Chapter Thirteen: Collecting the Corpse

  "Who's dead?" asked Captain Liao of the homicide squad, "Has their identity been confirmed?"

  "Could be... could be Jia Liu!" Yesterday was the team leader who brought Jia Liu to our office, I don't know what his reaction will be when he hears this news.

  Liao team leader was taken aback, frowning and asked: "Jia Liu? Is that yesterday's..."

  Before he could finish, Grey interrupted and said: "Right, it's him!"

  "Since it's your case, we won't interfere." The captain turned around and beckoned to a man wearing a white coat. This person looked very young, but his face was pale, an unnatural white, as if he hadn't seen sunlight for years. His hair was like a messy heap of grass, sticking out in all directions, with a layer of greasy dirt on top, at least a month's worth of unwashed hair. And there was one particularly crucial point - I smelled a stench on him, the smell of rotting flesh!

  "This is our police bureau's Dr. Yang, and these two are the new members of Case Zero, get to know each other, we'll withdraw first."

  "Wait!" I wanted to hold on a bit longer, but it was no use. Captain Liao led his men in a swift withdrawal, leaving only the technical personnel at the scene.

  I turned back to exchange a few pleasantries with the forensic doctor, when I suddenly saw his pale face approaching me, his nose only a few centimeters away from mine. This movement startled me and I took a big step back.

  The forensic expert turned around and sniffed Grey a few times after hearing me, did he have some special hobby? Grey clenched his fists and said: "You do that again and I'll hit you!"

  The forensic doctor's face changed greatly, pointing at us with his hand and scolding: "It was you guys who messed up my forensic room last night, wasn't it?! I washed it with vinegar many times this morning, but there's still a stinky smell!"

  "Hmm..." This forensic expert was indeed a strange person, able to determine it was us just by the smell. We had taken many baths and washed our skin almost raw, changed our clothes, but he could still sniff it out - this was definitely a dog's nose.

  "Next time something like this happens, at least give us a heads up before you start. We're busy too!"

  "Be more careful next time!" After all, we were in the wrong and had no choice but to apologize.

  "Hmm!" Dr. Yang grunted, not even wearing a mask, and directly entered the room to perform the autopsy. The other technicians all wore thick masks, but he stood closest to the corpse, without any discomfort. The stench of death had no effect on him.

  "Indeed, a remarkable person!" exclaimed Grey, giving a thumbs up.

  The technicians all got busy, some taking pictures, others doing autopsies, and collecting samples. As for us two, we had nothing to do. We sat in the courtyard, and as soon as we relaxed, we felt sleepy and started dozing off.

  I didn't expect that closing my eyes would be for more than an hour, and when I woke up, it was already late afternoon, the sky was almost dark. There was no one in the courtyard, but the lights were on in the room.

  Gale was still asleep, I pushed him awake. "Wake up, get up."

  "Time for dinner?" This guy hasn't even opened his eyes and he's already thinking about food.

  The small courtyard was too quiet, there wasn't a single person. I stood up and took a look, only the forensic doctor Yang was still conducting an autopsy, even the police officer in charge of guarding the scene had left the entrance of the courtyard.

  The sun has set, but the sweltering heat hasn't dissipated. The heat wave is oppressive, and even the breeze feels hot. But in this small courtyard, it's a different story. The temperature seems to be dropping, and there's a cool, refreshing feeling.

  "Where shall we go for dinner tonight?" asked Greg.

  I was just about to speak when a creaking sound came from behind me, and the door opened. Dr. Yang saw us and shouted loudly: "So you two haven't left yet, come over and help out."

  Seeing a sly smile on his face, I knew it was definitely no good. I hastily asked: "What are you going to do?"

  "Just help with a small favor, it will be over soon." Dr. Yang's face had a smile on it, smiling like a pervert.

  Gale wasn't stupid either and said, "You'd better make it clear what you want us to do."

  "It's simple, I've already completed the preliminary autopsy. The rest is up to you guys back at the bureau, can you help me collect the body?"

  "This..."

  Seeing me hesitating, Dr. Yang said again: "You also want to get the autopsy report as soon as possible, don't you? Dragging it out won't be good for you either!"

  Under half threat and half request, we had no choice but to agree.

  When we saw the equipment he was carrying, we were stunned. Dr. Yang handed me a thick protective suit, gloves, mask and an iron shovel.

  "Is this thing for collecting corpses?" Grey asked curiously.

  "You'll know soon enough." Dr. Yang deliberately kept us in suspense and didn't tell us.

  Upon entering the room, we soon found out why an iron shovel was needed. The highly decomposed corpse couldn't be moved at all. It was like a lump of rotten mud stuck to the bed and had to be scooped up in order to be carried away.

  I won't go into details about the process, it's really disgusting. Fortunately, we all vomited almost everything out of our stomachs, but there were still waves of dry heaves. Throughout the entire process, the forensic doctor's facial expression didn't change at all. I couldn't help but admire his strong nerves, which are absolutely on the same level as those of an old hand, leaving us in awe. This is a kind of torture, but we finally managed to put the body into the body bag.

  Taking advantage of the break, I asked: "Dr. Yang Fa, have you found any problems in the initial autopsy?"

  "Considering you just helped, I'll tell you. The forensic doctor lowered his tone and said: "There are no obvious wounds on the surface of the body, and for now, I'm more inclined to think it's a natural death. We'll have to wait until we get back to examine it further."

  Natural death? That's quite different from our prediction. The old god stick was certain that this corpse was full of

  The forensic doctor saw that we didn't quite believe him, and explained in detail: "The corpse's face is extremely hideous, but that's the change produced by the corpse during its decomposition process."

  "Then there's nothing suspicious?" I asked.

  Dr. Yang looked at me and said: "Your special case team's cases are never simple, I'll tell you after a detailed autopsy."

  "When can we confirm the identity of the victim?" This is what I am most concerned about.

  "DNA testing requires four to eight hours, so we won't have the results until tomorrow. I'm heading back to the police station, do you want a ride?"

  We followed Dr. Fa's car back to the police station, and Dr. Fa returned to his office. We got off at the entrance of the police station.

  The lanterns had just been lit, and the sky was a dull grey. There were many pedestrians on the street, so we strolled around the main street outside our door for a while. The case had reached an impasse, and we needed to find a breakthrough.

  I didn't have any appetite at all, I passed by a small restaurant and smelled the aroma of food, I felt a bit nauseous, but Glay stopped and swallowed his saliva, this guy is getting worse.

  "Let's eat something then." We walked into the restaurant, I was a bit uncomfortable, the temperature was still scorching hot, but I kept feeling a chill on my back, which made me feel very uneasy.

  Greyley ordered two dishes, I sat for a while, drank some water, and there was no improvement. I thought of a scene from a horror movie where the police appeared, a female ghost riding on someone's shoulders. This idea made cold sweat burst out of my head in an instant.

  "What's wrong with your face now?" Grey asked.

  "I'll go wash my face and talk about it later." I stumbled into the bathroom.

  The toilet in the small restaurant was very crude, with dim lighting and a pungent smell. But compared to the stench of death, it's nothing.

  In the corner, there was a simple washbasin with a dirty mirror hanging on the wall. I walked over and turned on the faucet, scooped up some water, splashed it on my face, and felt refreshed by the cold water.

  When I opened my eyes again, the light was dazzling and a bit piercing. Everything looked blurry. The hairs on my body stood up instantly, and I had a very bad feeling.

  I quickly glanced around the room, and the bathroom was still the same as before. But I could feel that something had come in. This feeling was similar to what I felt when I saw Xie Ping'an's head last night.

  "Is it you who has come? Do you have something to say to me?" I asked softly.

  No one answered, and the bathroom was quiet.

  Is it that my nerves are too tense? I turned around, and my eyes inadvertently saw myself in the mirror, feeling very strange. The me in the mirror looked no different from usual, but it just made me feel uncomfortable.

  I stared at myself in the mirror. The shadow of the mirror was also staring at me. Maybe it's because the word "mirror" is too hidden. I picked up some water and splashed it on the mirror.

  Water flowed down the mirror in a stream, and I became somewhat distorted in the mirror, with a somewhat ferocious face. I stretched out my hand to wipe away the water marks on the mirror.

  My hand had just touched the mirror, and I shuddered to a stop. I felt something was off. The me in the mirror had a fierce gaze, exuding a murderous aura.

  That wasn't the look I should have had, I felt a little scared and wanted to get closer, see more clearly.

  I took a closer look and I'm absolutely sure that it's not me in the mirror. I have no idea why this is happening.

  I wiped the mirror with my hand a couple of times, and it became very clean. Suddenly I realized that there was something extra in the mirror. Behind me was a gray shadow. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a human head.

  "Is that you?" I instantly thought of Xie Ping'an and immediately turned around to look in the same direction. Empty, nothing was there.

  I turned around and looked at the mirror again, and the me in the mirror returned to normal. I shook my head from side to side a couple of times, and the me in the mirror accurately repeated the same action. It seems everything is fine now, Xie Ping'an has left.

  I am quite certain that Xie Ping'an wants to convey some kind of information to me, only I still can't understand it, but it must be very important.

  Footsteps were heard outside the door, and Ge Lei called out at the doorway: "Are you okay? You've been in there for a long time."

  "It's all right now!" I tidied up my clothes and left the bathroom.

  "Alright, the dishes are all here, let's eat!" said Gail happily.

  After he said that, I feel a little hungry and my appetite has improved.