S.C.I. (Volume I) - Case 1: Chapter 13

The Digital Killer 13: Tragedy 

After the long and fiery kiss ended, Bai Yutang released Zhan Zhao, whose brain had completely short-circuited. Beside them, Professor Xu was already clutching his chest, unable to even stand steadily. A thoroughly embarrassed Doctor Zhang hurriedly fished out some medicine from the older man's pocket and fed it to him. "Professor, let me support you to the infirmary to rest for a bit..." As he spoke, he nodded toward Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, then frantically supported Professor Xu as they left.

Watching the two beat a flustered and wretched retreat, Bai Yutang felt immensely gratified. Except... why was there suddenly a wave of killing intent behind him?!

A sudden gust of violent wind swept in. Bai Yutang felt the air rushing toward the back of his head and instinctively ducked, just as a lesson plan and several books flew right past his scalp!

Before he could breathe a sigh of relief at the narrow escape, he felt another hostile wind coming straight at his face. He instinctively reached out and caught it, only to realize it was Zhan Zhao's fist...

"Cat... Cat?"

Zhan Zhao was shaking all over from rage. With one hand firmly gripped by Bai Yutang, he used his other hand to violently wipe his own mouth, growling through gritted teeth, "Bai~ Yu~ Tang~!"

...!...

Looking at the absolute killing intent on Zhan Zhao's face, Bai Yutang involuntarily swallowed hard. "Calm... calm down... I... I did this for the greater good..."

"Bullshit!" Zhan Zhao was so furious he completely forgot he was a highly educated intellectual. "Today I'm going to eliminate you to rid the people of a menace!!"

...Shocked...

Seeing Zhan Zhao lift his leg to kick him, Bai Yutang quickly leaped back a step, dodging sideways. "...Cat, do you want my Bai family line to end with me?"

Unfortunately, Zhan Zhao's mind was currently filled with nothing but the three words: slaughter him.

"You have an older brother, so your family line won't end!" As he spoke, he threw another punch. These martial arts moves had all been taught to him by Bai Yutang whenever the latter had free time, so they naturally couldn't hurt him.

Seeing that White Mouse dodging left and right so that he couldn't land a single blow, Zhan Zhao grew both furious and anxious. In his extreme embarrassment and anger, he suddenly remembered that he had the Remington Bai Yutang had given him that morning in his pocket, so he pulled his fists back.

Seeing that Zhan Zhao seemed to have calmed down slightly, Bai Yutang also breathed a sigh of relief. He was just about to say a few soothing words to ease the tension when he suddenly saw Zhan Zhao smile coldly, reaching his hand into his suit pocket.

What was in his pocket should be...

His face turning pale with fright, Bai Yutang quickly stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Zhan Zhao from behind, pinning him to stop him from drawing the gun. Zhan Zhao's hand had already gripped the butt of the gun, but trapped by Bai Yutang's hold, he couldn't pull it out no matter what. In his utter fury, he stamped heavily on Bai Yutang's shin. "Let go of me! There are seven bullets in the gun, and I have seven more in my pocket!"

"Why do you need so many bullets? Are you going to war?" Holding Zhan Zhao tightly, Bai Yutang retreated into a hallway, finally escaping the crowded lobby.

"I'll use them all on you! I'm going to shoot you into a sieve!" Zhan Zhao refused to back down, struggling with all his might.

"It's not that serious, is it? It was just a kiss... If you feel like you lost out, I'll let you kiss me back!" Bai Yutang added fuel to the fire.

"Who wants to kiss... you bastard! How am I supposed to come back and teach classes after this! I'm cutting ties with you!"

"Didn't I do it to help you vent your anger?!"

"Vent my foot!! You just made me even more furious!"

"There's another reason for it!"

"What reason?"

"I can't tell you right now."

"Why?"

"In short, there's a reason!"

"Tell me right now!"

"Then hand over the gun first!"

"You explain first!"

"Surrender the gun first!"

"Explain!"

"The gun!"

............

"No way! If I don't kill you, the hatred in my heart won't be appeased!"

"Impulsiveness is the devil, Cat!"

"You're allowed to be impulsive, but I'm not?!"

"Murder is against the law!"

"I'm killing a pest!"

"How did I go from a mouse to a pest?"

"You don't even deserve to be classified as a mammal!"

............

Just as this endless bickering was about to loop into another cycle, something plummeted down past the window outside, hitting the ground with a dull thud.

Both of them froze instantly, forgetting their argument.

"Did my eyes play tricks on me?" Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao.

With a look of utter disbelief, Zhan Zhao shook his head.

From outside the building came the terrified, panicked screams of the students.

The two turned and bolted out of the building at their absolute fastest speed. Although it had only been a split second, they had still seen clearly—the thing that fell was a person.

Rushing out of the building, they saw a person lying prone on the open ground in front of the entrance. The body was nearly flattened from the impact, but the clothes and features were still identifiable—the dead person was actually Li Feifan, who had greeted them at the campus gate just moments ago.

Seeing the corpse of a stranger and seeing the corpse of an acquaintance were two completely different feelings. Realizing that the deceased was his own student, Zhan Zhao found it hard to accept for a moment, his mouth hanging open without a word.

Bai Yutang ordered the security guards who had rushed over to call the police and cordon off the scene, then he immediately looked up at the roof of the psychology department building.

The psychology department building was over ten stories high, but with his superior pilot's vision, Bai Yutang spotted at a glance that the rooftop guardrail was actually hanging outward.

He turned and sprinted back into the building. Unable to wait for the elevator, he took the stairs three steps at a time, flying upward and reaching the top floor in the blink of an eye.

The door to the rooftop was actually deadbolted from the outside. Vigilantly drawing his gun, Bai Yutang kicked open the iron rooftop door and cautiously slid onto the terrace. His years in the military made his instincts exceptionally sharp; the moment he stepped onto the roof, he intuitively felt that no one else was there. He took a lap around, and sure enough...

Holstering his gun, he walked over to the broken guardrail to inspect it.

He saw that the cut surface where the guardrail had snapped was completely smooth... it was man-made! In other words, Li Feifan's death was neither a suicide nor an accident, but a homicide. The door should have been locked by the killer from the outside. Why did Li Feifan come up to the roof instead of going to class at this hour?

While his thoughts were in a whirlwind, he looked down and saw Zhan Zhao walking over to the side of the corpse. Wrapping his hand in a tissue, Zhan Zhao picked up the phone that the deceased had been clutching tightly.

Even though they were far apart, Bai Yutang could still sense Zhan Zhao's unease.

Quickly pulling out his own phone, he called Gongsun, telling him to bring the rest of the team over, and then he ran back downstairs.

Zhan Zhao was sitting on the edge of a flowerbed not far from the corpse, staring down thoughtfully at the phone in his hand.

Bai Yutang walked up to his side. "How are you holding up?"

Zhan Zhao reached out and handed the phone over. Bai Yutang looked down and saw three numbers displayed on the phone screen: 1, 3, 5.

And the wallpaper on the screen was actually a photograph of Zhan Zhao. One glance was enough to tell that the photo had been taken stealthily; the Zhan Zhao in the photo was just stepping out of a car, smiling very brightly...

Bai Yutang saw that Zhan Zhao's lips were tightly pursed, his eyes filled with grief and bewilderment.

Reaching out, he pulled Zhan Zhao into his arms, letting him lean against his chest, and patted his shoulder, comforting him in a soft voice.

"It's okay, Cat! It's okay!”