Free Web NovelChapter 182: Chapter 181: A Chorus of Retching_1
Inside the box were white and yellow clumps, half-filled with a brown liquid so glaringly unpleasant to behold.
Zhou Xiaoyu shivered and could not bring herself to act.
Xia Momo also turned away; although she had seen Zhou Ning perform autopsies, the gore was different; it didn’t hold a candle to the shocking scene before her eyes. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
Zhu Xingxing, however, was more direct, dropping to her knees with a splat and starting to vomit violently.
The sound was highly contagious; Mr. He had already rushed to the shore, retching into the sea.
Zhou Ning approached the box to take a closer look, while Mr. Zhao covered his mouth, evidently struggling to hold back his nausea, tears almost forced out by the revulsion.
"Do we have gloves and masks?"
"We have disposable plastic gloves, but they don’t block out the smell!"
As Mr. Zhao spoke, he began searching his backpack and found several pairs of disposable gloves that came free with duck neck snacks.
Xia Momo pulled a silk scarf out from her backpack and used it to cover Zhou Ning’s nose and mouth.
"Wrap it around, this should help."
"Alright, everyone step back. Mr. Zhao, try to call Xu Da. Since our holiday is ruined, he shouldn’t rest either."
Mr. Zhao complied and left. Mr. He, having somewhat recovered, lifted his T-shirt to shield his nose and mouth, but still dared not look at what Zhou Ning was handling.
"Our vacation is over, isn’t it?"
Zhu Xingxing pouted unhappily.
"Later on, don’t say Mr. Zhao is the one with the bad omen; you’re even worse than him!"
Mr. He’s face turned awkward.
"Curiosity killed the cat, I thought we might find something unexpectedly. Who knew we’d stumble upon this?"
Zhou Ning ignored their conversation, crouching beside the box to take photos and examine the contents closely. It was a corpse’s torso, specifically the back. Despite the decay and deformation, the exposed spine was visible.
The head, hands, and feet were nowhere to be found. The neck’s break was clean, and the whole body was curled up, kneeling in the box.
As Zhou Ning lifted the torso, two pronounced bulges in the area between the legs and torso became apparent. The deceased was female, but oddly, the chest didn’t show the bloat typical of decay.
The box was spacious, its edges stuffed with a lot of fluffy packing paper, which had now been soaked through and squashed into the corners by the expanding decaying body.
Such a large space, and yet the perpetrator discarded the victim’s head and limbs, obviously assuming that even if the box were found, it would be impossible to identify the victim.
Without fingerprints or a skull, indeed, it was a challenge to determine the identity of the deceased.
Zhou Ning stood up and closed the box. This 29-inch suitcase did not have a zip closure but had three side latches with a combination lock, and it was edged with rubber seals for a tight closure.
The body had decayed so much it gave the impression of being gigantic, especially since there was so much blood loss and the decaying gases had an exit, preventing the body from swelling too much. Fixing the body in this position only allowed it to continuously expand and fill the space.
Zhou Ning stood up and tried to close the box again. The lid now resisted closure, indicating that the ambient temperature was too high, hastening decomposure. He quickly locked the three latches securely shut.
Looking around, he saw Mr. Zhao had just ended a phone call. Zhou Ning waved and shouted:
"Go up and get the ice blocks from our mini-fridge. The decay is accelerating. Transport will soon become an issue."
These words caused Shancun to heave twice more. Zhu Xingxing ran in the direction Mr. Zhao had gone, while Xia Momo approached Zhou Ning as the box closed and handed him a garbage bag, which he used to dispose of the gloves.
"Never thought we’d run into something like this, ruining your fun!"
Xia Momo shook her head and actually smiled.
"I’ve been alive for more than two decades, and I’ve been on enough holidays, but this is the first time I’ve encountered something like this. I won’t forget it easily!"
Zhou Ning joined her with a smile, and Zhou Xiaoyu came over and patted both of their arms.
"That’s too much! Here I am scared to death, and you two are cracking jokes. And there’s vitamin, who was jumping around just now. Now he’s lying like a dead fish, pale on the rocks."
"Don’t call Mr. He ’vitamin’."
Zhou Ning tried to keep a straight face, but couldn’t help laughing. Truth be told, Shancun had seen dead bodies before, given his medical training, but today was an all-in-one experience, encountering a highly decomposed one.
Of course, Mr. Zhao’s performance today was also noteworthy, probably spurred on by his rivalry with Shancun.
At some point, Mr. He had gotten up and approached the group, his complexion deathly pale.
"Call me whatever you want, but Comrade Zhou Xiaoyu, please support me a bit. My legs are weak."
Zhou Xiaoyu snorted, but to Zhou Ning’s surprise, he walked over and even helped Mr. He’s arm onto his shoulder.
Zhou Ning and Xia Momo exchanged glances, and Xia Momo leaned close to Zhou Ning.
"Don’t look so surprised. Xiaoyu quite fancies Doctor He, and although they love to bicker, it’s just their way of interacting. Like how you are with me, I’m always the one taking initiative. Since you don’t reject it, it means you accept it, which I think is good."
Zhou Ning was stunned.
Such an unexpected remark left him momentarily at a loss for words.
But upon reflection, it was true. With Xia Momo, whether professionally or in personal contact, it was she who always took the initiative, and he had never refused nor felt averse to her company. However, if you asked him how much he liked her, to the point of losing sleep over thoughts of her, that seemed absent.
Seeing Zhou Ning look at her, Xia Momo quickly raised her hand and covered his mouth.
"Since I’m the one taking the initiative, let me control the pace of our relationship. Don’t tell me you refuse, and definitely don’t mention not wanting to get married. I don’t want to right now either. Just looking at you like this makes me happy. I’m not forcing you to make a statement, just let me quietly enjoy liking you, got it?"
After finishing her speech, Xia Momo quickly flicked her hand, as if she had accidentally touched Zhou Ning’s lips, which made her extremely nervous. Zhou Ning looked at Xia Momo’s flushed cheeks and nodded with a smile.
This girl has been plotting for a long time, but indeed, Zhou Ning didn’t dislike Xia Momo. Perhaps he could try out the ’progress’ she was talking about.
"Alright, I’ll listen to you!"
"Let’s go, let’s take a look at the pier. I think the ship Xu Da found should be arriving soon."
Xia Momo nodded, unable to suppress a smile at the corners of her lips, and the two walked toward the lighthouse.
Half an hour later, Mr. Zhao rubbed his stomach.
Zhou Ning was beside him and could already hear the rumbling sounds from Mr. Zhao’s stomach, who was obviously hungry.
"How about I grill something for you?"
Mr. Zhao waved his hand and kicked Zhu Xingxing’s shoe.
"Zhujing, give me a pack of biscuits. Don’t just hand the whole pack to me. My hands have been touching the crate—the smell of a corpse, you know. Feed me one at a time."
Zhu Xingxing rolled his eyes at Mr. Zhao and, ignoring his protest, tossed him a glove and a pack of biscuits.
"Stop the nonsense and eat it yourself."
At that moment, Mr. He pointed at the pier and shouted:
"Here they come, Xu Da’s ship has arrived. Are they going to dock on the north side of the shore?"
Zhou Ning shook his head.
"The north side is full of rocks, and the ships can’t dock there."
After waiting a while, Xu Dayuan, along with others, had climbed up. They didn’t know many of the people, but Bai Ruixin followed Xu Dayuan closely.With the pout on his face, it was clear how reluctant he was to come.
"Doctor Zhou, you didn’t come out here to play, so how could you be so lucky with unexpected findings? Next time you buy stocks, make sure you tell me so I can steer clear."
Everyone laughed as Xu Dayuan looked around. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
"Where’s the crate?"
Mr. Zhao pointed at the rocks on the north side and approached Xu Dayuan to speak:
"The two island guards work in shifts, one week on, one week off. We didn’t tell the guy on duty when we found the body, so naturally, we couldn’t move the crate up here. With that smell, once it’s up, everyone knows what it is."
Xu Dayuan gave him a look.
"Don’t play tricks with me. Let’s go to the scene quickly and tell me about the discovery process."
Several people headed toward the rocky beach on the north side. Mr. Zhao was actually quite glib, recapping the events once more.
The more Xu Dayuan listened, the more amused he became, sometimes looking back at Doctor He and the others above.
"This guy is really unlucky, but who had the idea to pick such a remote island?"
Pointing upward at Doctor He, Mr. Zhao shook his head helplessly.
"Mr. He’s doing. One of his colleagues came camping here before and thought it was great, so he recommended it to him to bring friends."
All of them couldn’t help but laugh. Doctor He was far away and couldn’t hear their conversation, but seeing them all looking at him and laughing, he didn’t need to hear more. Covering his nose, he swung his fist at Mr. Zhao.
As the crime scene kit was passed out, Zhou Ning shook his head on the side, which puzzled Mr. Zhao.
"What’s the matter? Don’t we need to examine the scene?"
"Just check the crate for fingerprints. With a high-degree decrepitation and dismemberment case, the body’s been soaking in the sea for about a month with no head or hands or feet. Any search for facial and fingerprint identification is likely cut off.
This location isn’t the primary crime scene nor a body dumping site; the crate just got stuck here during high tide. The iron cage and chains need to be taken back along with the crate, that’s all the useful information we have right now."
Xu Dayuan rubbed his buzzcut, feeling as uneasy as Zhou Ning said. This island without fresh water or residents left no room for meaningful investigation.
"Alright, Mr. Bai, have someone carry the crate onto the ship."
Mr. Zhao kept waiving his hands and looked at Bai Ruixin’s hands.
"Didn’t I tell you over the phone to prepare the largest plastic sheet and bring some tape? That iron cage on the outside of the crate is huge. Did you bring it?"
A person approached and set down his backpack, pulling out a roll of thick barrel-sized plastic sheeting. Mr. Zhao finally smiled, quickly summoning help to wrap the crate several times with plastic sheeting, then securing it with tape. If even a bit leaked out, the ship would be ruined.
The group boarded the ship, and Xu Dayuan looked at the assortment of items set near the lighthouse, breaking into a grin.
"Don’t just stand there, load this stuff onto the ship too. Tonight, in the backyard of the station, we’ll have a barbecue of our own. If they’re disgusted, we’re not."
Mr. Zhao gave a look, and Mr. He poked Mr. Zhao’s arm from the side.
"Come on, man, this gear is all good stuff. And there are over three hundred various skewers in the little fridge. Are we leaving them?"
Mr. Zhao laughed.
"With the smell on your hands, you dare to eat it?"
"That’s going too far, ugh!"
