Starting with dissecting ghost stories

Effective, but not much.

We need to figure out a more effective communication strategy.

Compared to individual abnormal flesh and blood, the doll seems to possess a richer behavioral logic, but it still doesn't seem to have reached the point of "independent thinking".

Shen Xing glanced at the time.

It's already 8:30 PM... I don't have much time left.

There are other things to do.

However, before that, there's a hot potato we need to deal with.

Shen Xing looked down at the iron bucket he had placed at his feet.

Inside was a mass of dehydrated internal organs wrapped in white gauze, with a knot tied at the top with a latex glove.

There was also a pair of latex gloves that I had taken off lying in the bucket. Apart from the internal organs, everything else had to be burned. Finally, the iron bucket couldn't be thrown away either; it had to be cleaned with disinfectant.

And those instruments that had just come into contact with the internal organs also need to be dealt with.

As for those internal organs.

Shen Xing looked at the puppet sitting on the control panel.

We'll have to put it back in its belly for now.

Shen Xing put the two abnormal human muscle samples from the other iron bucket into plastic containers, placed them in his satchel, and then began cleaning the garage.

...

"Hiss hiss"

The sound of a pressure cooker venting could be heard coming from the inner room of the forensic lab.

The sound would normally sound like pork ribs being stewed at home, but in the dissection room at that moment, it was chilling.

Old Wang used long-handled tweezers to remove the white cervical vertebrae from the boiling water. The skin and flesh had completely rotted away, and the fracture surface of the cervical vertebrae was clearly visible.

He took a magnifying glass and examined it closely under the bright light, but his brows furrowed more and more.

"The stress surfaces at the fracture are very messy..." Old Wang muttered to himself.

"Stop studying it," Chen Liming, standing at the door, pointed to Li Ya's boning knife in the evidence bag, "Just try using the knife to cut it."

Old Wang sighed, took out the weapon, and held the blade, aiming it at the largest crack on his cervical vertebrae.

The bones become very brittle after being steamed at high temperatures.

As the hard, high-carbon steel blade, under Chen Liming's watchful gaze, forcefully wedged itself into the not-quite-fitting crack—

"Click".

A very faint, crisp sound.

A tiny bone fragment broke off from the edge of the bone due to its brittleness under pressure, and the chipped edge of the blade naturally and seamlessly fit into the wound.

It now fits the boning knife perfectly.

Old Wang's hand froze in mid-air, and after a long while, he finally sighed.

He did indeed speculate about the fracture, but no matter how many times he tested it, he could only come to one conclusion.

The necks of these heads were all severed by serrated, non-blade-like objects.

Or rather... it was bitten off by teeth.

At the edge, you can also see some marks that look very much like sharp teeth gnawing.

But how is that possible? How could such a conclusion be reached? A wild animal? A tiger? There isn't even a zoo here, where would a tiger come from?

Did I make a mistake? Or is it some new tool for committing crimes?

He took a deep breath, slowly removed his mask, and looked somewhat forlorn.

"Captain Chen, after high-temperature treatment and removal of soft tissue, we confirmed that the main cuts on the deceased's cervical vertebrae are basically consistent with the characteristics of the boning knife blade left at the scene by suspect Li Ya."

Upon hearing this, Chen Liming's body, which had been tense all day, instantly went limp.

"Okay... thank you for your hard work. Quickly issue the preliminary autopsy report and stamp it."

Half an hour later, Chen Liming, clutching the preliminary autopsy report still smelling of fresh ink, strode out of the forensic room.

It was completely dark outside.

This dry and rigid report was the first trump card to save Chen Liming's job. To be watertight in front of the provincial department's supervisory team, he needed more authoritative theoretical support.

Chen Liming opened the door of the beat-up Jeep, threw the report on the passenger side, and turned the car key.

He picked up his mobile phone in the car and made a call.

After three rings, the call was answered, and Chen Liming said, "Is A-Xing here? Where are you now? I'll come find you."

"You'll be home in about ten minutes? Okay, I'll come to your place and wait for you."

...

10:15 PM.

Shen Xing hung the towel for drying his hair on the shelf in the bathroom.

He had just taken a long hot shower, washing away the smell of disinfectant.

The mess in the garage has been cleaned up, the items have been burned, the tools have been dismantled, and the entrails have been temporarily sewn back onto the doll's abdomen.

The doll, meanwhile, leaned quietly against the back of the garage.

The house is quiet.

Shen Yuan's door was tightly closed, and no light was coming through the crack, so she looked like she was asleep.

Shen walked into the living room, poured two glasses of warm water, and sat on the sofa.

A few minutes later.

"Knock knock."

A knock came at the door.

When the security door was opened, Chen Liming's haggard face appeared outside.

He reeked of cigarette smoke, his eyes were bloodshot as if they were about to bleed, and he exuded an exhaustion that seemed to have been completely drained.

"Uncle Chen, come in quickly." Shen Xing stepped aside, his tone gentle yet with just the right amount of concern.

Chen Liming didn't change his shoes; he just rubbed them vigorously on the doormat before striding into the living room. He pulled a folded document from inside his jacket and slammed it onto the coffee table.

"Ah Xing, Old Wang steamed the skull according to your method." Chen Liming's voice was hoarse, like he was sawing wood. "It matches up. The chipped edge of the boning knife and the cracks on the bone are basically the same."

"Really? That's great."

A look of relief appeared on Shen Xing's face, and he casually pushed the glass of warm water that had been prepared in advance in front of Chen Liming.

"However..." Shen Xing opened the report and asked, feigning concern, "Are the victim's family members on Li Ya's ex-wife's side okay? And there's another victim."

The paper was still warm from being printed, and the ink was clear. Shen Xing glanced at it and then looked directly at the conclusion—it matched the characteristics of a cervical vertebrae fracture caused by a sharp instrument (bonecrusher).

"It's settled. His ex-wife had no connection with his family and cut off all contact after marrying Li Ya. Now they don't even want to accept his body. The other victim was an orphan, and no one has claimed his body either..."

"The conclusion is correct, but the reasoning process is too weak."

Shen Xing picked up the pen, removed the cap, and handed it to Chen Liming in front of him.

"It states here that, at the same time, because the suspect Li Ya was in a state of heightened excitement due to drug-induced hallucinations, the force and angle of his strikes were extremely high, causing 'irregular microfractures' at the bone ends..."

"And here..."

Chen Liming was writing with his head down, while Shen Xing was dictating while looking at the transgressor in front of him.

Will he regret it? Or will he come to like the feeling of transgressing the rules?

Will they feel guilty and stop, or will they go from violating the rules to committing further crimes?

Shen Xing was very curious.

Chen Liming left with the report in about fifteen minutes.

As they stood at the door, Chen Liming looked at Shen Xing and said softly, "Ah Xing, I won't thank you enough. I'll personally take care of your work tomorrow morning..."

"No need, Uncle Chen, this isn't the right time. Let's do it another time," Shen Xing said with a smile. "I still have a job lined up."

I can't get too close to Chen Liming during this period.

"Okay, then let's wait until this is over." Chen Liming nodded gratefully and turned to leave.

The security door was closed.

Shen Xing stood in the entrance hall, listening to the sounds of people going downstairs gradually fading away in the hallway.

A case cannot be closed based solely on an autopsy report, let alone an autopsy report obtained through shady dealings.

A human head, perfectly fine, placed in a freezer, unburned and unsoaked, was subjected to highly destructive high-pressure steaming, and this was used on evidence from a murder case that hadn't even been definitively classified.

Shen Xing's wording at most elevated the violation to the level of academic exploration, which is still a gray area. Whether it constitutes a violation or not depends entirely on whether the case is solved.

If you break the rules, it means you're bold and meticulous; if you don't, it means you're lawless.

Shen Xing now has the ability to close the case.

Those internal organs, in his hands, he could decide where they would appear and how they would be found.

However, he is now thinking about how to tell this story well.