BPIFC -Volume 1 – Chapter 87 A Clue

When Zhao Qing arrived with Shen La, there had been nothing unusual about the corpse. According to procedure, she had to conduct a preliminary examination to determine the time and cause of death.

During the examination, she discovered a thin steel needle embedded in the dead man’s neck. The moment she used her tools to pull it out, the corpse suddenly began to decay rapidly. Flesh and skin liquefied at a rate visible to the naked eye. Under normal circumstances, such decomposition would have required at least a month.

If it had only been decomposition, it would not have affected Zhao Qing so severely. While the body was rotting, she noticed that the dead man’s heart was still beating faintly, and slight movements were occurring throughout his body. They were subtle enough that ordinary people would never notice, but as a forensic doctor, she did.

So was he dead? Or alive?

This “corpse” completely overturned everything Zhao Qing knew about forensic science. Combined with the horrifying sight of a “living person” rapidly decomposing, her fear reached its limit and triggered a physical reaction. She began vomiting uncontrollably.

Even Shen La couldn’t understand what was happening. During his years in the Bureau, he had encountered many cases involving walking corpses and had read numerous files and ancient records, but he had never seen anything like this. Seeing Zhao Qing on the verge of collapse, he had no choice but to call for help from Sun Desheng and the others.

After hearing the whole story, Sun Desheng consulted Yang Xiao. The Bureau members then returned to the interrogation room and had the station chief summon everyone involved in the case so that the former Director Sun could question them.

Back in the interrogation room, with no outsiders present, Shen La handed the steel needle that Zhao Qing had removed from the corpse’s neck to Yang Xiao.

“Old Yang, you’re the expert here. Can you tell which sect’s technique this belongs to?”

Yang Xiao took the needle and examined it. Using his fingernail, he scraped off a layer of grease-like substance from its surface.

Shen La had inspected the needle before and had even wiped the blood from it. It had been completely dry. So where had this lard-like liquid come from?

Yang Xiao explained:

“This is called Duan She Li. I’ve only heard of people refining magical tools like this to control corpses. This is the first time I’ve seen the real thing. I used to think Duan She Li was just a legend, but apparently such a tool really exists.

It was used by the top corpse drivers of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Their school treated the dead as if they were still alive. They made the deceased believe they were alive so they could walk home and arrange their own burial.”

Hearing this, Sun Desheng interrupted:

“Hold on. The dead bury themselves? They think they’re alive? Then what’s the point of dying? Why not just keep pretending to live?”

“It’s not that simple,” Yang Xiao replied. “At most, the technique can maintain a false life for a hundred days. After a hundred days, the spell loses its effect. The dead are still dead.”

As he spoke, he wiped away the grease he had scraped off.

“This is also corpse oil, but refined differently from mine. It’s extracted from human brains. Colorless, odorless, just a little greasy. It serves no purpose except controlling corpses. Fortunately, everything in this world has something that can counter it.”

As he spoke, Yang Xiao took a small porcelain bottle from his pocket.

In front of everyone, he pulled out the stopper.

Instantly, a horrible stench filled the interrogation room.

Che Qianzi had just returned after vomiting. The moment he smelled the odor from the doorway, he covered his mouth and ran back to the restroom again.

“Old Yang! You could’ve warned us!” Sun Desheng shouted while retreating with his eyes squeezed shut.

“If you were going to use corpse oil, at least say something first! Damn, this batch smells especially awful!”

Ignoring him, Yang Xiao poured a single drop of the thick liquid from the bottle onto the corpse’s heart.

The instant the liquid touched the heart, it stopped beating.

At the same time, all the tiny movements throughout the body ceased.

Only then did the man truly die.

Seeing this, Yang Xiao finally said:

“My corpse oil makes him realize that he’s already dead. The power of Duan She Li was so strong that it pulled him back, and he simply couldn’t let go of life. But now it’s over. Dust returns to dust, earth returns to earth. May he be reborn soon.”

Realizing there was nothing for him to do, Sun Desheng left Old Mo and Xiao Yifeng at the scene. He instructed Shen La to comfort the badly shaken Zhao Qing, while he himself took the newly-returned-and-newly-vomited Che Qianzi back to the station chief’s office.

When they arrived, the people involved in the case were already waiting outside to be questioned.

After reviewing the records from the anti-prostitution operation that evening and seeing that he had no assistants available, Fatty Sun turned to Che Qianzi.

“Brother, help me take notes. You don’t have to write down everything word for word—just record the key points. I’ll fill in the details later.”

As long as he didn’t have to go back into the interrogation room, Che Qianzi was willing to do anything.

The two sat down, and the prostitute who had been brought in with the deceased was called inside.

A heavily made-up woman in her thirties entered. She still had no idea what had happened.

As soon as she came in, she said to the two men:

“Officers, is it time to pay the fine? Five thousand again? If that’s the case, then I’ll just… you know…”

Sun Desheng ignored her and glanced at the interrogation report.

“Your name is He Cuifen. Age—fifty-seven?”

He stared at her.

“Is that makeup or plastic surgery? Do you know why you’re here? Tell us everything again, in detail.”

“Haven’t I already told you? Why do I have to, uh… tell it again…”

It was obvious the woman was a veteran who frequented police stations. Still, she didn’t dare offend the two “officers” before her and began recounting the events:

“It was around six or seven in the evening when that guy came in. He looked around and picked me. At first, I didn’t want to… you know… but it was almost the end of the month, and if I didn’t… you know… then… you know…

“So I took him into the room. At first, he wanted to… that thing, but I refused. If you don’t… then I definitely won’t… Later he paid extra, and for the sake of… you know… I thought, fine, let’s just… you know…

“Then we… you know… and just after we finished… you know… you people came and arrested us.

“Officer, I’m innocent! I had only just… you know… We barely even… you know… a few times before you… you know…”

“Damn it, I can’t write this down anymore!” Che Qianzi exploded after hearing a stream of “you know”s.

“It’s all ‘you know’!”

He threw his pen onto the floor in frustration, frightening the woman into silence.

“It’s okay, brother. I know exactly what she’s talking about.”

Sun Desheng chuckled and picked up the pen himself.

Then he asked Che Qianzi:

“This part isn’t important. Just write down the important stuff later.”

Turning to the woman, he continued:

“He Cuifen, let me ask you something. Li Guangquan—that client—did he do anything unusual?”

“Unusual?”

She thought for a moment.

“Well, he kept wanting to… you know… and I wouldn’t let him…”

Then she quickly added:

“Officer, he doesn’t have any problems, does he? We only met for the first time. Other than… you know… there wasn’t any other… you know…”

Sun Desheng interrupted her.

“You’re overthinking it. I mean, was his behavior different from ordinary customers?”

“Not really. First they… you know… then… you know… and finally… you know…”

Just as she was about to continue with more “you knows,” she suddenly remembered something.

“Oh, right! He answered a phone call in the middle of it. Someone told him he had a flight at nine tomorrow morning and not to be late. That call seemed important. He didn’t even dare hang up while he was… you know…”

“A phone call, huh…”

Sun Desheng narrowed his eyes and smiled.

Then he called a young police officer into the room.

“Li Guangquan should have another cell phone. Find it.”

“And collect his bodily fluids from the time he was… doing that.”

“I want them sent for testing.”