At half-past nine in the evening, the funeral parlor in Nancheng City was still illuminated with a faint white light. Within this whiteness lingered a chill, and the entire room was several degrees cooler than outside.

The autopsy had been completed, and Lin Xiuran leaned on the dissecting table, bowing his head to observe the half-decayed male corpse on the table. His expression was somewhat solemn.

It was evident that the killer didn’t want the victim to die easily. Before the victim’s death, they had endured prolonged torture, as the surface of the body was covered in various signs of abuse. This period of torment could have spanned several days or even a week. The contents of the stomach were empty, indicating that the victim hadn’t eaten for a long time before death.

With footsteps approaching, Song Wen and Fu Linjiang walked in from the door.

Song Wen’s nose twitched. Besides the odor of decay, there was a strong smell of blood in the room. Alongside these two scents, there was a peculiar smell in the air—a repugnant fishy odor, as if it were the scent of evaporated liquid mixed with seawater, making the air in the room seem much denser.

Lin Xiuran pointed to the male corpse on the dissecting table, introducing straight to the point, “The body was brought over by the third team. The deceased’s name is Zhang Peicai, thirty-five years old, formerly an investigative journalist for a self-media company, with his own public account, quite well-known. The deceased was one meter seventy-eight tall, and the preliminary time of death can be determined to be three days ago. The body was discovered tonight, dumped near a ditch in the Dark River area.”

“That area is vast and sparsely populated, with little surveillance. It’s probably difficult to trace the person who dumped the body.” Song Wen said, looking toward the dissecting table. The identity of the deceased was sensitive; he understood why this case ended up in his hands. “From the current information, we can only speculate that the person who dumped the body may have had transportation, as they transported the body to such a place.”

“According to the testimony of the scavenger who found the body, the body wasn’t there yesterday evening. We can preliminarily determine the time of body disposal to be around early this morning. With the recent rise in temperature, various insects have become active, making the decay process much faster than usual,” Lin Xiuran explained briefly.

Lying flat on the dissecting table was the corpse of a young man. The flesh had begun to decay, emitting a strong foul smell. The body had already undergone basic dissection, with the chest and abdomen opened, and the head shaved.

Under the bright light, the eyes of the corpse were slightly open. If there was something different, it was the faint redness in the whites of the eyes. It resembled the inflammation of human eyes. The eyeballs had turned completely red, with red blood vessels inside. Under this bleak light, it seemed as if the whole room had become heavier with moisture.

Song Wen suddenly thought of a movie he had seen, where the zombies seemed to have eyes like these. He looked down at the decaying corpse, as if it might sit up at any moment.

The deceased was in his prime, with long and well-defined muscles all over his body. Who could have subdued such a man and tortured him to death?

Lin Xiuran continued the introduction, “Zhang Peicai used to be a social investigative journalist. Later, he resigned from his position but didn’t stop his social investigations. Later on, he started doing news releases on his own social media. Some of his well-known series included visits to takeaway factories and exposing irregularities in private kindergartens.”

Fu Linjiang nodded, “I seem to have seen his expose on the hygiene conditions of a five-star hotel. Those workers were using strong bleach to clean, and they threw the cleaned beddings directly on the floor. Just thinking about it makes me feel goosebumps.”

Song Wen said, “You don’t need to be too nervous. We police officers can’t afford to stay in five-star hotels.”

Fu Linjiang covered his chest, saying, “Thank you for comforting me. It makes sense, but why do I feel even more heartbroken now?”

There is darkness in the world, and many well-known gray areas exist. Many people have their own hidden secrets, and Zhang Peicai’s job was to expose these things. However, he himself had long placed himself in the gray area for wealth and fame. He couldn’t be judged as simply good or bad.

His reports were sometimes true and sometimes exaggerated some facts.

This kind of private investigation, if one wants to get rich, either involves being a paparazzo investigating celebrities or, like Zhang Peicai, delving into sensational societal news. Accompanied by a news story with sensational effects, they often achieve both fame and fortune.

Lin Xiuran continued, “Before the incident, the deceased had told his family that he would be investigating for some time. His family didn’t pay much attention to his whereabouts. About a week ago, his younger brother was unable to contact him multiple times. They reported it to the police. Because the relatives provided specific features of Zhang Peicai, including photos of his birthmark, we were able to identify the source of the corpse quickly.”

Song Wen skillfully put on a pair of gloves and then lowered his head to observe the body. “Has the cause of death been determined?”

“Confirmed. He died from excessive external bleeding due to trauma,” Lin Xiuran replied.

“But looking at it like this, there are many injuries on the body, but there doesn’t seem to be any obvious fatal external injury…” Fu Linjiang carefully observed the decaying body, and most of the wounds were not lethal.

Lin Xiuran explained, “The body has numerous injuries all over—trunk, limbs, and even the head. The killer knows how to torture others to make the victim suffer more.”

“In other words, the victim was slowly tortured to death by someone draining his blood,” Fu Linjiang said with a hint of nausea, bending down to examine the victim’s brain. Song Wen also followed suit. At this moment, the skull of the corpse had been sawed open, exposing the brain to the air. Some parts had already decayed, the dura mater blood vessels were congested, and several bleeding points had clots. Insects and flies had completed their collection, but some eggs and larvae were inevitably left in the body. The entire brain had become a paradise for insects, like a nest that had been hollowed out by worms.

“What is this…” Fu Linjiang found several white cystic structures on the brain’s surface, each about the size of popped corn. He reached out to touch them.

“Don’t move!” Lin Xiuran said, reaching out and using tweezers to break open one of the egg-like white cysts. He then placed it on the dissecting table, and some transparent liquid flowed out. Subsequently, a white worm several centimeters long crawled out.

Song Wen finally understood what the smell he had previously detected was—it was the smell brought by these maggots, an indescribable odor that was both fresh and fishy. It resembled the smell of nearly spoiled eggs. He looked down at the struggling worm and said, “Judging by the developmental status of these worms, it doesn’t seem like the victim has been dead for three days.”

Although Song Wen wasn’t well-versed in this field, he knew a bit. Forensic experts often determine the time of death based on the condition of insects. However, looking at the current state of the corpse, it seemed like the worms wouldn’t develop until after a week of death.

Lin Xiuran nodded, “The surface of the brain is swollen, and there are maggots in the coronal section. This man’s brain has been almost hollowed out by worms.” Then he explained, tilting his head, “Generally, after death, maggots will grow rapidly based on the environment. As the saying goes, flies don’t lay eggs on seamless eggs. Flies like to lay eggs in some damp places, such as wounds, the mouth and nose, genitalia, etc. Now, although the body is decomposing, based on the indications from the worms, it’s likely that the insects invaded when this person was still alive.”

Seeing this scene, Song Wen straightened his body, “This means…”

Lin Xiuran calmly stated the somewhat cruel fact, “There are traces of iron nails in the victim’s head, leaving a circular wound on the skull. This is also a form of torture, meaning that the worms may have laid eggs in him while he was still alive. The decay and putrefaction of the wound led to the extensive reproduction of the worms.”

Song Wen said, “It seems like the killer is very experienced, like an old hand.”

“In addition,” Lin Xiuran’s expression remained solemn, “the deceased’s hands and feet have some binding marks, and there are traces of tape on his mouth and nose. I suspect he was once held captive for some time before his death. When the body was discovered, to put it in a bag and fix the body, his hands and feet were tied with knots. The method of tying these knots is somewhat special; you can take a look later.”

In many serial cases, suspects often have distinctive binding methods. This is also an important clue for later identifying the killer.

“What about his belongings? Does he have a phone or any other identification on him?” Song Wen asked again.

Lin Xiuran shook his head, “No one knows what he was investigating during this time or where he went. When he was found, the body was only dressed in simple clothes. The only physical evidence we have, besides the rope on his hands, is a black bag used to dispose of the body.”

“What about other clues? Didn’t his family report him missing?” Song Wen asked again.

Lin Xiuran thought for a moment and added, “I heard a few sentences earlier. It seems that the deceased’s younger brother said his brother told him when he left that he had discovered some earth-shattering news.”

Song Wen frowned slightly upon hearing this. Could it be more sensational than his previous revelations? And could this person have been killed to silence him because he knew something?

After examining the body, it was already past ten in the evening. Lin Xiuran still needed to further slice and test the body, and then write the autopsy report. Song Wen said to Fu Linjiang, “Let’s leave for now. We’ll start the investigation tomorrow.” After saying this, he suddenly looked to the side, where several packages were placed on a table in a corner of the funeral home.

“What’s this?” Song Wen’s eyebrows furrowed; that thing looked somewhat familiar.

Lin Xiuran glanced up, “Oh, it was sent by Lu Siyu. He said it’s goji berries and tea leaves that Zhang Dahai gave before. You left my portion over there, and he happened to be free today, so he brought it over for me.”

Song Wen’s brows furrowed even more, “When did this happen?”

“Just a moment ago. He left just as you arrived.”

“You let him come all the way to the funeral home to deliver it?”

Lin Xiuran explained, “He said he happened to be nearby. After a phone call, he arrived in a minute. Then he came, left these things, chatted for a couple of sentences, and left.” At this point, he finally sensed something different from Song Wen’s words, straightened up, and asked, “Did you two recently… have a disagreement?” After weighing his words for a moment, he used this term. Anyway, Fu Linjiang was not an outsider; he knew how much Song Wen cared about Lu Siyu, so he couldn’t figure out what these two were up to.

Song Wen asked, “Did he say anything else?” Considering the timing, Lu Siyu probably came straight from the police station to the funeral home, parked his car here, and then called Lin Xiuran.

Lin Xiuran pursed his lips, made a helpless gesture, and said, “He said you won’t let him return to work and asked me to help him plead. But I’m from the Forensic Identification Center, not his direct superior. It’s not appropriate for me to discuss matters within your team. I consoled him a bit and let him go back.”

Song Wen finally accepted this explanation. But he couldn’t figure out why Lu Siyu was so proactive.

The funeral home was located in a remote and gloomy place. After the two left the funeral home, the temperature outside was several degrees higher than inside. Once in the car, Fu Linjiang continued the previous topic, “This killer is probably not simple.”

“The killer is currently hiding very well, leaving no traces behind,” Song Wen started the car. “I estimate that this case won’t be easy to solve.”

“Ah, aren’t you planning to give Lu Siyu some information as well? I think his instincts and ideas are quite accurate sometimes,” Fu Linjiang suggested tentatively.

“Did he ask you to help him plead?” Song Wen still refused, “Let’s investigate first. When he wasn’t around, we still solved cases the same way, didn’t we?”

As long as it involves murder, from the moment the killer harbors the intention, all actions are like a series of dominoes being toppled. Every word he says, every action he takes, and even every step he takes can change as a result, changes so subtle that he might not even notice. Every action leaves various traces, and if they can be logically connected through reasoning, the desired answers can be found.

There is no overly intelligent killer; there are only hunters who are not intelligent enough or not persistent enough.

TN:

“Reflection is useless, the world is senseless. Evil is its only permanence. God is not alive. Love cannot be trusted. Surface, surface, surface was all that anyone found meaning in…”