"You'd better come and see. I was still immersed in the sadness brought by Cao Ke, but Li Lu's voice suddenly interrupted me. I hurried over and crouched beside him, and under his guidance, I took a closer look at the two bodies.

"Judging by the degree of corruption, the corpse on the left should be the man named Zhang Tiemin on the tombstone, which has completely become a dry bone, and the time of death is at least a month or more considering the recent climate conditions", he pointed to the white bone with his hand lightly, and then shifted his attention back to Cao Ke.

"This female corpse is different. Look here", he calmly peeled off the torn clothes on the corpse, revealing swollen corpse bubbles and decaying maggot skin, "The corpse spots have subsided, and the corpse is visibly swollen, the result of maggots eating the metabolites that have accumulated inside, but this swelling has not yet ruptured. The time of death was probably about four or five days, at least less than a week. ”

"Why do you even know this, this shouldn't be within the scope of the criminal police's knowledge", I followed his perspective to observe Cao Ke's corpse, the details of the excessive corruption made me unbearable to look at directly, and the hairs stood up, "Seriously, I personally don't understand the custom of burial, it is more unbearable than walking through the incinerator, being naturally decomposed like this, at least it is more undignified." ”

"That's all behind you, it doesn't matter", his eyes didn't take off the corpse at all, "I also audited forensic science classes when I was an undergraduate, so I remember a little." "Li Lu has always been humble and not arrogant about the knowledge he has mastered, which will make me mistakenly take erudition for granted.

"What was the cause of her death, is it possible that she died of natural causes?" and that was the crux of the exhumation.

"Although I know a little bit about the skin, but the cause of death is such a professional question, and we have to wait for the forensic doctor's judgment. But......" he paused for a moment, then refocused on the corpse's face, as if suspicious, "the corpse's cyanotic complexion and rosy teeth were all features of suffocation. ”

"Suffocation?"

"No, there is no mark on the neck of the corpse, it shouldn't be. Toxicological reactions cannot be ruled out. Li Lu shook his head, took the flashlight in my hand, and looked at the corpse's hands to himself. "Her fingers were curled up, and there was a dark red unknown substance on her nails, possibly blood. Then he stood up and beckoned me over.

"Help me turn the lid of the coffin over", I heard the sound and went over to help, and the dust on the lid boiled and fell all over my body. I wrinkled my nose and had to go back to take a shower before dawn or bury myself like this for the rest of the day.

The light of the flashlight climbed up the inside of the coffin, and I realized that the white canvas inside the coffin lid was full of blood-red scratches, of different shades, painful and sharp, like crimson thorn flowers blooming one after another, more like countless angry exclamation points. I was so stunned by what I saw that I couldn't speak for a while. The scratches are strong evidence that at least Cao Ke was alive when she was put in the coffin, and that she was most likely buried alive — a speculation, if any, that would be too cruel.

Li Lu did not speak, and with his professional qualities, he must have understood the mystery, just like other cases he had investigated. He crouched down and carefully touched the blood marks, then leaned over and sniffed the glove, "That makes sense." The deceased was put in a coffin for some reason, and in fact there were faint vital signs at that time. She woke up in a coffin and left traces of struggle, eventually suffocating due to a lack of oxygen inside, inhaling large amounts of carbon dioxide. This speculation is valid. ”

"In this way, our operation is still meaningful, it not only confirms the strange phenomenon that appeared in your house today, but also discovers the secret of Fengbo Village, and you don't have to worry about insulting the corpse. You don't need to thank me for pointing you out, then you can solve the case well, comrade policeman. ”

After Li Lu came to some preliminary conclusions, I felt a long-lost relaxation, at least the nerves that had been tense before could be relaxed, and I calmly faced Cao Ke's death. Although the whole thing doesn't have much to do with me, maybe because of the photo in her closet, because of the warmth of the moment recorded by the film for a long time, I always can't help but feel sad because of Cao Ke. For this filthy city, she is a lost woman, a stain in the sun, a ruin that must lie in the dark river, but in a poor but tidy home in the countryside, there will still be relatives who hope that she will be healthy and happy, return to her hometown, and have children.

"This matter can basically be determined to be a criminal case, the situation is serious, I called a colleague to come over", said Li Lu took off the plastic gloves, carefully wrapped them, and then took out the phone from his pocket.

"You wait here for them to come, if I don't have anything to do, I'll just take the car back by myself, there should still be a bus", I looked at the time, it was not yet twelve o'clock in the night, I just took the last train. Otherwise, when a large group of criminal police come over, all of them will have big shoulders and round waists, and it will be difficult for me to get out again.

"It's okay, I'll drive you back later. You're a witness to my coffin, and you're mine—well, an occult advisor. Li Lu looked at me with a smile, but his eyes were as bright as an eagle's falcon, and I don't know if he smelled the smell of sin, or because he was considering the depth of my relationship with the corpse. Oops, too much will be lost, he won't doubt me in turn, this man who unloads the mill and kills the donkey, a ruthless and unrighteous smiling tiger.

"That...... I can do it myself, I'm very bold, you can see it, I'll ...... first Okay. I tried to defend myself, but I felt that I was getting darker and darker, so I had to shut up. There was not a single cloud in the sky. As the moon approached midnight, it grew bigger and more presumptuous, and the surroundings were as bright as day, like black-and-white photographs with increased noise. In the current situation, the enemy is strong and we are weak, and there is a huge disparity in strength, so it is safest to stand still.

"Hmm", he nodded, as if pleased with my choice, "if you're tired, sit for a while, you can sit on my clothes." I'll just make a phone call. With that, he took off his coat and handed it to me, grabbed his phone and walked deeper into the cemetery.

I was still so immersed in my anxiety that I didn't react at all, and reflexively caught his coat. And let me sit for a while, where am I sitting? I sat on someone else's grave bag? I muttered to myself as I found a low tombstone nearby and sat on it. "I'm sorry brother who lives here, although you have entered the reincarnation experience of the next life, your tombstone is still standing here, making the last contribution to me. ”

Li Lu's figure appeared not far away, pacing back and forth, and it seemed that he was indeed on the phone. I sat with his coat in my arms, feeling the emptiness of doing nothing and the anxiety of not being able to cope. This man was not what I thought he was - like he had a wrong perception of me - the first time I was in the elevator I thought he was not good at socializing, I didn't expect him to always have endless topics to talk about, I thought he was a tough guy who was going too far, I didn't expect him to have a shrewdness that I couldn't see through. I couldn't tell what he meant by his expression, he kept his composure, integrity and caution, but at the same time cunning, gentleness and kindness, and I couldn't figure out whether his next plan was to really send me home or put me in the police station.

I can't deny that I'm really suspicious, and I don't look like an outsider no matter how I look at it, knowing the key to too many Cao Ke incidents - but I'm really innocent, who made me have superpowers. I looked at him, and he looked at me from afar, as if he were watching me. I imagined what might happen next: when I got into the police car, he mercilessly handcuffed me, and as soon as the headlights shone on the police station, he would find out that I was a vagrant with no hukou or ID card - I had to be forced to sit in the police station until dawn and escape by "stealth" -

I didn't become a "thief", so why am I so weak-hearted.