CORPSE WHISPERER

I called Wang Dali back in. "Dali, I need you to get me a few things! I need towels, boiling water, a bucket, rope, an iron plate, an electric hot plate, white vinegar, and ginger."

"What about cumin and chili powder?" Wang Dali asked.

"Why would I need those?"

"Look at the stuff you're asking for! Isn't that basically everything for an iron plate BBQ?" Wang Dali wondered aloud.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Go, go, just get it for me!"

"About the money..." Wang Dali looked at me blankly.

Huang Xiaotao interjected, "Don't worry, I'll reimburse you afterward. Just remember to get a receipt."

I remembered something else. "Wait! Doesn Old Four in our dorm keep a few pots of succulents? Grab one for me."

"What for? Is the case too dull, you need a plant to liven things up?" Wang Dali clicked his tongue.

...

...

"Don't ask, just go!" I waved him off.

"Got it!" Wang Dali agreed and dashed out.

I searched the victim's clothes and found an ID card, student card, some loose change, a set of keys, a phone, and half a pack of Yuxi cigarettes. The IDs all bore the name Deng Chao. The phone was locked with a password. Huang Xiaotao asked an officer for some evidence bags and had the items bagged separately.

I stood up and surveyed the room. The music classroom was spacious. At the front was a podium, next to which stood an old-fashioned wooden piano facing the south windows, which were wide open. The building was old, lacking air conditioning, with ceiling fans hanging overhead.

"Strange, where's the victim's head?" I muttered, staring at the headless corpse.

I walked to the piano and pressed a key. No sound. Ah, this old type needed the pedal pressed to produce sound. Huang Xiaotao blinked at me curiously. "You play piano?"

"Of course not."

I ran my fingers down a row of keys. Several were stuck. Instantly sensing something wrong, I urgently called out, "Quick! Open the piano lid! There's something inside!"

When the lid was lifted, the officers present gasped in unison.

Inside the piano, many strings were broken. A tangled web of wires, like spider silk, ensnared a bloody, mangled head. A baseball cap lay beside it.

I rolled up my sleeves and reached in to retrieve the head. But the strings were hopelessly knotted, a chaotic mess. Pulling hard would likely tear off chunks of flesh.

Huang Xiaotao sent an officer for pliers. Soon, he returned with a pair borrowed from campus security. We carefully cut the wires entangling the head one by one. Finally, the head was freed!

I placed the head next to the headless body. The wound matched; it was clearly the same person. But the decay seemed odd. The skin had a greenish tinge, and the exposed flesh was starting to emit a putrid odor.

I also noticed damage on the back of the skull. Pressing gently, I felt fractured bone beneath the skin. The wound was bruised and suppurating. Applying slight pressure, a stream of foul, white pus oozed out, dripping onto my wrist.

"Hold still!" Huang Xiaotao said, pulling out a tissue and wiping my wrist clean. I thanked her.

"Any findings?" she asked.

"The head and body are definitely the same person. The head was severed with a sharp implement." I leaned closer and sniffed. "Seems something was applied to the head. Combined with the bacteria inside the piano, decomposition accelerated drastically. The face is almost unrecognizable."

"So, reconstruction is impossible?" Huang Xiaotao asked.

"Essentially, yes..." I mused. The two girls claimed they saw a female ghost in white playing the piano last night, then wires flying like spectral hair, severing Deng Chao's head.

Naturally, I didn't believe that. Otherwise, there'd be no point investigating!

The killer likely applied the substance to the head and placed it in the piano precisely to obscure its features.

In any headless corpse case, identifying the victim is paramount. If the head is missing or severely damaged, it always raises suspicion: is the killer trying to mislead? This tactic isn't new; ancient criminals used it. The Judge's Manuscript documented many similar cases. Therefore, I felt it crucial to investigate who this Deng Chao really was.

"Song Yang, do you think the head was severed by piano wire?" Huang Xiaotao asked.

"The cut surface is clean. I can only say it was done by a sharp implement. Piano wire, however, is strong enough to cut through a human body! I recall a case over a decade ago. The victim rode his motorcycle home late every night. The killer tied a piano wire across his route at neck height. As the victim passed, his head was sliced clean off. The headless corpse kept riding until it crashed into a roadside BBQ stall, terrifying many into madness. The case stumped numerous experts at the time," I explained slowly.

"Ah! You mean the 'Headless Rider' case from ten years ago!" Huang Xiaotao exclaimed, shocked. "I remember the police enlisted a mysterious figure to solve it. Wait... that case was never made public! How did you hear about it?"

"An old policeman told me," I said casually. In truth, it was my Grandfather who cracked it.

I scrutinized the neck wound again. Something felt off. The flesh was cut cleanly, but the cervical vertebrae bore faint friction marks.

I closed my eyes, then opened them, activating my Piercing Sight. On the vertebrae, I spotted minuscule black particles – metal shavings.

My conclusion: the flesh and bone were severed with different tools!

Just then, Wang Dali rushed back in, beaming. His left hand held a large bag, his right a thermos flask. "Yang'er! Got your stuff!"

I checked the bag. "Impressive! Got everything so fast."

"The rest was easy, but this iron plate? Had to borrow it from the BBQ joint off-campus. Gotta return it..." Wang Dali trailed off, his eyes suddenly fixed and wide. He'd spotted the head on the floor.

"Holy mother of—! Where did you find that bloody head? It's terrifying!" Wang Dali's face turned ashen.

"If you can't handle it, go take a walk. When you come back, bring a magnet and a sheet of white paper," I instructed.

"Hey! Why didn't you say so earlier? Making me run around again!" Wang Dali complained.

"Think of it as exercise. Lunch is on me later," I placated him, finally sending him off.

After Wang Dali left, I poured the hot water from the thermos into the bucket. I soaked the towels, wrung them out, and laid the steaming towels across the victim's chest.

As I began the examination, several officers gathered to watch. Huang Xiaotao asked curiously, "Why are you applying hot towels to his chest?"

"Didn't I say I'd prove the time of death? Watch closely!"

Once the chest area was softened by the heat, I turned the body over and applied hot towels to the back. After repeating this three times, confirming the muscles had softened sufficiently, I began pressing specific points on the back with a special technique.

Suddenly, without warning, the headless corpse jerked upright! A torrent of bloody ice shards erupted violently from the neck stump.

The officers gasped and stumbled backward, their faces pale with shock.