After retrieving the body, Zhou Hong didn't hesitate any longer. He immediately called the forensic doctor from the bureau to come over quickly, and then cut open the sack.
However, after the sack was cut open, the stench of decay was overwhelming. The body was not whole; it had been chopped into seven or eight pieces, and its shape was extremely gruesome. Most of the dozen or so police officers who arrived were criminal investigators who were used to seeing gruesome murder scenes, but this scene still shocked them. Two of them were novices and ran to the roadside to vomit.
There was also a stone weighing several tens of kilograms inside the sack, which was the murderer's way of preventing the sack from floating.
Zhou Hong cut off the gloves, turned the corpse over, and turned the head out. The corpse's head and face were so rotten that they were unrecognizable.
Besides large rocks and chopped-up corpses, there was nothing else in the sack, such as the murder weapon, because it had probably been in the water for more than ten days, and any fingerprints would have been washed away by the river.
Of all the people at the scene, only Fu Yuanshan knew that Zhou Xuan had found the location. The others were unaware of this secret. Even Zhou Hong was puzzled as to how their bureau chief knew the address where the body was hidden.
Two forensic doctors from the bureau arrived an hour later because they needed to conduct an on-site examination to see if they could find any more useful clues in the vicinity or at the scene.
After a preliminary forensic examination, one of them reported to Fu Yuanshan and Zhou Hong: "Director, team leader, the time of death of this body, that is, the time of the crime, is initially estimated to be twelve to fifteen days. The exact date will only be determined after we go back and conduct a technical examination. The true identity of the body needs to be tested for DNA. However, even if the DNA is found, in our country, verifying a person's identity through DNA testing is almost like finding a needle in a haystack. But we can use technical means to reconstruct the face of the deceased."
Fu Yuanshan frowned in thought, wondering if Zhou Xuan was involved in the case. If Zhou Xuan, who found the body, was excluded, then even if the body was found, it would only be another unsolved case.
At this moment, Zhou Shi was thinking to himself. He had seen the scene where the murderer had killed and disposed of the body. This was a new ability, but he was not familiar with it and did not know how to get more clues. He had sensed the scene when he touched the white jade tiger in Fu Yuanshan's office. Now he had found the body, but he had only found the body. He did not know who the murderer was, what the killer was, or where he was. What should he do next?
Zhou Xuan tested the white jade tiger several times, but the images he got were always the same: no detailed appearance of the murderer or the victim, only blurry faces. What could be the reason for this?
Zhou Xuan thought for a long time. The main problem was that this was the first time he had obtained this new ability, and he didn't know how to get a deeper level of it, nor did he understand how to get more images and clues, because this ability was not like other abilities that he had tested countless times!
Watching Zhou Hong and a group of police officers busy around the body, the forensic examination, and Fu Yuanshan's suspicions, Zhou Xuan hesitated for a moment, wondering whether he should go over and examine the body himself.
This new ability cannot be tested using ice energy from a distance. Zhou Xuan had just tried it; when the ice energy touched the corpse, he couldn't get any image in his mind. He guessed that he probably needed to hold the object in his hand to get that kind of reaction!
But Zhou Xuan was very reluctant to face the shattered and severely decomposed corpse directly. He had been afraid of blood and such things since he was a child. If he saw it, he probably wouldn't be able to eat for half a month!
But now the only possibility is that he can get information from this shredded corpse; otherwise, his achievement of finding the corpse with the help of ice energy will be wasted!
After thinking for a while, Zhou Xuan made his decision and walked to Fu Yuanshan's side, whispering, "Director Fu, there are no other clues. I think I'll try to see if I can get any information from the body, but I'm not sure if I can. I can only try!"
Fu Yuanshan was both surprised and suspicious of Zhou Xuan. He couldn't believe Zhou Xuan's incredible words. He had only accompanied Zhou Xuan because of Zhou Xuan's powerful background and connections, just to drive around. But Zhou Xuan's words had miraculously come true!
If Fu Yuanshan hadn't known Zhou Xuanhu's background, he would have almost ordered Zhou Hong and the others to arrest Zhou Xuanhu and investigate the matter thoroughly. But deep down, he thought that Zhou Xuanhu was definitely not the murderer. If he were the murderer, why would he have brought him here to find the body? "Alright, take a look!" Fu Yuanshan nodded and then instructed a policeman to give Zhou Xuanhu a pair of rubber gloves.
After putting on the rubber gloves, Zhou Xuan took a deep breath and held it. With the icy air around him, his ability to hold his breath was very strong. However, he had never tested how long he could hold his breath. But he had experience diving bare-handed for more than ten or twenty minutes in the ocean before. At that time, he did not feel that he had reached the point where he could not hold on. Now, stopping his breathing for a while was not a difficult thing.
When Zhou Xuan arrived at the corpse, he looked at the highly decomposed body. He already knew this when the ice energy detected it, but seeing it with his naked eyes now gave him a more realistic feeling!
Strangely, Zhou Xuan no longer felt faint at the sight of the horrific scene he used to have. Although he was extremely unwilling to see the current scene, he did not feel like he could hold back his emotions!
The forensic doctor examined the ripped sack, looking for any other clues, such as where the sack came from and the shape of the stone. In a big city, even finding an ordinary stone is not an easy task.
Zhou Xuan squatted down, stretched out his left hand and gently touched the corpse, then slowly channeled the icy energy out.
The police officers nearby didn't find it strange, because forensic examinations always involve examining the body. Zhou Xuan had always been with their chief, so this person must be someone with some connection to the chief, or perhaps an expert he had invited.
The moment Zhou Shibing touched the corpse, his mind went blank, as if struck by lightning. Images flashed through his mind like lightning: the killer's movements as he hacked at people, the wielding of the machete, the ferocious face, the victim's screams, the escape, being hacked to death, and then being chopped into countless pieces… “Mr. Zhou, Mr. Zhou, wake up! Mr. Zhou, wake up!” Zhou Xuan awoke from his daze and saw Fu Yuanshan shaking him by the shoulders, then handing him a tissue and saying, “Mr. Zhou, you have a nosebleed!” Zhou Xuan was startled, then took the tissue and wiped his nose. The tissue was stained crimson; it was indeed blood. (Old Luo created a voice chat channel! Book lovers who want to discuss novels with Old Luo are welcome to chat here, and there are also beautiful women—oh!)
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Volume 1, Chapter 258: The Words of the Dead
Zhou Xuan wiped the blood from his nose, then whispered to Bo Yuanshan: Director Bo, let's talk in the car!
Fu Yuanshan's expression when he first saw Zhou Xuan didn't seem fake. The moment he had his nosebleed, he seemed a little dizzy, as if he had exhausted all his energy!
Fu Yuanshan immediately helped Zhou Xuan into the car, closed the door, and sat down before saying, "Mr. Zhou, what do you want to say?"
Zhou glanced outside the car. The police officers were about seven or eight meters away, and their conversations couldn't be heard through the car windows. "Director Fu, I have images of the murderer and the victim, but I can only say that I can't draw them!"
Fu Yuanshan composed himself. Was Zhou Xuan just playing tricks again? He had thought Zhou Xuan was just fooling around before, but hadn't he actually pulled a corpse out of the river?
After a moment's hesitation, Fu Yuanshan said, "Alright, let's go back to the station first, and the technical department will create a portrait based on your description."
Fu Yuanshan then arranged for several police officers to accompany the forensic doctor to examine the scene to see if there was any other remaining evidence. The others returned to the station and said to Zhou Hong, "Zhou Hong, come back with me. Put aside the case we're working on for now and form a special task force for this case. This case is very serious, and we must do everything we can to solve it!" Zhou Hong's eyebrows furrowed into a deep frown.
The last family annihilation case is still unsolved, and now another dismemberment case has emerged. It looks like there are no clues at all. The body has been in the water for too long and is severely decomposed. We may not even be able to find out who the victim is, so how can we solve the case? But what can we do when Fu Yuanshan is the bureau chief and his superior?
On the way back, Zhou Xuan kept thinking about the question from earlier. When he first touched the white jade tiger at the station, the image in his mind was blurry; he couldn't make out the face clearly, like a damp videotape with a blurry picture. But the image he got from touching the corpse was much clearer.
Could this be due to direct contact with the people or objects at the time of the crime? The white jade tiger may have been handled by the murderer and then by other people, making the images of the murderer and the victim much blurry. It may also have faded further after being soaked in the river for so long!
Of course, these are all just guesses. Without actual testing, Zhou Xuan doesn't know the exact reason. Also, there's another point: apart from the scene of the murderer committing the crime, no other unrelated people appeared in his mind when he touched the white jade tiger and the corpse. Could it be that the ice only selects dangerous things? After returning to the branch office, Fu Yuanshan didn't arrange for Zhou Xuan to rest and took him directly to the Technical Information Processing Department.
Old Song was in charge of the forensic sketch. Actually, he wasn't old; he was only about thirty. Fu Yuanshan didn't introduce Zhou Xuan either, because Zhou Xuan had told him that he would handle all these matters and that Zhou Xuan wouldn't take the lead. Moreover, Fu Yuanshan still had doubts about Zhou Xuan's role in this dismemberment case.
Old Song sat down at the computer, pulled up the files in the image library, and said to Fu Yuanshan, "Director, we can begin now!"
Fu Yuanshan glanced at Zhou Xuan, who tried to recall the images that came to mind when he touched the corpse on the bridge, and then began to describe the murderer's portrait to Lao Song.
As Zhou Xuan recounted the story, Lao Song gradually perfected the portrait. Because the image in Zhou Xuan's mind was a clear and realistic portrait, the image synthesis was quick and accurate.
Then, after combining the victim's portrait, the two portraits were completed in less than twenty minutes.
Because the image library in the computer is huge, it can be retrieved and combined very quickly, unlike pure hand-drawing, which would take a lot of time.
After Zhou Xuan confirmed the portrait, Lao Song printed it out. Fu Yuanshan took the printed picture, looked at it, and hesitated about the authenticity of Zhou Xuan's images. In his mind, all of Zhou Xuan's little tricks from beginning to end seemed like nonsense. Even if he happened to find the corpse in the river, he still had a skeptical attitude towards Zhou Xuan.
Fu Yuanshan held the pictures and pondered for a while, then instructed Lao Song to print out dozens more copies. Afterward, he took the portraits back to his office on the sixteenth floor with Zhou Xuan.
Zhou Hong was waiting in his office when Fu Yuanshan handed him the portrait and instructed him, "Zhou Hong, investigate these two portraits and see if you can find Wei. Also, check the images in our public security database."
Zhou Hong felt strange. Although Director Fu had asked him to set up a dismemberment case team today, he didn't let him handle everything as usual. Instead, he only asked him to run errands. These things were not like what a team leader would do. Was it a waste of his talents?
As luck would have it, although Zhou Hong did these things in a strange way, when he took those pictures to his office and had his subordinates check them, they actually matched one person.