[{"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-236":6,"glossary-terms-4551":23},{"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},2326931,4551,"Chapter 236: Low-Temperature Scorching","the-nation-s-forensic-medical-examiner-chapter-236",236,"\u003Cp>Zhai the forensic doctor came to Qinghe City and kept hearing Jiang Yuan’s name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just in terms of solving cases, Jiang Yuan has solved an unusually large number recently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Solving one major case after another is the dream of ordinary criminal investigators, yet rarely experienced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A third-class merit in the police system is relatively easy to earn, but a second-class merit is much harder—Jiang Yuan has received two second-class merits, proving he has done things most police officers cannot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhai the forensic doctor hasn’t done it either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His posting at the provincial bureau stems from both seniority and education, as well as his comprehensive technical mastery.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he was transferred to the provincial bureau thirty years ago, Zhai the forensic doctor was among the very few professional forensic doctors in the province who had graduated from a proper medical university and had experience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back then, during the peak of Zhai the forensic doctor’s combat capability, there were no surveillance videos or DNA technology—fingerprints were checked using fingerprint cards, with extremely low efficiency.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forensic identification was the only true forensic science at the time; Zhai the forensic doctor assisted criminal investigators in solving many cases while also self-studying countless techniques.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unlike today’s forensic doctors, who mostly focus on forensic clinical science, in Zhai’s era, forensic anthropology was routine, and forensic toxicology and forensic entomology were also routinely studied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because there was nowhere to turn for help.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today’s forensic doctors, when encountering unfamiliar techniques, simply ask others for help.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is a mode impossible—or even unimaginable—for forensic doctors of that era.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet on the other hand, Zhai the forensic doctor’s technical learning was extremely arduous; unlike today, where learning resources are easily accessible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back then, even senior technical staff within the system couldn’t obtain any data they wanted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Despite this, Zhai the forensic doctor’s skills remained extremely strong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In recent years, he still delivers results every time he acts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three years of senior experience is a dimensional advantage over killers who are mostly novices.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But today’s autopsy was extremely difficult, and superiors had specifically asked him to wait for Jiang Yuan; now that Jiang Yuan had arrived, Zhai the forensic doctor deliberately observed him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan didn’t think of much—he simply followed procedure, and the autopsy showed nothing unusual.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhai the forensic doctor wasn’t surprised; after the body arrived, he had carefully examined it himself and found no useful conclusions either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It could only be said that a body this ordinary, with such skillful handling, was certainly not the work of a novice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Shall we start boiling the body?” Jiang Yuan, after finishing his inspection, looked at Zhai the forensic doctor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s your thought?” Zhai the forensic doctor worried Jiang Yuan, young and impulsive, might overreach himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan shook his head and said: “No direct ideas yet. The killer’s technique is highly proficient.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mm, not his first time committing murder,” Cheng the forensic doctor immediately affirmed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This idea was very close to his own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People always tend to agree with views similar to their own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How does this compare to the killer in the reservoir case?” Niu the forensic doctor only assisted from the side, but immediately thought of Wang Guoshan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two cases weren’t merged, but because of Liu Jinghui, everyone knew they were connected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan calmly said: “Definitely not the same person. Both are highly skilled.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhai the forensic doctor nodded again: “Mm. Killers have few opportunities to train; killing a few people versus killing dozens doesn’t necessarily lead to major improvements in technique—it mostly depends on talent.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Niu the forensic doctor blinked, then shook his head: “Only you could say that.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In the past, there were killers who murdered many—especially bandits before liberation who later reoffended,” Zhai the forensic doctor shook his head, showing no intention to elaborate further, then returned to his previous point: “Let’s start boiling.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ll set up the pots. Once the bones are boiled out, you’ll have to examine them,” Niu the forensic doctor, facing Zhai the forensic doctor, openly admitted his own limitations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His seniority far surpassed Jiang Yuan’s; back then, when he was still at the Xiemi Qingban precinct, Jiang Yuan probably didn’t even have this function yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But compared to Zhai the forensic doctor, his seniority meant nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Niu the forensic doctor first joined, he had even attended Zhai the forensic doctor’s training classes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This autopsy room was Niu the forensic doctor’s territory; he called over the other two and enthusiastically fetched a pressure cooker and a steel pot—the former electric, the latter gas-powered—and together they mounted the stoves and lit fires to boil water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A normal human weighs a hundred pounds or more; though today’s body was badly decomposed, the skeleton remained, and a small pot couldn’t possibly handle it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The electric pressure cooker used a commercial 16-liter model, barely enough to boil a normal person’s thigh bone—but if the person was over 1.85 meters tall, like Jiang Yuan, only the steel pot beside it could be used.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The latter’s capacity was also insufficient, but you could boil one end, then the other; slow, yes, but eventually the bones would separate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Boiling two bodies at once required more work than boiling two or even four sheep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The several forensic doctors worked together for a long while before finally getting everything sorted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhai the forensic doctor also actively helped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s how forensic doctors are—even the highest-ranked must do the work themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a flurry of preparation, watching both pots come to a boil, Zhai the forensic doctor turned back and saw Jiang Yuan had moved the body bag to another autopsy table, studying it intently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhai the forensic doctor frowned and walked over: “Any findings?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“These body bags all seem discolored,” Jiang Yuan was flipping through the outermost travel bag.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Punctured?” Niu the forensic doctor put down his forceps and came over to look.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There’s slight tearing on the outer layer, but that’s not the main cause,” Jiang Yuan turned up the inner sides of the two-layer body bags: “Look—the killer, to transport the body, first dismembered it, cut it into plastic bags, then placed those plastic bags inside the red-and-blue checkered bag, and finally put the red-and-blue checkered bag into the gray travel bag.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Back then, when people transported meat, they’d store it in refrigerators exactly like this,” Zhai the forensic doctor, experienced, remarked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan nodded and added: “But this discoloration is more likely caused by scorching.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huh?” Zhai the forensic doctor came over in surprise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed, one corner of the red-and-blue checkered woven bag showed discoloration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even inside the outermost gray travel bag, there were red-and-blue imprints.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This couldn’t possibly be contamination.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhai the forensic doctor thought carefully—it really did resemble scorch marks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Plastic bags should vanish when burned,” Zhai the forensic doctor muttered to himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Exactly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan also muttered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Niu the forensic doctor watched the two deep in thought and suddenly felt too lazy to think.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside of bodies, his only minor expertise was tissues—he still found plastic bags and rubber disgusting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Jiang Yuan’s mind suddenly flashed to Da Zhuang’s hatred of riding in cars, then to the scene he’d spotted in the parking lot, and he said: “It’s a motorcycle.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Both the travel bag and the red-and-blue checkered bag can’t withstand high heat—that’s low-temperature scorching. The motorcycle’s exhaust pipe!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan said this because near the mine tunnel, the parking lot had traces of motorcycles but few traces of cars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although many locals in Zifeng Town owned cars, most still rode motorcycles when going up the mountain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Motorcycles were also more popular than private cars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan used the autopsy table as a stool, laid the red-and-blue checkered bag sideways, letting the heated end hang down: “Look—if the killer transported the body on a motorcycle, this end of the bag could have touched the exhaust pipe.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The exhaust pipe’s temperature wouldn’t be that low, right?” Zhai the forensic doctor sounded uncertain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm… a motorcycle with a lower-temperature exhaust pipe?” Jiang Yuan wasn’t very familiar with this either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cheng the forensic doctor looked at the two body bags, adjusted their positions himself, and said uncertainly: “I don’t understand motorcycles—who here does?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All the forensic doctors present shook their heads.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forensic doctors study clothing or tissues out of professional need—riding motorcycles? What’s that got to do with it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then let’s find a few motorcycles and test them,” Jiang Yuan suggested.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Run an experiment?” Zhai the forensic doctor agreed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When forensic doctors analyze things outside the body, experiments are often necessary—for example, if you suspect the killer transported the body in a suitcase, having a tall, heavy colleague sleep inside one is essential.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But sourcing motorcycles gave Zhai the forensic doctor pause; after thinking a while, he said: “Best to ask local leaders if they can connect us with a secondhand motorcycle dealer to coordinate testing several bikes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan paused, then agreed: “That works. Good.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhai the forensic doctor found it odd: “What did you originally plan to do?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Buy one?” Jiang Yuan said: “Motorcycles shouldn’t cost much.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhai the forensic doctor chuckled, then seeing Jiang Yuan wasn’t smiling, said: “Are county bureau budgets really this generous now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Have the bureau buy one?” Jiang Yuan nodded: “That works too. Good.”\u003C\u002Fp>",1539,"2026-06-20T18:55:02.212Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","edffdcc8f24ddb6bae05d5202a27973aaba0ec1a22d8c93c4d6631b4b2a56af9","the-nation-s-forensic-medical-examiner-chapter-237","the-nation-s-forensic-medical-examiner-chapter-235",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-nation-s-forensic-medical-examiner-cover.jpg",{"terms":24,"userReplacements":50},[25,30,35,40,45],{"id":26,"raw_term":27,"original_term":28,"translations":29},1803458,"Jiang Yuan","江遠",[],{"id":31,"raw_term":32,"original_term":33,"translations":34},1803459,"Wu Jun","吳軍",[],{"id":36,"raw_term":37,"original_term":38,"translations":39},1803460,"Wang Zhong","王鍾",[],{"id":41,"raw_term":42,"original_term":43,"translations":44},1803461,"Liu Wenkai","劉文凱",[],{"id":46,"raw_term":47,"original_term":48,"translations":49},1803462,"Wu Junhao","伍軍豪",[],{}]