Insights Chapter 81: Inspection

Chapter 81: Inspection

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

In the afternoon, under the bright sunlight, in the villa area of the Qingwang mansion. The weather today was very hot, and due to the inconvenience of opening the air conditioning for on-site investigation, the whole house felt as hot as a steamer. The foul smell lingered, and Lu Ying led several detectives wearing foot covers into the villa, holding their breath as they opened some sealed windows, slightly easing the smell inside the house.

Except for the medical examiner and evidence that had to be processed on-site, everyone else kept their distance. Gu Yanchen was called over by the sub-bureau’s captain for a briefing, avoiding the impact of the toxic environment.

Shen Junci led two medical examiners into the crime scene. He had anticipated that the corpse would be severely decomposed given it had been several days since death. He was fully prepared. The corpse downstairs was lying face down. From the color of the hair, it appeared to be the former tycoon Jin Yuewen, while the corpse at the staircase was his father, Jin Shichang.

Qi Yi’an was somewhat eager; it was his first time seeing a real “giant phenomenon.” ¹“Giant phenomenon” was a professional term that every medical examiner had heard of, but not everyone had the chance to witness it, especially now with advanced monitoring and the internet. Giant phenomena were becoming increasingly rare. 

Corpse decomposition is a process, and the “giant phenomenon” is its peak. With the corpse highly decomposed, it would swell into a huge bomb, filled with putrid gasses overflowing from the body, emitting an unimaginable stench. Moreover, there were not just one but two giant phenomena corpses in this villa. 

This was clearly the primary crime scene, with the house in a mess, large patches of blood staining the walls and floors. The murder weapon should be a knife. Shen Junci knelt beside Jin Yuewen’s corpse, beginning to examine the situation closely. Maggots and flies were flying everywhere, impossible to chase away.

The corpse in front of him had swollen to the maximum, resembling a bulky man weighing over two hundred pounds, or like an inflated balloon. His clothes had all burst open, turning into a mass of rot covered with cloth scraps. His wristwatch was firmly stuck, adding to the eerie sight. Qi Yi’an had seen photos; Jin Yuewen was not fat, usually weighing only about a hundred pounds. Though not handsome, his features were regular. Now, he was unrecognizable.

Especially the face of the deceased, with greenish skin, completely swollen, eyes bulging, one eyeball even detached from the socket, lips turned outwards, tongue swollen to protrude from the mouth. The entire corpse looked like a massive greenish mass. It was a feast for decay bacteria and maggots.

Seeing this scene, Song Qiancheng covered his mouth and ran out again. Qi Yi’an took several photos, his hands trembling as he opened the record book.

Only Shen Junci in the room remained composed. He said, “Take a good look. Giant phenomenon corpses are not so common.”

There were white maggots crawling on the corpse. Shen Junci first used forceps to take several maggots in different states for Qi Yi’an to measure one by one. Once a human has been dead for more than three days, conventional signs like livor mortis and rigor mortis are no longer reliable for determining time of death. However, the growth cycle of these maggots was extremely regular, becoming an important basis for determining the exact time of death of the deceased.

After some calculations, Shen Junci said, “Approximately five days since death.”

Then the medical examiners began their basic inspection, with Shen Junci still directing and Qi Yi’an documenting, “Male corpse, aged 48, height 1.78 meters, exhibiting giant phenomenon status, chest and abdomen swollen, limbs swollen, appearing venous network, skin peeling on hands and feet, genitalia swollen, blood and fluid visible in mouth and nostrils, evident signs of decomposition…”

Shen Junci and Qi Yi’an worked together to prepare to turn over the corpse. Qi Yi’an hesitated even before exerting force. He had heard from his senior brothers about the scene of a giant phenomenon corpse explosion, which could only be described as gruesome. If one got the corpse’s fluids on them, it would be extremely difficult to wash off even after several attempts.

Qi Yi’an was afraid this corpse might suddenly explode on him.

Seemingly knowing what he was thinking, Shen Junci said, “Don’t worry, this one has an abdominal injury, the intestines were cut, it won’t explode.” Just as Qi Yi’an began to relax, Shen Junci pointed to the elderly corpse at the top of the stairs. “If you’re afraid, you should worry about that one.”

For a moment, Qi Yi’an became nervous again. As the corpse was turned over, Qi Yi’an finally understood why the smell was so intense. The internal organs of the corpse had prolapsed onto the ground, with intestines spilling out, and due to increased abdominal pressure, many organs had swollen, covered with corpse fluid and green foam. With every movement, a small white maggot would crawl out of the nose.

Shen Junci examined the bloodstains on the corpse’s clothing, determining the wounds. “The deceased was stabbed in the back once, and twice in the abdomen. The stab in the back pierced the heart, causing massive bleeding. Perhaps this single stab was the cause of death…” he sighed. “Unfortunately.”

Qi Yi’an asked, “What’s wrong?”

Shen Junci replied, “The advanced decomposition has erased many traces on the corpse. If the condition of the corpse were better, we might have seen more clues.”

Afterwards, Shen Junci, wearing gloves, moved the body, causing the skin to peel off. Ignoring this, he continued his examination. Intern medical examiner Song Qiancheng had just vomited for the second time but stubbornly crawled back. Seeing the scene, he ran out again. The wound on the corpse was at the neck, indicating the elderly man was killed by throat-slitting. A fan-shaped bloodstain was sprayed at the staircase.

The old man was nearly seventy years old. Due to massive blood loss, the degree of decomposition of this corpse was slightly better than Jin Yuewen’s, but his large belly had swollen into a huge balloon. With their movements, it gently swayed like jelly, resembling a giant time bomb.

After inspecting the surface of the corpse, Shen Junci recorded its position and then used a body bag to remove it quickly, placing it on the waiting hearse outside. Finally, the smell in the house improved slightly. After chatting with the sub-bureau’s captain, Gu Yanchen also entered the house. He frowned at the smell but quickly adapted.

Lu Ying also entered, pinching his nose, leading the detectives to do the police inspection.

Jin Yuewen’s family was considered wealthy among ordinary people, but in the circle of tycoons, they were insignificant. The furnishings in the house were not luxurious, much simpler and older than the Fang family they had visited before. The furniture was simple and old, and several prominent places in the house had Buddhist altars. There was a statue of the God of Wealth in the hall, and further inside was the Bodhisattva Guanyin. It could be seen that they were regularly worshiped.

Lu Ying clasped his hands together in prayer. “Even this Bodhisattva couldn’t protect him from this calamity…”

Bai Meng glanced, pinching her nose. “It’s just a clay statue. Even if it were Guan Gong, it couldn’t help him in a fight.”

Shen Junci didn’t rush to leave with the body. He returned to the villa, observing the remaining bloodstains. Then he and Qi Yi’an marked several red lines, simulating the splatter pattern of the blood. This made the points of attack and movement trajectories clearer.

Gu Yanchen approached him and whispered, “It couldn’t be those people, could it?”

After visiting Zhong Zhichun, Gu Yanchen first considered whether this was the work of the mastermind. After seeing this messy scene, he felt those people wouldn’t leave behind so many amateur traces.

Shen Junci said, “It’s hard to say.” Then he speculated, “Although there’s a lot of bleeding, it’s concentrated. Jin Yuewen had no chance to escape. There are also no signs of struggle.”

Gu Yanchen crouched down, carefully observing. “There seems to be some dried water stains on the floor.”

Shen Junci went to the kitchen to look around. His attention was immediately drawn to the knives on the rack. After observing, he came out and said to Gu Yanchen, “The knives on the rack are all here, and the blades don’t match the wounds. The murder weapon was likely brought by the perpetrator.”

Gu Yanchen circled again, looking around. There were no signs of ransacking in the house. Some money and wallets were left on the nearby dining table, along with various bank cards. From the scene, it didn’t seem like a robbery.

After circling the house, they began to retrace the entire process from the entrance, trying to recreate it.

Shen Junci said, “Jin Yuewen opened the door, let the perpetrator into the living room, walked to the center of the living room, where the perpetrator pulled out a knife and attacked. Jin Yuewen’s father heard the noise and came down from upstairs, encountering the perpetrator at the staircase, and was then killed. After killing the old man, the perpetrator saw that Jin Yuewen was not completely dead yet, so he lay on the ground to make a call, intending to report to the police. The perpetrator then came downstairs and stabbed him in the back…”

Gu Yanchen asked Shen Junci, “Time of the crime?”

Shen Junci said, “Based on the growth rate of the maggots and the degree of decomposition of the corpse, it was approximately five days ago. To be more precise, we’d need an autopsy to determine.”

“This also matches the time when his colleagues reported being unable to reach him,” Gu Yanchen checked the weather forecast. “Five days ago, there was a heavy rainstorm.”

That was the same night he and Shen Junci had gone to the movies. It was likely on that rainy night that someone knocked on the door of the villa, and Jin Yuewen, unsuspecting, opened it, leading to this tragedy. The perpetrator quickly left afterwards, disappearing into the city without a trace.

After deducing the process of the crime, Gu Yanchen concluded, “It’s probably someone familiar with the victim.”

Hearing this, Bai Meng, who was nearby, frowned. “I’ve already checked. The Jin family barely has any relatives left. So who could this familiar person be? A colleague?”

Gu Yanchen replied, “Let’s scrutinize the recent visitors thoroughly again. Perhaps the perpetrator is among them.”

Finally summarizing the information at the scene, Gu Yanchen and Shen Junci stepped outside.

In the yard, they could finally breathe normally. Gu Yanchen took off his mask and took deep breaths. Although he could endure the smell inside the house, even speaking inside required holding his breath. After staying inside for a while, he felt a bit lightheaded due to the lack of oxygen.

Shen Junci had it even worse. Fully geared up, he stood in the house without air conditioning for an hour, his protective suit soaked in sweat from inside to outside. Once outside, Shen Junci removed his protective gear and glasses. A sudden gust of wind blew, and Shen Junci felt something gritty in his eyes. He reached to rub his eyes, but with the double-layered gloves he was wearing today, which were even more airtight, and his hands sweaty, he hesitated.

Gu Yanchen noticed his discomfort. “What’s wrong?”

“It feels like something got into my eyes,” Shen Junci said, lowering his head and removing his glasses, trying to relieve it with tears. But it only made it worse. He turned around. “I’ll go to the restroom…”

As he was about to return to the crime scene, Gu Yanchen stopped him. “Don’t go there. Let me take a look.”

In the sunlight, Gu Yanchen removed his gloves and examined Shen Junci’s left eye. In just a moment, his eye had turned red. Close to Shen Junci, Gu Yanchen’s heartbeat involuntarily accelerated. His eyes were really beautiful, with long and dense eyelashes. He carefully lifted Shen Junci’s eyelids and gently blew on his eye.

With the two of them so close, his heartbeat was so fast that he dared not look too much. Gu Yanchen asked, “Is it better now?”

Shen Junci’s eyelashes drooped, tears still in the corners of his eyes. He blinked, and the foreign object sensation disappeared. “Thanks. I’ll go back to do the autopsy now.”