CH 45

After going downstairs, Gu Xizhou followed the GPS navigation all the way, in addition to the location Fang Zhi sent, before he got to Phoenix Mountain.

At the foot of Phoenix Mountain, the moment Gu Xizhou parked his car. 

Sweat dripping off his forehead, Fang Zhi was chugging a bottle of mineral water when he saw the Land Rover parked in front of him. He immediately waved at the person inside and called out, “Gu Ge!”

“En.” Gu Xizhou got out of the car, locked the doors, took a look at the high mountain in front of him, and said, “Let’s go. We’ll talk as we walk.”

Fang Zhi nodded, holding two bags of mineral water. Gu Xizhou reached out to help him carry one of them.

“Gu Ge, you just got back from a mission world……” Fang Zhi asked in a low voice as they walked up the mountain side by side. 

Gu Xizhou summarised his experience in the previous mission world for Fang Zhi. Fang Zhi clicked his tongue, and when he heard about the faceless women that came out of the walls, his blood froze and he repeatedly swallowed his saliva.

When he heard about what Gu Xizhou experienced while being attached to the deceased in the door, Fang Zhi was silent for a moment, then said, “They are indeed very pitiful. History can’t be changed, but in today’s society everyone is equal.”

Gu Xizhou saw the rueful look on his face and suddenly understood why Gu Ji Ji would make Fang Zhi his deputy despite being a newbie. They were really birds of a feather.

“You’re right. Now men and women are equal, and marriage and divorce are both up to the individual,” Gu Xizhou said softly, then changed the topic, “Tell me about the situation on the mountain.”

Fang Zhi nodded, “A few… um… unusual young people went up the mountain for a picnic. One of them brought a dog, and the plastic bag containing the dismembered corpse was found when the dog was digging pits.”

“A number of plastic bags containing body fragments have been found. The corpse has rotted and the forensic doctor’s preliminary judgment of the time of death is about four days.”

Gu Xizhou frowned and asked, “Is there anything that can serve as proof of identity?”

“No. There are a few pieces of bloodstained clothes, but nothing that can prove identity for the time being,” Fang Zhi frowned and said. 

Gu Xizhou had read all the books in Gu Ji Ji’s house, and could be said to have handled some cases, albeit accidentally. Nevertheless, he did have some experience, and could feel a headache coming on upon hearing Fang Zhi’s words.

The most important thing when investigating a case would be to confirm the identity of the victim; this first step is critical. It was precisely because this was a case of corpse dismemberment that it would be so difficult to find the right person with only some clothes and DNA, not to mention the missing skull. This was the hardest kind of case to investigate.

Climbing up the mountain, Gu Xizhou pulled up the yellow warning tape and entered the scene, handing the water in his hand to Fang Zhi next to him. Fang Zhi quickly gave the water out to all his colleagues, especially the two female police officers.

Gu Xizhou looked to Xiang Yuan. With plastic gloves on, this guy was rummaging through the bag containing the dismembered corpse in a practised manner, his face perfectly calm. The female forensic doctor next to him who had just arrived helped in the checking, frowning slightly. 

Xiang Yuan leaned towards the bag, gently fanned above it, and sniffed……

Next to him, Fang Zhi’s face turned ashen when he saw this, and could not help but retch. Gu Xizhou patted him.

“Xiao Fang, you can’t be like this. Even our female colleagues are more composed than you.” Xiang Yuan raised his head and said when he heard the sound of retching.

“It’s not… Xiang Ge you’re too……” Fang Zhi patted his chest, his face still pale, “What you did just now was just like a psycho.” 

“You’re the psycho, I’m just being level-headed and responsible for my work!” Xiang Yuan pressed his lips together as he straightened to report the situation to Gu Xizhou, “The time of death is 4-5 days, the corpse preliminary judged to have been cut by an electric saw. Some body fragments, including the skull, haven’t been found. They’re searching the mountain with police dogs, but nothing has turned up yet, so it’s not very optimistic.”

“DNA extraction won’t be an issue. The problem is in determining the source of the corpse.”

Gu Xizhou waved his hand, “Okay, Fang Zhi has already briefed me on the situation while coming up just now. Let me have a look first.”

Despite its name, Phoenix Mountain was not some tourist attraction. In fact, it was just an ordinary hill, not too high, with some trees planted. It was located in the Ningqing suburbs and rarely tread by people. Only in spring and autumn would nearby residents sometimes come to fly kites. 

Gu Xizhou looked around. Looking down from the mountain, he saw six young men with classic ‘smart’ hairstyles pulled aside by several police officers. They had large tattoos of dragons and white tigers drawn on their left and right arms respectively, like ruffians and hooligans.

“Kfii wf atf vfajlir bo olcvlcu atf mbgqrf.” Ycf bo atf qbilmf boolmfgr kjr wjxlcu gfmbgvr bc j cbafybbx, jcv tjv pera gfmbgvfv atf qfgrbcji lcobgwjalbc bo atf rlz qfbqif, lcmievlcu atflg lvfcalalfr jcv cjwfr.

“Qf kfgf yjgyfmelcu pera cbk, jcv atlr lvlba vbu kjr wjxlcu j iba bo cblrf, rb P atgfk j Mglryff obg tlw ab qijs ofamt klat. Dea atfc atlr lvlba vbu gjc boo jcv vlvc’a yglcu atf Mglryff yjmx, yea ygbeuta tjio j tjcv lcrafjv……” Ycf bo atf rlz, j yibcv, wbjcfv klat j ibcu ojmf. Ktf terxs mgbemtlcu cfza ab tlw tjv tlr abcuef tjculcu bea bo tlr ylu wbeat, jcv kjr ibbxlcu fjufgis ja tlr wjrafg. 

“I was fucking scared to death……”

Blondie spoke emotionally, and with his tattooed arms, it was truly a sight to see. After going over, Gu Xizhou stood to the side and listened quietly.

“You only found the one bag?”

Blondie drew back his neck, “You don’t say! We called the police the moment we found this one bag. I even had to trade a piece of roast meat to get that hand out of this idiot dog’s mouth.” 

“Dear officer, although my fingerprints are on that hand, I certainly didn’t kill anyone! This has to be made clear!”

“It’s all this idiot dog’s fault, scaring laozi to death.”

“Woof woof woof woof!”

It might’ve been the way Blondie kept saying “idiot dog idiot dog”, but the husky crouching beside him thought his master was calling him and responded with barks, sticking his tongue out to lick the hand Blondie had let fall by his trousers. 

“The fuck are you barking for?! Don’t lick laozi with the mouth you’ve just kept a human hand in, I’ll let the police take you away later!” Blondie slapped the husky on the head, “Damn it, what the fuck was I thinking then, buying this idiot husky?!”

Blondie’s friend answered, “You might as well toss him at the first opportunity then.”

“How could I do that? I’ve already bought him, if I toss him… what if he starves, is beaten, gets eaten……”

“Woof woof woof!” 

As Blondie talked, when he heard the sound of dog barking, he slapped the husky on the head again, “You better not bring laozi back a human hand again. Be a humane dog.”

The police officer next to him let out a laugh, “Answer properly.”

“Yes yes, of course, officer!” Blondie said with an apologetic smile.

Gu Xizhou took a step forward and let the police officers who had been inquiring about the situation take a rest. “Did you see anyone else on the mountain while barbecuing?” 

“No, very few people come around here, we too made arrangements a long time ago. Those bags are all buried in the soil, if it wasn’t for this idiot dog, who would have thought there’d be a corpse here……”

Another person added, “We only know about this mountain because we used to live here. Most people don’t even know such a place exists.”

Gu Xizhou nodded. This place was not even on the GPS; he’d had to rely on the location Fang Zhi sent to get here. Few people indeed.

“Well, thank you guys,” Gu Xizhou said. 

“Of course, of course…… uh…… officer, can I go now? I’m a bit scared…… I have something on at home.” 

“All your personal information have been recorded?”

Blondie quickly nodded, “Recorded!”

“Well, if you think of anything, please remember to contact us. You may go now.” 

With that, the six ‘smart’ young men left. Gu Xizhou turned and saw Xiang Yuan spreading his hands.

After another hour of searching, the rest of the body fragments remained missing. Gu Xizhou had no choice but to let some people take the corpse and forensic doctors back to perform the forensic examination first, while he brought Fang Zhi along to ask around and see if any of the nearby residents knew anything.

Just as Blondie had described, there were few households living in the vicinity, and it was only after walking for one whole kilometre that Gu Xizhou saw the first one. Fang Zhi went forward and knocked on the door, and after a short while a plump middle-aged man came out.

“Hello, we’d like to inquire about something.” 

Looking at the uniformed Fang Zhi, the man seemed a little afraid of him, “H-hello officers, what do you want to ask?”

“Do you know of Phoenix Mountain?” Gu Xizhou asked.

“I do, it’s just a little hill, not that big……” The man was completely at a loss, not understanding why the two police officers were asking about Phoenix Mountain, “Why do you ask?”

“I’m the one asking questions here, you just answer,” Gu Xizhou said, “Are you often home?” 

“Yes.”

“Have you seen anyone strange in the last few days?”

The man thought about it and shook his head, “No……”

“You seemed very nervous when you saw us just now?” Gu Xizhou asked casually. 

The middle-aged man shook his head like a rattle-drum, saying, “No, no! Most people will be nervous when they see the police suddenly appear at their door……”

“Not normally, no,” Gu Xizhou looked at him coldly and said.

“I……” The man was startled by Gu Xizhou’s expression. It was then that Gu Xizhou heard several voices swearing from far away.

“That son-of-a-bitch named Zhu, fucking taking advantage of Grandmother Liang’s son’s absence, damn it, laozi is going to fucking beat you to death……” 

Full of punk vibes, several aggressive ‘smarts’ pulled up their sleeves, showing their large tattooed arms, but they suddenly lost their voices when they saw Gu Xizhou and Fang Zhi. 

Blondie, “Hahaha…… hello officers…… what a coincidence!”

The people who came were the same ‘smarts’ who had told Gu Xizhou they were scared on Phoenix Mountain, and the middle-aged man in front of Gu Xizhou was the ‘son-of-a-bitch’ Blondie was talking about.

“Dear officers, look at them! They want to beat me up! I want to sue them!” The man named Zhu said anxiously as he hid behind Fang Zhi. 

“They haven’t hit you yet,” Gu Xizhou took a look at him and said.

The man named Zhu, “……”

“Shit!” Blondie struck the door and shook his fist, “You bastard, just fucking taking advantage of Grandmother Liang’s son being out of town, stealing her ducks and chickens. How shameless are you? You disgrace us men! Come out if you have the balls, laozi will teach you to be a man today!”

Gu Xizhou, “……” 

Fang Zhi, “……”

Blondie noticed the two police officers and laughed awkwardly, “Officers, I’m just talking about it…… Hahaha, I didn’t really hit him, hahaha……”

Gu Xizhou waved his hand, and knew why the middle-aged man was afraid. He must have been stealing around here, so he was afraid to find them knocking on his door.

“Well, we’re done here,” Gu Xizhou said lightly, “You can handle your own affairs. Don’t hit anyone. Um…… If there’s a thief, you can call the police.” 

“Understood!” Blondie and his ‘smart’ brothers nodded like chicks pecking rice, “Bye, officers!”

The two left and got in the car, and Fang Zhi suddenly burst into laughter.

“What are you laughing about?” Gu Xizhou glanced at him and asked.

Fang Zhi smiled, “I’m just thinking that Blondie is quite interesting. He’s got two large tattooed arms and has such a burly physique, but is unexpectedly quite a good person.” 

Gu Xizhou thought for a moment and said, “Perhaps this is a real noble ‘smart’.”

Fang Zhi, who had been drinking water, spit out a mouthful, choking.

“Cough, cough…… cough, cough……”

Gu Xizhou handed him a piece of tissue, stared ahead indifferently and focused on driving. 

Next to him, Fang Zhi covertly snuck a glance at him from the rearview mirror.

“What are you looking at?” Gu Xizhou gave Fang Zhi a side-eye, “Is there something on my face?”

Fang Zhi quickly waved his hand, “No…… It’s just that I suddenly realised that Gu Ge is quite humorous.”

Gu Xizhou, “……”  

After inquiring a few more households who all denied seeing anyone, Gu Xizhou drove back to the police station. The moment he got to the door of the forensic doctor’s room, he met Xiang Yuan, who was holding a cup in his hand. Gu Xizhou lowered his head and took a look.

Oh hey, jujube and goji berry tea, quite healthy eh.

“How is it going?” Gu Xizhou asked, “Any leads?”

“The corpse isn’t whole; the skull and some organs are missing. No birthmarks and the like on the body. A ticket automatically printed by a parking machine was found in his clothes and is in the process of restoration. Otherwise, how about letting family members who recently reported missing persons to come for corpse identification?” Xiang Yuan suggested. 

Gu Xizhou, “Sure, we’ll take a two-pronged approach! Inform the family members who’ve recently reported missing persons to come and take a look at the clothes. Don’t show them the corpse, or there’ll certainly be earth-shattering wailing.”

“En.”

Glacestorm: Hi guys! I’m the new translator for this novel. Please look forward to new chapter releases every Wednesday at 3pm (GMT+8) as we follow Gu Xizhou and Si Yu’s adventures through the spirit mission worlds!