Tiefe Illusion

Kapitel 29

Following Xiao Ren into the woods, the surroundings were eerily quiet, with shadowy figures seemingly moving about in every corner behind the trees. Looking up, I saw Chen Kai standing in front, smoking. My heart tightened. Chen Kai was someone who never smoked at crime scenes; he always maintained a composure that instilled fear in everyone, professionally and authoritarianly protecting his crime scene. And now, the only thing that could make him break his rule and smoke was the murder scene of his best friend's only adopted daughter. Sniffing, I knew Chen Kai was a good person, but the pressure from above was always immense; being the team leader was truly difficult for him.

"Lin Xiao," Chen Kai said with difficulty, extinguishing his cigarette butt. He stared into my eyes and said, "I will not let the murderer get away with this!"

"Me too!" I solemnly declared, glancing at Chen Kai before turning to Xiao Ren and gesturing for him to take me to see Cao Ying's body.

Closely following behind Xiao Ren, I walked towards a large tree by the lake, where several police officers were standing in twos and threes. To my surprise, Cao Ying was not hanging from the tree like the female victims in the previous Xinhu murder cases, as I had expected. Had she been lowered by the officers who arrived earlier? Suspicious, I quickened my pace.

Chapter Sixty-One: The Infant

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The closer I got to Cao Ying's body, the more my heart ached. Grief, anger, and fear poured over me like a torrential downpour. I clenched my fists, feeling my whole body tremble uncontrollably. Who could treat such a beautiful young woman like this? She had once been so vibrant. And now, her body lay at my feet, her lower body naked. What chilled me to the bone was the sight of her body being brutally ripped open from the abdomen, exposing her internal organs. Red blood painted grotesque patterns on her snow-white thighs. The muscle layers were turned outwards, and I could even see a layer of yellow fat underneath. Her intestines were exposed, and her excrement had spilled out. I glanced at the police officers beside me; their faces were grim. I knew they must be suppressing their urge to vomit.

I stood up, a feeling of extreme discomfort rising within me that made me almost gag. Taking a deep breath, I knew this wasn't the time to act out. I took the gloves Xiao Ren offered and awkwardly slipped them on. Turning to Xiao Ren, I said, "You take the picture."

Xiao Ren hesitated for a moment, then took the camera from someone else and started taking pictures. The flash made me dizzy, and the smell of blood in the air made me even more disoriented—a feeling I had never experienced before.

"Are you done taking the photos?" I asked.

"Yes," Xiao Ren replied.

I nodded and began the initial examination. The upper body was clothed, but the lower body was naked, having been cut open from the abdomen down, yet the upper body showed almost no wounds. Judging from the extent of the cuts, there must have been significant bleeding, but apart from blood clots on the thighs, there were no signs of blood splattering around the body. This indicated that this wasn't the primary crime scene; the body was likely dumped here. Looking around carefully, I felt something was very wrong. It was far too clean, far too tidy. Even if it was a secondary crime scene, this was far too suspicious. There were no footprints, no tire tracks left by a car used to dump the body. Did they walk to dump the body? That was highly improbable; no one would walk several kilometers on a highway to dump a body. Generally, when dumping a body, the perpetrator doesn't want others to know the true location of the crime; they usually use a car to transport the body as far as possible. Another thing that puzzled me was that since the perpetrator had already cut open the victim's abdomen, why didn't they dismember the body further? Wouldn't it be easier to dispose of the body if it were cut into pieces?

As Cao Ying's friend, I know that my current thinking is too rational, even a bit cruel. But as a forensic pathologist, I like to put myself in the killer's shoes and consider things from their perspective. I think, if I were the killer, how would I handle this troublesome body? It is precisely this shift in perspective that has allowed me to think of some issues that others wouldn't consider in my previous forensic examinations.

Looking at the body again, I noticed a third problem: there wasn't a single trace of evidence—not a hair, synthetic fiber, or skin fragment. It was cleaner than if it had been washed with water, yet the blood on the thigh was still clearly there. No murderer could have done it so cleanly and perfectly. Unless… I felt my heart pound, a chill ran through me from all directions, and I immediately shivered.

"Lin Xiao, are you alright?" Chen Kai walked over and stared intently at my face.

"Lin Xiao, what's wrong?" Xiao Ren rushed over and supported me as I swayed slightly, asking with concern. I felt a warm human presence emanating from Xiao Ren, and I grabbed his hand. Xiao Ren gave me a strange look; the coldness of my hand must have startled him.

"It's nothing!" I forced myself to stand still and shook my head, but my vision kept changing from black to white. The images of Xiao Ren and Chen Kai gradually blurred, and the figures began to overlap. They seemed to have become three people, or even more.

I shook my head desperately, trying to pull myself out of the illusion before me, but the images began to overlap again. How could this be? My body froze the moment I saw those faces that should have been familiar. Where was Xiao Ren's face? Where was Chen Kai's face? How did they all turn into that damned avatar? The expressions on the avatars were slowly changing, and I saw them all grinning at me with sinister smiles.

Where were the others? I quickly turned to look at the other officers, their heads, their heads, their heads! In an instant, everyone's heads transformed into that man's head sculpture. I felt a dizzying, overwhelming sensation!

Cao Ying! When I looked down at her again, Cao Ying, who had been dead, was lying there alive, looking at me with a mournful expression. Her dissected abdomen was now perfectly intact before my eyes, her legs spread wide, her private parts completely exposed. But at that moment, I felt no pleasure whatsoever; instead, my blood ran cold. I saw her flat abdomen gradually swell and then deflate, like someone blowing up a balloon and then letting it go. Then it rapidly expanded to its limit, and just when I thought it was about to explode, it flattened again. After several repetitions, a piercing scream suddenly rang in my ears from Cao Ying, a sound so sharp it seemed otherworldly, more like it came from hell.

With a loud "splat!", a gush of blood erupted, splattering onto my face. I could still feel the warmth of the blood on my cheek, slippery as it flowed down my face and neck. Looking at Cao Ying's lower abdomen, a tiny, infantile hand was emerging from the tear, still moving.

I wanted to run away, but my body was frozen in place. I watched helplessly as that little hand viciously tore open Cao Ying's abdomen, and then another little hand followed. Two blood-red, blood-stained little hands ripped open Cao Ying's abdomen, and I could hear the sound of skin being torn apart. Then a small head began to emerge from Cao Ying's lower body; I couldn't make out its face yet.

The head turned slightly towards me—it was a portrait, a shrunken portrait! I could no longer support myself and collapsed onto the grass. The infant with the same face as the portrait was crawling towards me from Cao Ying's tattered lower body. The infant was smiling, but I couldn't sense any innocence in it. Its eyes held only ferocity and smugness.

"No!" I roared, the baby's hand already reaching for me. For the first time in my life, I felt fear towards a tiny infant. Suddenly, the ring on my finger tightened, and pain shot through my fingers, tightening more and more, the sensation of my finger bones being constricted.

A burst of red light shot from the baby's eyes, and I instinctively raised my hand to shield them. Then, the jade pendant on my chest suddenly became scalding hot, and a white light shone from my chest onto the baby. Then everything went black, and I lost consciousness.

※ ※ ※

When he opened his eyes again, he was already lying in the car, with Xiao Ren's concerned gaze beside him and Chen Kai's incredulous look. He couldn't understand how the usually calm Chen Kai could have such a lapse in judgment, and act so strangely, like…like he was suddenly possessed! Thinking this, Chen Kai quickly straightened up, trying to banish the thought from his mind! But his subordinate was really acting very strangely; suddenly his eyes went blank, he kept shouting "No, no!", and finally, a white light appeared. What on earth was going on?

"What happened to you just now? Are you sick?" Chen Kai asked.

"Yeah, yeah! Do you know how scary you looked just now?" Xiao Ren chimed in from the side.

I didn't speak, just stared blankly at them, still reeling from what had just happened. Everything was so sudden, so terrifying. The image was so vivid in my mind; my brain told me it was just a hallucination, but all my other senses told me it was real. Reality and illusion—for the first time, I couldn't tell the difference.

"Hey, say something!" Xiao Ren nudged me. I knew he was worried about me, but I just couldn't bring myself to speak. How could I explain? Should I really tell them everything I saw?

"Xiao Ren!" Chen Kai pulled Xiao Ren, who was still pushing me away, and shook his head at him, saying, "Lin Xiao doesn't seem to be feeling well. Let's call Fang Lei to do an autopsy."

Fang Lei? I reacted immediately upon hearing that name and quickly stopped Xiao Ren, who was about to make a call, saying, "Don't call her, I'll handle it."

"You? Are you alright?" Chen Kai looked at me suspiciously.

"Sure!" I quickly replied. No matter what, Fang Lei couldn't do this job. She liked Cao Ying so much and considered her her best friend. How could she bear this blow? Besides, Cao Ying's current state was too unbearable to look at. Naturally, I should be the one to start it and bear the consequences.

"Alright!" Chen Kai readily agreed to my request.

"Then, could we not tell Fang Lei about Cao Ying's death yet?" I asked Chen Kai.

"But she'll find out sooner or later. She'll be coming to work tomorrow!" Xiao Ren reminded me from the side.

“I know it was bound to happen sooner or later, but that will have to wait until I’ve finished examining Cao Ying’s body!” I replied firmly. “Fang Lei considered Cao Ying a good friend, and given her attitude towards her work, she would never give up on examining Cao Ying’s body. But… but I don’t want her to do the autopsy; it would be too cruel for her!”

Chen Kai and Xiao Ren exchanged a glance. Finally, Chen Kai sighed and said helplessly, "We've agreed not to talk about it, but that doesn't mean Fang Lei won't know. She's starting work tomorrow. Do you think the entire police station is completely unaware? Cao Ying's death has already shaken the entire station!"

"Don't worry, I have a plan," I said hesitantly. It seemed I had no choice but to ask Abao for help, hoping she could stall Fang Lei for a while. But the thought of this beautiful girl's strange request gave me a headache again. It's true what they say, the more murky the water, the more people want to stir it up.

Chapter Sixty-Two July 7th

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I glanced back at Xiao Ren, whose expression was strange, then at Cao Ying's corpse on the autopsy table, sighed, and took a white cloth to cover her face. Perhaps, not seeing her face would make me less hesitant to make the incision!

"If it doesn't work, then don't watch it," I told Xiao Ren.

"No way!" Xiao Ren immediately rejected my suggestion, saying, "The captain told me to keep a close eye on you!"

"Keep an eye on me?" I really don't know when I became an endangered animal that needs someone to watch over me?

"Who knows when you'll faint again!" Xiao Ren glanced at me and answered confidently.

I gave a wry smile and shook my head helplessly. The terrifying scene at the lake flashed before my eyes again, sending a chill down my spine. I glanced at my watch; I knew Abao couldn't hold Fang Lei and the others off for long. I needed to finish the work quickly. I put on gloves and began the inspection.

As the scalpel sliced across Cao Ying's once tender skin, I couldn't help but wonder, what in this world is truly eternal? This human body is truly fascinating; no one can truly understand it while alive, yet it can be manipulated so easily after death.

The upper half of the corpse's internal organs were remarkably well-preserved, without any signs of injury, and its bright red color was dazzling. The lower half, however, looked as if it had been ripped open by a giant beast, torn from the inside out! Could the hallucination of the baby be real? A chill ran down my spine. The lacerations were clearly from the inside out, and there were scratch marks on the internal organs as well. If it were a tear from the outside in, the scratches on the skin should be more obvious than those on the internal organs, but the opposite was true. Looking closer, the scratches were from bottom to top, which was the opposite of the usual pattern. Normally, when you scratch someone, it's easier to scratch from top to bottom. Scratching from bottom to top is very inconvenient, like being upside down. But if it was a baby in the womb, head down would explain it; shouldn't babies usually be born head-first?

I frowned, unsure if my assumption was correct or not. It was simply too absurd. Would Chen Kai and the others believe it? They might think I'd been traumatized at Xinhu Lake, leading to such an absurd autopsy report, yet this was also the most plausible explanation. What to do? Tell the truth or lie? If I had to lie, how? A little impatiently, I put down the scalpel, feeling somewhat lost.

"What's wrong? Is it done? Is there a result?" Xiao Ren asked quickly as he stepped forward.

"Oh, it's not done yet," I hurriedly replied, then picked up Cao Ying's stiff hand and examined it. Her fingernails were very clean, with no clues to be found. Disappointed, I put her hand down and turned to Xiao Ren, saying, "The preliminary examination is over. The body died from massive bleeding and severe damage to internal organs after being cut open in the abdomen. There were no other injuries on the body, not even a trace of struggle. It's possible that it was committed by someone known to the victim, or that she was knocked unconscious before being attacked. However, the latter is very unlikely."

"Oh, why?" Xiao Ren asked, puzzled.

I walked to the head of the corpse, examined it closely, and touched it a few times. There were no marks or dents from being hit on the head. I explained, "Because there are no signs of being hit on the head."

"Then..." Xiao Ren thought seriously for a while and said, "Is it possible that someone drugged or knocked her unconscious?"

I glanced at Xiao Ren and said, "We can't rule out that possibility, but we need to wait for the final blood test report and gastric fluid tissue test report before we can draw a conclusion."

"Oh!" Xiao Ren nodded knowingly, then asked, "And the time of death?"

"Judging from the degree of rigor mortis and the body temperature measured at the scene, it shouldn't have been more than 24 hours old," I replied.

"So it's very likely that they died last night?" Xiao Ren asked.

"Maybe!" I replied listlessly, feeling utterly exhausted by all the things that had happened.

Xiao Ren looked at me and said with concern, "You should rest for a while; you look terrible!"

"I don't need your concern. You should be more concerned about finding the murderer!" I said, pushing Xiao Ren towards the door. "I need to be alone. Don't bother me."

"But...but...the captain told me..."

"Oh dear, I'm not a three-year-old!" I interrupted Xiao Ren's hesitation, pushed him out, and said, "I'm fine!" Before Xiao Ren could react, I quickly closed the laboratory door.

The moment the door closed, a profound silence descended. Staring weakly at the cold corpse on the autopsy table, I walked over. My body felt utterly exhausted; my eyelids were heavy, and I longed for a good night's sleep. But the moment I closed my eyes, Cao Ying's dismembered lower body and the bizarre infant immediately flashed before me. Forcing myself to stay awake, I extracted some tissue from her stomach for testing.

Carefully setting the extract aside, I removed the white cloth covering Cao Ying's face, and a blinding flash of white light appeared before my eyes, as if a lightning bolt had struck the laboratory.

Cao Ying suddenly opened her eyes.

My mind went blank instantly, and I felt a chill run down my spine, my skin breaking out in goosebumps.

Fear strikes, and there's no way to stop it.

I can't breathe.

I stared intently at Cao Ying, motionless, and instinctively rubbed my eyes, thinking I was seeing things. But upon closer inspection, it was true! Cao Ying's eyes were open, even though they had been closed just moments before! Her eyes bulged, staring straight at me. Her gaze made my heart pound wildly, and my scalp tingled.

His face was pale and bluish, his lips were dark blue, and his eyes were yellowish.

In a daze, Cao Ying seemed to turn her head slightly in my direction, then gave me a look of utter misery. This feeling vanished as quickly as it appeared, like a ghost.

I cried out, but it turned into a groan. My legs gave way, and I collapsed onto a shelf behind me! The sorrow, resentment, misery, and heart-wrenching pain conveyed by Cao Ying's gaze seemed to be added to my body, so intimate and visceral. The pain rising from the depths of my heart almost made me faint.

I took a deep breath, feeling my whole body trembling uncontrollably. Even the shelf behind me creaked and groaned, like the wailing of a vengeful ghost from hell...

※ ※ ※

"Lin Xiao, what's wrong with you?" Fang Lei jumped up from beside A Bao and rushed towards me, tightly grabbing my hand, which was unusually cold from fear.

My mind was a complete mess. I couldn't remember how I got out of the lab, or how I drove to Abao's place where I had arranged to meet Fang Lei and the others. All I knew was that Cao Ying's gaze kept flashing before my eyes, I was constantly surrounded by that gaze. My body was still trembling uncontrollably, I felt so cold, my bones ached from the cold.

"Lin Xiao, what happened?" Li Yang grabbed my shoulders anxiously and shook me hard. He had never seen me so out of control.

"Don't shake him!" Li Hai pulled me away from Li Yang's hand, pressed me into a chair, and then said to A Bao, "A Bao, do you have any hot water? Would you like to give him a cup?"

"Don't call me 'Miss,' okay? Just call me Abao!" Abao complained.

"What time is it and you're still bothered? Quickly pour me a glass of water!" Li Yang yelled at A Bao.

"What are you yelling about?" Abao shoved Li Yang without backing down and said, "This is my house, what are you acting so high and mighty for?"

"Ha! What's wrong with your house? I'm going to yell at you, so what?" Li Yang retorted defiantly.

"Oh my! Which dog is barking?" Abao glanced at Li Yang and asked.

"you……"

"Shut up, both of you!" I stood up abruptly and yelled at the two people barking at each other. Li Yang and A Bao were startled and shrank back, remaining silent.

"Cao Ying... Cao Ying..." My voice weakened again, as if my shout had exhausted all my energy. My body swayed, like a blade of grass in the wind.

"Cao Ying? What happened to her?" Fang Lei rushed over anxiously and asked.

"Dead...dead!" After saying that, I immediately slumped into the chair, while Fang Lei's face turned ashen, and she slumped weakly to one side.

"What? What did you say?" Li Yang was also startled by my words and asked dumbly.

“I said,” I swallowed hard and continued with difficulty, “Cao Ying is dead!”

"No!!!" Fang Lei immediately covered her face and cried. I struggled weakly for a moment and pulled her into my arms, but Cao Ying's mournful eyes appeared before my eyes again.

"How could that be? You're lying!" Li Yang still didn't believe me, looking suspicious. He was about to come over and question me again when Li Hai grabbed him.

Li Hai gave me a serious look and asked, "A Bao said you were acting strangely after you received a phone call. Was that a call from your station asking you to go and perform an autopsy?"

I nodded, too exhausted to say anything more.

"An autopsy?" Fang Lei raised her tear-streaked, pretty face and asked me, "Why didn't Xiao Ren call me?"

"I told Xiao Ren not to notify you!" I replied helplessly.