Di Ye reached out his finger to check the man’s carotid artery. The neck was still warm, but he couldn’t feel a single pulse from the major artery.

An ominous premonition and conclusion rushed into his mind simultaneously, and Di Ye felt all the blood in his body surge to his head. He raised his hand to signal his teammates behind him not to come in any further.

“Protect the scene.”

He glanced at his watch: 11:28 PM.

The team’s forensic doctor, Old Li, was out in the countryside, and there was no word from the command center about a replacement.

Di Ye looked at the corpse on the sofa, feeling utterly speechless.

Initially, they received an anonymous tip-off that someone was selling drugs at Baohuang Temple.

Di Ye used informants and staked out the temple for about a week before finally catching the suspicious Hei Gou.

After extensive inquiries, they confirmed Hei Gou’s transaction time and place. After Hei Gou’s death, the lead fell on someone named Jian Ge. Regardless of whether this person was Jian Ge or not, they arrived to find the person dead, the body still warm. Everything seemed to string together as if someone was playing them.

“Captain, the command center replied.”

He Le spoke cautiously now, afraid of angering his direct superior.

Di Ye held his breath and turned back, “What did they say?”

“They told us to wait a bit longer.”

“Why are these people so slow with their work?”

He Le weakly explained, “They said a bus fell into the river, and all the city’s forensic doctors have been dispatched to the scene to retrieve bodies.”

“When did this happen, and which river?”

“About twenty minutes ago, I heard it was Longchuan River.”

Di Ye frowned, “I’ll handle this. Go see what’s causing the noise outside and tell them to keep it down!”

Feeling irritated, Di Ye took out his phone and walked to the other end of the corridor. As long as he was on the phone, he heard the people on the other end shouting.

“Who told you to bump into my shoulder? Try glaring at me again! Do you believe I won’t kill you?!”

“Keep it down! Go back to your own rooms and don’t wander around!”

He Le’s words fell on deaf ears.

The two men in conflict couldn’t stand each other and started fighting under the watchful eyes of others, with some even egging them on.

“Hit him!”

He Le quickly separated the two, but they didn’t stop and continued to hurl insults at each other like rabid dogs, dragging each other’s ancestors into the argument.

Seeing the situation getting out of control, Di Ye hung up the phone.

“Try pulling me again!!!”

The troublemaker had drunk a bit and even dared to push the police.

He Le, mindful of his image, didn’t stoop to his level.

Di Ye walked through the crowd, not holding anything in his hands, just casually stretching his neck and wrists.

To He Le, this gesture from Di Ye signaled he was about to deal with the troublemaker.

He immediately stood aside with the nearby police officers, “The boss is about to make a move!”

The drunk man glanced at Di Ye, looked up, and found that the newcomer was half a head taller than him, not wearing a police uniform, and looked more like a street thug.

Being drunk, he wasn’t intimidated by such a physical disadvantage.

The man pointed at Di Ye’s nose, “Get lost, this has nothing to do with you!”

Di Ye didn’t waste words with him, directly grabbing the hand pointing at his nose and effortlessly flipping the man over his shoulder, pinning him to the ground with his arms behind his back. “So noisy, someone come and cuff him!”

“Got it!”

He Le immediately took out handcuffs and took over the troublemaker.

With that, the surroundings went silent as if muted.

The chaotic scene miraculously restored order, and everyone cooperated with the police in registering their identity information, with no one daring to cause trouble anymore.

After dealing with the outside situation, Di Ye pushed the door open and entered the room again.

The room was too dim to see anything clearly, so Di Ye used a flashlight to shine over the corpse’s face, noticing shallow arc-shaped indentations on the nose and both sides of the face.

He looked for a few moments, unable to make anything of it, so he shifted his attention to the gunshot wound on the chest.

The shot had hit the heart directly, with no other wounds found elsewhere.

White powder was scattered on the coffee table, and Di Ye put on gloves, picked up a bit, and sniffed it.

Well, they were doing drugs here!

It seemed this KTV had some serious issues.

Before long, Yan Jun from the trace inspection team arrived at the crime scene with his team, and supporting police officers also arrived one after another. The street below the KTV was flashing with red and blue police lights.

Yan Jun circled the corpse for a while and suddenly said, “Well, now we have drugs, a shooting, and a murder! When can we go home and have a family reunion?”

Di Ye: “The police team is your family.”

Yan Jun, who always felt the need to retort when Di Ye spoke, replied, “Then shouldn’t I get paid more at a family rate?”

“Brother, family is priceless.” Di Ye said while checking the compartment under the coffee table, “The country and the people will remember you!”

“I have no common language with a rich guy like you,” Yan Jun suddenly remembered something, “By the way, when are you going to treat me to that meal you owe me?”

“I’m good anytime,” Di Ye stood up from the floor, “You pick the place, set the time, invite the people, and I’ll pay the bill.”

“Captain Di is so generous, then I won’t be polite!”

“No problem.” Di Ye frowned, “Why can’t I see the shell casing?”

Yan Jun lay on the ground and looked around, “Could the killer have taken the shell casing after firing?”

The two were searching for the shell casing in the room when He Le suddenly pushed the door open and saw the two with their butts sticking up, “What are you two looking for?”

“How can it not be here?” Yan Jun had already crawled under the karaoke machine.

Di Ye glanced at He Le, “Has the forensic doctor arrived?”

“Haven’t seen them.”

“Don’t wait,” Di Ye said, “Get someone to take the body back first.”

• Outside the room, the lobby manager and two male waiters were being questioned by the police.

“The guest arrived at 6 PM, booked a large room, and ordered some drinks. I went in a few times to collect empty bottles, and the guest seemed a bit drunk, resting on the sofa… I don’t know when it happened, but then…”

“Is there surveillance in the room?”

“The thing is,” the lobby manager explained, “we have surveillance in the corridors, but we don’t install it in private spaces like this.”

“Since the deceased entered the room, who else went in?”

“Xiao Zhang was responsible for this room’s service; you can ask him,” the manager said.

Next to him, Xiao Zhang nervously said, “I was in charge of this room tonight, but I had other duties too. Unless the guest rang the bell or there was a special situation, I wouldn’t disturb the guest.”

“What was the situation the last time you went in?”

“The last time I went in, I found the guest sitting on the sofa, seemingly asleep.”

“How many times did you go in?”

“Four times.”

“What were the times and the situation in the room each time?”

“The first time was when I led the guest in, turned on the equipment, and left. The second time was around 8 PM when the guest ordered some drinks and snacks. When I brought the drinks in, the guest was still singing. The third time, I’m not sure of the time, but the guest rang for a bottle of Rémy Martin, and we can check the time on the computer. When I brought the drink in, the guest was still awake. The last time was just now when I went in to collect empty bottles and found the guest asleep. I didn’t think much of it and left. Shortly after, you all came in.”

• Meanwhile, in the forensic team rushing to Longchuan River, there was a frail-looking young forensic doctor.

The team leader, Old Zheng, scanned the crowd and immediately spotted the fair-skinned Leng Ning.

That guy Di kept calling for someone, and from the description, the case didn’t seem complicated, so he decided to send a young forensic doctor to handle it.

“There’s a homicide case at the criminal police team. Go take a look,” Old Zheng said. “After you’re done, come back here; we’re short-handed.”

Leng Ning, who had just put on his autopsy gown, frowned upon hearing the words “criminal police team.”

“Not willing?” Old Zheng asked.

“No,” Leng Ning picked up the investigation box, “Could you arrange a driver for me?”

“Find Old Wu; he’s in charge of logistics.” Zheng Zhouhe said and headed towards the river, followed by a group of forensic doctors heading to the scene.

At that moment, a recovery team carried a female corpse past Leng Ning. He glanced over and noticed bruises on the girl’s waist, marks that were likely from being forcefully pinched while alive—this girl might have been abused.

He noted the number on the tag on the girl’s body, which read 7, and silently memorized it.

• 12:30 AM, Hao Ge KTV.

“Where’s the forensic doctor? The boss said they’d be here soon, so why aren’t they here yet?”

“Coming from Longchuan River takes at least half an hour, just wait a bit longer.”

Amidst the chaos, a person wearing an autopsy gown stepped out of a van.

He Le immediately recognized the forensic doctor and hurried to greet them.

Wait, why does this forensic doctor look so familiar?

Why is it him?

“Why are you here?”

“Zheng Zhouhe sent me to assist with the autopsy,” Leng Ning replied.

“You?” He Le asked skeptically, “Can you handle it?”

Leng Ning didn’t get upset and continued in a calm tone, “Whether I can handle it or not, we’ll only know after I see it.”

The boss had been urging for a while, so He Le didn’t have time to worry about much else and quickly led Leng Ning to the autopsy room.