Insights Chapter 129: The Frozen Corpse

Chapter 129: The Frozen Corpse

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

A different kind of interview was taking place at this time. In a villa, the secretary opened the door to the room and brought in a young girl. The girl entered through the front door, a cold autumn breeze wrapped around her, she felt the warmth of the room.

Huo Lei stood in the room, she wore a dark green cheongsam today, the clothes wrapped up her exquisite figure, as if it was two seasons with the girl. She twisted her body, her eyes swept over the girl’s body from top to bottom, “My name is Huo Lei, it’s not so cold here, take off your coat. Let me get a good look at you.”

The girl frowned slightly at the interviewer’s somewhat strange request, but obediently took off her coat, revealing what she was wearing underneath, it was a wide old hoodie, she was a bit embarrassed and clutched the corner of the coat with her fingers.

Huo Lei just narrowed her eyes and looked at the girl. She even reached out her hand and touched on her waist and breasts, as if she was waiting for the price to be sold.

The girl looked at Huo Lei with some timidity, although the woman in front of her was pleasant, she was always a little afraid of her. The girl had big eyes, she looked uninitiated, like a deer in the headlights. But Huo Lei knows, that’s just the appearance, this girl has already experienced everything. She was very disappointed in this world, such a person as long as a little bit good to her, she will take the initiative to do no lower limit things.

Huo Lei smiled and took her hand, “Your name is Tian Xue right?”

The girl nodded a little.

“I know about you, your parents got divorced, both of them didn’t want you, you’ve been living at your grandma’s house. When you were in elementary school, you met a not-so-good male teacher, and you were one of the victims.”

Tian Xue’s expression became less natural, that was her nightmare in her life, that male teacher would call the female students in the class to the office and do something unseemly. The young girl was clueless and didn’t know what it meant until that teacher was disciplined. She realized later that she hated him with a passion and felt that that man had ruined her life. But even if that teacher went to jail, those girls’ virginity could not be repaired.

Huo Lei continued slowly, “Your mom had another brother and your step dad tried to bully you, so you ran away from home. You had a boyfriend, but he hid it from you and slept with your girlfriend.”

Mentioning these things, Tian Xue’s face appeared a kind of maturity beyond her age, she gritted her teeth and said with a sidelong glance, “Those men, none of them are good.”

“You want to find a good job and don’t have many skills, you sing very well, so you want to be a netizen yourself. All the money you earned, you asked people to bring it to your grandma. But now that your grandma is sick, you need more money.”

Next, Huo Lei asked Tian Xue to sing a song. Tian Xue opened her mouth and she sang with a mellow, beautiful voice with impeccable rhythm and meter. Some people just had a certain talent for being able to sing without a teacher.

Huo Lei pulled Tian Xue to sit in front of a large mirror, letting the girl look at herself in the mirror, she used her fingers painted with red nails and hooked Tian Xue’s hair, which was dark and thick, Huo Lei sighed heartily, “It’s beautiful.”

Tian Xue pursed her lips, looking at herself in the mirror, she whispered, “But I …… I don’t think I’m good-looking enough …… “.

She grew up with a bad background and a bit of low self-esteem, so usually when she sang, she would cover her face. Now she had no makeup on her face, her hair was messy, and she was wearing a wrinkled old dress. There was some blush on her pristine face, and standing next to the exquisitely made-up Huo Lei, she looked like a little girl from the countryside, speaking and doing things in an earthy manner.

Huo Lei’s gaze, however, seemed to be able to see through all this, to see clearly into her essence, to see into her future.

She pinches the little girl’s fleshy face, “That’s because you don’t have the money to put on makeup, you don’t have the chance to buy good clothes, you also have a lot of good qualities, your face will look good if you just fine-tune it a little bit and put on some makeup, you have a very good body, and the most crucial thing is that your singing is really good, and also, you’re young.”

Tian Xue listened silently.

Huo Lei poured herself a cup of hot water, she didn’t give it to the girl and just drank it herself.

“Before you came here, you knew about what kind of place this is, right? You should also know that I’m not a good person. But as a woman, I never lie to women, and I will never make you do anything you don’t want to do. Because I know that we women must be united if we want to have power. The premise of unity is that I will help you and I will never hurt you. After trust is built that way, you will trust me too.”

She looked for girls who have been hurt by men. Unlike the men of the thirteen public houses who would use force and coercion to train bait, she never let these girls have freedom.

She clung to her to become more and more beautiful and rich so that she would willingly serve her. Huo Lei had a bad temper, she would beat male subordinates who didn’t listen, such as Yang Ziye, her secretary, but she wouldn’t beat these girls, she had an innate compassion for girls.

“We are like water, men are like stones, we can penetrate stones through long years. So, each of us alone is not enough, we have to be together.” Huo Lei said while playing with her nails, “I don’t like men, I know that some of them are dirty and nasty fools, conceited and savage idiots, beasts that haven’t finished evolving. But I’ll cling to them, subjugate them, get money and power from them. If you want, you can do the same.”

Tian Xue pursed her lips, feeling that her words were a bit paranoid, although many men had their own problems and she hated them, there were still some who were good people. Although grandpa passed away, he had always been good to her during his lifetime. It was a male teacher who bullied her in the first place, and it was a male teacher who found out about it, protected her, exposed it, and constantly enlightened her.

Then there are the police, the military, the firefighters. She felt that she just hasn’t met any good people, a person is good or bad, and men and women don’t have an absolute relationship. She thought that there were only two kinds of people on earth, men and women. If people live, and indiscriminately hold malice towards the other half of the earth’s creatures, they may fall into extremes, and feel no happiness.

The girl looked at Huo Lei in front of her, unable to tell whether she was a good or bad person, “I see potential in you, you’re smart, have your own ideas, and don’t follow the crowd.” Speaking of this, Huo Lei asked, “On earth, there is a simple truth, it’s called equal exchange. Have you heard of the story of the Little Mermaid?”

“I’ve heard of it.” Tian Xue whispered.

“The mermaid turned into a bubble because of the prince, it’s so silly. But there’s a truth in it that’s true, if you want to have feet, you need to trade your singing voice. You have to give something to get what you want.”

Huo Lei spoke nonchalantly, “To change yourself, you’ve got to give something. For example, your chastity, your love, your body, you need to sleep with them, or maybe you need to contribute your uterus and carry a child for them.”

Tian Xue clenched her fists, “My first time was taken when I was ten years old, I don’t care about that. Provided I can live the life I want to live.”

Huo Lei nodded, “That’s good.”

She was very pleased with this canary of the day, with a little coaching, she could be an excellent chess piece. She talked to her a lot more, like a senior passing on experience to a small child.

Tian Xue relaxed a bit, she opened her mouth and asked, “What do I need to do in the future? Sleep with those rich businessmen?”

“Hold your horses. Get acquainted with some friends first, take it slow. When there’s someone suitable for you, I’ll devise a detailed plan for you. Maybe you’ll have a relationship with them. Men are wary by nature, but that thing isn’t very useful.”

Tian Xue blinked. “Are we going to poke holes in the condoms?”

She had seen it done like that on TV shows.

Huo Lei burst into laughter, mocking her naivety. “Of course not. The condoms I give you are specially processed. Normal ones contain substances that kill sperm, but the ones I give you can keep the sperm alive for several days. After freezing, they can be used permanently.”

Tian Xue couldn’t help asking, “So, if I get it, can I get pregnant right away?”

Huo Lei patted her. “Young lady, there’s a thing called artificial insemination.”

With these tactics, she not only ensnared a wealthy businessman but also made men unable to control themselves. As long as a young life approached them willingly, they couldn’t resist, sometimes regardless of the girl’s beauty.

At this point, Tian Xue suddenly noticed a cat in the room. It looked exceptionally beautiful, but it limped when walking. She was curious. “This cat…”

Huo Lei looked at the cat indifferently and said, “It scratched me, so I cut off one of its paws. Disobedient children must be punished.” She put down her glass. “I used to raise a very beautiful girl. At first, she listened to me, but later, she had her own ideas.”

Tian Xue asked, “What happened to her?”

“She killed someone. She was recently sentenced to death, pending appeal. No one will help her.”

Tian Xue remembered the trending news she saw online today: female celebrity Lan Jie sentenced to death in the first trial. Could the woman in front of her be talking about her?

Huo Lei sat on the sofa and continued, “She almost ruined my plan. Later, I could only find her cousin and continue with my plan. That girl was much more obedient. Now, her cousin has given birth to a child and inherited billions. Four nannies take care of her, so obedient children get treats, and disobedient ones get punished.”

Along with the murder case, there was also the inheritance case of Fang Zhengrong. With Fang Zhengrong’s death, Lan Jie’s cousin gave birth to his son, confirmed by DNA testing, becoming the legal heir to the inheritance. With Zhong Zhichun in prison, Fang Jiarong and Lan Jie were sentenced to death. Some of the assets would enter Huo Lei’s pockets, and she would also gain control of Zhengrong Group.

Lan Jie’s cousin was originally a pawn she had set down. If Zhong Zhichun knew this, he’d probably be gnashing his teeth in frustration. This was the mantis stalking the cicada, with the oriole behind—the old proverb of fishermen benefiting from the quarrel between the snipe and the clam.

Huo Lei’s lips curled up as she looked at Tian Xue in front of her. “You’re an obedient child, aren’t you?”

Tian Xue shivered, then gathered her courage and said, “I’m very obedient. I’m willing to do anything.”

Whether the woman in front of her was a witch asking her to sell her soul or not, she didn’t want to go back to her past life.

In the morning, several police cars parked outside the cold storage warehouse. The owner of the cold storage, Zhang Yunwei, was also called here. As he wiped the sweat from his forehead, he answered the police’s questions, “This place used to be a state-owned warehouse. Due to losses, my father took over. Part of it was converted into a cold storage, it’s been about forty years. I really don’t know who put the corpse here.”

Gu Yanchen and Shen Junci got out of the car, and Qi Yi’an was waiting for them with an examination kit. They put on several sets of clothing, wearing thick protective suits, shoes, and gloves. The medical examiners also wore an additional layer of isolation coats outside. Fully armed, they entered.

Lu Ying led the way and stood in the corner of the cold storage, taking photos and recording the years of the goods nearby. In this kingdom of ice and snow, white ice particles were everywhere on the ground and walls. It was difficult to leave clues and traces in such an environment.

Gu Yanchen asked, “Can you determine the year of death based on the environment?”

Lu Ying shook his head. “Only roughly estimate it to be over ten years.”

In the cold storage, people’s breath would form white vapor.

Shen Junci walked to the front and looked at the corpse in the barrel. The iron barrel was sealed, allowing the moisture of the corpse to be better preserved. The deformation and dehydration of the female corpse weren’t particularly severe, otherwise, it would have become a frozen mummy. The corpse was also covered with a thick layer of white ice particles, making it difficult to see the face clearly.

Medical examiner Shen lowered his head and observed carefully for a while before concluding, “This corpse should have been frozen for at least twenty years.”

Qi Yi’an exclaimed, “That long?!”

Shen Junci nodded. “We’ll need to wait for the autopsy results for specifics.”

In the corpse farm where he worked, the temperature was low, and frozen corpses were often observed. The frozen corpses formed outdoors mostly had gruesome faces and lost moisture. The longer they froze, the more solid they became. But the logic behind this type of corpse is similar to that of a mummy; the most significant changes occur in the initial years. In the later stages, the passage of time doesn’t bring much more change to it.

A corpse frozen for thirty years may even be difficult to distinguish from one frozen for fifty years.

Qi Yi’an, wearing thick gloves, sighed as he recorded, and a wisp of white smoke emerged from his mask. This corpse had been frozen for many years, and the old identification card lacked fingerprint information. They didn’t know if the corpse’s relatives were still alive. Even if they tried to restore fingerprints and appearance, it might be challenging to determine the corpse’s identity.

After the medical examiner and evidence photographer finished their work, they collectively moved the iron barrel containing the corpse out, placing it in an outdoor area, waiting for the female corpse to gradually thaw so they could remove her from the barrel.

As the ice melted, the face of the female corpse gradually became clear. She was a young woman in her twenties, naked, forcibly placed inside the barrel, her entire body twisted strangely as she sat in the barrel.

The thawing process here was too slow and inconvenient for work. Shen Junci and Gu Yanchen discussed and decided to transport the barrel along with the corpse to the City Bureau’s medical examiner’s office, where they would wait for the thawing process to complete before conducting the autopsy.

Gu Yanchen had already asked about the relevant personnel’s situation and instructed the cold storage staff to go to the City Bureau for questioning. Additionally, he requested the surveillance footage from the past three months to study later.

They left the cold storage and went to the changing room to take off their heavy frost-resistant suits.

Lu Ying and Qi Yi’an had arrived earlier and left after changing. Only Shen Junci and Gu Yanchen remained. Gu Yanchen watched as Shen Junci took off his heavy coat, revealing a white shirt tucked into his pants, highlighting his slender waist. Shen Junci removed his gloves and flexed his stiff fingers. He had been dealing with the corpse earlier, and his fingers had long lost sensation from the cold.

“Are your hands cold?” Gu Yanchen noticed and pulled his hand over, unbuttoning his shirt and placing it against his chest to warm it. Gu Yanchen’s body was warm, having stood in the cold storage for over half an hour, he still felt like a furnace. Gu Yanchen reminded him, “It’ll be even colder during the autopsy. Turn up the air conditioning a bit and don’t catch a cold.”

Shen Junci leaned against him silently, his eyelashes drooping. After a while, he even pressed his cheek against Gu Yanchen’s, seeking warmth.

Gu Yanchen rubbed his pale forehead with his lips, enjoying this moment of quiet. As warmth dispelled the cold, Shen Junci’s fingers finally regained some strength, gently moving, his fingertips feeling the elasticity of the chest muscles underneath.

Gu Yanchen patted him lightly, giving a warning, “Save that for later.”