Serial Corpse Dismemberment Case

Lan Mu grew more excited the more he thought about it, even imagining himself transforming into an even more powerful being in the future.

"I can explore the mysteries in the deepest parts of primeval forests, and I can get up close and personal with the world's most dangerous animals."

"If the White-haired Lion's invisibility is still usable, I could go film in the world's most dangerous pirate dens, explore mysterious ancient ruins, or even venture into a dragon's lair, infiltrating secret zones that any country has completely sealed off."

All of this would be built upon his unique superpower.

As for where his first documentary would be filmed, he hadn't decided yet.

The immediate priority was to buy the equipment. He headed to a familiar physical store that sold photography gear.

There were a large number of home video cameras and professional high-definition cameras here.

The shooting effects of home use and professional cameras were completely different; the price of a complete set of home video cameras might not even be enough to afford the tripod for a professional photography kit.

Lan Mu looked at the Red 1 professional camera he had always dreamed of. The tripod alone cost over twenty thousand, and two batteries plus a charger cost twelve thousand. The batteries alone were more expensive than the entire archery set he had bought!

The viewfinder was twenty-two thousand, and the lens adapter was twenty-six thousand.

Various high-end storage media, including a 160GB professional hard drive in RAID format, were priced at thirty-three thousand.

Furthermore, the two super lenses for the Red 1 were priced at thirty-seven thousand and seventy-one thousand, respectively.

This whole set, even conservatively estimated, would cost over two hundred and thirty thousand!

Lan Mu's entire savings combined couldn't even afford such a set of equipment.

And this wasn't even the most expensive. Compared to the large cameras used for filmmaking, this price was truly a drop in the bucket.

Thinking that his savings were only fifteen thousand, he decided he absolutely couldn't buy equipment costing more than a hundred thousand, at most.

However, he needed the equipment to be waterproof and able to withstand long-term outdoor shooting. After much deliberation, he settled on a model from Panasonic.

The complete set came to about seventy-seven thousand, including matching waterproof gear, and two sets of batteries and hard drives.

With a painful swipe of his card, he took the equipment home like a treasure.

From now on, earning money to buy better equipment would depend entirely on this.

Seeing that the sky was darkening, it was already half-past five in the afternoon. He hurried back, as Su Yue had been home alone all day.

But not long after he left, he suddenly smelled a familiar scent.

An elf's five senses were far superior to a human's, and their sense of smell could rival that of the White-haired Lion.

He had smelled this scent many times before. While it might just be a faint fishy odor to humans, to him, it smelled strongly of blood!

"Where?"

He searched for the source of the smell, finally pinpointing it to a trash can about ten meters away.

Lan Mu slowly approached, and as he got closer, the smell of blood grew stronger.

"In the trash can? What is it? This familiar smell of blood."

However, when he was only five meters from the trash can, a city sanitation worker walked over, pulling a garbage truck behind him.

Lan Mu immediately took out his phone and pretended to be playing with it.

His attention, however, remained fixed on the trash can.

Before long, the sanitation worker opened the lid of the trash can and began pulling out piles of garbage with tongs.

Lan Mu quickly spotted a strange black plastic bag.

The black plastic bag was large and bulging, its opening tightly tied. All the smell of blood was emanating from it!

Lan Mu thought for a moment, then walked over. Seeing that the sanitation worker hadn't noticed anything unusual, he spoke directly.

"Brother, can't you smell the blood?"

The sanitation worker looked at him inexplicably and said, "What blood? After sniffing the air, he added dismissively, "Maybe a little, what's up? Probably a dead rat."

Lan Mu shook his head and pointed to the black garbage bag. "It doesn't smell like a dead rat. The blood smell is coming from here."

"Here?" The sanitation worker was still confused. He was tired after a day's work and couldn't figure out what this strange young man was up to.

"Could you please poke this bag open?" Lan Mu said seriously. He seemed to understand what this familiar smell of blood was.

"Poke it open? Young man, go play somewhere else! If you poke it open, are you going to pick up the trash?" The sanitation worker shook his head and grabbed the garbage bag with his tongs, intending to put it into the garbage truck.

But the garbage bag seemed very heavy. The sanitation worker tried to lift it several times with his tongs but couldn't.

"Huh? What's so heavy?" This time, the sanitation worker didn't need Lan Mu to tell him. He poked the bag open himself, intending to take it away in multiple trips.

After puncturing the bag, the first thing they saw was a pile of messy hair.

Lan Mu's heart leaped, and he quickly dialed Ma Xiang's number.

This smell of blood was one he had smelled many times before – the smell of a dead person.

The sanitation worker still seemed to not understand what was going on. He poked around inside with his tongs until his tongs seemed to pierce something. Then, with a strong grip, he pulled something out.

When he saw what it was, he let out a startled cry.

"Ah!"

The pliers instantly slipped from his hand, and he stumbled back a step, barely keeping his balance. He half-crouched, steadying himself against the garbage truck, cold sweat immediately breaking out.

Lan Mu had seen it clearly: a severed head, still tangled with hair, had been pulled out. The sanitation worker's pliers had happened to poke into one of its eyes, and that's how it had been lifted out.

He watched the sanitation worker, who was clearly terrified. He had probably never seen a dead body in his life, let alone a dismembered head like this!

Lan Mu figured that from now on, every time the sanitation worker used pliers, he'd be reminded of this day, of poking an eyeball and pulling out a human head, and he'd never dare to grab things carelessly again.

His phone rang, and Ma Xiang's familiar voice came through.

"What's up, Brother Mu? Buying me a drink? I can't get off work today, the higher-ups have a new assignment, told me to stake out places."

"Get over here, it's a big case, a corpse dismemberment case!" Lan Mu said gravely.

Ma Xiang paused. "You know about it?"

"Huh? Know about what?" Lan Mu asked, surprised.

"Ahem... what corpse dismemberment case? Where are you? Explain it clearly!" Ma Xiang sounded anxious.

"Don't rush, I'm at the scene. Go east from Minsheng Plaza, there are no forks in the road. Just follow the road and you'll see me. The body is in the trash can, and I'm right next to it." Lan Mu quickly gave the address and was about to explain the details when Ma Xiang cut him off.

"I'm on my way! Brother Mu, please don't leave! You have to secure the scene, and it must be kept confidential!"

With that, Ma Xiang hung up.

Lan Mu noticed Ma Xiang's unusual reaction and immediately realized this wasn't a new case. Ma Xiang seemed to know what had happened.

The sanitation worker caught his breath and shouted at Lan Mu, "Call the police! Someone's been murdered! Murdered!"

"Don't shout!"

Lan Mu strode over to him, one hand steadying the man, the other covering his mouth.

Natural Power enveloped his hands, firmly restraining the worker, who couldn't make a sound.

"I've already called the police. The officers will talk to you later. Don't shout now, this is a confidential matter!"

Lan Mu didn't actually know what was going on, but since Ma Xiang told him to keep it secret, he figured he'd just make something up to calm the sanitation worker down.

It was rush hour, and there were quite a few people on the road. Several had already noticed the situation and were gathering to watch.

Lan Mu panicked and quickly kicked over the garbage truck, causing it to tip and spill, concealing the black plastic bag.

The few people who had been trying to crowd around were startled. This guy was intense, kicking over a garbage truck with one foot.

Lan Mu glared at them, and they dared not approach.

However, they stood about two meters away, taking out their phones to film and chattering amongst themselves.

Lan Mu ignored them all, as long as they didn't discover the head.

Before long, Ma Xiang appeared.

He arrived faster than ever, in just over two minutes.

And because of the rush hour traffic, he had actually ridden a motorcycle. It looked like a biker's bike, and Lan Mu had no idea where he'd commandeered it from.

The fat man ran up to Lan Mu, panting, flashed his police ID, and shouted in a loud voice, "Stop looking! Everyone, stop looking! Disperse! Disperse!"

Ironically, his shouting only attracted more onlookers. Seeing he was a police officer, they were even less inclined to leave.

Lan Mu was speechless. He let go of the sanitation worker and said to Ma Xiang, "Why are you the only one here?"

"The main force will be here soon. I just came ahead to secure the scene! This is a chance to impress the higher-ups!"

"Huh? Did you... change?" Ma Xiang stared at Lan Mu's face, finding it hard to believe this beautiful young man was his Brother Mu!

"You're the one who changed! Look closely, it's me!" Lan Mu roared, his voice rough.

Ma Xiang took a closer look. It was still Lan Mu's face, but his skin was too good, his jawline much finer, and his neck slender and fair. He looked like a pretty boy from any angle.

"No way? Brother Mu, you're into that? I heard those pretty boy things are popular. Did you put on makeup?"

"Get lost! My skin has always been good, it's your eyes that have a problem!"

Ma Xiang didn't believe him. He knew perfectly well if his eyes were the problem or not.

Lan Mu sighed helplessly and said, "Never mind that. I'll tell you about it later."

He changed the subject, then asked seriously, "What exactly is going on? Why the secrecy?"

Ma Xiang finally managed to shift his focus back and said, "Since you already know and are considered a witness, I won't keep it from you."

He leaned in and whispered in Lan Mu's ear, "This corpse dismemberment case has been going on for a month. This is the fourth one this month, averaging one a week. They're all murdered, dismembered, and then dumped in trash cans. When you mentioned it, I knew it was the same case."

Ma Xiang didn't say much more, but Lan Mu understood. This much information was enough. Just looking at Ma Xiang's anxiety and the police's level of concern made it clear.

"You don't have any leads, do you? After more than a month, you don't even know what the killer looks like?"

Ma Xiang sighed and replied, "Exactly. The provincial department is going crazy over this case. We've been working overtime, staking out potential crime scenes all over the city, tried every clumsy method possible, but we're still clueless."

"And the impact of this case is too negative. Another month with no progress, so you've kept it secret?" Lan Mu understood.

"Sigh... I'll tell you more later. Let's focus on securing the scene for now, brother." Ma Xiang sighed.

Lan Mu nodded and then asked, "Can I take photos and videos later?"

Ma Xiang looked at his police colleagues, who hadn't arrived yet, and quietly said, "I don't think it's likely. Our leader is coming soon, and you don't know him at all. He definitely won't agree."

"If you want to film, film now! I'll cover for you. Don't spread the footage around randomly. Once the case is solved, you can be the first to publish it."

Lan Mu understood and kicked open the garbage truck with his foot. He quickly opened his camera. Since it was new, he adjusted it before he could start filming.

Ma Xiang, being tall and stout, stood in front of Lan Mu, doing his best to help Lan Mu film secretly.

Lan Mu filmed for about three minutes when Ma Xiang urgently shouted, "Stop filming, the leader is here!"

Upon hearing this, Lan Mu immediately put the camera away, stuffed it into his bag, slung it over his shoulder, his movements clean and efficient.

He saw six police cars arrive at the scene. More than a dozen police officers quickly surrounded the area and began dispersing the crowd.

A man who looked like a leader, with dark, weathered skin and a tall, sturdy build, exuded an aura that suggested he had been in the military.

Since Ma Xiang was the first to arrive, the leader approached him directly.

"Is it confirmed? Is it still that case?"

Ma Xiang explained the situation in great detail. The leader nodded but remained stern. He squatted down and inspected the black garbage bag.

Then he said, "Where are the forensics people? What are you all standing around for? Hurry up and collect clues."

After a while, a staff member reported, "Director..."

The director interrupted, "Still no luck?"

"Yes, it's the same as the previous three times. No clues were left behind. The garbage bag has been here for at least three hours. As for the victim's exact time of death, we'll need to conduct a detailed examination back at the station."

The director nodded, having expected this. He immediately said, "Clean up the scene. Do I need to tell you how? Quickly! Don't wait for the reporters to arrive."

Hearing the last sentence, Lan Mu froze, feeling a bit awkward.

"You're the ones who found the body? Alright, come back with us to provide some information."

The director's tone was firm and left no room for refusal.

Lan Mu himself wanted to understand more about the situation, so he naturally cooperated with the police.

The police's actions this time were swift. The scene was quickly cleaned up completely. All the garbage, including the garbage truck, was towed away. Not even a trash can was left behind.

As the police departed, the scene was left spotlessly clean.

The onlookers didn't know what had happened. They exchanged whispers and then indifferently dispersed.

They didn't understand any of the details and didn't give the matter much thought.