S.C.I. (Volume II) - Case 6: Chapter 1

The Innocent Killer 01 - I LOVE YOU

The scorching month of July had finally arrived, and the outdoor temperature approaching forty degrees Celsius baked people into a daze. The SI office had the air conditioning running, yet Zhao Hu and Zhang Long were still sweating so heavily they kept fanically waving their hand fans.

Perhaps the criminals had also called it a day due to the extreme heat, leaving this elite group of SI members recently so idle they were practically growing mushrooms.

Zhan Zhao happened to be the busiest one of all. Because his previous books had sold extremely well, he was now a bestselling author, and calls urging him to submit his manuscript came one after another. Editors were practically on the verge of breaking into the police station to snatch his draft away. Due to his severe delays in submission, Zhan Zhao hadn't dared to step outside these past few days for fear of being caught by his editors.

Bai Yutang, meanwhile, was working out in the lounge. Eldest Bai had outfitted the lounge with a complete set of fitness equipment, leaving the painfully idle White Rat with no choice but to consume his excess energy through exercise. Experience told him that a certain cat was absolute taboo to provoke while frantically racing against time to finish a manuscript. Once that cat's fur was ruffled in anger, he would scratch you, and afterwards he would grievance-ladenly complain, "It's all because you kept bothering me that I didn't have time to finish writing!" Therefore—cats truly were creatures of extreme cunning.

Bai Chi had recently become Zhan Zhao's super fan, hugging his books and reading endlessly, urging for the manuscript even more diligently than the editors.

Mahan and Zhao Hu's phones were both completely powered off; otherwise, they would be tracked down by certain fiercely aggressive starlets and find themselves stripped of all peace. Gongsun was even more idle, and his eccentric habits had flared up once again. Having nothing better to do, he played horror movies inside the forensics room... The forensics room, which was originally a restricted zone, frequently emitted ghost-like wails accompanied by bone-chilling laughter, terrifying everyone so much that no one dared to peek inside, and not even a single fly dared to flutter past the entrance.

A Luo's injuries had long since healed, and he was now living together with Yangyang in the police dormitory. However, this father was managed so submissively by his son that Luo Yang took care of all the housework and still constantly lectured him. Under the boy's careful management, Luo had now completely adapted to modern life, and he also looked much younger. Recently, Luo Yang had been scouting everywhere, wanting to find himself a stepmother, though regrettably without finding any good candidates.

"Huu..." Bai Yutang let out a long breath, stepping down from the equipment. Zhang Long poked his head in, looking and shaking his head at the same time. "Boss, you're trying to turn yourself into Rambo... Tsk tsk, look at that physique."

Bai Yutang glanced at the people watching from outside and frowned straight away. "Why don't you guys work out a bit instead? Even without cases, you shouldn't just eat your fill and grow a layer of fat every single day?!" Just as he finished speaking, he received a piercing, chilling glare. The rat instinctively startled, turning his gaze outward to see Zhan Zhao sending a flying eye-dagger his way. Bai Yutang quickly shut his mouth. How on earth did this cat get such a fierce temper? He was probably written out of his mind, so it was wiser not to provoke him.

Holding a towel as he headed toward the washroom, Bai Yutang's phone let out a "Meow~~" sound—it was a text message. Opening it, he saw it was from Luo Yang: "Go somewhere with no people and call me."

Bai Yutang blinked, turning his head to see A Luo completely engrossed in reading Luo Yang's textbook. He thought to himself—could that little rascal have gotten into trouble?!

Arriving at the washroom, Bai Yutang turned on the faucet with one hand while dialing Luo Yang's number with the other. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Uncle Bai~~" Luo Yang's greeting was so sweet it nearly made Bai Yutang's teeth ache and goosebumps sprout all over. Wiping away his sweat, he smiled. "What, did you cause trouble again?"

"Is my old man nearby?" Luo Yang asked cautiously.

"No, I'm in the washroom. What's up?" Bai Yutang asked while washing his towel.

"Can you come to my school for a bit?" Luo Yang asked. "Don't let my dad know."

"Why?" Bai Yutang turned off the faucet and asked, "What are you going to your school for?"

"I... The teacher called for my parents... Can you pretend to be my dad?" Luo Yang said awkwardly.

Bai Yutang chuckled in disbelief. "What huge trouble did you cause that it's serious enough to call the parents?"

"...Fighting," Luo Yang replied. "Come on over... Don't let my dad know, he'll get mad."

"Fine, wait there." Bai Yutang hung up, put away his phone, and stepped out, running right into Zhan Zhao coming from the opposite direction. "Cat, you're done writing?!"

Zhan Zhao slowly turned his head, slowly blinked, and slowly spat out a few words: "I'm quitting writing!"

Bai Yutang held back a laugh, pulling Zhan Zhao along as they headed out. "Let's go, let's head out for a spin. Staying cooped up in the room all day is going to drive you mad!" As he spoke, he dragged the listless Zhan Zhao away.

The car drove slowly to the entrance of S City's Fourth High School, where Luo Yang attended. Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao got out of the car and spotted Yangyang sitting in the security guard's room at the school entrance. Peeking out to see them arrive, Yangyang gave a wave.

From far away, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao both noticed injuries on Luo Yang's face. Exchanging a startled look, they hurried over.

"Yangyang, what happened to you?" Zhan Zhao had always doted on Luo Yang, and the moment he saw the injuries on his face, he wouldn't let it rest. "Who bullied you?!"

Luo Yang puckered his lips and stayed silent.

Bai Yutang knew full well that with Luo Yang's skills, ordinary students had no way of injuring him, so he asked, "Who did you fight with? Senior students?"

Luo Yang raised his eyes to look at Zhan Zhao, then glanced at Bai Yutang, muttering quietly, "Middle schoolers."

"How many?" Bai Yutang asked.

"...A whole class," Luo Yang hesitated for a moment before answering honestly.

"You fought an entire classroom of people?!" Zhan Zhao was shocked.

"I didn't fight back, otherwise how could I let them hurt me!" Luo Yang protested indignantly. "Old Dad instructed me that my constitution is different from ordinary kids, and I can't casually fight with people."

"Why?" Bai Yutang asked. "Did they bully you for no reason?"

Luo Yang shook his head, pulled on Zhan Zhao's hand, and said, "The teacher is waiting in the office and wants to see my dad."

Bai Yutang sighed, entered the school with Luo Yang, and walked up to the teacher's office on the third floor of the teaching building.

"Teacher Zhao." Luo Yang's homeroom teacher was a young female teacher who had just graduated from college. As she was grading assignments, she saw Luo Yang run in. "My dad is here."

Teacher Zhao looked up and caught sight of Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang standing behind Luo Yang. Her jaw dropped and she froze in place.

Bai Yutang wore a clean white t-shirt and white jeans, looking sunny and dashing; Zhan Zhao wore a white button-down shirt and casual trousers, looking refined and handsome. The young female teacher's face instantly flushed red as she stammered, "Which of you... is Yangyang's dad?"

Bai Yutang walked up to the desk, pulled over a chair, and sat down. "I am."

"Oh..." The teacher's face grew even redder. Bai Yutang's handsomeness was somewhat hard to ignore; the young teacher didn't even dare to meet his gaze as she nervously flipped through the assignment books on her desk.

"Teacher, is there something you wanted to see me about?" Bai Yutang asked.

"Um... Ah, right." Teacher Zhao finally collected her wits and said, "It's about Yangyang's injuries." As she spoke, she looked up and saw Zhan Zhao staring right at her with a pair of exceptionally pretty eyes, making her feel a little dizzy—how could there be a man this good-looking in the world?

"It's like this..." Catching her breath, the young teacher continued, "I need to explain Yangyang's injuries this time. They happened because he was protecting a classmate."

"Oh..." Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang breathed sighs of relief.

Zhan Zhao reached out to stroke Yangyang's hair, saying, "So it was an act of righteous bravery?"

The teacher nodded and said, "However, the senior students can't entirely be blamed either; there were reasons behind it. But after all, the child got hurt, so I wanted to represent the school in explaining this to you parents and hope you won't pursue the matter further."

Bai Yutang nodded and asked, "What actually happened?"

"Well... A new student transferred into Yangyang's class, and his name is Fang Xing," Teacher Zhao weighed her words before saying, "His background is somewhat special."

"Special in what way?" Zhan Zhao was puzzled.

"His father... is named Fang Wo. I wonder if you've heard of him..." Teacher Zhao asked.

"That major criminal Fang Wo?!" Bai Yutang was stunned the moment he heard the name. "The modern Jack the Ripper?!"

Teacher Zhao nodded. "Since Yangyang mentioned you are police officers, I figured you would definitely know."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao exchanged glances. To people in their line of work as police officers, the name Fang Wo was all too familiar:

Fang Wo, male, 36 years old, Han ethnicity, originally an acrobat performing axe stunts at S City's Yuyu Amusement City. Over the past three years, a series of serial murders occurred in K City, right next to S City. The killer imitated Jack the Ripper, mostly operating at midnight, but the victims included both men and women chosen at random. The victims were all hacked to death with an axe and then disemboweled... Thus, everyone gave this killer the moniker of the Modern Ripper. Last summer, following police investigations, major suspicions fell upon Fang Wo, and the murder weapon—an axe—was ultimately discovered inside his prop chest. Consequently, this heinous criminal bearing over twenty human lives was captured. However, Fang Wo's case was still undergoing trial to this day because, although the police had found the murder weapon, they lacked concrete evidence proving beyond a doubt that Fang Wo had committed the murders. Therefore, Fang Wo had continued to be detained as an extreme felon.

"Across the street at the First Middle School, there's a kid named Shen Hao whose mother was killed by Fang Wo," Teacher Zhao explained. "So he gathered students from their class to come and cause trouble for Fang Xing, throwing stones at him... Yangyang happened to see it, so he went to rescue Fang Xing and ended up getting beaten by the older kids."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao understood. Yangyang himself had previously been constantly misunderstood because his father was a "bad guy," making him exceptionally sensitive to matters of this sort. Thus, he truly couldn't be blamed.

"Fang Xing is a good guy!" Yangyang said angrily. "What does his father being bad have to do with him? Besides, he's already transferred schools several times, and every single time he gets bullied just because his dad is a serial killer!"

Zhan Zhao soothingly patted his head. "You did the right thing." He then turned to ask the teacher, "The school should protect that child, right? After all, children are innocent."

Teacher Zhao nodded. "We've thought about it too. Right now, this child isn't very suited to attending classes, so we've arranged for him to take a leave of absence for a period of time."

Once the matter was roughly clarified, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao took Yangyang to bid farewell to the teacher and walked out of the school. Reaching the school gates, Bai Yutang reached out and patted the back of the dejected Yangyang's head. "Not bad, kid. What kind of trouble is this? Clearly, it was a good deed."

Luo Yang rubbed his head and turned back, but froze in place. Following the direction of his gaze, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked over to see a thin boy wearing a blue t-shirt standing in the distance.

"Is that Fang Xing?" Zhan Zhao asked Luo Yang.

Luo Yang nodded.

Fang Xing didn't walk over. Instead, standing far away, he stared at Luo Yang for a moment before turning around and running off.

"He's weird." Luo Yang rubbed his chin.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a smile, thinking to themselves that he really looked just like the old Luo Yang.

"Forget it, don't dwell on it. Things will get better," Zhan Zhao said, pulling Yangyang toward the car. "What do you want to eat? How about ice cream?"

Bai Yutang also got into the car, but as he glanced at the rearview mirror, he frowned slightly.

"What's wrong?" Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang with curiosity.

Bai Yutang pointed at the rearview mirror, signaling Zhan Zhao to look. Sure enough, reflected in the mirror, from the exact spot where Fang Xing had just run off, a black Bentley was driving out... Its style was quaint and distinguished, looking strangely familiar.

Zhan Zhao frowned—it should just be a coincidence, right?

The three of them carried a large pile of ice creams back to SI, and everyone came over to share them. A Luo was stunned to see Luo Yang covered in injuries, but after Zhan Zhao explained the cause and effect, he finally set his heart at ease and tenderly applied medicinal liquor to Luo Yang's bruises. Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang tacitly omitted the part where Luo Yang made Bai Yutang pretend to be A Luo... A Luo was probably one of the few fathers in the world who was utterly doted on by his son.

With the cool and refreshing ice cream swallowed down, everyone's summer heat had dissipated as well. Just as things were feeling immensely refreshing, Lu Fang knocked on the door and entered. "Bai, there's a case. Bureau Chief Bao wants you guys to go check it out."

"Where?" Bai Yutang stood up. Having gone so long without a major case, the group didn't know whether to feel fortunate or discouraged; honestly, they would have rather stayed idle.

"At the Western Garden District on 19th Street, Alley 6," Lu Fang said slowly, looking at the address recorded in the file. "Dismemberment."

"Cough cough..." Zhao Hu choked midway as half a piece of ice cream got stuck in his throat, making him cough uncontrollably from the chill.

"Dismemberment?!" Bai Yutang frowned.

"A family of three. The scene is secured, and Gongsun has already gone." Lu Fang handed the address file to Bai Yutang. "Take your team to check it out. Apparently, after Gongsun looked at the scene, he only said one sentence."

"What?!" The group, preparing for departure, asked with curiosity.

Lu Fang reached out, picked up an ice cream from the table, took a bite, and slowly said: "Utterly perverted!"

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

In front of an apartment building in S City's Western Garden District, a large crowd had gathered outside the police cordon. Because the Western Garden was situated right next to a women's high school, and it happened to be lunchtime, a large cluster of curious schoolgirls stood outside the yellow tape peering inside.

A police car slowly parked by the roadside. Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao led the SI team out of the car, crossed the yellow tape, and walked into the compound, immediately hearing the girls outside screeching at the top of their lungs: "Ah... those police officers are so handsome!"

The girls' screams were quickly blocked outside the doors of the apartment building. The crime scene was located in room 1702 on the 17th floor. The moment the group stepped out of the elevator, a heavy, foul stench assaulted their senses, causing everyone to wrinkle their noses in disgust.

"Just how long has this person been dead to smell this rotten?!" Zhao Hu frowned as he was the first to step out of the elevator, only to find Gongsun standing off to the side smoking a cigarette while a few police officers were retching in the distance.

"I thought you didn't smoke?" Bai Yutang looked at Gongsun.

Exhaling a ring of smoke, Gongsun pushed up his glasses and replied indifferently, "To stop vomiting."

Zhan Zhao was shocked and asked, "It's that severe?"

Gongsun reached out and gently pushed open the ajar front door, saying to Zhan Zhao, "Why don't you analyze what kind of mindset the killer must have had to turn the bodies into this state?"

Everyone turned their gazes inward. Beyond the opened door, scattered across a vast expanse of dried blood on the floor, the dismembered remains of three bodies had been arranged into regular geometric patterns. A cold glance revealed them to be English letters spelling out—I LOVE YOU!

Staring blankly at the bizarre scene before them for a long while, Zhan Zhao couldn't help but take the lead in cursing out loud: "Pervert!"