Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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The call was from the police, and they said that Zheng Yu had drowned in the river.
As an old member of the corpse recovery team, it was impossible for him to be a bad swimmer, but in the end, he drowned in the water.
It sounded funny, yet scary.
When Zheng Yu fell into the water, his mobile phone accidentally fell on the river beach and was picked up by a kind-hearted citizen who called the police. The police happened to see the call from Guan Shui at the top and called back according to the number.
After all, Zheng Yu was still a member of the corpse recovery team, so Captain Guan and Guan Shui had no choice but to go and claim the body first. Jiang Lan thought about it and suggested going with them to take a look.
Before leaving, they returned to the ward to inform Zhang Zi of Zheng Yu’s death.
Zhang Zi was able to act calmly and composedly before, but after learning that Zheng Yu was dead, his face turned pale and even his lips were trembling.
Guan Shui was completely fed up with this junior fellow apprentice and warned him, “We’ll talk about your matter after we get back. You should stay in the hospital and recover from your injuries. And think about whether you should tell the truth.”
Zhang Zi looked so frightened that he didn’t even say anything after hearing, “If you keep holding back, you might be the next one.”
The three of them drove to the riverside where Zheng Yu had the accident.
The section where Zheng Yu had the accident was an undeveloped area. Because the flood season had not yet arrived, the water level was not high, and a large area of the river beach was exposed. The river beach was flat and overgrown with weeds, and people often came here to relax.
Zheng Yu’s body was discovered by passers-by who were strolling on the river beach.
When Jiang Lan and his team arrived, Zheng Yu’s body had already been collected and placed on the river beach, and the police were investigating the scene.
There were many passers-by milling curiously around, talking about what happened at that time.
“How could someone drown in such a shallow river?”
“When someone first found him, he was tangled up in seaweeds, his hands and feet were tangled tightly, and he was face down in the water.”
“I don’t know how long he stayed in the water. His stomach was so swollen that it felt like it would burst if someone poked it. I don’t know how much water he drank…”
Following the onlookers’ words, Jiang Lan looked at Zheng Yu’s body. The belly of the corpse covered with white cloth was indeed bulging very high, and looked even more exaggerated than that of a pregnant woman in her tenth month of pregnancy.
Captain Guan and his apprentice crossed the cordon, reported their identities, and discussed the situation with the police.
As they were talking, they heard the crowd suddenly scream in fear: “It’s burst! It’s burst! The stomach has burst!”
They subconsciously turned around and saw that Zheng Yu’s bulging belly was gradually deflating, and the white cloth covering it was gradually soaked by mottled blood, and something could be vaguely seen wriggling underneath.
The crowd had already moved far away, watching the scene with fear and curiosity, and some even took out their phones to record videos.
The police quickly blocked the cameras and boldly unveiled the white cloth.
Under the white cloth, Zheng Yu’s belly, which was swollen and had turned white, was like a piece of violently torn rag, hanging in pieces. A nest of water snakes crawled out of Zheng Yu’s ruptured belly. After the water snakes, large and small fishes jumped out with flapping tail fins, fell on the river beach and jumped non-stop.
The internal organs had been eaten out, and as the snakes and fish jumped out, a lot of internal organ fragments also jumped out sporadically. Those who could not bear this scene began to vomit on the spot.
This scene was truly horrifying and disgusting.
The fish that fell on the river beach gradually became motionless due to lack of water, but the water snakes slid towards the shallow water with their tongues hissing out.
The police officer closest to the body turned pale and explained, using great effort to remain calm: “It is not uncommon for fish and shrimp to get into the stomach of a drowned person…”
No one responded to him. Even the experienced policeman was frightened by this scene.
The leading police officer said, “Let’s go back first.”
So Jiang Lan and the other two followed him to the police station.
The van followed the police car, and it was Captain Guan who was driving. Compared to Guan Shui, whose hands were shaking with panic, Captain Guan was more experienced and at least could drive steadily.
Guan Shui kept muttering, “What on earth did they do? Are they really being taken revenge against and thus killed by the turtles?”
Even if it was revenge, this kind of death was too horrifying.
Jiang Lan frowned slightly and said, “Send someone to the hospital to look after Zhang Zi and don’t let him run away. Those turtles seem to have lost their patience.”
From simply following in the beginning, to trying to hurt people later, to Zheng Yu’s death today… This process had lasted for about half a month. If they thought in a human way, these turtles had completely lost their patience and were ready to fight to the death.
Zhang Zi was relatively safe in the hospital for now, but if he ran away with ill intentions, he might end up like Zheng Yu.
Guan Shui was already confused, so naturally he listened to whatever Jiang Lan said. He quickly called his other fellow apprentice and asked them to go to the hospital to look after Zhang Zi.
Hearing that the other party was going to the hospital immediately, he breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back in his seat tiredly.
….
After the three arrived at the police station, they were taken away to give their statement.
Guan Shui was afraid that the police would not believe them and was hesitating whether to tell the truth. But Captain Guan had already told them everything, even his own guesses.
He took a cigarette out of the box and twisted it with his fingers a few times but did not light it.
“I know you young people may not believe this,” Captain Guan said in a voice full of vicissitudes, his old face adding a bit of solemnity to his words, “but these are all experiences passed down by the older generation. I have been fishing for corpses in the water with my father since I was sixteen, and it has been thirty-two years now. I have encountered many strange things over the years, and it is all thanks to the rules passed down by the older generation that I have been able to live to this age.”
“The corpse recovery team recovers hundreds or even thousands of corpses every year, and I have handled countless corpses. This is the only one I have ever seen who suffered such a torture.” The wrinkles on Captain Guan’s face deepened. “He didn’t drown. He was still alive when those things got into his stomach and he died after that.”
His voice was slightly trembling as he said: “They have caused a big disaster!”
The police officer who was taking the statement was horrified and said dryly, “This… let’s wait for the results of the forensic autopsy to come out before we talk about it.”
How could a living person allow snakes and fish to enter his stomach?
Captain Guan shook his head and sighed deeply, then bit his cigarette butt and stopped talking. Guan Shui was even more numb, sitting in a chair blankly, not knowing what he was thinking.
Jiang Lan, the only normal person, looked like an outlier. The police officer who was taking the statement glanced at him and said, “You said you saved the dead man the night before? He was being dragged into the river by a turtle?”
Jiang Lan corrected him, “There were more than a dozen of them, each as big as a millstone.”
The young policeman’s expression was obviously suspicious, and he asked, “Did you know each other before? Did you have any conflict after you rescued the deceased from the water?”
Jiang Lan blinked: “Are you doubting me?”
He had a harmless and innocent look, and he looked even more innocent when he asked this question with his eyes wide open.
The police officer who was conducting the routine questioning felt his conscience prick. He could only frown and say seriously, “We are just following the procedure. Don’t worry, we will not let a bad guy go, but we will not wrongly accuse a good guy either.”
Jiang Lan said, “If you don’t believe me, I have a friend who can testify. I went for a walk on Jiangbin Avenue with my friend that day.”
In the end, Ying Qiao came to the police station.
When he arrived, Jiang Lan was sitting in the hall, sipping a cup of tea, looking obedient and helpless.
Ying Qiao strode forward, rubbed his head, and said helplessly: “Is this the nth time I have come to the police station to pick you up?”
When the young policeman next to him heard this, his eyes immediately shot over like searchlights.
Jiang Lan met the other person’s gaze and said innocently, “I was just helping the police solve a case.” He then added with a slightly smug tone, “The police from Caiyang District even gave me a banner.”
It turned out to be a misunderstanding. The policeman withdrew his extremely vigilant gaze and asked, “Is this your friend?”
After Jiang Lan confirmed it, the policeman asked Ying Qiao to give another statement.
After Ying Qiao confirmed that there were indeed more than a dozen turtles as big as millstones in the river that dragged Zheng Yu into the river, the young policeman’s face was full of disbelief.
It was filled with a feeling of who am I, where am I, and what am I doing.
Coincidentally, the forensic autopsy report came out at this time. After the report was circulated, the police station fell silent.
Zheng Yu’s autopsy results actually matched everything Captain Guan said.
The autopsy report showed that Zheng Yu’s final cause of death was not drowning and suffocation, but death after his internal organs were severely damaged. His mouth and esophagus had traces of being torn, and his limbs and body had marks of being entangled by water plants. He also drank a lot of river water before his death. The preliminary judgment was that he fell into the water at the river beach, and his limbs were entangled by water plants while struggling, and he could not move. That’s why the water snakes and fish drilled into his body, damaging his internal organs and killing him.
But when you think about it carefully, it was chilling.
As a member of the corpse recovery team, Zheng Yu was well versed with handling himself in water and a strong adult. Under what circumstances would he have been entangled by water plants and have those water snakes and fish enter his body?
The police, who originally thought that the story of ghosts was nonsense, looked at each other in bewilderment, and all felt a chill creeping up on them from behind.
Jiang Lan and Ying Qiao sat together and whispered, “I don’t think this has anything to do with monsters. We’ve met those turtles several times before. They’re just a little smarter and more humane.”
Ying Qiao nodded in agreement: “Humans only think that revenge from spirits is so scary, but sometimes these animals are smarter than they think, and much scarier than they can imagine.”
The monsters had gained wisdom, started practicing cultivation, and learned about cause and effect. They were thus bound by rules and regulations, so they dared not retaliate or kill people easily.
Only these unspiritual but extremely intelligent animals, once angered, would retaliate at all costs.
The author has something to say:
Movie Emperor Lan: I never lie, really. The police even gave me a banner!
Longlong: Yes, I can testify to that.
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