"Hello... what? Is Professor Liu okay? Good to hear he's fine, please send him our regards. We'll figure out the case, Professor Liu's health is the priority. Alright, that's it then."

Yu Chuanfei hung up the phone, looking immediately worried.

"Yu Branch Chief, what's wrong?"

"Ah, I have time tonight too. The skull restoration expert from Gongjing suddenly fainted and is hospitalized. This is really bad timing."

"Skull restoration? Can't I do it?"

"Yes, a skeleton was recently unearthed. The victim's identity still can't be confirmed, and there are no developments in the case. The superiors are also pressing hard for results. What do we do now?"

"Maybe I can help!"

Li Xiang thought about how Yu Chuanfei helped him with his minor matters and felt obliged to assist him now that he was in trouble.

"Really? You know an expert in skull restoration? This skull is severely damaged, not easy to repair, let alone restore."

Yu Chuanfei thought Li Xiang knew an expert in the field, but he was worried. He had hired other experts before, but they were also at a loss with this case and withdrew.

Li Xiang smiled, "I'll try my best!"

"Giving it a try won't hurt."

Originally, Yu Chuanfei wanted Li Xiang to introduce an expert to give it a shot, but then he realized: "Wait, you're saying you'll give it a try? Don't joke around, this isn't something you can play with on a whim."

Skull restoration is an extremely professional skill, and experts who excel in this field are usually seasoned and much older. Even young experts would appear more convincing than a young man like Li Xiang.

"Just let me try, there's nothing to lose, or do you have someone else in mind?"

"Um..."

Yu Chuanfei had no other candidate. He had already contacted people who tried but failed.

He was counting on having an authoritative expert from Gongjing, but the sudden illness made that impossible. Where else could he turn?

"Alright, since you're here, give it a try."

Thinking of this, Yu Chuanfei prepared to take Li Xiang to the forensic room where the skull was placed.

"Feifei, wait here for me, I'll be right back."

Lin Feifei immediately became interested: "I want to go see too."

"There's nothing to see in a skull, just wait here for me."

Lin Feifei pouted, slightly unhappy, and muttered an 'okay'.

Following Yu Chuanfei to the forensic room, they found two forensic scientists, fully equipped in white lab coats, busy cleaning the remaining bones.

One of them saw Yu Chuanfei and took off his gloves and mask, walking over: "Yu Branch Chief, is the expert here?"

Upon seeing Li Xiang, he visibly showed a questioning look.

"Uh..."

Not sure how to introduce Li Xiang under the scrutinizing gaze of the forensic scientist, Yu Chuanfei pretended not to notice, and said with a stiff face:

"Xiao Li, this is Li Xiang from Jinghai City. Brief him on the situation here."

"Alright, the clothes and gloves can be changed in the dressing room inside. Change your clothes and I'll familiarize you with the case."

Though skeptical, Xiao Li decided to oblige since Yu Branch Chief had personally brought him.

Li Xiang changed into his clothes in the dressing room and joined Xiao Li.

"Hello, this skeleton was unearthed last week from a construction site. The time of death is over two years ago. Due to the long time span, there are no leads on the victim's identity, so we hoped to reconstruct the victim's likeness through the skull restoration technique."

"Understood, let me give it a try."

Li Xiang nodded, and with his gloved hand, lifted the skull for closer inspection.

The skull is the hardest bone in the human body, providing critical protection and support for the brain and related structures.

It mainly consists of two parts: the cranial bones and the facial bones. The cranial bones include eight bones: unpaired are the frontal, ethmoid, sphenoid, and occipital bones; paired are the temporal and parietal bones.

The posterior upper part of the head forms the cranial cavity, protecting the brain.

This skull's occipital bone is fractured, likely from the perpetrator striking the victim's rear head with a blunt object.

The facial bones consist of 15 bones: paired are the maxillary, palatine, zygomatic, nasal, lacrimal, and inferior nasal conchae; unpaired are the vomer, mandible, and hyoid, forming the significant parts of the maxillofacial region and participating in the structure of the oral cavity, nasal cavity, and orbit.

The rest of the bones are intact, and the skull had been preliminarily processed by the forensics team, but still had hair attached.

After observing for five minutes, Li Xiang said to Xiao Li, "Give me a sheet of paper and a pencil."

"Sure."

Xiao Li readily complied, curious to see what Li Xiang had up his sleeve, suspecting that Yu Branch Chief might have been conned.

Let's see how you handle this.

With the paper and pencil ready, Li Xiang positioned the skull in front of him and began sketching a portrait outline.

As Li Xiang's pencil moved, a man's portrait gradually appeared on the paper.

Xiao Li nodded quietly, impressed by Li Xiang's ability to create a figure within ten minutes. Regardless of whether the portrait accurately reflected the skull restoration, his drawing skills were undoubtedly professional.

Maybe his drawing skills were what convinced Yu Branch Chief to trust him.

Turning back to Yu Chuanfei, even he was amazed by Li Xiang's drawing skills.

Could this young man really have some tricks up his sleeve?

Noticing Xiao Li's glance back, Yu Chuanfei smiled confidently: "Not bad, right!"

Xiao Li: "Let's hope so."

Once the outline was done, Li Xiang began refining the details, restoring the victim's likeness based on hair found on the skull.

The details became increasingly vivid, and a lifelike portrait emerged from Li Xiang's pencil strokes.

"Yu Branch Chief, this is the portrait of the victim I reconstructed from the skull. I hope it helps your investigation."

Yu Chuanfei received the portrait from Li Xiang like a treasure.

The man in the drawing was so detailed, it looked almost like a computer-generated image. Despite being a pencil drawing, it had a 3D feel, showcasing Li Xiang's extraordinary drawing skills.

"Great, with this picture, we'll quickly confirm the victim's identity. Thank you, Li Xiang."

"No need to thank me. It was nothing, and if it helps solve the case, even better."

Li Xiang waved his hand, wanting to quickly repay this favor.

"Alright, when the case is solved, I'll buy you a drink. You must come then."

Eager to solve the case now that they had the portrait, if Li Xiang wasn't there, Yu Chuanfei would have already left.

"I'll be waiting. I'll leave for now, I have some things to attend to this afternoon."

"I'll see you out."

"No need, I'll grab Feifei and leave."

Yu Chuanfei still saw Li Xiang off, then urgently convened the task force members for a meeting, using Li Xiang's portrait of the victim to refocus the investigation, emphasizing identifying the victim both online and offline.

Once the victim's identity is determined, they're one big step closer to solving the case.

As they left the police station, Lin Feifei asked, "How did it go? Did you finish that skull restoration thing?"

It's quite strange because girls are typically afraid of ghosts, murder cases, and such gruesome and terrifying matters and tend to avoid them.

However, driven by curiosity, she couldn't help but want to see and listen. After seeing and hearing, she felt scared but still wanted to see and hear more.

That's quite odd!

"Yes, it's done. Once this case is solved, Yu Branch Chief owes me a meal."

They still didn't know Li Xiang's expertise and only thought he was a skilled artist. But when the case is eventually solved, and the victim's identity is exposed, they'll realize how impressive Li Xiang's grandmaster-level Skull Restoration Technique truly is.

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