"The time of death is precise; the fatal wound is a cervical incision." Su Ping stood before the autopsy table, tapping the stainless steel edge lightly with a gloved finger. "Old Tu, are there any signs of poisoning, or perhaps defense or restraint wounds?"
"None at all." Old Tu shook his head. "No unconsciousness, no toxins, no marks from bindings. However, the killer did something very strange—he used an extremely thin blade to meticulously scrape the grime from beneath all ten of the victim's fingernails."
Old Tu paused, his tone growing heavy. "I suspect that at the moment the blade struck, the victim struggled instinctively and scratched the killer's skin. Fearing we'd extract DNA from epithelial tissue, the killer cleaned the site with extreme care. From this alone, we can tell the suspect possesses a very high level of counter-reconnaissance awareness."
Su Ping nodded thoughtfully, then his hawk-like gaze snapped toward Jason. "Xiao Qi, what's your take?"
Jason forced himself to look away from the pale corpse, adopting a posture of suppressed discomfort and forced concentration.
In reality, he knew better than anyone. That mimetic vampire hadn't scraped the fingernails to hide DNA; it was because vampire skin cells, once exposed to air, oxidize rapidly into a foul-smelling black powder. To other supernatural entities, that scent was as conspicuous as a searchlight in the dead of night.
But in front of Su Ping, Jason had to present a deduction that perfectly aligned with "mortal logic."
"Captain Su, this is definitely an acquaintance crime," Jason said, his face hardening with conviction.
Su Ping tilted his chin, signaling him to continue.
"First, the voice. The suspect could perfectly mimic Duan Kun to play games with me, which means he was intimately familiar with the victim's vocal range and gaming habits," Jason analyzed clearly. "Second, the SIM card. Forensics confirmed it was cloned, which requires the original card. The suspect had to get close to Duan Kun's phone without triggering any suspicion—only a regular acquaintance could pull that off."
Su Ping's brow quirked slightly as he gave a subtle nod.
"Finally, the fatal wound." Jason's deduction grew smoother, as if he were truly immersed in the thrill of the hunt. "A single cut from behind, severing the trachea and artery without drugging or restraining the victim, suggests Duan Kun trusted the killer implicitly. He literally turned his back on them."
"Furthermore," Jason paused, dropping the most 'fatal' piece of logic, "the incision is shallow on the right and deep on the left, meaning the cut went from right to left. Since the strike came from behind, there is a high probability the killer held the knife in their left hand—he's a southpaw! This perfectly matches what I found with the bloody footprints at the scene: the killer's support leg was the left. Both dominant hand and foot are on the left side."
The reasoning was seamless and airtight.
Of course, Jason knew it was all nonsense. The mimetic vampire had used her right hand. The uneven depth was actually caused by the female ghost being suspended in mid-air at the time, leading to an uneven distribution of gravity. But since the evidence at the scene led toward a "left-handed" suspect, Jason was happy to nudge the investigation further down that path.
"Not bad." Su Ping actually allowed a rare look of satisfaction to cross his face. "You've finally calmed down. Your brain is functional after all."
"Xiao Qi's deductive skills are much better than yours were when you first graduated," Old Tu joked from the side. "Back then, you couldn't even recite an autopsy report properly when you saw a body."
Su Ping rolled his eyes, ignoring the jab. He turned to Jason. "Tomorrow, you follow Brother Song. Interview the victim's friends and family. Filter for acquaintances who are left-handed and proficient in computer repair."
"Yes, Captain. And you?"
Su Ping didn't answer, merely giving him a cold glance. Jason tactfully shut his mouth.
"Alright, clear out of here," Old Tu waved them away. "I still have to perform a triple-cavity dissection and toxicological slicing. I need to completely rule out chronic poisoning or hidden diseases before I can issue a legally binding autopsy report."
"Let's go, Xiao Qi. Get something to eat," Su Ping said, turning to leave.
Watching Su Ping's back—the back of a man who lived for procedure and logic—Jason sighed inwardly.
Mortal law required ironclad evidence and a lack of loopholes; even for a man whose throat had been clearly sl*t, the autopsy had to follow every step of the manual. But in the world hidden in the shadows, monsters didn't need logic to kill.
Two days later. Midnight. Furonghe City, Green Source Middle School.
The corridor of Dormitory Building 2 was filled with a chill that seemed capable of freezing a soul. The lights had been cut; in the faint moonlight, a heavy iron gate could be seen locking the entrance to the second floor. Since the "cold storage incident," the school had completely cordoned off this level.
In the darkness, Jason sat at the stairwell corner leading to the second floor. He raised his left hand and pressed the metal button on his wristband.
With the sound of eerie skeletal restructuring, the permissions for Cell [Calamity-0001] were fully activated. The vampire's terrifying strength, night vision, and predatory instincts surged through Jason's limbs like a tide.
"Switching abilities requires a ten-minute cooldown. What an inhumane design," Jason muttered.
After using [Basic Hypnosis] to deal with the guard downstairs, he had waited here for the full ten minutes to switch back to the vampire's combat form.
He walked to the iron gate and fished two safety pins from his pocket. The vampire's extreme micro-tactile sensitivity allowed him to easily feel the pins and springs within the lock.
Click.
The crisp sound of the lock opening echoed in the silent hall. As a former elite detective, physical methods like lockpicking were often more practical than superpowers.
Pushing open the door, a wave of even more intense cold hit him. A normal adult would suffer severe hypothermia after ten minutes in this environment. But Jason took a deep breath, a sickly look of enjoyment crossing his face.
"Mm... this feeling of being soaked in ice water is more comfortable than a sauna for a vampire's constitution."
He didn't turn on a flashlight. Relying on his night vision, he walked straight to the door of [Dorm Room 225].
He didn't enter immediately. Instead, he unslung his tactical backpack and, like a street vendor, began pulling items out one by one.
A small vial of cow tears, a spray bottle filled with pale yellow liquid (boy's urine), half a bag of coarse salt, and a blood-stained machete confiscated from a serial killer case.
Inside the dorm, a blurred, translucent figure emitting a ghostly blue mist floated in mid-air, staring blankly at the man in black messing around at the door.
This was the ghost of the middle schooler dismembered three years ago—Qin Shuang. For three years, he had wandered aimlessly. It wasn't until a few days ago, when he heard Pan Dapeng and the others mocking the way he died, that his extreme resentment turned him into an aggressive wraith.
Now, as Qin Shuang watched Jason apply a strange liquid to his eyelids, a ghostly instinct made him feel uneasy. Deep within this human's body, there seemed to be a presence of ultimate evil that made his soul tremble.
"They say cow tears let you see ghosts... huh, it actually works."
Jason, having finished applying the tears, looked up and clearly saw Qin Shuang. It was a miserable spirit, covered in frost-like cracks that looked like stitches.
"Hello there, kid." Jason gripped the murderous machete, his face twisting into a smile that looked warm but was utterly warped. He stepped into the room. "I heard you were dismembered. You must feel wronged. Why don't we sit down and talk? I'll help you untie that knot in your heart."
Hearing this, Qin Shuang's frost-covered brow quirked. Though he was turning into an evil spirit, his inner resentment still craved an outlet.
"I..."
Qin Shuang opened his mouth to tell his tale of woe—
Whoosh!
A flash of cold steel tore through the darkness, descending with frantic power!
Jason had no intention of listening to him. The moment he offered the smile, he struck. The explosive muscular power of the vampire made the blade whistle with a sonic boom!
One strike wasn't enough. Jason swung the machete until it became a blur, like a butcher hacking meat on a block, unleashing a violent frenzy upon the ghost in the air.
"Since it's a physical exorcism, let's use the most direct physical method!"
However, after dozens of strikes that did nothing but make the air hiss, Qin Shuang's spirit merely blurred slightly before quickly reforming. Physical attacks were useless against a pure energy entity.
Jason stopped, panting. He looked at the unharmed ghost, whose eyes were now glowing crimson with rage, and his lip twitched.
Clang.
He decisively dropped the machete and smiled sheepishly. "Right. Folk legends are lies. Murder weapons are useless against ghosts. So... is it too late to sit down and talk?"
"YOU! WILL! DIE!"
Qin Shuang let out a soul-shredding shriek as the temperature dropped to -20°C. He turned into a black mist of frost and resentment, launching himself like a cannonball directly into Jason's chest!
Since physical attacks failed, the wraith decided to freeze this human's organs from the inside out.
However, the moment Qin Shuang surged into Jason's body, he didn't feel the warm thump of a human heart. Instead, he slammed into a massive, freezing, bottomless black abyss!
Deep within Jason's consciousness, the sleeping [Calamity Asylum] let out a faint hum. A mere sliver of leaked ancient pressure, like a dragon looking down at an ant, instantly shattered Qin Shuang's puny resentment!
"AAAAAAHHH!!!"
Qin Shuang let out a scream of pure terror. He didn't last a single second; it was as if he had been scalded. He was violently ejected from Jason's body, slamming hard against the wall.
It was a soul-crushing fear of high-dimensional suppression!
Before Qin Shuang could recover, Jason unhurriedly picked up the small spray bottle and aimed it at the fallen ghost.
"Since physical salvation failed, let's try a magic attack."
Spritz, spritz, spritz—
A stream of liquid with a strong scent of urine accurately drenched Qin Shuang.
A shocking sight unfolded. The ghost, which previously had no physical form, began to hiss and emit white smoke upon contact with the liquid, like a snowman doused in strong acid.
"Holy crap?" Jason stared at the bottle. "Even though it isn't fatal, this stuff can actually break through a spirit's defenses and create physical friction?"
He looked at the trembling, urine-soaked middle school wraith, his smile turning distinctly villainous.
"Alright, foreplay is over. Now, get ready for your cage."