S.C.I.谜案集 (Special Criminal Investigation) Book 2

Case 3. Password Killer: Chapter 11. Doubts

"What do you mean?" Zhan Zhao asked Luo Tian with interest.

Luo Tian looked at the villa, while Bai Yutang smiled coldly. He started the car and said, "Let's go. He's still watching at the window. A bit creepy."

Zhan Zhao and Gong Sun glanced towards the villa and saw Qiao Weiming standing by the window on the second floor. He was wearing glasses, standing there eerily. The curtains were blocking half of his face as he stared down at them.

Zhan Zhao suddenly turned to the other side and said, "It seems that he can see the cemetery from the second floor."

"Pervert." Gong Sun turned to Luo Tian and said, "What did you find strange?"

"He just said that his facial nerve was paralyzed, but why can he make other expressions?" Luo Tian asked.

Gong Sun smiled and said, "Come on, it's not facial nerve paralysis at all. When someone has a stroke, it usually paralyses half of the body. It's impossible for them to make any expressions."

"Then why did he say his face was paralyzed?" Zhan Zhao asked in confusion.

"Don't you guys think his smile is strange?" Luo Tian asked, "I've seen that smile before."

"Hmm?" Bai Yutang looked in the rear-view mirror, while Zhan Zhao and Gong Sun looked at Luo Tian. "Where have you seen it before?"

Luo Tian was silent for a moment before he said, "I smile like that."

Bai Yutang parked his car by the side of the road and turned to look at Luo Tian. "What do you mean?"

Luo Tian said, "It's a simple muscle-controlled smile."

"Hmm..." Gong Sun touched his chin and said, "Very interesting."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other as they waited for Luo Tian to continue.

"When we were getting trained back then, everyone mastered a set of tricks for creating facial expressions, since we needed them as killers. These expressions included all types of joys and sorrows. However, they were all fake, because the expressions only controlled muscles, not emotions."

"Only the muscles, not emotions... Yes, Qiao Weiming's expression just now was exactly like that. " Gong Sun said as he nodded.

"What's the difference between the expression you're talking about and a regular fake smile?" Bai Yutang asked.

"There are still emotions in a regular fake smile." Zhan Zhao also seemed to understand a little, and said, "When Qiao Weiming first smiled, he only did so because he thought it was the right time to smile. At that moment, he seemed to have a lack of awareness. Later, he became more and more normal."

"Is it possible that he just woke up and his mind is not fully awake yet?" Bai Yutang asked, "Didn't he say he just woke up?"

"It's because we woke him up that the expression at the beginning was real. Later, he began to make fake expressions."

Bai Yutang asked Luo Tian, "Can you smile like that?"

Luo Tian nodded and said, "At first I didn't realise it, because it became a habit. Later, Yang Yang told me that smiling like that was scary. I was surprised when I looked in the mirror. It took a few days for Yang Yang to teach me how to smile. That's why I know that the most important thing is emotion."

"Hmm... Interesting. " Zhan Zhao said to himself. "Very interesting."

"Cat, what's interesting?" Bai Yutang asked as he started the car and drove off. As soon as he spoke, his cell phone rang. Zhan Zhao took it out from Bai Yutang's pocket and saw that it was Ma Han. Zhan Zhao picked up, then asked Bai Yutang, "Xia Bai, Ma Han said that they have arrived at the school. Should they make a move first or wait for us?"