Chapter 179 - 179 171 Carbonization

Words : 1733 Updated : Sep 21st, 2025

179: Chapter 171 Carbonization 179: Chapter 171 Carbonization Cao Keyang communicated with Medical Examiner Wang Lan and the local criminal police captain during which Jiang Yuan also sent a message to Captain Huang Qiangmin, expressing his desire to stay in Qinghe City for a few days of training. Since it was already evening and it wasn’t his own case, Jiang Yuan felt it wasn’t appropriate to make a phone call. As a result, just a few minutes after his text message was sent, a call from Huang Qiangmin buzzed in. “Who’s been filling your head with nonsense?” Huang Qiangmin’s voice was precise yet energetic, reminiscent of the beginning stages of interrogating a criminal, ready to switch to offense or defense at any moment. Jiang Yuan wasn’t exactly... intimidated by him, he chuckled first, then said, “I’ve never dealt with a body burned after a murder; I want to go see for myself.” To hear such a response, Huang Qiangmin was slightly frustrated, feeling like his naive boy had not been lured away by someone else, he advised earnestly, “They’re calling you over to do unpaid work. There are so many types of bodies, do you need to see them all?” “Isn’t that what a forensic doctor does?” Jiang Yuan muttered quietly. “You don’t need to do a forensic doctor’s work to do well; you shouldn’t deliberately pursue this,” Huang Qiangmin said insincerely. Normally, he always demanded perfection from his subordinates. However, words like these were like a night pot, only taken out for use when needed. Everyone’s working hard, and Huang Qiangmin himself had work to do. He was essentially a commanding detective with a broad reach, seeming not to do much but ultimately playing the most critical role—just like a pig. As for Jiang Yuan, he was like a versatile horse, slightly out of his league in the rural county environment. Therefore, Huang Qiangmin emphasized, “Don’t let others take advantage of you; working for free is a loss.” Jiang Yuan chuckled and glanced at Cao Keyang, who was making a call beside him. He slightly leaned away and whispered, “I’m just broadening my experience; working is just that, nothing more.” “What experience to broaden? Haven’t you seen enough bodies that were burned after being killed?” Huang Qiangmin said irritably, “Come back, and I’ll get you a whole roasted lamb.” Jiang Yuan gave a sheepish laugh and tried to reassure Captain Huang before hanging up the phone, adding, “The condition of internal organs in burned bodies is also quite important. I’m hanging up now.” A hundred kilometers away, Huang Qiangmin clutched his phone, his face filled with gloom. The big bluffers of Qinghe City! ... The autopsy in Qinghe City was also conducted at the funeral home. The rules were set by the municipal bureau, with nothing particularly novel—of course, the quality of the morgue refrigerators was still a requirement. The most commendable aspect of the funeral home was its environment. The floors were usually clean and well-maintained. Places frequently traversed by humans were often carefully and meticulously cleaned. Not only did the funeral home staff perform detailed work, but the visitors’ quality was also very high; littering was rare, and many who came to pay their respects would diligently clean their family’s plot and even the public areas afterward. Dense groves of ancient trees were a common feature in the funeral home and were usually tall and robust, shading the large open spaces below, ensuring that even at noon, visitors could enjoy a cool respite. As evening approached and the visitors had left, even the canteen and snack stand workers had finished their shifts. Cao Keyang, taking Jiang Yuan alongside him, headed for the parking lot and then walked to the autopsy room. It was still the same chilly underground room with the highest level of coolness. There were even howling winds in the corridor. “Here we are.” Wang Lan greeted them at the door as soon as she heard noises. She was thin and gaunt, resembling a starving villager. If not for her bright eyes, in a place like a funeral home, she could easily be mistaken for someone else. “Doctor Wang, thank you for your trouble,” said Jiang Yuan as he approached. Wang Lan replied with a smile, “There’s no trouble at all; I’m happier to have someone willing to help. Oh, this is Niu Tong Niu, the Forensic Doctor from our district bureau.” Jiang Yuan noticed a short and stout man standing on a stool next to the dissection table, beside the lean Medical Examiner Wang. After seeing so many forensic doctors, he oddly missed his master, Wu Jun. At least his master was somewhat normal. Niu Tang looked up at Jiang Yuan; he had heard about the young medical examiner with frequent accolades before his arrival. Without much expectation, he just made small talk, “I’ve met Wu Jun a few times; Old Wu is about to retire, isn’t he?” “Master will retire in another two years,” Jiang Yuan replied. Having an extra hand was certainly good. The district bureau in Qinghe also had positions for forensic assistants, which essentially meant unlicensed basic labor. Niu Tang, Wang Lan, and a forensic assistant performing an autopsy on a body together was relatively leisurely. But who could resist the help of another forensic doctor? After exchanging pleasantries, the group swiftly entered the autopsy room. Jiang Yuan was fully geared up as well, having brought some of his own equipment along. Cao Keyang felt a bit embarrassed to leave, mainly because he didn’t want to part from Jiang Yuan. Considering the lateness of the hour and the idea of crossing the eerie pathway lined with ancient trees back to the parking lot alone, he preferred to stay and face a charred corpse and several uniquely garbed living forensic doctors. The body was indeed somewhat charred. Described more professionally, it displayed extensive full-body carbonization. In layman’s terms, a black, brittle crust had formed on the exterior. It was quite terrifying, something the average person couldn’t handle. Looking at charred, fragrant roast meat is one thing, but a roasted human is another... “The limbs all show some degree of carbonization and loss, including the upper arm above the midsection of the left upper limb, the forearm of the right upper limb. Both lower limbs from mid-thigh down...” Medical Examiner Wang Lan stood on one side of the autopsy table and briefed Jiang Yuan on the situation. The body was so burned it was contorted. In other words, it was curled up like a shrimp. And so-called carbonization loss meant it was burned away. Putting it briefly, save for half of the left forearm, the remaining forearm and two legs were burned away; needless to say, there was no sign of the hands and feet. Such a body posed more difficulties in processing than a regular, intact corpse. However, once completely processed and the necessary information obtained, it meant that the killer had left behind another piece of information for the criminal investigators. Jiang Yuan observed that they had just straightened the body as around it lay many black carbon chunks, some still attached to bits of human tissue. Some parts were so brittle that they would crumble upon touch. Wang Lan maintained a calmer demeanor than both Jiang Yuan and Niu Tang Niu, displaying the stoic calm of someone accustomed to handling mummies, and continued to inform Jiang Yuan: “The body was found without any clothes, with the skin on the back relatively intact, devoid of any self-defensive postures...” “There are wounds on the waist and abdomen, with characteristics of stab wounds from a sharp object.” “The perineum is also carbonized. It’s no longer possible to take a vaginal swab.” Listening to Medical Examiner Wang Lan’s description, Jiang Yuan’s mind gradually began to put together several questions and images. Now, with his mastery of Forensic Pathology LV4, Jiang Yuan faced a corpse but the information and deductions he could make were vastly different. But he wasn’t the focus of the day nor in a hurry to conduct an autopsy himself. He followed the progress of Niu Tang Niu and Wang Lan, starting with an external examination of the body. The first step was to collect the larger chunks of carbon that had fallen off into a basin. The second step, record the condition of the body from top to bottom: “Forehead and facial area carbonized.” “Facial carbonization with loss of material.” “Skull carbonized.” What surprised Jiang Yuan the most was that the brain tissue of the corpse was exposed and appeared coagulated. From this detail, one could actually discern the degree of charring. The temperature inside must have been just enough to burst the skull open, or perhaps another object, such as fragments from an explosion or similar, shattered the carbonized skull, and residual heat caused the leaking brain tissue to coagulate. Jiang Yuan casually jotted down a few times in his notebook, still silent. The information he just deduced needed both confirmation and testing on the one hand, and on the other, it was most likely of no use. During an autopsy, a great deal of information can be gathered, but that doesn’t mean all of it has to be shared. For instance, it’s easy to determine during an autopsy if the body has gallstones, but unless it’s a medical malpractice-related autopsy, revealing this information may not be meaningful. Of course, if the deceased did in fact have serious gallstones, and someone claimed to have shared a dinner with the deceased, indulging in a large bowl of twice-cooked pork, then it would be meaningful... Lacking experience, Jiang Yuan just jotted down whatever came to mind. It wasn’t until they reached the thoracic cavity during the autopsy that Jiang Yuan took special notice and stepped forward, pinching the lungs, “It feels like holding snow.” Chief Medical Examiner Niu, who was methodically conducting the autopsy, paused as well, pinching the lung and nodding, “Indeed, there’s a sensation akin to pinching wool.” The feeling of pinching wool and holding snow both were evidence of extra air present, meaning something similar. But in terms of the autopsy, it indicated one thing: the deceased likely didn’t die from burning or from stab wounds!

Chapter 179 - 179 171 Carbonization

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