Chapter 1: The Nightmare Begins

  Zhang Tong curled her lip and put on a serious expression. At this moment, although she had already grasped the nature of the evidence in her hand, she still needed to take a closer look before making a conclusion.

  Conclusion. Thinking of this, Zhang Tong stretched her hand into the bottom layer of the deep blue travel bag and felt around slowly. Finally, she was overjoyed to touch something hard with her fingers, just relying on

  By touch alone, Zhang Tong could already tell that this was a human phalange bone.

  In a forest that stretched as far as the eye could see, there was no sunlight, and all around was eerily quiet. The misty fog in front of me obscured my vision, and the dense black tree branches stretched out like tentacles of monsters in different directions, hiding unknown dangers within.

  A faint sound of a little girl's sorrowful crying kept coming from beside my ear.

  Zhang Tong's heart was racing as she followed the sound, looking around cautiously with every step. She walked forward slowly and carefully, her feet on the slippery ground, almost falling several times. She was already exhausted, getting more and more...

  The thick fog made it impossible for her to tell directions, and the little girl's crying voice was still intermittent in her ears.

  Suddenly, a faint rustling sound came from not far away. Someone! Zhang Tong's heart immediately hung in her throat, and she began to quicken her pace, wanting to escape this terrifying place as soon as possible. Gradually...

  She gradually started running, and finally, she desperately sprinted forward, as if there was an invisible ghostly shadow closely following her. The ghostly shadow drew closer step by step, and Zhang Tong clearly felt the chill from behind.

  A terrifying, heavy breathing sound came from behind her neck. She was almost suffocated, her legs became weak and numb, her footsteps slower and slower, the thick fog in front of her getting heavier and heavier. Zhang Tong really couldn't run anymore, the ghostly figure was just a step away

  She struggled forward in despair, taking steps silently weeping, her tears blurring her eyes.

  Finally, Zhang Tong could no longer run and gave up trying to escape. She covered her eyes with both hands in a futile attempt to block out the horror. The little girl's sobbing was mixed with the heavy breathing of the ghostly figure, gradually becoming fainter.

  Louder and louder, until it all culminated in a desperate scream...

  Bang! The strong wind outside blew open the window, heavily slamming it against the frame, and a chill ran through the small room in an instant. Zhang Tong woke up from his nightmare, the strong wind howling outside, like countless

  The flute simultaneously emitted a sharp whistling sound, as if a group of ghosts wearing black cloaks flew by quickly.

  Zhang Tong had no intention of sleeping, she knew it was impossible to fall asleep tonight. She lifted her head in despair and found that the room was pitch black inside and out, so she sat up and turned on the desk lamp. "Plop!" Zhang Tong

  She let out a heavy sneeze and it was only then that she realized she had broken into a cold sweat, her intense heartbeat almost suffocating her.

  Although the yellowish light emitted by the table lamp made the whole room seem warmer, Zhang Tong still felt a chill, and she frowned, looking up at the desk.

  The clock shows it's now 2:30 in the morning. As one of only two forensic doctors in Tianchang Public Security Bureau, Zhang Tong's workload is imaginable, so much that there isn't even time to think about personal matters.

  Things, so every night after work, when Zhang Tong returns home, there is only one word in his mind - tired. But he can't sleep for long on the bed and will be woken up by nightmares again. Long-term sleep deprivation makes Zhang Tong feel a kind of...

  Unutterable fatigue, having been trapped in this repetitive nightmare for a long time. As for the dream mirror, she couldn't make sense of it, only knowing that it was a fragment of her deep-seated memories.

  Just as Zhang Tong closed the window that had been blown open by the wind, he heard a violent coughing fit coming from next door, followed by the sound of drawers being opened and rummaged through. Zhang Tong's chaotic thoughts were interrupted, and he quietly...

  She let out a soft sigh, put on her outer clothes, got out of bed and walked to the door of her mother's bedroom, knocked gently, then pushed open the door and went in. "Mom, I'm here!" she said, as Zhang Tong rummaged through the messy pile of medicine bottles on her bedside table

  The medicine his mother needed was soon found in the bottle, and after pouring a glass of water, he watched as she took it.

  "Mom, are you feeling better?" Chapter Peach's eyes were filled with concern.

  "Mom nodded slightly and smiled, 'Tongtong, go to sleep quickly, you still have work tomorrow! Take care of your body!'"

  "It's okay, mom. I couldn't sleep anyway, so I'll just stay here with you!" Zhang Tong didn't dare to tell her mother about the nightmare she had just had. She reached out and turned off the bedside lamp, and the boundless darkness enveloped them once again.

  It enveloped her tightly. Zhang Tong widened his eyes and looked at the dark sky outside the window with a heavy mood.

  Every cop who deals with murder has a limit, the problem is that before reaching the limit, no one knows where it is. The "limit" here refers to how many corpses. Zhang Tong believes that every

  The number of cases a detective can tolerate is limited, and everyone's limit is different. Some people reach their limit quickly, while others are still far from it after handling so many murder cases over the years.

  Very far. Zhang Tong is like this, she has not left the forensic room of the Criminal Police Brigade of Tianchang Public Security Bureau since she walked in 12 years ago, and almost every day she deals with death. But Zhang Tong

  It's clear in my heart that I also have a limit, it's just that I haven't reached it yet.

  In the criminal police team, death is the domain of forensic medicine. Whenever the issue of "death" arises, even the deputy director in charge of criminal investigation has to ask humbly and politely when facing Zhang Tong. Every day,

  Zhang Tong had to walk between the living and the dead, facing the families of the deceased who came to claim their bodies. Zhang Tong's face was filled with sorrow and sympathy, but as soon as she picked up her scalpel, she became a completely different person in front of the dead body.

  Like a skilled technician. No matter what kind of death the deceased had, Zhang Tong could always handle it calmly because she had a work principle, which was to keep a certain distance from death and not let it get too close.

  The breath of the other person touches his own face.

  But facing the scene in front of her, Zhang Tong's heart began to tremble. She crouched in a large trash can at the corner of Xīnjiē Street, where the smell of rotting garbage filled her nostrils and the sounds of the crowd surrounded her ears.

  The streets are filled with the hustle and bustle of pedestrians and vehicles, but this overflowing dumpster seems to be another world, a chilling one.

  "Xiao Tong, how's it going? Have you made up your mind?" Without turning around, Zhang Tong knew that the speaker was her best friend and also the female captain of their work team, Wang Ya Nan. She waved her hand behind her back,

  "Don't rush me, let me take another look!"

  Wang Yan muttered discontentedly, "Who has so much time to waste on you!" and then turned around and walked away.

  Zhang Tong curled her lip and put on a serious expression. At this moment, although she had already grasped the nature of the evidence in her hand, she still needed to take a closer look before making a decision.

  Conclusion. Thinking of this, Zhang Tong stretched her hand into the bottom layer of the deep blue travel bag and felt around slowly. Finally, she was delighted to find that her fingers had touched something hard.

  A human phalange. She carefully pulled out the phalanges, lifted her head, and examined them against the morning sunlight at 9 o'clock, then lowered her head to look at the two large packages of suspected goods in her travel bag.

  The cooked pork slices, the familiar texture and structure of the meat made Zhang Tong's smile on his face disappear instantly, a chill ran through his entire body. He immediately stood up, regardless of the mess

  The work uniform, head poking out of the trash can at shoulder height, both hands tightly grasping the edge of the trash can to steady himself, then loudly called out to Wang Yanan not far away: "Yanan, should I..."

  That's right!

  As soon as this was said, Wang Yan immediately took three or two steps to quickly walk to the trash can, with gloved hands grasping the edge of the trash can, and her eyes staring tightly at Zhang Tong in front of her, one word at a time.

  Dun Di said, "Are you really sure?"

  Zhang Tong nodded seriously, meeting Wang Ya Nan's gaze, and pointed to the deep blue travel bag on the trash can next to him, saying solemnly: "I never open my personal luggage when I'm working."

  "It's a laugh! There should be a human body in here! To be precise, it may be part of a processed person's remains! I'll have to go back and test the evidence to confirm it completely." Zhang

  Tong didn't elaborate on what he meant, but simply glossed over it with a vague term "processing".

  "You take the body back first, I'll come to find you after I go back to the bureau!" Wang Yanan's expression became very complicated. She took out her phone and started dialing while walking.

  At the sight of this, Zhang Tong's tall and powerful assistant Pan Jian nodded, and the two joined forces to lift the heavy travel bag, lifted it high, and handed it over to their colleague standing outside the trash can. Zhang Tong's figure belongs to a delicate

  She was petite and lacked strength, so every time she had to work with others, she would awkwardly grit her teeth to cooperate, afraid that if she showed even a hint of complaint, those who cared about her would worry.

  The leader transferred Liso from his post as a forensic doctor, citing that women are not suitable for outdoor work.

  Zhang Tong's initial premonition was soon proven to be correct, and the case she had just taken over was not as simple as she had imagined. She had just stepped back into her office at the bureau when the phone rang immediately.

  It rang out suddenly.

  "Xiao Tong, this is Ya Nan. I'm heading back to the scene right now, it's about that case from just now. I think we've found some other parts of the body! So you need to come over and confirm as soon as possible!"

  Wang Yanan's tone did not allow for a single doubt.

  This time the scene was in the kitchen of an ordinary household in Yubaolou Alley near Xinjiekou. Looking at this strange address in his hand, Zhang Tong had a suspicious face, and there were still people coming and going around him.

  It was a big compound, and it was also lunch break time, so the neighbors living in the same compound, although their eyes were filled with curiosity, everything else remained the same, those who should cook continued to cook, those who should wash clothes continued to wash clothes.

  Doing laundry. Did I take a wrong turn? But when Zhao Yun, Wang Yan's assistant, bumped into me at the gate, he didn't say much and reminded me that Wang Yan was waiting for me inside. Zhang Tong subconsciously

  Muttering to himself, he walked into the innermost small kitchen that was illegally built with his assistant.

  Many ordinary people living in the big courtyard houses hope that their cramped homes can be expanded as much as possible, so despite being an illegal building, this small kitchen is still complete with all the necessities.

  It's just that due to its location being rather shaded, even in the middle of the day, the lights have to be turned on.

  Standing next to Wang Yan was a woman in her late fifties, with a rough face that showed confusion and terror. Zhang Tong could see that before he entered this small kitchen, Wang Yan had been

  The old woman had already done the ideological work, so when she saw Zhang Tong wearing a police uniform and carrying a toolbox, the old woman didn't feel surprised, just a little tense, her eyes occasionally glancing at Zhang Tong.

  Looking back, it was like a startled rabbit, ready to flee at any moment. Due to the kitchen's light bulb being one of those extremely cheap old-fashioned 20-watt ones, at first glance, Zhang Tong didn't...

  There's no way to tell whether the old woman's face is pale from fright or illuminated by the lamp.

  "Where's the body?" Zhang Tong put down the toolbox in his hand, and while speaking, he opened the box and took out a pair of medical rubber gloves and carefully put them on.

  As soon as she heard this, the old woman was taken aback and her surprised gaze turned to Wang Ya Nan beside her.

  Wang Yan hurriedly gave Zhang Tong a signal with her eyes, and then quickly turned around to hand over a colander that had been prepared in advance for washing vegetables.

  "Just take a look."

  She looked at the wok in her hand, then raised her head to glance around the small kitchen. The coal stove was still simmering with something, and the clay pot emitted a tempting aroma. Zhang Tong furrowed her brow, just...

  She wanted to blurt out the doubts in her mind, but suddenly realized something and swallowed it back. She turned to instruct her assistant beside her, "Use a flashlight to shine for me, the light in this room is not enough!"

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