S.C.I. (Volume I) - Case 4: Chapter 15
The Non-Human Killer 15 - Opportunity
"Bai Chi... wait." Zhan Zhao hurried up to catching the fleeing Bai Chi and grabbed his arm. "Hold on a second."
Bai Chi's face was burning with heat, feeling both furious and mortified. He tried to wrench himself free from Zhan Zhao to keep running, only to hear Zhan Zhao let out a sharp hiss of intake through his teeth.
Suddenly remembering that Zhan Zhao still had an injury on his arm, Bai Chi stopped dead in his tracks and turned back to inspect his arm. "Does it... does it hurt?"
Sighing softly, Zhan Zhao reached out to ruffle his hair. "Stop running. It was our fault, don't be mad."
Bai Chi lowered his head in silence, his hands clasped behind his back as the tip of his shoe ground back and forth against a small pebble on the ground~~~
Zhan Zhao pulled him over to sit down on the edge of a nearby flower bed and said, "We didn't mean to tease you, it really was just a coincidence."
Bai Chi wasn't an idiot; he knew full well that Zhan Zhao and the others couldn't have calculated that he would go over to make soup for Zhao Zhen at that exact moment. He had simply walked right into the line of fire, so he blamed his own bad luck. Why on earth did he have to go looking for trouble by running over to stew soup for that guy anyway...
Seeing Bai Chi looking utterly dejected, Zhan Zhao smiled as he added, "Zhao Zhen certainly didn't do it out of malice..."
Bai Chi's face flushed a few shades redder as he felt an awkward knot in his chest, thinking to himself that if that wasn't malice, what was? He was a bad guy who only knew how to tease him...
From his expression, Zhan Zhao could tell that he and Zhao Zhen still had some emotional knots to untangle. However, it wasn't something easily brought up; this little guy was quite stubborn, so it seemed they would have to take it step by step. Besides, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were naturally partial to Bai Chi anyway. Zhao Zhen was far too mysterious and shared an unusual relationship with Zhao Jue, making it impossible for them to ever feel truly close to him...
"You performed really well just now," Zhan Zhao said, looking at Bai Chi. "Xiao Bai kept praising you inside the wardrobe."
"R... really?" little Bai Chi asked cautiously, his eyes flashing and sparkling.
"What do you think?" Zhan Zhao asked him.
Bai Chi lowered his head to ponder for a moment, then broke into a glowing, pleased smile. "For the first time, I had that kind of feeling..."
"What kind of feeling?"
"It was... the feeling of holding a gun and not being afraid," Bai Chi muttered to himself, staring down at the toes of his shoes. "In the past, I was always afraid I'd miss, so I never even dared to shoot. The more other people talked about me, the more flustered I'd get..."
"In the past, a lot of people told you that you weren't good enough, and they'd even chase after you to say it, didn't they?"
"Mn..." Bai Chi nodded. "They all said I wasn't cut out to be a police officer, that I was bringing shame upon the Bai family. No matter how hard I tried, they could always pick out flaws in everything I did."
"Do you know why they said those things to you?" Zhan Zhao asked with a smile.
Bai Chi raised his head, shook it, and looked at Zhan Zhao, waiting for the answer.
Zhan Zhao reached out and patted Bai Chi's shoulder. "Because whatever you have within you is something they could never obtain, even if they tried their hardest!"
"Just like Morris..." Seeing the faint trace of puzzlement on Bai Chi's face, Zhan Zhao continued slowly, "Morris only saw that he had labored for years and yet still had to remain the assistant to a hack, failing to see that he was already a successful photographer in his own right. He only saw that Zhao Zhen didn't care about him, failing to see that he had already managed to get remarkably close to Zhao Zhen... And as for you? Even when everyone else doubted you—even when you didn't even believe in yourself—you still had the courage to walk alone onto that dark rooftop; you claimed you didn't like Zhao Zhen, yet you were still the first to consider that medication might harm his health..."
"Aren't these... just the basics..." Bai Chi said softly, feeling somewhat uncomfortable with Zhan Zhao's praise.
"The most precious thing of all is that things others find unbelievable are, to you, simply basic things that ought to be done." Zhan Zhao gazed at the streetlamps along the curb as if talking to himself. "The tragedy of a genius is having an extraordinary mind coupled with an unusual heart. If they had an extraordinary mind paired with an ordinary heart, like you, there wouldn't be nearly so much conflict..."
"Then you mean... what I did was right?" Bai Chi asked Zhan Zhao earnestly. "As long as I stick to my own path, even if people keep telling me I'm no good, I can still face them with confidence?!"
Zhan Zhao nodded. "As for those people who constantly tail you, tell you you're no good, and go out of their way to pick faults and find trouble with you, they simply have psychological issues."
Bai Chi looked puzzled. "Psychological issues?"
"That's right." Zhan Zhao nodded. "When you're striving forward toward your own goals, they rack their brains to attack you with words and create difficulties for you, intending to throw you off balance and wear down your enthusiasm... Because by doing so, while remaining incapable of achieving those things themselves, they derive a certain psychological balance from tearing you down and making you miserable. In truth, you can simply laugh off that kind of behavior; it's actually a disguised form of encouragement. What's more, you'll often find that the very people who act like this are the ones paying the closest attention to your every move, tracking you step-by-step and hunting for trouble. Clearly dissatisfied with you, they still can't take their eyes off you for a single second. But you just need to remember this: while they are trailing behind you venting their lungs out with discontent, you are striding boldly forward along your own path. The insignificant obstacles they manufacture cannot affect you in the least! What you can achieve, they will never achieve; the praise and support you earn, they will never receive! So... do you understand what I mean?"
...After a moment of silence, Bai Chi nodded. "I understand. I will work hard, remain confident, and walk my own path. For my own sake and for the sake of those who love me, as long as I have these things, it will be my greatest motivation and joy, and any obstacles will be utterly trivial! No matter how much they talk down about me, they can never stop me from becoming a truly good police officer!"
Zhan Zhao nodded with satisfaction. "Correct!"
When Bai Yutang escorted Morris out of Zhao Zhen's place, he saw the two people sitting by the flower bed engaged in a heart-to-heart talk... Bai Chi had been completely tamed by Zhan Zhao.
Bai Yutang could practically see that imaginary tail behind Bai Chi wagging back and forth, his ears drooping, his eyes sparkling, with his entire coat of fur smoothed down so obediently that he looked ready to start rubbing affectionately against Zhan Zhao.
For the N-th time inwardly marveling at this cat's cunning and craftiness, Bai Yutang patted approaching Bai Chi on the shoulder. "Good job. Looks like giving you that gun was definitely the right call; Zhao Zhen understands you best after all."
Bai Chi paused for a fraction of a second, then said to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, "Um, Big Bro, you guys go on ahead. I'll... go inside and check on Zhao Zhen." Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao exchanged a glance, escorted Morris into the car, and drove away.
Bai Chi stood at the doorway for a moment before turning back inside to re-enter the apartment.
Zhao Zhen was currently cleaning up the scattered winter melon and pork ribs off the floor, with Lisbon lying nearby. Whether it was just his imagination or not, Bai Chi felt that Lisbon's gaze toward Zhao Zhen held a hint of sympathy.
Lowering his head in silence, Bai Chi walked over to help him tidy up the mess on the floor. Seeing how clumsy Zhao Zhen was being, Bai Chi fetched a bath towel from the bathroom and handed it to him. "Go inside and take a shower!"
Obediently taking the towel, Zhao Zhen headed into the bathroom. When he emerged washed and cleaned up, he was immediately greeted by a rich aroma wafting from the kitchen.
Walking up to the kitchen doorway, he saw Bai Chi wearing an apron and stirring a pot. The scent was unmistakable—winter melon and pork rib soup.
"Little one..." Zhao Zhen pointed at the pot. "You didn't pick those pieces up off the floor and cook them again, did you~~~"
Bai Chi glared at him. "I just went out and bought fresh ones! Counting the ones from earlier, that's a total of two blocks of winter melon and four pounds of ribs!"
Suppressing a smile, Zhao Zhen said, "I'm not paying for them~~~"
Bai Chi lowered his head to continue tending the soup. "Forget it, consider it my treat."
"Really?" Zhao Zhen smiled and walked up beside Bai Chi...
Simmering soup
Serving soup
Drinking soup
The atmosphere was harmonious in a way rarely seen.
When Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang brought Morris back to the police station, they received a very interesting piece of news—in that short span of time, for reasons unknown, Lü Yan, Qu Yanming, along with Wu Kai and Xu Yadong currently in the special ward, had all voluntarily confessed that they had been threatened and instigated by Shang Luo, and that the person controlling their actions was someone called Tusi.
The suspects had confessed around the same time, and their accounts matched up almost identically, claiming that this Tusi was a god-like entity capable of controlling human action and thought processes.
"Mousie, what do you make of this?" Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao as he looked over the interrogation transcripts of the suspects. "So many people confessed almost simultaneously, and their statements are word-for-word identical."
"Mn~~~" Zhan Zhao stroked his chin. "That really is quite bizarre. Could they have found out that Morris was arrested?!"
"What on earth is this Tusi?" Gongsun asked, looking perplexed. "Aside from hearing a voice, nobody's ever seen a face."
Bai Yutang asked Jiang Ping if Wang Chao and the others had mobilized.
Jiang Ping nodded. Following Bai Yutang's arrangements, Wang Chao and Zhang Long were keeping watch on Fu Yishan's house, while Ma Han and Zhao Hu were staking out Ning's two assistants.
As for Shang Luo, due to his complicated background and to avoid startling the snake in the grass, no concrete moves were being made against him yet; instead, Han Zhang and Xu Qing had been dispatched to keep him under covert surveillance.
Right at that moment, Bao Zheng pushed open the door and walked in.
Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao exchanged a glance and spoke in unison: "A week hasn't even passed yet..."
With a dark expression, Bao Zheng glared at the two of them and said to Zhan Zhao, "Xiao Zhan, you've won an award."
"Huh??" Zhan Zhao looked slightly baffled, glancing between Bai Yutang and Gongsun and seeing matching looks of puzzlement on their faces as well.
Bao Zheng pulled out an official letter and said, "This letter was sent by the International Association of Applied Psychology this morning. Didn't you write an academic book on hypnotic suggestion and split personalities a while ago?"
"Ah! The one written around the time of the Digital Serial Murders case." Bai Yutang remembered and asked Bao Zheng, "Did that win an award?"
"Mn." Bao Zheng nodded. "The International Psychological Association is holding a small celebration ceremony at the International Hotel tomorrow and has invited you to attend. Here is the invitation."
Zhan Zhao frowned. "I never go to pick up those kinds of awards, and I don't like attending those events..."
Bai Yutang chimed in, "Bureau Chief Bao, look at what time it is~~~ We're up to our necks in work here~~"
Bao Zheng smiled as he looked at the two of them. "You two sure have high political consciousness... Do you think I'm playing games with you? Take a look at the guest list!"
The two of them took the document and looked it over.
"...Shang Luo?!" they both cried out in astonishment.
"How could he possibly be on it?!" Gongsun wondered aloud. "He has zero to do with psychology!"
Bao Zheng nodded. "That's right, he's not a professional in the field, but... this award—he has been funding it all along!"
Hearing this, the group exchanged glances.
Bai Yutang sneered. "Who would've thought? Shang Luo is quite the philanthropist, supporting academia and fighting against crime to boot!"
Gongsun took the list to examine it himself. "True, on the surface Shang Luo runs a security firm, which also touches upon security-related operations..."
"Bureau Chief Bao, are you having us use this opportunity to probe Shang Luo's bottom line?!" Zhan Zhao said. "This is indeed a golden opportunity."
"You got half of it right." Bao Zheng smiled at Zhan Zhao and said, "I do indeed want to use this chance to scout out Shang Luo, but not both of you—just you!"
"What?" Bai Yutang was the first to jump to his feet. "Let Mousie go alone?!"
Bao Zheng nodded. Just as Bai Yutang was about to demand details, he saw Gongsun hand the guest list over and say, "Xiao Bai, getting angry won't do you any good. Only Xiao Zhan's name is on this list, not yours."
"Although attending alone carries a certain degree of risk, the opportunity is too good to pass up, and it's a public venue with lots of people." Bao Zheng looked at Zhan Zhao. "It's your call. There's some risk involved, but if Xiao Bai were by your side, the other party might heighten their guard."
Zhan Zhao took the invitation letter, wearing a calm smile. "I'll go! Of course I'm going!"
Bai Yutang stared at him for a long, hard moment before letting out a sigh. "All right, but I'm going to track your movements the entire time, and you have to wear a bulletproof vest and a wire."
Zhan Zhao opened his mouth to voice an objection, only to find the other three glaring fiercely at him in unison as they spoke together: "All objections overruled! That's how it's going to be!"
Arching an eyebrow, Zhan Zhao could only let out a silent "hmph" in his heart and obediently submit to their demands~~~