Proofreader: Sandra

Chapter 157

In the afternoon on Nansha Island, the sea breeze was blowing as Song Wen and Lu Siyu stood at a crossroads on the island, talking with a stall owner.

This was the end of the only street on the island. Further up was a rocky cliff, where the Xingfu Inn and the cake shop were located. A short walk down led to a beach.

Song Wen took out another hundred yuan from his wallet and asked the stall owner, “What else do you know about the girl’s disappearance?”

Seeing the money, the stall owner continued, “It’s quite eerie… That girl used to love going to that popular cake shop. Shortly after she disappeared, about a month ago, the cake shop owner died too.” He swallowed nervously. “Some say the missing girl died and turned into a ghost, and that ghost haunted the cake shop owner to death.”

Song Wen frowned. “Didn’t the police investigate these incidents?”

“Yes, they did. They investigated both the girl’s disappearance and the cake shop owner’s suicide.”

Wanting to get his money’s worth, the stall owner elaborated, “After the girl went missing, the police came to ask questions and searched the entire island. They checked the place where the girl stayed but found nothing. As for the cake shop owner, they said he slit his wrists while bathing. When he was found, his body was already cold. There were waves and winds on the sea at that time, so it took over a day for the police to get here, and they didn’t find anything suspicious.”

Hearing this, Song Wen understood. The island was far from the mainland, and it was difficult for professional forensic experts to come over.

Moreover, the best students and elites often stayed in provincial capitals or big cities. Average students went to smaller cities, and those who ended up in remote areas like this island were usually the weaker students from their classes.

With such manpower, environment, and conditions, expecting them to find anything significant was rare.

Song Wen said, “It’s unlikely that a ghost was involved. Was there any other reason for the owner’s suicide?”

The stall owner hesitated for a while and then whispered, “There’s a rumor that his wife cheated on him, and he couldn’t take it, so he killed himself. But that could just be village gossip.”

“And the body? Was it buried?”

“It was taken off the island and cremated a long time ago.”

Song Wen frowned. “Why was it cremated?”

The stall owner explained, “You might not know this since you’re not from around here. Although it looks like we have plenty of vegetation and beach, the ground beneath is mostly rock. Bodies can’t be buried deep, and they’re easily dug up by animals. We used to have sea burials, but those are no longer allowed, so now we have to pay to have them transported off the island for cremation.”

Lu Siyu asked, “So, is the cake shop still open? Who’s running it now?”

The stall owner replied, “Though the owner died, his wife is still around, and the pastry chef is still working there. So, it hasn’t really affected the business. In fact, it’s even more popular now, with young people constantly coming over. But that place… be careful…”

The stall owner hesitated. Song Wen pressed further, “Is there something wrong with the cake shop?”

The stall owner quickly waved his hand, “No, nothing’s wrong. We’ve bought cakes from there ourselves, and they’re quite good. Since Xingfu Inn doesn’t have a restaurant, I figure you’ll have to go there for meals.”

Whether the stall owner truly didn’t know more or was unwilling to speak ill of his neighbors was unclear. 

“Thanks, we’ll be careful.” Song Wen finally paid, including the hundred yuan as a tip.

After purchasing their items, they had just taken a few steps when Song Wen’s phone rang. It was a message from Qiu Lan: “Song Ge, are you near the beach? Jiang Jiang and I found something here, and we’re a bit scared. Can you come take a look?”

She had attached a photo, showing a white object wedged among some rocks by the shore…

Song Wen frowned and zoomed in on the image. The white object was mostly obscured by the rocks, making it hard to identify.

Lu Siyu took the phone, looked at the photo, and whispered, “It’s hard to tell, but it could be the bones of a large animal, or… human bones.”

Standing at the crossroads, Song Wen asked Lu Siyu, “We’re not too far from the beach, should we head over and take a look?”

Lu Siyu nodded.

Song Wen then asked, “What about the tea eggs…”

Most people would suggest eating them later, but Lu Siyu wasn’t like most people. He immediately took one out of the plastic bag, peeled off the shell, and began eating it while it was still hot…

One needs to be well-fed to have the strength to work.

Song Wen handed him some tissues, then put the rest of the food into his backpack.

Lu Siyu ate quickly, finishing two eggs, which brought some color back to his face. He wiped his hands and mouth with the tissues.

Song Wen then replied to Qiu Lan, “Send your location.”

Qiu Lan promptly sent it. They were about eight hundred meters away from the beach.

The route to the beach was well-developed for tourists, with a paved road leading straight there. At the end of the road, there were some free public bikes that could be unlocked by scanning a code.

Song Wen and Lu Siyu each took a bike and, coasting downhill, reached the vicinity of the beach in under five minutes.

The coastline of Nansha Island is lined with a vast field of rocks. During high tide, these rocks are submerged underwater, but once the tide recedes, variously sized rocks become exposed. These rocks have been smoothed and rounded by the relentless force of the seawater.

This area is near a seabird habitat, and a large number of seabirds were already flying low in the sky. Some birds were searching for caves in the cliffs to shelter in, while others were busily building nests in the strong, sturdy trees.

Animals are often more sensitive to natural disasters than humans. Earthquakes, typhoons, and other events are frequently detected by animals first. The impending typhoon made the birds especially vigilant and sensitive.

The ocean waves had grown significantly larger, forming circular crests about one to two meters high, rolling in with a slow, heavy rhythm and producing a deep, resonant sound.

As the sky darkened further, the distant scenery became more vivid and distinct. These were all signs that the typhoon was approaching.

At this time, the two girls were standing near some rocks, easily visible from a distance.

Qiu Lan saw Song Wen and then noticed Lu Siyu behind him. “Oh, Lu Ge is here too?”

Song Wen explained, “We ran into each other on the way.” Then he looked at Qiu Lan, “Why did you only message me?”

Qiu Lan hesitated for a moment, blinking her large eyes before explaining, “The teacher is probably at the inn by now, and we didn’t want to bother him. Besides, we thought it might be nothing, and didn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble.”

She couldn’t exactly admit that she thought Song Wen was braver, more reliable, and more handsome, so she wanted to call him over first…

Lu Siyu, disliking idle chatter, interrupted, “The typhoon is approaching, so let’s hurry. Where’s the thing you found?”

“Oh, it’s here.” Jiang Jiang pointed to the object, which was wedged between two rocks not far away. It was a segment of something white that looked like a bone. “We were originally photographing seabirds by the shore when Qiu Lan accidentally tripped on a rock. That’s when we discovered the bone underneath.”

The bone’s size was puzzling—it was too small for a large animal and too big for a small one, making it seem likely to be human.

Lu Siyu, adeptly putting on gloves, crouched down to examine it. He tried to move the bone, but it was firmly lodged between the rocks. He looked up at Song Wen, “It’s stuck.”

“Let me try.” Song Wen said, moving to help shift the adjacent rocks. Together, they managed to free the bone.

By now, Jiang Jiang and Qiu Lan had grown more interested and crouched down to watch. Having studied marine biology, they had some knowledge of animal skeletons and dissections, allowing them to preliminarily assess that this bone did not appear to belong to any typical marine animal.

Lu Siyu held the bone in his hand, examining it closely. The bone was an off-white color, with visible sutures and a hollow interior at the fracture point. It had been eroded by seawater for some time, and the flesh might have been eaten clean by small fish during high tide.

Qiu Lan, curious and a bit brave, asked, “Is this a human bone?”

Lu Siyu didn’t answer her directly. Instead, he whispered to Song Wen, “It’s possible.”

“Really?” The two girls immediately took a step back.

Song Wen, ignoring their reaction, immediately thought of the missing girl and asked Lu Siyu, “Could this be the remains of that missing girl?”

Lu Siyu measured the bone with his long fingers and said, “This should be a human femur, the thigh bone, which is the longest tubular bone in the human body. Based on the length and thickness of an adult femur, one can estimate the height of the deceased. Judging by the thickness and size of this bone, it is likely a female femur. However, a detailed examination is needed.”

From soft-bodied animals to the emergence of exoskeletons, and then the evolution of exoskeletons into endoskeletons, mammals came to dominate the world. Bones are often the last remnants of an animal or human body. Flesh, skin, and internal organs decay, but bones can last for millennia.

Bones are composed of living cells and minerals. It’s hard to imagine that such hard structures are living, growing tissues within our bodies.

Some ancient cultures believed that bones possessed souls and were considered sacred, a blessing from the heavens.

Before puberty, there is little difference between male and female skeletons. Once adulthood is reached, due to hormones and growth factors, male bones become longer, thicker, heavier, and rougher, while female bones are shorter, thinner, longer, and smoother.

Although various factors like region, environment, individual differences, hormones, and medications can affect the condition of bones, basic judgments can still be made based on general patterns.

Long bones can indicate gender and height. This bone appears to be from a woman, likely a young, slender, and tall woman.

Song Wen then asked, “Can the time of death be determined?”

“Being soaked in seawater makes it harder, but overall, it seems relatively fresh,” Lu Siyu replied, pointing out a flat section of the bone to Song Wen. “The surface of this bone looks like it has been sawed with a bone saw, likely post-mortem.”

“The clean cut surface indicates it wasn’t a fracture or naturally broken, but sawed. The roughness of the cut can reflect the size of the saw teeth.”

Lu Siyu had worked on a project during his university days, examining saw marks on human bones. His mentor had them use various types of saws on several bones, concluding that different saw teeth leave distinct marks under microscopic examination.

Even though he didn’t have better magnifying tools for a detailed look now, it was clear that the bone had been sawed. 

Pre-mortem fractures or saw cuts would show signs of bruising on the bone surface, which wasn’t present here. It seemed likely that the body had been dismembered post-mortem.

Just from a segment of bone, many clues can be deduced, even without further tests and microscopic examination. This is what distinguishes a good forensic expert from an ordinary one.

Song Wen frowned slightly. A missing girl, a bone fragment by the sea, the suicide of the cake shop owner, a fugitive hiding for over a decade—this small island seemed to hold many stories.

Qiu Lan looked at Lu Siyu and said, “You can tell if it’s male or female from just a bone. You must be some kind of fortune teller, right?”

Lu Siyu, with a serious expression, replied, “This is not mysticism; it’s science.”

Qiu Lan said, “Of course I know that. I was joking. But aren’t you a photographer? How do you know so much about bodies and bones?”

Jiang Jiang scrutinized Lu Siyu, “Yeah, you wouldn’t happen to be a forensic expert, would you?” She was also shocked by his use of technical terms.

Lu Siyu shook his head, “I learned about it from self-study through books. It may not be entirely accurate.”

Jiang Jiang pouted. Earlier, Lu Siyu had spoken with such certainty and professionalism, but now he was denying it.

Since boarding the boat, these two men had been mysterious. They had notified someone named Song Yu, but this Lu Siwen had also come along. All these signs made her feel that their relationship wasn’t as simple as they claimed.

Song Wen recalled the vendor mentioning that Teacher Su had also inquired about the missing girl and asked the two girls, “By the way, has your Teacher Su ever been married? Did he have children?”

Qiu Lan was surprised by the question, “I think he was married when he was younger, but later got divorced. Since he started teaching us, he’s been alone. I’m not sure if he ever had children.”

Song Wen continued, “Has Teacher Su always been teaching you?”

Qiu Lan replied, “Yes, Teacher Su is really nice, very knowledgeable, and patient. He’s the kind of person who gives money to beggars and donates to charity. He taught us marine biology, and his elective courses are the most popular in the college.”

While they talked, Lu Siyu continued to examine the bone. Jiang Jiang, looking around, asked, “Where could this bone have come from? Could it have drifted in with the tide? Or maybe a seabird carried it over?” Then she examined the bone’s size, “But it’s too big; it probably exceeds the weight a seabird could carry.”

Song Wen stood up, surveyed the surroundings, and said, “It doesn’t seem to have been carried by seawater, nor by a seabird.” Then he pointed to a nearby cliff, “It’s possible that during high tide, it was thrown from that cliff and ended up lodged among the rocks as the rest was washed away by the sea.”

During high tide, these rocks would be submerged underwater.

Jiang Jiang, who had studied the island’s map, looked slightly pale, “That place… it’s not far from Xingfu Inn and the cake shop.” They were planning to head there next.

Qiu Lan pulled her clothes tighter. Her braid was already tousled by the wind, and her skirt wasn’t very warm, “Could someone have died on the island? Was the missing girl murdered?”

Discovering what appeared to be a human bone on this tourist island was indeed chilling.

Song Wen said, “This island does have some oddities.”

Besides the mysteriously missing girl, the owner of the island’s cake shop had also recently committed suicide.

Before Song Wen could explain in detail, Qiu Lan’s face turned pale with fear. “This white bone is creepy enough. There wouldn’t be anything unclean here, right? And…what about tonight?”

Jiang Jiang, usually quite rational, showed a hint of panic due to her young age. “The most crucial thing is…the typhoon is approaching, and there are no other places to stay…”

Seeing their frightened expressions, Song Wen couldn’t bring himself to tell them the truth about the cake shop owner. Instead, he smiled and comforted them, “There are no such things as ghosts in this world.”

Lu Siyu stood up, his long eyelashes blinking behind his glasses, and coldly remarked, “Throughout history, countless people have died. Many bodies are buried everywhere. The houses you’ve lived in, the schools you’ve attended, the roads you’ve walked on, and even every inch of land you’ve stepped on may have bones buried underneath…”

Human history is built upon bones.

This scientific statement, while factual, was something Jiang Jiang and Qiu Lan had clearly never considered.

With the turbulent sea, strong winds, and overcast sky, Lu Siyu, holding a piece of white bone, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, with his cold expression and voice, made the situation even more chilling…

The girls huddled together, looking up at him and shivering. His words did not have the intended calming effect.

Seeing the atmosphere tense, Song Wen tried to ease the situation, “If there were ghosts, we would have met them long ago. Don’t scare yourselves.”

Lu Siyu looked down at the bone in his hand, pondering whose bone it was and what story it held. He took an evidence bag from Song Wen’s backpack, wrapped the bone, and said, “This hasn’t been examined, so we can’t be certain. We should head to the inn quickly and hand it over to the police later.”

By now, the wind by the sea was getting stronger, and the sky was filled with dark clouds. The typhoon was indeed imminent.

Song Wen agreed, “Everyone, be careful. Let’s head to the inn.”

Jiang Jiang quickly checked her phone and exclaimed, “The typhoon is almost here; we need to hurry.”

The typhoon, which had been far away, had now moved to the edge of the island. The large wind circle on the map resembled a giant circular cake of cream.

In no time, it started raining, and the four began to climb the mountain quickly, trying to reach the inn before the rain intensified. Any delay could mean getting caught in the downpour.

Song Wen carried two bags, easily pulling Lu Siyu along. The two girls lagged behind but kept up, thanks to their youth.

Jiang Jiang thought for a moment and quietly suggested to Qiu Lan, “Let’s not tell the teacher about the bone. He can’t help much, and it might just scare him.”

Qiu Lan nodded, her gaze shifting to the two people ahead.

Jiang Jiang had a hunch that these two seemed more reliable than their teacher. Now that they knew about the bone, the bespectacled guy had carefully packed it away and mentioned handing it over to the police for examination. There should be some results from that.