S.C.I. (Volume I) - Case 3: Chapter 2

The Magic Killer 02: The Return 

Bai Chi wandered around the municipal library for several rounds, searching rack by rack, until he had piled a full table with books.

"Do you want to check all of these out?" the librarian asked, somewhat surprised. "There are limits on how many books can be borrowed."

Bai Chi shook his head, pulled out his police badge to show him, and said, "I'm not borrowing them. They're being requisitioned by the police! I'll return them."

The librarian looked dubiously at the person before him—someone who couldn't possibly be connected to the word "police" no matter how one looked at it—and said helplessly, "Alright, but I need to register them. It might take a long time, so after we finish logging them, we'll have them delivered to the police station for you."

"O—okay, thank you." Bai Chi nodded, turned to leave, but then caught sight of some somewhat antiquated archive classification racks by the entrance... and walked over out of curiosity. This was an old-fashioned filing cabinet filled with little drawers arranged in alphabetical order. Opening them revealed a stack of cards in each drawer, recording the type, name, and location of the materials. Bai Chi walked up to one of the cabinets and saw that the label read "Periodicals."

The library's catalog had already been classified and managed via computer. Bai Chi had searched all of those earlier, but because newspapers were so numerous, only the last two years had been organized; the older ones should all be here. Opening a drawer, Bai Chi was pleasantly surprised to discover there was a span of over thirty years' worth. He patiently began flipping through the cards one by one; he was going to dig out all the cases from the past twenty years~~~

"Hi!" Suddenly, someone flashed up beside him and tapped him on the shoulder, giving Bai Chi such a start that he jumped. When he turned his head to look, he immediately furrowed his brow.

The person who patted Bai Chi was none other than Zhao Zhen, whom he had met on the plane this morning.

He turned his head back, completely ignoring him... and continued rummaging.

Zhao Zhen probably had never been ignored like this in his entire life. He gave an awkward chuckle, sidled up closer, and asked, "What are you looking for? You just got off the plane and came straight to the library?"

Bai Chi looked up, shot him a sideways glance, and said, "It's... none of your business!"

"Hey!" Zhao Zhen took off his glasses. "Did I offend you at some point in the past? Why do you hate me so much?"

"Liar!" Bai Chi rolled his eyes again, lowered his head to continue searching, and shifted slightly to the side, putting a tiny bit of distance between himself and Zhao Zhen.

...Zhao Zhen glared fiercely at Bai Chi, then suddenly let out an "Ah!"

Bai Chi looked up in surprise. He saw Zhao Zhen point off into the distance and instinctively turned his head to look—there was nothing there at all~~~

"Bai~~~ Chi~~~" Zhao Zhen let out a "Pfft~~~" of laughter. "What a great name~~~"

Bai Chi turned back and saw that, at some point, Zhao Zhen had taken his police badge...

"Give... give it back to me!" He immediately reached out to snatch it, but Zhao Zhen held the badge high up and dodged away. "S.C.I.~~~ Oh??"

"Hand it over!" Bai Chi fiercely snatched it back, stuffed it back into his pocket, and turned around, only to hear Zhao Zhen say again, "Eh?? You were born in K City?? I spent time in K City when I was a kid too."

Bai Chi was startled. He turned back and saw that his wallet was also in Zhao Zhen's hands; he was looking at his ID card...

"Give it back! I'm going to arrest you!" Furious, Bai Chi snatched his wallet back and let out a fierce, menacing roar.

"Okay! Look at your leisure, I'll... be leaving first. See you later." With that, Zhao Zhen briskly turned and walked away. In his hand, a small set of keys with a chubby little yellow duck pendant had somehow appeared—belonging to Bai Chi~~~

Around five o'clock, Bai Chi finally returned to the entrance of his apartment building carrying a thick bundle of old newspapers, and reached for his keys~~~ Huh? Where are the keys??

He placed the newspapers on the ground and patted down every single pocket from top to bottom, front and back—still nothing... Why is my luck so terrible today?!

Just then, however, the door swung open.

"You're back? What took you so long?" Standing inside the doorway was none other than Zhao Zhen, holding an apple in one hand and a notebook in the other.

"You... you..." Bai Chi was so shocked he lost his speech, and he stormed inside, furious. "What are you doing in my apartment?"

Zhao Zhen shrugged, tossed a set of keys to him, and said, "Oh~~~ I happened to find a set of keys earlier and thought I'd return them to the owner. I just didn't expect it to be such a coincidence that they're yours."

"How... how did you know I live here?" Bai Chi tucked the keys into his pocket and glared fiercely.

"Heh heh~~~" Zhao Zhen smiled brilliantly. "The keys told me. I told you I have magical powers."

"Liar! Get out!" Bai Chi angrily pointed toward the door.

Instead, Zhao Zhen sat down on the sofa, continued crunching on his apple, and looked at the notebook in his hand.

"What... what are you reading?" Bai Chi suddenly realized that the notebook in Zhao Zhen's hand looked somewhat familiar.

"Oh~~~ Your diary." Zhao Zhen praised as he flipped through it, "Truly magnificent."

"...Ah~~~~~~~~" Bai Chi lunged forward to grab it. "How can you do this! How can you read someone else's diary!!"

Zhao Zhen hurriedly dodged out of the way. "I wanted to figure out why on earth you hate me so much."

"There's no reason!! Give it back to me!" Bai Chi chased after him to snatch it.

"Speaking of which, your childhood really was tragic, wasn't it? How come you were always getting bullied?" Zhao Zhen said as he dodged. "I've truly never seen anyone with an inferiority complex worse than yours..."

Hearing this, Bai Chi froze for a moment, stopped chasing, and stood dazed in his spot.

"Hey! What's wrong?" Zhao Zhen walked back a few steps with the diary and looked at Bai Chi.

Lowering his head and treating Zhao Zhen as if he didn't exist, Bai Chi turned around, went out the door to haul the bundle of newspapers inside, sat down in front of the coffee table, pulled out a notebook, and began attentively reading through the newspapers and taking notes.

"What's wrong?" Zhao Zhen walked over and squatted down beside him. "Are you mad?"

Bai Chi ignored him and continued reading the newspaper.

"Here, I'm returning it to you." Zhao Zhen placed the diary in front of Bai Chi and waved a hand in front of his eyes. "Still angry?"

Bai Chi took the diary back, put it behind his back, stayed silent, and went right back to reading the newspaper.

"Did you attend L Elementary School in K City when you were little?" Zhao Zhen leaned closer to ask. "I'm a few years older than you, but... it seems like you were there when I was studying too... a few grades below me, huh?"

Bai Chi put down his pen, lowered his head, and said nothing.

Zhao Zhen leaned in even closer and said, "Yet I really don't have any impression of you. How did I offend you... care to tell me about it?"

DIDIDIDIDIDIDI~~~~~~

His phone rang. Bai Chi hurriedly answered it; it was Bai Yutang calling. "Hello, Big Brother~~~ Mmm, alright."

After hanging up the phone, Zhao Zhen sensed that Bai Chi's mood seemed to have improved. He watched as Bai Chi neatly organized the newspapers, tidied up, and looked as though he was about to head out.

Bai Chi's mood had naturally shifted from overcast to sunny because Bai Yutang had told him that S.C.I. was holding a celebration banquet tonight to welcome him into the team. Given his commendable performance in the recent case, he had successfully passed his probationary period and become a full-fledged member.

Fully prepared, Bai Chi walked up to the door, looked at Zhao Zhen, and signaled with his eyes: "Get out!!"

Zhao Zhen helplessly stood up and walked to the door. "Where are you going? I have a car, want a ride??"

Bai Chi held out his hand. "Give me back three yuan."

"Huh??" Zhao Zhen was startled. "When did I owe you three yuan?"

"For the apple!" Bai Chi glared. "It was very expensive!"

"Why are you so petty??" Zhao Zhen frowned. "You're even making a fuss over eating an apple of yours?"

"What makes you think... I'd treat you?!" Bai Yutang—no, Bai Chi spoke with complete righteousness: "I only treat my friends to food!"

"You!!" Zhao Zhen drew in a breath of anger. "Fine! You win." With that, he fished out a ten-yuan bill and pressed it into Bai Chi's hand. "Keep the change!" and turned to leave.

After taking a few steps, he heard Bai Chi call out to him, "Wait a minute!"

Zhao Zhen turned around with a smile, thinking to himself: Who can possibly resist my charm?? But then he felt two unidentified objects hurtling toward him, whistling through the wind...

He hurriedly reached out and caught one, but was violently struck in the head by the other with a loud "Thud~~~"

"Ah~~~" Covering his head to look, he saw an apple in his hand and an apple on the ground... He looked up.

Bai Chi glared at him fiercely: "We're even!!" Then he hurled a one-yuan coin straight at the forehead of the dazed Zhao Zhen... "Ah~~~"

Walking out of the apartment and getting into his car, Zhao Zhen took a fierce bite of the apple in his hand. Rubbing the two bumps on his head, he gnashed his teeth: "Damn kid! He's driving me crazy!"

Zhan Zhao looked with full admiration at the private dining room Bai Yutang had chosen, desperately wanting to write the word "Impressive"—the single children's-themed private room in the S City Hotel~~~ specially designed for children's birthday celebrations, with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck plastered all over the walls.

"What on earth is going on inside that brain of yours??" Zhan Zhao asked Bai Yutang.

"I didn't pick it, it was the Ding family twins!!" Bai Yutang hurriedly clarified. "Though come to think of it, it actually fits quite well..."

At seven o'clock in the evening, everyone had arrived, though the headcount was far greater than expected. Aside from the S.C.I. crew, there were members of the Major Crimes Unit, Qi Le's band, plus the Ding family twins and Bai Jingtang. The private room was packed to bursting, and a group of young people partied like crazy past midnight.

Gongsun was the first to escape, his temples aching and a buzzing sound ringing in his ears.

"Are you very tired? Shall I take you back first?" Following closely behind Gongsun, Bai Jingtang reached out to massage his temples and asked right by his ear.

"Mmm..." Gongsun nodded, his head feeling dizzy as if he had drunk too much.

The two walked into the elevator, and Bai Jingtang draped his jacket over Gongsun's shoulders, saying, "I'll go get the car. Wait for me at the entrance."

Stepping out through the hotel's front doors, the cool night breeze cleared Gongsun's head quite a bit.

"Need any help?" A voice came from beside him. Gongsun turned around in some surprise to see a very sharp-looking man standing next to him, looking at him with a hint of concern. Gongsun glanced at him and sensed an aura on him somewhat similar to Bai Jingtang's—the aura of an elite...

Shaking his head, Gongsun didn't much care for this man's eyes. Although he appeared very attentive and friendly, there was an undisguised calculation behind it. In fact, Gongsun utterly disliked dealing with businessmen. Bai Jingtang could be considered an exception; besides being Bai Yutang's older brother and having a special status, there was never any hypocrisy in his eyes. Sometimes he even looked like a puppy—direct and a bit innocent—just a rather large-sized puppy.

"You don't look so well," the man pressed on with another question. "Really nothing wrong?"

Suddenly realizing that his own wandering thoughts had led him to think Bai Jingtang was somewhat cute, Gongsun felt his face burn slightly. He turned his head and said coldly to the man, "No need."

"My name is Shen Qian," the man said politely, extending a hand toward him.

Gongsun, however, did not reach out, choosing instead to gaze straight ahead. "I'm not interested."

"But I'm very interested in you," Shen Qian said with a smile.

At that moment, Bai Jingtang had already driven his car up. From afar, he spotted the person standing with Gongsun and furrowed his brow slightly.

Gongsun also saw that familiar Mercedes-Benz. Ignoring the person beside him anymore, he strode over, got into the car, and Shen Qian waved to him: "Goodbye, Gongsun..." Before he could even finish his sentence, Bai Jingtang had already driven off.

"—Is your head still hurting?" After driving in silence for a good while, Bai Jingtang couldn't help speaking up to break the silence.

Gongsun looked at him with amusement. "I thought you were going to ask who that person just now was."

Bai Jingtang fell silent for a moment before saying, "His name is Shen Qian, the head of the Shen Group, and my business competitor."

"Oh~~~" Gongsun nodded in understanding. "No wonder."

"No wonder what?" Bai Jingtang asked casually, though his gaze was intent.

"Nothing in particular." Gongsun deliberately withheld the answer. He could feel Bai Jingtang's unease and found it quite amusing; lately, that originally overbearing and autocratic man had actually been listening more obediently than a puppy, constantly treading carefully as if he were desperately trying to learn how to get along with him.

"He said he was interested in me." Gongsun looked at Bai Jingtang with a smile. "What are you going to do next? Have someone rub him out?"

Bai Jingtang sighed inwardly. This little goblin...

The car pulled into the underground parking garage of Gongsun's apartment building. Bai Jingtang killed the engine, turned to look at Gongsun, and asked, "Are you still angry with me?"

Gongsun raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

"Gongsun." Bai Jingtang turned sideways, gazed intently at Gongsun, and said, "You've been torturing me for a whole month."

"When have I?" Gongsun smiled as harmlessly as a domestic animal.

Bai Jingtang sighed. "Get out of the car, I'll walk you up."

"What do you mean by walk me up?" Gongsun asked, perplexed. "Don't you live upstairs too?"

"..." Bai Jingtang stared at Gongsun in sheer disbelief. "You... you mean I can move back in?"

Gongsun stepped out of the car. "That apartment belongs to you. Whether you live there or not, what does it have to do with me?"

"I'll live there! I'm moving back in tonight!" Bai Jingtang closed the car door and hurried after Gongsun. "Lend me a spare quilt first; mine is still at the office."

"I don't have any extra quilts."

"Then can I sleep in yours?"

"In your dreams."

"Gongsun..."

"Take your hand off!"

"Alright, alright..."

Zhan Zhao had also been carried back home by Bai Yutang. Although Bai Yutang had blocked most of the liquor for him, Zhan Zhao—whose alcohol tolerance was abysmal yet who happened to be quite fond of drinking—got dizzy and sloshed after just a few cups. With flushed cheeks, he collapsed onto the sofa and fell soundly asleep. Left with no choice, Bai Yutang decided to make a tactical retreat with him first.

He placed Zhan Zhao on the bed and unbuttoned his jacket...

"Mmm~~~" Zhan Zhao reached out, wrapped his arms around Bai Yutang's waist, rubbed against him, and mumbled fuzzily, "Luban~~~"

..........

That cat named Luban was the Burmese Ragdoll cat that Bai Jingtang had brought back for the two of them. However, because both of them were super busy and that particular breed of cat despised being lonely, Zhan Zhao—no matter how reluctant he was—had ultimately been forced to let the mothers of the Zhan and Bai families raise it instead.

Bai Yutang pried Zhan Zhao's arms away from his waist and helped him take off his jacket. Zhan Zhao flipped over, grabbed Bai Yutang's arm, and rubbed against it again. "Luban..."

Drawing a sharp intake of breath, Bai Yutang forcefully pulled his arm back, warning himself to stay calm. He reached out to loosen Zhan Zhao's tie, only for Zhan Zhao to wrap his arms around his neck once more and rub against him. "Luban..."

Boom~~~ Bai Yutang felt his rationality abandon him entirely...

Lowering his head, he captured Zhan Zhao's slightly parted lips and kissed him deeply... Following a lingering, tender kiss, he saw Zhan Zhao groggily rub against him again and softly murmur, "Yutang..."

Boom~~~ Bai Yutang's rationality flew right back to him.

He sighed, looked down at the completely defenseless Zhan Zhao who was snuggling and rubbing against his chest, and gave a wry, helpless smile. This was the cat's trust in him, and he absolutely could not let him down. As much as he wanted to, now wasn't the right time; it wouldn't be fair to the cat.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he took off his jacket, settled into a comfortable posture, pulled Zhan Zhao securely into his embrace, and pulled the quilt over them... Cat, sleep well~~~

Two hours later, Bai Yutang switched on the lamp and thought earnestly—That tone Zhan Zhao used to call "Yutang" just now seemed identical to the way he called "Luban" earlier~~~

He switched off the lamp—and went back to sleep.

Early the next morning, Bai Yutang was awakened by the shrill ringing of his phone.

"Hello?" He checked his watch—five o'clock?

Zhan Zhao woke up as well, lifting his head to look.

He watched as Bai Yutang listened to the call, his expression gradually turning grim. Without a word, Bai Yutang closed his phone and frowned.

"What is it?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Bai Yutang looked at him. "That kid from the kindergarten yesterday—Sun Qian, the one who first discovered the body... Her family reported to the police that she went missing yesterday."

"What?" Zhan Zhao sat bolt upright in shock. "How could that be?"

"Her father said he had agreed with her yesterday to pick her up fifteen minutes late and told her to wait by the entrance. But when he got there, he couldn't find Sun Qian. At first, he thought she had gone to a friend's place or her grandmother's, but after searching everywhere, she was nowhere to be found." Bai Yutang looked somewhat uneasy. "Cat, could it be..."

"I want to go to the scene!" Zhan Zhao quickly scrambled up and started getting dressed.

Half an hour later, the two of them appeared at the kindergarten. The school had already ordered classes suspended, and all the teachers had mobilized to search for her. When Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang arrived at the kindergarten entrance, they saw little Lu Zhen standing there, head bowed as if staring at something.

"Lu Zhen?" Zhan Zhao tapped him on the shoulder. "Why are you here?"

Lu Zhen turned around, his face somewhat pale, and said, "I said goodbye to Qianqian right here yesterday. I went home, and she waited by herself for her dad to come pick her up..."

Bai Yutang surveyed the surrounding environment. The school entrance opened right onto the street, with a convenience store directly opposite. He walked over toward the convenience store to make inquiries.

Lu Zhen tugged at Zhan Zhao's hand. "I want to... go look for her with you guys."

Zhan Zhao nodded, squatted down, and asked, "Do you like Qianqian very much?"

"Mmm." Lu Zhen nodded. "I should have stayed and waited with her yesterday. Because she kept crying... I got a little annoyed..." His voice gradually trailed off, full of self-reproach.

Rubbing the boy's head, Zhan Zhao consoled him, "It's not your fault."

Bai Yutang ran back and said, "The store owner across the street said he didn't pay too much attention."

Zhan Zhao walked over to the spot Lu Zhen had pointed out, slowly spun 360 degrees in place, and scanned his surroundings. "This is a bustling area. If someone forcibly abducted a little girl, it would be impossible not to attract other people's attention."

"Did she leave on her own accord?" Bai Yutang wondered. "Where would she go?"

Zhan Zhao's gaze suddenly landed on a certain spot not far away, and he asked Lu Zhen, "Does Qianqian really like Teacher Zhang?"

"Mmm." Lu Zhen nodded.

"If you wanted to send something to the deceased Teacher Zhang, what would you choose?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"...Flowers?" Bai Yutang said without a moment's hesitation. "To place at the classroom door."

Zhan Zhao asked again, "She's just a little kid with no money on her to buy flowers... What would she do?"

"Pick some?" Bai Yutang began looking around—"For example, a flower bed... a park..." His gaze landed on a flower bed not far away by the roadside, right where Zhan Zhao was staring. A cluster of small white chrysanthemums was blooming inside it...

The two exchanged glances and walked briskly toward that flower bed. Behind the flower bed was a street corner... bounded by a brick wall, and behind the wall was a demolished building site—a construction zone.

Filled with a bad premonition, the two rounded the brick wall and stepped into that abandoned, demolished construction site.

Continuing forward, they found several large concrete water pipes propped up high. Stepping up onto the pipes and looking down, the two of them were frozen in shock~~~

Down in the open space beneath the concrete pipes, there was a bizarre red circular pattern—the familiar magic array. Right in the very center of the pattern lay a tiny corpse, with a bloody gash across the neck. Bai Yutang dialed his phone to summon the S.C.I. team. Following that, he jumped down, walked over to the body, and little Lu Zhen, who had followed him down, clenched his fists tightly. "If I had just stayed and waited with her yesterday..."

Bai Yutang squatted down, pulled Lu Zhen—who was desperately holding back his tears—into an embrace, and patted him to comfort him. "It's not your fault."

Turning his head, however, he saw that Zhan Zhao was still standing dazed atop the concrete pipe, staring down with an expression of sheer horror on his face...

"Cat?" Bai Yutang walked back and came to his side. In the distance, the sound of sirens approached, and a large contingent of police officers came running over, followed by the school's teachers, heartbroken parents, and reporters swarming in response to the news...

Zhan Zhao stood there quietly, as if everything had nothing to do with him, not uttering a single word.

"Cat!" Bai Yutang gently shook him a few times. "What's wrong with you?"

Zhan Zhao turned his head to look at him and said, "He's back!"

"What?" Bai Yutang was uncomprehending.

"The magic murderer." Zhan Zhao took a deep breath. "This is different from yesterday's case. This was done by the original master... He's back, as if awakened by yesterday's case."

"Are you sure?" Bai Yutang asked.

"Mmm." Zhan Zhao nodded. "Look at it, feel it!"

Bai Yutang turned around to gaze intently at the corpse and the magic pattern beneath his feet... Indeed, it carried a completely different vibe from yesterday's scene—one of excitement, enjoyment, and intoxication... enough to make one's blood run cold.