Chapter Seventy-One: Corpse Worms!

Old Lin hurriedly dragged Old Huo out of the room. “Out, out! This is a secret technique of the Yu family—ordinary people mustn’t witness it.”

Old Huo, having been pushed out, was fuming but could do nothing about it. When Old Lin asked to go see Huo’s own dissection room, Old Huo refused as well, claiming that their methods, too, were ancestral secrets that could not be stolen.

The two elders ended up bickering in the corridor for a good five or six minutes before returning, each to their own dissection room.

Once back inside, Old Lin immediately asked if I had discovered anything.

I replied, “Some ants have started to emerge, but so far, they haven’t brought out any useful information. Let’s wait a bit longer.”

He nodded.

Soon, seven or eight ants crawled out one after another, wandering around the corpse’s mouth but not leaving the area.

Old Lin asked what those ants were doing.

I hesitated, then set down the glass jar containing the rest of the ants. Immediately, the few ants began circling the jar, anxiously tapping it with their antennae.

It suddenly dawned on me: “They’ve come back for reinforcements! It seems they’ve already discovered something inside the corpse, but their numbers are too few to bring it out on their own.”

I quickly released more ants onto the dissection table. The ants greeted each other with their antennae, and after exchanging signals, they hurriedly filed back into the corpse in an orderly line.

Li Xingchen was dumbfounded. “My god, this is incredible! These ants are practically human! Xiaoyang, you’re amazing!”

I told him, “Don’t speak. Watch closely.”

Not long after, a group of ants emerged, carrying a red object. The thing was about the size of a fingernail, plump, and, astonishingly, still struggling.

Old Lin recognized it at a glance: it was a corpse worm, and a rare species at that.

Corpse worms are a kind of creature that only develop after the human body has begun to rot. Yet this body clearly showed no signs of decay. How could there be a corpse worm?

Our current question was whether such a worm could devour internal organs in a very short period.

But that seemed unlikely. Corpse worms reproduce slowly, unlike bacteria. For a corpse worm to digest human organs would take several months.

This made things puzzling. Could it be that the worms in this corpse were of a different species from those that hollow out bodies?

Old Lin said that even this much was enough to thoroughly refute the previous assumptions.

With that, Old Lin collected the corpse worm, wrote up a report about it, and, elated, prepared to announce his findings.

But as soon as he stepped outside, he ran into Old Huo. Old Huo looked at him, chin raised, and said, “Well, well, Old Lin, where are you off to?”

Old Lin snorted. “To take a piss. Is that any of your business?”

Old Huo replied, “What a coincidence. I’m heading to the bathroom myself.”

We stepped out and happened to encounter Huo’s disciple, Ashan, drenched in sweat, evidently from heavy labor. He managed a weak smile before trailing closely behind Old Huo.

Tang Jingjing commented, “Looks like they’ve made progress as well.”

I nodded. “Seems so.”

The breakthroughs of both teams soon attracted the attention of the chief commander—our top leader, who immediately called a meeting of all teams.

At the meeting, the commander projected the findings of both investigation teams for all to see, inviting everyone to review and voice their opinions.

On Old Huo’s side, based on the internal environment of the corpse and certain trace secretions, they deduced that the culprit was likely a beetle known as the “hammer beetle,” notorious for its rapid reproduction and appetite for internal organs.

We, on the other hand, had identified the culprit as the corpse worm.

Old Huo was the first to stand, protesting, “What corpse worm? That’s something out of fiction. Old Lin, this isn’t very scientific.”

Old Lin snorted, “We found corpse worms in the body. That’s more authoritative than your analyses.”

Old Huo retorted, “How do you know it’s not just an ordinary parasite?”

Old Lin mocked, “The secretions you analyzed are nearly identical to human phlegm. Why don’t you suggest the victim had severe pneumonia before death?”

The commander intervened, “Both sides make valid points. Let’s have our experts in flora, fauna, and microbiology weigh in.”

A silver-haired, bespectacled elder stood up and said, “Both sides are correct. ‘Corpse worm’ is the common name; its scientific name is hammer beetle. These beetles indeed have formidable reproductive abilities. Within a week, they can multiply into hundreds, capable of consuming all the internal organs. So, it’s not impossible.”

Both Old Huo and Old Mo sat down, crestfallen; it seemed their real aim had been to outdo each other, not to achieve scientific discovery.

The commander, clearly pleased, praised both teams for their outstanding work.

He then turned to the insect expert. “Elder Sun, is this species common in our area?”

Elder Sun shook his head. “These insects are mainly found in the Miao regions of the south. The northern climate doesn’t suit them. I suspect someone deliberately bred these bugs. If we can catch whoever possesses them, we may find a major lead!”

The commander replied, “Very well. I will assign a special team to investigate this quietly.”

He asked Elder Sun if he had any further suggestions. Elder Sun shook his head, but said he would soon compile a list of places nearby where such insects could thrive, so the commander could focus his search.

The commander also sought the opinions of Old Lin and Old Huo. Both insisted on visiting the murder scene, arguing that even after all this time, some clues might only surface with the passage of days.

The commander agreed, saying he would assign two squads of armed police for their protection.

But both Old Lin and Old Huo declined, leaving the commander at a loss. Both elders felt that being tailed by armed police would only alert the culprit, possibly driving away any clues.

In the end, the commander relented, agreeing to assign only one elite soldier to each team.

After consulting with Old Lin, we decided to investigate the homes of the deceased forensic experts. Our analysis suggested that the killer’s true targets might have been those experts, not the hollow corpse.

Moreover, the identity of the hollow corpse remained uncertain—quite possibly, he was an outsider.

Old Huo’s team, by contrast, pursued a very different line of inquiry. They believed the killer must have had a specific reason to target the hollow corpse, and, since this was likely their first murder, they would have left more mistakes and clues.

This was just as well—at least the two teams wouldn’t be fighting if separated.

To avoid possible infection by those insects, Tang Jingjing thoughtfully bought each of us an N95 mask. We had initially considered gas masks, but decided that would be overkill. Elder Sun had explained that these insects could only enter through the mouth, not through other wounds, and that there was a distinct stinging sensation upon entry—at which point, simply digging into the mouth would allow one to spit out the bug.

Our investigation led to a shocking discovery: on the night before their deaths, every one of the deceased forensic experts had slept away from home.

But none of their families knew exactly where they had stayed.

Realizing we had found a crucial clue, Old Lin immediately asked the commander to check all hotels in the area to see if any of the victims had checked in.

But the results were disappointing. None of the deceased had registered for a room, and even when their photos were shown to staff at various hotels and inns, no one recognized them.

Old Lin concluded that the victims must have owned property elsewhere.

This time, we didn’t trouble the commander. Instead, Li Xingchen hacked into the internal real estate database.

With the victims’ names and positions, searching was easy.

Yet the results were, once again, disappointing. Each forensic expert had a spotless record—no property under their names.

Tang Jingjing said, “Even if they did have other places, they wouldn’t use their own names. If something went wrong, and it was discovered they owned property elsewhere, it would trigger a whole chain of issues.”

That was true. Those with financial misconduct didn’t always have personal scandals, but those with personal scandals almost always had financial issues—a near-universal truth.

Li Xingchen said, “Old Lin, come look. I’ve found something useful.”

We all hurried over to see.