Chapter 136: Sun Bingxin

Once the dishes were served, Sun Bingxin looked at me and asked,"So, Brother Song Yang, do you have a girlfriend now?"

I shook my head. "Nope. You?"

She sighed. "Still the same old me. Always buried in books—where would I find time to date?"

I raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure a lot of guys must be after you."

She blushed and looked down. "Definitely not!"

At that moment, Wang Dali chimed in, "What a coincidence! I'm single too."

Sun Bingxin gave a polite smile, but nothing more. Wang Dali had no choice but to dig into his food silently. Despite being starving, both of us ate with a certain restraint in front of her. Sun Bingxin kept urging us to try this and that, even picking out the biggest piece of meat for me. I waved my hand, "Enough, really."

Just as she picked up a piece of braised pork, something caught my eye. I frowned."Hold on… something's wrong with the dish."

Sun Bingxin looked down and froze. Then she let out a piercing scream."A fly!"

There was indeed a dead fly in the dish—but not the usual kind. It was a small, metallic-green one. Wang Dali scoffed,"Come on, you two. We're seniors already. It's just a bug—pick it out and keep eating."

He reached out with his chopsticks to grab the fly, but I stopped him."That's not an ordinary fly…"

He stared at me with a mouthful of rice. "What kind is it then?"

Sun Bingxin answered,"It's a green bottle fly—usually found on corpses."

Wang Dali turned pale instantly. Trying not to throw up in front of her, he sprinted to a nearby trash can and gagged violently.

He came back wiping his mouth. "You think this meat is from a dead person?"

I picked up a piece and sniffed. "It's pork."

"Maybe from a dead pig," Sun Bingxin said, trying to rationalize. "No way it's from a corpse."

I thought the pork smelled fresh enough. "Let's go find out."

We headed to the kitchen window, and I got straight to the point."Excuse me, sir. We need to inspect the premises. I suspect there's a dead body somewhere inside."

The cook, who was busy stir-frying, didn't even flinch."Dead body? You students are wild. You've accused me of putting hair, nails, and bugs in the food—but this is the first time I've heard dead body. What'd you eat?"

He clearly wasn't taking me seriously. I flashed my consultant ID—just the cover.

That changed his tone real quick. "Officer! I swear there's no dead body here!"

"Then let us check."

"Sure, sure!" he nodded hastily.

Sun Bingxin peeked at my ID and admired it."So cool, Brother Song. Are you officially with the force?"

"Not exactly. I'm a consultant."

"Seriously? You've cracked seven cases and still aren't official? I'm telling my dad—you deserve a badge and a gun!"

I laughed. "Let's keep it low-key, Miss Director's Daughter. Your dad already offered. I declined."

Inside the kitchen, we checked everything—vegetables, meats, rice. I spotted a small door in the corner."What's in there?"

The chef replied, "Break room. I don't use it."

"Then who does?"

"There's this girl—working part-time while studying. She uses it to change clothes or rest. Comes in every day. Oddly enough, she didn't show up today and didn't call in."

I told him to open the door. He said the key wasn't with him.

So I borrowed two wires and picked the lock in seconds. Sun Bingxin looked stunned.

As I opened the door, I heard a loud buzzing.

"Back up," I warned.

The moment the door opened, a swarm of green bottle flies flew out. I shielded my face as the cook let out a scream.

Inside, lying facedown in the tiny room, was a naked corpse. The skin had turned dark brown, and the body was emaciated, like dried leather over bone. A mass of long black hair indicated it was a woman.

I expected Sun Bingxin to freak out—but she was eerily calm, only her pupils dilating slightly. Wang Dali, on the other hand, panicked and dove behind me.

"Seriously?" I said. "You're more scared than the girl!"

"T-That's a zombie!" he stammered.

I called Huang Xiaotao to report the body and asked the chef if this was the student girl.

But he was already on the floor, unconscious in a pile of cabbages. Looked like he had nothing to do with the murder—just scared stiff.

I still had my forensic kit on me and was getting ready to examine the body when Sun Bingxin said,"Give me a pair of gloves too!"

"No," I said. "Wait outside."

She pouted."Come on! Don't forget what I study. I've seen way worse in the lab—executed criminals with their brains spilling out. You once told me about Song Ci's legendary autopsy techniques. I've been dying to see them in action!"

I'd bragged to her back in the day. Wang Dali cut in, "Hey! I am Yang's assistant."

"Then hand me the gloves, Assistant," she snapped.

Wang Dali had no comeback. I sighed. "Just give her a pair. She's not going to leave."

The room was too small to work in, so I had Wang Dali lay out a waterproof tarp. We carefully moved the body without disturbing its posture. It was disturbingly light.

Sun Bingxin examined the corpse. "All muscle tissue has broken down. I'd say time of death was three or four days ago."

I shook my head. "Way off. Less than a day."

She was stunned. "But… look at the state of the body!"

"Common sense, Miss Sun," I replied. "The chef said she's here every day. Today's the first day she didn't show up. How could she have been dead for three days?"

She stuck out her tongue. "Too textbook, huh?"

"Try again. More precise this time."

I wanted to test her forensic chops. If she was just quoting textbooks, she wasn't ready.

She turned the body over and examined the pupils, rigor mortis, and livor mortis."Do you have a rectal thermometer?"

In traditional forensics, body temperature is measured by hand—but I had a thermometer in the kit for modesty's sake.

She measured and went pale."Estimated time of death: ten to twelve hours ago."

"Now that sounds right," I said.

"But then... how did the muscles dissolve so fast?"

"That's the mystery," I replied. "Could be related to the cause of death. Take another look."

She resumed examining. Her hair kept falling forward, so I tied it up with a band. She smiled sweetly,"Thanks, Brother Song."

Wang Dali made a dramatic "single dog" wiping-tears gesture. I ignored him.

As she worked, I used my Piercing Eye ability. I'd already seen it: no visible trauma, but a tiny puncture wound on her thigh.

Poison.

Eventually, Sun Bingxin looked up. "It must be poison."