S.C.I. Mystery Files Case 2 Chapter 44


Killer Training Camp - Chapter 44 Scheme

I think it's like one year since I updated this novel… Anyways, since there's only two chaps left to this case, I wanted to finish it before I officially drop this novel :>


"Cat, what do you plan on doing? "Bai Yutang started the car as he asked Zhan Zhao, who was smiling deviously beside him.

"Hmm~~" Zhan Zhao pondered for a while, before blurting out something that didn't answer Bai Yutang's question, "Xiao Bai, do you notice any obvious difference between these victims?"

"Did you just change the subject?" Bai Yutang chuckled a little playfully.

"Be serious!" Zhan Zhao glared at him, "Tell me what are your thoughts regarding the victims, I know you have something in mind!"

"I really can't hide anything from you huh, Cat!" Bai Yutang shook his head and put away his smile as he continued, "To be honest, I felt something was off since the incident with Yang Feng setting fire. Both Qi Lei and Yang Feng can be considered to have been used as accessories to crime. While the first victims, like the philanthropist who was sniped or the junkie girls[1] on the street, and so on, all seemed to be randomly selected. However, in the last two times, their targets became very clear, and were also related to each other. They're not random, but chosen deliberately."

Zhan Zhao nodded in understanding. "That makes sense, anything else?"

"There's more," Bai Yutang continued, “Jia Zhengyan, Qi Le, including that Zhang Hua… the reason they became victims or targets of murder seems to be different from the previous crimes I mentioned just now… And that's all I have for the time being."

Bai Yutang saw that Zhan Zhao had his head lowered in deep thought[2], so he smiled and asked, "So how's it, Mr Expert, do you already have some brilliant insights? Don't people in your line of work make a career out of studying people's motives? Now is your chance."

"Oh screw off[3]!" Zhan Zhao glared at him again before saying, "What I found is actually similar to you, but I summed it up a little bit."

"I'm all ears!" Bai Yutang's eyes flashed with interest.

"If we classify the victims into different categories, we can boil it down to three motivations."
“Which three? ”

Zhan Zhao gently tapped the car window with his right index finger as he slowly began his analysis.

"Firstly, like you said, the first victims of Qi Lei and Yang Feng were chosen at random, seemingly based on their own sense of righteousness. And for the mastermind who instigated them to commit the crimes, the purpose was not so much to harm others but rather, to prove the existence of split personalities."

Bai Yutang nodded, "Carry on."

"Secondly is the three incidents, namely the sniping of Wilson and Jon, Yang Feng wreaking havoc on Nishang Street, and Laura's assassination of Professor Wilson." Zhan Zhao explained one by one, "The sniper attack at that dinner party directly brought the "Killer Training Camp" into the police's view; while the disturbance by Yang Feng caused the "Killer Training Camp" to become the talk of the city… And lastly, when Wilson received the letters and was stabbed; everything was pointing towards the "Killer Training Camp"."

Bai Yutang listened with his brows furrowed, when something seemed to click and he said, "Oh yeah, Cat, no wonder you said that we have been led by the nose. So far, it is not that we want to focus our investigation on the "Killer Training Camp", but rather… someone wanted us to."

"Bingo!" Zhan Zhao affirmed before a troubled expression appeared on his face as he said, "It's just the last third category, where Jia Zhengyan was killed and Qi Le and Zhang Hua became targets of the murder, that I really can't understand. I can't seem to figure it out."

After a moment of silence, Bai Yutang suddenly said, "Cat, could we have been chasing a dead end?"
"What do you mean?" Zhan Zhao was puzzled.
"Well, if we cast aside all the psychological analyses, the reasons for killing are generally very simple, "Bai Yutang listed casually, "Revenge, love… silencing people…"

At this point, the two of them froze at the same time——silencing people?!

Zhan Zhao grabbed Bai Yutang's clothes and shook excitedly, "Xiao Bai!! You're a genius!"
Bai Yutang leaned his face towards Zhan Zhao with a smile. "Come on! Give me a kiss."
"Mhm!" By the time Zhan Zhao, who was too excited, realised what had happened, he had already given Bai Yutang a resounding kiss on the cheek… 
(lilies: mwah mwah mwah! ˘³˘)

…Silence…

"Shitty Mouse! Go to hell!" The blushing cat began to get rough.

"Careful there, Cat! I'm driving!!" A certain mouse was laughing like a mouse that had fallen into a tub of rice[4].

"I don't care!!"


On the way back to the police station, the car moved forward in an “s” shape~~~

Upon their arrival at the police station, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang held a meeting with everyone at the first opportunity and explained the upcoming plans. After the meeting, Bai Yutang called the Ding twins to give them some directions Then, the two of them sat in the office with an excited look on their faces, waiting for the big fish to take the bait.

At around 12 noon, Bai Yutang received a text from Ma Han on his mobile phone, which read: "2 PM in the afternoon, on the 13th floor of the Creative Building."

"The fish is hooked!" Bai Yutang was a little excited as he forwarded the message to the twins.


The Creative Building was where the film and television company under the Bai Group was currently located. That afternoon, there were the semi-finals for the band auditions.

At 2.30 in the afternoon, the competition commenced as scheduled.
For the first time ever, Ding Zhaohui appeared at the competition venue. As he was an important shareholder of the Bai group and a trusted subordinate of Bai Jintang, he immediately attracted all the attention of the staff present. Ding Zhaohui strolled around leisurely, not forgetting to say hi when he saw Qi Le and friends, a move that immediately attracted various speculations.

Qi Le was a little awkward, after all, this was someone who could be considered half a boss, this man had witnessed the ugly side of her when she was suffering from her drug withdrawal symptoms. Originally, the girls had been disqualified from the semi-finals because of their drug use, but for some reason, they received notification to participate in the competition again.

However, Ding Zhaohui's main goal was obviously someone else. He sauntered over the manager, Zhang Hua and started talking with him.

"Good work," He said as he handed a cigarette to the other man.

Surprised and flattered by the gesture, Zhang Hua immediately received it with both hands, lit the cigarette…and started smoking.

After some small talk, Zhaohui patted his shoulder with satisfaction and left.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Ma Han carried a black box up a skyscraper opposite to Creative Building.
This was the box he had just found in his personal locker at the shooting club, and inside it was a Barrett M82A1 type sniper rifle. Ma Han came here directly after he got the gun, only going to the toilet midway to message Bai Yutang. After entering the building, rather than taking the elevator, Ma Han chose to take the stairs directly to the roof. When he reached the fourth floor, there was a cleaner pushing a rubbish bin standing by the entrance of the stairs. When the two passed each other, they exchanged the boxes in their hands.

At 2:50 PM in the afternoon.
Ma Han closed the rooftop door behind him and pulled out the Barrett M82A1 from the case. He then assembled it, loaded it bullets, and mounted it on the guardrail, before adjusting with his eye on the scope to find the right angle…

At 3 PM in the afternoon.
The atmosphere at the competition venue was starting to get heated along with the band, Boiling Point's performance. Qi Le's outstanding voice was very magnetic; contrary to her age, her voice was filled with vicissitudes of life rather than the innocence of a young teenage girl. The judges all nodded in satisfaction. 

This singer had a bright future ahead of her. 


Zhang Hua watched Qi Le's performance happily, as he thought to himself: I really found uncovered a treasure this time… But why do I feel so dizzy? 

With his eye on the scope, Ma Han aimed at Zhang Hua's heart, silently watching his movements, and when he saw the latter start to wobble slightly—

He pulled the trigger immediately.

The moment Qi Le finished her song, and the music ended, the piercing sound of glass shattering could be heard.

Zhang Hua felt a faint sting on his heart. He reached out his hand to touch and when raised his hand, he saw that it was covered in blood… A thought flashed in his mind… You actually silenced me.

Then, his head became heavy, his consciousness was blurred, and he collapsed to the ground.
When everyone present saw Zhang Hua and the blood on his chest, chaos immediately ensued, with screaming and fleeing one after another. Ding Zhaohui, who heard the chaos, hurriedly went over to check on Zhang Hua's situation.

"Quick, call an ambulance…" The few people who gathered their wits together earlier shouted.

"No need for an ambulance!" Ding Zhaohui touched Zhang Hua's carotid artery and shook his head, "Just call the police."


Ma Han put away the gun and quickly dismantled it. He put it back in the box, quickly walked downstairs, where he passed the fourth floor and met the cleaner again who he exchanged the boxes with…

A minute later, Ma Han had already disappeared into the crowd with the box.
Three minutes later, police cars had already arrived at the scene and they carried away Zhang Hua's body.
Twenty minutes later, Ma Han stuffed the box back into the locker at the shooting club and maintained a trance-like state as he ran home.
Half an hour later, someone walked to Ma Han's locker, took out the black box and opened it. When they saw that the brand-new Barrett M82A1 inside had traces of being used… they smiled with satisfaction.


Everyone at the competition went to the police station in a daze to aid in the police investigation. Qi Le, however, was singled out and called to S.C.I. Office.

When she saw Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang again, Qi Le was a little stunned. She didn't understand what just happened.

"Don't worry, we just need your cooperation for our investigation." As he spoke, Zhan Zhao took out the photo of the female high school student that was found at Jia Zhengyan's house and showed it to Qi Le. "Try to recall. You've met this person before, haven't you?"

Qi Le took the photo and looked at it. She had a doubtful expression on her face as she replied with uncertainty, "Hmm… I think so, but the feeling is different."

"You know this person?" Bai Yutang asked.

"I don't." Qi Le shook her head. "…But I saw her once. That time on the street, I saw her and Zhang Hua together… They seemed to be arguing, but she looked much more fashionable and older than the photo."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao glanced at each other, and Zhan Zhao took out another picture—a photo of Fang Jing on a magazine—and showed it to Qi Le. "Is this her?"

"Yes!" Qi Le said affirmatively.

Zhan Zhao put away the photo. "You will leave with the others later, but don't tell anyone that you've been here, okay?"

"Okay." Qi Le nodded and followed Zhao Hu downstairs.

"Wang Chao, Zhang Long!" Bai Yutang called for the two of them and ordered, "You two keep a close eye on Fang Jing round the clock, see what she does and who she interacts with, don't let her find out!"
"Yes, sir." The two left quickly.
"Jiang Ping, check all the information about Fang Jing, especially from her high school days."
"Yes, sir."

"Cat." After delegating the work of the team members, Bai Yutang turned around and asked Zhan Zhao, "What next?"

Zhan Zhao contemplated for a bit and replied, "We'll have to wait for information from Ma Han. The other party should have more instructions coming down soon, and then, we can piece together their intentions."
Bai Yutang nodded.

Xu Qing ran in and said, "Cap, Zhang Hua is awake."

"What now?" Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao, "Shall we continue the act, Cat?"

Zhan Zhao said with a smile, "Of course."


In a special ward, Zhang Hua had all kinds of strange tubes attached to his entire body, securing him to the bed, with all kinds of treatment instruments placed around him. It felt like he was in an isolated intensive care unit.

When Zhang Hua woke up, he could still feel some pain on his chest and his mind was still quite muddled.

"How are you feeling?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Zhang Hua looked at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang with some effort. "What happened to me~~~" he asked while struggling to sit up.

Bai Yutang quickly held him down and said, "You barely managed to survive, stop moving right now!"
“What? I..." He appeared somewhat confused.

"You were sniped. The bullet was less than a centimetre from your heart," Bai Yu Tang said in a serious manner, "The doctor said you'll have to be bedridden for at least three months."

"I…"

"You know the person who wants to kill you, don't you?" Before Zhang Hua could recover his wits, Zhan Zhao asked in hot pursuit, "You better come clean. Otherwise, if the other party knows you're not dead, they might send someone to kill you again."

The expression on Zhang Hua's face changed. Then, as if he had made up his mind about something, he said, "Alright, since that damn bitch wants to kill me; since you're heartless, then don't blame me for my disloyalty… It's Fang Jing! It's Fang Jing, that damned bitch who wants to kill and silence me!"

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao shared a look, before the former turned on the voice recorder and asked, "Why does Fang Jing want to kill you?"

"It's because… because I know her past! She's also the one behind all those murders!" Zhang Hua was getting agitated.

"Be specific." Bai Yutang prompted.

"Don't be tricked by how glamorous Fang Jing is now. What celebrity manager with a whole team of upcoming stars under her and whatnot. That woman, she used to be a whore!"

"Watch your language." Bai Yutang said with a frown. 
(lilies: captain america vibes ehehe)

“Ah, right, of course." Zhang Hua quickly gave Bai Yutang a meek, apologetic smile, but his face was still filled with disdain as he continued talking. "Jia Zhengyan and I met in high school; in a pub. We were both from poor families and we just wanted to make some money to spend. So we went to an underground casino. At first, we won some money, then our addition continued to grow bigger and bigger. But as you know, there are no winners in gambling. And when we lost, we lost everything and owed a huge debt to the casino boss. That boss wanted us to pay back the money or he would kill us." Zhang Hua sighed. "There's no way we would have that kind of money. So, erhm, I knew Jia Zhengyan had a girlfriend who is quite pretty, so I proposed, to use her to pay off the debt."

Zhan Zhao was slightly taken aback. "That girl is Fang Jing?"
"…Mhm." Zhang Hua nodded.
"Go on," Bai Yutang urged.

"Jia Zhengyan, that rascal, refused at first, but then he got scared and agreed. And then, we used her… to pay off the debt." Zhang Hua stammered the rest of his words. 
(lilies: omfg fking piece of trash and he has the balls to look down on the poor woman)

"Did Fang Jing consent to it?" Bai Yutang asked coldly.

"Uh… Either way, she's quite a casual woman. Why else would she get together with a hooligan like Jia Zhengyan at such a young age…"

"I asked you if she consented to it?!" Bai Yutang cut him off.
"…W-We gave her some meds, and she didn't struggle…" Zhang Hua said.
Bai Yutang frowned, "And then!"
"After that, we didn't know either. We didn't think she'd become addicted to it…"
"What kind of drug was it?"
"It's those coloured analgesic tablets given by dealers on the streets… I heard that it's not addictive, so we might have given her too much… Then, she became addicted to the drugs. She refused to forgive Jia Zhengyan and broke up with him."

"Then what?" Bai Yutang continued urging with a frown. "Can you say everything at one go?!"
"Okay, okay~~" Zhang Hua hurriedly continued, "After that, Jia Zhengyan fell out with me and we cut ties. I heard that Fang Jing later went to college. While it was like Jia Zhengyan had completely become a different person, he became a better person and got a job as an educator at M University through connection… As for me, I wasn't doing very well… Then I heard Fang Jing went abroad without finishing school."

"So how did you get involved with her this time?"
"I happened to see her on TV that day, and she seemed to be doing well, so I went to find Jia Zhengyan. I originally just wanted to find out if the two of them were still together. I did not expected that fellow to get drunk that day and tell me that he gave the information of those two students to Fang Jing. He also told me that Fang Jing has likely gone on a path of no return… Only then did I know that in order to make up to Fang Jing, the fellow has been acting like a dog, answering her beck and call… and then… then…"

"Then you used this information to blackmail Fang Jing into giving you favours?" Zhan Zhao said, "Besides asking her to get you this job, what else did you ask from her?"
"I… I d-didn't as for much…" Zhang Hua quickly denied, "I didn't dare to be too arrogant... . after all, she has money and power."

"Were you the one who killed Jia Zhengyan?" Bai Yutang asked.
"N...no."
"But your fingerprints were on the bottle." Seeing the Zhang Hua's eyes flicker, Zhan Zhao deliberately told a lie.
"That's impossible, the medicine bottle…" The moment those words left Zhang Hua's mouth, he immediately realised what he had done and quickly shut up, but it was too late.
"Go on," Bai Yutang sneered, "Who told you it was a medicine bottle? Why don't you guess the soda bottle?"

"I…"
"Why did you kill Jia Zhengyan?" Zhan Zhao asked.
"I-It's because Fang Jing told me to. To win her back, Jia Zhengyan went to take those drugs himself, but I knew he was only taking stuff like vitamins…Later, Fang Jing gave me a bottle of medicine and said that she told me to replace it with Jia Zhengyan's…"

Bai Yutang turned off the voice recorder and pulled out the tubes from Zhang Hua's body while calling out at the door, "Come in."

Then, two men in police uniform entered the room. "Great acting, Captain Bai."

"I'll leave him to you guys." Bai Yutang patted the two of them on the shoulders.

"You guys… I…" Zhang Hua was a little stunned. "What's going on?"

"What's going on?" 
(lilies: i don't think this was said by Zhang Hua… because the raws look like it's someone repeating his question so it could be Zhan Zhao since our kitty answers this question in the next line)

It was only when one of the officers pulled him up, did Zhang Hua notice that there was only a shallow red mark on his chest instead of a gunshot hole.

"What hit you was a practice bullet filled with plasma." Zhan Zhao said.
"I... you tricked me?" Zhang Hua looked up at Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao in disbelief.
"Tricked you?" Bai Yutang could not stop scoffing at the man. "Be prepared to rot in prison, Scum."

Afterwards, Zhang Hua was brought away.
Walking out of that specially arranged special ward, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao both couldn't help but sigh a little… Although Fang Jing's actions were abominable, she was also very pitiful… After all, she was the victim who was hurt the most.


When they got back to the S.C.I., Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang walked into the office silently. They finally got viable leads on the case, and everything pointed to Fang Jing… However, was Fang Jing the true mastermind behind the scenes, or was she just a pawn?

Didididdididi~~~~~

Bai Yutang's phone rang——it was Ma Han.

"Ma Han, how's it going?" Bai Yutang set the phone on loudspeaker.
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone when finally, Ma Han said, "Leader, that person sent me another email. It's Prey 2"
"Who is it this time?" Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao asked somewhat anxiously.
"It's…" Ma Han stared at the familiar photo on his computer screen and said, "It's Gongsun…"

…What?!…

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other, their faces covered in astonishment.


Early the next morning, Gongsun, who had been confined for three days, finally left the house and walked towards the police station. This time, Ding Zhaohui added some ingredients to his breakfast, and Gongsun felt dizzy as he walked down the street. Behind him was Bai Jintang, who watched on with worry as he cautiously followed Gongsun with his car. 

Why does he look weaker today than yesterday? What kind of body does this person have? What kind of system is this person? We just do a little and he needs to rest for three days. How will I be able to live in the future? Do I have to abstain from sex?? 

As he muttered to himself, Bai Jintang suddenly felt that something was very wrong. Then, he heard the sound of a bullet cutting through the air…

Gongsun swayed slightly and slowly fell to the ground.

Bai Jintang got down from the car and walked over to Gongsun. He saw Gongsun lying there with a prominent hole of blood on his chest…Suddenly, he could not hear anything anymore; it was as if everything around him had disappeared. Bai Jintang stood frozen in place, feeling… like his world was slowly falling apart~~.

"G-Gongsun…" Feeling like he was at a loss, Bai Jintang knelt beside Gongsun and picked him up. "Gongsun…"

In the distance, Da Ding poked at Xiao Ding. "Oh crap, I forgot to tell Boss."
"I don't think you had to." Xiao Ding was completely unworried. "Boss will know Gongsun is fine once he feels his pulse." 
(lilies: what Da Ding did to Zhang Hua earlier in the chapter)
"Does he look okay to you?" Da Ding pulled Xiao Ding over and pointed to Bai Jintang in the distance… Bai Jintang's face had lost all colour, he looked more like a dead man than Gongsun.
Xiao Ding started getting anxious. "What's wrong with Boss? Take his pulse!! Or listen to his heartbeat, or check if he's breathing!!"
"Who would think of that in this situation?!" Da Ding sighed. "Boss won't follow Gongsun in death[5], will he?"
"He won't go that far right?" Xiao Ding was shocked.
"Why not?" Da Ding looked at the other man with disdain. "How else do you think Romeo died?"

At this time, someone in the crowd shouted, "Quick, call an ambulance…"

Bai Jintang came to his sense with a jerk. Something was off. He had only just realised that Gongsun's body was still warm and he still had a pulse. Upon close inspection… he had just passed out...

The ambulance came faster than ever before, and Bai Jintang, who didn't say a word, carried Gongsun into the vehicle… Sure enough, the people in the car were not doctors… but Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang with an awkward look on their faces.

Bai Jintang had a livid expression on his face all the way until they arrived at the hospital. After laying Gongsun on the hospital bed, Bai Jintang turned around and asked the two coldly, "Whose idea was it?"

Horror~~~

Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang and gestured with his eyes: What do we do now? 
Bai Yutang had completely lost all hope: What else can we do? Run! 

Unfortunately, before the two could turn backwards, they were captured by Bai Jintang. "You two little brats, you've got balls huh. I'll rip you a new one today![6]"

"Ya~~~~~"

Outside the room, terrified by the screams coming from inside, the twins turned around and fled.
Inside the room, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were running and jumping around with their head in their hands~~ The eldest brother of the Bai family had completely lost it~~~

In this critical moment, Gongsun's soft moan, saved the cat and mouse who had resigned to their fate, cowering in the corner of the room.

The rage on Bai Jintang's face disappeared instantaneously, and he quickly threw himself towards the bed. That's when he saw Gongsun open his eyes and look at everyone with a dazed expression.

"What's wrong…" He pulled away the blanket and sat up. Then he was greeted with the sight of Bai Jintang who had an expression of surprise on his face… Or more specifically, it was an uncontainable joy of regaining something that was lost.

Connecting the dots of what happened just now, and seeing Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao hiding in the corner, Gongsun felt like he'd caught on to something. Coupled with Bai Jintang's expression; it made him blush slightly…

Bai Yutang pulled Zhan Zhao up and sneaked out. Just before the door closed, they saw Bai Jintang pulling Gongsun into his arms and holding him very tightly.

Gongsun could hear Bai Jintang mumbling in his ear, "Thank goodness you're okay, you're alright. I will listen to you from now on, as long as you are okay..."

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1. Written as "白粉妹" which directly translates to "white powder girls". I don't quite remember how I translated it before but it's basically just referring to ladies who are drug addicts.
2. The author used the term "高深莫测" which kind of means like enigmatic, mysterious, difficult to understand. I could edit it to translate as "his head lowered mysteriously" instead, it that's what you guys prefer
3. Although simply written as "去" in the raws, I believe it is short for "去你的" which is kind of like telling a close friend to f*ck off; it's more playful and not really like cursing at someone. And since I cannot imagine Zhan Zhao saying f*ck i decided to use the more time version haha
4. Orignally written as "老鼠笑得像掉进了油缸" which means that Bai Yutang (mouse) was laughing like a mouse that had fallen into a container of oil. However, I've never seen that saying and when I googled, more results for the rice version, which is the one I often see, appeared. Also, there were two results with the oil version, but even though both were from the same website, the explanations for both links were completely different. One explanation was "sly, like a slippery fellow", while the other was "unable to escape". So I took the liberty of assuming it was just a typo by the author ahaha
5. Written as "殉情" which means, committing s*icide for love, usually because their lover had passed on before them
6. Written as "吃了豹子胆了,我今天给你们梳梳皮" which directly translates to "you've eaten "leopard's gall, I'll comb your skin today" I know where the leopard part comes from (it's an idiom) but I really don't understand the combing skin thing?? like does Bai Jintang wanna skin our cat and mouse alive or?? why comb??? So anyways, that's my best interpretation ahaha

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!! (˶‾᷄ ⁻̫ ‾᷅˵)

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and have a great day!!

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peace lilies~

lilies

I'm a mega weeb who just wants to share some online novels I've read and maybe translate some of them to english along the way. I do not guarantee the accuracy of my translations.

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