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The deceased had no clothing or any items that could prove their identity.

"This is sodium chloride, or salt. From the analysis of its composition, it appears to be coarse salt used for pickling vegetables," Mu Mian explained. "The killer sprinkled a lot of salt on the body\'s surface."

Chen Xue said, "No wonder the body has mummified."

Mu Mian opened the deceased\'s chest cavity, revealing the internal organs. To their surprise, the victim\'s organs were in a semi-decomposed state. In theory, even if the body\'s surface was preserved, the fluids inside the organs themselves have corrosive properties, such as gastric acid and intestinal fluid, and after death, the body undergoes autolysis.

Mu Mian quickly discovered why - there was an oily substance in the stomach. The chest cavity was also coated with a film of oil. The killer had poured oil into the body, soaking the internal organs in oil to slow down the body\'s autolysis.

Mu Mian used a cotton swab to collect samples of the substance.

"Chen Xue, could you take this for testing?" Mu Mian handed the test tube containing the swab to Chen Xue.

Chen Xue stared at the notebook in her hand, unresponsive.

"Chen Xue?"

"Sorry, I was lost in thought. Mian Mian, what did you want me to do?" Chen Xue snapped back to reality.

"Chen Xue, do you want to take some time off to rest? You look exhausted," Mu Mian said with concern. "In your current state, I don\'t feel comfortable giving you work."

"...Alright, I\'ll take leave and go home."

"What\'s really going on with you?" Mu Mian cut off a piece of cartilage from the deceased to test for DNA later.

"Mian Mian, I\'m starting to regret becoming a forensic pathologist."

Mu Mian looked at Chen Xue in shock, asking incredulously, "Why? Being a forensic pathologist is such a great profession, getting to work with so many corpses. You regret it? I regret not choosing this profession sooner."

"Mian Mian, others don\'t think like that. They think dealing with corpses every day is unlucky."

"Why does their opinion matter?" Mu Mian cut open the deceased\'s dried-up thigh, exposing the leg bone.

"What if they\'re Zhang\'s family? Zhang\'s mother says being a forensic pathologist is too inauspicious, dealing with corpses all day will affect their family\'s feng shui. They say if I want to be with Zhang, I must quit my job."

Mu Mian went to the toolbox, contemplated for a moment, and finally chose an electric saw. Holding the saw, she suggested, "Then don\'t be with Zhang, so you can continue being a forensic pathologist. Although Officer Zhang is a nice person, Sister Wen says there are plenty of good men in the world, you can find someone better."

"Mian Mian, I really like him."

"How can he compare to your work?" Mu Mian said, puzzled. "Being a forensic pathologist is such a great profession, you can\'t give it up."

"If you had to choose between your work and Fang Rui, what would you choose?" Chen Xue asked.

"But I don\'t need to make that choice. If it weren\'t for this job, I wouldn\'t have met Fang Rui." Mu Mian started the electric saw and cut off one of the deceased\'s bones along with the joint for age testing. The body was too heavy to move around, so cutting the bone directly was easier.

The bone age could help estimate the approximate age of the deceased. This would help better identify the unknown male corpse.

"Mian Mian, actually, I never really wanted to be a forensic pathologist. I wanted to be a doctor. When I filled out my college applications, I chose all medical-related majors, with forensic medicine as my last choice, which I filled in randomly. Unfortunately, I got assigned to that major. I didn\'t have the courage to retake the entrance exam, so I had to stick with it," Chen Xue began to open up. "So, I don\'t really love this job, it\'s just a job."

"Well, then why are you conflicted? Just choose Officer Zhang," Mu Mian said. "People should do what they love."

Mu Mian\'s words suddenly enlightened Chen Xue. Love or career - which is more important? Of course, it\'s her career!

Chen Xue suddenly made a firm decision, "Mian Mian, I\'ve figured it out. I choose my work. I\'m going to break up with Zhang!"

Mu Mian thought Chen Xue was being fickle and couldn\'t understand her thinking. "But you don\'t like being a forensic pathologist, and you like Officer Zhang."

"Few people truly love their jobs. But if I\'m going to quit, it should be for myself, not for someone else."

"Isn\'t there a third option? You could try to make Zhang\'s mother like the forensic pathologist profession," Mu Mian suggested.

"That\'s impossible!"

"Alright then."

Fang Rui brought Zhang Mingli back to the interrogation room.

"Miss Zhang, we did indeed find a corpse in that house," Fang Rui said while observing Zhang Mingli\'s expression.

"There really was a body..." Zhang Mingli covered her mouth, laughing and crying simultaneously, "I really killed someone! It wasn\'t a hallucination, it was real! Thank goodness, thank goodness, I\'m not crazy, I\'m normal."

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Zhang Mingli had lived in inexplicable fear since childhood, afraid she would become insane like her mother, so when she thought everything was a hallucination, she completely broke down. She would rather be a murderer than become insane and be locked up in a mental hospital.

Zhang was stunned - it was his first time seeing someone so hopeful about having killed someone!

"But that person died over a decade ago," Fang Rui reminded her.

"Died over a decade ago? Impossible! I pushed him down just last week. I remember it clearly." Zhang Mingli fell back into panic.

"Do you remember why you pushed him down the stairs?"

"Why... I don\'t know. My head hurts, I can\'t remember!" Zhang Mingli clutched her head, her expression pained. "Yes, why did I push him?"

"Miss Zhang, please calm down! Don\'t think about it anymore. Here, have some water first." Zhang poured a glass of water for Zhang Mingli, trying to calm her emotions.

Fang Rui also changed his approach. After Zhang Mingli\'s emotions stabilized, he asked, "Miss Zhang, do you remember where your father went?"

"My uncle said that when my father saw my mother go insane, he ran away with another woman and took all our family\'s assets. I don\'t know where he went, and he hasn\'t come back to find us all these years."

"Your uncle said that? Don\'t you remember anything from your childhood?"