You went on a blind date and presented an A-level wanted criminal as a meeting gift?

Abandoned quarry in the southern suburbs.

This place is deserted, surrounded by bare rock walls and piles of rubble.

At this moment, blinding red and blue police lights flashed wildly in the wilderness, and three layers of dense yellow police tape had been set up around the perimeter.

The air was filled with the smell of stale lime powder, but as soon as you got a little closer to the center, you could smell a nauseating stench of blood.

Outside the police cordon, several young criminal police officers who had recently joined the force were leaning against a police car, bent over and retching violently.

"squeak--!"

With a screeching sound of brakes, Lin Chen's bulletproof SUV came to a steady stop outside the cordon.

The car door opened, and Lin Chen, wearing a black trench coat, strode out of the car.

Su Qingge and Jiang Tingxue followed closely behind.

"Brother Lin, Captain Su, Forensic Doctor Jiang, you've finally arrived." Li Mingyu's face was also very pale, and he took out a handkerchief to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.

"What's going on? Has the deceased's identity been confirmed?" Su Qingge asked in a deep voice as she put on white gloves.

"Can't confirm... Captain Su, you guys take a look for yourselves, this case is too bizarre." Li Mingyu pointed to a huge crater in the center of the quarry.

Without wasting any words, Lin Chen directly lifted the cordon and strode into the scene with the two women.

When they reached the edge of the pit and saw what was inside, even the well-informed Su Qingge gasped in shock!

In the very center of the pit, a strange statue stands out!

It wasn't carved from stone or wood, but pieced together from a whole set of human bones!

The skeleton was brutally stripped of all its flesh, internal organs, and hair by the killer.

The surface of the bones was even cleaned thoroughly, leaving not a trace of excess tissue, and it shone with a chilling, pale white color in the sunlight.

What's even more chilling is that the killer used extremely thin, transparent steel wire to reconnect all the joints of the skeleton.

They arranged it in a pose where it is sitting on a rock, with one hand supporting its chin.

This is clearly the shape of the world-famous sculpture, "The Thinker"!

"Holy crap... what kind of monstrosity is this?!"

An elderly detective passing by couldn't help but swear, his voice trembling.

The moment Jiang Tingxue saw the skeleton statue, her pupils contracted to their maximum size!

The silver survey kit in her hand fell to the ground with a thud.

He felt as if he had been electrocuted; his whole body began to tremble violently, and his face instantly turned deathly pale.

Fifteen years ago! The scene from fifteen years ago that had haunted her nightmares countless times surged wildly through her mind like a tsunami!

Lin Chen reacted quickly, grabbing Jiang Tingxue's shoulder and pulling her half-into his arms.

"Don't be afraid, take a deep breath, and look at me." Lin Chen's voice was deep and powerful, carrying an unquestionable sense of command.

Jiang Tingxue gripped Lin Chen's sleeve tightly, her nails almost digging into his flesh, her teeth grinding together, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

Just then, a seasoned on-site investigator wearing reading glasses climbed out from the bottom of the pit.

He took off his mask, shook his head, sighed, and reported to Su Qingge, "Captain Su, I've done a preliminary inspection. The method was too cruel, utterly heinous. There were no obvious signs of struggle around; the deceased was likely drugged and brought here."

The veteran investigator paused, then added with certainty, "To be able to carve human flesh so cleanly, it must be a revenge killing! And the killer is definitely a perverted butcher who slaughters pigs and sheep year-round; only a butcher has this kind of knife skill and mental fortitude."

Upon hearing this, Lin Chen released Jiang Tingxue and let out a cold laugh.

"Butcher?"

Lin Chen's voice wasn't loud, but it sounded particularly jarring in the empty quarry.

He pulled white gloves from his pocket, slowly put them on, and stared coldly at the old investigator: "Could your butcher dissect human cartilage and ligaments so perfectly?"

The veteran surveyor was stunned, his face turning bright red: "Consultant Lin, what do you mean by that? Besides a butcher, who could remove the bones so cleanly?"

Lin Chen ignored him completely and walked straight down into the pit, arriving in front of the skeletal "Thinker".

He instantly activated [God-level Insight] and [God-level Forensic Proficiency].

In his view, every detail and every tiny scratch on the skeleton was magnified infinitely.

"Open your eyes and look carefully."

Lin Chen pointed to the cuts at the gap between the third cervical vertebra and the scapula, his voice as cold as ice, "The cuts are as smooth as a mirror, without the slightest hesitation or pause. Every cut the murderer made precisely avoided all the nerve plexuses and main blood vessels, and even the most difficult-to-treat synovial fluid was completely cleaned up."

Lin Chen turned his head, his gaze sweeping over all the police officers present with a sharp, piercing look.

"This wasn't done by the butcher."

"This is a top-notch surgeon with exceptional surgical skills, or... a top-notch anatomist with an insatiable knowledge of the human skeletal structure!"

The entire room fell silent!

The old surveyor gaped, speechless after Lin Chen's extremely professional and utterly devastating retort. His expression was priceless.

Li Mingyu and the others listened from the sidelines, secretly marveling.

Brother Lin's professional skills are even better than those of a forensic doctor!

Ignoring the shock of the crowd, Lin Chen squatted down and fixed his gaze on the large stone at the base of the bone statue.

The killer was an extreme perfectionist and psychopath. The scene was cleaned up so thoroughly that conventional fingerprint powder and fluorescent lights could not detect anything.

But Lin Chen was prepared.

He took out the silver "multi-purpose developing spray" from his trench coat pocket and gently pressed the nozzle onto a seemingly normal, flat area on the surface of the large rock.

"laugh--"

A fine, colorless spray covered the stone.

Just three seconds later!

To everyone's astonishment, a strange chemical reaction occurred on the previously empty surface of the stone.

A pale blue, extremely clear half-fingerprint slowly emerged!

"What... what kind of cutting-edge technology is this?!" Li Mingyu exclaimed in surprise, his eyes wide.

Lin Chen didn't explain. He stood up and turned to look at Jiang Tingxue, who was standing by the pit.

Jiang Tingxue looked at the half fingerprint, especially when she saw the tiny, very well-hidden "cross" symbol drawn with a special preservative next to the fingerprint.

She could no longer control her emotions, and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Fifteen years ago..."

Jiang Tingxue's lips trembled, her voice heartbreakingly shrill, "The 'Skeleton Sculptor' serial murder case my father handled fifteen years ago! That killer would leave behind these meticulously cleaned bone sculptures at the scene... and that cross mark!"

Upon hearing this, Su Qingge and Li Mingyu's expressions changed drastically!

A series of unsolved cases from fifteen years ago!

That demon who brought shame to the entire Beijing police force and caused the untimely death of forensic doctor Jiang has actually made a comeback!

Lin Chen looked at the skeleton statue, his eyes instantly turning cold.

It seems that the old rival felt lonely and took the initiative to jump out and seek death.