Chapter 2

Chapter 2: 1. deep rising-01

In late August, the osmanthus in the courtyard of Xinhai City Judicial Appraisal Science Research Institute had begun to bloom, pale yellow clusters appearing here and there.

The Pathology Appraisal Department, one of the three main departments of the institute, occupied an entire floor. Director Liu Yi’s office was the last south-facing room; from his window, he could see the flourishing golden osmanthus in the courtyard below.

“Ah, it’s almost September…”

Liu Yi sat behind his desk, resting his chin on one hand, gazing past the verdant courtyard into the distant void. “It’s the season to harvest chives… no, to harvest interns…”

“Cough! Cough! Cough!”

Jiang Xiaoyuan, Liu Yi’s graduate student, sprayed his tea across the desk, choked, and tears ran down his face from laughter and coughing.

He finally stopped coughing, glaring at Liu Yi silently with unspoken ridicule.

Though his boss’s resume was genuinely impressive:

Dual PhD in Forensic Medicine and Psychiatry from the University of Dundee, just over thirty with a full professor title, leading national-level research projects, transferred six months ago from G Province Public Security Bureau, immediately appointed director of the Pathology Department and third in command of the institute.

Liu Yi was also extremely good-looking and very particular about his appearance.

From Jiang Xiaoyuan’s straight male perspective, if he himself was simply decent-looking, Liu Yi would be legendary handsome—the day he reported, news quickly spread through the twelve-story institute: “A ridiculously handsome man has arrived at the Pathology Department.”

However, after months of working together, Jiang Xiaoyuan knew his boss’s real personality.

Liu Yi maintained a distant, aloof image in public, but in reality, he was a playful genius with a wildly jumping train of thought, often saying ridiculous things at unexpected moments, shattering his cultivated intellectual aura completely.

“Honestly, I’m really short on hands.”

Liu Yi’s voice sounded plaintive as he glanced at Jiang Xiaoyuan with visible disdain. “Anyway, right now you’re my only strong worker. These thirty years’ worth of archives in the records room—how am I supposed to get through them?”

His current project required reviewing all forensic autopsy files from the past thirty years, extracting those related to criminal cases, comparing autopsy conclusions with police investigation results, and studying the discrepancies.

Although it seemed simple, as a national-level judicial appraisal institute, they received numerous forensic autopsy requests or reviews every year, making the sorting laborious and time-consuming.

Previously, Liu Yi had a visiting forensic intern, Xiao Wu, who had transferred to another department at the start of the month. Now, only Jiang Xiaoyuan remained under him—almost a one-man army. He was counting on new interns to fill the gap left by Xiao Wu.

Liu Yi rested his chin on the other hand, furrowed his brows, and sighed. “Unpopular specialty means hardship. Over at the affiliated hospital of the medical university, interns flood in and still can’t fit them all. Here, Xinhai Medical University only sends about ten students per year; every department fights for them…”

“Cough.” Jiang Xiaoyuan cleared his throat, interrupting his boss. “I heard the new batch of interns should arrive today.”

He paused. “By now, they should be reporting.”

“Really?”

Liu Yi’s eyes brightened. Without standing, he shifted on his swivel chair toward the glass partition, peering through the frosted gap outside. Every movement expressed eager anticipation.

Sure enough, a nervous young boy in a white lab coat walked down the corridor a few minutes later, holding a piece of paper, glancing around, studying door numbers, seemingly thinking about his next steps.

“Hmm, not bad, looks lively enough.”

Liu Yi appraised the future laborer about to enter his department, smiling like a sly wolf.

He patted Jiang Xiaoyuan’s arm. “Go, bring the poor little thing over for me to see.”

Jiang Xiaoyuan immediately ran to fetch the hesitant new intern from the corridor.

The intern, newly assigned to the Pathology Appraisal Department, was surnamed Li, given name Jin.

Li Jin, who had despised forensic work all along and had barely passed with an average of sixty over four years, felt extremely unlucky to face corpses in his first rotation.

Before reporting, he had heard of Director Liu Yi’s brilliant resume. In Li Jin’s mind, someone at Liu Yi’s level would surely be a fussy, middle-aged, slightly overweight, balding man.

But when Jiang Xiaoyuan brought him into the office, Li Jin was surprised to see a young man behind the desk.

Liu Yi looked barely past his late twenties, with a stunning, striking face, deep phoenix eyes, elegant eye tails, jet-black irises, and an elite aura sharper than his appearance suggested.

Li Jin stared for several seconds before lowering his gaze.

The man was tall, wearing a white shirt and casual dress pants. From Li Jin’s gay perspective, his clothes were tailored, crisp, and stylish, clearly someone who took care of himself.

While Li Jin stared, Liu Yi silently evaluated him:

—Looks lively, seems smart, just a bit short and thin, maybe not very durable… but should be fine for organizing archives. Can work with this…

“Let me see your registration form.”

Liu Yi beckoned with a finger.

Li Jin’s heart raced, and he nervously handed over the slightly crumpled paper.

“Oh, your name is Li Jin?”

Liu Yi glanced at the form, then looked up with a gentle smile. His phoenix eyes curved like crescents, and dimples appeared at the corners of his lips.

As a straight-forward admirer of beauty, Li Jin’s heart jumped past 120 bpm, his face flushing. He instinctively lowered his head.

Liu Yi set aside the form and gestured to Jiang Xiaoyuan. “For the next three months, follow Xiaoyuan.”

&&& &&& &&&

“Xiao Li, come help.”

That morning, Li Jin had just donned his white coat when Jiang Xiaoyuan handed him a stack of files. Roughly lifting them, they felt at least ten pounds.

“Go through these files, summarize the conclusions of each case.”

He placed printed spreadsheets on top. “Then, fill them in here.”

Smiling broadly, showing sixteen teeth, he said, “Thanks for your hard work.”

“Yes… okay…”

Although Jiang Xiaoyuan was friendly, he gave orders without hesitation.

Li Jin disliked paperwork, and lacking skill in writing appraisal records, he had little else to do. He sat in a corner and began reviewing the files.

The files were from twenty years ago, dusty and musty, mostly handwritten in elaborate script. After the fifth file, Li Jin’s head hurt; he secretly checked his phone, realizing only a bit of time had passed.

“Huh, hasn’t Director Liu arrived yet?”

He glanced at Jiang Xiaoyuan, busy at the computer.

“Yeah, the boss has something, said he’ll be late,” Jiang Xiaoyuan replied distractedly.

“Oh…”

Li Jin returned to the files, but his mind wandered to the still-absent Liu Yi.

Five weeks had passed since he started at the Pathology Appraisal Department. Though contact with Director Liu Yi was limited, he had gradually realized Liu Yi, though appearing aloof and unapproachable, was actually amiable, articulate, and graceful.

Moreover, Liu Yi’s smile was beautiful, like spring thaw and blossoms—a striking contrast that thrilled Li Jin.

Li Jin was gay, and Liu Yi’s looks, body, and personality perfectly matched his ideal type.

Originally thinking Liu Yi was in his twenties, he later discovered Liu Yi was thirty-two, eight years older than him.

Still, as the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder—age difference seemed to explain Liu Yi’s maturity and poise.

Wanting to know more, Li Jin searched for Liu Yi’s old Twitter account from studying in Britain and found photos from two years ago at a pride event.

In the photos, Liu Yi had black hair and eyes, a rainbow painted on his cheek, wearing a fitted T-shirt, smiling with visible dimples, standing confidently among tall, foreign peers.

Seeing this, Li Jin’s heart raced with excitement—Liu Yi was his kind of person, currently single, without a lover.

Li Jin secretly saved all the photos on his phone, repeatedly looking at them, captivated by Liu Yi’s gentle smile.

Yet, thinking of his own current boyfriend, he felt a twinge of guilt—briefly.

Almost immediately, that guilt transformed into frustration over his difficulties with Qi Shanyu.

Author’s note: Each large chapter’s subtitle corresponds to a horror film!