Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The cold, empty autopsy room remained silent for a full three seconds.

The first to speak was Fang Puxin, deputy captain of the Major Crime Unit. He looked at Xu Changying with a gentle expression. "Just now, Professor Xia Qing also mentioned the timeline issue, pointing out that it should be a two-stage crime involving two separate groups. His analysis aligns perfectly with yours, Officer Xu."

"Ha! What a coincidence!" Xu Changying suddenly burst into laughter. He walked around the surgical table and strode toward the alpha in the white coat, holding out his hand. "Hello, I’m Xu Changying from AGB."

The alpha was still wearing a mask, hiding his expression. He stared at Xu Changying’s face for a moment but, for some reason, did not extend his hand in return.

Just as the temperature in the autopsy room seemed about to drop below freezing, the alpha glanced down at Xu Changying’s gloved hand, then at his own similarly gloved hands, before looking back up at Xu Changying.

Xu Changying suddenly realized his mistake. "Oh right, I just touched the victims. My apologies—let me take these off."

Standing nearby, Qi Feng gave Zhao Yang a hard punch on the arm. Zhao Yang, gasped, "What the hell, Qi Feng? Why’d you hit me?"

Qi Feng replied coolly, "Just felt like it."

"No need," came a cold, clear voice. The alpha in the white coat pulled off his own rubber gloves and removed his mask, revealing a strikingly handsome but cold face. "My name is Xia Qing."

Xu Changying, however, did not hold out his hand again. Instead, he grinned and stared at Xia Qing’s face for a full three seconds before circling around to the other side of the third surgical table. There, he clasped Zhang Zhihua's elbows enthusiastically. "Hello, I’m Xu Changying. Pleased to meet you. What were the two of you examining just now? Mind if I take a look?"

Zhang Zhihua felt as though he’d been dazzled by one attractive face after another today, leaving him slightly dizzy despite his usual composure in the cold autopsy room. He nodded hastily. "Of course, Officer Xu. Professor Xia and I were examining the abdominal wounds on Victim 463."

"Great, thanks. Don’t mind me." Xu Changying chuckled and bent down to scrutinize the victim’s abdominal cavity.

The others gathered around the third table as well. Xia Qing did not put his mask back on but merely lowered his head slightly, his gaze unreadable—whether fixed on the corpse or the beta investigator’s hair was unclear.

"What instrument do you think caused this abdominal wound?" Xia Qing suddenly asked, his voice cool.

Zhang Zhihua took a second to realize the question was directed at him. Just as he hesitated to answer, another voice beat him to it. "A No. 0 or No. 24 surgical blade. The initial incision was made two fingers below the thoracic diaphragm—a classic entry point for liver or kidney surgery. But there are signs of later crudely widened marks."

Xiao Qin winced. "That was fast. I didn’t even notice."

"Wait," Fang Puxin looked up sharply at Xu Changying, who had just spoken. "What do you mean?"

Xu Changying pointed to the wound on the victim’s abdomen. "The key abdominal incisions on all three victims are identical. They were first opened with a scalpel before death, then expanded after death. Honestly, I didn’t catch it earlier either."

As he spoke, he felt a pair of eyes fixed on him. He looked up and met Xia Qing’s gaze. Under the harsh fluorescent lights, Xia Qing’s eyes were as clear as mirrors, sending a shiver down Xu Changying’s spine. But just as quickly, Xia Qing averted his gaze back to the corpse on the table.

Zhang Zhihua carefully ran his fingers over the wound before saying, his voice trembling slightly, "Yes... these are two separate incisions. The second one was so large it nearly obscured the first. It’s very hard to spot."

Tan Song, gripping his recorder, shuddered. "Could this be related to organ trafficking?"

The group immediately re-examined the three bodies and confirmed that the abdominal wounds followed the same pattern: a clean, vertical initial incision, later crudely extended, with equally rough suturing.

If the first group of criminals had professionally extracted organs from the victims before handing the recently deceased bodies over to the second group of "artists" to stage them as macabre displays, this would be a deeply disturbing and coordinated criminal enterprise.

Li Jiali, standing to the side, murmured, "Assembly-line crime."

Qi Feng shook his head. "No wonder there are two groups. Different roles, different skills."

Fang Puxin checked his watch. "Get Captain Yan on the line. We need an emergency meeting immediately."

*

Major Crimes Division office, Municipal Police Bureau. 3:00 PM.

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on a set of photos displayed on the whiteboard—close-ups of the three female victims’ abdomens. Pale skin split by gaping incisions revealed traces of desiccated fat and red vascular networks. Yan Jianbai, his expression grave, summarized the case’s major breakthrough to the tense room: "Based on Forensic Chief Zhang’s new report and Professor Xia’s analysis, we have sufficient reason to believe that Case 523 was carried out by two separate criminal teams in succession. The first team’s motive was organ extraction, and they were likely the direct perpetrators of the murders. The second team received the recently deceased bodies and subjected them to brutal processing, staging them as ‘art’ to satisfy some warped fixation."

Fang Puxin sat on the other side of the desk, flipping through the paper documents in his hand with a frown. "Half of the previously unclear criminal motive has been clarified. At the very least, we can confirm that the deaths of the three victims are directly connected to organ trafficking—Tan Song and Song Yuli, your next task is to search the national public security system for illegal organ trafficking case records from the past three years to find a breakthrough."

Tan Song and Song Yuli responded in unison, "Yes!"

Yan Jianbai tapped the file in his hand and scanned everyone at the desk. "Next, we need to solve the other half of the puzzle—what is the motive behind the cruel act of turning the victims into human statues? How did they come into contact with the first organ trafficking organization? Have there been similar cases before?"

The old cabinet air conditioner in the office hummed as it blew cold air like a fan. The harsh summer sunlight of the south streamed through the blinds onto the sheer white curtains. The originally spacious conference table, formed by pushing together several desks, had become crowded with the arrival of new personnel. Yan Jianbai and Fang Puxin sat at the front of the table closest to the whiteboard. To Yan Jianbai's right sat Xia Qing, Li Jiali, and Qi Feng in order, while to Fang Puxin's left sat the newly arrived Interpol officer Xu Zhangying, Zhao Yang, and Benjamin. The remaining members of the Major Crime Unit, such as Tan Song, scrambled for chairs to squeeze into the remaining spaces.

As no one spoke, the office suddenly fell silent, making the continuous scratching noise particularly noticeable. Song Yuli and others couldn't help but turn their heads toward the source—the new AGB beta officer was scribbling something on a piece of paper with a pen, seemingly oblivious to the meeting.

In fact, he had been doodling the entire time Yan Jianbai was speaking, like a student zoning out in class.

Seeing no one else volunteering to speak, Yan Jianbai cleared his throat and called on the young officer who was still scribbling away. "Officer Xu, do you have any thoughts?"

All eyes turned to the Interpol officer, but Xu Zhangying didn't even look up, continuing to write as he replied, "I'd like to hear Consultant Xia's thoughts first."

His behavior was blatantly disrespectful, instantly lowering the impression many Major Crime Unit members had of him. They couldn't help but glance at the reactions of his two alpha colleagues, only to find that the female alpha and the Caucasian alpha male seemed completely unperturbed by their leader's impropriety, leaning back naturally in their chairs as they waited for Xia Qing to speak.

Strangest of all, even Zhao Yang and Qi Feng—usually the most sarcastic and quick to call out pretentious behavior—showed no reaction. Zhao Yang even craned his neck to see what Xu Zhangying was drawing.

Song Yuli tilted his head toward Zhang Qi and whispered, "International types sure love putting on airs."

Yu Mei raised an eyebrow. "Even Xia Qing, a top-tier alpha, doesn't put on this much attitude."

Yan Jianbai didn't press Xu Zhangying further. Instead, he turned to Xia Qing and asked in a gentle tone, "Professor Xia, what are your thoughts? With so few clues at the moment, your insights on the perpetrator could help narrow our investigative scope."

Xia Qing seemed entirely unaware of the undercurrents at the table. His beautiful face remained expressionless as he spoke calmly, "Based on the timeline and case details, if the perpetrators needed to handle five victims within two months, the number of people involved should be between two and three—a conservative estimate, assuming clear division of labor. We can start by investigating freelance taxidermists or sculptors."

His words prompted thoughtful consideration from the group, and Fang Puxin nodded in agreement. "I believe Professor Xia's reasoning is sound. The perpetrator's entire criminal process was meticulously planned, ensuring foolproof preparations both before sending the exhibits and after retrieving them. If not for the accidental shattering of one exhibit by security, this heinous crime might never have come to light. Handling five victims in 50 to 60 days would indeed be rushed."

"Is that so? I believe the creator is just one person."

Fang Puxin paused abruptly, and all eyes turned once more to the beta at the end of the table.

Xu Zhangying had finally finished whatever he was drawing. He capped his pen and looked up to find everyone staring at him. Realizing this, he locked eyes with the young professor across the table and smiled brightly.

"Consultant Xia's deduction is flawless and entirely reasonable. However, the creator of the five victims isn't an organization—it's one person. And I believe everyone here has already met them."