Chapter 20: Discovering the People Through Hot Pot

“True enough, how could it not taste good? The shop is packed every day, and everyone comes for this broth. After all, it’s been simmered for a year or two—how could it not be delicious?”

Hearing these two voices, Sang Ye was so startled that the food she was holding with her chopsticks fell back into the pot.

She instinctively looked around, trying to find who was speaking, but after scanning the entire room, she couldn’t spot anyone who had said those words.

Then Sang Ye noticed a black cat crouching in the corner atop the cashier’s counter, its entire body jet black, with a pair of gleaming green eyes fixed intently on everyone.

Suddenly, she realized that the voice she heard must have been the telepathic thoughts of that black cat.

Recalling what the cat had just said, Sang Ye looked at the steaming hotpot again, and a churning sensation rose in her stomach.

This broth was made by simmering the flesh and bones of her own people, and it had been cooking for a year or two!!

Her face instantly turned pale as she retched.

But since she hadn’t eaten much earlier, and had only taken a few bites of the hotpot, her stomach was still relatively empty. She gagged several times but couldn’t vomit.

Yaoyao was happily eating nearby and immediately noticed Sang Ye’s distress from her gagging.

She handed her a glass of water and asked with concern, “Sang Ye, are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Sang Ye took the water and sipped a few mouthfuls. Seeing her calm down a bit, Yaoyao asked, “Is the hotpot not to your taste? Or is it too spicy and irritating your stomach?”

Just as Sang Ye was feeling a little better, her mind was struck again by the cat’s words—the broth made from the bones of her people, which she had just consumed. She let out a loud, involuntary retch.

Yaoyao was completely stunned.

Others around them began to glance subtly in their direction.

Sang Ye’s mind was filled with the image of her people’s bones simmering in the broth, and she barely noticed anything else.

After a while, Sang Ye regained composure. Though her stomach still churned heavily at the sight of the bubbling hotpot, she managed to control it.

She remembered the piece of meat she had just dropped back into the pot, promptly grabbed a spoon, and began carefully fishing out each ingredient.

Seeing this, Yaoyao thought Sang Ye was scooping the food out to eat and picked up her chopsticks to continue eating.

But Sang Ye said, “Don’t eat anymore. I’ll take you somewhere else to eat later.”

Yaoyao looked confused but put down her chopsticks, eyeing the red, fragrant hotpot reluctantly.

After two rounds of scooping, Sang Ye finally retrieved the piece of abnormal meat she had dropped earlier.

As a veterinarian, Sang Ye had seen many animal corpses; this meat was clearly unlike any animal meat she had encountered.

After confirming this, she solemnly placed the meat aside and called Xing Hao.

When Xing Hao heard she had found a corpse while eating hotpot, he fell into an eerie silence for several seconds.

It had been only a couple of days since the last body was discovered, and now there was a new one.

Yaoyao, sitting across, overheard Sang Ye telling the detective about the discovery of human fragments in the hotpot. Her gaze fell on the piece of meat Sang Ye had carefully set aside.

Unlike Sang Ye who gagged, Yaoyao immediately vomited.

The police arrived swiftly.

Within ten minutes, sirens wailed outside.

The sudden arrival of police sirens outside the hotpot restaurant stirred curiosity among all the diners.

Some seated near the door even poked their heads out to see what had happened.

Unexpectedly, the detectives were heading straight for their hotpot shop!

Everyone eating inside stopped and whispered anxiously.

“What’s going on? Why are the detectives here?”

“I don’t know. Detectives handle criminal cases, so if they’re here, it means there’s been a serious crime.”

“What? I came all this way to enjoy hotpot, and now there’s a crime scene?”

Though the murmurs inside the shop weren’t loud, the arrival of Xing Hao and his team quickly caught the staff’s attention.

The employees immediately informed the owner.

Xing Hao strode purposefully into the hotpot restaurant.

Sang Ye and her companions kept their eyes on the entrance, fearing Xing Hao might miss them. When they saw him arrive, they waved frantically.

“Detective!”

Hearing this, Xing Hao looked over and walked straight toward them.

Forensic pathologist Liu followed closely behind. Seeing Sang Ye, he raised an eyebrow and said, “Hey, it’s you again, young lady. That’s the third time.”

Sang Ye greeted Liu and shrugged helplessly. “I don’t want this either. Who would want to eat something and find this inside? It’s more nerve-wracking than opening a mystery box.”

Hearing this, both Liu and Xing Hao nearly burst out laughing.

The other officers averted their gazes, stifling their laughter.

Liu was speechless. “Your luck is really something else.”

“I don’t want it either…” Sang Ye said helplessly.

Although Sang Ye was almost certain this was human flesh, she still handed the bowl containing the isolated piece of meat to the forensic pathologist for examination. “Liu, you have experience. Please take a look. Also, there might be a problem with the broth—it’s likely made from human bones.”

Upon hearing this, Liu’s smile vanished and he donned gloves with a serious expression.

He first performed a basic analysis. Cooked human flesh differs in texture from animal meat, which is why Sang Ye could identify it as human meat.

After a thorough inspection, Liu looked gravely at Xing Hao. “Preliminary judgment confirms it is human flesh. The broth has a peculiar flavor that no amount of seasoning can mask. It very likely contains human bones simmered in it. I’ll need to take it back for detailed analysis to be certain.”

The owner approached just then and overheard the statement. He immediately panicked but tried to maintain composure.

“Officer, you must be mistaken. How could it be human flesh? We only use premium meat here. If anything, maybe those customers brought it in from outside. Everyone here knows our quality—we’re honest citizens, not involved in such wickedness.”

“Look at our ingredients—everything is freshly picked daily! We’ve run this shop for years, and no one has ever questioned our food quality. Officer, please don’t believe their slanderous claims! Such a serious accusation—our shop would never dare to do such a thing.”

The owner protested loudly, “We eat our own food; how could it be human flesh as they say? Officer, I’m truly innocent.”

Xing Hao listened to his pleading, then turned to him. “We’ll find out once we investigate.”

He then instructed his team, “Seal off the scene.”