S.C.I. (Volume I) - Case 4: Chapter 13
The Non-Human Killer 13 - Luring with a Scheme
Inside Zhao Zhen's studio, in front of a large wardrobe used for storing performance costumes
Zhao Zhen had already cleared out the clothes from the wardrobe and packed them into boxes, leaving the doors wide open. Standing in front of it were two people—Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao.
Bai Yutang looked at the wardrobe, which was several centimeters shorter than him, and asked Zhao Zhen, "Is this the only thing in your place that can hide a person?!"
Zhao Zhen looked left and right, pointing at a large magic trunk. "Or you could hide in that one? That's huge!"
Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang took a look and recognized it as the kind of box frequently seen in magic shows, where a person hides inside and daggers are thrust through the holes in the box~~~
The two of them stared at the box, exchanged raised eyebrows and a mutual look, and shook their heads in unison. "Forget it, let's stick to the wardrobe..."
"Why did Morris suddenly say he wanted to come over and spend the night here?" Zhan Zhao asked Zhao Zhen, looking perplexed.
"He said someone was trying to kill him and he was scared to stay alone," Zhao Zhen replied, gesturing toward Lisbon. "Lisbon is here—not even ghosts dare to come near~~~"
"If..." Bai Yutang suddenly asked, "If someone tries to harm you, and it's someone you know... would Lisbon attack them?"
Zhao Zhen thought for a moment and nodded. "Yes."
"You might need to clear Lisbon out of here in a moment." Zhan Zhao reached out to stroke Lisbon's fluffy head~~~ Lisbon was already quite familiar with Zhan Zhao, and clearly recognized that Zhan Zhao, like itself, belonged to the feline family~~~ So the man and the lion greeted each other affectionately, looking like a pair meeting after a long-delayed separation.
"You aren't going to make me do anything dangerous, are you?" Zhao Zhen asked half-jokingly.
"I need you to provoke him," Zhan Zhao smiled. "You should know how."
"Provoke?" Zhao Zhen looked puzzled. "You mean, make him angry?"
"Make him lose control of his emotions," Zhan Zhao said. "Let his true nature show."
Zhao Zhen fell silent for a long moment before letting out a sigh. "I'll do my best~~~"
At that moment, the doorbell rang. Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang quickly dived into the wardrobe; in his haste, Bai Yutang bumped his head against the top shelf, wincing in pain.
Zhan Zhao reached out, shoved him further inward, ducked in after him, and slammed the wardrobe door shut.
Bai Yutang couldn't stand up straight, so he had to bend his upper body over, resting his chin on Zhan Zhao's shoulder. With nowhere to put his hands, he thought for a moment and finally rested them around Zhan Zhao's waist.
Zhan Zhao turned his head to glare at him, reaching out to grab his sleeve and pull his hands away, but Bai Yutang refused to let go.
"What are you doing?! You dead rat!" Zhan Zhao scolded him in a low hiss.
"This saves space~~~" Bai Yutang hugged him tighter. "And it's easier to talk." With that, he blew a gentle breath against Zhan Zhao's ear.
He watched with satisfaction as the man's ear turned crimson from his breath, the blush spreading down his cheek and slowly creeping all the way to his neck.
Indignant, Zhan Zhao turned his head, fully intending to argue with this shameless rat, but voices and footsteps suddenly sounded outside. The two of them instantly fell silent, holding their breath to see what was happening.
They saw Zhao Zhen walking in accompanied by Morris, who was holding a bottle of wine.
"Zhen, I'm so glad you were willing to take me in. I couldn't even sleep last night." Morris muttered, draping an arm casually over Zhao Zhen's shoulder. Though it looked casual, his eyes remained locked onto the side of Zhao Zhen's face.
Peering through the cracks from inside the wardrobe, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang clearly caught Morris's gaze and exchanged a surprised look.
Bai Yutang jutted his chin toward Morris and whispered in Zhan Zhao's ear, "I never noticed before, but who would've thought Morris had designs on Zhao Zhen."
Inside the wardrobe, the two of them focused intently on the gap, waiting to see how things would develop.
Morris kept chattering away, but Zhao Zhen barely responded, acting somewhat tense as he skillfully shrugged off the arm Morris had draped over his shoulder, maintaining a distinct distance between them.
Although Morris pretended on the surface not to notice, a flash of obvious confusion flickered in his eyes.
"Where am I staying?" Morris asked.
"Pick wherever you like, there are plenty of rooms." Zhao Zhen picked up a newspaper, sat on the sofa, rested his head against a dozing Lisbon, and began to read.
Inside the wardrobe, Bai Yutang tapped Zhan Zhao lightly, gesturing toward Zhao Zhen with his eyes as if to ask—He's being this cold, will it work??
Zhan Zhao smiled at him and gave a single thumbs-up, as if saying, "Zhao Zhen's move is brilliant!"
"You're so cold today~~~" Morris walked over and sat down beside Zhao Zhen. "What happened?"
"Huh?" Zhao Zhen glanced at him with mild annoyance. "What nonsense are you talking about?"
"I brought a bottle of good wine. Want to have a drink?" Morris picked up the bottle he brought and smiled broadly at Zhao Zhen. "Your favorite, French Porto."
Seeing the wine, Zhao Zhen seemed to perk up a bit of interest, then suddenly stared blankly at the bottle with a faint smile playing on his lips.
"Are you remembering the days when we were studying in France?" Morris asked, his face beaming.
"Hm?" Zhao Zhen blinked, snapped out of it, and then shook his head with a smile. "I remember the last time I drank with Bai Chi—that little guy was especially hilarious when he got drunk!"
Bai Yutang bared his teeth at Zhan Zhao, as if to say—See that? The kid is truly Lord Zhao's nephew—so crafty!!!
Zhan Zhao nodded too—It's a good thing his character isn't bad, otherwise he'd definitely be a handful.
On the sofa, Morris's expression began to turn ashen. He said coldly, "Bai Chi? That little cop who got you hurt?!"
"What do you mean he got me hurt? He saved my life," Zhao Zhen said indifferently, a hint of displeasure crossing his face.
"Does someone like you even need him to save you?" Morris forced a smile, then pivoted the topic. "Zhen, I'm heading back to France next week. When are you going back?"
Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang hidden in the wardrobe were startled—This Morris wants to run!
Zhao Zhen looked at him with strange bewilderment. "Who said I'm going back? I'm not leaving."
"Are you crazy?!" Morris looked almost angry as he stared at Zhao Zhen. "Most of your career is overseas; not many people here know you. In France, you're a world-class magician!!"
"Doesn't matter~~~" Zhao Zhen shrugged. "I only do magic for fun anyway, but I've found something much more fun now."
Bai Yutang curled his lip at Zhan Zhao inside the wardrobe—Look at him, he doesn't even need to do magic; he could be an actor. He's got a bright future ahead!
Zhan Zhao wondered—Is Zhao Zhen really that famous?
Bai Yutang raised an eyebrow, flicked his hand gently near Zhan Zhao's ear, and produced a coin out of thin air.
Zhan Zhao shot him a sidelong glance—When did you learn how to do that?!
With a gentle upward flick of his hand, the coin instantly vanished. Bai Yutang blinked smugly at Zhan Zhao—I was born knowing how, my dear!
"Are you going to give it all up? Just for that utterly ordinary little cop?" Morris grew increasingly agitated, reaching out to grab Zhao Zhen by the collar. "You'd better think this through!!"
"Huuu............ huu..." Before Morris could finish speaking, Lisbon, resting beside Zhao Zhen, woke up at some point. It raised its head, looked at Morris's hand gripping Zhao Zhen's collar, narrowed its eyes, and let out a low rumble as if issuing a warning.
Morris suddenly snapped back to his senses. Seeing Zhao Zhen staring at him with a look of surprise in his eyes, he forced an awkward smile and quickly let go.
Zhan Zhao stared and stared at Lisbon, then turned to look at Bai Yutang.
Bai Yutang saw his gaze flashing and flashing, as if saying—How majestic! I really want to keep one~~~ Little Bai, let's go get one too. We could even use it as a police dog on ordinary days. How imposing would that look in the S.C.I.?!
Unable to hold back a smile, Bai Yutang nodded at Zhan Zhao—Tomorrow I'll go pick up Luban and we'll stuff him full of food until he's just as burly as Lisbon!!
"I suppose I got a bit too worked up." Morris sat back a bit, but Lisbon kept its eyes locked on him, showing not the slightest intention of relaxing its guard.
Zhan Zhao frowned—We have to get Lisbon out of here, otherwise Morris will keep his guard up the entire time.
"Let's have some wine." Morris stood up, pulled out a corkscrew to open the bottle, and said casually as if nothing were wrong, "Lisbon has been getting fiercer and fiercer lately. I'm afraid it might mistake me for a midnight snack tonight."
Hearing this, Zhao Zhen nodded. "Bai Chi has spoiled it rotten. Now it only listens to the kid." With that, Zhao Zhen nudged Lisbon's massive head and gave it a cue, whereupon Lisbon trotted happily out of the room.
Inside the wardrobe, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang lightly bumped fists—Oh yeah~~~
Following that, the two of them paid even closer attention to Morris's every move. He had intentionally chased Lisbon away just now, which meant... he was about to make a move.
"Bring two glasses over!" Morris called out.
Zhao Zhen put down his newspaper, lazily stood up, and walked over to the kitchen to fetch the glasses.
Bai Yutang frowned slightly, signaling Zhan Zhao to watch Morris. They saw him pull a capsule from his pocket, open it up, and pour the powder straight into the wine bottle.
At that moment, Zhao Zhen walked back in holding the glasses. Morris took the glasses, poured a drink and handed it to Zhao Zhen, then poured one for himself.
Whether Zhao Zhen noticed or not, he simply took the glass and drank, walking over toward the sofa with his glass now only half full.
Morris walked over to the door and gently closed it, locking it with a crisp "click."
Zhan Zhao widened his eyes and looked at Bai Yutang—Little Bai, did Zhao Zhen actually drink that?
Bai Yutang looked somewhat worried as well, but then he saw Zhao Zhen act as if he were warm, reaching out to unbutton the collar of his shirt while quietly winking in the direction of the wardrobe.
The two inside the wardrobe let out a sigh of relief. It looked like Zhao Zhen was already prepared.
Then they watched as he left his collar open, leaning lazily against the sofa, looking like...
No matter how Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at it, it felt entirely awkward—he looked like a young Lord Zhao through and through!!
Morris walked over slowly, looking down at Zhao Zhen sprawled on the sofa, and asked in a low voice, "Zhen, what's wrong?"
Zhao Zhen shook his head. "I might have drank it too fast..." As he spoke, he reached for the phone beside the sofa and began pressing the buttons.
"Who are you calling?" Morris snatched the phone away. "I'll dial for you."
"Call Bai Chi over..." Zhao Zhen said.
"Why call him?" Morris's voice gradually grew cold.
"I haven't eaten yet," Zhao Zhen said with a smile. "Call him over to cook winter melon and pork rib soup for me to drink..."
Morris slowly leaned in closer, staring straight into Zhao Zhen's eyes. "Do you really like him that much?"
"Hm?" Zhao Zhen smiled. "Yeah, he's so cute..."
"Then what about me?"
"You?" Zhao Zhen's consciousness seemed increasingly blurred. He looked at Morris with hesitation. "Who are you..."
Morris's gaze instantly turned icy, and the anger on his face grew heavier. "You... are you going to ignore me too... Zhen?"
Inside the wardrobe, Zhan Zhao curled the corner of his lips into a smile and glanced at Bai Yutang—It's about time!
Bai Yutang looked somewhat puzzled—What about that line, "are you going to ignore me too"? What does that prove?
At that moment, Zhao Zhen seemed to want to stand up, struggling twice but failing to rise. "I'm a bit dizzy... You..." He stared at Morris for another moment. "What did you give me to drink?"
"Did you figure out who I am?" Morris asked somewhat neurotically. "My name? What is my name?"
Ignoring him, Zhao Zhen reached for the phone again. "Call the little thing over to cook something to eat..."
"Have you always treated me like air?!" Morris suddenly stood up in a burst of rage, snatched the phone from Zhao Zhen's hand, and violently hurled it away, dragging the telephone cord along as it overturned the small end table holding the phone... with a loud crash.
Morris lunged forward, pinning Zhao Zhen down against the sofa. "Tell me! What am I to you?! I've chased after you for ten years, trying every possible way to win your favor. Have you ever spared me a second glance? If you had fallen for someone else, I could let it go, but why—why does it have to be that worthless, ordinary little punk? Tell me! Why!"
Bai Yutang glanced at Zhan Zhao and asked softly, "Could Zhao Zhen be in danger?"
Zhan Zhao frowned as well, hesitating slightly—It's still not quite enough. If we had a bit more provocation, it would be better...
Right at that moment, a sharp "bang" rang out—a gunshot.
A bullet struck the door lock, and someone kicked the door open, charging straight inside—it was Bai Chi. He stood in the doorway with his face flushed bright red, holding a gun in one hand and carrying winter melon and pork ribs in the other. Seeing Morris pressed down on top of Zhao Zhen on the sofa, Bai Chi's face turned pale instantly, and he roared at Morris, "What do you think you're doing?!"
Inside the wardrobe, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao dropped their jaws and stood frozen for a long while.
Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao—Mousie, was this part of your plan all along too?!
Zhan Zhao shook his head repeatedly—No way~~~ I'm not a god.
But soon, the two of them exchanged another look, breaking into a cunning smile—This stimulation is actually not bad at all!!
They bumped fists—It's destiny!!!