Leo followed them into the morgue, his footsteps silent on the cold tiles. Inside, the air was thick with a heavy, stagnant chill that seemed to seep into one's bones—the kind of invisible, sinister cold that made the hair on the back of your neck stand up.
Chen Zhuzhu's body lay on the examination table under a stark white cloth.
Uncle Feng leaned over the body, his brow furrowed in concentration. "Where was she hit?"
"In the leg, sir," Miu Ching explained quickly. "But the truck collision was what actually killed her."
Uncle Feng nodded and pulled back the sheet to reveal the left knee. There was a clean bullet hole, but as he reached out to touch the wound, his expression shifted from curiosity to a strange, intense focus.
"Strange," Uncle Feng muttered. "How is this possible?"
"What's so strange about it, Senior?" Miu Ching asked dismissively. "A bullet hits a person, a hole appears. It's basic physics."
"It's not that simple..." Uncle Feng began, shaking his head.
"When a living person is shot," Leo's voice rang out from the doorway, making Miu Ching jump, "the surrounding tissue swells instantly due to blood pressure and trauma. But this wound? No swelling. No reaction. It's clean."
Leo walked forward, his gaze fixed on the corpse. "That means she was already a dead woman before the bullet ever touched her."
"Who—?! You scared the life out of me!" Miu Ching barked, pointing a finger at Leo. Then his jaw dropped. "Wait... you're Leo! The star officer from West Kowloon!"
Recognizing the 'legend,' Miu Ching's irritation vanished, replaced by a fanboy's grin. He scrambled over to shake Leo's hand. "Wow, what an honor! I've heard so much about your cases!"
Uncle Feng, however, wasn't looking at the corpse anymore. He was staring at Leo. At first, there was a flash of his usual grumpiness, but that was quickly replaced by a look of pure, unadulterated shock.
"Your Divine Court is full... your Dantian is overflowing!" Uncle Feng exclaimed, his voice cracking slightly. "You... you've actually stepped into the Blood Refining and Body Tempering realm!"
Leo gave a modest shrug. "I just followed that manual you gave me last night. I practiced a bit and ended up like this."
Uncle Feng's breathing became rapid. He stepped forward, grabbed Leo's arm, and sensed the boy's internal energy. His hands began to tremble. Mastering the basic Maoshan Body Tempering method to its peak in a single night and shattering the shackles of mortality was supposed to be impossible.
"You... you really broke through in one night?" Uncle Feng asked, his voice barely a whisper.
Leo tilted his head. "To be honest, it wasn't the whole night. It only took about a few minutes."
Uncle Feng's mouth hung open. He looked at Leo as if he were staring at a literal monster. A few minutes? He turned away abruptly and stared at the wall, silently screaming into the void of his own mind. After a moment of internal chaos, he regained his composure, turning back with a forced, serene expression.
"Very good, Leo," Uncle Feng said, playing the part of the transcendent master. "You have a decent amount of talent. It took me... about ten minutes to reach that realm, so you're just slightly faster than I was. But do not be arrogant. The path of cultivation is long and arduous. If you want to learn more, come see me."
Leo hid a smile. He knew the old man was bluffing through his teeth. "Understood, Uncle Feng."
Miu Ching looked back and forth between them, looking utterly lost. "Wait... cultivation? Martial arts? Are we in a movie? I don't get it."
"It doesn't matter," Leo said, tossing the autopsy report onto the table. "This report proves the deceased has been dead for seven days. Officer Miu, she was already a corpse when you were chasing her yesterday."
Miu Ching shook his head vigorously. "Impossible! I saw her move! She was strong, she was fast... dead people don't run!"
Leo glanced at Uncle Feng. "Uncle Feng, care to show him a little 'magic'?"
Uncle Feng glared at Leo. "You and your big mouth."
Despite the grumbling, Uncle Feng walked to the head of the corpse. He pressed his fingers firmly against specific nerve endings and joints in the neck.
WHOOSH!
The female corpse snapped upright, sitting bolt-vertical and staring Miu Ching directly in the eye.
Miu Ching's pupils dilated. He let out a hysterical, high-pitched shriek and scrambled backward, nearly tripping over a trolley. "AHHHHH!"
Chapter 6: The Skeptical Detective
Leo watched with fascination. He knew the mechanics, but seeing Uncle Feng's precision was something else.
"It's just a chain reaction of the joints," Uncle Feng said, laying the body back down to comfort the trembling Miu Ching. He glanced at Leo, surprised that the young man hadn't even blinked. Most rookies would be vomiting by now.
"Senior, you... you really know your stuff," Miu Ching wheezed, clutching his chest.
"Uncle Feng," Leo pointed to the girl's forehead. "The report says there was a puncture wound from a sharp object, but they never found the weapon."
Leo remembered the plot—an Ice Talisman used by an Evil Sorcerer to puppeteer the body.
"Maybe we should have the Forensic Doctor open the skull," Uncle Feng suggested, though he looked skeptical.
"Let's head back to the Station first," Miu Ching suggested, finally catching his breath. "Officer Lin is the lead on this; we should get his take."
When they arrived at the Yau Ma Tei station, they found Officer Lin—Lin Junxian—flirting with a female subordinate while she was trying to give a report. Uncle Feng's face soured instantly. He had no patience for officers who didn't take their duty seriously.
"Senior, Officer Leo, this is Lin," Miu Ching introduced.
Lin looked up, his eyes narrowing as they landed on Leo. Resentment flared in his gaze. "Headquarters doesn't trust us to solve our own cases? They sent a 'star' rookie to hold our hands? Listen, Leo—if I were at Headquarters, I'd be a celebrity too."
Lin was a top-tier detective in his own mind and hated the idea of a "pretty boy" from the Regional Headquarters stealing his glory on a major case.
"Don't be like that, Lin," Miu Ching chimed in. "Leo is here to help! And this Senior is amazing—he made the corpse sit up just by touching it! It was like a dream!"
Lin scoffed, glaring at Miu Ching. "You're not dreaming, you're sleepwalking. Tell me another fairy tale. This is the real world. We need evidence, not parlor tricks."
Leo watched Lin with a half-smile. The man was practically radiating hostility.
"It really moved!" Miu Ching insisted.
"Shut up!" Lin snapped. He turned his cold gaze back to Leo and Uncle Feng. "Look, 'Uncle Feng,' right? And 'Officer Leo'... if you have 'insights,' go tell them to Sergeant Ma. I can handle this case on my own. Don't get in my way."