5: Chapter 5 I Teach Forensic Doctors How to Perform Autopsies at the Police Station Entrance

The night grew deeper.

At midnight, the temperature dropped below ten degrees.

Jiang Feng coughed twice, his lungs wheezing like a bellows.

He pulled up the collar of his windbreaker, covering half of his face.

Xiao Zhang, the guard, stood by the booth, glancing over from time to time.

That scene earlier was too eerie.

But reason told Xiao Zhang that it might have been a lucky guess, or he was an accomplice.

"Hey," Xiao Zhang called out, "You should just leave. When Captain Zhao gets back, if they haven't caught anyone, you'll definitely be locked up."

Jiang Feng ignored him, looking down at the cards in his hand.

"If they don't catch him, then my prediction was wrong, and you won't have grounds to detain me anyway," Jiang Feng said.

Xiao Zhang was momentarily speechless.

"And if they do catch him?"

"If they catch him, it proves I'm useful, so they definitely won't detain me."

A closed loop of logic.

Xiao Zhang scratched his head, thinking this guy's thought process was abnormal.

Forty minutes later.

Beams from car headlights appeared in the distance, followed by a series of sirens.

Three police cars roared into the compound.

The back door of the middle car opened.

Two Criminal Police Officers led a man down.

The man wore overalls stained with spots of colored paint, his hands were cuffed behind his back, and his head hung low.

As they passed the gate, the man inadvertently looked up and saw Jiang Feng sitting by the flower bed.

The man's legs buckled, and he nearly collapsed to the ground.

"Move!" a Criminal Police Officer pushed him.

Zhao Yi stepped out of the first car, his face weary but his eyes gleaming with excitement.

Li Guoqiang and his wife, holding a little girl wrapped in a blanket, were weeping uncontrollably as they were escorted onto an ambulance by two other female officers.

The person was saved.

In the basement of that abandoned pier, just as the man was about to act, the police had burst through the door.

Zhao Yi didn't follow them into the interrogation room.

He stood on the steps, lit a cigarette, and took a deep drag.

The tip of the cigarette glowed and dimmed.

Zhao Yi turned around and strode over to Jiang Feng.

A shadow loomed over the small folding table.

"We caught him," Zhao Yi said, his voice raspy. "Right where you said he'd be."

Jiang Feng looked up. "That's your achievement. I'm just a fortune teller."

"Cut the crap." Zhao Yi crouched down, his gaze level with Jiang Feng's. "You knew it was a kidnapping. Withholding information or obtaining it through illegal means is also a crime."

"I didn't withhold anything." Jiang Feng looked at him. "As soon as they arrived, I told them."

Zhao Yi stared into Jiang Feng's eyes.

Those eyes were too calm, as still as a pool of stagnant water.

Even under the scrutiny of a captain of the criminal police, his heart rate didn't seem to change.

"Who exactly are you?" Zhao Yi asked.

"Jiang Feng." Jiang Feng pointed to the QR code nearby. "You haven't paid for this reading yet. Don't bother; consider it an act of merit."

Zhao Yi was so annoyed he almost laughed.

Just then, a white SUV pulled up at the curb.

The door opened, and a young woman wearing a white lab coat with her hair in a ponytail walked over quickly.

She was holding a yellow kraft paper file folder.

Lin Wan, Director of the Municipal Bureau's Forensic Department.

"Captain Zhao!" Lin Wan called out before she even reached them. "The DNA comparison results for the River Dismemberment Case are out. There's no match in the database."

Zhao Yi stood up and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"No match again? None of the males screened from the missing persons database were right?"

"No." Lin Wan handed over the file. "The bones are thick with high density. Although the pelvis is incomplete, the angle... still leans towards male. But all missing males have been ruled out."

The case had been stuck for half a month.

There was only a torso—no head, no limbs.

Zhao Yi took the file, feeling his headache returning.

Jiang Feng sat nearby, his gaze falling on the file folder.

The system panel lit up again.

A red cursor locked onto the file folder.

The second "customer" had appeared.

"It's not a man," Jiang Feng suddenly spoke.

Lin Wan stopped and turned to look at the man sitting on the ground with his stall.

Zhao Yi frowned. "You know this too?"

Jiang Feng pointed to the folder in Lin Wan's hand.

"That's a female corpse. Your direction is wrong; of course you can't find anything."

Lin Wan was stunned for a moment, then her expression turned to one of disbelief.

"Sir...?" Lin Wan pointed at the folder. "This is a scientific assessment. The transverse diameter of the third lumbar vertebra and the angle of the pelvic fragments all match male characteristics."

"Sit down." Jiang Feng pointed to the small stool in front of him. "Draw a card, and I'll tell you why."

Zhao Yi was about to lose his temper.

But Lin Wan waved him off and sat down with interest.

"Fine." Lin Wan looked at Jiang Feng. "I'd also like to see if metaphysics can beat anatomy."

She reached out, randomly drew a card, and tossed it onto the table.

[[The Empress]], upright.

But in the system's vision, the scepter in [The Empress]'s hand was broken, and there was a mass of black shadow in her abdomen.

[The Empress Upright Variant: Illusion of Abundance.]

[Physiological Analysis: Long-term intake of exogenous male hormones, secondary bone development. Atrophy of the reproductive system.]

Jiang Feng looked at the card, his voice cool.

"She was an athlete. One who practiced throwing events."

Lin Wan's expression changed.

"Long-term use of Anabolic Steroids led to prominent masculine bone characteristics," Jiang Feng continued. "That's why the data you measured looks like a man."

Lin Wan quickly searched her mind.

This situation did exist in forensic science, but it was extremely rare in actual cases.

"Also," Jiang Feng tapped his finger on the card. "[The Empress] represents the mother. She had either just had a miscarriage or had just given birth before she died."

"Impossible!" Lin Wan blurted out. "The uterus is missing. How can you tell?"

"The pubic symphysis," Jiang Feng said. "Check the dorsal side of the pubic symphysis. If there are old depressions, it's a birth injury. If there are fresh tear marks, it's a miscarriage."

Hearing these terms from a fortune teller's mouth felt incredibly jarring.

Lin Wan's expression became serious.

She stood up and grabbed the file.

"Captain Zhao, I have to go back and re-examine this."

"You believe him?" Zhao Yi pointed at Jiang Feng. "This kid is full of nonsense."

"I didn't actually take a slice of the pubic symphysis to check the details because it was assumed to be male," Lin Wan said rapidly. "Regardless of whether it's true or false, this is a blind spot. If it's a female athlete, the scope of the investigation will narrow by hundreds of times!"

With that, Lin Wan ran into the building without looking back.

Zhao Yi stood there, watching Lin Wan's retreating back, then looked down at Jiang Feng.

"If you're wrong," Zhao Yi gritted his teeth, "don't even think about leaving tonight."

Jiang Feng didn't say anything; he just took back [[The Empress]] card.

[Ding! Effective fortune-telling count: 2/3]

He glanced at his phone.

00:40.

Twenty minutes left.

One more to go.

"Captain Zhao." Jiang Feng suddenly called out to Zhao Yi, who was about to enter the building.

"What now?"

"The last reading is for you." Jiang Feng fanned out the cards on the table. "Let's look at that knot in your heart."

Zhao Yi's footsteps faltered.

His back stiffened for a moment.