Chapter 75 - 74: Carving Flesh! Hostile to Men?

Several pieces of flesh were missing from the bodies.

The buttocks, the inner thighs, the pectoral muscles, the calves, and so on.

These areas all bore clear, distinct marks from being cut. There was no doubt this was the result of precise carving.

Unlike a frenzied murder, a single glance at these wounds revealed they were made quickly, precisely, and ruthlessly. There were no superfluous movements, no complex incisions. It was almost like a master butcher at work.

Of course, with this many bodies...

It would be hard *not* to get good at it.

Even a fool would become proficient after doing it dozens of times.

But then again, even if the perpetrator was a fool...

"There must be a reason for carving off the flesh... right?!"

Xu Huo’s brow furrowed as he murmured, various thoughts running through his mind.

"What could the flesh be used for?"

Qian Hua’s eyes were filled with confusion.

What could flesh be used for? Ordinarily, one would think it was for eating.

But upon further reflection, he realized it could be used for more than just that.

As fertilizer, or even for creating plagues like in ancient times—human flesh fit the criteria.

Just as everyone was lost in thought, there was sudden activity at the wellhead.

"Chief, another one’s coming up!"

A shout cut through their thoughts, and they turned to look.

Countless police officers were dry-heaving in the distance on either side of the well, while a Level 3 Police Chief fought back nausea, waving and shouting.

"Let’s go see."

Xu Huo didn’t hesitate. With this many dead, they had no reason to waste time.

The two of them jogged over, and as they slowed to a stop...

They saw the newly recovered body.

What a sight it was.

A head draped in putrid flesh the color and consistency of phlegm, clinging to the surface of the skull—a viscous, greenish-black mess!

The body was no longer intact; a slight tug would dislocate its joints.

The scene before them was composed of countless mucus-covered bone fragments.

The body, which had been retrieved by the officers who went down the well, reeked of rot.

When he caught the stench, Qian Sheng’s face changed drastically. A wave of nausea rose in his throat, and he nearly vomited on the spot.

"Just how many years has this been down there?!"

Qian Sheng was stunned, his expression incredibly grim.

Xu Huo crouched down, his gloved fingertips gently touching the corpse.

It felt viscous and soft, like touching silicone, but even softer.

"Another male?"

Xu Huo frowned. He hadn’t seen a single female body yet!

The bodies were tall and short, fat and thin; some had been strong in life, others frail. But overall, there wasn’t a single woman among them!

’Why no women?’

’From a physiological standpoint, women are generally weaker than men. This isn’t about an individual woman being strong, but about the group as a whole.’

’If the perpetrator was killing indiscriminately, then objectively, targeting women would have been more advantageous for them.’

’Why target men?’

’Did they want a challenge?’

’Or did they hate men?’

’That can’t be right... If it was driven by hostility, the method of killing should have shown signs of rage, which would have been obvious from the evidence.’

’But the evidence didn’t suggest that... So why did the killer exclusively target men?’

"Or are the female bodies still down there?"

Xu Huo frowned and leaned over to look into the well.

An overpowering stench rose from the well, so thick it felt tangible. It was pitch-black inside, making it impossible to see the bottom or any bodies below.

"What’s the situation with the bodies down there?" Xu Huo asked.

"I was just about to bring that up."

The Police Chief frowned, sighed, and a hint of worry crossed his eyes.

"What’s wrong?" Qian Hua asked, puzzled.

"The recovery operation in the well is currently stalled. I wouldn’t say further work is impossible, but the speed will be reduced by at least seventy percent!" the Police Chief said in a low voice.

"Seventy percent!?"

Qian Hua was stunned.

"That’s right. We’ve likely reached the bodies that are in a more advanced state of liquefaction. The skeletons fall apart at the slightest touch, and the viscous flesh has melted together, making it impossible to tell who is who or bring them out intact."

"We were originally planning to bring out sections of the bodies piece by piece, but the liquefied flesh just sloughs off the bone," the Police Chief said. He was still trying to figure out how to proceed with the work.

’How can you completely recover a liquefied body?’

’Scoop it out with pots and pans?’

’That’s not realistic. The evidence would be too severely damaged. Even if we got it out, it wouldn’t be of much use.’

’Most importantly...’

"The farther down we go, the greater the risk of injury," the Police Chief suddenly added, his eyes filled with concern as he watched several police officers vomiting in the distance.

"There are so, so many bacteria in that well. Chief, you know this. The slightest slip-up could lead to a permanent, lifelong injury, or even be life-threatening!"

Piles of corpses can cause disease, like the plagues of ancient times.

And when they dissolve into a liquid slurry, you get "corpse poison." There’s no cure for that stuff. If you get sick from it, it’s for life, a lifetime of suffering!

"Are there any women?" Xu Huo suddenly asked.

’Further recovery will be difficult, and they can’t very well destroy the well. But that’s not a major issue; we have intact bodies to work with.’

’Right now, I just want to know... are the victims really all male!?’

"Women?"

The Police Chief paused, then quickly waved over the few officers in charge of the recovery.

"The surface of the bodies is mostly dissolved. The sexual organs have rotted into mush. A light wipe with a hand and the flesh is gone. We can’t tell the gender. We’d need to run tests to have a chance," one of the officers said with a grimace.

"Besides, there are no lights inside. It’s pitch-black, we can’t see a thing..."

They couldn’t see. They couldn’t see anything at all.

Even if there were a living person down there, you probably wouldn’t notice them unless you were face-to-face.

Let alone a body rotted down to the skeleton!

"Is there any long hair in the liquefied remains?"

Xu Huo thought for a moment before posing the question from a different angle.

The officers considered this, then went to check the recovered slurry, and replied:

"No long hair."

"No long hair..."

Xu Huo’s brow furrowed.

Human hair takes a very long time to decompose, even longer than flesh!

If a person is buried in a coffin without cremation, they will likely be reduced to a pile of bones in about two to three years.

But their hair might not completely rot away for ten years!

The environment in the well would accelerate the hair’s decomposition, but there should still be some trace left.

Yet right now, there wasn’t a single strand of long hair. That could only mean...

"It’s highly likely that women have been excluded from the victim pool!"

Xu Huo paused. Instead of relaxing, his brow tightened even further.

’If the victims are only men, then...’

’Why?’

’Why only men?’

’And most importantly, why so many of them!’

Fourteen. That was the current count.

"The deaths are spaced out over at least three or four years. With so many people disappearing, why didn’t their families report them missing?"

Xu Huo’s words plunged Qian Hua and the others into silence.

They had reached fourteen without even clearing half of them. If they recovered them all, how many would there be?

At least thirty!

Thirty people! Forget a village, even in a town, if thirty men suddenly went missing, it would absolutely cause a huge stir and be known all over.

But this hadn’t even made a ripple.

"Get some people to confirm the identities of the deceased."

"And at the same time, conduct interviews with the townspeople who moved away."

After thinking for a long time, Xu Huo sighed. His only option was to have people conduct interviews.

The most recent death was a year and a half ago, and there was no one left in the vicinity. It was impossible to dig up any public information about this on their own.

"We’re short-staffed..."

Qian Hua sighed, clicking his tongue.

The police force has limited manpower.

The province had sent over a large number of officers to help with the explosion case, but they’ve already returned.

It wasn’t feasible to request them again. After all, they have their own jurisdictions to manage and a large backlog of official duties to handle. They don’t have the time to stay in Linlan City indefinitely.

"Besides, this work requires management-level police officers with a certain level of capability, and it’s even more impossible to transfer them from other cities."

If Linlan City had three or four major crime divisions, this problem could be solved. Three or four division chiefs and a few deputy chiefs would be enough.

But they only had one division, and only Qian Hua. Making him responsible for the crime scene, the interviews, and the internal case files... he was being worked harder than an animal. A middle-aged man like him would be worked to death.

"Never mind, let’s not talk about that for now."

Xu Huo shook his head, looking up at Qian Hua, his gaze growing serious.

"Hurry the medical examiners along. Once they arrive, make sure they complete the autopsy reports as quickly as possible. At the same time, start investigating human traffickers and organ transplantation."

Qian Hua paused, then understood.

"Got it!"

If one were to ignore the two key facts—that the victims were all male and that no one had been reported missing—there wasn’t much to guess.

The killer’s motive had to be related to the physical body.

And if it required a large number of human bodies and was profit-driven...

Then it was almost certainly connected to organ transplantation.

How great was the demand for such things?

Put it this way: in the market for organs, regardless of the country, the number of customers willing to pay was absurdly high!

Unfortunately, the number of people willing to donate organs was minuscule in comparison.

Thus, this trade in human bodies was born.

Take the legitimate and regulated examples, like the Bald Eagle from his previous life. They were the world’s largest exporter of blood.

And their underlings, during times of war...

When two armies fought, wounded soldiers taken off the field were sent to field hospitals not for precise suturing, but for anesthesia and organ harvesting.

That’s right. Wounded enemy combatants weren’t treated; their organs were harvested for transplantation into others.

Additionally, the Bald Eagle’s "father" possessed the world’s largest skin bank.

All of this demonstrated just how much value organs could generate.

And the black market is always driven by profit, leading to a slew of people engaging in this illegal industry.

"The interviews might take a while. The residents of Zhang Family Town are widely scattered. Many don’t even have contact numbers, and some have even officially changed their residence," Qian Hua mentioned beforehand.

"I know. I’m not asking for speed, just accuracy."

Xu Huo nodded.

There hadn’t been a soul in Zhang Family Town for over a year.

And even if they found people who lived here a few years ago, they might not have any useful information.

The well was in a remote location. Once faucets were installed years ago, this kind of well became obsolete.

Furthermore, since this deep well wasn’t seeping any water, it was likely dry, making it even more unlikely that anyone would come near it.

Watching Qian Hua leave to assign the tasks, Xu Huo turned back, his gaze falling upon the bodies under the tent as he once again sank into thought.

’As I thought before, if it weren’t for the fact that all the victims were men, organ trafficking would be the most likely motive.’

’But...’

’Not all the bodies had their organs cut out with a knife!’

’Moreover, the killer’s method was brutal. Stabbing the abdomen three times from the front would have damaged the organs beyond repair, making them more diseased than a sick patient’s.’

’These organs were completely unusable.’

’In that case, why remove the organs at all?’

’And...’

’There’s also the neatly carved flesh from the buttocks, thighs, and calves.’

’What could the killer possibly do with that stuff!?’

Just as he was pondering this, a voice suddenly sounded by his ear.

"Advisor Xu, someone is here to see you."

Xu Huo snapped out of his thoughts, momentarily stunned.

"Someone’s here for me?"

A Police Chief nodded.

"Yes, I think his name is..."

"Li Jianye?"