Chapter 242: How Could Xu Mo Not Be Afraid?

After cutting off the call with Xu Mo, Han Fei told Chen Ke, who was driving, Xu Mo's address.

After picking up Xu Mo along the way, the group drove straight to the Throw Corpse site.

On the road, Chen Ke continued to impart experience to Xu Mo in a tone of someone who has been through it.

"The scene later might be a bit too much for you; you might even vomit just from a glance. But it's fine, it's not shameful—every rookie goes through this. If you need to vomit, do it, just don't vomit on the corpse and affect the autopsy."

Han Fei echoed from beside him.

"Right, no need to be restrained. If looking at the corpse makes you feel sick, you can vomit; you'll feel much better. Every rookie does this. This time there's a case, and you want to help solve it, so I'm bringing you to get familiar first…"

Xu Mo said nothing, merely nodded silently, looking as if he understood.

But actually, the 'rookie' he talked about with Han Fei and Chen Ke was different.

A rookie has no foundation at all; in plain terms, they're just ordinary people. An ordinary person seeing a corpse for the first time—especially an incomplete one—will inevitably feel uneasy.

Vomiting is usually mild; in severe cases, one might be frightened into fainting on the spot.

Obviously, in a sense, Xu Mo cannot be considered a rookie.

Especially in corpse examination, Xu Mo's skill even surpasses that of ordinary forensic doctors in the Police.

After all, the system rewarded him with forensic theoretical knowledge.

Moreover, as the system poured these knowledge straight into Xu Mo's mind, it also stuffed in countless corpse images to help him comprehend and digest the material.

Thus, when Xu Mo sees a corpse, he may remain calmer than Han Fei and the others.

…

After a half‑hour drive.

The group arrived at a modestly sized barren mountain.

This is the location where the Throw Corpse was discovered.

The road into the mountain had now been cordoned off with Police tape, to prevent ordinary people from entering.

The several of them got out of the car one after another.

Just after stepping out, before entering the mountain, Han Fei reminded Xu Mo again.

"Remember what we said in the car. If you can't take it, tell me, or just run to the side and stop watching. Don't try to force yourself to endure, okay?"

"Okay," Xu Mo nodded, saying nothing more.

Then, under Han Fei's lead, the group crossed the police line and went up the mountain.

The police officer guarding the mountain road saw that the arrivals were Han Fei's party, recognized them as help sent by the bureau, and let them pass without any hindrance.

It was already past six in the evening.

Whether due to the dimming light or the presence of a dead body on the mountain, the whole hill looked unusually gloomy.

Soon, the group reached the Throw Corpse location.

Before even approaching, a strong, foul stench hit them.

Xu Mo couldn't help but furrow his brow as a wave of nausea churned in his stomach.

He's not afraid of the corpse, but the odor is overwhelming, drilling straight into his nose, making his head buzz.

Having no choice, he deliberately slowed his breathing to prevent vomiting.

Not to mention Xu Mo, even the experienced Han Fei and the others felt uneasy.

There were many police officers surrounding the corpse.

More than half of them turned pale and their legs trembled after seeing the corpse.

More severe cases even leaned against a nearby tree and vomited.

The dual assault of sight and smell leaves virtually no inexperienced person able to endure.

Seeing these frightened, nauseated officers, Han Fei couldn't help but glance at Xu Mo beside him.

If nothing unexpected happens, Xu Mo's condition after seeing the corpse should be similar to these officers'.

He was somewhat worried about Xu Mo's condition.

But for some reason, Han Fei felt an inexplicable thrill.

Before, Xu Mo always got the short end of the stick; this time he'll finally see Xu Mo take a hit!

Before even approaching the corpse, a police officer recognized Han Fei.

He immediately called out to Criminal Investigation Team Leader Wang Dui.

"Wang Dui, Han Team has arrived."

Hearing this, Wang Dui, who was carefully scanning the surroundings for clues, looked up in the direction the officer pointed.

Seeing Han Fei, he quickly greeted him.

"Han Team, you're here."

When he looked up, Wang Dui noticed that half of the officers he brought were vomiting, which was a bit awkward; he scratched his head.

"Apologies for the embarrassment, Han Team; they're all rookies. The higher‑ups are pushing hard this time, and the Criminal Investigation Team lacks manpower, so I brought some rookies."

"That's normal; everyone comes through the same way," Han Fei said without mocking the officers, then asked, "Have any clues been collected so far?"

He said that while stepping forward to glance at the corpse.

The corpse was severely decayed, even infested with maggots, but one could still vaguely discern from the clothing and hair that it was a female corpse.

Wang Dui shook his head.

"The fingerprints and footprints that can be collected on site all belong to several reporters—actually a few hikers who were camping in the mountain. They stumbled upon the buried corpse while setting up camp, reported it then, and have now been taken back to the bureau for statements. Our preliminary estimate is that this incident has little to do with them. The forensic doctor is on the way and will arrive shortly."

"Can the victim's identity be confirmed?" Han Fei asked, pinching his chin.

Wang Dui still shook his head.

"The corpse is highly decomposed; the face is gone. All we can tell is that the victim is a female and that the time of death wasn't short. Everything else is unknown; we'll have to wait for the forensic doctor's examination to know more."

Han Fei didn't ask further.

No useful fingerprints or footprints were left at the scene.

The victim was still an unidentified female corpse.

The difficulty of the investigation suddenly increased considerably.

Only after the forensic examiner determines the victim's age and approximate time of death, then checking the corresponding time period and matching missing persons in that age group could possibly reveal the victim's identity.

After asking a couple of simple questions and getting a basic understanding of the situation,

Han Fei suddenly remembered the Xu Mo he had brought.

He instinctively turned his head to glance at Xu Mo.

All I saw was Xu Mo calmly observing the corpse, checking his watch, seeming completely unfazed...

Han Fei felt a bit dazed.

This isn't right!

How could Xu Mo not be afraid?

Just then, Shen Manni, who had just finished vomiting nearby, reached out and patted Han Fei on the shoulder.

"Han Team, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed, my stomach's upset—I'll head back to the car first. I'm not good at examining the scene, so you can find me when you need to interrogate suspects."

"Okay," Han Fei nodded.

For a moment, he became even more dazed.

Shen Manni is a psychology expert who has helped the police solve cases before.

In such a scene, she can't bear it, yet Xu Mo is fine?

But what Han Fei didn't expect even more was still to come.

All I saw was Xu Mo pinching his nose, walking over to the corpse and squatting down to examine it carefully.

Han Fei: "???"

Not being afraid is fine, but what the heck is he doing?!