Chapter 107 - 107 105 Human Bone Puzzle

Words : 1732 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

107: Chapter 105: Human Bone Puzzle 107: Chapter 105: Human Bone Puzzle Disposable coveralls, 3M masks, double-layered rubber gloves... Jiang Yuan dressed neatly and arrived at the autopsy room just as Li Zhen was astounded. It was like seeing a well-wrapped, walking corpse. “I only wear a disposable protective suit when I work on highly decomposed bodies,” said Li Zhen, “You guys in Ningtai County must be really wealthy.” Disposable coveralls are what the medical staff wore during the mask period, with a purchase cost of over a hundred per set, comfortable to wear and offering very strong protection. Compared to disposable protective suits, wearing disposable coveralls is like being protected by 105 strong men, completely surrounded by muscle and an overwhelming sense of safety. On the other hand, a disposable protective suit is akin to being personally protected by Sun Er Niang... As leaders rarely participate in autopsies, the majority of purchases are usually for disposable protective suits. Only when leaders are willing to go to the front lines do some units purchase disposable coveralls in small quantities for their use. Wearing a filtering mask, Jiang Yuan spoke in a muffled tone, “I bought this myself, from online shopping a couple of days ago.” “You bought it with your own money?” “Yes.” “Why?” Li Zhen was puzzled. Jiang Yuan glanced at him disdainfully, “I don’t want corpse fluids to get on me.” “What’s the big deal if you get some on you?” Li Zhen started to ask cautiously, “Are you in a relationship?” Jiang Yuan was also taken aback by the question. Li Zhen hurriedly said, “If you are in a relationship, you should’ve said so earlier!” He tried to push Jiang Yuan aside, but Jiang Yuan, being a robust young man, was much stronger than him, a somber and aging forensic doctor, and couldn’t be moved. “I’ll handle the body then. Hey, it’s not easy for us forensic doctors to date. Back when I was dating, I bathed all the time, fearing my date might smell something on me and feel uncomfortable. Because of our profession, several girls introduced by relatives broke it off, unable to accept it,” he reminisced. “While matchmaking, I once met a very beautiful girl. Just then, I encountered a green corpse and my master took the lead, trying not to let me assist... It still fell through in the end.” “I’m all dressed up, it’s fine,” Jiang Yuan flashed his gloves, not explaining that he was single, quickly moving on. Li Zhen noticed, “Double rubber layers? That’s really luxurious...” He himself wore plastic gloves on the inside, like the ones used for eating crawfish, cheap and somewhat practical but uncomfortable. “I’ve also taken a couple of boxes extra to store in the cabinet. If you want to use them, just take them,” Jiang Yuan offered. “There’s no need. I can’t bring myself to use such expensive disposables. Even the wealthy wouldn’t spend like that,” Li Zhen shook his head. Jiang Yuan couldn’t help but laugh, “Some luxury clothes are one-use only. Clothes and pants that can’t be washed, worn once and then tossed. Like Gucci’s swimsuits and umbrellas that can’t touch water.” Li Zhen scoffed, “They should be the ones making protective suits then.” Jiang Yuan nodded, “They are doing it. PRADA, Gucci, they both make protective suits and masks.” “At luxury prices?” “Of course, a mask can sell for over a thousand.” “Sometimes, I really want to crack open the heads of some luxury brand moguls to see what’s inside, to study what they’re thinking,” Li Zhen put on his gloves, rubbing his hands together, “We’re just too remote here, not a tourist spot, unable to attract those designers. Otherwise...” Jiang Yuan, while he spoke, had already started arranging the bones in order. Boneset decomposition requires documentation during collection and even more so in sequenced placement. Especially with “grave” burials like this where bones were naturally aligned at death, picking them up in order from top to bottom already eased most of the setup effort. The focus should be on the position of small bones. The hyoid, carpal bones, for instance, are both small yet significant. A broken hyoid, for example, would be a great find, suggesting the likely cause of death was strangulation, or “mechanical asphyxia” in official terms. Once the connective tissues were gone, hand bones would disintegrate into 27 pieces, 54 for both hands. With muscles and soft tissues gone, defensive wounds could only be inferred from the bone condition. Arranging the bones was like solving a puzzle. Those with obsessive-compulsive disorder might find it very satisfying. Jiang Yuan was arranging the bones and in passing, inspected them as well. Next to him, forensic doctor Li Zhen was lending a hand, occasionally making small talk with Jiang Yuan. His demeanor was very calm; a forensic doctor who has seen too many bodies is like a teacher who has seen too many students, composed. If it had been a fresh body, he would undoubtedly have had to help flip it over again and again. This flipping wasn’t just a figure of speech, but an actual part of the job. Moreover, it was a very demanding task. Facing a body, a forensic doctor inevitably has to turn it over several times. That means literally turning the body over and over, like flipping an egg. But bodies are heavy, almost like flipping an ostrich egg. This is an exhausting job. Bodies become heavy after death, but to examine the back, to look for rigor mortis, to observe blood flow and other aspects, one must flip the body multiple times. From this standpoint, female forensic doctors or older forensic doctors really struggle with this exhausting work. Just the task of flipping a body alone is quite challenging. Now, dealing with only the bones was simpler, and since they were all labelled, Li Zhen assisted by handing them over and arranging them, quickly putting everything in place. Once the body was arranged, there was an odd sense of familiarity; Jiang Yuan was not afraid. “Sun Jingyi is all set up, is it her?” Li Zhen couldn’t even be bothered to check for himself. He had already witnessed Jiang Yuan’s “expertise” in forensic anthropology and didn’t want to embarrass himself, let alone waste mental effort. Jiang Yuan didn’t need to expend much mental energy on this body either. He had already reviewed the relevant information before he arrived, made comparisons while collecting the bones, and now focusing on verifying, said, “It can essentially be confirmed as Sun Jingyi. Sun Jingyi once fractured her lower leg, it happened when she fell off a horse while traveling. Look at the left anterior tibia of the body, this scar is from the break.” After checking, Li Zhen nodded, saying, “If it’s not a coincidence, then it can be confirmed.” “I asked the family to take pictures of the X-rays and send them to me. Let me find my phone.” Jiang Yuan said, about to remove his gloves. “Wait!” Li Zhen shouted suddenly, pulling open the door and calling, “Xiao Wang, Xiao Wang, come help press the phone.” Turning back to Jiang Yuan, Li Zhen spoke earnestly, “You use 3M rubber gloves, right? Are you really willing to take those off just to check your phone? If I had gloves this good, I’d wash them and go home to sleep with my arms around my wife!” Jiang Yuan raised an eyebrow, having thought that Doctor Li didn’t have a wife, so he found one after all. He said helplessly, “It’s not like that...” “It is like that, how is it not? Back in the day, we even reused washed rubber condoms; do you know those were thicker than your gloves? If you weren’t firm enough, it could literally push you back.” Li Zhen was panting, “Now that we’ve got better conditions, we still shouldn’t waste like this; those gloves use up so much rubber.” “I’m doing the inspection one more time.” Jiang Yuan went back to the autopsy table with great respect, picking up the bones, inspecting them one by one to make full use of the pairs of rubber gloves. However, apart from the tibia, no new findings were made. Skeletonized remains are quite different from fresh bodies. A normal forensic doctor examines a fresh body for pathological reasons, rarely concluding with negative results, meaning that a cause of death is usually found. But with skeletonized remains, it’s normal not to find a cause of death. Including the remains of Sun Jingyi in front of them, there were no bones that could provide evidence to clarify the cause of death. “Let’s leave the body here for now, shall we take a look at the personal belongings?” Jiang Yuan once again sought Li Zhen’s opinion. “Whatever you want.” After Li Zhen agreed, he added, “Do you want to take a break? You’ve been running around all day.” “Let’s review everything first, then decide whether to rest or not,” said Jiang Yuan, who was also feeling a bit tired. Having traveled such a distance to Langgu County and endured much hardship on the old hunting paths, he was here for the case and felt resting now would not be worthwhile. Li Zhen then helped him put the bones back into the box. Jiang Yuan continued to collect the bones in order, and when he picked up the skull, a shiny ball rolled into his hand. Sun Jingyi’s legacy: Sketching (LV2) — Sketching was the skill Sun Jingyi practiced the longest. She once wanted to use it to enter The Great Learning but realized the examination for art students was equally stringent and failed to gain admission. However, she still enjoyed drawing in her daily life. She liked to go to the mountains with her friends for plein air painting; she loved life. Although her sketching wasn’t of a high standard, her works felt warm and comforting. Jiang Yuan paused for a moment, especially when he heard the words warm and comforting, feeling inexplicably distressed. He silently thanked Sun Jingyi in his heart, raised his hand, and gently closed the bone box’s lid.

Chapter 107 - 107 105 Human Bone Puzzle

Comments (0)