S.C.I. (Volume I) - Case 2: Chapter 7

The Killer Training Camp 07: Purgatory 

Zhao Hu, who had run to the Major Crimes Unit to get the files, sprinted back five minutes later, empty-handed.

"Boss... Boss..." Zhao Hu rushed in as if chased by a ghost. "It... it's a disaster."

"Disaster again?" Bai Yutang frowned. "What's going on?"

"Neon Street is in chaos!" Zhao Hu panted. "It's like the army was mobilized downstairs; it's crawling with the riot squad. They say some lunatic is throwing gasoline bombs on Neon Street and slashing people with a knife. It looks like it's the same guy who attacked Qi Le."

Bai Yutang paused for a split second, grabbed his jacket, and shouted, "Let's go take a look!"

Driving to the entrance of Neon Street, they were greeted by the sound of chaotic police sirens. From a distance, they could see flames reaching toward the sky and thick smoke billowing forth.

Bai Yutang’s phone suddenly rang. He picked it up; it was Bao Zheng.

"Bring your men to Neon Street immediately," Bao Zheng ordered bluntly.

"We're already here," Bai Yutang replied before hanging up.

Zhan Zhao, Zhao Hu, and Bai Chi followed Bai Yutang as they rushed into the police cordon formed by the riot squad. Upon looking up, they were stunned by the scene before them.

Standing on a towering open-air stage was a young man covered in blood, surrounded by several people who had been wounded.

He held a lighter in his hand, standing in the middle of the stage, glaring down at the police below. Even from a distance, the acrid stench of gasoline wafting from the stage was unmistakable.

A large portion of the buildings behind the stage was already engulfed in flames.

"Captain Bai!" The riot squad commander, Xu Kai, ran up alongside Ai Hu.

"What's his goal?" Bai Yutang pointed at the seemingly deranged man on the stage, asking Ai Hu with astonishment.

"The 'Purgatory' bar is celebrating its anniversary tonight, and they set up an outdoor stage. During the performance, that man charged onto the stage carrying two buckets of gasoline. He slashed several female performers and threw gasoline bombs into the 'Purgatory' bar."

"Were those performers doused in gasoline?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"That’s right," Xu Kai said. "He won't say a word; he just walks back and forth holding that lighter."

"Does he have any demands?" Bai Yutang asked.

"None." Ai Hu shook his head. "He hasn't said a single word until now; he's just staring at us."

"We can't open fire!" Xu Kai said. "It's too dangerous. If he drops that lighter, those dozen or so girls are dead for sure."

After hearing the narrative from both of them, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked up and carefully observed the situation in front of them.

The stage was about two meters high. Scattered across it lay or sat a dozen female performers in revealing, fiery-red performance costumes. There was blood everywhere, and their bodies were soaked in gasoline. The mixture of gasoline and blood flowed in winding trails across the smooth surface of the stage. The colorful spotlights used for the show cast dazzling beams of light; in the interplay of light and shadow, the scene was surreal and indescribably lascivious.

The man stood in the middle of the stage, wearing a black hoodie. He had taken off his mask, but his features were unclear because his face was already covered in splattered blood droplets, looking like a piece of shredded paper, nothing but a crisscross of red and white. He was thin and tall—abnormally thin. He paced back and forth on the stage in short steps like an arrogant executioner, chest puffed out, head held high, yet eyes lowered. From time to time, he would glance at the police below with eyes full of excitement, and then look down at the injured lying on the stage with a face full of disdain.

The bar behind him was spewing thick smoke, and the neon-flashing characters for "Purgatory" were blindingly glaring.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang stood quietly, watching intently, as if deep in thought, their eyes reflecting the dancing flames.

A moment later, they exchanged a glance.

"Boss, it's him!" Zhao Hu leaned in to Bai Yutang and said, "No mistake about it."

Bai Yutang nodded and turned to ask Zhan Zhao, "Cat, what’s the plan?"

Zhan Zhao looked at the stage again: "The only way is to make him drop the lighter off the stage himself!"

"And you?" Zhan Zhao asked back. "What's your plan?"

Bai Yutang looked at the smoke-billowing bar behind them and said, "Coming down from the second floor to subdue him would be perfect, provided that..."

Zhan Zhao nodded in understanding. "Understood. He throws the lighter off the stage."

"You're going to the second floor?" Xu Kai exclaimed. "That's reckless! The whole building is on fire!"

Bai Yutang didn't answer him but looked at Zhan Zhao: "Cat, what are the odds?"

"Fifty-fifty, I'd say." Zhan Zhao took off his coat, revealing his white shirt.

"Wait a minute!" Xu Kai said. "As soon as he drops the lighter, the riot squad can rush onto the stage and subdue him!"

Bai Yutang handed him his coat and smiled. "True, but can you guarantee he doesn't have a second lighter?"

"Uh..." Xu Kai was speechless.

"Hu Zi, follow me." Bai Yutang turned and led Zhao Hu as they charged through the crowd.

Zhan Zhao watched them move away and said to Xu Kai, "Help me prepare a few things."

"Anything you need!" Xu Kai’s eyes gleamed with faint excitement. How would this bookish young man, hailed as a genius among geniuses of psychology, use his magic to salvage this almost hopeless situation?

Zhan Zhao smiled faintly. "A miniature megaphone and a vehicle taller than that stage!"

"Just that?" The riot squad captain was a bit surprised.

"Also," Zhan Zhao said, "No matter what happens later, everyone here must listen to me!"

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

A moment later, a fire truck nearly three meters tall drove in.

Ai Hu brought a compact megaphone to Zhan Zhao, who clipped it to his chest. Just then, his phone rang.

He answered, and Bai Yutang’s voice came through: "Cat, ready. Five minutes."

"OK!" Zhan Zhao hung up the phone, climbed to the top of the fire truck, and turned on the megaphone.

The crowd at the scene immediately fell silent.

Everyone gazed at the young man standing at the highest point. Even the man on the stage, who was holding the lighter, looked up at Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao caught the trace of fury in his eyes. He arched the corner of his lips slightly and sneered, saying nothing, just looking down at him with eyes full of disdain and mockery.

The man seemed provoked and looked up, staring at Zhan Zhao. "What are you laughing at?"

The riot squad captain and Ai Hu below the truck exchanged glances. Impressive. The negotiation experts had been working hard for ages without getting him to look their way even once, yet it was this simple to get him to talk.

Zhan Zhao said unhurriedly, "I think I’ve seen you somewhere before?"

"What?" The man was startled.

"But I can't remember your name," Zhan Zhao shrugged dismissively. "Because you are just too ordinary!"

"What did you say?! Do you dare to say that again?!" As he spoke, he gestured with the lighter toward a woman beside him, startling her into a scream.

"Heh heh..." Zhan Zhao sneered. "Why do you hate these women? Is it because they remind you of your mother?"

"You... how do you know?" The man said in astonishment. "Do you know me?"

Zhan Zhao shook his head nonchalantly. "This isn't a secret. I have friends studying at M University; they say you are the laughingstock of the whole 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 laughed and waved his hand at him. "Be careful now. Don't lose what's in your hand; that thing is the only value you have for living right now."

"What..." The man took a vicious step forward. "Who! Who dares to look down on me?! I am one of a kind!"

"What? I don't think so at all!" Zhan Zhao shook his head in disagreement and pointed to the hand holding the lighter. "Do you feel like that hand is very heavy—so heavy that you can barely hold it?"

"？..." The man glanced at his hand holding the lighter, which was trembling slightly. "How..."

Zhan Zhao said coldly: "Because you're useless!"

"What?"

"You can't even hold something that weighs so little!"

"Who... who says..." He exerted effort to raise his hand above his head, smugly saying: "Who, who says I can't hold it?"

"Your hand is shaking!" Zhan Zhao laughed with understanding. "Is your drug withdrawal kicking in?"

"No!" The man shouted, struggling to control his hand, "I, I don't use drugs! I would never touch that stuff!"

"Yes, you do! Your mother didn't leave you anything, except for a drug addiction," Zhan Zhao said with pity.

"Shut up! Don't you dare say that again! Don't you dare!"

"Do you want to know who gave your mother those drugs?" Zhan Zhao suddenly said earnestly. "It was me!"

"What..." He looked up in horror.

"I knew drugs would destroy your mother, destroy your home, and destroy you, so I gave them to her on purpose!" Zhan Zhao said with a sneer. "But what a pity, there’s nothing you can do about me."

"It... it was you! It was you! I'm going to kill you!" he raved hysterically.

"You can't hurt me at all! You can't even touch a single hair on my head! Don't believe me? Try it!" Zhan Zhao raised his voice. "Your withdrawal is hitting; soon you’ll be kneeling in front of everyone, making a fool of yourself, begging people for drugs. You won't have any strength left, let alone killing me—you won't even be able to throw that stone in your hand at me!"

"You're lying! I'm going to kill you! Kill you!"

"Then come on! Be a man—don't always act like a coward hiding behind women," Zhan Zhao said rapidly. "Don't you have a stone in your hand? Throw it! I'll stand right here without dodging or hiding because you couldn't possibly hit me! Throw it!"

"Ah～～~ I'm going to kill you! Kill you～～~" As he lost control of his emotions, he began to flail. The lighter in his hand flew in a long arc through the air, hurtling toward Zhan Zhao's face. Zhan Zhao tilted his head slightly and reached out to catch the lighter. The surface of the metal casing was so hot from the prolonged flame that it nearly scorched his hand.

Ai Hu and the others below the vehicle almost shouted in excitement as they watched the lighter being tossed. However, when their gaze fell on the roof of the vehicle and Zhan Zhao’s face, they couldn't make a sound.

On Zhan Zhao’s face, there was neither excitement nor agitation, only a sense of profound bitterness and immense compassion.

At that instant, a loud "CRASH" echoed as the glass window on the second floor of the bar shattered. A white shadow flew out, pouncing on the man who was standing dazed on the stage.

Bai Yutang did a roll and stood up, only to see the man scrambling up from the ground and reaching into his pocket...

Before his hand could even come out, Bai Yutang flew into a kick and sent him off the stage. Moments later, he leapt down from the floor, grabbed the man by his collar, dragged him up from the ground, and slammed him viciously against a nearby wall. The sound of flesh hitting the wall made the nearby riot squad officers retreat several steps in shock.

Bai Yutang’s face was full of fury. He pinned the man down hard, teeth gritted, and cursed: "You know how many people died in there, you bastard!"

"Yutang." Zhan Zhao, having already descended from the fire truck, stood ten paces away and called out softly.

The enraged Bai Yutang seemed to calm down instantly. He let go and took a step back, letting the man slide down the wall like a pile of mud. The riot squad officers nearby seemed to wake from a dream; they stepped forward to pull up the perpetrator and hauled him back to the police car.

Zhao Hu, who had leapt from the bar behind Bai Yutang, called for the medical staff to rescue the dying victims on the stage.

Bai Yutang took a deep breath on the spot and turned to walk toward Zhan Zhao. As they passed each other, their hanging hands gave a light tap.

Following that, Zhan Zhao turned as well, lowered his head, and walked back to where Bai Yutang was.

Bai Chi stood far away, watching everything that had just happened. He felt all the blood in his body boiling, every cell in his being shaking violently.

The ground filled with blood, the burning building, the panicked crowd—the scene was like a true purgatory. Yet, the two men who had defused the crisis in an instant just walked forward calmly and slowly, leaving purgatory behind. In the firelight and the night, two pure white figures...

In Bai Chi’s mind, Zhan Zhao’s words from just a moment ago kept echoing: "To be a good police officer, you don't necessarily need a gun! You have the best weapon God could have given you!"...

Rescue and firefighting work proceeded tensely and methodically under the direction of the riot squad captain. Ai Hu curiously leaned over and asked: "Dr. Zhan, do you know that criminal?"

Zhan Zhao shook his head: "No."

"Then why did you know he was from M University, and that his mother was a drug addict?" Ai Hu asked curiously.

"Hmm... I’d like to ask that too." Bai Chi leaned in, eyes wide and fixed on Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao shrugged and said: "Actually, most of it was guesswork."

Seeing that everyone was still looking at him with curious expressions, Zhan Zhao had to explain: "Just now, Bai Chi proved through probability that the person attacking Qi Le wasn't an accident. Since he looked young, he was likely Qi Le’s classmate. As for his mother being a drug addict—that was deduced from his behavior. He had committed several attacks on prostitutes and girls, and this time he only slashed women, which shows he hates women. For a boy in this age group, hating women usually has to do with the mother—a simple Oedipus complex."

Ai Hu and the others listened, half-understanding, while little Bai Chi looked on with pure adoration. Zhan Zhao coughed awkwardly, pulled Bai Yutang over, and said: "There is something very interesting!"

Bai Yutang was confused, only to see Zhan Zhao hand him something—the lighter the perpetrator had thrown at him. Engraved on the metal casing was a line of English letters: "Killertrainingcamp."

...

"That Killer Training Camp again?" Zhao Hu was so shocked he nearly jumped up.

Bai Yutang frowned and remained silent for a while. He said to Ai Hu: "Send the relevant case files to the S.C.I. tomorrow. We’ll have this case transferred; we need to consolidate the investigation."

"Understood," Ai Hu agreed.

"Everyone is tired. We’ll talk at the station tomorrow morning!" Bai Yutang glanced at Zhan Zhao. "Everything will have to be reconsidered!"

Zhan Zhao nodded, and the crowd dispersed.

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

Since the last case started, Bai Yutang had been staying at Zhan Zhao’s place.

Because dining was convenient and someone else was handling the chores, Zhan Zhao hadn't kicked him out yet.

After a shower, washing away the stench of gasoline and the smell of blood, Bai Yutang walked out of the bathroom, feeling refreshed and rubbing his hair.

On the sofa, Zhan Zhao was asleep, clutching a book as usual. Bai Yutang was amused and irritated—this cat did this every single time.

He stepped lightly, walking over to him. In the soft light of the room, the person on the sofa slept peacefully and contentedly, mouth slightly open, brow relaxed, looking quite childish. He leaned down close, feeling the peaceful breath of his deep slumber.

Bai Yutang watched Zhan Zhao’s sleeping face quietly for a long, long time. For an instant, as if moved by that serenity, Bai Yutang reached out to gently stroke the stray hair on Zhan Zhao’s forehead. As long as the person before him could sleep so soundly every night, he would do anything.

He leaned down and kissed his forehead gently.

Zhan Zhao’s long eyelashes trembled slightly.

Bai Yutang smiled, leaned toward his ear, and whispered: "Cat, you are great just like this. You don't need to do anything or change anything; I'll handle everything."

Then, he picked up the blushing Zhan Zhao and carried him into the bedroom.

On nights when the two were together, even dreamless, they would never be lonely.