Chapter 740: The Headless Mystery

Lin Dongxue rushed over upon hearing the news. Xiaosi had been taken away in handcuffs. She asked, “What happened to his face?”

“I threw flour at him,” Chen Shi replied.

“Where did you get the flour?” Lin Dongxue asked, smiling.

“I was worried he might have a knife, so while wandering around, I borrowed some flour from a nearby noodle shop… Was that a bit underhanded?”

“Haha, I’d rather you be cunning than too brave. The important thing is that we caught him.”

The fire was quickly brought under control. The police discovered that the fire wasn’t actually that big. Xiaosi had wrapped the cards in the house with a cloth, soaked them in water, and set them on fire to create a lot of smoke.

The most surprising discovery was a large wooden barrel filled with water placed next to the door. Xiaosi had hidden in it. When the police broke in, the room was filled with smoke, and he took the opportunity to escape.

What an incredible deception!

There were seven kidnapped people in the house: the owner, an employee, and five others. All had their throats slashed, but Xiaosi had deliberately not cut too deeply, intending to keep them as obstacles for the police. Even if the police discovered his escape, they had to prioritize saving the severely injured hostages.

They were sent to the hospital and survived, though recovery would take some time. They couldn’t speak due to their throat injuries.

After a long day, both Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue were exhausted. Lin Dongxue suggested going home to sleep, and Chen Shi agreed. Just as they were about to take a cab home, Lin Qiupu sent a text message: “The headless mystery has been solved!”

“Are we going back to the station?” Lin Dongxue asked.

Chen Shi rubbed his temples and sighed, “Let’s go back and see. I’m curious too.”

When they returned to the police station, the reporters were gone. The director had promised a press conference to explain the headless mystery and the case’s details soon, refusing any individual interviews until then.

While the station was calm, the internet buzzed with activity. Many citizens had seen the news on social media and excitedly joined the discussion. Early videos from the scene had already been shared millions of times, with countless marketing accounts jumping on the trend.

Entering the police building, Lin Dongxue was excited, like unwrapping a gift. Chen Shi said, “Don’t get too excited. The truth is often not as sensational.”

In a conference room packed with people, Lin Qiupu introduced some new faces as neurosurgery experts from the city hospital. He explained that their valuable insights had helped solve the case after an afternoon of discussions with Captain Peng.

An elderly doctor nodded and smiled, “This incident has caused quite a stir. We’re honored to be involved.”

A younger doctor added, “Though we have a medical explanation, encountering something like this is nothing short of a miracle.”

Peng Sijue stood up, “The autopsy is complete. I must first apologize for my mistake. When I arrived at the crime scene this morning, I usually confirm death by checking pupils and carotid pulse. This time, because the victim was decapitated, I assumed he was dead and skipped this step. This was my major oversight!”

“You mean Zhang Xiao was alive when brought back for autopsy?” Chen Shi was astonished.

“He must have been alive, or he wouldn’t have ‘resurrected’.”

Lin Qiupu said, “Captain Peng is meticulous, yet even he made this mistake. It shows how common sense can mislead us. Seeing a headless body, we assume death, which everyone should learn from.”

“Old Peng not confirming death was the first low-probability event. The police at the entrance being called away by an old lady was the second. The ‘resurrection’ itself was the biggest low-probability event. Three such events coinciding is the essence of Murphy’s Law!” Chen Shi said, clearly defending Peng Sijue.

Peng Sijue had his assistant display a photo. Most people didn’t recognize the organ in it. Peng Sijue explained, “During the autopsy, I found a long, thin piece of gray soft tissue in the victim’s spine with many grooves. Further brain dissection revealed a massive tumor in his right brain, occupying most of it and causing necrosis. I contacted doctors from his hometown, who confirmed the tumor was discovered in March last year. Since it was entwined with the aorta, it was difficult to remove. The local doctors decided to create a new right brain using stem cell transplantation!”

Upon hearing this, the room buzzed with discussion before quieting down.

“Stem cells are primitive, undifferentiated cells with the potential for self-replication and multi-directional differentiation, also known as pluripotent cells. They can replace any cell in the body. The doctors injected stem cells into the victim’s spine, where they settled and gradually formed a second brain. This was a temporary medical solution, with plans to remove the tumor and necrotic right brain once the second brain was fully formed.

“When the victim was decapitated, his body still had a right brain connected to the spine, which took over some functions of the cerebellum, paralyzing his autonomic nervous system. We concluded that this second brain, connected to the spine, took over partial cerebellar functions. Human neurons have strong adaptability. There have been medical cases where misconnected finger nerves quickly recovered normal functions. After being brought back for autopsy, the victim entered a state of hypovolemic shock, mimicking death. His nervous system self-rescued by rebuilding cardiopulmonary functions through the second brain, achieving ‘resurrection’!

“Evidence supporting this conclusion comes from the site videos showing the resurrected victim only moving his left side, controlled by the right brain. This ‘resurrection’ was a temporary phenomenon. Firstly, his body was severely blood-deprived; secondly, lacking a filtering airway, unfiltered air entered his lungs. I found his alveoli swollen with mild inflammation during the autopsy. With his organs failing and unfiltered air entering his bloodstream, his body couldn’t detoxify, leading to his ultimate death.”

Everyone was amazed by this explanation. Chen Shi remarked, “No wonder he was drawing on the ground before dying. He had lost his left brain, which controls language and logic.”

Lin Dongxue felt sorry for the victim, who had died twice. She asked, “Could he have been saved if discovered earlier?”

A doctor responded, “Almost impossible. The victim’s movements were driven by adrenaline and ATP converted to ADP, squeezing out the last bit of cellular reserves. His organs were already failing, and bacteria directly entering his blood from the air meant moving for a few minutes was already a miracle.”