Chapter 47: There’s Something Wrong with Them

Chapter 47: Chapter 47: There’s Something Wrong with Them

The human intestinal tract contains vast communities of various bacteria, including putrefactive bacteria.

After a person dies, decomposition usually begins in the abdomen. The earliest sign is abdominal bloating.

This is caused by putrefactive gases produced by the bacteria, which result in intestinal bloating.

Depending on the ambient temperature, on land, this abdominal bloating appears 8 to 10 hours after death in the spring and autumn.

In the summer, it appears after 4 to 5 hours.

In the winter, it appears after 48 to 72 hours.

However, Yu Zhiming noticed that the abdomen of the person under the white sheet was flat, with no signs of swelling.

’That’s not normal!’

’Could they be using some new kind of refrigeration technology that doesn’t produce condensation in the summer heat?’

Driven by a desire for knowledge and discovery, Yu Zhiming pushed through the crowd of onlookers and approached the white sheet.

Under the astonished gazes of two people in mourning clothes, Yu Zhiming bent down, reached out, and pressed on the chest of the person under the sheet...

’Flowing!’

Yu Zhiming could sense the blood flowing inside the person’s body. It was incredibly, incredibly slow, but it was definitely flowing.

A word popped into Yu Zhiming’s mind:

Suspended animation!

It’s a self-preservation state that humans can enter under extreme conditions. In this state, the heartbeat and breathing are so faint they’re almost impossible to detect from a superficial examination.

Even in a clinical setting, a cursory examination could lead one to believe that breathing and heartbeat have ceased, resulting in a mistaken declaration of clinical death.

This was the first time Yu Zhiming had ever encountered someone in a state of suspended animation.

As he focused his perception, he was able to confirm it.

The person’s heart was expanding and contracting with a faint, almost imperceptible rhythm.

Yu Zhiming marveled to himself, ’The human body is truly amazing!’

"Who are you? What are you doing?"

Yu Zhiming looked up at the woman in mourning clothes, who appeared to be in her forties or fifties and had a nervous expression. He said loudly, "I’m a doctor from the county hospital, Yu Zhiming."

"Listen to me, this man isn’t dead. He’s in a state of suspended animation, similar to the legendary ’turtle breathing’."

"Get him to the hospital immediately. He can still be saved."

As soon as Yu Zhiming finished speaking, the dozen or so onlookers seemed to lose their fear and surged closer.

"He’s really not dead?"

"How is that possible? He’s been lying here motionless all day!"

"Yeah, yeah, I can vouch for that. I saw him when I passed by this morning..."

Amid the buzzing discussion, the other person in mourning, a man in his forties who had been kneeling beside the white sheet, scrambled to his feet.

He glared at Yu Zhiming. "What kind of damn doctor are you?"

"I bet you were hired by the shop owner to trick us into leaving, you crook!"

"My big brother was electrocuted this morning! The doctor at the time said he was dead and couldn’t be saved."

He pointed at Yu Zhiming and shouted, "You go tell that shop owner, if he doesn’t pay compensation, we’re not leaving!"

Just then, someone in the crowd spoke up.

"Hey, I can prove it. This really is Dr. Yu from our county hospital."

"He’s a really skilled doctor, I know him!"

Yu Zhiming hadn’t expected to be so well-known that he’d be recognized so easily.

The helpful person continued to persuade the man, "If he says your brother isn’t dead, then he’s almost certainly not dead. Why haven’t you rushed him to the hospital yet?"

"What are you dawdling for?"

"Don’t you want to save your brother?"

Someone else chimed in, "Exactly, saving him is what’s important. If you really can’t save him, you can just bring him back here."

The man in mourning clothes shouted angrily, "I think you’re all in on this together! You were all hired by the shop owner!"

"We’re not leaving until the owner pays up."

’Damn it, I’m dealing with a stubborn fool.’ Yu Zhiming was speechless and decided to call the police.

He stepped back to his sister and niece, only to be surprised to see Li Yifan, the criminal investigation expert he had met earlier that evening, standing nearby.

"Dr. Yu, I’ve already called the police."

Li Yifan approached Yu Zhiming and said in a low voice, "The police will be here soon."

He then glanced at the man and woman in mourning clothes and said slowly, "Something feels off about this group. They need to be thoroughly investigated."

Yu Zhiming was slightly taken aback and reminded him, "Officer Li, I examined that man. It’s genuine suspended animation."

"You can’t fake a state like that. It’s impossible."

Li Yifan turned to meet Yu Zhiming’s gaze, smiled faintly, and said, "Dr. Yu, when it comes to reading people through sound and diagnosing illnesses, you’re the expert. That’s your specialty."

"But when it comes to judging whether someone has committed a crime, whether they’re guilty and nervous, I’m the authority in that field."

"I’m ninety percent sure this group is hiding something. They have a problem, and they might be involved in a crime."

Hearing this, Yu Zhiming was somewhat unconvinced, thinking Li Yifan was being overly suspicious, but he didn’t press the matter.

He changed the subject. "Officer Li, what about Qin Fang’s case?"

Li Yifan chuckled. "We’ve already brought the man you identified to the interrogation room."

"I’ve found that his willpower isn’t particularly strong."

"According to my plan, we’ll let him stew overnight. Tomorrow morning, we’ll present him with a little bit of evidence, and he’s sure to confess everything."

Yu Zhiming acknowledged this with an "Oh," and said, "In that case, I’ll be waiting for your good news tomorrow..."

They waited for seven or eight minutes before a police car arrived.

Yu Zhiming made a point of speaking with the officers, telling them that the man could still be saved and needed to be sent to the hospital immediately.

Afterward, he said goodbye to Li Yifan and left with his sister and niece...

As soon as Yu Zhiming drove back into the Yushuiwan District, he was greeted by the sound of curses soaring to the heavens.

The viciousness of the curses and the richness of the vocabulary were so impressive that Yu Zhiming felt a sense of awe; words were insufficient to describe it.

Yu Zhaoxia asked, puzzled, "Who’s out there screaming obscenities? Do they have no class?"

"It’s Auntie Fatty Qian! Everyone in the district can’t stand her!"

Fu Xiaoxue replied, then pricked up her ears to listen for a few more moments before saying uncertainly, "It sounds like her dog was poisoned, and she’s cursing out the person who did it."

"Was it you, Uncle?"

Yu Zhiming grunted in confirmation.

Irresponsible dog ownership had always been a major problem in the district, and this Auntie Fatty Qian was a particularly egregious offender.

She had two large dogs that not only defecated and urinated everywhere but also had a habit of jumping on people, which had frightened many of the neighborhood children.

When others confronted her, she would retort, "You can manage the heavens and the earth, but you think you can manage where a dog craps and pisses?"

She would also argue that her dogs didn’t bite, and that when they jumped on people, it was just their way of showing affection and playing around.

Argue with her?

Her voice alone could drown out ten people. She was also extremely shrewish, brutish, and utterly unreasonable...

Listening to the woman’s vicious, incessant howling, Fu Xiaoxue giggled and said, "Uncle, looks like someone finally couldn’t stand it anymore and delivered some justice for the people."

Yu Zhiming shot her a look and said, "Don’t gloat. No matter what, the dog is innocent. Ultimately, it’s always the owner’s fault."

Because of his hearing, Yu Zhiming didn’t keep pets like cats or dogs at home.

His parents back in their hometown and his sisters didn’t keep pets either.

Yu Zhiming wasn’t particularly fond of pets himself...

Yu Zhiming drove past the district’s central garden and saw a group of ten or twenty people gathered there.

Immediately after, he saw a man waving at him while running over.

It was Manager Fan from the district’s property management.

Yu Zhiming stopped the car, rolled down the window, and waited for Manager Fan to approach.

"Manager Fan, what happened?"

Manager Fan, slightly out of breath, replied, "Someone’s been poisoning dogs with tainted buns. Three dogs in the district have died already."

As he spoke, he held out a plastic bag in front of Yu Zhiming.

"We’ve been searching the district and found a few of these little buns."

"Dr. Yu, could you help us take a look? Are these buns really poisoned?"

Yu Zhiming took a closer look and saw two white, steamed buns, each about the size of a child’s fist, inside the plastic bag.

He broke one of the buns in half through the plastic bag and smelled the aroma of lard and pork.

He had to admit, it smelled quite fragrant.

Under the relatively bright light of a streetlamp, Yu Zhiming could see diced meat inside—more fat than lean—as well as small, chopped-up pieces of green stems and leaves.

As it turned out, Yu Zhiming recognized those stems and leaves.

"These are potato sprouts. They’re poisonous on their own..."

Manager Fan said, "Oh," and asked, "Dr. Yu, is the toxicity of these potato sprouts very high?"

Yu Zhiming pondered for a moment and said, "I don’t know much about this, but the toxicity should be moderate."

"To poison a large dog, it would probably have to eat five or six of these buns, right?"

He then chuckled. "This person is quite clever."

"Getting poison from sprouted potatoes is probably the simplest, most effective, most accessible, and least suspicious method available to an ordinary resident..."