National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 1001 - 937: If Only I Had Known Earlier

Chapter 1001: Chapter 937: If Only I Had Known Earlier

"Let’s tidy up, don’t break the bones," Jiang Yuan directed his junior colleague Miao Ruixiang as they put victim Chen Nuan’s skeletal remains back into the Lock&Lock box.

The bones of a person, picked up one by one, finally came to the slightly damaged skull.

Miao Ruixiang, somewhat reluctant, turned it a few times in his hands, then glancing at Jiang Yuan, said softly, "Give me three more months... two months, I should be able to restore the skull."

"Three months is not enough," Jiang Yuan didn’t discuss the practicality with him, took the skull, turned it over, and placed it carefully into the Lock&Lock box, adding, "There will need to be modifications in the middle, if it doesn’t go smoothly, it will require repeated adjustments, if you go all the way now, you’ll need five months."

Jiang Yuan knew the difficulties of Skull Restoration Skill better than Miao Ruixiang. This technique was not just about superficially recreating a human facial appearance from a skull, the key was to make the reconstruction resemble the original.

It doesn’t have to be identical, but at least by the resemblance, ascertain that another is similar; if this cannot be achieved, then it’s not reconstruction, but creation.

In the field of Skull Restoration Skill, creation is the least valued skill.

Miao Ruixiang also had some understanding of the situation, but he didn’t feel too regretful, only said self-mockingly, "The deceased cannot wait for me that long, either."

"They can wait if they have to. If there were no other options, the deceased can wait, and the suspects are not in a hurry," Jiang Yuan now spoke with quite some presence, his tone smooth yet resolute.

Miao Ruixiang’s emotions were stirred up in an instant.

As Jiang Yuan was about to cover the Lock&Lock box, he noticed a blue bun slowly seeping out from the skull.

Chen Nuan’s legacy: Forest Pathfinding (LV2) — Chen Nuan’s life was a constant plan to escape. She wanted to escape from her birth family, from the mountains, from an unwanted marriage, from a life of hardship... Chen Nuan did not know how to escape. She often walked through the dense forests of her hometown, always managing to discern direction in the woods, yet in the dense forest of fate, she never found her way out of life’s entanglements.

Jiang Yuan paused for a moment, closed the Lock&Lock lid, then said to Miao Ruixiang, "If you’re free this afternoon, let’s go hiking. Hiking and camping."

"Huh, so sudden? What should I bring?"

"Just wear proper clothes and shoes, and take a change of clothes with you," Jiang Yuan said as he took out his phone to contact a cousin from Jiang Village.

The Jiang Village people had little understanding of how to do things, but they certainly understood how to have fun.

Today was originally a rest day, Huang Qiangmin was having a meeting at Changler City Bureau, and all Jiang Yuan and the others needed to do was to cooperate with the case.

Noon.

Jiang Yuan led a group of twenty-something young people up the mountain.

Cousin Jiang Hao brought a great deal of gear, including tents, barbecue grills, tea sets, water containers, carpets, various foods, and so on. He could bring so much because he usually had two vehicles filled with these supplies, and when it’s time to camp, he only needed to add some food and charcoal, etc.

The advantage of this approach is speedy action; the disadvantage is the need to purchase several vehicles and equipment so that there’s a dedicated vehicle for fishing, camping, and skiing.

Of course, if one’s hobbies are single-minded, this method is not an issue.

Having followed Jiang Yuan up the mountain for a while, Jiang Hao became increasingly excited and asked Jiang Yuan, "Just between us, did you guys come out here for team building, or for case-solving?"

"Consider it team building," Jiang Yuan hesitated slightly.

Jiang Hao grew excited, "It’s for a case, isn’t it?"

"I told you, it’s team building," Jiang Yuan was somewhat at a loss with his cousin, he sighed and said, "We just solved a murder case, and now it’s time to rest."

"I see..." Jiang Hao shook his head, and then, with the mountains as a backdrop, took a selfie with Jiang Yuan, saying, "Alright, I thought I could witness you cops catching criminals in action."

As he spoke, Jiang Hao stood still and started to edit the photo, then posted it on social media: Hiking with my detective cousin. He has just cracked another murder case and needs some relaxation. Together, we make our humble contribution to world peace.

Ding!

A few minutes hadn’t passed before Jiang Yuan’s phone began to ring.

Jiang Hao casually took out his own phone, too, and started winking and making faces as he replied to the likes and comments in his Friends’ Circle.

Turning his head, Jiang Hao asked Jiang Yuan, "What did our folks back home have to say?"

"Not much, they just transferred me some money." Jiang Yuan answered, saying, "Both your mom and dad gave me a red packet of ten thousand each."

Jiang Hao was taken aback, hurriedly looking down at his own phone: "How come I didn’t get any? Under what pretext?"

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Yuan showed Jiang Hao the text message about the red packets sent by his parents.

"Merit money? We’re doing merit money now?" The look in Jiang Hao’s eyes turned red with irritation.

Jiang Yuan nodded slowly.

"That’s way over the line!" Jiang Hao said, explaining: "I’m not saying you don’t deserve it, but why do you get merit money for cracking a case, and I don’t when I challenge the mountains, camp for seven days and nights without coming back home?"

"Just keep climbing mountains." Jiang Yuan felt he didn’t need to answer this question.

"No, I won’t be able to sleep well tonight if I don’t figure this out!" Jiang Hao exclaimed loudly in frustration.

Seeing this, Mu Zhiyang commented from behind in a low voice, "Maybe it’s because you didn’t come home for seven days and nights?"

...

The small group of about twenty people trekked a long distance through the woods.

Eager to test out his newly acquired Forest Pathfinding (LV2) skill, Jiang Yuan intentionally took the more difficult routes, arriving much later than anticipated at the designated spot, Jiali Village.

This place was a historically and culturally significant village in decline, essentially what you would call in the tourism architecture business a ’dilapidated old gem’.

The history of the village was smeared all over its dimly gray courtyard walls, with the main structures inside being newly constructed. At first glance, it gave off a bit of a touristy vibe, but it didn’t hold up to close scrutiny.

The transportation between Jiali Village and Chang Le City was also problematic, all built following mountainous terrains, making it dizzying to look at.

However, Jiali Village had its unique features, promoting a concept of a camping site, with large spaces designated for visitors to pitch tents, providing a nature experience that wasn’t too challenging.

Jiang Hao had done his homework and thought that beginners like Jiang Yuan would suit this mode just fine. Upon reaching the camping site, he got busy setting up and simultaneously coached Mu Zhiyang and others in the group.

Once they had pitched the tents and got the tea kettle boiling, Jiang Hao went looking for Jiang Yuan, curious: "You came here, it must be because of a case, right? Has someone died? Can you see the body?"

"If we were on a case, we would be in uniform." Jiang Yuan poured some tea and waved it off.

"Isn’t there plainclothes?"

"No dead bodies. Drink your tea." Jiang Yuan picked up his teacup.

"Excuse me..."

A local approached, taking a look at Jiang Yuan and the others before moving closer to ask, "Are you here to solve a case?"

This time, it was Jiang Yuan’s turn to be puzzled.

Jiang Hao revealed a smile as if he had expected this.