Chapter 233

The smell came from decaying waste materials.

Unlike a normal reservoir, which teems with fish, shrimp, algae, and various microorganisms, this coal seepage tunnel contained very few living things, and those few were exceptionally uniform.

Occasionally, there might be fish or similar creatures, but they barely survived and could never form an ecosystem like a reservoir.

Garbage dumped here decomposed at an especially slow rate.

When heavy machinery began operating, some exposed decaying matter, baked by the sun, started emitting odors.

The mine bureau officials' faces grew even darker.

Landfilling isn't forbidden, but it must follow strict regulations. This mine beneath the hill—the Unity Coal Mine—was a shallow open-pit mine founded by several communes, quickly exhausted, and eventually became the Zifeng Town landfill.

That was an officially approved landfill site, requiring payment, responsibility, and proper waterproofing beneath.

The requirements for filling this mine shaft were far stricter; not just any household waste could be dumped here.

The mine bureau's violations would inevitably be dragged out and used against them later…

Xu Taining and the others couldn't concern themselves with all that; they merely stretched their necks, waiting for the heavy machinery to clear away the upper layer of concrete, then ordered: "The forensic team goes down first. The police dogs wait."

Police dogs' paws are delicate; if there's too much broken concrete, stones, frayed cables, or rebar below, they're easily injured.

Forensic officers don't have that problem.

Jiang Yuan said nothing, dressed fully, and descended via a basket lowered from the nearby rock wall.

The mine bureau's warehouse had plenty of such equipment, but it had long been neglected—no one knew if it might kill someone.

The mine shaft was about fifty meters deep—equivalent to a thirteen-story building—and looking down from above, it still carried a certain level of dread.

Of course, the terror at the bottom was greater: sludge that squelched underfoot, sticky and thick, with rebar, wire, discarded equipment, and lumps of coal surfacing intermittently…

And massive concrete blocks stood upright beside them, their stability uncertain.

"I hate scenes like this," muttered Wang Lan, wrapped tightly in her gear. "We haven't even seen the body yet—shouldn't the crime scene team have gone down first?"

Jiang Yuan had already greeted her earlier, along with the other forensic officer beside her—both had just arrived today as reinforcements.

The case occurred in Qinghe Town; although the provincial bureau sent many personnel, the core team remained Qinghe City's own police.

The several forensic officers checked each other's gear and got to work.

Complaints aside, Wang Lan worked efficiently: she cautiously stepped only on solid ground, gradually expanding her search area, marking deeper zones with flags, and using her hands when necessary.

Soon, everyone's legs sank into the sludge, immobilized. The shorter Ni Fa Yi's thighs were buried deep, making movement even harder.

"Should we use machinery to dig?" Wang Lan moved closer to Ni Fa Yi.

Ni Fa Yi hesitated, then said: "Better not. I smell something off."

"You sense corpse odor?" Wang Lan confirmed.

"I think so," Ni Fa Yi said, unfastening her mask to inhale twice, then nodded firmly.

For forensic officers, smell is a crucial judgment criterion. For instance, a sweet, cloying note in corpse odor suggests poisoning.

But because TV dramas struggle to convey smell, and ordinary people fear corpse odor, descriptions of scent are rare.

In reality, humans are born with a natural sensitivity to corpse odor.

The biggest obstacle in body dumping is always the smell.

Many people who die at home or are dumped beside roads are discovered most easily because of the odor.

The sludge underwater originally had no smell, but under the sun's scorching heat, it gradually emitted all kinds of odors.

Jiang Yuan and the two younger forensic officers wore activated carbon masks, filtering out most of the stench, and paid no special attention to the conversation between Wang and Ni.

Jiang Yuan had Level 4 Crime Scene Investigation; for him, observational data yielded more insight.

Any additional benefits from smell could be fully compensated by other means.

For example… touch.

Jiang Yuan bent down, reached out, and slowly pulled up a… arm.

Crime scene investigation often reveals unique insights precisely at moments like this.

"Human," Jiang Yuan glanced and called out.

Not only did the forensic officers below stir, but the crowd above the shaft erupted in commotion.

"Confirmed human remains," Wang Lan hurried over, inspected, and gave her affirmation.

Finding remains wasn't good news, but at least it proved this prolonged operation wasn't a farce.

The white-shirted officials above also exhaled in relief.

Xu Taining immediately pulled out his phone and started dialing.

Though thousands had been deployed and immense resources consumed, solving a murder case was still justifiable.

Of course, finding the living Liu Jinghui remained vital—if he was still alive.

Xu Taining whispered two sentences to someone beside him; then, a voice crackled over the radio: "How long has the body been dead? More than a week?"

This was how they indirectly asked whether it was Liu Jinghui.

Wang Lan jabbed the radio: "There's adipocere—this body's been dead at least ten months."

Adipocere is a rare postmortem phenomenon, forming only in water or damp soil when body fat undergoes saponification.

Bodies that form adipocere are called "preserved corpses." Similar well-known examples include mummies or the Loulan Lady.

Forming a preserved corpse requires stringent conditions and takes a long time, but once formed, it can last for extended periods. Like the mummies and Loulan Lady, they've endured for over a thousand years without decomposing or turning to bone like ordinary corpses.

But determining the exact duration is another complex task.

Xu Taining, knowing this wasn't Liu Jinghui's body, ordered: "Continue searching."

Then he began discussing further steps with the white-shirted officials above.

The atmosphere around the mine clearly improved.

The police dogs felt it most clearly: Hei Zi and Da Zhuang sat calmly, utterly composed, like steady township clerks.

More technicians were lowered into the shaft via baskets.

Office workers who normally sat at desks now had to bend down and dig through mud.

Everyone gathered around the spot where Jiang Yuan found the arm, expanding the search downward.

Now there was no need to feel blindly; in the sludge up to their knees, each person carried an iron tray—used in the canteen for serving rice and dishes—to hold the scooped sludge.

The iron trays were over a meter long and half a meter wide, capable of holding large amounts of sludge; once full, they were pushed to the edge and dumped into buckets to be hauled out.

Soon, a small Komatsu mini-excavator joined the excavation.

Its half-meter-wide bucket looked like a toy, but it worked tirelessly—and it was a legitimate tool of production.

"Leg."

Someone else hit pay dirt.

Soon after, other body parts began appearing one after another.

But no head was found.

If unseen, keep searching; those exhausted were hoisted up by basket to rest, then lowered again once recovered.

No one mentioned overtime pay—there was none anyway—only relentless digging downward and outward.

It was precisely this meticulous work that allowed them to find the other hand and toes.

As more items were pulled up, the mine shaft grew noisy with voices.

Jiang Yuan was hoisted up again, utterly drained.

The sludge below wasn't like flat ground—walking required pulling each leg free, greatly increasing fatigue.

Retrieving items required bending over, and constant heavy lifting.

Plus, they had to keep identifying what was pulled up… frankly, some of the trash looked genuinely disgusting.

Jiang Yuan rested for a long while, then washed his clothes and limbs with water before heading over a hundred meters to the RV for a shower.

The RV had been dispatched by Xu Taining, specifically for personnel to bathe and change clothes.

To be honest, the logistical support this time was truly excellent; thus, despite exhaustion, few complained.

After washing clean and coming out, Jiang Yuan sat down, drank tea, and only then did his nose properly register the stench again.

At this point, a faint sense of relief emerged.

After resting about two hours, Jiang Yuan opened his phone and saw the small work group already discussing the body.

"The body was sawn apart—likely with a chainsaw. Similar to the last reservoir case."

"The dismemberment was probably for easier transport; looks like the perpetrator doesn't understand anatomy."

"Maybe he's faking it. Cut up enough bodies, even the ignorant learn."

Just as the scene threatened to turn into a large-scale crime scene training session, another burst of commotion rose from below.

Several forensic officers resting nearby all sprinted out from their hiding spots.

Down in the mine shaft, another uproar erupted, accompanied by rapid commands.

Jiang Yuan went to the shaft's edge and saw a gray travel bag being dug up from below.

"Second body," came the muffled voice from below.