S.C.I. Mystery Files Case 2 Chapter 35

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Killer Training Camp - Chapter 35 Purgatory

It's been a while, and I thought I'd just make one last post for S.C.I. before 2020 comes to an end. Thank you for all the support you've given me. Here's to wishing 2021 will be a better year. (❁´◡`❁)

Happy holidays everyone and I'll see y'all next year. A discord server is in the making for easier discussion of novels for some that I think might have requested.

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Zhao Hu, who went to the Major Crimes Division to get some data, ran back empty-handed five minutes later.

“Cap…Captain…” Zhao Hu rushed in as if he was being chased by a ghost. “T-This is terrible.”

“Something is terrible again?” Bai Yutang asked with a frown, “What wrong?”

“Nishang Street is in a mess!” Zhao Hu panted, “Right now, it’s filled with the anti-riot police downstairs and it looks as if the army had been dispatched. Apparently, some madman started throwing Molotov cocktails on Nishang Street and brandishing a knife and hacking at people. He seems to be the same person who slashed Qi Le.”

Bai Yutang was momentarily stunned before he grabbed his jacket and shouted, “Let’s go take a look!”

As they drove up to the entrance of Nishang Street, they could hear a chaotic mess of sirens and all the way from where they were, they could see raging fires and billowing smoke ahead.

Bai Yutang’s phone suddenly rang at this moment and when he picked it up, it was Bao Zheng.

“Get your men and head to Nishang Street immediately.” Bao Zheng cut straight to the point.

“We’re already here,” Bai Yutang replied before hanging up.

Zhan Zhao, Zhao Hu, and Bai Chí followed closely behind Bai Yutang as he ran into the encirclement formed by the riot police. When they looked up, they were shocked by the scene before their eyes.

On a towering open-air stage stood a young man covered in blood, surrounded by quite a number of injured people lying on the ground. That man held a lighter in one hand as he stood in the middle of the stage, looking down on the police officers below. Even from a distance, they could smell the pungent air of gasoline coming from the stage…

The large building behind the stage had already been enveloped in fire.

“Captain Bai!” The commander of the riot squad, Xu Kai, hurried up to him with Ai Hu.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Bai Yutang asked Ai Hu, slightly dumbfounded as he pointed at the man on stage, who appeared to be a complete nutjob.

“That bar, ‘Purgatory’ was celebrating its anniversary tonight, so they set up an open-air stage. Halfway through the performance, that man barged onto the stage with two barrels of gasoline. He slashed a number of female performers and threw Molotov Cocktails into 'Purgatory'.”

Zhao Hu, who went to the Major Crimes Division to get some data, ran back empty-handed five minutes later.

“Cap…Captain…” Zhao Hu rushed in as if he was being chased by a ghost. “T-This is terrible.”

“Something is terrible again?” Bai Yutang asked with a frown, “What wrong?”

“Nishang Street is in a mess!” Zhao Hu panted, “Right now, it’s filled with the anti-riot police downstairs and it looks as if the army had been dispatched. Apparently, some madman started throwing Molotov cocktails on Nishang Street and brandishing a knife and hacking at people. He seems to be the same person who slashed Qi Le.”

Bai Yutang was momentarily stunned before he grabbed his jacket and shouted, “Let’s go take a look!”

As they drove up to the entrance of Nishang Street, they could hear a chaotic mess of sirens all the way from where they were, they could see raging fires and billowing smoke ahead.

Bai Yutang’s phone suddenly rang at this moment and when he picked it up, it was Bao Zheng.

“Get your men and head to Nishang Street immediately.” Bao Zheng cut straight to the point.

“We’re already here,” Bai Yutang replied before hanging up.

Zhan Zhao, Zhao Hu, and Bai Chí followed closely behind Bai Yutang as he ran into the encirclement formed by the riot police. When they looked up, they were shocked by the scene before their eyes.

On a towering open-air stage stood a young man covered in blood, surrounded by quite a number of injured people lying on the ground. That man held a lighter in one hand as he stood in the middle of the stage, looking down on the police officers below. Even from a distance, they could smell the pungent air of gasoline coming from the stage…

The large building behind the stage had already been enveloped in fire.

“Captain Bai!” The commander of the riot squad, Xu Kai, hurried up to him with Ai Hu.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Bai Yutang asked Ai Hu, slightly dumbfounded as he pointed at the man on stage, who appeared to be a complete nutjob.

“That bar, ‘Purgatory’ was celebrating its anniversary tonight, so they set up an open-air stage. Halfway through the performance, that man barged onto the stage with two barrels of gasoline. He slashed a number of female performers and threw Molotov Cocktails into 'Purgatory'.”

“Those performers had gasoline poured on them?” Zhan Zhao asked.

“That’s right,” Xu Kai answered, “He isn’t saying anything and is just walking back and forth with the lighter in his hand.”

“He didn’t make any demands?” Bai Yutang inquired.

“No.” Ai Hu shook his head. “He hasn't said anything so far; he’s just watching us.”

“We can’t shoot him down!” Xu Kai exclaimed, “It’s too dangerous. as soon as he drops the lighter in his hand, those ten or so girls will die.”

After listening to the quick overview of the circumstances by the two, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang raised their heads grimly to carefully assess the situation ahead.

There they saw a stage that was roughly two metres high with a dozen or so female performers, dressed in revealing costumes that left nothing to the imagination, sprawled across the stage. There was blood everywhere and their bodies were drenched in gasoline. A mixture of blood and gasoline was spread across the glossy, smooth surface of the stage. And under the brilliant dancing lights and shadow cast by the colourful spotlights, it was a dreamscape with indescribable sensualness.

That man was just standing in the centre of the stage in a black pullover with the hood already removed, However, his face had been obscured by the splatter of blood, making it appear like a torn image¹, like just a mishmash of red and white. His figure was on the tall and lean side, who he appeared unnaturally skinny. He paced back and forth on the stage in small steps with his chest out, and head held high like an arrogant executioner, but his eyes were downcast. He would glance at the police below the stage from time to time, his eyes filled with excitement. And every now and then, he would also look at the injured lying on the stage with contempt all over his face.

Smoke billowed from the bar behind him and the bright neon sign with the “Purgatory” appeared extra blinding.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang quietly stood right where they were staring at the scene before them in full concentration as if they were deliberating about something while the dancing flames reflected in their eyes. After a while, the two of them exchanged a look.

“Captain, that’s him!” Zhao Hu came up to Bai Yutang and said, “There’s no mistaking it.”

Bai Yutang acknowledged it before turning to ask Zhan Zhao, “Kitty, what are your plans?”

Zhan Zhao redirected his gaze back to the stage before replying, “The only way is to get him to throw the lighter off the stage himself!”

“What about you?” Zhan Zhao asked Bai Yutang in turn, “What are your plans?”

Bai Yutang looked at the bar where plumes of smoke were pouring out from and said, “We’ll be able to properly restrain him by coming down from the second floor, but the prerequisite for that is…”

Zhan Zhao nodded in understanding. “Understood, it’s him throwing the lighter off the stage.”

“You’re going to the second floor?” Xu Kai exclaimed, “That’s too reckless! The whole building is on fire!”

Bai Yutang did not answer him but instead looked at Zhan Zhao, “How confident are you, Kitty?”

“About fifty-fifty, I guess.” Zhan Zhao took off his jacket, leaving only his white shirt.

“Wait a minute!” Xu Kai called, “As long as we get him to throw the lighter away, the riot police can rush onto the stage in the same instant to subdue him!”

Bai Yutang handed him his jacket with a smile. “Yeah, but can you guarantee he doesn't have a second lighter?”

“Uh…” Xu Kai had no answer to that.

“Hu-zi², come with me.” Bai Yutang turned around and ran into the crowd with Zhao Hu.

Zhan Zhao watched as the two left and said to Xu Kai, “Help me prepare something.”

“Of course! Anything!”

A hint of excitement flashed across Xu Kai’s eyes. The young man before him emanating with the aura of an intellectual was a psychologist lauded as the genius amongst geniuses; just what kind of magic would he use to salvage this desperate situation?

With a smile tugging at his lips, Zhan Zhao said, “I’ll need a small speaker and a vehicle as tall as the stage!”

“That’s all?” The captain of the riot squad was rather surprised.

“Also,” Zhan Zhao continued, “No matter what happens later, everyone here must listen to me!”

…

A few moments later, a fire truck nearly three metres high drove in.

(lilies: makes me think of NCT’s fire truck uwu did I expose myself? bahahah jk am not a NCTzen)

Ai Hu brought over a pocket-sized speaker for Zhan Zhao, which Zhan Zhao pinned to his chest. Just then, his phone started ringing.

When he picked it up, he could hear Bai Yutang’s voice in the speaker. “Get ready in five minutes, Kitty.”

“Ok³!” Zhan Zhao hung up the phone and climbed onto the roof of the fire truck and flipped the switch on the speaker.

The crowd quietened down immediately. Everyone turned their focus onto the young man standing on the fire truck at the highest point; even the man standing on the stage, with the lighter in his hand, looked up at Zhan Zhao as well.

Seeing the hint of anger in that man’s eyes, Zhan Zhao lightly pulled up a corner of his lip into a sneer. He didn’t say anything, simply looking down at the other party with eyes filled with contempt and derision.

Seemingly infuriated by that, the other party raised his head to stare at Zhan Zhao and questioned, “What are you laughing at?”

The captain of the riot squad and Ai Hu who were under the car exchanged glances—impressive. The negotiator couldn’t even get that guy to so much as give him a look despite wasting much of his breath⁴, but Zhan Zhao actually got him to speak so easily.

Zhan Zhao said unhurriedly, “I feel like I’ve seen you before.”

“What?” That person was taken aback.

“But I don’t remember your name,” Zhan Zhao continued, shrugging nonchalantly, “because you’re so ordinary!”

“What did you say?! I dare you to say it again!” That person waved the lighter as one of the women near him as he shouted, eliciting a terrified scream from her.

“Keke～～” Zhan Zhao scoffed, “Why do you hate these women? It’s because they remind you of your mother, don’t they?”

“You… How did you know?” that person blurted out in shock, “You know me?”

Zhan Zhao shook his head indifferently, “It's not like it's a secret; I have friends who go to M University and they all say you’re the joke of the entire school.”

“Shut up! Shut up!” The man's emotions seemed to flare up in an instant as he pointed the lighter at Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao waved him off as if he found the latter laughable, “You better be careful not to lose that thing you’re holding. After all, that’s just how much your life is worth right now.”

“What…” That person leapt forward angrily while yelling, “Who! Who dares look down on me?! I am one of a kind!”

“What? I don’t think so!” Zhan Zhao shook his head disapprovingly and pointed to his hand holding the lighter, saying, “Don’t you think that hand is so heavy, so heavy that you can barely hold it?”

“?…” That man glanced at his hand holding the lighter, and his hand was actually trembling slightly. “How…”

Zhan Zhao spat out the words coldly, “Because you’re useless!”

“What?”

“You can’t even hold something so light!”

“Who…Who said so…” He raised that hand over his head with all his strength and said proudly, “W-Who said I can’t hold it?”

“Your hand is shaking!” Zhan Zhao pointed out before smiling in understanding. “Did your drug withdrawal symptoms come up?”

“No!” That person struggled to control the tremors of his hand while shouting, “I-I don’t do drugs! I would never touch that kind of thing!”

“Yes, you do! Your mother didn’t leave you with anything besides a drug addiction,” Zhan Zhao sighed sympathetically.

“Shut up! You’re not allowed to say anymore! Don’t say it again!”

“Don’t you want to know who gave the drugs to your mother?” Zhan Zhao’s tone suddenly turned serious. “It’s me!”

“What…” The other party raised his head in horror.

“I know the drugs would ruin your mother, your family, and you. That’s why I specially gave them to her!” Zhan Zhao sneered, “But unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to me.”

“It’s… It’s you! It’s you! I’m going to kill you!” That man shrieked hysterically.

“You can’t hurt me at all! You can’t even touch a strand of hair on my head! Try it if you don't believe me!” Zhan Zhao raised his voice, “Your drug withdrawal symptoms are showing up; soon, you will be on your knees, begging for drugs, putting your grotesque sight on display for all to view. You won’t even have strength; you won’t even have the strength to throw the rock in your hand at me, let alone come to kill me!”

“That’s a load of bull! I’m going to kill you! Kill you!”

“Well, come at me! Be a man and not some wimp that always hides behind a woman!” Zhan Zhao’s words came out like rapid fire. “Aren’t you holding a rock in your hand? Well, throw it! I’ll stand right here; I won’t even dodge because you won’t even be able to hit me! Go ahead, throw it!”

“Ah～～～I’m going to kill you! Kill! You!”

As he lost control of his emotions, that man started flailing his arms and legs, and the lighter in his hand rapidly flew through the air in an arc and right at Zhan Zhao’s face. Zhan Zhao slightly tilted his head and reached out to catch the lighter. Because the lighter had been burning for so long, his hand almost got burnt from the high temperature of the metal casing of the lighter.

When Ai Hu and the others who were waiting below the truck saw the lighter being hurled into the sky, they almost exclaimed out loud in their excitement. However, when their eyes landed on the face of Zhan Zhao who was standing on the roof of the vehicle, their cheers got choked back.

The expression on Zhan Zhao’s face was neither excited nor stirred by the turn of events; instead, it was full of bitterness and deep compassion.

Right at that very moment, the glass window on the second floor of the bar shattered with a loud crash as a figure in white flew out from inside, pouncing on the man who was in a daze on the stage.

Bai Yutang rolled on the ground to cushion his fall before getting on his feet, but as he did that, he saw that man get up from the floor as well and reached into his pocket…

However, before he could take his hand out from his pocket, Bai Yutang sent him off the stage with a flying kick. Then, Bai Yutang jumped off the stage as well, reaching out to grip that man by the collar, forcefully dragging him up from the ground and slamming him against a wall. The sound of a human body hitting against the wall gave the nearby riot police such a shock that they backed away several steps. 

Bai Yutang’s face was covered in rage as he fiercely pushed that man into the wall, cursing him through clenched teeth, “Do you know how many people died inside, you bastard!”

“Yutang.” Zhan Zhao, who had already gotten down from the fire truck, gently called out to Bai Yutang from about 10 steps away.

Bai Yutang’s violent rage seemed to be put out instantly at that call as he released his grip and took a step back, letting the man slide down the wall like a puddle of mud. The riot police on the side seemed to finally wake up from their daze and stepped forward to pull up the perpetrator and escort him to the police car.

(lilies: das rightt, down boi)

Zhao Hu, who jumped out from the bar with Bai Yutang, called the paramedics over to save the victims on the stage that were hanging on to their last breath. Bai Yutang took a deep breath where he stood before turning around to walk towards Zhan Zhao. The moment their bodies brushed past each other; their lowered hands lightly came together to make a tiny hi-five. With that, Zhan Zhao turned around as well and followed Bai Yutang, who had his head bowed, back.

Standing at a distance, Bai Chí witnessed everything that took place just now. He felt like all the blood in his body was boiling; every cell was trembling violently.

The sight before him was filled with blood, burning buildings, panicked crowds—it was like a real scene straight out of purgatory. However, the two men who resolved all the crises in an instant just walked forward calmly and slowly, leaving the scene of purgatory—two figures in pure white with the flames and night sky as their background…

The words that Zhan Zhao said to him just a short while ago echoed in Bai Chí's head: “You don’t have to use a gun to be a good policeman! You have the best weapon given to you by the heavens!”

While the rescue and fire-fighting efforts proceeded in a tense yet orderly manner under the command of the captain of the riot squad, Ai Hu came up and asked curiously, “Dr. Zhan, you know that criminal?”

Zhan Zhao shook his head. “Nope.”

“Then how did you know that he’s from M University and that his mom is also a drug addict?” Ai Hu asked curiously.

“Un… I wanted to ask too,” Bai Chí came over and chimed in as he stared at Zhan Zhao with big, sparkly eyes, eager to know.

(lilies: (╯✧ ∇ ✧)╯)

Zhan Zhao shrugged as he answered them, “Most of it is actually speculation.”

Seeing that everyone still had a curious look on their face, Zhan Zhao had to explain it to them.

“Just now, Bai Chí had already proven through the calculation of the probability that the person slashing Qi Le was not an accident. And since he appeared really young, it was highly likely that he was a school mate of Qi Le’s. As for the part about his mom being a drug addict, I inferred that from his behaviour—his previous attacks were all done on female drug dealers and prostitutes and this time, he only cut the women. Thus, it was obvious that he really hated women. Most of the time, the hatred that boys around this age have for women is usually associated with their mothers; simply put, it was Oedipus complex⁵.”

Ai Hu and the others seemed to understand, but also not really, while little Bai Chí looked at him with eyes shining even brighter with admiration. Zhan Zhao coughed a little awkwardly before pulling Bai Yutang over while saying, “There’s something very interesting!”

While Bai Yutang was still confused by his sudden statement, he saw Zhan Zhao hand something to him—it was the lighter the criminal threw at him just now. It had a metal casing that was engraved with a line of English letters: “Killer Training Camp”.

…

“It’s the Killer Training Camp again?” Zhao Hu nearly jumped in shock at the words.

Bai Yutang kept quiet with his brows furrowed for a while before saying to Ai Hu, “Transfer all the relevant files to the S.C.I. tomorrow; we’ll have to handle this case together.”

“Alright,” Ai Hu agreed.

“Everyone is tired, let's discuss this tomorrow morning at the station!” Bai Yutang glanced at Zhan Zhao before adding, “We’ll have to relook at everything from the top!”

Zhan Zhao nodded, and the crowd dispersed.

After sending Bai Chí home, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao returned to the apartment.

Bai Yutang had been living at Zhan Zhao’s place ever since the previous case. And Zhan Zhao hadn't kicked him out because it conveniently satisfied his food needs and there was someone to do the housework.

After taking a shower, washing away the smell of gasoline and blood, Bai Yutang walked out of the bathroom all refreshed while drying his hair.

And on the sofa, Zhan Zhao had fallen asleep while holding a book, as usual. Bai Yutang didn’t know whether to laugh or get mad at this sight—this Cat, he’s always like that.

Bai Yutang walked over with light steps and when he neared, he could see the person on the sofa sleeping peacefully and serenely under the soft light of the room. That person’s mouth was slightly open, his brows relaxed; it was a really childlike image of him.

When Bai Yutang lowered his head, he could feel Zhan Zhao’s stable breaths as he slept soundly. Bai Yutang just quietly looked at Zhan Zhao's sleeping face for a long, long time, and for a moment, seemingly touched by that tranquillity, Bai Yutang reached out and gently stroked the bits of hair on Zhan Zhao’s forehead. He could do anything just so the person in front of him could sleep peacefully like this every night.

He lowered his head to land a gentle kiss on Zhan Zhao’s forehead.

The latter’s long lashes trembled slightly.

Bai Yutang smiled and closed to whisper in Zhan Zhao’s ear, “Just stay like this, Kitty. You don’t have to do anything, nor do you have to change, I’ll do that.”

Then, he picked Zhan Zhao, whose cheeks turned red and walked into the bedroom.

A night where two people would never be lonely even if they did not have dreams.

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1. Written as “弄得像张破碎的纸片” which directly translates to “like a piece of paper that was broken to pieces^↩
2. Zhao Hu’s nick^↩
3. He says this in english but I haven’t touched this book in a while and I kinda forgot my own formatting (runs away with a pot over my head)^↩
4. Written as “忙了半天” which means he spent a long time. I interpreted as such because I wanted to put more emphasis on the wasted effort since the negotiator didn’t manage to achieve his goal of getting the guy to speak^↩
5. Written as “俄狄浦斯情结”, so Oedipus complex, which is a theory that children (aged ~3-5) have a desire for sexual involvement with the parent of the opposite sex and a concomitant sense of rivalry with the parent of the same sex. I feel like this author is just putting random psychology terms to fill word count... I don’t think there’s actually a name for this “illness” but after reading some articles (it was found that violent massacres are often associated with hatred for women/misogyny which can be because of mental conditions) and specifically about Elliot Rodger, I think we can refer to a portion of them as “incels” (this is my professional diagnosis 🤓)^↩ 

For now, I think I will focus more on my project that's on chrysanthemum garden. Tbh, I'm still contemplating if I should give myself a reset by deleting the blog in its entirety lollol but for now, nothing is set in stone yet. I've also been thinking of opening commissions for chinese-english translations for a while now ever since I got a translation job (so I'm like half a professional?? XD). Either way, that will probably come some time next year, let me know if anyone's interested 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!! (˶‾᷄ ⁻̫ ‾᷅˵)

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peace lilies~