Chapter 1503: And a Little Sugar for the Forensic Doctor 16

Jin Team!... Eh, Chief, you're here too.

Yu Jue, who had returned to Cui Jiu's residence to investigate, arrived with the latest bizarre clue.

All the usual clues and evidence were kept, but he and several colleagues couldn't figure out what this thing was; in the end it amounted to the same kind of provocation as the note that had greeted their Jin Team, a taunt from the mastermind.

So he rushed back nonstop to report.

"Jin Team, look at this." Yu Jue handed him an evidence bag, "The scrap of fabric inside was cut from the back of the sheet on which Cui Jiu lay, and it bears a drawing of a strange butterfly."

Jin Chen took it out to look; the moment the scrap unfolded, Wu Lin's paper coffee cup dropped from his hand, and he stared in disbelief at the butterfly—lifelike yet made only of bones.

"This..." the Chief's reaction was also extreme, and he instinctively glanced at Wu Lin.

Jin Chen, caught between the two: "……?"

What now!

"Wu Lin! Come with me."

The Chief snatched the scrap from Jin Chen's hand, turned and headed back to the office without a word, but not before making sure Wu Lin followed.

Seeing this, Jin Chen followed behind Wu Lin, but Wu Lin stopped him, his tone unusually hurried: "Don't come in."

"I won't go in." Jin Chen wiped the coffee stain from his hand, coaxing: "I'll wait outside; don't get worked up."

Having said that, he pinched Wu Lin's icy fingers; the warmth transmitted like energy, calming Wu Lin's jittery heart a little, and with a stiff face he shut the office's Main Gate.

Yu Jue looked at Jin Chen, bewildered yet careful: "What's going on, Jin Team? Why is the Chief reacting so strongly?"

"It's fine; you go ahead and get back to work."

Jin Chen leaned outside the office, thinking; from Wu Lin's reaction earlier he could already tell that the one who had used his authority to inspect the confidential files was him.

And what the Chief had left unsaid, what Wu Lin wanted to investigate, all had to do with that butterfly.

The butterfly came from the mastermind behind that website.

In the original plot, Wu Lin got dragged into Gu Huan's family affairs after meeting the protagonist, the attacker.

Jin Chen glanced at the office's Main Gate with slight doubt.

Could the murderer still be someone from Gu Huan's household? If so, what does that have to do with Wu Lin?

Just one door apart.

"The Ghost Butterfly is that person's mark; he is the mastermind behind the suicide‑help website and the killer."

Wu Lin was the first to break the Silence, his sharp black eyes fixed on the person behind the desk: "I demand that we reopen the ten‑year‑old cold case and conduct a joint investigation."

"This is impossible."

The Chief finally calmed down, though his hand holding the scrap still trembled; he rarely reacted this way upon reaching this position.

"Back then your master already killed the murderer; perhaps this is just a copycat crime."

"Even…… the price is a life for a life."

The Chief recalled past events, his brows twitching, filled with sorrow.

Wu Lin snorted coldly, interjecting with certainty: "If the one they killed really was the murderer, how could it have become a cold case, with all clues even sealed?"

At this moment he seemed to have torn away a veneer; the sharpness beneath his cold exterior burst forth, even the upturned arc of his mouth looking mocking, like a sharp bone‑splitting knife.

"You know what the Ghost Butterfly signifies, and what crucial clue you hid back then! Why did you announce the case sealed halfway through, letting my master die in obscurity?"

He approached the desk, glanced at the photo beneath the glass, and sneered sharply.

"Jiang Lu, my master died in your place."

The Chief first staggered, his buried memories torn apart; the pain of his friend taking a bullet for him kept stabbing his heart.

He spoke low, full of sorrow: "Yes! I know, I remember!"

"Those clues are what your master refused to tell you! They are also what he demanded on his deathbed that the investigation stop—don't you know your own situation?"

Wu Lin was nearly blown speechless by this news: "What… are you saying?"

How could it be… what he demanded.

He lost his life over this murky mysterious case; why would he, on his deathbed, actively request that the investigation cease?

"Wu Lin, if you didn't hold the post of government forensic doctor, if you didn't have your master's promise to you..."

The Chief spoke each word like a pearl, his gaze upon his friend's beloved disciple full of disappointment and complexity.

"Could you be the next killer?"

"..."

"Wu Lin, don't involve yourself in this case any longer; take some time off."

Wu Lin drew a deep breath, his gaze dazed as it drifted from the old photos to the Chief's aged yet sharp eyes.

"I will keep investigating until I find the murderer."

Wu Lin stormed out of the office, his emotions unprecedentedly cold and numb.

"Wu Lin!" Jin Chen wanted to call out to him, but saw Wu Lin's steps were even faster, nearly bumping into Duan Xiao Bai returning from outside.

"Jin Team, how's Forensic Doctor Wu Lin… huh?"

Jin Chen hurried after him again.

Duan Xiao Bai and several colleagues were responsible for visiting and investigating Cui Jiu's family history, returning with a belly full of secrets and stories.

As a result, nobody listened to her!

"What's wrong with them?" Duan Xiao Bai could only ask Yu Jue; the equally bewildered Yu Jue shrugged, "I don't know, let's just keep investigating the case."

——

Inside the autopsy room.

Wu Lin had not failed to hear the pursuing footsteps behind him, but now he did not want to face anyone, and without hesitation slammed the door shut.

The Main Gate blocked outside sounds, but could not block the endless auditory hallucinations in his mind.

Every word, every sentence shouted with pain and unwillingness.

Immediately after that, the heartbeat accelerated without warning, and various crazy thoughts kept surfacing.

In stark contrast to his completely chaotic emotions, he leaned against the door, appearing unusually gloomy and calm.

Wu Lin leaned against the door for a while; even hearing Jin Chen knock on the door, he remained oblivious, and as he slightly trembled reaching for the medicine, he inadvertently touched the dormant notebook.

The suicide support group's webpage popped up again, coincidentally the constantly flashing welcome page.

Wu Lin was uncontrollably drawn to it, standing by the table staring gloomily, yet his pupils were bright enough to be frightening.

Unlike the pain and dissociation he felt the last time he saw it, when it truly flared up, looking at it actually felt like a soul-soothing, addictive sensation, like mental opium.