I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 210: Chapter 208: One Corpse, Two Lives

「Changyue Garden.」

The residential complex had been built just a few years ago. In the middle of it was a small grove of trees, bordered by an artificial lake.

When Zhuang Yanzheng and his team arrived, the local police station had already cordoned off the grove. A number of residents were gathered around the perimeter.

Su Miaoyi got out of the car and saw an excavator parked at the edge of the grove.

Zhuang Yanzheng showed his badge and asked, ”What’s going on?”

”A few trees in this grove died, so property management had someone come over to cut them down. They dug up human bones while excavating the roots,” a local police officer said. ”We just took a look. It looks like a tibia. Our station doesn’t have a medical examiner, so we contacted our superiors.”

Zhuang Yanzheng nodded, then gestured with his head toward Yan Cheng, Su Miaoyi, and the others.

The group entered the grove and first surveyed the area.

Several tree roots had already been dug up. Three others were untouched, and one was half-excavated.

Half of a root lay on the ground. A partial tibia was tangled in its smaller rootlets, and on some of the roots, there was something that looked like sponge.

Yan Cheng picked it up for a look. The bone was likely snapped when the excavator pulled the root out.

Lu Zhishen touched the bits of sponge on the root system.

”The body should be about here,” Su Miaoyi said, pointing to the spot where she was crouching.

The excavated root had a very long root system.

The body’s position was some distance from the tree root itself.

The tree’s roots had grown over time and entangled the bones.

”Let’s dig,” Yan Cheng said.

They had to dig quite deep before something was exposed.

They dug a little more, carefully. Once the object below was almost completely uncovered, Yan Cheng and the others used their hands to brush away the remaining soil.

It was a rolled-up sponge mattress.

The mattress was quite thick. The side closer to the tree root had been pierced by roots. Since the root had been pulled out, the mattress was somewhat damaged.

”Which end is the head?” Chu Xingrou asked after brushing off all the soil. She tugged on both ends of the mattress, but it wouldn’t unroll.

Su Miaoyi and the others used shovels to dig a bit more around the edges.

Then, they lifted the entire rolled-up mattress out of the ground.

”Put it down carefully. Gently, be careful it doesn’t spring open,” Yan Cheng said repeatedly.

They carefully placed it on the ground. Then, observing the contents inside, they held down the bottom of the roll and slowly opened the mattress.

Because it had been rolled in the sponge, the skeletonized body had little soil on it and was relatively intact.

The skeleton was dressed in what looked like a nightgown. Due to decomposition and other factors, the nightgown appeared very dirty.

Judging from the nightgown, the victim was likely female.

Furthermore, the nightgown had many cuts in it, and the edges of those cuts were somewhat blackened.

”It’s blood,” Su Miaoyi said, looking at Yan Cheng.

Yan Cheng nodded. ”The cuts on the clothing look like they were made by a knife, either from chopping or slicing.”

The body was lying supine. Su Miaoyi counted the cuts on the front of the nightgown—there were seven in total.

They first photographed the nightgown. Then, Yan Cheng used scissors to cut it open along the side, folding it away to examine the skeleton.

Su Miaoyi first looked at the pelvis to determine the sex.

But as her gaze fell, she saw that below the pelvis—or more precisely, between the pelvis and the knees, between the legs—was another, tiny skeleton.

”Is that...” Su Miaoyi was stunned.

The moment she spoke, everyone followed her line of sight.

Yan Cheng examined the tiny bones. ”It’s an infant.”

”A postmortem birth?” Su Miaoyi felt as if her voice was floating away from her.

The position of the infant’s skeleton indicated it was delivered after burial.

”This phenomenon does exist,” Yan Cheng explained. ”After a person dies, the decomposition of the body and internal organs produces large amounts of gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and hydrogen sulfide. These gases cause a sharp increase in pressure within the abdominal cavity, which can compress the uterus and expel the fetus. However, since the mother is deceased, the fetus would also show no signs of life. It usually happens a few hours or days after the mother’s death.”

Hearing his explanation, everyone fell silent.

They stared at the tiny skeleton.

One corpse, two lives.

”What’s wrong?” Zhuang Yanzheng, having finished getting details from the local police, walked over to find the group standing in silence.

Yan Cheng pointed. ”One corpse, two lives. Judging from the skeleton, the baby was almost full-term.”

Zhuang Yanzheng also looked on in silence for a moment before saying, ”Let’s get to work.”

Silently, everyone began their respective tasks.

Yan Cheng performed the autopsy with Su Miaoyi assisting.

Lu Zhishen and Chu Xingrou examined the sponge mattress.

”There are wounds on the bones that correspond to the cuts on the clothes.” Yan Cheng ran his hand over a wound. ”They look like chopping wounds. A lot of force was used.”

”There are wounds on the back, too,” Su Miaoyi said, looking through the skeleton to the clothing underneath. The back of the nightgown also had cuts.

Yan Cheng nodded and carefully examined every area.

Su Miaoyi also gently touched a chop mark on the bone.

On the clavicle, the ribs... finally, as she touched a chop mark on the sternum, she suddenly saw something.

She is pounding on a door.

Making a huge racket.

”Come out! Come out! Get the hell out here! Kang Hong! Get out here! What are you doing in there again?! You’re using again! Didn’t you promise me you’d quit?! Get out!”

”Come out! Just come out! The baby’s due date is almost here! You don’t care at all! What the hell is wrong with you?! Get the hell out.”

She keeps pounding on the bathroom door, each blow louder than the last.

Suddenly, Kang Hong opens the door and stumbles out. His eyes are glazed over, a vacant smile on his face, his whole body swaying unsteadily.

Seeing him like this, she first takes a step back, then lunges forward to hit him. ”You’re still using! Still using! Was it you who told the doctor not to test for HIV and syphilis?! Was it?! WAS IT?! I went to the hospital today, and the doctor told me I had to get those two tests done! It’s positive! POSITIVE! You bastard! Kang Hong, I must have been blind to ever fall for you!”

She sobs as she speaks, raining wild blows on him. ”I should have listened to my parents and broken up with you long ago! Instead of hiding from them here! Telling them I went to work out of town! I have a home I can’t go back to! I can’t even go home because of you! I can’t even see my own parents during my pregnancy, and this is how you treat me! How could you do this to me!”

Kang Hong’s eyes are completely unfocused, as if his soul has left his body.

Kang Hong shoves her. She steadies herself against a nearby wall, then lunges at him again. ”You pushed me! You actually pushed me! Kang Hong, I’ll kill you! You’ve ruined me! You’ve ruined my entire life! What about my unborn child?!”

As she hits him, Kang Hong suddenly runs into the kitchen.

She freezes for a second, but then she sees Kang Hong walking out with a kitchen cleaver.

Kang Hong is walking unsteadily, his body swaying, that same smile still on his face.

She watches him approach, cleaver in hand, a chill running through her. When she snaps out of it, she bolts for the door.

But just as she reaches the entrance, a sharp pain pierces her back, again and again.

She collapses to her knees, an agonizing pain shooting through her abdomen. She screams, ”Kang Hong! Kang Hong!”

But Kang Hong grabs the back of her clothes and drags her across the floor. Lying on her back, she watches the cleaver rise and fall, again and again. The pain is replaced by terror, and finally, she sinks into darkness...