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Hiatus Notice
Hey all, as you guys probably have noticed that I have been slow in updates. Well it is because I am lazy busy with real life. And as we are now done with the first case, I will be taking a short break before continuing onto the next case.
So see you guys in the next case~
SCI 谜案集 [English Translation] Case 1: Number Killer
Previous
Number Killer 28 Obsession
The call is indeed from Zhang Boyi, the message is simple. Zhan Zhao is to meet him alone at an abandoned cargo ship at City S harbour tomorrow morning 9am. The hull number is TX512. Zhang Boyi wants Zhan Zhao to bring all the classified documents relating to Zhao Jue’s old cases to exchange for Zhao Jue. He warned Zhan Zhao that if he came with police, Zhao Jue is dead, and all of the hundreds of the staffs from the research center will become killing machines.
The next day morning 9am, Zhan Zhao arrived at the harbour as agreed, alone.
Walking alongside of the harbour, he was able to find the TX512 cargo ship in a secluded spot.
Zhan Zhao boards the ship and climbs down into the cabin.
The ship has been abandoned for some time, the aged cabin is spacious, filled with straws and old cloth covers… The smell of something rotten mixing with the petrol smell of the engine is particularly harsh on the nose.
In the middle of the cabin, Zhan Zhao spots a white figure squatting down. He seems to be drawing something on the ground with a stick, the complex-looking silencer on his neck reveals his identity – It’s Zhao Jue.
Zhao Jue looks up and spots Zhan Zhao, he grins at him and continues his drawing.
Zhan Zhao walks towards him. Zhao Jue maintains his squatting posture, but raises his stick to point behind Zhan Zhao’s back. Zhan Zhao turns around sharply just in time to see Zhang Boyi standing about three feets away, looking slightly embarrassed now. In his outstretched arm, is a wet handkerchief.
Dropping the handkerchief furiously, Zhang Boyi gives Zhao Jue a harsh glare.
Zhan Zhao frowns at him, “I would advise you to turn youself in.”
“Shut up, I’m not going to jail! Did you bring the item?” Zhang Boyi holds out his hand in expectation.
Zhan Zhao hands over the bag of files he was holding.
Zhang Boyi accepts the bag and opens it in a hurry to check the files.
“What do you need these files for?” Zhan Zhao asks suddenly.
Zhang Boyi stops and gives Zhan Zhao a suspicious look.
Zhan Zhao smiles, “Do you know why everyone gets hit by apples once in a while, but only Newton discovered the law of gravity?”
Zhang Boyi’s face starts to turn white.
Zhan Zhao stares into his eyes and mouths two words slowly, “Natural~ talent~!”
Behind Zhan Zhao, something is making noises. Turning around, he sees Zhao Jue thumping the ground with his fist and laughing hysterically. Although he couldn’t make any sound, but from the way his expression is all twisted up and his vigorously shaking shoulder, one could easily tell how pleased he is.
Zhang Boyi glowers furiously, “What are you trying to say?”
Zhan Zhao points at Zhao Jue and gives his most innocent smile, “To put it simply, he and I are genius, but professor and you are idiots.”
“You!” Zhang Boyi is so mad that his whole body is shaking in rage.
“Professor Xu is an idiot, because what Zhao Jue and I can learn in two days, he needed 20 years to master!” Zhan Zhao continues, “You are an idiot, because a psychological suggestion was placed on you, and you didn’t even know.”
Zhao Jue has laughed so hard that he is rolling around on the ground. Zhang Boyi says with a darkened expression, “How…how did you know I was psychologically suggested? ”
Zhan Zhao smiles, “I took a look at the sketches, and…I think, the reason why you want these files is to find a way to undo the suggestion?”
Seeing Zhang Boyi’s lack of responses, Zhan Zhao adds on, “How about you ask me.”
“You know?! How would you know?”
Zhan Zhao shrugs, “Because I am a genius.”
…Zhao Jue has started to breathe heavily, it sounded like he had hurt himself laughing.
Zhang Boyi tosses the files onto the ground, “You take me as a fool, isn’t it? In your eyes, I am just like that senile Xu Yanqin, isn’t that right? Let me tell you! I am not like him!”
Agitated all of a sudden, Zhang Boyi pulls out a sharp fruit knife out of his pocket and closes in on Zhan Zhao, “I am not like him! I…”
“You are different from him.” A voice says behind him before Zhang Boyi could finish his sentence. Bai Yutang has made his way behind him.
Zhang Boyi whips his head around, but Bai Yutang has already managed to land a kick on him. Zhang Boyi flies out on impact and lands beside to Zhao Jue.
“That black Honda is yours, isn’t it?” Bai Yutang walks up to Zhan Zhao and sneers at the coughing Zhang Boyi. “You were following Zhan Zhao, but the person you were trying to hit, is me, right?”
Zhang Boyi looks startled, “How…how did you know?”
Bai Yutang grins, “You really aren’t a particularly bright one. You have followed Zhan Zhao all these times. If you wanted to kill him, you would have done it ages ago, why wait till when I was around to do it?” He looks down at the handkerchief on the ground, “You wanted to kidnapped him?”
Zhan Zhao looks a little startled as well at this point.
Bai Yutang reaches out to smooth down Zhan Zhao’s hair and smiles, “Do you want to know how I figured it out?”
Zhan Zhao looks at him and Bai Yutang smiles softly, “That day at the university, when I was kissing him, the way you were staring at me…It was with such hatred. Can you imagine, the look of pure hatred!”
Zhang Boyi laughs suddenly, “Indeed…I hate you…and him!” He points at Zhan Zhao, “So perfect that seems too pure for anyone to touch…just like…just like…” A confused look flashes in his eyes.
Zhan Zhao frowns slightly, noticing the strangeness.
Bai Yutang interrupts Zhang Boyi who has started to sound a little insane, “You and that Xu, are just someone else’s puppet as well.”
At this point, Zhang Boyi glares at Zhao Jue with loathing, “It’s all that old thing’s fault! He believed in all those theories on psychological suggestion, and talked about building his own empire all day. With his mediocre ability, going around to suggest those mentally ill people, coming up with all those God…Priest…Heh…Ridiculous!”
Zhan Zhao is growing more and more unease, he calms his breathing down and says, “You two weren’t manipulated by Zhao Jue.”
“What?” Zhang Boyi looks up at Zhan Zhao in confusion.
“You were used by the person behind all this.” Bai Yutang shakes his head in resignation and calls out towards the black curtain hanging by the end of the cabin, “You, come out!”
Zhang Boyi looks confused, he looks back the black curtain and then back at Bai Yutang.
Bai Yutang digs at his ear, “I will still say this, we call you stupid, but you really aren’t very bright. How did you know that Zhao Jue’s file is confidential?”
…!...
Zhang Boyi looks stunned for a second, before his face changed to shocked, “Could…it be…”
“Haha…haha!” They hear an aged laughter. A crooked figure steps out of the darkness.
The man walks towards Zhao Jue and presses his gun against Zhao Jue’s temple. He tells Bai Yutang, “You are indeed your father’s son, unnaturally sharp…and you.” He points at Zhan Zhao briefly before turning his gun back to Zhao Jue, “You and him when he was younger are really alike, too smart for your own good!”
“Sun Qingxue, Sir Sun…” Bai Yutang tells him with a smirk, “You have been planning this for twenty years, that is some serious obsession!”
Sun Qingxue laughs, “Slowly. Let’s talk about something else first, how did you know it was me?”
Bai Yutang looks at Zhan Zhao, “You first? Or me?”
Zhan Zhao gestures at him, “You first.”
Bai Yutang nods, he turns around to look at Sun Qingxue, “You made a mistake in Chen Jing’s case!”
“Oh? Sun Qingxue considers, “Where?”
Bai Yutang continues, “The person who suggested Chen Jing to harm Gongsun, and the person who has been treating patients in that private clinic, is not professor Xu at all. It was you. But of course, you killed professor Xu, so that he can take the blame for you.”
Sun Qingxue nods in agreement, “That is correct, but how did you know?”
“Living habits!” Bai Yutang says, “Professor Xu is someone with sufficient financial means, severely clean freak, highly traditional, and someone with heart diseases. He would never visit that sort of places which are dirty and filled with prostitutes and drug addicts. I went to the bar opposite to ask around, the bartender’s room window is directly aligned with yours. The doctor she described, fits your profile more.”
“My profile?” Sun Qingxue looks startled momentarily.
“Yes. You bowed your head all the time, dressed like professor Xu and always kept the room in dim lighting, so everyone thinks you are professor Xue. Except the person who has been watching you from above. Her description of you, is closer to the reality. She said someone with broad shoulder who hunches his back, not someone slim…That is the biggest difference between you and professor Xue.”
“Good…Very good.” Sun Qingxue agrees in approval, “But this can only serve as a basis for a speculation.”
“Of course this is not the only thing.” Bai Yutang continues, “So I thought, how many old men are involved in Zhao Jue’s case. That person needs to have full access to Zhao Jue or his files, to be able to mimic his crimes. Then I remembered you.”
Bai Yutang pauses, “Do you remember that time when you treated Cat and I to noodles?”
Sun Qingxue stops, “Noodles?”
Bai Yutang continues, “I was thinking then, why would someone who is not particular about his clothes and food, have so many bowls in the place he works?”
Sun Qingxue widens his eyes.
Bai Yutang continues, “Luckily, I managed to find many bowls in the clinic as well--- so I am guessing, this is some kind of habit that stayed with you since a long time ago?”
….
“Haha…” Hearing Bai Yutang’s words, Sun Qingxue laughs hysterically, “Good! Very good… This is really something, just based on a few bowls…”
Bai Yutang continues, “All of this, gives me reason of doubt towards you. And what Cat found, is the evidence to the suspicion.”
Sun Qingxue looks over at Zhan Zhao in interest, “Oh? What did you find?”
Zhan Zhao reaches out to make a ‘Hush’ gesture at Sun Qingxue.
Sun Qingxue looks shocked.
Zhan Zhao says, “Though you had Zhao Jue’s files, and has some understanding of psychology in general. But at the end of the day, you are nothing but a terrible copycat.”
“What?”
Zhan Zhao smiles, “After Chen Jing killed Wu Hao, he did this gesture at Qin Jiaqi on purpose, to attract everyone’s suspicion onto Zhao Jue. I read Zhao Jue’s file, he mad e this gesture in all of his crimes. To those who didn’t know better, this is nothing but a signature gesture or a habit. But in fact, this gesture is the way Zhao Jue gives out his command. Those who were psychologically suggested by him, would do what his command dictates when they see this gesture. That was how Bai Jintang figured out about Zhao Jue.”
Sun Qingxue has lost his pleased look, replaced instead by a sinister one, “I see…Indeed, Xu Yanqin and Zhang Boyi would have no idea about this. Only someone who has access to those confidential files, like me, would know.”
“And lastly, when Zhang Boyi calls to ask for exchange of confidential information for Zhan Jue, this proves that you are the actual puppet master in the dark.” Zhan Zhao says.
Bai Yutang agrees, “That day, you probably called Zhang Boyi to your clinic, to tell him about the confidential files, just so that Chen Jing can spot him near the clinic. That way you would be able to push all the blames onto Zhang Boyi and Xu Yanqin.”
“HAHA~~HAHAHA…” Sun Qingxue laughs out loud, “That is … the perfect deduction…haha…”
Bai Yutang frowns at Sun Qingxue who looks like he has gone crazy, “Why did you hurt all those people? Gongsun holds no grudge with you!”
“Because I hate people like you!” Sun Qingxue shrieks suddenly, “I despise you!” Your father, Bao Zheng, and you!” He points at Zhan Zhao, “Goddamn genius! Always so perfect! Like angels, like the whole world is just an extra in your own damn show!”
Sun Qingxue screeches aggressively. Zhan Zhao notices Zhao Jue’s slight smile, the feeling of unease deepens.
“Especially you!” Sun Qingxue pushes Zhao Jue and points his gun at him, “You… Yunwen and Bao Zheng spoilt you, treated you like an angel, and I am just the guy who files the documents. But I had to suffer through being with brilliant people like you, and my sole purpose was to cook noodles for you!... Do you remember how you mocked at me? You said I had no talents, you said I couldn’t study psychology… you said I will never become an angel… damnit, you goddamn angels…”
Sun Qingxue is getting more agitated, Zhan Zhao flinches suddenly and yells, “No!”
Zhao Jue’s smile widens.
Zhang Boyi charges at Sun Qingxue with the knife in his hand…blood splatters.
Sun Qingxue presses his hand against his bleeding neck, and collapses onto the ground. Lying in the pool of blood, he stops breathing as his eyes stay fixed on the cackling Zhao Jue.
“Put down the knife!” Bai Yutang commands, but Zhang Boyi has already slit his own throat without a pause.
Looking down at the two dead bodies in the pool of blood, Bai Yutang couldn’t quite react at all. Zhan Zhao smiles weakly, “Calla Lily…”
“What?” Bai Yutang looks back at Zhan Zhao in confusion.
Zhan Zhao takes a deep breath, and looks at Zhao Jue, “The flower language of Calla Lily is purity, eternal…it brings people’s mind to white wings…”
Bai Yutang winces, “The command is ‘Angel’?!”
Zhan Zhao nods, “Indeed, Zhang Boyi sees the Calla Lily often, and in his life, because of professor’s research, he was in touch with the word ‘Angel’ frequently…The ones who has been suggested, would never speak out the command himself, even fears the command subconsciously…Which is why he couldn’t speak out the word ‘Angel’ twice!”
Bai Yutang watches Zhao Jue, “He did this? All of this is part of his plan?”
Zhan Zhao has a complicated look on his face, he says to Zhao Jue slowly, “The way you changed your strokes in the drawings, to make them look more and more urgent, so that Zhang Boyi will react more strongly to commands with an urgency… Zhang Boyi was extremely agitated just now, the command that was uttered was almost urgent sounding… Zhao Jue, you are indeed a genius, it seems the final winner is still you…”
Zhao Jue tilts his head to look at Zhan Zhao with a smile, his eyes filled with fondness. He reaches into Sun Qingxue’s pocket, and fetches a shabby looking lighter…
…!
Bai Yutang recoils, he can smell the foul air in the cabin, and looking towards the curtain behind Zhao Jue, it is full of fuel cylinders…
“Cat!”
No time for anything else, Bai Yutang grabs Zhan Zhao and rushes out of the cabin.
Zhao Jue flicks on the lighter and drops it onto the ground – fire explodes instantly.
Zhan Zhao lets himself be pulled out of the cabin, but his eyes are still on Zhao Jue. Zhao Jue smiles slightly at him, and makes a gesture.
“Shhh”
The explosion sounded like the world was falling apart.
Bai Yutang leaps out of the ship into the water shielding Zhan Zhao, the water current forming from the explosion carries the two of them away.
After what seems like a century, Zhan Zhao feels his body stops moving, he couldn’t remember anything in the confusion, all he knew was to hold onto the hand beside him and never let go.
Bai Yutang climbs onto a small boat, and pulls Zhan Zhao up with great effort.
The moment they are both onboard, Bai Yutang collapses, becoming motionless.
“Xiao Bai?” Alarmed at Bai Yutang’s state, Zhan Zhao pushes him, but receives no reaction from Bai Yutang at all.
“Yutang… Yutang, don’t do this….” He pushes harder, but there is still no response.
Zhan Zhao places his trembling finger under Bai Yutang’s nose…nothing…
“No…No Yutang… Hey…” His mind going blank, Zhan Zhao stares at the motionless Bai Yutang in fright. All those memories rushes to him in that moment. His mind is filled with memories of Bai Yutang, who snatches things from him when they were younger, who argues with him, who steals his pajama…Bai Yutang laughing…kissing him…”
Warm fingers brushes against his face. The person who has supposedly lost his breath, is watching him with guilt, “Cat, stop crying, I was messing with you…”
“…” Zhan Zhao looks dumbfounded for a second, realising belatedly that his eyes are filled with tears, and Bai Yutang is wiping away his tears…
“You…You! Bastard! Stupid rat! You…”
What comes next didn’t even make it out Zhan Zhao’s mouth, because Bai Yutang has climbed onto of him and started kissing him aggressively.
“Cat… You are not getting rid of me so easily!” Wiping away Zhan Zhao’s tears, Bai Yutang gazes at the man under him intensely.
Zhan Zhao gazes back into his eyes and opens his mouth, “Yutang…”
“Hm?”
A direct punch.
“Ah!”
“You stupid rat!”
“Stupid cat”
“You are not allowed near me for the rest of your life!”
“Nah”
“Do not touch me!”
“Let me kiss you!”
“Stupid rat! Hm…”
……
Half an hour later, Bai Jintang found the two of them pressed against each other, drenched and shivering in coldness, but still arguing in the small boat.
Bai Yutang retrieves a black box from his pocket and tosses it back at Ding Zhaohui, “It’s indeed useful!”
“What is it?” Zhan Zhao asks in confusion.
“GPS tracker.”
Bai Jintang sighs, “Without this, I really wouldn’t been able to find you two.”
The twins grin, “For rainy days! Always good to be prepared!!”
The sirens soon quieten and the harbour returns to silence. A photograph floats on the calm sea against the currents, the four young men in the photo, are smiling so brightly…
Night falls, onboard a fishing boat, the fisherman hands a blanket to a weakened man, “Are you alright?”
“Y…yes…” His voice hoarse.
“Here, have some warm water.”
“Thank…Thank you…”
“Oh right, what’s your name?”
Those slim fingers presses against the lips to make a single sound, “Shhh”
[End of Case 1]
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SCI 谜案集 [English Translation] Case 1: Number Killer
https://kitsune-translates.tumblr.com/post/182886771419/sci-%E8%B0%9C%E6%A1%88%E9%9B%86-english-translation-case-1-numberPrevious
Number Killer 27 Unexpected
Wrapping up their discussions, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang stroll out of the research center.
“Cat, now we go visit my brother?” Bai Yutang pulls open the car door.
“Do you know where is your brother?” Zhan Zhao asks.
“Erm… Well.” Bai Yutang shakes his head, “In theory, I have no idea, but I guess…”
“Yep!” Zhan Zhao nods, turns around to look at him, “I guess so too.”
They speak in unison, “Gongsun’s place!!”
During the drive to Gongsun’s place, Bai Yutang is silent for the entire trip, seemingly to be contemplating about something.
Zhan Zhao attempts to say something several times, but seeing Bai Yutang’s frowned brows, he swallows his words back in.
The moment they step out of the elevator outside of Gongsun’s flat, they hear a loud bang. Startled, they rush out the elevator and spot Ding Zhaolan and Ding Zhaohui squatting down with their head covered at the flat entrance. The flat door is wide open, stray objects flying out occasionally.
“What are you two doing?” Bai Yutang holds out his arm to protect Zhan Zhao behind him, and leans down to ask the twins.
“We are keeping a lookout for Da Ge, ah I mean, guard the door.”
“…” Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao exchanges a look, “What is my brother doing inside?”
Da Ding and Xiao Ding smiles, “Gongsun’s arm is injured, Da Ge wants to help him shower!”
…!...
Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao inhale in alarm, and charge into the flat. At the exact same moment, Bai Jintang, covered in foams scrambles out of the flat. A black object flies out behind Bai Jintang, and Bai Yutang is just in the doorway…
‘Bang’… Bai Yutang is afterall someone with quick reflex, noticing the unfriendly object heading towards him, he was about to duck his head, but remembered just in time that Zhan Zhao is behind him. Instead, he held out his hand to block the object, which falls to the ground… Looking down: It’s a pan.
Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang are momentarily stunned. They look up to see the unkempt Gongsun standing in the middle of room. He too is covered in foams and breathing heavily. His left arm is in a cast, his right arm is holding up a spatula and ready to hurl it at the door.
“Wait!!!” Bai Yutang holds up his hand in surrender, “Don’t hurt us, we are innocent!!”
Identifying the intruders as Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, Gongsun drops his ‘weapon’ onto the floor and collapse onto the sofa.
Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao plod in carefully, “Are…Are you alright?”
Gongsun glowers at Bai Jintang near the door, “If you come near me again, I will drown you in Formalin!!”
After calming down the furious Gongsun and sending him to his room to rest, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang pull Bai Jintang over to fill him in on the events happening at the research center.
“…” Bai Jintang is silent throughout the entire narrative, only frowning his brows slightly when he heard Zhao Jue has placed psychological suggestion on the research center staffs.
“So…what are you planning to do?” Bai Jintang looks at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, “What do you need from me?”
“Cat wants to hypnotise you!”
“Hypnosis?” Bai Jintang looks distracted for a moment, “To remember all the things I have forgotten?”
“Yep!” Zhan Zhao nods, “Da Ge, you are not willing?”
Bai Jintang shrugs with a smile, “I don’t mind. It’s just that, I don’t think it will be possible.”
“Impossible?” Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchange a look, “What do you mean?”
Bai Jintang points at his own head and says, “It wasn’t a psychological wound, but rather, an actual physical wound.”
“Meaning?” Bai Yutang looks over at Zhan Zhao in confusion.
Zhan Zhao looks surprised, “Da Ge, your lost memories are due to physical injury, rather than mental trauma?”
Bai Jintang nods, “I have seen my fair share of doctors. My head was injured at the part where memories are stored. After I was injured, I was like a newborn, I even forgotten how to speak.”
“Cat, will it still work?” Bai Yutang looks up at Zhan Zhao.
Zhan Zhao frowns in concentration, “Actually there are two type of human memories, declarative memory and procedural memory… I still want to give it a try.”
Bai Jintang nods, “Sure.”
Because the process requires a quiet room, Zhan Zhao borrows Gongsun’s study. Before entering the room, Bai Jintang suddenly say, “Xiao Zhan, after you hypnotised me, don’t do anything strange just because I can’t fight back~”
Bai Yutang kicks him into the room in a rage.
Zhan Zhao follows in and shuts the door behind him.
Bai Yutang stands outside the door for a while, before turning away.
The twins are playing Chinese checkers near the entrance. It seems heated, but they are not making any sound at all. This makes the whole affair look rather ridiculous.
Bai Yutang strolls out, and the twins look up at him.
“I need to go and check on something.” Bai Yutang tells them, “Da Ge and Cat have an important matter to attend to, they cannot be disturbed. Gongsun is incapacitated at the moment as well.”
The twins grin, patting the two black suitcases lying next to them, “Nothing short of an armoured force will be able to get past us!”
Smiling in understanding, Bai Yutang walks towards the elevator.
“Xiao Bai!” The twins call out to him from behind.
Bai Yutang turns his head back, Ding Zhaohui tosses something at him, “For rainy days.”
Taking a look at the object he just caught, Bai Yutang smiles before dropping it into his pocket. He waves at the twins and steps into the elevator.
Bai Yutang heads straight for the psychiatric clinic that professor Xu was killed, the yellow police line is still intact.
Going up to the second floor, Bai Yutang takes a close look at the decoration in the clinic, including every single furniture or vessels. And he leaves the place, frowning his brows even more tightly than before.
Walking back to the bar street and taking his time to survey the area, Bai Yutang spots a building opposite the clinic building.
It is an old three-storey house, the tightly shut door has a sign that says: Opening hours, 9pm to 5am. From the look of it, it should be a pub.
Bai Yutang looks up, and spots the open small window on the third floor. He knocks on the door.
At first, there was nothing from inside, Bai Yutang keeps knocking until an annoyed female voice yells, “Who is it? We are not open during daytime!”
Bai Yutang ignores her and continues to knock.
Not long after, he hears footsteps and a woman swearing, “Who is it? Piss off!”
The door swings open, a sloppily dressed young women with messy hair appears by the door.
Getting a clear look at Bai Yutang, the woman is distracted momentarily.
Bai Yutang shows his badge, “Police.”
“Oh?” The woman smiles, “You are the best-looking police officer I have ever seen!”
Bai Yutang smiles slightly as well, “I have some questions.”
The woman shrugs, “Your colleagues already did their interviews with me.”
“Then I will ask about those things that they didn’t ask about.”
The woman pushes the door wide open, “Come in for a drink?”
Bai Yutang nods and follows her in.
Zhan Zhao asks Bai Jintang to lie down on the armchair and relax as much as possible. Although Zhan Zhao already foresees the difficulty of this procedure, but the uncontrollability of Bai Jintang still surpassed Zhan Zhao’s expectation.
Hypnosis is not an easy psychological procedure to conduct at all. The primary criterion for a successful hypnosis is that the subject to be hypnotised need to have sufficient trust in the person performing the hypnosis. But Bai Jintang is someone who is highly controlling, strong-willed and incredibly intelligent. It is hard for this type of person to completely let down their guard and trust another person.
“Da Ge, relax!”
“Ah…” Bai Jintang looks, for once, bashful.
“Okay, here we go.” Zhan Zhao takes in a deep breath, and tries to project his calmness onto Bai Jintang, “Da Ge, clear you mind now.”
Bai Jintang tries his best to be cooperative.
“Now, I will start counting, from one to ten. When I reach ten, I will snap my finger. When you hear the sound of snapping, start to recall. You don’t have to go for any specific memory, just recall any memory in general. Once there’s an image that flashes in your head, you grab onto it, and tell me what you see, alright?” After getting Bai Jintang’s agreement, Zhan Zhao looks down at his watch and starts to count, “1, 2….”
When he reaches 10, Zhan Zhao snaps his finger.
Behind Bai Jintang’s closed eyes, his eyeballs start to move. Zhan Zhao knows, this means he has started remembering.
“You are seeing something, aren’t you?” Zhan Zhao asks gently.
“Yes…” Bai Jintang nods.
“What do you see?”
“I see…Yutang when he was younger, and Xiao Zhao from next door.”
Zhan Zhao realises, this is the memory after Bai Jintang’s trauma. The earliest memory since the trauma was Bai Yutang and himself…this might just work!
“Now, can you feel yourself, you are beside Yutang and Xiao Zhao…”
Bai Jintang’s eyelashes flutter, he is trying his best to feel that.
“Yes…” Bai Jintang says hesitantly.
Zhan Zhao notes his anxiety, he knows that Bai Jintang’s controlling tendency is forcing himself to stay conscious. Now is the crucial moment…
“Ge…” Zhan Zhao softens his tone, mimicking the way Bai Yutang used to call Bai Jintang when he was younger.
Bai Jintang’s body trembles, and his eyelashes stop its quivering. Zhan Zhao seizes the opportunity to ask, “What did you just do? What did you just say?”
Hearing his words, Bai Jintang makes a gesture almost instinctively…
Zhan Zhao watches him, dumbfounded…
Bai Jintang liftes his index finger, pressing it against his lips, and whispers lightly – “shhh”.
Bai Yutang bids his farewell with the bartender, Anne, and drives to University C Psychology. Through the teachers in the university, he manages to find the master students under professor Xu.
“Ah? You are Dr. Zhan’s good-looking boyfriend!” One of the girls says excitedly, recognising Bai Yutang.
Bai Yutang smiles, “Good memory. I want you guys to tell me about professor Xu.”
“Professor Xu?” The students look at each other blankly, “What about him?”
“Anything, his personality, character, temper or habits. Oh by the way, he suffered from heart diseases?”
“Yep! It’s quite serious.” The students start to chatter immediately.
“Professor Xu is really serious! He rarely smiles.”
“Yep yep. And he really dislikes Dr. Zhan!”
“Not just Dr. Zhan, he doesn’t like all the young Doctors!”
“And he is really strict! Also a clean freak!”
“Right! That time I forgot to write half a quotation mark, and he gave me a huge scolding just for it!”
“…”
The students keep talking.
Bai Yutang’s frowned brows loosen, and his face starts to show a hint of smile.
He sprints out of the university and into his car, heading straight for Gongsun’s apartment. He is so excited that he almost rips the steering wheel off the car, “Cat, we were being played!”
Bai Jintang looks at the bewildered Zhan Zhao in confusion, “Xiao Zhao, are you alright?”
Zhan Zhao stands up suddenly and starts to pace, “Why? How? How…keep calm…are they connected…”
Bai Jintang doesn’t dare to speak out, and just continue to watch the circling Zhan Zhao.
“Bastard!” Zhan Zhao, in one of his rare moments, swears, “We were being played!”
He turns around to leave the room. At this exact moment, the elevator door opens, and Bai Yutang rushes back into the flat in a hurry.
“Cat!”
“Xiao Bai!”
When they saw each other, they call out at each other at the same time.
“I’ve got it!”
They give each other a surprised look.
“You too…?”
Nodding at the same time.
DIDIDID… Zhan Zhao’s phone rings --- unknown number.
Picking it up, “Hello…I am…What do you want…Okay!”
Hanging up, Zhan Zhao smiles at Bai Yutang, “Guess who?”
Bai Yutang rubs his chin, “Zhang Boyi!”
“Smart!” Zhan Zhao messes up Bai Yutang’s hair, “He finally gave himself away (1)!”
Bai Yutang sneers and retrieves his phone, “After playing us for so long, if we don’t give him a taste of what we are capable of, I would be a disgrace to Bai family!”
Dialing a number, “Hello! Wang Chao! Bring the team! Time to close the net!”
Translator’s Footnote:
1) Original text literally translates to ‘The fox has shown its tail.” It is somewhat an idiom used to describe when someone has made a mistake and shown their true self/give themselves away.
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Ji Xiaobing on BYPHASSE Weibo (22 Jan 2019)
Gao Hanyu on Weibo (19 Jan 2019)
Gao Hanyu on Gao Hanyu Studio (13 Jan 2019)
Gao Hanyu on Gao Hanyu Studio (14 Jan 2019)
Ji Xiaobing on Weibo (12 Jan 2019)
Gao Hanyu on Weibo (13 Jan 2019)
SCI 谜案集 [English Translation] Case 1: Number Killer
Previous
Number Killer 26 Command
The moment Zhan Zhao’s words left his mouth, Bai Yutang feels his hairs standing up, “Cat… you mean, those researchers are going to commit murder or suicide? When? How…”
“Calm down, I will explain it in a short while.” Zhan Zhao says in a hurry, “The important thing now is to gather everyone here, this place need to to be locked-down.”
“Okay…” Bai Yutang rushes out, but stops in his track, “What about you, you alright?”
Zhan Zhao smiles, “I’m fine. I’m just a little tired from concentrating on those things for too long.”
“Hm! I can’t just leave you here like this.” Bai Yutang says, picking Zhan Zhao up in a bridal carry and dashes out.
“Ah!” Zhan Zhao doesn’t even know where to place his hands, “White mouse, what are you doing! Put me down!”
When Bai Yutang rushes out with Zhan Zhao in his arms, everyone seated in the hall are alarmed. They have been through a lot this couple of days, having just seen Gongsun being carried out from the incineration room, and now Zhan Zhao. They come up to Bai Yutang anxiously.
Zhan Zhao has gone completely red in the face, he would really like to find a hole in the ground to hide in. But in this situation, the more he struggles, the weirder it would seem to be, so he could only pretend to be an ostrich against Bai Yutang.
Bao Zheng has gotten a fright as well. Bai Yutang puts Zhan Zhao down and reports Zhan Zhao’s findings to Bao Zheng.
Everyone on scene are dumbfounded. Bao Zheng immediately calls the head of the research centre in to question him on the number of staffs in the centre, and about those who were in charge of Zhao Jue’s imprisonment and had close contact with Zhao Jue. Arrangements were made quickly to calm the involved parties and locking down the research center temporarily.
After the entire messy episode, everyone in S.C.I. can finally take a breather.
“Cat, explain to me, what exactly is this suggestion thing?” Bai Yutang lets out a long sigh and settles himself into one of the conference rooms in the research center. Bao Zheng, Wang Chao, Ma Han and the rest of the team fills the remaining seats and waits for Zhan Zhao’s explanations.
Zhan Zhao looks much better after resting, he is quiet for a while as if trying to think of how to organise his words, “Hmm…”
“If we were to talk about crimes committed using psychological suggestions, the most famous one is no doubt the millennium concert stampede that occurred in Ohio, 1999.”
Bai Yutang nods, “I have heard of this case, hundreds died in that incident, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” Zhan Zhao says, “While on a brief glance, it seems like an unfortunate accident that happened due to the fervent fans, but in fact, it is because the singer, Venelson had put a psychological suggestion on everyone.”
“How?” Ma Han and the rest look amazed.
Zhan Zhao explains patiently, “The steps to psychological suggestion can be demonstrated with a simple example. If you want to teach a dog to sit, first, you will speak the word ‘Sit’ to it, to get it used to this command. Then, when it sits down, you give it food as reward. Repeating this procedure for many times, and the dog will subconsciously link ‘the command to sit – the action of sitting – food’ these three things together. Which means that though the dog doesn’t understand the word ‘Sit’, it would still instinctively sit down when it hears the command, because he associate it with the reward of food.”
Everyone nods in understanding.
Zhan Zhao then pulls out a piece of paper, and jots down a few numbers in series and says, “In summary, psychological suggestion has four stages: Issuing the command; Completion of the command; Giving out reward; Familiarisation of the command.”
Bao Zheng rubs his chin, “Be more specific, how did the singer complete the suggestion process?”
“First, Venelson issued each audience with a ticket shaped like a foot. This insinuates the impression of ‘Foot’ into everyone’s mind. What separates people from dogs is that people can think associatively from shapes. So what action comes to your mind when speaking of foot?”
The listening crowd exchanges a look with each other, and says in unison, “Step!”
Zhan Zhao nods, “Indeed, which means, the first stage had already been complete. The audience had received the command, in the shape of a foot, and connected it to the action – step!”
“Then, Venelson started his concert. Because his band was a heavy metal hard rock band, so their music tends to be very influencing on the audience. Throughout the entire duration of the concert, Nelson keep making the ‘Steping’ action and repeatedly ask the excited crowd to follow his action. He even pushed his bassist onto the ground and stepped on him. In this way, he had completed his second stage, the completion of the command ‘Step’.”
Everyone listens attentively with a horrified expression.
“The third step, is to give reward. The reward here, is not in terms of material, but something more spiritual.”
“Spiritual?” Bai Yutang frowns.
“If you like somebody, what would you like to see him do at you?” Zhan Zhao asks Bai Yutang.
“…” Bai Yutang is speechless, his face burning a little, and thinks to himself ‘You are one ruthless stupid cat. The person I like is you, and what I want the most is you throwing yourself at me…’ But this really isn’t something that can be spoken aloud.
“Erm…Smile at me?” Wang Chao answers instead.
Zhan Zhao nods, “Indeed, or more accurately, for him to notice you, and show affection towards you, isn’t that right?”
“Yes!” The listeners nod in unison.
“Those who went to the concert are mostly Venelson’s fans. They already like him a lot, and Venelson took that to his advantage by using his smile as a reward.” Zhan Zhao continues.
“Smile?” The listening crowd looks confused.
Zhan Zhao suddenly smiles at Ma Han, Wang Chao and the neighbouring officers sweetly.
…!!...
They inhale sharply and eyes widens stupidly, but internally they are screaming, “Sinful! This is too sinful… He is too cute…”
Zhan Zhao asks immediately, “Who do you think I was smiling at just now?”
They look at each other, faces turning red in silence, thinking that they were too mesmerised by Zhan Zhao’s smile that they didn’t notice who Zhan Zhao was smiling at.
Zhan Zhao doesn’t seem to detect the strangeness in the air and continues, “I was just smiling at that general area, rather than a specific person. But, to those watching, it would feel like I am only smiling at you, isn’t that right?”
Everyone nods stupidly. In fact, no matter what Zhan Zhao says now, these people would just nod obediently. They have been charmed silly.
Bao Zheng holds back his laughter at the back, while Bai Yutang is grinding his teeth. This ignorant cat, has no idea of the effect he has on others. He glares at his subordinates and thinks to himself, “You morons, dare to look at Cat like this? When we get back, get ready for punishments!!”
Everyone is still too dazzled by Zhan Zhao’s smile to notice that Bai Yutang’s annoyed expression.
Zhan Zhao continues his explanation, “Venelson’s concert had huge LED screens, and he would smile frequently at the location where the stomping noise is the loudest. This results his fans to stomp more and more.”
Bao Zheng lights up a cigarette, “Which means, he got those people used to the command, and the suggestion is complete!”
“Yes!” Zhan Zhao nods, “The last stage to his plan was at the end of his concert. The area was already excessively crowded. The screens suddenly showed the foot icon from the concert ticket, and the music was also played at the same time. Some people started to stomp aggressively reflexively --- this is how the tragic accident came about.”
Everyone lets out a long breath, but the appal on their face still haven’t worn off.
“Then, Zhao Jue…” Bai Yutang seems to recover first.
Zhan Zhao turns his gaze down, and draws a huge bug on his paper. It looks like a beetle. He shows it to the rest, “What is this?”
Everyone examines it carefully. Each person had a different idea, some says it’s a beetle or a cockroach, while Bai Yutang claims outrageously that it looks like a mouse riding on a cat…
Zhan Zhao rolls his eyes at him, “This is the famous ‘Rorschach Test’. In general, because each person has a different way of looking at things, the same shape would look like different things to different person But, what the shape looks like to one person, is determined by their brain, rather than their subconsciousness.”
“What? Subconscious cognition…”
Zhan Zhao draws three circles on the beetle with a red pen. Taking a closer look, it is three English alphabets “D-A-D”
“Dad?” Everyone looks confused. “Father?”
“Exactly!” Zhan Zhao taps the table steadily with the pen in his hand, “When you are looking at this drawing, your subconsciousness has already accepted the message ‘Dad’. At the same time, you hear me tapping on the table. So when I hide this drawing away,” Zhan Zhao puts the piece of paper away, and taps the table again, “Do you see that image in your brain when you hear the tapping sound again?”
Everyone considers, and nods.
Zhan Zhao puts down his pen, “This means that, upon hearing the tapping, your subconsciousness has already associated it with the concept of “Dad”. Only that, I did not give you any specific action to complete, so… you guys only perceived it, but didn’t have anything to act on.”
Bao Zheng finishes his cigarette, and contemplates in silence for a while, “So what’s in Zhao Jue’s drawings?”
Zhan Zhao sighs and pulls out a sketch, “This is the drawing that was taken from Zhao Jue’s room just now.” He makes several circles on the sketch and shows it to the watching crowd. Four alphabets stand out, “K-I-L-L.”
“Kill…” Bai Yutang inhales, “Oh my God…”
Zhan Zhao frowns, “I checked all of the sketches. It’s on every single one of them, it goes way back, in years.”
“That guy is a real nutcase!” Ma Han says in disbelief, “He can still hurt people when he is already in that state?!”
“So… how can we help the research staff with treatment?” Bao Zheng rubs his forehead.
Zhan Zhao shakes his head in distress, “It will be very difficult. It is important to know what command Zhao Jue used! He wanted people to kill, but he didn’t give specific instruction on whether to kill other or kill yourself. And Zhao Jue is an expert in psychological suggestion, his work won’t be as simplistic as ordering a puppy to sit down.”
“How so?” Bai Yutang questions, puzzled.
“The timeline for his suggestion to take effect is too long,” Zhan Zhao considers, “Long enough, for those people to seek out the reward by themselves.”
“Seek out reward by themselves.” Everyone opens their mouth in bewilderment.
“Cat, this is so confusing~” Bai Yutang rubs his brows.
Zhan Zhao looks slightly upset and thinks to himself, “This is a very complicated matter~”
Bai Yutang changes his tone immediately and coaxes, “Continue, continue, it’s our fault. We are too dense to understand.” --- He is so cute!
Zhan Zhao continues, “To put it simply, everyone has something they want, right?”
Everyone nods.
“What a person thinks about most every day, is what the person wants the most. This means that the suggestion would seep deep into the way those people think, and become a part of the subconsciousness… Which means, in order to get what he wants the most, he will make use of this specific method to get it.” Zhan Zhao finishes his explanation, and takes a sip of his tea and blinks at those around him --- Did everyone understand??
Everyone nods obediently.
Bai Yutang stands up, “I get it, it means that once the person identifies something he wants, and when he or she received the command, then that person will kill to get what he or she wants.”
“Exactly!” Zhan Zhao gives Bai Yutang a praising look as if he is one of his exceptional brilliant students. Bai Yutang swears in his mind, ‘What breed is this cat? He is too cute~’
Bao Zheng taps his chin, “Which means, in order to treat everyone, we have to know what command Zhao Jue used first, is that right?”
“Yep!”
“But he can’t speak!” Ma Han looks confused, “How did he manage to give command without speaking?”
Zhan Zhao considers, “I have searched everything just now, there wasn’t much to go on, but…”
“But what?” Bai Yutang sees Zhan Zhao’s hesitation and asks.
“I think…” Zhan Zhao looks up at Bai Yutang, “Your brother might know…”
“What?” Bai Yutang says in surprise, “You mean that accident back then…”
Zhan Zhao nods, “Command, or rather… the intent… The only lead we have right now, is likely to be inside your brother’s memory.”
Translator’s Footnote:
The Ohio accident isn’t a real case.
[And yes season 2 is confirmed. I’m not crying there’s just something in my eyes]
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Ji Xiaobing on Ji Xiaobing Studio (12 Jan 2019)
Gao Hanyu on Gao Hanyu Studio (12 Jan 2019)
Gao Hanyu on Weibo (08 Jan 2019)
SCI 谜案集 [English Translation] Case 1: Number Killer
previous
Number Killer 25 Suggestion
Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang drives to the address of professor Xu’s private clinic that Chen Jing provided. They wander about the area and make their way to a street of low-end bars.
Bai Yutang’s car would attract too much attentions, so they parked somewhere further away and strolled over.
That area is filled with local gangsters, bars, clubs…sensual places. Most people on the streets here are young, dressed bizarrely.
Zhan Zhao is checking the unit number when Bai Yutang suddenly pulls him closer to himself and puts his arms around him.
“What’s that for?” Zhan Zhao jerks his shoulder and glares at him.
“Hush.” Bai Yutang murmurs, “Don’t look back, someone is following us.”
….! … “How are we exposed so quickly?” Zhan Zhao asks in surprise.
Bai Yutang smiles, “Probably not what you are thinking of.”
“What do you mean?” Zhan Zhao gives him a confused look.
“You will see.” Bai Yutang pulls him into an empty alley.
They hear footsteps behind them, it sounds disordered, like there are more than one person.
Bai Yutang halts his steps and two men sprint up to them while another two stops behind them. The four of them fans out and traps Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang in the center.
Zhan Zhao observes the gang, they are all twenty something youngsters in punk outfits, their body tattooed and sporting bizarre hairstyles ---- Cosplay??
“You seem rich.” One of them sizes Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang up, “Lend me some cash.”
Zhan Zhao tries to hold back his laughter. A police captain is getting extorted, this is probably a first for Bai Yutang.
“It’s okay if you don’t have any money.” Another gangster reaches out smirking, “We can also have some fun together…” His hand heading straight for Zhan Zhao’s jaw.
Before anyone could react, Bai Yutang has already taken hold of that gangster’s hand, twisting it into an unnatural angle with a loud crackling sound --- it’s broken.
“AHHH.” The gangster falls onto the ground cradling his arm, screaming in pain.
The other three panics immediately.
Bai Yutang asks Zhan Zhao, “Do you still remember the moves I taught you?”
Zhan Zhao nods eagerly, a real fight, actual combat! This is a rare chance!
Bai Yutang shakes his head in resignation, and beckons his hands at the three gangsters.
The gangsters exchange a look and the leader yells, “Get him…” And all three of them charge towards them.
Bai Yutang steps forward, dodging one and blocks the other two’s advances.
The one that was dodged goes straight for Zhan Zhao.
Zhan Zhao repeats Bai Yutang’s teachings in his head, “Time yourself, put your right foot forward quickly, use your right arm to follow your opponent’s forearm movement, grab hold of your opponent’s left shoulder with your left hand, your left foot step forward against the outside of your opponent’s left leg, turn your body around, pull down your hands towards the right, and throw your opponent’s body forward.”
With a loud thud, the gangster flies out and got a mouthful of mud.
Yay~ Zhan Zhao holds up a small fist pump. He turns around to see Bai Yutang has already taken care of the other two gangsters and is staring back at him.
Bai Yutang sees the adorable expression of ‘That was fun, I want to do it again’ on Zhan Zhao’s face. He really wants to pull Zhan Zhao over and kiss him, but… Never mind, he will probably get punched.
He picks up a random gangster from the floor, “Do you still want to continue?”
“Cough… No… please, no more.” The gangster begs while coughing.
“This address.” Bai Yutang lifts the gangster up, Zhan Zhao also closes in with interest as well, “Is it around the area?”
The gangster squints his eyes at the address and nods, “Yes…Yes, it’s in the house over there.”
Bai Yutang lets go of the guy and the whole gang flees immediately. Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao have no interest in pursuing them and head straight for the house instead.
It’s two-storeys house, the tattered roll-up gate is half open, inside is the pitch black corridor.
Bai Yutang peeks into the corridor and retrieves his torchlight from his pocket. He turns back at Zhan Zhao and murmers, “Be careful!”
“Okay.” Zhan Zhao nods and follows him.
The two of them walks into the corridor. According to Chen Jing, the clinic is on the second floor.
They move up the stairs carefully, unlike the pitch darkness on the first floor, there are dim lights leaking out of the second floor.
Switching off his torchlight, Bai Yutang stops, blocking Zhan Zhao’s way.
Zhan Zhao looks at him in confusion, Bai Yutang pulls out his gun and points at his own nose. Zhan Zhao takes a sniff at the air, there’s indeed a heavy scent --- the smell of blood
He pulls out his gun as well and gives Bai Yutang an anxious look.
The two of them part ways and closes in to the room from different sides.
The room door is not closed tightly, only shut lightly.
Bai Yutang nudges the door open, the light inside the room is dull crimson and he is immediately overwhelmed with strong smell of blood. Zhan Zhao frowns, no matter who it is, the person would not still be alive after so much bleeding.
The two of them slides into the room and are immediately shocked by the scene in front of them.
They spot professor Xu lying flat on the ground, his throat cut, the entire floor is covered in blood. From the colour and the coagulation of the blood, he has been dead for at least 24 hours.
As colleagues who have worked together, Zhan Zhao couldn’t bear to see professor Xu in this state, he turns his head away.
Bai Yutang does a quick check of the room and calls the S.C.I. team in resignation.
This sinister house is surrounded by police vehicles in no time, barricading the curious public from the house. Zhan Zhao is sitting in the police vehicle, deep in thoughts. Bai Yutang opens a can of hot coffee for him, “Are you alright?”
Zhan Zhao accepts the coffee, holding it with both hands, feeling the warmth from the can warding off the coldness surrounding him, “What do you think?”
Bai Yutang sighs and sits down next to him, “It feels like things have gone out of control.”
“I thought that once we find professor Xu, we would be able to close this case. But he ended up murdered.” Zhan Zhao takes a sip at his coffee, “This taste like crap.”
“That Dr Zhang is a suspect.” Bai Yutang takes the coffee out of Zhan Zhao’s hand, “It tastes like crap?” He tries a sip, and tosses the coffee away, frowning, “Like this can of coffee, I bought it for drinking, but it is more useful as a hand-warmer compared to for drinking.”
Zhan Zhao chuckles, lowering his head.
“What are you laughing at? Stupid cat!” Bai Yutang scratches his head.
“The way you comfort people is terrible!” Zhan Zhao looks up, “Being logically doesn’t suit you at all.”
“But you still laughed!” Bai Yutang nudges him with his shoulder, “I am good at everything!”
…
“Cap, we are done surveying the area.”
Bai Yutang nods, “Found anything useful?”
Wang Chao shakes his head, “Nothing, not even the murder weapon.”
“What about Zhang Long?” Zhan Zhao asks.
“I called him just now, he hasn’t found Dr Zhang yet, he’s still working on it.” Wang Chao answers, “Xu Qing them are still at the school…That guy seems to have evaporated from the face of earth.”
“Keep looking, stay sharp.”
“Yes Sir.”
Just when he was ready to leave, Bai Yutang’s phone rings suddenly. Picking his phone up, Bai Yutang is startled at the caller ID, “It’s from commissioner Bao.”
“Hello. Commissioner?”
…
The phonecall only lasted for ten seconds, but Bai Yutang’s face is filled with alarm and shock.
“What’s wrong?” Zhan Zhao rarely see Bai Yutang like this, he has a bad feeling, “What happened?”
Bai Yutang puts his phone down and gazes over at Zhan Zhao, “Zhao Jue escaped.”
“…What?!...” Zhan Zhao almost jumps, “How…how is that possible?”
“Commissioner Bao asked us to go over first. Let’s go, cat.” Bai Yutang tugs Zhan Zhao along with him towards his car, he yells back at Wang Chao, “Get some people and follow me.”
The trip normally would take three hours, but Bai Yutang took only an hour to get there. Zhan Zhao knows how stressed Bai Yutang is just from the way he is driving his car like a plane.
Once they reach the research center, they head straight for Zhao Jue’s cell.
Bao Zheng is smoking outside the room, judging from all the cigarette butts on the floor, he had been here for quite a while.
“How did this happen?” Looking at the empty cell, Bai Yutang asks Bao Zheng.
“We got him on the film.” Bringing the two to the control room, Bao Zheng turns on the monitor: The image is clear enough, the person who brought Zhao Jue out is Dr Zhang.
“Zhang Boyi, forty-two years old, famous psychologist, he is one of the researchers in the research center, so he has access to the cell.” Bao Zheng puts out his cigarette, “He knows the place well, he got Zhao Jue out when the guards are changing shift.”
Bao Zheng takes a look at Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao’s tightly knitted brows, “You two don’t have to be too worked up over this, we will put out an arrest warrant for him. I asked you to come because I wanted Xiao Zhan to take a look at Zhao Jue’s room.”
“His room?” Zhan Zhao looks confused.
“Hm.” Bao Zheng chuckles, “Didn’t you notice something wrong with it the last time?”
“…” Zhan Zhao turns around to glare at Bai Yutang.
Bai Yutang shakes his hand quicly, “I didn’t say anything.”
Bao Zheng shakes his head, “Although I’m older than I used to be, but I’m not blind. The two of you are acting so secretively, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what you are up to.”
Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanges a look and lowers their head in embarrassment.
“Now, the two of you, be careful, especially Xiao Zhan.” Bao Zheng stops them who are heading out, “And your brother.”
Bai Yutang looks nervous immediately, “You think, Zhao Jue will try to harm cat and my brother?”
Bao Zheng nods.
…
“My brother discovered his secret back then, that I can understand, but, cat has no connection with him whatsoever.” Bai Yutang seems rather worked up, “Why would he try to harm cat?”
Zhan Zhao tugs Bai Yutang back, “Yutang, calm down.”
Bai Yutang jerks away and continues, “What happened back then? Why didn’t you say anything? What’s there that you can’t tell us?”
Bao Zheng grins at the pissed off Bai Yutang and worried Zhan Zhao behind him suddenly.
He lets go a long sigh, “Twenty years ago, I have seen scenes like this as well.”
“…?...” Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanges a look and turns back at Bao Zheng in confusion.
Bao Zheng pulls a chair over and sits down, “Back then, Yunwen and I were like this as well, easily agitated. Zhao Jue would always be the one holding us back and helping us to come up with solutions. It isn’t because the thing that happened was a secret… but because, we really don’t want to mention it again.” He lights yet another cigarette, “Do you know, why Zhao Jue has killed so many?”
The two shakes their head, Bao Zheng smiles bitterly, “Because back then, police works were very traditional. Zhao Jue’s idea of using psychological analysis would always come under criticism. He recommended setting up a special department for psychological analysis and recruit specialised psychologists to work on criminal profiles many times…But it was scorned upon every single time.”
“He wanted to prove that psychology works, that’s why he went to kill people?” Zhan Zhao asks.
“Yep.” Bao Zheng inhales, “He used psychological suggestion to kill, then use psychological analysis to save those people… He made a fool out of those who used to mock at him.”
Bai Yutang has calmed down by now, “He wants to harm Zhan Zhao, because of jealousy?”
Bao Zheng nods, “Do you know what is the last thing he said before being fitted with the silencer?” He inhales again, “He said he is jealous, jealous of me, of Yunwen, of everyone…He said a genius, must find a stage for himself, if not, the genius will live in more misery than those fools. Everything he did, was to create a stage for himself, that’s all.”
Hearing Bao Zheng’s words, Zhan Zhao seems to be in a daze, “If, the psychology research center already existed back then, if such department was already established…”
Bao Zheng nods, “Then he would be just like you.”
…Bao Zheng falls into silence, seems to be lost in his memory. Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao note the regret and sorrow in his eyes. An expression, Bai Yutang is very familiar with. He has watched it for over twenty years, his old man would make this face often, while smoking and deep in thoughts…filled with endless regret and sorrow. When he was younger, he thought it looked super manly, but now that he recalls it, he was fortunate.
“Smoke less.” Bai Yutang tells Bao Zheng, “It’s bad for you.” He leaves with Zhan Zhao after speaking.
They return to Zhao Jue’s room, Zhan Zhao walks in and starts to examine the room carefully. He seats himself on the red chair and flips through all the sketches that Zhao Jue has left behind. Bai Yutang sits outside and gazes at Zhan Zhao inside the room dully. Time passes slowly as the sky outside turns white.
Zhan Zhao stands up and leaves the cell.
“Cat?” Bai Yutang notices Zhan Zhao’s paleness, he seems to be in discomfort. Bai Yutang walks up to Zhan Zhao, while Zhan Zhao shudders, “Cat!”
He reaches out to catch Zhan Zhao’s falling body, “Cat, what’s wrong?”
Bai Yutang pulls Zhan Zhao into his embrace and touches his face gently, “What’s wrong? Exhausted?”
“No…” Zhan Zhao holds onto Bai Yutang weakly, “Lock…lock the room. Don’t look at those drawings.”
“What’s wrong with it?” Bai Yutang asks in confusion.
“Gather…everyone in the research center, they need psychotherapy.” Zhan Zhao calms his breath, and colours starts to return to his face, “Zhao Jue has sketched psychological suggestions into his drawings…Those who has viewed the drawings often is likely to commit suicide, or murder…”
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