At this ti, the suction truck hadn’t arrived yet.
It was probably arranged by the village chief, who stood at the crossroad, constantly shouting at the crowd to disperse, leaving a passage open, after all, the roads on both sides were impassable and vehicles simply couldn’t get through.
However, he still underestimated the curiosity of the onlookers, who would scatter only to crowd around again before long.
Da Wang’er shouted out, calling over a dozen policen to stand on both sides of the septic tank, finding five or six huge tal oil drums and a couple of large iron spoons with long handles sowhere.
Under Mr. Zhao’s direction, they started scooping out the contents of the septic tank one spoonful at a ti, and with such exertion, the sll rose to another level. It seed that Mr. Pang was affected by the stench to the point he turned his head and retched. This action was highly contagious, and instantly there was a chorus of retching sounds around them.
Zhou Ning waved at Mr. Pang, who hurried over, his face filled with guilt and even so tears from the nausea.
"Boss, I’m embarrassed. I just couldn’t hold it in."
Zhou Ning shook his head.
"It’s a normal physiological response. Don’t overthink it. You go to the yard and watch over the excavation work. The hardened cent has to be broken up before we can take a look, then we can clear it for digging. We mustn’t act recklessly. If the excavator goes in without planning, we’ll lose all the clues."
Mr. Pang understood that Zhou Ning was sparing him from having to watch over the septic tank. He felt a mix of guilt and gratitude and hurried toward the yard.
Zhou Ning walked to Da Wang’er’s side. As the large spoon stirred, the area around the septic tank beca a bit of an eyesore.
Pushing his glasses up, Zhou Ning pressed the tal strip at the top of his mask, and then waved to everyone to stop what they were doing. Mr. Zhao quickly jumped over, and from the look of the mask strings around his ears, one could tell he had at least three layers on, his cautiousness was focused there.
"What’s the matter, Zhou Xiaozhou, are we doing sothing wrong?"
Zhou Ning shook his head and spotted a tool resembling a giant strainer with a long handle. He picked it up, checking it for sturdiness by shaking it in his hand. Despite seeming flimsy, it was quite strong.
"The victim was dismbered. Among the body parts we’ve found were the torso and limbs. The only things missing are the head and hands and feet. Considering the last ti the victim was seen, it’s been over half a month.
"The temperature has only started to drop in the past couple of days. There are still insects in the septic tank. If the missing parts were thrown in there, they might have turned into skeletons or partially so by now. Moreover, the skull is heavy and might have sunk to the bottom.
"So don’t rush to sift through the surface. Let’s try to gently scoop from the bottom to feel for the skull. This way, we can quickly determine if our previous guess was accurate."
As Zhou Ning spoke, he had already started using the giant strainer to reach the bottom of the septic tank. The tank didn’t seem very large, but only when the rod was inserted did it beco apparent that it was about 1.5 ters deep, leaving about a ter of the rod visible.
Zhou Ning knelt on the ground and gently moved the strainer along the edge, feeling his way around the boundary beneath the septic tank. As he circled to the east side, the strainer suddenly t resistance.
Pressing down with effort, Zhou Ning gently shook the strainer, and the obstruction seed to move along with it. He grasped the handle firmly with both hands, flipping the strainer towards the edge and gradually lifting it up.
Mr. Zhao moved closer, grabbing the wooden pole with Zhou Ning. Da Wang’er seed to realize sothing had been found and yelled out for help, but Zhou Ning shook his head.
"Don’t rush into action. We’ll lift it up a bit. Those of you with spoons, just lend a hand from below, and don’t suddenly exert force, got it?"
The others nodded. At this mont, they seed to have forgotten the stench as they were excitedly anticipating a significant discovery. If they found the skull, it would be a major find.
With force applied, Zhou Ning and Mr. Zhao gradually retreated, and with the help of several officers, they pulled the strainer out of the septic tank. At the mont it erged, everyone gasped involuntarily.
It was a skull!
On the skull, there was a clump of dark, stringy material that appeared to be hair. Most of the skull’s tissue had already fallen off, and as it was removed from the septic tank, the decaying tissue kept shedding.
Zhou Ning’s hands had lost their strength, and he quickly turned and shouted:
"Give a hand, catch it, and don’t let all the tissue peel off."
Upon his shout, Da Wang’er was quick to act. Holding a basin bare-handed, he caught the skull. However, his arms beca sared with a lot of filth.
Da Wang’er didn’t mind and carried the basin to one side, a smile he couldn’t hide on his face.
"Director Zhou, you all are amazing, inferring that the skull could be in here. I generally get the idea now. You guys step back, it’s just a matter of taking out all this filth bit by bit, screening it through to find the remaining hands and feet, or bones, right?"
Zhou Ning nodded and patted Mr. Zhao’s hand.
"There’s no problem with the procedure, but don’t rush like this. Take off the dirty clothes and put on the high decomposition gear, then proceed with the screening. Once the skull is found, we won’t be in a hurry anymore. The nature of the case is now clear, and everything can be done slowly."
Da Wang’er was obedient and took off his police coat, threw it into a bag, hurried over to put on the high-decomposition protective clothing, got fully dressed, and with his gas mask on, he comnted in a muffled voice.
"I have to say, once you put this thing on, you can’t sll a thing. I was just too hasty. Alright, everyone step back, we’re going to start sifting. Clear the onlookers from the periter.
Those who are just here to watch and don’t care about their phones, just say so. We’ll collect them and hand them over to the village committee after we finish sorting everything out. Anyone who wants their phone back later on won’t get any of the village’s holiday benefits or bonuses—that’ll do for the announcent!"
Zhou Ning was sowhat surprised. Although Da Wang’er seed simple-minded, he was actually quite clever, sowhat similar to Mr. Zhao. This arrangent seed a bit muddled, but it was the most effective with the locals.
Sure enough, after soone went and made the announcent, the crowd thinned out by more than half.
Director Zhou also echoed the sentint. Several elderly ladies remained, so toothless, so leaning on walking sticks. They didn’t try to clear them out anymore. After all, any minor incident with such people could lead to ’colossal’ troubles later on.
Zhou Ning saw no issues with their screening process and turned to enter the courtyard; Mr. Pang hurried over.
"Boss, the ground has mostly been broken up, but it seems different from the kind at our place. Underneath, there’s no compacting nor any bricks laid—just cent poured directly onto the ground, and it’s extrely thin, two centiters at its thinnest, so it shattered after just a few hits. Do we check now, or should we just clear it outright?"
Zhou Ning walked over, and the jackhamr had already been moved back. Indeed, the thickness of the cent on the ground was very thin, with the soil underneath loosely spread for leveling before the cent was poured.
Approaching the doghouse area, there were no wooden planks, but under the cent fragnts, one could see fresher sand with a completely different color from the surroundings. It seed that the cellar was indeed in this location.
"Have people push the cent chunks to the north side, then move the jackhamr out and let the excavator co in. Find a skillful operator to expand the area around this sand infill and start digging it up. Place the soil that’s dug up on the south side. Got it?"
Mr. Pang nodded.
"Don’t worry, boss. I’ll arrange that right away. The cellar looks pretty big; the outline of the sand seems to be about ten square ters."
Zhou Ning said nothing. Mr. Zhao ca over; he had washed his hands but kept shaking them off. He offered Zhou Ning an alcohol wipe.
"Let’s put everything else on hold for the mont and clean up quickly. Should I have soone wash the skull to remove residual tissue and hair and send it all directly to Mrs. Cui?"
Zhou Ning frowned and nodded reluctantly.
"Mr. Qu went with them to the Dayao City Bureau. Even if he was here, we don’t have the scanning equipnt. Have Da Wang’er assign soone to take these things back. Just rinse them slightly and find an empty sorting box to pack these items and send them off."
Mr. Zhao hurried to make arrangents. The excavator entered the area, and its noise was a lot quieter than the jackhamr. Under Mr. Pang’s direction, they began to excavate the soil around the sand.
Zhou Ning walked to a corner of the courtyard and called Liu Yongxin. After all, Liu Yongxin had two rookies with him, and Zhou Ning was sowhat worried about Mr. Wang’s expertise. Plus, they had been gone so long without any news; if they hadn’t found anything, they should have returned by now.
Soon, Liu Yongxin answered the phone.
"I knew it, you’re worried, huh? Rest assured, we’re fine. Yang Liang’s greenhouse is quite large. We’ve made so discoveries here. I was just about to call you when your call ca in."
As he spoke, Liu Yongxin laughed, pleased that his apprentice was so concerned about him.
"Oh, what did you find? Bloodstains? Or did you find the murder weapon?"
"You wish. No weapon, but we’ve found tissue fragnts and bloodstains—splash patterns, no less. Although the ground has been tilled over again, we found traces on the sides of the greenhouse and on so plant leaves. We’re marking the area and taking photos. It seems that the dismbernt likely took place right here."
Zhou Ning was taken aback. According to Director Zhou, the greenhouse was not close to Yang Liang’s house. Had the killer gone there to avoid being overheard? But why fill the cellar?
Was there sothing in the cellar that needed to be hidden?
Zhou Ning was now confused, but Liu Yongxin’s voice interrupted his thoughts.
"You’re so busy asking about , why is it so noisy there? Have you found sothing?"
"After comparing photos, we’ve found that there’s a cellar beneath the newly hardened ground in the yard. The timing of the ground hardening is precisely October 22, which matches up with the ti the victim was killed. I suspected this was the site of the dismbernt. However, it seems I might have been mistaken.
"We’ve found bloodstains near the septic tank, and we’ve started the salvage operation. Luckily, I’ve found a woman’s skull, with long hair, and the decay suggests a duration of about half a month. So tissues are missing, and it’s already on its way to Mrs. Cui. Do you need to co over and check on your side?"
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