Inside the forensic laboratory in Chuan City.

Jiang An is bent over adjusting the microscope's focus, deep blue surgical scrubs soaked with dark sweat stains on the back.

Zhou Yong removes his gloves and rubs his stiff cheeks, his jawbone making a slight clicking sound.

He stares at the skeleton on the bench, labeled ML-0427, "Mr. Jiang's deduction just now was very insightful."

"This skeletonized corpse indeed presents us with a challenge — soft tissue completely missing, making even basic trauma morphological analysis a luxury."

"But the fractures in the skull, fingers, and the wedge-shaped fracture in the tibia, these three injury formations of angles and stress distribution..."

"Perfectly demonstrate the classical motion trajectory of the human body being struck by a vehicle in a traffic accident."

A crisp sound of instruments colliding comes from the other end of the autopsy table.

The new forensic assistant, Chen Sheng, is gripping a bone saw, dazed, with bone fragments still on his protective mask.

"Mr. Zhou, what if it was multiple blunt force hits? Like if the perpetrator used an iron rod three times…"

The autopsy room suddenly falls into silence, with only the compressor of the incubator humming.

After a moment, Wan organizing evidence bursts into laughter.

"Have you been watching 'Crime Scene' too much?"

Zhou Yong picks up the conversation, saying solemnly, "Three separate strikes? How could it form different types of fracture patterns?"

At this moment, Jiang An removes his goggles, leaving deep marks on his temples from the frame.

"Very good questioning."

"Actually, the most crucial evidence is right here."

The screen lights up with a microscopic image of the tibia fracture, "Do you see the arrangement of these tiny bone chips? Typical 'bumper fracture' characteristics."

He enlarges several jagged protrusions in the image.

"The acceleration generated during a vehicle impact causes the bone fragments to form this unique fishbone-like embedded shape — this is textbook-level traffic injury identification standard."

Zhou Yong suddenly slaps his forehead, "I remembered! That classic case on page 317 of 'Forensic Injury Science!'"

He quickly walks towards the filing cabinet, the leather gloves leaving a white mark on the metal handle.

"The book states that the key point in distinguishing these kinds of fractures…"

Before he finishes speaking, Chen Sheng picks up, "Is whether there is a typical throwing injury."

"Unfortunately, when we found this corpse, it was already skeletonized…"

He suddenly looks out the window, neon lights casting mottled shadows on his face through the blinds.

"Chen, do you remember that accident on Binjiang Road three years ago?"

"Back then, we relied on the femur..."

At this moment, Jiang An's phone suddenly rings urgently, the piercing ringtone particularly jarring in the quiet scene.

He quickly takes off his gloves, the screen flashing with the name "Chen Biao."

Jiang An takes a deep breath, presses the answer button: "Hello? Mr. Chen, any new discoveries?"

From the other end of the phone comes Chen Biao's slightly panting voice.

"Mr. Jiang, we are now at the foot of the mountain where the deceased last disappeared."

"The situation here is somewhat complex..."

Jiang An keenly senses the anomaly in Chen Biao's tone, immediately asking: "Disappeared at the mountain's foot? What do you mean? Be specific."

Chen Biao's voice becomes heavy: "Based on the latest data we retrieved, the deceased Luo Xi disappeared half a year ago."

"The school's counselor records show that on the day she went missing, she expressed wanting to travel alone, with the destination being the area around the county where the school is located."

"Specific location?"

"Any more detailed clues?"

Jiang An asks while signaling Zhou Yong beside him to listen together.

"No clear indication!"

Chen Biao continues, "But the counselor recalls, Luo Xi often mentioned liking hiking, combined with her last activity trajectory, we speculate the likely place is Tazi Mountain near the school."

"Tazi Mountain?"

Jiang An furrows his brows.

"We are currently at the foot of Tazi Mountain."

"There is almost no surveillance equipment here, surrounding facilities are nearly zero."

Saying this, Chen Biao looks around, the dense forest rustling in the wind.

"Precisely because here maintains its primitive appearance, it instead attracts many young people seeking thrill to hike and explore."

Upon hearing this, Jiang An presses the hands-free button, allowing the entire investigation team to hear clearly.

Zhou Yong immediately asks, "You mean the last place the deceased appeared is this deserted mountain forest?"

Chen Biao's voice comes through the speaker: "Exactly."

"Within several kilometers around this mountain, there are no surveillance cameras, it's almost impossible to track clues through surveillance."

"What about other aspects?"

"Are there any worthy clues to follow?"

Zhou Yong inquires further.

Chen Biao sighs: "So far, the harvest is limited."

"We investigated Luo Xi's social relations, she is a second-year graduate student, has no romantic partner, ruled out the possibility of a criminal relationship from love."

"Her lifestyle is also upright, unlikely to have made enemies."

Five minutes later, Jiang An suddenly thinks of something, quickly asks: "How's the traffic situation at the mountain's foot? Are there many vehicles coming and going?"

Chen Biao replies: "This location is remote, public transportation is scarce."

"Young people coming to hike mostly take taxis."

"Are they all regular taxis?"

Jiang An keenly catches this detail.

Chen Biao explains, "We've observed for a long time, there are both vehicles from regular taxi companies and some private cars that appear relatively old, picking up passengers."

"These unlicensed drivers are very mobile, making the investigation quite challenging."

At this point, Chen Biao raises a critical question: "Mr. Jiang, I have a question."

"If the deceased was killed here, why would the corpse appear so far away?"

"Could there be a time discrepancy between her disappearance and death?"