BPIFC -Volume 1 – Chapter 100 A Strange Case

This was a case Zhao Qing had encountered a week earlier.

Originally, it had appeared to be an ordinary assault that resulted in death. Zhao Qing happened to be on duty that day and went to the scene. At the time, nothing unusual had been discovered. After making a preliminary determination of the cause of death, they transported the body back to the forensic department.

At first glance, it was obvious that the victim had died from excessive blood loss after a major artery had been severed by a sharp weapon. However, procedure still required an autopsy.

But when Zhao Qing opened the body, the sight before her stunned her.

All of the corpse’s internal organs had been removed.

Not only that—even the ribs on both sides had vanished without a trace.

The inside of the body had been specially treated. The chest cavity and abdomen were filled with some kind of compressed gas. When Zhao Qing cut open the abdomen, she could clearly feel the gas escaping, some of it even spraying onto her.

After witnessing this bizarre phenomenon, she immediately reported it to her superiors. In the end, the body was taken away, and she never learned how it had been handled.

“The organs were completely removed…”

Sun Desheng’s eyebrows twitched. He glanced at Shen La and said with a grin, “La Zi, guess who Brother here just thought of?”

“It wasn’t him.”

Shen La shook his head.

“That was merely a technique. Back then, his powers had been sealed, so he used that method to escape. Now that his abilities have returned, he wouldn’t bother with tricks like that anymore.”

“I never said it was him.”

Sun Desheng smiled, then turned to the bewildered Zhao Qing.

“Little Zhao, if nothing unexpected happened, that body should have been transferred to our Bureau. I wasn’t around at the time, so it was probably handled by the Second or Fourth Office. Let Shen La ask for you.”

As he spoke, another thought crossed his mind.

“Little Zhao, besides the fatal wounds, did the body have any other injuries? Tattoos, perhaps?”

“Other injuries…”

Zhao Qing thought for a moment.

“Yes. There was a triangular wound on the chest. The edges had turned outward. I’d never seen anything like it before. Oh, and one more thing. At the crime scene, I heard the officers say the deceased had been searching for someone during the past few days. Apparently, another group had been looking for the same person. The two sides got into a fight, and someone ended up dead.”

After hearing this, Shen La said:

“I’ll ask around tomorrow. If the body is in our Bureau, I’ll definitely find out.”

“Tomorrow? Why tomorrow?”

Already flushed from drinking, Sun Desheng said:

“La Zi, Little Zhao’s matter is the biggest thing in your world right now. Hurry up and ask. Whether the case has been solved or not, it’s just one phone call.”

Shen La smiled bitterly and pointed to the wall clock.

“It’s almost past midnight. Everyone’s still at the airport…”

Halfway through, he accidentally mentioned the airport. Realizing his slip of the tongue, he quickly changed the subject and called Old Mo from the Second Office.

Old Mo had also been a forensic examiner, and cases like this usually fell under his responsibility. However, Shen La learned that Old Mo was occupied with another matter, and the autopsy had instead been assigned to Xiao Yifeng, the deputy director of the Fifth Office.

Left with no choice, Shen La called Deputy Director Xiao.

To help Shen La score points with Zhao Qing, Sun Desheng had him put the call on speaker.

“Old Xiao, sorry for calling so late. I heard you handled a case from a week ago—a corpse delivered from the municipal forensic department with its insides hollowed out?”

“That case? Yes, I personally performed the autopsy.”

“I’ve already finished the report. The corpse was nothing more than a shell. Someone had hidden inside it and controlled it. Whoever it was had considerable skill. After the incident, they cleaned out the internal organs and ribs.

“They even managed to keep the blood circulating. But because the shell’s main artery had been severed, blood couldn’t reach the limbs properly, so the person inside abandoned the body.”

At this point, Xiao Yifeng seemed to remember something.

“There’s another suspicious detail. The wounds bear traces left by magical weapons. It seems two groups of people with some cultivation fought each other.”

Sun Desheng could no longer hold himself back.

Taking advantage of his drunkenness, he leaned toward the phone.

“Old Xiao, it’s me, Sun Desheng. Two groups of cultivators fought, and something this serious happened—why wasn’t it reported?”

“Dasheng, who says I didn’t report it?”

“I informed Yang Shuji on the very same day. But then the underground tomb incident delayed everything. After we got back, I continued investigating. The deceased’s name was Li Chunlei, from Zhengdong Township, He’an County, Liaodong. Half a month ago, he flew to Beijing…”

“Who?”

“Li Chunlei?”

At that moment, Che Qianzi could no longer remain seated.

“Old Xiao, Li Chunlei from my hometown? Do you have a picture of the dead guy? Send one over!”

“Liaodong, He’an County, Zhengdong Township…”

“Could there really be another Li Chunlei?”

This Li Chunlei had been one of Kong Dalong’s creditors and one of his gambling companions. He had also been among those creditors who came to collect debts.

But Che Qianzi never would have imagined that Li Chunlei had ended up like this.

Moments later, Xiao Yifeng sent over a gruesome photograph of Li Chunlei lying on the autopsy table with his body split open.

Che Qianzi almost threw up.

In the end, Sun Desheng blocked most of the corpse from view, allowing him to see only the pale face.

That was enough.

Che Qianzi recognized him immediately.

It really was the gambler Li Chunlei from back home.

Seeing his reaction, Sun Desheng narrowed his eyes.

“Brother, this shell came from your hometown.”

“That means the person hiding inside it must have gone there first and happened to encounter the unlucky Li Chunlei.”

“But why would he go to your hometown?”

“To look for someone…”

“To look for Old Kong?”

Che Qianzi shook his head.

“No way. Old Kong may be a Taoist priest, but he doesn’t know anything. I was the one supporting him all these years. Why would anyone look for a greedy, lecherous old man like him?”

But by the end of his sentence, even Che Qianzi himself felt uncertain.

After all, Old Kong had suddenly disappeared.

Who knew if he had fled precisely to avoid this person?

After exchanging a few polite words with Xiao Yifeng, Sun Desheng hung up.

He then said to Che Qianzi:

“Brother, maybe they weren’t looking for Kong Dalong. Maybe Li Chunlei was simply unlucky. Besides, your master isn’t even at the temple anymore. Even if someone really came looking for him, they wouldn’t have found him.”

Then Sun Desheng deliberately changed the subject and began recounting cases from his days in the Anti-Narcotics Bureau.

He had just reached the part about smugglers hiding drugs inside corpses when his phone rang again.

It was Xiao Yifeng.

Without wasting time, Xiao spoke directly:

“Dasheng, now this is interesting.”

“Just now, Tianjin reported another case. A friend of mine at the Tianjin Bureau contacted me immediately.”

“A similar shell-body case happened in the suburbs. This time, even the person hiding inside the shell is dead.”

“Oh, and there was another male corpse inside a cabinet at the scene.”

“Guess what his name was?”

“Sun Biyun.”

“We finally figured it out—this Sun Biyun was actually a man.”

“Sun Biyun…”

Sun Desheng looked around at the people beside him and then said:

“No more drinking.”

“Everyone get some rest.”

“Looks like we’re making a trip to Tianjin tomorrow morning.”