S.C.I. (Volume I) - Case 2: Chapter 2

The Killer Training Camp 02: Sniper Case 

The sound of gunfire had barely faded before Zhan Zhao had already darted to the side of the balcony, pulling the floor-to-ceiling curtains shut with a forceful tug. Several of the more daring guests followed suit, drawing all the curtains around the hall until the entire banquet room was converted into a completely sealed space.

Bai Yutang turned and lunged into the elevator, calling out to the few panicked guests: "Call the police! Nobody leaves until they arrive; it’s safer to stay indoors for now!"

Just as the elevator doors were about to close, Zhan Zhao slipped inside.

"Cat, what are you following me for?" Bai Yutang held his gun in one hand while using the other to yank off the tie that had been bothering him for so long, stuffing it haphazardly into his trouser pocket.

"I'm coming too!" Zhan Zhao drew his own weapon. Ever since Bai Yutang had given him that pocket-sized Remington, Zhan Zhao had made it a habit to carry it with him.

Bai Yutang gave a slightly amused wink at Zhan Zhao: "Cat, stay sharp later. Don't go shooting me, or your own feet, for that matter!"

Fury!!

"White Rat! I'll shoot you right now!!" Zhan Zhao was beyond livid; he raised his hand and took aim.

Bai Yutang hurriedly grabbed his wrist, "Easy there, Cat. What are you going to do for the rest of your life if you injure me?"

"Go to hell!" Zhan Zhao raised his foot to kick him, but Bai Yutang dodged aside. Just then, the elevator doors chimed and slid open.

The two of them immediately tucked away their smiles and dashed toward the building opposite them.

Everyone in the banquet hall was stunned by the sudden turn of events.

The unfortunate man who had been shot lay in agony on the floor. Ding Zhaohui knelt to help him up, while Zhaolan pressed her hand against the shoulder where blood was seeping out, causing the man to let out another miserable shriek.

"Bear with it!" Zhaohui consoled him, then turned his gaze toward Bai Jintang, who was standing to the side with a grim expression.

Bai Jintang nodded at him, and Zhaohui took out his phone to call the police.

Suddenly, Jon cried out: "Doctor..."

The crowd’s attention shifted instantly. They saw Dr. Wilson clutching his chest, convulsing a few times before collapsing stiffly to the ground.

"Doctor... ah!" Jon fell back, trembling, and slumped to the side. "He... he stopped breathing! He stopped breathing..."

"Stay calm, it's just a sudden myocardial infarction!" A cool, detached voice rang out. Gongsun had already reached Dr. Wilson's side. "Help him lie down flat."

Perhaps it was Gongsun’s composure that infected the others; several guests rushed forward, working together to lay the old man flat.

Gongsun loosened Wilson’s collar and instructed the group: "Two of you, lift his legs up. Everyone else, back away—he needs circulating air!"

The crowd immediately complied.

Lowering his head, Gongsun pressed his ear to Wilson’s chest and listened intently. He then straightened up, reached out, and felt around the area of the heart a few times. After selecting the precise spot, he placed his left hand flat against the chest and used his right hand, curled into a fist, to strike his left hand with rhythmic, forceful pulses.

"Cough..." Dr. Wilson gave a violent jerk, coughed once, and began to breathe in ragged, rapid gasps. Gongsun began rummaging through the professor’s coat pockets, quickly producing a small bottle containing a few capsules. After glancing at the label, Gongsun extracted one and twisted it open. Lowering his head, he said to Wilson: "Open your mouth, lift your tongue."

Wilson’s consciousness seemed to have recovered slightly; he opened his mouth.

Gongsun gripped his jaw, carefully poured the medicine under his tongue, and sighed with relief: "Hold it there."

Wilson kept the medicine in his mouth and closed his lips.

Gongsun unbuttoned his cuff, checking his pulse with his left hand while keeping an eye on his watch with his right.

Half a minute later, Wilson’s condition had clearly improved. He gave Gongsun a look of gratitude, but Gongsun only spoke to him with a hint of coldness: "Lie still."

With that, he stood up and walked away without looking back.

Everyone in the hall let out a long sigh of relief, and the previously tense atmosphere softened considerably.

Bai Jintang stood at a distance, yet his eyes remained locked on every movement Gongsun made, not leaving him for even a second.

Gongsun sensed his gaze and glared fiercely back at him.

Bai Jintang suddenly smiled and took a sip of his wine, his lips slowly touching the rim of the transparent glass as the golden liquid trickled into his mouth...

Gongsun cursed "Pervert!" in his heart. He truly admired Bai Jintang—he could make even such a simple action look so "lewd."

Bai Jintang stared at Gongsun’s turned face and slightly reddened ears, also cursing viciously in his heart: "Damn it, why is he so sexy no matter how I look at him!"

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao rushed to the top floor and found the iron door to the rooftop slightly ajar, creaking rhythmically in the night wind.

The two took positions on either side of the doorway.

Gently pushing the door open, Bai Yutang charged out, with Zhan Zhao following closely behind.

The night air on the rooftop was cold as water. On the railing facing the hotel, a person was sprawled motionless.

The two exchanged a glance and dashed over.

The person was already dead. The hollow, blood-soaked left eye and the scattered glass fragments on the ground were proof that Bai Yutang’s shot from earlier had pierced straight through the infrared scope.

Even with the deep night and the lack of lighting, Zhan Zhao could see that this "assassin" looked quite young—at most twenty years old—leaving him with a lingering sense of doubt.

Just then, Bai Yutang suddenly tensed his entire body, staring vigilantly toward the rooftop entrance.

Zhan Zhao was familiar with every one of Bai Yutang's habitual movements. Whenever he sensed danger, he would behave exactly like this, like a leopard with every muscle coiled, ready to spring out and tear into its prey.

Zhan Zhao couldn't help but grow tense as well. Bai Yutang gestured for him to stay calm, pulling him over to hide behind a protruding pipe on the side of the roof.

In the darkness, Bai Yutang’s eyes, which were fixed intently on the door, seemed to shimmer with a faint light—alert, and excited... Zhan Zhao suddenly remembered the comment Qin Jiaqi had made about Bai Yutang in prison: an exorcist.

Indeed! Growing up, as long as Bai Yutang was by his side, there never seemed to be anything to fear. Only now did Zhan Zhao understand why he himself was so bold—it was because that person had never given him the chance to learn how to be afraid.

Just as his mind wandered, faint footsteps echoed at the door. Who would be coming to the rooftop at this hour? Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang focused their entire attention on the entrance.

As the footsteps drew closer, a beam of light from a flashlight swept across the area, and the two immediately held their breath.

"Who... who's up there?" The voice seemed to tremble slightly. Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a look of confusion.

By now, the person had stepped onto the roof.

A black, uniform-clad officer, a flashlight in one hand and a gun in the other... A policeman??

"Who... who's there?" The officer’s flashlight beam landed on the corpse draped over the railing. His voice grew even shakier as he walked tremblingly toward it...

"Mother of god~~~~" Upon seeing the dead man’s blood-streaked face, the young policeman let out a terrified shout and plopped down onto the floor.

Bai Yutang frowned, cursing under his breath: "Useless."

"Who... who's that?" The policeman heard the unusual stir, and in his panic, raised his gun and aimed it toward the pipes.

"Don't shoot, we're police," Zhan Zhao said, seeing Bai Yutang’s impatient expression.

"Po... police? Do you... have any pro... proof?" the young policeman asked, his voice quivering.

Bai Yutang stood up and strode confidently toward him.

"Don't... don't come over, or, or I'll shoot..." The policeman waved his gun at Bai Yutang in a panic, backing away while issuing warnings.

Unfortunately, Bai Yutang ignored him and kept walking straight ahead.

"I... I'm shooting..." The policeman raised his gun and pulled the trigger with all his might, but no matter how hard he pulled, it wouldn't budge.

"Ya~~" He shrieked in pain as the gun was snatched from his hand by Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang opened the revolver and checked the cylinder, seeing that all six chambers were full. He reached out, took the officer’s ID from his breast pocket, opened it, and compared it to the face before him. Aside from the exaggerated facial expression, everything matched.

"Bai Chi?" He read the name with some complexity. What kind of parents gave their child such a dim-witted name?

"Yes..."

Zhan Zhao had also reached them and held up his own ID: "Don't be nervous, we're both police."

Bai Chi stared blankly at Zhan Zhao’s ID, his mouth agape in surprise; he was unable to utter a single word.

Bai Yutang asked him: "How did you end up coming up here?"

"Uh..." Bai Chi scratched his head awkwardly. "I... today was my first time out on patrol..."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao nodded in unison—as expected.

"Just now... I was walking downstairs when I heard gunshots, and then a gun fell down... so I came up to take a look." Bai Chi’s face flushed red, and he looked up at Zhan Zhao: "On your ID... are you two from the S.C.I.?"

Zhan Zhao smiled gently at him: "I'm Zhan Zhao, and he’s Bai Yutang."

Bai Chi’s face turned bright red instantly. He stared at Bai Yutang with wide-eyed shock: "You... you are, Captain... Captain Bai?"

Bai Yutang looked at him with amusement, tucked the ID back into his breast pocket, raised the gun, and asked him: "Do you know why the trigger wouldn't move?"

"Uh..." Bai Chi shook his head, looking puzzled.

Removing the bullets, Bai Yutang returned the empty gun to Bai Chi and sneered: "Next time, remember to take the safety off!"

...

The atmosphere in the banquet hall was exceptionally heavy. Ding Zhaohui and Ding Zhaolan were tending to the wounded man, waiting for the ambulance.

With everyone confined in the sealed room, every second felt agonizingly long.

Bai Jintang walked to Gongsun’s side, but just as he was about to speak, someone intruded upon them.

"President Bai, today really is terribly unlucky."

Turning around, he saw a portly old man in his fifties, accompanied by several young men in business suits, standing before him.

"I apologize for the scare, President Pang." Bai Jintang offered a polite apology to the old man, though he didn't mean it in the slightest. The person before him was Pang Ji, a wealthy local tycoon in S City whose family business primarily dealt in nightclubs. Bai Jintang had already investigated him and held him in no high regard.

"Heh heh, the Bai Group just opened, and you've already met with such misfortune. Could it be some kind of omen? It seems S City isn't a land of good fortune for you, President Bai." Pang Ji glanced at the crowd behind him with a touch of smugness and said: "Everyone, I shall take my leave now. It’s far too unsafe here."

The crowd stirred slightly, and a few others began to consider leaving as well.

Satisfied, Pang Ji turned to go, but suddenly stopped. His eyes fell upon Gongsun, who was sitting calmly on the sofa nearby, and he asked with feigned friendliness: "Aren't you leaving? Would you like to come with me?"

Pang Ji had assumed that because Gongsun had so coolly saved Dr. Wilson, his actions would carry a certain influence over the crowd. If he left, many people would surely follow! Besides, Gongsun didn't seem to have a good relationship with Bai Jintang.

Gongsun lifted his head, looked at Pang Ji with disdain, sighed, and said leisurely: "How could I do that?" As he spoke, he glanced at Chen Jiayi and Fang Jing, who were sitting just as calmly nearby, sipping their drinks. "The ladies present are all so brave and composed; as a man, how could I be so cowardly as to tuck my tail and run first?"

"Pfft..." The twins, who had been so angry they’d wanted to draw their guns, couldn't help but laugh. Other guests in the hall, especially the men, straightened their backs and began to appear composed as well.

Just then, the urgent wail of police sirens arrived from downstairs at the perfect moment.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, leading the young officer Bai Chi, walked out of the building just as they ran into Ai Hu and the rest of the Serious Crimes Unit rushing in.

"Captain!" Ai Hu still couldn't break the habit of calling Bai Yutang that; he was all smiles the moment they met.

"How is it upstairs?" Bai Yutang asked about the banquet hall first.

"The wounded man and the one with the heart condition have already been loaded into ambulances. The rest of the personnel have been registered and released," Ai Hu reported. "Fortunately, there were no fatalities."

Bai Yutang nodded, frowning: "There’s a dead body on the rooftop."

"By the way, was the murder weapon found?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"That's exactly what I wanted to tell you." Ai Hu turned serious, and an officer beside him handed over a badly mangled sniper rifle.

"Barrett M82A1?" Bai Yutang felt a headache coming on. It was the most widely used sniper rifle, but not one easily obtained by civilians.

"Perhaps this case should be transferred to the S.C.I.," Ai Hu suddenly said.

"What?" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were both taken aback.

Ai Hu shook his head: "This is already the fourth sniper assassination this month."

...

Deep in the night, silence descended. Darkness invaded every corner, and there was nowhere for fear to hide.

Standing at the pinnacle of the city, looking out over it, one felt that this dazzling metropolis was like a colossal machine—operating, never resting.

Di~~~~~~

The computer screen flashed once more as an email flew in.

"Let the sins rot in the wilderness, let the ugliness have nowhere to hide, and let those filthy hypocrites taste the devil’s sickle."

Closing the monitor, the figure spread their arms, feeling themselves become a unique existence amidst the tranquility. Laughter permeated the night sky.

From the edge of that valley, waves of sorrowful wailing arrived incessantly, while within the valley, fierce winds raged, never-ending.

I was shocked to discover that there were so many souls tumbling and drifting helplessly forward in the gale. Some of the souls inevitably collided with the canyon walls, their painful shrieks and mournful cries... I could not bear to look.