Chapter 2: The Corpse Underground

"It can be determined that it is murder," Xiao Juan stood up, looked around, and then leaned closer to us and whispered, "The corpse has multiple signs of fractures, but it can be basically concluded that they occurred after the death of the deceased. There are several stab wounds on the abdomen and chest, among which the one on the chest should be the fatal injury. Recently, there has been no rain in Yuzhou City, and based on the temperature and humidity over the past few days, the time of death is estimated to be between 3 to 7 days. The rest must be clarified back in the autopsy room."

A villager brought over an iron bucket, which was tied to a rope, and thus began the process of transporting stones. The details of the process are not elaborated upon; in short, it took an immense amount of effort to finally transport all the stones, which were then piled into a small heap. Before the body was transported out, the team leader, with his unique intuition, said to me: "Pay close attention; this case is most likely a murder case."

Upon hearing this, the captain pondered for a moment and said, "Then let's bring the stones up first"

At a glance, the entire corpse was in such a state of decay that it was unrecognizable. Although a mask was worn, the foul odor still assaulted the senses. It is hard to imagine how Wang Gang managed to bring the body up from the well. The head was already half rotted, and the body was infested with maggots, their white, writhing forms crawling in and out of the corpse. It appeared to have multiple fractures, its twisted state resembling that of a soft-bodied creature devoid of bones.

In a small village, trivial matters can spread from the east entrance to the west entrance in three minutes, and then back again, let alone such a significant event. The villagers gathered to watch the commotion, forming a crowd so dense that not even a drop of water could pass through. However, the person involved, Wang Guihua, had yet to make an appearance. When the team leader inquired for the third time, a voice called out from a distance: "Wang Guihua is here!"

I continued, saying: "The situation should be as follows: after the victim was murdered, the body was dragged to the dry well for disposal. Although the murderer knew that there would likely be no one around the dry well, for the sake of caution, he still moved a considerable number of stones from the surrounding area and threw them down, burying the body. The fractures and broken bones are probably a result of this."

While I was busy with this matter, I saw that Wang Gang had already descended into the well. His muscular physique made movement in the well quite inconvenient, but apart from Wang Gang, there were no suitable candidates. After a while, I finally heard Wang Gang's voice coming from the bottom of the well: "A male adult corpse has been discovered at the bottom of the well. There are quite a few stones on him, almost covering the entire body. To retrieve the corpse, we will likely need to remove these stones first"

However, the requirement stated above is that a murder case must be solved. Police forces from all regions take such cases very seriously. Therefore, upon receiving the report, we immediately rushed to Niulan Village. As soon as we got out of the car, we saw a crowd of people approaching from a distance, led by an elderly man in his fifties or sixties, who was the village chief of Niulan. Upon seeing us, he almost jogged over and said, "Leaders, there is a corpse in the dry well behind the village!"

It was only then that I understood that Captain Shi had already discerned numerous subtle details without revealing any signs. Captain Shi wanted me to draw my own conclusions. He nodded at me and then gestured for me to continue speaking.

After various responses, we have arrived at an answer. The discovery of the body was indeed a coincidence; had it not been for a child playing and accidentally falling into the well, it is likely that this body would have remained undiscovered. Thus, it can be inferred that the fresh blood is likely from the donkey that fell in while playing, which disturbed the stones at the bottom of the well, revealing the body buried beneath the stones, leading to its sighting by the tall, thin individual. This is the basic situation; now, what was the identity of this body in life?

The truth will be revealed upon seeing it. We hurriedly arrived at the scene. The police flashlight had an extremely strong focus, and under its beam, the outline of the corpse was clearly visible. The team leader nodded at us, and everyone realized that a murder had indeed occurred this time. However, whether it was a suicide, homicide, or accidental death still needed to be determined through Xiao Juan's assessment.

Wang Guihua pushed through the crowd of onlookers and saw the corpse on the ground. She immediately fell to her knees and began to wail uncontrollably, her cries heart-wrenching, nearly causing her to faint several times. She shouted something like: "What are we going to do now that you are dead?" or "I don't want to live anymore."

Sitting next to me is a forensic expert, a young woman of similar age to mine. She appears quite delicate, yet has a cold demeanor, seemingly untouched by the world. However, her name, Yang Xiaojuan, is quite down-to-earth. The thought of her daily work in a vast, eerie place filled with the dead sends a chill down my spine, and she has been in this profession for several years.

The rest is our business! Captain Shi nodded, his eyes glancing vaguely at the pile of stones. Many of the stones were dark red, but a few had fresh blood on them, as if it had just been shed. The captain called for the village chief and inquired carefully about the specific circumstances surrounding the discovery of the body and related details.

Upon hearing this, the villagers increasingly felt that it was indeed the case, and ultimately unanimously concluded that the deceased was the man from Wang Guihua's family, named Zhang Fushun. The team leader gave Wang Gang a glance, signaling him to verify the identity of the deceased. Wang Gang nodded, and only then did the team leader ask: "So where is Wang Guihua now?"

Although the name Wang Guihua is melodious, the person bears no relation to the osmanthus flower at all. She appears to weigh around 140 to 150 jin, wearing autumn pants on the lower half and only a tank top on the upper half, seemingly without a bra underneath. From the front, her breasts sag significantly, making it quite difficult to look at her.

After much difficulty, everyone around had dispersed, and the bodies along with their families had been taken away. Only the three of us remained at the scene. Captain Shi asked me to investigate the site on my own, while he and Wang Gang had gone off to smoke from a distance. It was not until the time it took to smoke a cigarette that they returned to ask me, "What have you discovered?"

Captain Shi nodded in agreement and then said: "From your words, we can extract a considerable amount of information!"

As expected, Xiaojun's verification confirmed this point afterward. It is said that the body was laid flat on a level ground next to a dry well. To be honest, although I had seen quite a few corpses during my time at the police academy, I still felt somewhat nervous and flustered when looking at this body. On the contrary, Xiaojun had already begun conducting a simple autopsy.

While we were inquiring, Wang Gang had already begun the process of identifying the corpse. Many villagers started to make identifications, but the body, which was missing half of its head and had a high degree of decomposition, was difficult to recognize. At that moment, a village woman spoke up, saying: "This, this is the man from Wang Guihua's family at the west end of the village! I recognize this piece of clothing!"

Wang Guihua attempted several times to throw herself against the dry well, but was stopped by the crowd each time. In such circumstances, Captain Shi found it difficult to say anything and could only try to calm the emotions of the deceased's family. More than an hour later, additional personnel from the police station arrived, taking photographs and providing comfort, among other tasks.

When I arrived earlier, I happened to see a minibus passing by from the mountain below. According to the driver, the minibus only operates two trips a day, at 9:00 AM and 9:00 PM, each completing a circuit, while the rest of the time it runs on other routes. Villagers from the various villages on the mountain who need to go to the city often spend three yuan to take the minibus, and these individuals are usually elderly people going out for medical treatment, with few young people. Some ride bicycles to the station to wait, while more choose to wake up early and walk down the mountain, which takes at least an hour.

Although it also belongs to Yuzhou City, the distance from the urban area to Niulan Village is not short, taking nearly two hours to arrive at the foot of the mountain. Driving along the winding dirt road towards Niulan Village, one can see that on both sides there are either high cliffs or ravines, a typical plateau mountainous terrain. Only a small section of the road is paved with cement, while most of it is yellow earth, and in narrow places, only one vehicle can pass through.

While I was busy calling the bureau to request additional personnel, I was also occupied with setting up the cordon. It was evident that the dirt road surrounding the dry well was covered in footprints, and the weeds had been trampled down. Although the entire sequence of events is still unclear, it is apparent that the crime scene where the body was discovered has been thoroughly compromised.

As cities develop rapidly, the living standards of people in terms of clothing, food, housing, and transportation have significantly improved. However, there are still many villages where residents face challenges even in terms of transportation. Perhaps amidst the rapid economic growth of cities, we can take a moment to consider whether we can channel these resources into the numerous villages that exist beyond the cities.

It is said that the Public Security Bureau receives countless emergency calls every day, among which ninety percent report sightings of corpses or incidents of homicide, most of which are false cases. When we arrive at the scene and conduct a thorough investigation, we often discover that it is a fabricated case, either intentionally reported as false or due to a misidentification of other objects as human corpses. I have previously encountered a situation where someone mistook an inflatable doll for a corpse and reported it.

I organized my thoughts and then said: "This is definitely not the first crime scene. I carefully examined the weeds beside the dry well. Look here, this patch of grass shows signs of being flattened to one side. Although many parts are trampled and messy, it can still be distinguished upon closer inspection. And this break here is dry and starting to heal, which clearly indicates that this area has experienced time earlier than the rest!"

Captain Shi Huacheng is a man nearing thirty, characterized by his bushy beard. He is always prepared with a razor while in the vehicle. In the captain's own words, his beard grows like mushrooms after rain, sprouting with the wind. If not shaved regularly, it affects his appearance, which is not suitable for the public. Sitting in the passenger seat is a criminal investigation team member named Wang Gang, whose name reflects his character. It is said that he was previously a member of the armed police before being transferred to the criminal police team.

Having said that, I looked up at Captain Shi, who was smiling at me, and then he said: "Not bad. If you look closely at the slight green stains on the back of the deceased's clothing, you will be even more certain that someone had dragged the body through this patch of grass."

As I was lost in thought, I was suddenly struck on the head by a chestnut. I looked up to see that it was the captain of the criminal investigation team, Shi Huacheng. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the vehicle had already come to a stop, and the team members had begun to get out one after another. This time, a full squad was dispatched, and including me, the "intern," there were only four people in total.