Under the scorching sun, a corpse first showed signs of livor mortis.

Then, the second, the third…

In less than three minutes, all twelve corpses exhibited the same livor mortis.

Anyone with basic medical knowledge knows that livor mortis in normal deaths is usually purplish-red or dark purple. However, the livor mortis on these twelve corpses was entirely black.

Each patch of livor mortis was as large as a fist, forming a pattern that resembled a blooming black rose, giving off an eerie and terrifying feeling.

“What… what is going on here?”

Gu Feng’s face was full of astonishment.

Under normal circumstances, livor mortis appears about two hours after death. But these twelve corpses had been stored in the cold storage for over thirty hours, so the livor mortis should have appeared long ago.

“I guess it has something to do with the temperature in the cold storage. The low temperature solidified the blood, preventing the livor mortis from appearing earlier,” Ye Qiu said.

“That doesn’t make sense. When we found these victims, they had been dead for over twelve hours. Normally, livor mortis should have appeared by then.”

Hearing Gu Feng’s words, Ye Qiu frowned.

Indeed, why hadn’t the livor mortis appeared earlier?

At that moment, a foul stench hit their noses.

Yang Qi vomited on the spot.

It wasn’t her fault; the stench was overwhelmingly foul, worse than rotting tofu, even making Ye Qiu feel nauseous.

Gu Feng shouted, “Ye Qiu, look, the bodies are changing.”

Ye Qiu looked up and saw that within a few seconds, the twelve corpses had turned pitch black from the neck down, as if they had just been pulled out of a coal mine.

What was even more bizarre was that the area above their necks hadn’t turned black. Instead, dark red lines crisscrossed their faces, making them look grotesque and terrifying.

Each corpse had its eyes wide open, filled with fear and terror, with fists clenched tightly, bodies stiff.

It was as if they had seen something extremely horrifying before they died.

Hiss…

Ye Qiu took a deep breath, his expression becoming extremely serious. “Just as I suspected, they were all poisoned.”

Gu Feng couldn’t help but ask, “Ye Qiu, do you know what kind of poison it is?”

“Let me take a closer look.”

Ye Qiu approached the twelve corpses, carefully examining them. Gradually, his face showed a look of horror.

“This… how is this possible?”

Ye Qiu was incredulous.

“Ye Qiu, what did you find?” Gu Feng hurriedly asked.

“The poison they were exposed to seems to be…” Ye Qiu’s words were cut off as he suddenly saw Yang Qi reaching out to touch one of the corpses. He shouted, “Don’t touch it!”

Yang Qi withdrew her hand in fright, looking at Ye Qiu in confusion.

Ye Qiu said sternly, “The poison on their bodies is extremely potent. If I’m not mistaken, it should be the legendary Mandala Poison.”

“Mandala Poison?”

Gu Feng and Yang Qi exchanged glances; it was the first time they had heard of it.

Ye Qiu explained, “Mandala is originally a beautiful flower, similar in appearance to a rose. Its blossoms contain toxins that, when refined, can create a rare and deadly poison known as Mandala Poison.”

“This rare poison is colorless and odorless when it first enters the body. Only after death does it emit a foul stench, just like these bodies.”

Ye Qiu pointed to the corpses on the ground and continued, “Moreover, those poisoned by Mandala Poison experience hallucinations before death, seeing the most terrifying things of their lives. That’s why these victims died with their eyes wide open and expressions of terror.”

“I heard that Mandala was completely extinct hundreds of years ago.”

“How could these people be poisoned by Mandala?”

Ye Qiu added, “And as far as I know, there is currently no antidote for Mandala Poison.”

What!

Gu Feng and Yang Qi’s faces showed horror.

“These bodies were originally stored in the cold storage. Because of the low temperature, the toxins didn’t spread in their bodies. Now, after being exposed to the sun, the toxins have fully erupted, causing their bodies to turn black.”

Ye Qiu said, “Now, every inch of their skin and every pore is filled with deadly poison. If you touch them, you’ll be poisoned by Mandala. Even Hua Tuo reincarnated wouldn’t be able to save you.”

“Then what should we do with these bodies? We can’t just leave them here,” Gu Feng asked.

Ye Qiu replied, “Burn them all, then find a place to dig a deep pit and bury the ashes.”

“It seems that’s the only way.”

Yang Qi said, “Dr. Ye, I have another question.”

“Go ahead.”

Yang Qi asked, “When does Mandala Poison typically show symptoms after death?”

Ye Qiu answered, “Under normal circumstances, within four hours.”

“But when we found these victims, they had been dead for over twelve hours. Why didn’t they show any symptoms then?” Yang Qi asked.

“The question you’re asking, I can’t answer right now because I don’t know either,” Ye Qiu said. “To find out, we have to go to the scene.”

“Ye Qiu, how about I take you to the scene?” Gu Feng suggested.

“Alright.”

Ye Qiu agreed readily; he also wanted to see what kind of place could have Mandala Poison.

“The crime scene is about half an hour’s drive from here. Let’s go now.” Gu Feng drove, taking Ye Qiu and Yang Qi straight to the crime scene.

In the car.

Ye Qiu asked, “Have you investigated the family backgrounds and social relations of these twelve victims?”

“We’ve done a thorough investigation.” Yang Qi handed a folder to Ye Qiu.

Ye Qiu opened it and found information on the victims.

He quickly browsed through it.

He found that the twelve victims were all ordinary residents, living in the same building, with good neighborly relations and no known enemies.

Ye Qiu was even more puzzled.

How could such ordinary residents be poisoned by something as rare as Mandala?

Half an hour later.

The car stopped.

Gu Feng said, “We’re here.”

Ye Qiu got out of the car and saw a river. Next to the river was a five-story residential building.

Gu Feng pointed to the building and said, “That’s the crime scene.”

Even without his reminder, Ye Qiu could tell because there was police tape around the building and several uniformed officers standing guard.

“Let’s go take a look.”

As soon as Ye Qiu approached the building, a chill ran through his body, and he couldn’t help but shiver. Frowning, he said, “Such a heavy presence of yin energy!”