S.C.I. (Volume I) - Case 1: Chapter 9
The Digital Killer 09: Ambush
At 10:20 PM, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang walked out of the prison's main gates.
"Whew..." Bai Yutang let out a long breath. "I say, Cat, are those two guys' words reliable?"
Zhan Zhao shrugged. "Both of them have fairly severe paranoia, but they didn't collude on their stories. The content they provided should still be trustworthy."
"So that means the killer was dressed as a doctor?" Bai Yutang suddenly snapped in exasperation. "This crappy prison doesn't even have a single surveillance camera in the corridors! Otherwise, we wouldn't have to go through all this trouble."
"The killer is very cunning; so many prison guards didn't even notice him..." Zhan Zhao reached up to rub the space between his eyebrows. "Let's wait until tomorrow to look at Gongsun's autopsy report before discussing it further."
The two chatted as they walked, descending the steps and heading toward their car parked by the roadside. Just as they reached the road, Bai Yutang's peripheral vision suddenly caught a flash of light nearby. Something seemed to rush out from the darkness...
"Cat!!" By the time he clearly saw the speeding car, Bai Yutang had already leapt up, tackling Zhan Zhao to the ground and rolling forward. When he looked up again, the car that had lurched sideways to ram right into them had already sped off, vanishing without a trace. Although its speed was extremely fast, Bai Yutang still managed to see clearly that it was the same black Honda that had been tailing them this afternoon.
"Cat, you alright?" Bai Yutang didn't have time to think too much, quickly checking the Zhan Zhao in his arms to see if he was injured.
"I'm fine." Zhan Zhao was pulled up by him, discovering that he had only scraped a bit of skin on his hand. "What about you?" He looked at the Bai Yutang beside him.
Bai Yutang patted off the dust, spreading his hands to indicate he was fine. He pulled Zhan Zhao's hand over to examine it. Seeing a large patch of scraped skin on the palm, he knit his brows. "Let's go to the hospital first."
"There's no need, it's just a minor injury..." Zhan Zhao wrinkled his nose and shook his head.
"Non-negotiable!!" Bai Yutang pulled him along and left.
After getting a simple bandage at the hospital, it was already nearly midnight by the time Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang returned to the dormitory.
Zhan Zhao sat on the living room sofa.
Silence... silence... Finally, he could no longer hold it in. "Why are you in my room??"
Before him, Bai Yutang casually flipped through a newspaper while munching on an apple. "To protect you, obviously."
Huh??
Zhan Zhao stood up, snatched away his newspaper, grabbed his apple, and started dragging him toward the door. "Who wants your protection!! Go back to your own home, I want to sleep!!"
Bai Yutang gripped the sofa, refusing to budge. "Hey!! I'm doing this for your own good!! If some psycho tracks you to your door, a bookworm like you won't even have time to yell for help before kicking the bucket!! It doesn't matter if you die, but wouldn't my mom and your mom skin me alive??"
"You!!" Zhan Zhao's nose nearly went crooked with rage. "How do you know they're coming after me?? You're usually so arrogant; who knows if you offended some underworld boss who wants to take you out?? Get out!! Don't drag me down with you!"
One yanked for dear life, while the other simply refused to let go...
The tug-of-war lasted until 12:30 AM before Zhan Zhao finally surrendered. After all, he was a scholar while Bai Yutang was a soldier. As the saying goes, when a scholar meets a soldier, reasoning fails... Round one: Defeat!
"Cat, lend me some pajamas. I want the Doraemon ones, not Hello Kitty."
...Endure...
"Cat, I'm starving. Got any instant noodles?"
...Endure some more...
"Do you use your fridge to hide corpses?? It's so clean."
...Patience is a virtue...
"Cat, got any DVDs? Let's put on a horror movie..."
...Driven beyond the limit of endurance!!...
Zhan Zhao, who was in the middle of preparing lesson plans, was finally completely provoked by Bai Yutang. He picked up a throw pillow and hurled it over. "Get the hell out of here! Watching horror movies in the dead of night—you're the psycho!!!"
Another half hour passed. After the pillow fight ended, Zhan Zhao indignantly took the Doraemon pajamas and walked toward the bathroom. He cast a backward glance at Bai Yutang, who was buried under the throw pillows on the sofa. "I'm washing first! The person who washes second cleans up the bathroom!!" ...Round two: Victory!
By the time Bai Yutang finished his shower, cleaned up the bathroom, and walked out wearing the Hello Kitty pajamas, it was already 2:00 AM.
The living room lights were still on. Zhan Zhao held a document in his hand, his head tilted back against the sofa, already fast asleep. Bai Yutang stepped forward lightly, carefully slide-pulling the document out of his hand.
Zhan Zhao seemed to be sound asleep, his breathing soft and slow, making his whole being appear unusually peaceful. Bai Yutang let out a soft sigh; this cat was only docile at times like this.
Gently reaching out to support his shoulders and the crooks of his knees, he exerted some effort to lift Zhan Zhao up and carry him toward the bedroom, cursing under his breath: "Damn cat, are you made of lead? You look so thin, but you're heavy as hell..." Yet his steps remained extremely steady.
He placed Zhan Zhao onto the bed, turned off the lights, and went to sleep.
Five minutes later.
With a loud "thud," Bai Yutang was gloriously kicked off the bed.
Furious!!
Bai Yutang leaped up, turning on the bedside lamp with every intention of jumping back up to battle that cat for three hundred rounds. Yet to his surprise...
He saw Zhan Zhao hugging his pillow, sleeping like a log. It was just that this extremely refined-looking person had an incredibly ungraceful sleeping posture, and his mouth was even mumbling: "Dead rat... mm... round three... victory..."
Clutching his pillow, Bai Yutang wanted to cry but had no tears... Why on earth did it turn out like this?!