Three years later, I was in my senior year at the University of Science and Technology.
Life as a senior was very carefree and leisurely. I only needed to attend a few classes each week and could do whatever I wanted with the rest of my time. For example, I could stay up all night playing League of Legends, or trick naive younger female students into going to a love motel. Anyway, almost all of my roommates were dating someone.
I was the only one who always had panda eyes from staying up late in the library, madly devouring all kinds of books on forensic science.
Because I had never forgotten the day my grandfather died and the promise I made to Officer Sun. One day, when the "Jiangbei Butcher Knife" appears again, I must catch him and bring him to justice!
But I was still far from being a match for the "Jiangbei Butcher Knife" at this time, so I had to make myself stronger.
That day, I went to the library to return some books that were almost overdue. When I came out, I ran into my roommate and best buddy Wang Dali. Wang Dali came over excitedly and said to me: "Hey Yang Zi, do you know? Someone died on campus today!"
"Where?" I asked.
"Near the man-made lake. A male student hanged himself. Many police cars drove into the school. Don't you think it's weird? I've only heard of girls who hanged themselves over lovesickness, this is the first time I've heard of a guy hanging himself. I wonder if this dude was heartbroken or failed a course, how could he be so desperate!" Wang Dali gossiped curiously.
Seeing Wang Dali's gloating look, I poured cold water on him: "Dali, watch your mouth. The guy just died, don't spread rumors about him. Let me tell you, people who die prematurely have the heaviest grievances! If he hears you gossiping behind his back, he might come to our dorm tonight looking for you."
Wang Dali quickly made a few spitting sounds and said, "Yang Zi, let's go see the excitement!"
"Okay!" I immediately followed Wang Dali to the man-made lake on campus.
It was some distance away from the classroom buildings and dormitories. Usually few people came here except couples on dates. But now many people had gathered, including police officers and students who came to watch the spectacle.
The police had cordoned off the area with tape. I saw a belt hanging from an old locust tree inside the cordon. The hanged body had already been taken down. A forensic doctor in a white coat was squatting there examining the corpse. Because there were too many people around and the trees were dense, I couldn't see the body at all.
"Strange!" I murmured.
"What is it?" Wang Dali asked, craning his neck.
"The woods are just a step away from the lake. Why didn't he drown himself instead of hanging?"
"That's easy to explain. This dude probably wanted to drown himself at first when he came to the lake, but got scared at the last minute. It's autumn now and the night air is cool. He didn't want to die cold and wet. So after thinking it over, he finally decided to hang himself." Wang Dali said dramatically, "What do you think of my reasoning?"
"It's so convincing! If Detective Di Renjie heard your reasoning, he would go home and farm instead of being a detective. If Sherlock Holmes lived in the same era as you, he would have starved." I joked.
But Wang Dali was stupid and took my sarcasm as praise. He gloated, "Of course! Just look at you so impressed. Dali will enlighten you with more reasoning."
"I'm all ears!" I answered.
"Ahem!" Wang Dali was about to show off more when he said, "No, we can't see the body clearly from here. Let's find another angle."
We walked around for a while until we found a spot closer to the scene. But I could still only see the back of the crouching forensic doctor. I was about to look from another angle when Wang Dali suddenly tapped my shoulder, "Hey, look at that policewoman over there!"
"Where?" I looked in the direction he was pointing. Indeed, there was a policewoman standing by the police tape.
She was tall and had fair skin, an hourglass figure, and long legs in tight jeans that made jaws drop. On top she wore an open leather jacket over a sky blue police uniform shirt. Her hands were on her hips looking every bit like a glamorous police beauty from the movies.
Her short bobbed hair looked very neat and refreshing.
She was currently frowning and staring intently at the corpse without blinking. Her delicate face looked tender, probably only a little over twenty years old, not much older than me. If she wore some sexy clothes, with that figure and face, people would believe her if she said she was an internet celebrity.
Wang Dali ogled her shamelessly, drooling, "Damn! Dali thought he was experienced in the ways of the world and unmoved by beauty, so why do I suddenly feel like committing a crime when I see this policewoman? How many years do you get for assaulting an officer? Please advise urgently!"
I mocked him, "With your scrawny build, if you commit a crime, be careful she punches you and breaks your waist with one hit."
Wang Dali kept staring at the policewoman. I ignored him and looked for another angle to examine the corpse. I'm probably a bit twisted, because I'm more interested in corpses than beauties.
Finally I found a good angle and saw the victim's true face!
The deceased looked about twenty years old with ordinary features. He wore a hoodie. His eyes bulged out like goldfish eyes. There was a clear ligature mark on his neck. Above the mark, the skin was ghastly white, while below it was dark red. A red tongue protruded from his mouth and hung on his chin.
Hanged people don't necessarily stick out their tongues. The Collected Records of Washing Wrongful Convictions recorded that if the rope was above the adam's apple, the tongue wouldn't stick out. Only if it was below the adam's apple would the tongue stick out.
Because in the oral cavity, only a small part of the tongue is visible. A much longer part is hidden in the throat. Due to the tremendous gravitational force, the hyoid bone of a hanged person is crushed, so the entire tongue loses restraint and protrudes from the mouth. The hanged ghosts with long tongues in movies and TV shows are not entirely exaggerated.
One can imagine how hideous the corpse I saw looked, but I was not scared at all. Instead, I felt a tinge of excitement.
Also, judging from his lower body, he had clearly lost control of urine and feces before death. From these two points, death by hanging was undoubtedly the cause!
But somehow I felt something was off. As I looked, I couldn't help wanting to get closer and examine carefully. A policeman stopped me and shouted harshly, "Stay outside, don't come in!"
"What do you think, Dr. Qin? Suicide or murder?" Just then, the policewoman came over and asked.
The forensic doctor examining the corpse was an old man with graying temples, probably in his fifties or sixties, looking very experienced. He took off his rubber gloves and said, "Cause of death is suffocation by hanging. No signs of struggle or restraint were found on the deceased. I believe it was suicide."
The policewoman breathed a sigh of relief, "In that case, let's wrap it up and take the body back for autopsy."
"I don't think an autopsy is necessary. I've examined so many corpses, there's no mistake. Suicide is suicide." The doctor arrogantly said.
"Ah, I really want to know her name!" Just then, a lecherous voice suddenly drifted into my ears, giving me a fright. I was so absorbed in examining the corpse that I didn't notice Wang Dali had sidled up to me at some point, using a yearning gaze to ogle the policewoman.
"When did you get over here?" I complained.
Wang Dali leered, "You were so engrossed it was like you were drunk. You didn't even notice when I came over. Usually you look so proper, even blushing when female students give you love letters. Turns out you're secretly a wolf in sheep's clothing."
"I was looking at the corpse!" I explained.
"Nonsense, how can a hanged ghost be better looking than a policewoman... " As he spoke, Wang Dali started ogling again.
I felt half amused, half exasperated. Just then, several policemen came over to put the corpse in a body bag.
Originally I wasn't going to get involved, but I just couldn't stand the forensic doctor dismissing the case. Before I knew it, I had ducked under the police tape and strode right in!
Wang Dali was scared witless and shouted frantically from behind, "Yang Zi, are you crazy? I was just joking, you're really going over to hit on her!"
Seeing me trespass, the policemen immediately came over and shouted, "Student, crime scenes are off-limits!"
I didn't hear any of these sounds at all, and even everything around the corpse disappeared from my sight. I walked straight towards the policewoman and pointed at the forensic doctor, shouting, "He got it wrong, this person didn't commit suicide but was murdered!"
"What did you say?" The policewoman was stunned for a moment, and her gaze towards me revealed some surprise and puzzlement.