Chapter 1

I'm a detective in City S.

Ever since graduating from the police academy, I'd dreamed of solving major cases and cold cases, seeing my name on the force's internal commendation list, and becoming a police officer worthy of the name.

That summer, I finally received my first major case.

I never imagined how horrifying it would be.

In the middle of a summer street lay a woman's body, stripped of its internal organs.

Her lifeless eyes stared at the sky, beyond joy or sorrow.

Greenbottle flies, thriving in the oppressive southern heat, crawled in and out among her flesh and bones.

Disgusting.

That was my first thought when I saw the victim outside the computer market.

The police car pulled up beside the market, its siren blaring.

By the time I got out, several officers had cordoned off the scene and dispersed the curious crowd.

“Captain Lu, you're here.”

Li, the local officer, spotted me from a distance and hurried over to shake my hand.

“What's wrong?”

I looked at him suspiciously.

“Just... go and see for yourself. She's over there. I...”

Before he could finish, he clapped a hand over his mouth and ran.

Soon, I heard retching in the distance.

I sighed softly and put on a thick mask.

The moment I'd stepped out of the car, I'd smelled the heavy stench of death.

It stung my eyes, but I ducked under the tape and approached the body beneath the white sheet.

I pulled it back.

A buzz.

Several greenbottles shot into the air as a dreadful wave of decay struck me in the face.

My head swam.

I forced myself to look.

The victim's face was partially decomposed.

Red-black flesh clung to darkened bone.

Maggots had eaten away her eyelids, leaving her damaged eyeballs exposed.

They seemed to stare straight at me.

A chill ran down my back.

Pulling the sheet all the way down revealed something worse.

Her chest had been split open.

The sternum was turned outward, as though someone had torn it apart by force.

Sharp ends of bone pierced the flesh like an animal's fangs.

Below her chest, the entire abdominal cavity had been emptied.

The thick smell of blood mixed with the stench of decay made me want to vomit.

Greenbottles and countless insects I couldn't name crawled in and out of her body, testing the limits of human endurance.

“Lu, the pathologist's finished. Her liver and other internal organs are gone. So are her corneas. Preliminary time of death is around two yesterday morning.”

My partner, Xiao Cheng, crouched beside me.

He looked as sick as I felt, his voice muffled behind his mask.

“Murder for organs. They took the valuable parts.”

I fought the churning in my stomach.

We exchanged a glance and saw the same weight in each other's eyes.

“Have you contacted the market owner? The scene's right by the back entrance. Maybe the security cameras caught something.”

“We have. You know him too. Yu Tian. We only found out today he opened this place with a partner two years ago.”

Xiao Cheng rubbed his forehead and sighed helplessly.

The name gave me an instant headache.

That seasoned thug was famous for arguing black was white.

He'd been in prison several times for all kinds of offenses, large and small.

If he was mixed up in this case, it wouldn't be simple.

I was still five or six meters from the interview room when I heard his shrill, ducklike voice.

“This is unlawful detention! I told you, I don't know anything! You haven't got proof I'm involved! I'll sue you! Give me your badge number! None of you will get away with this!”

I pushed open the door.

The moment he saw me, he raised his voice.

“Captain Lu! You've got the wrong man, haven't you? Even if you want a quick arrest to boost your record, you can't just grab anyone! I've always been a model, law-abiding citizen. Or haven't the envelopes I've given you been thick enough?”

I coughed once and looked at him coldly.

“Watch your attitude, Yu Tian. If you're not involved, we'll clear your name. For now, cooperate with the investigation.”

Cunning flashed in his eyes.

He rubbed his hands like an old monkey.

“Yes, yes. Captain Lu's right. I'll cooperate. Of course.”

I didn't take the bait.

“Where were you last night?”

He looked up as if thinking.

“Last night? Last night... can't really remember. Drinking with some friends, then I found a girl. You wouldn't believe how smooth her skin was—”

Xiao Cheng slammed the table.

“Yu Tian! Take this seriously! Keep your answers relevant. Everything you say is going on record!”

Yu Tian snorted.

“So what? A fine? I've got plenty of money!”

Xiao Cheng's face reddened.

He was about to hit the table and shout again when I stopped him.

Trading insults with a street thug like Yu Tian was pointless.

What struck me as strange was that he'd once been a shiftless hoodlum who could never keep five yuan in his pocket.

In two years, he'd suddenly become rich.

Not only had he bought the computer market, he now looked as though a fine of a few hundred or a few thousand yuan wouldn't make him blink.

Still, that clearly wasn't my priority right now.

I tapped my pen on the table.

“Mind your attitude. The sooner you answer, the sooner you can go. Again: where were you last night? And where's the footage from the back entrance? We'd like you to provide it.”

He suddenly looked tense.

“Didn't I say? Drinking with friends, then I found a girl. Her skin was so—”

At the look on my face, he swallowed the rest.

“Captain Lu, no harm in telling the truth, right? We don't actually have surveillance. The camera up there is just for show. You know how much it cost to scrape together enough to open this place. Where would I find money for a camera system?”

I had no words.

I'd expected an important lead.

Instead, it was a bucket of cold water over my head.

No crucial surveillance footage.

We'd have to start with the victim's connections.

But where?

“Captain Lu, can I leave now? Something this big's happened at the market. Someone has to deal with it. It won't do if I don't go back, will it?”

After my long silence, Yu Tian asked loudly.

I didn't answer.

My mind was in knots.

I simply waved him away.

He'd been waiting for that.

He jumped up, opened the door, and slipped out.

Before leaving, he even gave Xiao Cheng, who'd been glaring at him throughout, a provocative wink.

I heard his footsteps recede.

Then, before long, they came hurrying back.

The door opened.

He poked his head inside, panting.

“Oh, right, Captain Lu. If you're looking into the victim, I've got a lead.”

I immediately perked up.

“A lead would be great. Come in and sit down.”

Yu Tian smiled with narrowed eyes.