My Life with Narration-Chapter 294 - 291: Forensic Expert Zhou Ning

"Xiao Zhou, found anything?" Zhao Minghui asked.

As he spoke, the man in front of him, wearing protective gear, a mask, and gloves, slowly removed his guards from hands and face, revealing a determined and masculine face. He looked around twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old, but his face gave off a slightly cold impression. This was Zhou Ning, the forensic expert who had come with the team.

However, the cold demeanor on his face disappeared completely as soon as he spoke: "Oh my God, finally done. The corpse’s bones almost rubbed my hands raw."

A thick Northeastern accent came out, making the cold-faced handsome man’s charm vanish entirely. Accent truly affects attractiveness, no doubt about it.

Then Zhou Ning rinsed his hands in the river, shook off the water droplets, and continued:

"A simple examination shows that the deceased is female. Judging by the state of decomposition, she’s been dead for at least two months. The murderer was extremely brutal, dismembering the body, and this place is definitely not the primary crime scene. The exact cause of death is unknown, we need to take it back for a detailed examination. That’s about it!"

To this, Zhao Minghui nodded. It was impressive enough to discern that much, at least it would give their criminal investigation some general direction.

Just then, the sound of retching came quite violently.

"Ugh~~ splash~ ugh ugh~~ splash splash!"

At this moment, Su Qing was squatting by the river a bit further away, vomiting frantically. The fruits he had gorged on at home were now entirely expelled, leaving him ashen-faced, devoid of color; his stomach churned, and the feeling of nausea was uncontrollable. Li Zijun was beside him, holding a bottle of mineral water, patting his back.

He was just like an ordinary person except for some peripheral noise. He hadn’t killed even a chicken before, let alone seen such a horrific scene.

Seeing it in a movie and having it right in front of your eyes are entirely different things. He couldn’t possibly be like a movie protagonist, cutting through from Tongluowan to Southern Celestial Gate with a watermelon knife, leaving corpses and severed limbs all over without batting an eye. Without prior experience, reacting otherwise would be strange; for someone like him, this was normal.

"Ah, Captain Zhao, when did you get a newcomer on your team? Isn’t it not even recruitment season? Transferred from another department? Doesn’t seem like it!" Zhou Ning asked with interest, looking at Su Qing who was vomiting vigorously, then turned to smile at Zhao Minghui.

For these seasoned veterans, you could tell if someone was new just by their first mission. Su Qing’s current behavior clearly screamed rookie, brand new in fact, which piqued his curiosity.

Firstly, it’s not recruitment season, so no newcomer would’ve passed exams to join. Secondly, even if transferred from another department, they wouldn’t be this new. Even grassroots cops would have seen some scenes after a year or so. This one’s clearly a fledgling!

When Zhou Ning spoke, his expression mirrored Zhao Minghui and Du Qiang’s, like seasoned soldiers looking at a new recruit, full of teasing.

In this line of work, dealing with corpses is inevitable, and every newbie must get through this stage. You’ll get used to it as you keep vomiting.

Veterans always smile knowingly when they see a newbie vomit excessively, enjoying the fun. After all, they went through it, too. If they were mocked by seniors before, they naturally would have to regain face with the newcomers.

Even forensic experts like Zhou Ning were no different; he also vomited terribly during his first autopsy.

The only one who performed relatively well was Li Zijun. She didn’t vomit back then, though her face wasn’t great either. Still, that was quite impressive for a rookie, though it had to do with the fact that the corpse she first encountered wasn’t as horrific.

Conversely, Su Qing was unlucky. He faced a giant challenge the first time; the corpse was not only horrific but also in pieces and highly decomposed.

This was a huge challenge even for veterans, let alone a novice. You could say he was a bit unlucky.

The last case with the soy sauce-colored body from a jump was also terrible. But Su Qing didn’t go, and just glancing at the photos alone was terrifying, but didn’t have this kind of direct impact. It was like watching a horror movie, but this time it was a real shock.

"We specially recruited him to the department, quite capable. With your brain, you might not be able to compete with him," Zhao Minghui said with some implication.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ning was stunned, then looked at the young man still dry heaving yet not able to throw anything up and asked in confusion, "You recruited a fledgling for the criminal investigation department? What a joke?"

For other departments, especially administrative ones, hiring a specialized person might be possible. But for the criminal investigation department, recruiting someone like this would be a joke.

"Feeling better? Have another sip of water." Li Zijun said, handing over the bottle of mineral water and glaring at the few people behind her. Clearly, they all knew each other.

Su Qing waved his hand, indicating he wouldn’t drink. Drinking would put something in his stomach which would then make him throw up again, making it even more uncomfortable, so he’d rather just stay like that.

He then slowly got up, and Li Zijun promptly supported his slightly weak body.

Seeing this, old Zhao laughed heartily, took a few steps forward, and began introductions: "How are you, Xiao Su? Everything okay? Here, let me introduce you. This is Zhou Ning, the forensic expert from our department!"

Upon hearing that, Su Qing raised his head and saw the man nearby.

"Hello, I’m the forensic expert here, my name is Zhou Ning!"

"Su... Su Qing!"

The two shook hands briefly, but it was clear he hadn’t fully recovered.

Seeing this, Zhou Ning thought for a moment, then pulled out two sausages from his pocket, handing one over: "Eat something, or you’ll feel worse. This is purely meat, don’t worry, it’s all cured. If you like ketchup, I have some too!"

With that, he smeared tomato ketchup on the ham sausage right in front of him and started eating it in big bites.

"Ugh~ugh~~"

Seeing this, Su Qing’s stomach churned, and he quickly turned around, dry heaving.

He’s definitely doing it on purpose, absolutely, Su Qing shouted in his heart. Can’t he see that I’m almost out of commission already?

Last time, I was so weak I almost collapsed, and now I’m dry-heaving till I’m exhausted. Seriously, from top to bottom, do I have to go through this again?

"Zhou, you’re asking for a beating!" Li Zijun said, eyes wide as he raised his fist, scaring Zhou Ning into taking two steps back and waving his hands, "Be a man of reason, not violence!"

Clearly, he knew the person in front of him was capable of violent methods, and perhaps he’d been at the receiving end before.

Seeing this, Team Leader Zhao laughed heartily: "Little Zhou, I forgot to tell you, Little Su is Little Li’s brother. If you ever get hit on the head, it’s not unjust!"

Hearing this, Zhou Ning was shocked and immediately pointed at Zhao Minghui, trembling: "You did it on purpose, you old schemer..."

"Hmm?" Zhao Minghui raised an eyebrow.

"Old schemer...my volume was just too loud earlier, don’t mind me!" Zhou Ning immediately admitted defeat.

Seeing this, Zhao Minghui nodded satisfactorily, then turned to Li Zijun and said, "Little Li, let it go this time, let’s focus on the important matters!"

Then he stepped forward, looking at Su Qing, who had nothing left to vomit, and patted him on the back: "Little Su, how was the thrill this time? You heard what we were discussing earlier, right? Do you have any thoughts?"

Clearly, he also knew from Zhao Minghui that this young man in front of them was very capable of case analysis. After all, in the recent series of rape cases, Su Qing could deduce many clues just from the case files, which were almost identical to the police’s speculations. With such capability, Zhao Minghui naturally wanted to hear his opinion.

Compared to Lin Chengcai, his strength lay more in deploying personnel and planning the capture of suspects. It wasn’t that Lin Chengcai couldn’t investigate, it was just that he wasn’t as specialized.

After all, each field has its specialization; it’s just a matter of personal focus.

Upon hearing this, Su Qing thought about the information from the narrator’s hints, finding something he could say that was useful:

"I think the death time of the deceased was about three months ago," he said, summoning his courage and stepping forward a few more steps, forcing himself to look at the corpse again. This time, he noticed more details. Some cross-sections of the body parts were exposed, and bones with decayed flesh made him feel queasy. Fortunately, he had nothing left to vomit.

Sure enough, the next second, the narrator appeared again.

[The murder weapon was a Bone-Carving Knife, and the dismemberment was done with a hand axe, with axe marks on the bones.]

Then he continued, "The body shows signs of being chopped by an axe!"

Only two sentences, but they provided two clues: one was the death time differing from Zhou Ning’s judgment, and the other suggested a possible murder weapon.

This left Zhao Minghui, Zhou Ning, and others stunned, even Zhao Minghui hadn’t held out hope, but unexpectedly, Su Qing actually provided insights.

But before he could speak, Zhou Ning rushed to the corpse, took out a pair of gloves from his pocket, and carefully searched through the pieces of flesh. After a while, he stood up: "The bones do have chop marks, but it’s not certain whether it’s from an axe."

After speaking, he looked at Su Qing and asked, "Why did you say her death time is about three months? The body has been soaked in water, and with the current temperature, this effect can be achieved in two months."

Actually, without professional equipment for detection, just reaching the conclusion of over two months by eye was already quite impressive, and in fact, wasn’t wrong.

But the answer Su Qing gave was more specific.

In criminal cases, the time of death is a very important clue and can even determine whether the case can be solved.

To this, Su Qing pointed at the body and pretended, "She told me!"

"Can you make corpses talk? Interesting!" Zhou Ning laughed.

Seeing this, Li Zijun slapped his back, "Speak properly!"

Su Qing: "I was just guessing randomly!"

Everyone: ...

You’re never defeated by a peer, but by someone from a different field!

...