Chapter 276: The Perfect Dismemberment of a Living Person

“Jiang Xiuran, male, 26 years old, a resident of Bencheng City. Divorced, living alone, and without stable employment. Before his death, he worked as a part-time delivery rider, taking orders through an app.”

After finishing the on-site investigation, the victim’s background had been uncovered. Guo Qiang reported the findings while glancing at Xiao Yu, who was deep in thought.

“Because it’s an old residential area, the surveillance system is incomplete. The time of the body dump has been estimated to be between 9 and 11 p.m. The perpetrator clearly chose this location deliberately to avoid being caught on camera. There’s not much useful information left at the scene either. The strange, oversized shoe prints we found? Most likely another deliberate ploy to mislead the police.”

The limited time only allowed for basic identification of the victim. A full and thorough investigation would require more time.

Indeed, there wasn’t much to go on at the scene. The only clue, the giant shoe prints, seemed off.

Size 55 shoes?

Come on, whose feet are that big?

It was obvious the killer wore those shoes as part of a disguise when disposing of the body.

No surveillance, no witnesses, no solid leads. Cases like this would make even the most seasoned investigators scratch their heads. What made it worse was that this particular case fell under the jurisdiction of the Criminal Investigation Unit.

“Let’s check the victim’s home first,” Xiao Yu said as he snapped out of his thoughts, letting out a milk-induced burp.

With two cartons of milk down, at least he wasn’t hungry anymore.

The strange part? The system still hadn’t given him any prompts. That was the main thing bothering him.

He climbed into the police car. Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the victim’s residence.

The police had already stationed officers at the victim’s residence and asked a locksmith to open the lock.

Xiao Yu slipped on shoe covers and entered the small living room.

Jiang Xiuran’s apartment was modest—a one-bedroom, one-living-room setup, spanning about fifty square meters. Traces of his early marriage could still be seen in the decor and items left behind.

According to the records, Jiang had been married for just over a year before divorcing his wife six months ago. His ex-wife now lived with her one-year-old daughter at her parents’ house.

The reasons for the divorce remained unclear and would require further investigation.

After a thorough search of the apartment, no suspicious clues were uncovered.

“Pull the surveillance footage from the complex,” Xiao Yu instructed. “Track the victim’s movements and see if anything stands out.”

Leaving the victim’s home, Xiao Yu got into the car and headed to the forensics department.

What for?

To examine the body again.

***

Forensics Department, Autopsy Room.

Xiao Yu entered the department for the second time, and the eerie atmosphere still made him uncomfortable. The oppressive chill and the faint stench of decay weren’t things most people could stomach.

Seeing He Li, mask on and surgical tools in hand, working on the dismembered corpse only intensified his unease.

The room felt less like a forensics lab and more like a slaughterhouse. Except here, the subject wasn’t livestock—it was human.

“You’re here?” He Li turned, her masked gaze meeting his. “Wait a moment.”

She pulled off her latex gloves, tossing them aside, then removed her mask.

“Find anything?” Xiao Yu asked, glancing at the dismembered remains on the autopsy table. His lips twitched slightly in discomfort.

“Something you absolutely don’t want to know,” He Li said, her expression a mix of the bizarre and the grave.

Her look sent a chill through Xiao Yu, and his heart skipped a beat.

“You’re not about to tell me,” Xiao Yu’s gaze locked sharply onto He Li, “there’s no trace of drugs in the body?”

“That’s right.” He Li nodded firmly. “You guessed it.”

It was impossible. Xiao Yu shook his head, immediately rejecting the possibility.

Why?

Because no one could endure watching their own body being dismembered without experiencing excruciating pain. That kind of agony was beyond what any normal person could handle.

Unless…

A thought occurred to Xiao Yu—a rare condition that defied understanding: congenital insensitivity to pain, also known as CIP.

What kind of condition was that?

CIP is a rare disorder where individuals are born without the ability to feel pain.

These people can’t respond normally to pain or harmful stimuli, leaving them unable to avoid danger. Complete loss of pain sensation means no natural alarm system to protect against injuries. In many cases, this condition leads to severe self-harm.

Globally, it was estimated that fewer than 40 people suffer from this condition. Even today, CIP remained a medical mystery.

“It must be CIP,” He Li offered a professional conclusion. “It’s highly likely that the victim’s condition wasn’t recorded in any medical system or documented in a health file.”

‘So that’s why.’

Xiao Yu’s expression darkened.

His eyes fell on the metal tray holding the victim’s head, staring at the strange expression frozen on that face.

No wonder the victim’s face showed such an odd mixture of satisfaction and joy after death.

One could almost describe it as exhilaration—like a release from suffering.

This case just got a lot more complicated.

Why?

If traces of drugs had been found in the body, they could have provided a lead—a trail to follow toward the killer. 

But the victim was suffering from CIP?

“I’ve made another discovery.” He Li pointed at the dismembered body on the autopsy table, directing Xiao Yu’s attention to the severed limbs. “The cuts on the victim’s limbs, they’re perfect.”

Xiao Yu’s eyes widened as he stepped closer to the body, crouching to examine it carefully. His expression darkened.

She was right. The cuts were perfect.

Whether it was the hands, arms, legs, or even the head, every dismemberment had been executed with a single, clean strike.

But what was so impressive about that?

If the tool was sharp enough, wasn’t that easy to achieve?

No.

It seems simple, but most people—ninety percent—couldn’t do this.

Many don’t even realize that when cutting through bone, striking a joint is key. Miss the joint, and even the sharpest blade would struggle to sever anything cleanly, no matter how many strikes are made.

Examining the cut marks closely, Xiao Yu noticed every severance avoided the joints entirely.

Every single one was a perfect, clean cut.

“With my years of experience,” He Li continued, her expression grave, “I can tell the killer has an intimate knowledge of human anatomy, especially joint placement. You can see it in how they severed the neck. If they had struck the hyoid bone, even the sharpest blade would’ve been stopped. But they avoided it flawlessly, slicing through the neck and severing the cervical spine with precision.”

Once could be a coincidence.

Twice could still be luck.

But the hands, arms, lower legs, thighs, and head—nine cuts in total, dividing the body into ten pieces?

You couldn’t call that a coincidence.

Straightening up, Xiao Yu shifted his gaze away from the grotesque work.

It was perfect.

Someone had treated this victim like a canvas, crafting what they saw as a masterpiece. It was a horrifyingly precise example of a perfect dismemberment of a living human.