[{"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-99":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},2326794,4551,"Chapter 99: Embedded","the-nation-s-forensic-medical-examiner-chapter-99",99,"\u003Cp>“We’re here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was just after five in the afternoon. The two guides dragged and half-carried Liu Jinghui up onto a small platform beside the cliff.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was old; he could still manage the first half of the mountain path, but the second half he basically collapsed like a dead dog.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, according to Liu Jinghui himself, he had merely “driven too hard yesterday.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan was equally exhausted. He quickly snapped a set of photos under the fading sunset light, then carefully observed the surroundings front, back, left, and right—before night swiftly fell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan helped with setting up camp. His Level 2 camping skill finally came into play; though not as smooth as the two guides’, it still sped up the overall progress considerably.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cliff here had been artificially cleared. Though the ground was covered in vegetation, the plants were small, allowing some light to filter through. Behind the platform formed by several large rocks was a cave three or four meters deep, also tidied up in advance—with a firepit, a small pile of firewood, branches, and leaves already laid out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The group quickly cleared a patch of open ground on the small platform. Once they had firm footing, they erected a small tent, fetched water from the ravine, and lit a fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cave behind the platform was the primary crime scene of the “Wu Long Wild Man Case,” but none of the four mentioned it. Instead, they all focused silently on arranging their own spaces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The older guide sprayed copious amounts of insect repellent across the platform’s ground, and soon, insects of various colors crawled out from beneath decaying leaves and branches, swaying sluggishly into the neighboring bushes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Jinghui’s face twitched slightly. He asked: “No one comes here anymore? I remember last time I came, it was just like this…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The older guide replied: “We’re following the old herbalist trail. These caves were all prepared by herb collectors for themselves.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other guide spoke with a hint of nostalgia: “When people were out on the mountain and got caught in rain or fell ill or injured and couldn’t get back down, they’d stay in the caves for a night or two, light a fire, boil some water. Later arrivals, if they had time, would add more firewood… There used to be more like this down in the valleys too, but now there are far fewer.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So now? It can’t be completely abandoned, right?” Liu Jinghui asked. “At least you still come here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We only take clients now—hikers, backpackers… Most hikers don’t take this route. It’s too remote. If not for this case, I wouldn’t even come this way anymore in a few years.” As he spoke, the guide chopped down several young saplings with his machete, as if trying to eliminate future problems.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But everyone knew that by next year, the place would be overrun again with saplings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What about the village? The people down in the village—they come up the mountain too, right?” Liu Jinghui had asked a similar question before, but this time he deliberately chose a younger guide, hoping to get a different answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The guide looked about twenty, and didn’t think much of it. “People from the village come up mostly because a family member is sick, to gather herbs for personal use. They never make it this far. We’ve walked eight or nine hours to get here, switching paths through the mountains. The village now is full of elderly people—they can’t spare the energy.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Jinghui grunted, thought for a moment, then said to Jiang Yuan: “Let’s go into the cave first and survey it. We should sleep inside tonight—we need to map out the whole area tonight.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d been here before. He knew how troublesome it was to camp outside the cave. The mountain environment wasn’t like the outside world—its damp, chilly conditions could make people sick, and poisonous insects or wild beasts could be hiding anywhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But to minimize disturbance to the crime scene, he’d brought only Jiang Yuan and the two guides, not a large team like last time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan nodded. He was here to conduct the crime scene investigation—there was no point in slacking off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Jinghui told the two guides to fetch water and prepare food, then asked: “You’ve seen the photos already. Where do we start?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan had viewed the photos on his iPad during the journey. They were the most useful evidence preserved from before—but to Jiang Yuan, they were useless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first and second waves of police officers had found almost no evidence besides the body. The forensic experts involved had barely made progress in forensic pathology after struggling to confirm the victim’s identity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the bodies were incomplete, the current theory was that the fatal wound was on the abdomen—which happened to be the part most attractive to animals. Before decomposition, visiting creatures had torn the abdomen into a gaping hole, erasing all vital clues to the cause of death…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, that wasn’t surprising. In this environment, any footprint on the ground would be erased by insects, fungi, or some other strange organism. The evidence routinely relied upon by criminal investigators had no place here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan held up his flashlight, waved it twice, and said slowly: “Fingerprints are unlikely. DNA is hopeless. The most probable evidence would be physical objects—plastic packaging, metal items, that sort of thing. I’ll start by sifting through the ashes of the firepit. Don’t touch anything.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three pillars of criminal investigation are video, mobile phones, and DNA. Jiang Yuan suspected the phone was the most promising—maybe, if he dug around enough, he’d find a phone buried under the cave floor. That would be ideal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dream didn’t come true.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan sat beside the firepit, put on gloves, and began carefully sifting through the ash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Honestly, most of these black ashes and similar debris had already been destroyed by nature. But branches or food items charred by fire preserved slightly longer. Still, considering the police had previously lit fires here to roast meat, anything Jiang Yuan found might have been left by them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nevertheless, Jiang Yuan first sifted through this area, then searched the surroundings for clues and physical evidence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This search lasted half the night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He managed only a fitful rest before dawn. As soon as the sun rose, Jiang Yuan quickly reviewed all the evidence he’d collected the previous day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was utterly unremarkable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan sat beside the firepit, prodding the embers with a stick, frowning in thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This wasn’t like an apartment building. Even if someone had tried to scrub the cave clean, there’d be nothing left to find. The rich variety of microorganisms easily erased all biological evidence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Collecting soil samples for chemical analysis might yield something, but it likely wouldn’t help solve the case.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Jinghui had also woken up. He washed his face with cold water, then turned back and said calmly: “Find whatever you can. I brought you here because it’s a last resort. Even before you, I came with a full team of technicians—and found nothing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Extreme Spirit Chaos Scripture\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan didn’t need Liu Jinghui’s reassurance. He rubbed his shoulders and stood up: “The cave reveals nothing. I’ll check the surroundings.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let Xiao Yang go with you.” Liu Jinghui called the older guide, who followed Jiang Yuan to examine the nearby area.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, the main focus remained the ravine where the body had been found.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By noon, Jiang Yuan returned to the firepit. Seeing the flames had grown weak, he gathered more firewood and rebuilt the fire structure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he worked, his gaze fell on one side of the cave wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The wall’s color had changed slightly. Most people would assume instinctively that this was caused by the firepit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But with his Level 2 camping skill, Jiang Yuan could easily tell: it wasn’t.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the fire had affected the organic growth on the wall, the area closest to the flames should have been affected first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the most discolored part of the wall was deeper inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan immediately stepped forward and examined the cave wall closely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Judging by his crime scene investigation skills, the wall had been contaminated in some way—but by what?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His gloved fingers brushed lightly over the surface, and his attention snapped sharply into focus.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Contamination?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Color change?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan pried apart a vine—and clearly saw a half-black object embedded in the wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he peeled away the soil beside the half-black object, a rare word flashed through his mind: bullet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Yuan immediately grabbed his camera and took photos, then set up a tripod, switched to photography mode, retrieved his crime scene kit, and carefully excavated the soil, vegetation, and rock fragments surrounding the half-black object.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A shattered bullet was firmly lodged in the cave wall, thirty centimeters above the floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bookmark added\u003C\u002Fp>",1480,"2026-06-20T18:55:00.150Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","fbb0227e5c11562236180f34008db0c856e941968f6e066a813c161578836cca","the-nation-s-forensic-medical-examiner-chapter-100","the-nation-s-forensic-medical-examiner-chapter-98",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-nation-s-forensic-medical-examiner-cover.jpg"]