[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-nation-s-forensic-medical-examiner":3,"chapter-the-nation-s-forensic-medical-examiner-the-nation-s-forensic-medical-examiner-chapter-117":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Nation's Forensic Medical Examiner",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2326812,4551,"Chapter 117: Exhaustion","the-nation-s-forensic-medical-examiner-chapter-117",117,"\u003Cp>“Don’t cut me! Don’t cut me!” Mu Zhiyang cried out as he opened his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a human being, being dissected alive is the ultimate terror—even police officers familiar with such cases feel only greater dread at the thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For Mu Zhiyang, yesterday’s experience was the most horrific of his life, so much so that the scene kept replaying in his dreams.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No one’s cutting you. You’re fine.” A soothing voice came from beside his ear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mu Zhiyang exhaled in relief, then realized something was wrong—he looked closely and saw the large face before him was indeed Forensic Jiang Yuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh god…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mu Zhiyang’s soul nearly leapt out of his body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s fine, it’s fine. We just came to see you.” Jiang Yuan gently pressed him back down, as if smoothing out a corpse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beep-beep-beep-beep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The monitor beside Mu Zhiyang began beeping.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A nurse peeked in, frowning: “What are you doing? The patient just had surgery—don’t play around with him or make inappropriate jokes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, yes.” Wei Zhenguo replied from beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mu Zhiyang’s soul slowly drifted back into his body. He looked pitifully at Jiang Yuan and said: “Forensic Jiang, I’ll call you Brother Jiang—please don’t come visit me anymore. I appreciate your concern, but my heart really can’t take it…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright.” Jiang Yuan sighed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Zhenguo added: “Thanks to Jiang Yuan stopping your bleeding—the doctors said if you’d lost even a bit more blood, it would’ve been serious.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you, Brother Jiang,” Mu Zhiyang hurriedly said. “I’m not ungrateful—I’m just terrified.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s fine.” Jiang Yuan nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Zhenguo patted Jiang Yuan’s shoulder and said solemnly: “Being a forensic, there’s always a moment when you’re disliked—it’s normal.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mm.” Jiang Yuan nodded slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mu Zhiyang rushed to say: “I’m not disliking you—I didn’t mean it that way…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s fine. Everyone ends up being disliked eventually.” Jiang Yuan patted Mu Zhiyang’s uninjured arm, looking remarkably at peace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had Mu Zhiyang not noticed Wei Zhenguo’s involuntary smirk, he might have believed him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After visiting Mu Zhiyang, Jiang Yuan and Wei Zhenguo hurried off to a meeting in Qinghe City.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the five-member team, Lao Hu remained unconscious; the remaining four weren’t exactly tough guys.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or rather, the prisoner’s dilemma after separate interrogations made all four unwilling to let the others gain an advantage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When they killed, they acted swiftly and without hesitation; when confessing about others, they did so just as freely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, each only confessed to crimes they hadn’t personally committed, creating a perfect cycle of mutual betrayal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In just two days, the four confessed to six murders totaling twelve lives lost.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The deadliest case involved three victims killed at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the case progressed, Liu Jinghui’s special task force expanded steadily to hundreds of personnel, half of whom entered the Old Hunter Trail to search for bodies and physical evidence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They wouldn’t be back for at least a month.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan felt exhausted just thinking about it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he saw Liu Jinghui again, the man looked just as worn out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How’s Mu Zhiyang doing?” As the officer most severely injured in the operation, Liu Jinghui remembered his name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan nodded. “Psychologically shaken, but physically stable.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good, good,” Liu Jinghui rubbed his temples and gave a wry smile. “I’d like to lie down in a hospital myself—no one’s giving me that chance.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is the situation complicated?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not complicated, just a lot of things. Just now I met with several members of a hiking association from another city—I showed them a few photos they could see.” Liu Jinghui shook his head. “So far, we’ve confirmed eight dead hikers. The higher-ups are afraid of causing panic.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Zhenguo snorted. “They went hiking, didn’t they? A serial killer’s just part of the danger.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Jinghui’s mouth twitched, then he said slowly: “That logic makes sense—but we can’t say it like that. The real issue is we didn’t catch these people in time.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Zhenguo shrugged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan cleared his throat and asked: “Have any bodies been brought back?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No. So far, not a single body has been found.” Liu Jinghui nodded lightly. “These guys don’t just dump bodies. They toss in special broth—made by Old Guo himself—that’s said to easily attract wild boars and bears.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So the bodies are all gone?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not just that—they come back later to check, then dispose of any remaining remains. They don’t just abandon them like we assumed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan thought further and asked: “How do they dispose of the remaining remains?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They reapply the broth and often move the remains. But this time, more people went in—let’s see if they can find any leftover fragments.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To confirm a murder, finding the body is still best.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although some cases can be resolved without a body, those are rare exceptions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Jinghui, accustomed to working in a large organization, preferred not to break established norms—he liked solving cases within existing conditions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan felt a slight regret—if he could have personally autopsied and analyzed the bodies, he might have gleaned even more information. Perhaps even gained two more legacies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Jinghui noticed. If any other officer had expressed such regret, he’d have told them to leave. But for Jiang Yuan, he offered comfort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He handed Jiang Yuan and Wei Zhenguo each a bottle of mineral water and smiled: “Even if bodies show up now, you probably won’t have time to examine them. In a few days, I’m planning a motivational rally—I’ll award merit badges to all of you who contributed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan had already performed well enough during the fingerprint campaign to qualify for merit—he was eager and asked directly: “Already decided?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Decided. You get Second-Class Merit. The sniper gets Second-Class Merit. Mu Zhiyang gets Third-Class Merit. And Zhu Huan Guang from the fingerprint campaign—he also gets Third-Class Merit.” Liu Jinghui added specifically: “Your award isn’t counted toward this case. When the whole case ends, you’ll likely get another chance.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan was surprised: “I can get another one?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not counted toward this case—you definitely can get another one,” Liu Jinghui smiled. “It’ll depend on your performance—if you earn new merit, you might even combine it into another Second-Class Merit. If not, we’ll see how much more we can uncover from this case.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Second-Class Merit in the police system isn’t as hard to earn as in the military, but it’s still extremely rare. For example, if Mu Zhiyang had broken his arm and been seriously injured, he might have gotten Second-Class Merit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or if he’d faced the criminal alone, refused to retreat despite minor injuries, and subdued the ringleader himself—he could’ve earned Second-Class Merit. As it stands now, he only gets Third-Class.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, Third-Class Merit is still excellent—most officers never get beyond it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those who earn Second-Class Merit, though not officially codified, are almost always prioritized for promotion and given significant attention. Official benefits include full retirement pay, five bonus points on children’s college entrance exams, and a 10,000-yuan reward…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just from retirement benefits and college entrance bonuses, it’s clear how rare this award truly is.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan thanked Liu Jinghui, and his mind flashed back to his last award. This time, he’d have to think carefully about the system’s rewards.\u003C\u002Fp>",1195,"2026-06-20T18:55:00.150Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","e2aecf91b12dadb3b08555f9eb826502b93ce2430a7353f0b95e021dc72f4034","the-nation-s-forensic-medical-examiner-chapter-118","the-nation-s-forensic-medical-examiner-chapter-116",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-nation-s-forensic-medical-examiner-cover.jpg"]