National Forensic Doctor-Chapter 1095 - 1026: Prada

Daqiu Mountain.

Massive piles of garbage, forming hills, resembling mountains—a place so toxic it could make you deaf.

Shen Yaowei trudged forward unsteadily. The path beneath his feet was entirely made of trash, part of the decades-old garbage mountain. Wu Yang and other former gang members used to live deep within this mountain of waste.

This was a paradise for scavengers. Plenty of garbage to pick through without needing to venture far, and since the area was filthy and reeked, the landfill workers avoided coming near. Conveniently, this spot had decent transportation access, enabling large quantities of waste to be hauled away. This setup allowed scavengers to ascend the hierarchy and become prominent figures—scrap merchants.

Wu Yang and his crew initially banded together to seize control of this turf.

Given their background, territorial fights were their only strategy for competition.

And for them, it worked out. A few ex-convicts managed to establish themselves, eat well, drink enough, and afford cigarettes. But restoring their previous lives was still a far cry from reality. So, pooling their money, they bought a van with high hopes of embarking on a journey to strike it rich.

"Seven or eight grown men, wandering around this garbage mountain, coming up with the idea of trafficking children—they totally deserved to suffer until their dying breath." Shen Yaowei’s sense of smell was practically annihilated by the stench, leaving his face scrunched up like tightly compacted trash.

"They’ve been out of society for too long. They don’t even know how to use smartphones properly. What else could they do?" The Criminal Science officers accompanying him weren’t as sentimental. It wasn’t their first time visiting this garbage mountain, and while they wouldn’t say they were thrilled, they had resigned themselves to the reality.

"Is this the spot?" Shen Yaowei and the team had entered through the main gate by car, but walking through the area was proving more exhausting. Sweaty and suffocated, they couldn’t afford to remove their protective suits or masks, leaving everyone uncomfortable.

"Almost there. Colleagues who arrived earlier have already started the investigation."

"Good. The sooner we finish, the less likely we’ll die of heatstroke."

The Criminal Science officer accompanying Shen Yaowei glanced at him, smiling as he maintained his disciplined appearance in full protective gear, then teased, "You’re surprisingly tough. I’ve seen detectives come to Daqiu Mountain before, feel hot, strip off their suits, and return covered in itchy red welts! Hahaha..."

The remark served as a subtle reminder to Shen Yaowei.

Unfazed, Shen Yaowei responded, "I’ve been through that myself."

"Makes sense. Not your first time digging through garbage mountains?" The officer examined him up and down.

Shen Yaowei instinctively raised his chin but quickly lowered it again. Though he certainly had accomplishments in places like garbage dumps that most people couldn’t imagine, they were hardly worth bragging about.

Shen Yaowei quickened his pace, taking two sharp turns to arrive at the suspects’ scrapyard—a compound of makeshift shacks filled with trash.

"I’m Shen Yaowei from Jiang Yuan’s Accumulated Case Team, here to assist with the investigation." Shen Yaowei introduced himself at the courtyard gate, where he was stopped.

"A tough gig you’ve got here." Blocking the entrance was a detective from the Yuwan City Bureau, who sympathized before asking, "Lost a bet, or sold yourself?"

"Uh... let’s go with sold myself." Shen Yaowei sighed.

"Tsk tsk, not an easy road. Are you gunning for a deputy position back at the county bureau?" The Yuwan City detective gave him a pitiful look.

Shen Yaowei smiled faintly, avoiding further explanation, and glanced around. "Did you bring oxygen meters and hydrogen sulfide detectors?"

"What now?" The detective was momentarily confused.

Just then, another Criminal Science officer from the Yuwan City team approached, also surprised by Shen Yaowei’s words. "You seem to know your stuff."

"What do you mean?" The detective, lacking patience for cryptic remarks, pressed for an explanation.

"Oxygen meters and hydrogen sulfide detectors are devices used at places like landfills to protect workers from passing out. Hydrogen sulfide detectors gauge stench levels, mainly from ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. The oxygen meters detect gases like methane and carbon dioxide, which garbage sites generate in abundance..." The Criminal Science technician explained expertly.

"Makes sense..." The detective nodded, then asked, "So where are our oxygen meters and hydrogen sulfide detectors?"

"We’re borrowing them, but there’s no guarantee we’ll get hold of any. The landfill’s own equipment is insufficient due to breakdowns that haven’t been replaced." The tech shrugged.

"So we not only endure the stench but also risk our lives?" The detective frowned.

From a distance, another Criminal Science officer investigating the site called out, "Don’t overthink. Look at these suspects—they’ve been living here for months, enduring worse conditions."

"Their brains must have been poisoned—that’s the only reason why seven grown men would band together to steal kids," another officer scoffed.

"Drink some salt soda—it can help," Shen Yaowei casually suggested.

"Help with what?" The detective asked.

Shen Yaowei explained, "It’ll make you feel a bit better, physically improve your condition, and lower the chance of fainting."

"That effective?"

"Just the best solution we’ve got."

"You seem pretty seasoned," the detective remarked in a half-compliment.

Shen Yaowei responded with a low "Mm," then elaborated, "I guess I’m detail-oriented. Plus, I excel at marksmanship, capable of independent operations while protecting myself. I’m also sociable and skilled in interactions across various police departments. Overall, I might be the best candidate in the Cold Case Squad for field tasks like this paired investigation."

With that, Shen Yaowei exhaled heavily, as if unloading the reasons for his presence, visibly relaxing afterward.

Among a group of detectives, his words and demeanor earned distinct looks from everyone present.

"Take a seat and rest for a bit." One detective voluntarily gave up his spot for Shen Yaowei, muttering bitterly about the lengths county investigators would go.

Meanwhile, the accompanying Criminal Science technicians continued their search efforts.

Nowadays, smartphones were often detectives’ most scrutinized tools. Regular criminals kept so much incriminating information on their phones it often tripled their sentences.

Regardless of whether the site was a landfill or anywhere else, searching through physical evidence still remained grueling.

If suspects didn’t hide anything in their phones, how much could they leave behind at the scene?

This case was slightly different. These suspects had been convicted years ago. Before their imprisonment, smartphones weren’t as ubiquitous, and their dependency on phones diminished further during incarceration.

Thus, Wu Yang’s crew had clean phones, contrary to the usual expectation.

The painstaking field investigation became indispensable.

Shen Yaowei waited quietly for a while before finally restlessly checking his gear and entering the courtyard to help with digging.

Excavating hidden evidence within shacks built from garbage on a rubbish heap—the task was genuinely daunting.

But Shen Yaowei was determined to crack it.

This was a mission handed down directly to him by Jiang Yuan, who had specifically instructed Wang Chuanxing to call and assign this task to him. Failing, even indirectly, wasn’t an option for Shen Yaowei.

"Kid’s shoes. Adidas." After some time digging, a Criminal Science officer found a pair while relieving himself nearby.

Given the resource-scarce circumstances of Wu Yang’s gang, if the shoes had come from trash, they’d surely have been cleaned and resold.

"The size matches a three-year-old boy. The style suits, too." The Criminal Investigation unit leader swiftly verified the clues, grinning bitterly as tears stung his eyes from the pervasive stench. "These guys had some smarts, hiding critical evidence outside the courtyard. Makes sense, though—it’s all part of their turf, and garbage is garbage, inside or outside the fence, with them overseeing it."

With this thought, the team leader instructed everyone to expand the search just outside the courtyard.

More items—children’s clothes, shoes, socks—were unearthed one by one.

Matching them piece by piece, the team quickly recovered evidence linked to five missing children.

Meanwhile, Shen Yaowei returned holding a woman’s coat. "I found this in the same pit," he reported.

"Women’s clothes get discarded fairly often. Some aren’t worth selling..." one officer remarked.

Shen Yaowei shook his head. "This coat is Prada—a notoriously delicate brand. Put it through a washing machine twice, and it’d fall apart. There’s no way this coat survived intact simply to be scavenged from a landfill. Dumping it here likely marks its original disposal site."

"Devil-wears-Prada-level luxury?"

"Mm." Shen Yaowei nodded, then added, "Makes no sense to traffic children but ignore other victims. Why stop at kids when they could exploit women too?"