“But,” Xu Mo looked at Wang Dachuan and suddenly changed the subject, “there's one thing you got right: the victim was a female, probably between the ages of 20 and 24.”
Upon hearing this, Wang Dachuan felt a lot better, at least he wasn't completely wrong. It seemed that his self-study had yielded some results.
Between Xu Mo and Wang Dachuan's statements, Xu Mo's credibility was obviously higher.
Han Fei chose to believe Xu Mo and summarized, “The victim was a female, aged between 20 and 24, and the death occurred about two weeks ago, right?”
“That’s about it. That’s all we can tell for now,” Xu Mo nodded.
Wang Dachuan was embarrassed. Only these? Just?
Just from a skull, Xu Mo could deduce so much, far surpassing Wang Dachuan's abilities.
Even a professional forensic doctor would likely come to the same conclusions.
It seemed Xu Mo was not entirely satisfied with these findings.
“Between 20 and 24 years old, female, missing for about two weeks. Check again with these criteria,” Han Fei instructed an officer.
Previously, Wang Dachuan's estimation of the death time as two years was incorrect. Searching based on that would only lead them further from the truth.
Han Fei thought it was fortunate Xu Mo was here today. If not for his timely discovery, their investigation direction would have been entirely wrong, wasting valuable time.
At that moment, the divers returned to the shore with bones freshly retrieved from the water.
Wang Dachuan merely looked at the newly retrieved bones without offering any comments, fearing he might be wrong again…
After examining the newly retrieved bones, Xu Mo frowned, noticing another issue.
Seeing Xu Mo’s expression, Han Fei guessed Xu Mo might have found something new.
He immediately asked, “Have you found something else that’s off?”
“Yes, these bones retrieved are not from the same person.”
“Bones not from the same person…” Han Fei quickly realized, “You mean there’s more than one victim?”
Xu Mo nodded again.
“Correct. This pelvis and fibula are from a female, while the tibia and femur are from a male. The handling of these bones is identical, indicating the same perpetrator. At least two victims, one male and one female, are involved in this case, but there may be more.”
“Identical handling, same perpetrator… That means both victims were cooked and their remains discarded in the same place. They were likely killed together. These two victims were probably a cohabiting couple or a married pair,” Han Fei analyzed following Xu Mo’s train of thought.
Previously, they only knew the victim was a female aged 20 to 24, with a death time of about two weeks.
Now, with this additional information, their search scope had narrowed considerably.
…
After a short rest, the divers changed their oxygen tanks and went back into the water.
This time, they searched the areas they had missed before, retrieving another skull, a pelvis, two femurs, one fibula, and several ribs, one ulna… all larger bones.
“Officer, we’ve checked every area underwater. These are all the bones we could see. Any remaining bones are likely buried in the silt. If we want to retrieve more, we’d have to dredge the entire silt layer, which would take about a week… Should we continue?”
Hearing this, Xu Mo asked the divers, “Is the silt layer thick underwater?”
“Um… not very thick, the thickest part is about an inch.”
“Did you miss any areas when searching underwater?”
“No, we’re professionals. We checked every corner underwater. Except for the bones buried in the silt, we’ve retrieved all visible bones.”
After the divers answered, Xu Mo looked at Han Fei.
“Captain Han, I don’t think we need to continue. The thickest part of the silt layer is only an inch, which would only cover smaller bones. Larger ones like skulls wouldn’t be covered. If there were more than two victims, there should be three skulls, but there are only two. There are likely only two victims.”
“Yes, in that case, there’s no need to continue,” Han Fei also nodded.
Continuing the search was just to confirm if there were only two victims. If not, they could start investigating.
Now, the answer was clear: there were only two skulls underwater, so there were likely only two victims.
…
At the police station.
After some effort, the officers found two individuals matching the victim’s identity.
“Captain Han, we’ve found them. A newlywed couple went missing over a week ago and hasn’t been found. The woman is 22, the man is 24, and all the known clues match them well. It’s probably them.”
The officers gathered to review the couple’s detailed information.
“Killing a newlywed couple and cooking their bodies… What kind of grudge could it be?” Wang Dachuan suggested, “Should we investigate their social relationships? See if anyone had a grudge against them.”
Wang Dachuan believed this case was likely a murder.
Judging from the perpetrator’s actions, the grudge against the newlywed couple must have been deep, or else such a heinous act wouldn’t have been committed.
“This case might not be a murder…” Han Fei stared at the couple’s photos on the documents and slowly shook his head.
He had a different perspective on this case.
“I also think it might not be a murder. And regardless of whether it is or not, it’s not something we should focus on right now. The documents mention they have a wedding home, let’s check there. I think there might be some clues,” Xu Mo agreed with Han Fei’s thoughts.
He also felt this case might not be a murder.
Because the victims, this newlywed couple, were both good-looking.
Another possibility besides murder was someone being attracted to their looks.
Given the couple’s identical death times and the same perpetrator, it could be deduced that they were likely killed at home.
Their wedding home might very well be the primary crime scene…
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
end. Thus one must continue to cultivate, and become a saint or great emperor, in order to prolong one's life. Chen Xia, however, completely reversed this. Since his transmigration, he has gained immortality, and also a system that awards him with attribute points for every year he lives. Thus between the myriad worlds, the legend of an unparalleled senior appeared. "A gentleman takes revenge; it is never too late even after ten thousand years." "When you were at your peak I yielded, now in your old age I shall trample on you." - Chen Xia
