loss.
To which he got a glare in return.
"Uh... No～～～" Zhao Hu said in a shaky voice.
"Ah? Aren't we best buds?" The twins held their chests like their were in pain. "We're so hurt～～～"
"Uh... Yes～～～～" Zhao Hu hurriedly shook his head.
"What?!" Bai Yutang gave him an even stronger death glare.
"Uh... no... uh... that..." Zhao Hu stuttered, struggling for a bit as he looked a the twins who were standing on either side of him and at Bai Yutang.
"AAaaaaAAaaah!" Zhao Hu screamed, turning around to pounce on the WangChao, who was behind him, "Why? Why? Why is it always me!!!"
...
It was a herculean task to send the Ding twins away, but they finally managed to do so. After that, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang called the team into the meeting room.
"Jiang Ping, this is Qi Lei's computer but it's been locked with a password; see if you can find a way in."
"No problem!" Jiang Ping received the laptop and hurriedly opened it. "Oh, it's just a simple user password, It can be accessed from the safe mode, I can get it done in ten minutes." With that, he went right at it.
"What about the rest? Did you guys gain anything?" Bai Yutang asked.
"I'll go first," Ma Han said with his hand raised, "I took the technical team down to the four crime scenes and found some problems." As he spoke, he took out a set of photos and continued while pointing at them, "Based on what we found on the four crimes, they should all have been done by the same person, that is, Qi Lei."
"Elaborate on it." Everyone gathered around to looked at the photos.
"The sniping distance that he chose was almost the same, it was all about 50 metres away." Ma Han said, "This is obviously a layman's approach!"
"A layman?" Everyone was puzzled.
Ma Han continued, "Leader, you shot at and killed Qi Lei from 50 metres away that day, right?"
Bai Yutang nodded.
"Generally, the effective range of a handgun is 50-100 metres, hence, no professional killer would shoot within 100 metres. The effective range of a sniper rifle is between 800-1000 meters, so if you shoot at too close a distance, there's a good chance it will go right through the target and end up injuring others as well."
"So what does this mean?" Zhan Zhao asked, he suddenly could understand why Bai Yutang always asked for him to speak in "human" every time he did a psychological analysis.
"Well, for a student to have relatively more comprehensive knowledge about sniping, the accuracy of his calculations whether it's in terms of the angle or wind direction were all very professional. This indicates that he had the theoretical knowledge and plenty of opportunities to practice. However..." Ma Han paused for a bit, "he didn't have the space to shoot."
"Oh～～" Bai Yutang nodded. "I get it, You're saying that he usually could only practice with a limited distance."
Ma Han nodded.
"He practiced at a shooting range?" Zhan Zhao asked.
"That was what I had thought!" Ma Han said, "Most shooting ranges are about 50-100 metres long, so I went to a shooting clubs in the city to investigate and I found that Qi Lei is a member at 'Guanglong' Shooting Club!"
"Guanglong?" Bai Yutang furrowed his brows. "That sounds somewhat familiar."
"Leader, how did you train out this entire body of muscles if you've never been to a fitness club?" Wang Chao chuckled from the side, "Most fitness gyms and sports clubs in the city are under the brand name 'Guanglong'."
"Ah～～" Bai Yutang remembered, that does appear to ring a bell.
"'Gunaglong' is under the Pang Group! The boss should be Pang Yu," Wang Chao pointed out.
"Pang Yu?" Zhan Zhao was a little stunned. Where did he hear that name before...
"Kitty, you know him?" Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao, a little surprised.
"No, but the name sounds familiar," Zhan Zhao tilted his head to the side in thought. That day, the man he met at the entrance to Dr. Wilson's lecture hall seemed to have said that his name was "Pang Yu".
"Do you have any photos?" Zhan Zhao asked.
"Yes." Ma Han took one out and placed it in front of Zhan Zhao.
Those cold features that gave off a harsh and sharp vibe. "I've seen this man before!" Zhan Zhao noted while pointing at the picture, "He was present at Dr. Wilson's psychology lecture!"
"That's the guy who spoke to you at the entrance of the auditorium that day?" Bai Yutang seemed to have some impression of that incident. "What did he say to you that day?"
Zhan Zhao shook his head in response, "Nothing much, he just told me that he's listened to my lectures."
"Does he enjoy listening to lectures?" Zhao Hu expressed his confusion, "Isn't he a businessman? Why would he go for such specialised psychology lectures?"
"Also!" Ma Han added, "I found this guy in the club's membership records!" Then, as he spoke, he took out yet another photo, "Remember him?"
When everyone looked down at the photo, they all got a shock, "Li Feifan?"
"The guy who was stalking the Cat!" Bai Yutang's expression turned grim. "There seems to be more than meets the eye to this."
Everyone nodded.
"Ma Han, do a thorough investigation of that shooting club!"
"Rest assured, Head!" Ma Han whipped out a card and said, "I've even had my membership all done up!"
"Bai Yutang laughed, "You rascal, be careful!"
"What about the other victims?" Zhan Zhao asked Wang Chao and Zhang Long, "Do they have anything in common?"
The two of them sighed at the same time, "If you insist on saying they had something in common, it would be that they were all good people."
"Good people?"
Zhang Long nodded and opened three copies of the victim's profiles. "One is a university lecturer; a businessman; a famous philanthropist and a vet at a veterinary hospital."
"If you include Dr. Wilson, a psychologist, and Jon King, an actor."
"They have nothing in common at all." Zhao Hu scratched his head.
"What is that Doctor and Jon doing now?" Bai Yutang asked.
"For the Doctor, due to his sudden heart attack, he has to remain in the hospital for treatment for some time."
"While Jon will be filming a movie soon."
"We must ensure the safety of their lives," Bai Yutang ordered.
"Don't worry, Sir, Ai Hu and his team have sent a substantial amount of police officers to protect them. And the two of them are quite cooperative about it," Wang Chao said, "We are planning to do some further investigations on them."
"As for the firearms, Xu Qing is still investigating on them, it seems to be smuggled goods," Zhao Hu added.
Bai Yutang nodded and ordered, "Everyone, let's continue to follow up! Zhao Hu, go down to M University to keep an eye on those few members of the band 'Boiling Point', especially Qi Le!"
"Yes!"
"There's also my autopsy report," Gongsun said while handing over Qi Lei's autopsy report, "He has a very serious case of self-harm and he also does drugs!"
Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a look. As they had suspected...
"Leader! Come have a look!" Just then, Jiang Ping, who was fiddling on the computer by the side suddenly called out.
Everyone rushed over to him.
"There's this very strange email that was received on 27th November, the day of the sniping incident. Then, Jiang Ping opened the email to reveal:
The time has come, wake up the demon! From here on out, you are no longer yourself!
Everyone was shocked by the sight.
"There's more!" Jiang Ping said as he clicked on several other emails, "There are a total of four emails with the same content and the other three were all sent on the dates the other three cases occurred."
"Who is it from?" Bai Yutang asked.
"It's signed off as... Killer Training Camp." Jiang Ping clicked on the sender's name icon for everyone to see.
"...Killer Training Camp..." Zhan Zhao looked at the name in surprise. "Killer training camp?"
(lilies: front part is said in English)
"Leader, look at the desktop of his computer," Jiang Ping said while maneuvering to display the desktop, which was a demon with a scythe against a black screen.
"Cat, what does this mean?" Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao.
Zhan Zhao remained silent for quite a while before he finally said, "Someone has been manipulating Qi Lei to murder people. Perhaps, this Killer Training Camp is a killer organisation!"
"Huu～～～" Bai Yutang exhaled deeply, "This case seems to be much more complicated than we expected. Jiang Ping, do a check on the sender!"
"Roger! But I'll be faced with some difficulties, Such identities are forged nine times out of ten1."
Zhan Zhao hesitated for a bit, saying, "We need to hurry! There might be more victims."
Everyone's expression turned sombre at the same time.
Zhan Zhao followed Bai Yutang into the latter's office and said, "Yutang, I'm a little worried."
"What's wrong?" Bai Yutang asked, seeing Zhan Zhao's unease.
"According to the descriptions of Qi Le and the others, Qi Lei's condition was not this serious at the beginning but deteriorated dramatically recently."
"So?" Bai Yutang expressed his puzzlement.
"I think that the determination of his condition was caused by psychological induction. Moreover, it's the malicious kind to boot!" Zhan Zhao answered, "Such a thing is extremely difficult to perform in psychology and it's quite dangerous as well!"
Bai Yutang fell silent.
"I don't know when it started, but psychology has become an instrument of murder. Zhan Zhao continued helplessly, "Sometimes, it appears to be even better than a gun."
Bai Yutang patted the former on the shoulder and was about to say some words of comfort when...
Dididdididdid～～～～
His phone rang and when Bai Yutang took it out, his face turned white as a sheet when he saw the caller ID on the display. "Kitty!" he exclaimed and lifted his hand to throw the phone at Zhan Zhao, "First-level emergency!"
Zhan Zhao caught the phone reflexively and when he glanced at the screen——Mom.
He hurried threw the phone back to Bai Yutang. "Answer it yourself!"
"Pick it up for me! Just say that I'm not here!" Bai Yutang threw it back again.
"I don't want to! I don't lie! You do this every time!" And the phone was tossed through the air yet again.
The phone continued ringing urgently as it flew through the air. After a series of back and forth, Bai Yutang caught the phone, pressed on the button to answer, and threw it at Zhan Zhao yet again.
"Hey! You!" Zhan Zhao wanted to throw the phone back but the person on the other end of the line had already heard his voice. "Hello? Hi hi? Is that Xiao Zhao?"
With no other choice, he could only give Bai Yutang the death glare while answering the phone, "Hello, Auntie."
"Oh Xiao Zhao, is Yutang beside you?" Mama Bai asked, her voice as gentle and loving as ever.
"Ah... Yutang～～" Zhan Zhao glanced at Bai Yutang and the latter hurriedly gestured with his arms.
"Oh～～ He's not here."
"He's not? Well, I guess if I tell you, the two of you better remember to come to my place for dinner tonight."
"Dinner?" Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang once more and the latter gestured with all his might; the meaning was a firm no!!
"Auntie, we have something on tonight..." Zhan Zhao said.
"Hmm～～" On the other side of the line, Mama Bai paused for a bit before saying," Xiao Zhao, put the phone on loudspeaker mode and face it at the person who's been gesturing at you."
"..." There was nothing Zhan Zhao could do but put the phone on speaker mode and pointed the phone at Bai Yutang.
Then, after a cough was heard coming from the phone, the sweet and gentle voice was gone without a trace and in its place, a fierce and angry roar, "Bai Yutang, the two of you better get your asses back home for dinner tonight! Otherwise, I will print poster-sized images of when you two were dressed as girls when you were younger and paste it at the entrance of your police station!"
Thump～～
And the phone was hung up.
The two of them poked at their ears that were still buzzing from what had just happened and sighed.
After that, Bai Yutang yelled at the onlookers crowding at the door, trying to hold back their laughter, "What are you all looking at?! Get out there and work on the case!!"
Covering their mouths, the crowd dispersed～～
When the night came, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang obediently went back to the Bai residence located in the city. Unsurprisingly, Mama Zhan was helping Mama Bai with the cooking in the kitchen. In the living room, Bai Yunwen and Zhan Qitian were chatting over tea. There was also a slightly portly middle-aged man with them.
"Dad, Uncle," the two kids greeted them obediently.
The middle-aged man said to them with a smile, "So this is Yutang and Xiao Zhao, they've grown so big huh? The elites of the police! Hahaha～～" The middle-aged man was very cheery but his words gave Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao a stun.
"This is your Uncle Feng2," Bai Yunwen introduced with a smile, "He's my younger cousin Bai Feng. You've met him when you were younger."
"Uncle Feng," they still obediently called him as they were told.
"Yutang, this is your Uncle Feng's kid, your cousin, who graduated from police school this year. It just so happens that he was assigned to S City, you must take care of him!" Bai Yunwen instructed.
"Bai Chí, your cousin is here, come out and greet him," Bai Feng called out in the direction of the kitchen.
Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were momentarily stupefied when they heard that name.
Then, from the kitchen, a visibly nervous young man appeared from behind Mama Bai. With his police uniform off and dressed in casual clothes instead, he appeared even younger. At a glance, he looked just like a college student...
It was that little policeman they met on the rooftop last night.
Bai Chí smiled somewhat awkwardly at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang. "L-Leader... Bai..."
Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other, surprised and amused by the situation.
"Haha～～" Bai Yunwen chuckled, "What Leader Bai? We are at home! Call Ge! Both of them are your brothers."
...
Bai Chí lowered his head, his face completely red. His mouth opened and closed several times like a fish but he still didn't manage to call them "Ge".
Zhan Zhao blinked at Bai Yutang, which meant: How rare, to think you still have this kind of variety in the Bai family.
Bai Yutang blinked back: Don't you think he doesn't look like a Bai family member? He's definitely adopted.
Zhan Zhao glared at him: Mouse, you're being mean!
Bai Yutang shrugged: It'll get troublesome in the future.
Bai Chí watched as his two brothers communicated with their eyes and his face turned into an even brighter shade of red. What do I do? I showed them such an embarrassing sight of me last night... They must be looking down on me. He thought to himself as he subconsciously lowered his head even more.
Coarse hail, and snow, and dirty-colored water
through the dark air are ever pouring down;
and foully smells the ground receiving them.
A wild beast, Cerberus, uncouth and cruel,
is barking with three throats, as would a dog,
over the people that are there submerged.
Red eyes he hath, a dark and greasy beard,
a belly big, and talons on his hands;
he claws the spirits, flays and quarters them.
The rainfall causes them to howl like dogs;
with one side they make shelter for the other;
oft do the poor profaners turn about.
——————————————《Divine Comedy》The Third Circle. Intemperance in Food3
Di～～～ Yet another email appeared on the screen.
The only one that can save them is you!
Bam.
The screen was smashed to smithereens by a stool. In a corner, a figure sat there holding their head as shrill and hoarse screams resounded throughout the room.
1. Written as '十有八九' basically eight or nine out of ten. Since there is an idiom(?) in English I just used it.↩
2. Written as third uncle but I'll think this sounds a little less awkward? In the future, I will translate this way as well, if there are whatever, second brother, first sister, etc. ↩
3. This excerpt was taken from here. I'm not sure if I stopped at the correct part though lol↩
Please feedback to me in the comments below if you find any typos or terrible grammar, etc that you think I should change. Or maybe you think my interpretation is completely off lol Help me help you have a better reading experience ahahah what a tongue twister XD
Thank yous!! (˶‾᷄ ⁻̫ ‾᷅˵)
You can support me by sending some love in the comments or through the button below
peace lilies~
Thank you for the translations! I hope you continue this book since I really enjoy reading it!
ReplyDeleteI just want to thank you for your excellent work here. I just finished the Tv Series and then I found out that it was based on a novel. I hope you are doing well in these hard times.
ReplyDeleteTake care!
Thank you for the translation! I have just finished the TV series and found your translation. I really enjoy reading the cases with your translation. I hoep you will continue translate it for us.
ReplyDeleteThose quotes from Dante, were they originally in Mandarin?
ReplyDeleteIt's just every time you type that you're not sure whether you copied the correct couplet. They look intriguing and i guess they are connected with the narrative.
It's kinda sad that you treat them with 'lol i don't know or care if this is a correct one'. Do you need help with them?
yeh the author used the chinese translation of divine comedy which appears quite different from the english translation. there are many english translations out there and I chose the one that I felt was the easiest to understand, and for me to compare with my understanding of the chinese translation.
Deletei do not understand italian nor do I study the poem in-depth, at a higher level, which was why i made it a point to mention my uncertainties regarding whether or not i had ended the sections at the same place where the author quoted. at no point did i mention that i do not know if i copied the right text. so was it that you found that the parts i used were utter rubbish? for you to claim that i don’t care abt the stuff i put out and insinuate that i just quoted randomly to fill the space.
i’m not here to whine about how much hard work translating is, but while I wholeheartedly welcome constructive feedback if you did find that i had made a mistake in the excerpts that i used, i don’t really appreciate such insinuations.
I love when they do the talking with their eyes thing. They are just caught up in their own little world
ReplyDeleteBai Chi! He's so intimidated by his 2 older bros.....
ReplyDeleteAnd hilarious scene with Mama Bai - she reminds me of Mrs Weasley who's always kind and sweet to Harry, but scolding her admittedly naughtier sons lol
Thank you for your hard <3