Chapter 1: The Nightmare Begins 2

  Assistant found a small high-intensity flashlight in the toolbox, turned it on and shone it at the basket in Zhang Tong's hand. Inside the basket was a pile of white, slightly pinkish-colored meat-like objects with very fine workmanship.

  Uniformly, the thickness of each piece is almost exactly the same. The flashlight's white beam penetrated the meat slices, illuminating the special fiber structure of the meat with clarity.

  She furrowed her brow, looking at the old woman in front of her, whose face was etched with a terrified expression. Although it was a sunny and bright spring day outside, Zhang Tong could clearly feel that she

  A chill ran through her entire body. She subconsciously bit her lower lip, her face a picture of solemnity.

  Watching her good friend remain silent for a long time, Wang Yan couldn't help but ask, "How is it?"

  "Similar to what I saw on the other side of Xinjie Street!" Zhang Tong nodded, "But I don't have any reference materials with me right now, so it's hard to confirm further. We'll need to bring it back to the lab to know for sure."

  As soon as she heard this, Wang Yan's expression froze, she took a deep breath and tried her best to calm herself down.

  "Officer, what do you mean? I don't understand what you're saying!" The old woman's expression was somewhat anxious, and she couldn't help but chatter on, "I just picked up something that someone had discarded, didn't I? Greedy?"

  It's just a little cheaper, now the meat price is so expensive, I saw it and thought it must be something someone threw away, but it was still very fresh, and when I touched it, it was still warm, looks like it had just been cooked not long ago, of course, I

  "I've brought it back, this shouldn't be against the law, right?! Officer, I'm handing everything over to you now, isn't that the end of it?..."

  Wang Yanan smiled awkwardly: "Old man, I didn't say you broke the law, don't worry! Can you bring us that meat bag you picked up and let us take a look?"

  The old woman's expression on her face finally relaxed a lot, she let out a big sigh of relief, ran to the corner of the kitchen and rummaged through the cluttered cabinet, bent over and flipped through it hastily, and soon found one.

  An ordinary snakeskin bag was handed over to Wang Yan: "Here, it's in here, I think this bag is still usable, so I brought it back."

  Wang Yanan put on her gloves and took over the snakeskin bag, then asked again: "Is the meat packed directly inside?"

  "Look at my memory!" The old woman patted her forehead, turned around and rummaged through again. Before long, she straightened up, her face flushed, holding three plastic bags in her hand, the kind with a very ordinary design, commonly used by farmers

  Plastic bags can be seen everywhere in the market.

  "It was just in here, after taking out the meat, I didn't even wash it, thinking it wasn't dirty, so I just didn't bother washing it."

  Hearing this, Wang Yanan and Zhang Tong couldn't help but look at each other in dismay.

  When he returned to the bureau, it was almost three o'clock in the afternoon. After completing the handover procedures, Zhang Tong planned to sneak away to the cafeteria to eat something before the autopsy. Years of irregular eating habits had made Zhang Tong's stomach growl with hunger.

  As soon as I pass the time for eating, I will feel a strong discomfort in my stomach.

  Just as he walked to the staircase entrance, he ran into Deputy Director Li Haoran, who was in charge of criminal investigation.

  "Hey, Xiao Zhang, I was just looking for you, wait a minute!"

  Zhang Tong stopped in his tracks, looking embarrassed: "Director Li, what can I do for you?"

  "Come to my office for a bit, there's someone who wants to meet you!"

  "Who? What do you want from me?" Zhang Tong's face was filled with suspicion, his social circle was very small, he could count the number of friends on one hand, and they were all busy to death, as soon as they had a moment to spare, they would fall asleep immediately.

  Having leisure time during work hours to visit one's own place.

  As soon as he finished speaking, Director Li had already walked nearly two meters away. He turned his head and waved his hand: "You go then, he has been looking for you for a long time!"

  With two steamed buns in her hand, the skin of which had become a bit hard, Zhang Tong hurried up the stairs and was about to turn into her office out of habit when she suddenly remembered what Director Li had just reminded her.

  She furrowed her brow, reluctantly changed her mind, turned around and quickly walked towards the elevator entrance, taking advantage of the opportunity to take a few big bites of the bun, so that her gradually tightening stomach would feel more comfortable.

  Director Li's office is on the third floor of the building, near the conference room. Usually, if there are no meetings, the office will be very quiet. Zhang Tong has come to this office three times, each time

  It's just today because of work, feeling a bit strange.

  The office door was slightly ajar, and there was no sound inside. Zhang Tong wrapped the half-eaten bun in a plastic bag and stuffed it into his coat pocket, then gently knocked on the door.

  Before he could knock for the third time, the door was quickly opened. Zhang Tong hastily withdrew his hand and apologized with a look of embarrassment: "Sorry, almost hit you!"

  What appeared in front of Zhang Tong was a doll face, to be precise, a man with a doll face. As soon as he saw Zhang Tong, the man looked him up and down carefully before finally fixing his gaze

  The ID card hung around Zhang Tong's neck, and when he read the words on it clearly, his face suddenly showed joy.

  "Dr. Zhang, we've been waiting for you! Come on in!" He said, as he leaned back and smiled all over his face, as if the room behind him was his own, while politely introducing...

  "I'm Zhao Junjie, a reporter from the 'Crime Records' column of Tianchang Daily. I've come to see you specifically this time to discuss some issues related to the case."

  "No need to go in, just say what you have to say here, make it brief, I'm busy!" Zhang Tong glanced impatiently at the watch on his wrist with the corner of his eye, and his two feet seemed to be rooted to the spot.

  Standing firmly at the door, without any intention of going in and sitting down.

  Zhao Junjie looked a bit embarrassed, he scratched his head and changed to a pleading tone, "Just for a little while, Dr. Zhang, it won't delay you much! Besides, I've already asked your department..."

  "Deputy Director Li has given his consent, so you can rest assured!"

  As soon as she heard that the other party had actually brought out Vice Director Li's name, Zhang Tong reluctantly realized that her retreat had been cut off. She let out a faint sigh and walked silently into the office.

  After sitting down on the sofa, Zhang Tong said straightforwardly: "If you're here for this case in my hands, I can only say 'no comment' for now. Once the case is solved, we have a special person to make an announcement."

  "The Foreign Public Relations Section can answer all your questions."

  As soon as he heard this, Zhao Junjie, who had just pulled out a small notebook from his briefcase, shook his head and smiled mysteriously: "Zhang Fa, you misunderstood, I didn't come for this case. However...

  "But let's get back to the point, our reporters are very sensitive, if this case is cracked, our Tianchang Daily will definitely take the headline!" He stretched out his slender and delicate left hand.

  Gently patted his own briefcase, "I have the media agreement signed by Director Wang of your Public Relations Department and us in here!"

  "Huh?" Zhang Tong furrowed his brow, "Then which case are you here for? Can you reveal a bit about it? Otherwise, I won't be able to help you."

  Zhao Junjie continued to flip through the pages of his notebook, which were filled with writing, and looked at them carefully. Then he raised his head, changed his tone, and his expression became somewhat solemn. "I think I know..."

  It's about the detailed process of a bizarre case of a female infant who went missing in the poplar forest on the outskirts of Tianchang City 20 years ago. The case caused a sensation throughout Tianchang City at that time and has not been solved until now, leaving many people wondering whether she is alive or dead.

  "It's become a thorough and complete cold case." He said this, then hesitated for a moment before adding in a low voice, "Of course, I can understand your feelings, I know..."

  The missing girl is your sister, Zhang Qiu. You were the only eyewitness at the scene, and I have all the records here. I've checked the original case files. Dr. Zhang, I know you were there at the time...

  Injected with anesthetics by the perpetrator, he almost became a vegetable, and only woke up after being in a coma for a month, but lost his memory. It's just that so many years have passed now, can you recall what happened back then?

  "What happened in some scenes? Do you still have an impression of what happened at that time? And why did you choose forensic medicine instead of other jobs?"

  Although Zhao Junjie was extremely careful with every word, afraid of stimulating Zhang Tong again, he didn't notice at all that Zhang Tong's face had become increasingly icy, and the originally inserted white

  Her hands in the large sleeves of her gown also came out due to discomfort, and those two buns that had just been bitten a few times were also subconsciously pinched beyond recognition by her.

  Finally, Zhang Tong couldn't bear it anymore. She bit her lip and frowned, interrupting Zhao Junjie's words: "Reporter Zhao, I don't have time to accompany you now, there is still work waiting for me below."

  "As for what happened twenty years ago, sorry, it's been so long that I've already forgotten. Go ask someone else!" She stood up and didn't care about the expression on Zhao Junjie's face.

  How astonishing, she walked out of Deputy Director Li's office without even turning her head.

  The window in the corridor was open, and a gust of fresh air rushed in. Zhang Tong took a deep breath, and suddenly felt much more relaxed. Why did he choose to be a forensic doctor? In fact, Zhang Tong himself also didn't know.

  It's unclear, perhaps due to her sister's disappearance, that she has an intense hatred for crime beyond that of a normal person. She hopes to make a small contribution with her own thin strength, doing something for those who have lost loved ones.

  Twenty years have passed, and Zhang Tong has been having the same nightmare almost every night. Watching others about to uncover the scars deep within his heart, Zhang Tong can do nothing but escape.

  Director Li hurried over and stopped her as soon as he saw Zhang Tong: "Little Zhang, you're out so soon?"

  Zhang Tong awkwardly nodded, noticing that Director Li's gaze had fallen on the two cold buns in her hand. Her ears suddenly felt a bit hot, and she quickly stuffed the buns into her pocket:

  "It's nothing, just asking about the case, I won't be of much help anyway. Director Li, then I'll get busy, there's still work to do below!"

  "Well, I won't keep you then." With that, Director Li turned around with a suspicious look on his face and continued walking towards his own office.

  No one would be willing to come to a forensic doctor's workplace and knock on the door, especially when there is a corpse in front of them. Police are also human beings, and as long as they are human, they will have a certain feeling towards the dead person.

  Inborn awe.

  When Wang Yanan pushed open the door and came in, her face was a bit pale, and she looked like she had lost all her energy.

  "Yan, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Zhang Tong asked casually while carefully arranging those strange pieces of meat.

  "Hey!" Wang Yan sighed, furrowed her brow and subconsciously rubbed her stomach, "It's all because of these 'meat' troubles. After returning from the scene, I didn't even eat lunch at the cafeteria today."

  "Garlic mashed meat slices, didn't even eat a few mouthfuls of rice, and my stomach is still hurting now. And to make matters worse, I had to come all the way here to see you!"

  Zhang Tong couldn't help but smile and said, "I'm stronger than you, at least I've eaten a few bites of the bun, even though it's already cold!" She pointed to the bag of buns on the office desk behind her, "Look, see?"

  Nothing? There's another one left for you, are you going to eat it or not?

  Wang Yan hurriedly waved her hand and shook her head: "Spare me, eating in this place? I'd rather starve to death."

  "Then I won't be able to help you." Zhang Tong shrugged and continued to focus on the large pile of meat slices in front of him.

  Wang Yanan walked over: "Xiao Tong, how is it? Currently, can you confirm whether the corpse is male or female?"