Upon hearing Wu Shuang's words, Mu Rongyun burst into hearty laughter. A glint flashed in his pitch-black eyes, and he couldn't help but curl his lips at Wu Shuang's profile. This woman had an allure that seemed to draw him in. When Mu Rongyun realized his gaze had lingered on Wu Shuang's face, he sensed a dangerous signal. "Are you worried about me?"

It was the second time he asked her this question, and Wu Shuang's gaze fell ahead. Was she worried about him? Perhaps, because she didn't want to see anything happen to this person. He was her longtime colleague, and every time a task emerged, he was by her side. Thus, she didn't want anything to happen to him.

Seeing that Wu Shuang didn't answer, Mu Rongyun confidently fell silent. "Yeah, worried." After a long while, she suddenly uttered, forcing Mu Rongyun to face this woman once more. "I don't know if my guess is correct, but instinct tells me your relationship with Xiao Lin is unusual. Not adversarial, but something else. Do you understand?"

"What are you trying to say?" Mu Rongyun felt a sensation he couldn't quite identify, replaced quickly by vigilance.

"I want to say, do you have a blood relation with Xiao Lin?" After saying this, Wu Shuang swiftly maneuvered the car across two lanes and stopped by the roadside.

"Are you crazy!" Mu Rongyun didn't expect Wu Shuang to suddenly swerve across the lanes so quickly. Even he, with such a strong heart, couldn't handle it, gripping the handle tightly.

"Is it true?" Wu Shuang ignored his accusation, her beautiful eyes firm. She wanted a clear answer.

"Does it matter?" Seeing her determination, Mu Rongyun shifted his gaze out the window.

"It matters a lot."

"If I said yes? Would you help them?" Suddenly meeting Mu Rongyun's gaze, Wu Shuang couldn't turn away in time, and upon locking eyes, she was stunned. "Haha, unfortunately, I'm not." For some reason, Mu Rongyun suddenly didn't dare to hear her answer.

"Really not?" Wu Shuang still didn't believe.

"Wu Team, you're overthinking." Mu Rongyun's sudden coldness made Wu Shuang feel unfamiliar. "Even if I resemble him in some way, it doesn't prove any blood relation, or do you like him and see me as a stand-in?"

"You're too much!" said Wu Shuang, angrily attempting to strike Mu Rongyun, but before she could make contact, Mu Rongyun blocked her with one hand, grasping her fist in his palm. The coolness of her fingers penetrated Mu Rongyun's heart. "You should wear more, your hands are too cold, no one will like that."

Seeing how easily he neutralized her move, Wu Shuang felt nothing but astonishment. She had never seen Mu Rongyun reveal any martial prowess before. She had always thought, apart from his remarkable medical judgment, he was a bookish man. Even when she saw his bare upper torso with its toned muscles in the room previously, she merely assumed he was someone who liked to workout. "You…"

"Did you think I was someone helpless?" Mu Rongyun wanted to laugh. This surprised expression made the woman look extremely cute. "If I had nothing, how could I possibly contend with him?"

Seemingly unwilling to continue the topic, Wu Shuang restarted the car and hit the road, turning up the stereo, and both fell silent.

Director Zhao, who had been waiting at the police station entrance, craned his neck for Wu Shuang. Meanwhile, the two lodge owners claimed she hadn't left yet, causing him to sigh with growing anxiety, making Xiao Lin next to him feel uneasy.

"Director, who are you waiting for? Isn't it just a captain from the City Police Department's criminal investigation team? Is it necessary?"

"What do you know!" Director Zhao spat vehemently at the side, continuing to gaze towards an exit off the highway. "This person is not to be messed with."

Xiao Lin couldn't understand Director Zhao's meaning, glanced at the empty street, and silently turned back into the police station. Since their leader said not to dig up any corpses, he felt relieved.

"Here they come!" Watching Wu Shuang's SUV drive in slowly, Director Zhao's face relaxed from its anxiety.

"Sorry, I got delayed a bit." When Wu Shuang met Director Zhao, she greeted him; it was now close to noon, and most of the day had passed.

"No worries, no worries, it's fine as long as you're here." Director Zhao habitually put his hands behind his back. "I'll take you to the riverbank now." Due to the peculiar layout of the police station, you can only go in, but to exit, you need to make a U-turn, as the road narrows into a wedge shape.

"Alright." Wu Shuang parked the car in the same yard as last time and headed to the lakeside with Mu Rongyun following Director Zhao.

"Oh, wait a moment!" Director Zhao seemed to remember something, turned around, and ran back to the police station. "Xiao Lin, two people will come to make a record later. If we can't return in time, ask them to wait a bit."

"Got it!"

Director Zhao hurriedly ran to Wu Shuang's side. "That night, a doctor saved a young officer. I was waiting for them to record a statement, but now we're off to the lakeside, so I informed the station."

"You called me at midnight; was there still a doctor wandering outside at that time?" Wu Shuang had always been curious about this doctor. Who would be wandering outside in the middle of the night, especially in a torrential downpour?

"I don't know either. The scene was chaotic at the time. While digging for corpses, two officers fell in." Director Zhao also found it odd when asked by Wu Shuang. "I just saw someone dash out from beside me, then another young man appeared. That guy was really handsome, even prettier than a woman. Compared to him, those stars on TV are not in the same league; he's the most handsome man I've ever seen in my life."

Wu Shuang glanced at Mu Rongyun, the latter seemingly having a knowing guess of who it was, revealing a teasing smile.

"Director Zhao, let's talk as we walk. Can you recount what happened yesterday in detail?" Wu Shuang intentionally diverted the conversation, not wanting to linger on who the person was.

"Last night, just as I was about to sleep, I got a report saying a female corpse had been found by the riverbank. So, I gathered a few people and went to the lakeside overnight, planning to dig up the corpse and transport it back for examination. But unexpectedly, halfway through the digging, someone fell into the water, and a rescue started. One was retrieved, but the other disappeared. It was very dark then, and it was raining. We didn't know what to do when someone jumped in, and shortly after, he brought the person up." Listening to Director Zhao's description, Wu Shuang regretted forgetting that this person was quite talkative. "By the time the person was retrieved, he was barely breathing. That person instructed to find a knife and some straws. I thought maybe I should check with nearby residents. Luckily I knew some people around, and got him the tools he needed. This guy then instantly cut open the officer's throat, which scared us all. He inserted the straw into the cut and held the officer from behind, forcing the swallowed mud and sand out, eventually saving a life. It was really dangerous at that moment!"

"Who made the report? Why was this person out so late?" Wu Shuang quickly interrupted Director Zhao, fearing that if she didn't, Director Zhao could go on for another ten minutes.

"Oh, it seemed to be someone just off the night shift, coming from Xuefu Road. Coincidentally, it's been raining heavily these past days, washing away the soil on the embankment. He was riding his bike, and the bike light just happened to shine on the embankment, spotting a hand." As the three spoke, they already exited the alley, arriving at an open area. "Here it is, past that small garden."

The Central Garden of the northern district is the best greenery belt here. Various plants are planted by the lakeside, forming a small garden. Following Director Zhao's point, Wu Shuang saw the cordoned-off crime scene, and by then, many people had gathered around, with two officers guarding the side, preventing onlookers from approaching.

Mu Rongyun was already carrying a box and walking ahead, leaving Wu Shuang and Director Zhao behind. "Team Leader Wu, this forensic doctor really doesn't talk much." Director Zhao's impression of Mu Rongyun was still stuck on the previous analysis, and apart from that, he hadn't heard the person say much, which was very different from their local forensic examiners.

"Heh heh, let's head over first." Ignoring Director Zhao's gossipy inquiries, as she entered within the crime scene, Mu Rongyun was already climbing down the rope to the riverbank. Though the sky was clear now, the ground was still slippery from the rain. Wu Shuang wanted to go down but met Mu Rongyun's lifted gaze.

"Don't come down; this place can't bear more weight." Mu Rongyun warned Wu Shuang, with the soil beneath his feet being exceedingly slippery and soft, he could feel his feet sinking.

Wu Shuang became extremely obedient at this point, knowing that in such moments Mu Rongyun was just a forensic doctor, nothing else.

Mu Rongyun photographed the severely decomposed corpse, gently scraping with his fingers to easily extract a piece of adipose tissue. The fat, naturally decomposing under the damp, rain-soaked soil, appeared as though sliced by a blade, the tissue bearing fine markings. Combined with the recklessness during last night's excavation, the head had become unrecognizable, the epidermal tissue almost entirely stripped away, leaving just bone. The exterior eye was possibly pricked by something sharp and had rolled onto the sagging skin, looking quite terrifying. Faced with such a corpse, Mu Rongyun showed no reaction, diligently photographing various body parts, before climbing back up the rope to the bank.

"How is it?" Wu Shuang asked nervously.

"The damage is still severe. The head has largely been stripped away by tools. To identify, we'll need to compare photos." (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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