[{"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-237":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},2326932,4551,"Chapter 237","the-nation-s-forensic-medical-examiner-chapter-237",237,"\u003Cp>Move aside, please.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The pot’s ready.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Add more water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clean the meat off that bone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the autopsy room, everyone worked while shouting, the environment slightly noisy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When facing a major case with multiple forensic pathologists, the work is relatively easier—mainly due to high mental pressure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Right now, six forensic pathologists were crammed into one autopsy room, with backup staff in the break room; even something as massive as boiling bones became manageable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A bone too large for one clamp? Two people clamp it together—simple enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most forensic pathologists dislike forensic anthropology, not just because of its high difficulty and low success rate, but also due to excessive workload.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unless the body is fully skeletonized, most bodies buried only a few years—or drowned corpses pulled from water—require boiling before forensic anthropology analysis can be applied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even just the physical labor alone, without considering psychological impact, is exhausting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most grassroots units have only one forensic pathologist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a slender woman like Wang Lan, working alone in a unit with only one position, boiling a single corpse is genuinely difficult.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She can’t dismember first then boil—the blade might accidentally leave marks on the bones, and later no one could tell if they were from her or the killer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lifting the pot, filling it with water, pouring it out—each task is hard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, all this applies to ordinary forensic pathologists.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In criminal investigation, any position that reaches a high technical level deserves special treatment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan was able to take the Ningtai County forensic exam because Comrade Wu Jun made a scene, demanding respect for the elderly and young, increased staffing, and reduced workload.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan now travels daily to handle cases elsewhere because he’s exceptionally skilled, and the Ningtai County Criminal Investigation Team has thus gained favor from superiors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, even without Jiang Yuan’s level, any forensic pathologist with a Level 2 forensic anthropology skill can reasonably apply for a forensic assistant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Take Forensic Pathologist Zhai—he’s roughly Level 2+, likely never reaching Level 3, yet he travels across the province offering guidance and still thrives.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forensic anthropology is just too difficult.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its difficulty coefficient is similar to image analysis in criminal investigation. But unlike image analysis, there aren’t abundant high-value talents on the market.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forensic anthropology is not only hard, but few study it, and opportunities to use it are rare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forensic Pathologist Zhai originally thought Jiang Yuan’s forensic anthropology skills were barely at an introductory level—slightly better than average, just usable—that was already an overestimation of Jiang Yuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, Jiang Yuan is young, and anthropology demands extensive accumulation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Jiang Yuan noticed the special nature of the body bag, Forensic Pathologist Cheng had already begun to appreciate his perceptiveness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when the bones were boiled clean and laid out one by one on the autopsy table, Cheng realized Jiang Yuan’s skill was far beyond an introductory level.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the very first step of reassembling the body, Forensic Pathologist Zhai fell far behind Jiang Yuan’s pace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reassembling a body is something medical students can do, but even then, there are clear tiers of skill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The weakest students must work top-down, searching for each bone and constantly adjusting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Strong ones like Jiang Yuan pick up a bone and casually place it on the table—its position is almost perfect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This effortless technique is something Zhai can do too, but it’s far from easy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhai was older, his energy and strength already lagging; after a few moments of distraction, he heard Jiang Yuan begin his analysis:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Victim one, age between 35 and 40, female…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Height around 160 cm…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Shoulder injury, cervical spondylosis, knee joint damage…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhai had been reassembling bones from another pot; hearing Jiang Yuan already issuing conclusions, he abandoned his work and turned to examine Jiang Yuan’s bones for verification.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Naturally, every judgment was correct.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For judging age and gender, Jiang Yuan could now look at a single bone and deduce 70–80% of the truth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This sounds like basic forensic anthropology, but it’s actually extremely difficult.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ordinary forensic pathologists who aren’t skilled in anthropology usually need the pelvis to make judgments.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even a skull won’t help much.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some people, even alive, you can’t tell their gender from their face; after death, you’re handed a skull and expected to determine gender—it’s very hard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s not impossible, but if a forensic pathologist misjudges gender once in four attempts, would the criminal investigation team accept such a conclusion?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So for ordinary forensic pathologists, the pelvis is reliable—it also provides age and whether the victim gave birth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The pelvis is essentially the fool’s treasure chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Here we might also mock the killer’s limited knowledge. Dismembering and hiding the head is truly unnecessary. Except when fresh, the face might still be recognizable; after a few days of storage without preservatives, even a spouse couldn’t name the skull.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for skull reconstruction—only a few experts in big cities can do it; ordinary criminal investigation teams have no such resources.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So if you want to evade detection after murder, hiding the pelvis is better than hiding the head—but that’s a more brazen provocation: “The villagers of Nancun bully my old weakness—kill, remove the arm, leave the head, openly dismember and abandon me here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The end result will always be a Level 0.8 forensic pathologist calling friends, even summoning Level 3 anthropology masters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At Level 3, every single bone provides massive information.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forget gender—just one rib can determine time of death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the limitation of anthropology lies here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aside from gender, age, height, and other basic info, time of death is never very accurate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The more detailed the information, the more accuracy and difficulty diverge into opposite extremes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s about it.” Jiang Yuan finished reassembling one skeleton and had given all possible information.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the current stage of the criminal investigation, the usable data is still limited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forensic Pathologist Zhai nodded slightly. He couldn’t add anything more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Shall we move to the second body?” Jiang Yuan still looked to Zhai.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fine, you take it,” Forensic Pathologist Cheng decisively stepped aside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn’t skilled in bone analysis anyway; faced with someone like Jiang Yuan, he gladly yielded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan didn’t hesitate—he reassembled the bones in minutes, then analyzed:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Victim two, age between 30 and 35, female, height around 165 cm. Time of death: three to five years ago. Hallux valgus, likely wore high heels regularly, has childbirth scars, gave birth…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forensic Pathologist Zhai nodded in agreement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forensic Pathologist Niu said: “So two young women.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forensic Pathologist Cheng, who had been muttering “me too,” now shook his head: “No need to conclude yet. Is the next one boiled?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Still a while,” Forensic Pathologist Niu wrinkled his nose, patted his stomach, and sighed: “Today’s just a diet.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan continued examining the two previous bodies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Information like age and gender had been thoroughly studied by predecessors, repeatedly compared and researched across different bones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But deriving complex conclusions—like occupation—is extremely difficult. It can’t be guessed by casual observation; it requires comparing and arranging multiple scenarios.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He studied until late at night, then everyone dispersed to sleep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Jiang Yuan’s dreams, he saw nothing but white bones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And boiled body parts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Floating body fat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his dreams, there was even more fat—modern people are generally overweight, so large amounts of grease are statistically more likely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next morning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sixth day since Liu Jinghui went missing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Someone came to report: “The motorcycles have arrived.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The forensic pathologists, who had spent the whole day in the meat-boiling room, rushed out en masse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Taining had brought a semi-trailer into the funeral home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The vehicle was covered in black cloth; nothing inside could be seen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People who had come early to the funeral home to see off the deceased stared at the massive truck and began whispering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Something big happened.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A multi-car pileup?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Didn’t hear anything—whose family could die in a whole truckload?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The driver, hearing this, felt it was inappropriate and drove the truck deeper into the funeral home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, funeral home officials, alerted by the buzz, came over to investigate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then they saw several motorcycles circling the courtyard, each with a white ghost floating above it…\u003C\u002Fp>",1353,"2026-06-20T18:55:02.212Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","383d9b5820bd5eb000182ca4c4fbafc91d14f1012385049340d7ee59790b0a78","the-nation-s-forensic-medical-examiner-chapter-238","the-nation-s-forensic-medical-examiner-chapter-236",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",[],{}]