Chapter 276: A Gruesome Discovery

Chapter 276: The Perfect Dismemberment of a Living Person

“Jiang Xiuran, Male, 26, from Bincheng. Divorced, living alone, and without a stable job; before his death he worked as a freelance delivery rider through a certain app—more like a part-time courier…”

After completing the scene investigation and retrieving the victim’s data, Guo Qiang reported before glancing at Xiao Yu, who was lost in thought. “Since this is an old neighborhood with subpar Tianyan Surveillance, the body was dumped between 9 and 11 PM—making it impossible to pinpoint. The killer deliberately evaded the cameras by choosing this spot. The scene left little useful evidence except for those bizarre, oversized shoe prints. It seems the killer intentionally disguised them to mislead the police…”

Time was too short to gather more than the basic identity of the victim.

A comprehensive investigation would require more time.

Indeed, the scene revealed very little of value.

The lone shoe print was peculiarly off.

A size 55 shoe print?

Come on, who has feet that big?

There’s no need to overthink it; the killer’s choice of footwear when dumping the body was clearly abnormal.

No surveillance, no witnesses, no clues.

Even veteran detectives would be stumped by a case like this.

To make matters worse…

This case happened to fall within the Criminal Investigation Team’s jurisdiction…

“First, let’s check the victim’s home,” someone ordered.

Snapping back to reality, Xiao Yu burped.

After downing two boxes of milk, at least he wasn’t hungry anymore.

Oddly enough, why hadn’t the system alerted him?

Xiao Yu’s earlier preoccupation was exactly due to that very question.

He got into the police car.

About twenty minutes later, they arrived at the victim’s home.

A criminal police officer was already stationed there, and the door had been forced open by a locksmith.

Donning shoe covers, Xiao Yu stepped into the small foyer.

Jiang Xiuran’s modest home was a one-bedroom, one-living room apartment of just over fifty square meters.

There were still traces left from his wedding days.

According to the records:

Jiang Xiuran, married for barely over a year, had divorced his wife just six months ago.

His ex-wife now lived with her parents along with their one-year-old daughter.

The reason for the divorce remains unclear and requires further investigation.

A thorough search turned up no suspicious evidence.

“Retrieve the neighborhood surveillance footage and track the victim’s movements—see if anything unusual emerges,” was the instruction.

Xiao Yu left the victim’s home and drove to the Forensic Department.

For what purpose?

To re-examine the body…

……

At the Forensic Department’s autopsy room,

on his second visit, Xiao Yu still felt a deep unease.

The grim atmosphere and overpowering stench of decay were nearly unbearable.

Watching He Li handle the autopsy tools over the dismembered, scattered corpse,

Xiao Yu’s discomfort only deepened.

It felt as if he had stepped into a slaughterhouse.

And in that slaughterhouse, a human life was being savagely taken!

“You’re here?”

Wearing a mask, He Li turned to glance at her junior. “Wait a moment.”

She removed her latex gloves, casually tossing them aside before taking off her mask.

“Found something?”

Xiao Yu studied the corpse pieces on the autopsy table and smirked.

“Something you definitely don’t want to know.”

He Li’s expression was a strange mix of solemnity and shock, as if she’d seen a ghost.

That look made Xiao Yu’s heart skip a beat.

“Don’t tell me…”

Xiao Yu fixed his gaze on He Li. “There’s no trace of drugs, right?”

“Right!”

He Li nodded emphatically. “You’re correct!”

“It can’t be…” Xiao Yu muttered, shaking his head.

He immediately dismissed that possibility.

But why?

Because no one could possibly endure the horror of witnessing their own body being torn apart.

That agony is something no normal person could bear… Huh?

Xiao Yu then considered another possibility.

There exists a baffling condition in this world… congenital insensitivity to pain!

What kind of disease is that?

A very few individuals, either by birth or later in life, simply cannot feel pain.

They are unable to react appropriately to pain, missing crucial warnings.

Complete loss of pain sensitivity means they fail to detect harmful stimuli.

Moreover, patients with this condition are prone to severe self-harm.

Globally, there are fewer than 40 known cases of congenital insensitivity to pain.

To this day, it remains a mystery in the medical world…

“It must be congenital insensitivity to pain!”

He Li explained professionally, “It’s highly likely that this was the victim’s condition—unrecorded in any medical files.”

So it was indeed that… Xiao Yu’s face darkened.

Gazing at a metal tray holding a severed head, he saw the victim’s face twisted into a macabre expression.

No wonder his face showed that eerie look after death.

You could even call it a grim relief.

This case is a complete mess!

How so?

If any trace of drugs had been found in the body,

they could have followed the trail to catch the killer.

But what if the victim suffered from insensitivity to pain?!

“I have another finding.”

He Li pointed at the corpse on the autopsy table, indicating the neatly severed limbs. “The incisions on the body’s extremities are absolutely flawless!”

Flawless… Xiao Yu was taken aback. He stepped closer, bent over to examine the body meticulously, his face grim.

It truly was perfect!

Whether it was the palms, arms, legs, or even the head,

every cut was made with a single, clean stroke!

“What’s so perfect about that?”

With the right tool, such a cut shouldn’t be too hard, right?

No—it might seem simple, but 90% of people couldn’t manage it!

Some wouldn’t even know how to do it.

Upon close examination of the cut marks, Xiao Yu noticed that every incision skillfully avoided the joints.

Every cut was made with one precise stroke!

Based on my years of experience—0.8…

He Li, her expression heavy with uncertainty, continued, “The killer must have an intimate knowledge of human anatomy—especially the joints. Look at the victim’s neck; a single chop on the throat would normally catch on the bone. Yet he perfectly avoided the trachea, slicing through the victim’s neck and severing the cervical vertebrae!”

An isolated incident might be a coincidence; do it twice, and it’s clearly planned.

But… the hands, arms, calves, thighs, and head!

Nine cuts split the body into ten pieces.

Could that still be a coincidence?

Straightening up, Xiao Yu’s gaze drifted away from the ten separated parts.

It truly was perfect.

Someone had turned a human body into art.

They executed a perfect… dismemberment of a living person!