Chapter 79: Seeking Gu Yun

This was the third time Zhuo Qing had entered the Ministry of Justice prison's coroner's office. Perhaps because the suggestion she had made to Dan Yulan last time had been effective, the coroner's office seemed much colder than the previous two times. On the autopsy table, three female corpses were laid out in a row. Their complexions were much paler than those of ordinary corpses, and there were no wounds on their bodies, save for a very fine incision on their chests; their bodies were as white as jade.

Draped in a thick cotton-padded cloak, Zhuo Qing used her slender hands and sharp eyes to carefully examine every inch of the corpses' skin, not even missing places like the scalp or the gaps between fingers. Dan Yulan, Lv Jin, and Cheng Hang were all gathered around her, while Mo Bai stood not far behind Zhuo Qing. He wasn't even wearing a padded coat, yet he didn't appear to be shivering; his expression was merely cold enough to rival the ice in the room.

Lv Jin and Cheng Hang were both very curious about Zhuo Qing. The Minister's attitude toward her was extremely respectful and trusting, and her calmness when facing the corpses, along with her familiarity with the autopsy procedures, already proved that she was definitely an expert.

This time, Zhuo Qing did not provide a running commentary while performing the autopsy as she usually did. Instead, after looking over all three bodies, she raised her head to look at the three men beside her and said, "Tell me your autopsy conclusions first."

Lv Jin looked at Dan Yulan, and after seeing him nod slightly, he spoke his thoughts in a clear voice: "All three victims are women. Although their times of death differ, there are no other wounds on their bodies. All of them have a five-inch-long incision on the lower edge of the left chest. The edges of the wounds are neat and smooth, so the blade must be extremely sharp. Judging by the condition of the wounds, the murder weapon should be a double-edged dagger six to seven inches long. The cause of death was the murderer removing the heart through the incision, leading to death. There are no struggle marks left on the victims, and their facial expressions are of extreme terror. I believe they were struck on their acupoints, unable to move or scream, yet they remained conscious, which is why such terrified expressions appeared."

"What is your name?"

Lv Jin didn't understand why, but he still replied, "Lv Jin."

Smiling as she looked at Dan Yulan, Zhuo Qing asked, "Your student?"

"Yes."

Nodding with some satisfaction, Zhuo Qing smiled and said, "Very promising." He looked to be only in his early twenties; to have such insights with the limited autopsy resources of the ancient era, she thought he was quite good. The reason she didn't speak directly today and wanted to hear them out was that she really wanted to know how much of a gap existed between modern autopsy techniques and ancient methods. Although she didn't dare claim she could raise the level of ancient autopsies to any great height, she hoped to pass on what she knew as much as possible and influence their views on autopsies.

Withdrawing her smile, she looked at Lv Jin's young face and said in a deep voice, "I basically agree with what you just said, but I have doubts about two points. First, regarding the cause of death, I believe it was hemorrhagic shock—that is, death caused by rapid, massive blood loss without timely replenishment." Fearing they wouldn't understand the meaning of "shock," Zhuo Qing immediately added the final sentence.

As soon as she finished speaking, Cheng Hang immediately retorted, "Their hearts were removed, so why isn't it death caused by the loss of the heart?!" Although her performance when facing the corpses earlier had been calm, and he believed she had some autopsy skills, he believed in Lv Jin's autopsy methods even more.

"A human heart stopping for a quarter of an hour is not enough to cause death; but within a quarter of an hour, if an artery ruptures and there is massive blood loss, it can cause death. Is there a large amount of blood at the crime scene?" Although she hadn't been to the scene, the paleness of the corpses after massive blood loss and the atrophy of their organs were enough to explain the situation at the time.

Cheng Hang nodded: "On the bed, on the floor, it's all blood. What's strange about there being blood at a crime scene?!"

"After a person dies, the human body's blood circulation stops, and vascular function also ceases. The amount of bleeding is generally not large and is only seen locally at the site of post-mortem injury; there won't be large pools of blood or blood spatter. The fact that there is so much blood at the crime scene indicates that the victims were still alive after their hearts were removed, until their blood ran dry."

The cold female voice explained in a detached and detailed manner. Cheng Hang didn't quite understand these things and looked at Lv Jin. Lv Jin's expression was solemn, staring blankly at the corpses, and the Minister also looked deep in thought, so Cheng Hang didn't dare say anything more. After thinking for a moment, Zhuo Qing simply walked to the side of the corpse and said to the dazed Lv Jin, "Come here."

Lv Jin hadn't yet recovered his senses, but his feet had already involuntarily walked to Zhuo Qing's side.

"Generally, if bleeding occurs before death, the blood will coagulate shortly after; if bleeding occurs after death, the blood does not coagulate. Furthermore, bleeding before death involves fibrin networks that bind tightly to the tissue, which cannot be removed by washing; whereas post-mortem bleeding does not coagulate and can be removed by washing." Using her glove, she rubbed hard against the ice nearby; the glove became somewhat damp. Zhuo Qing gently rubbed the deceased's wound, but the dried blood showed no change. She then moved her hand down to a splash of scarlet near the deceased's waist and touched it lightly; the blood color had already faded.

Lv Jin finally understood that this woman, who was half a head shorter than him, was teaching him a method to distinguish blood. Although he hadn't known these things before, she had already used a practical example to show him. Quickly cupping his hands, Lv Jin said gratefully, "Thank you for your guidance, Madam."

Zhuo Qing didn't mind his thanks. Seeing that he understood, she continued, "Second point, you said earlier that striking acupoints caused the victims to be unable to move; I don't think that's very likely."

Why? Lv Jin and Cheng Hang's eyes clearly held the question. Zhuo Qing didn't wait for them to ask and said coldly, "What is generally called striking acupoints should involve hitting certain weak or sensitive points on the human body, causing numbness, soreness, or unbearable pain, and losing the ability to resist. The victims maintained this posture until death from beginning to end. If it were because they were struck on their acupoints and couldn't move, then the blood circulation at the points where their bodies were struck would definitely have been affected, and post-mortem lividity would have formed at those points due to blood stagnation. Look at the post-mortem lividity on these corpses; because of excessive blood loss, the color of their lividity is lighter, but it only appears on their backs."

Lv Jin gently lifted the corpse of the princess who had died most recently. Indeed, there were only marks on her back. Gently putting the corpse down, Lv Jin was now completely convinced by Zhuo Qing and took the initiative to ask, "Does Madam have any other discoveries?" Perhaps she could see things they hadn't.

"The murderer is very clear about the position of human organs, especially the heart. Judging by the wounds, he only cut once, and the position was chosen exactly at the junction of the left mid-clavicular line and the fifth intercostal space—this is exactly where the heart is. His blade didn't even leave a mark on the ribs; he cut the cardiovascular system directly and used his hand to reach through the ribs to take the heart out." This level of technical skill was something an ordinary butcher couldn't achieve, and even an ordinary doctor might not be able to complete it. Pointing to the wide-open eyes of the three female corpses, Zhuo Qing shook her head slightly and said, "I don't have any other discoveries, but I do have some questions. The most peculiar thing about the whole case is that the victims' facial expressions are of extreme terror, yet there are no wounds left on their bodies, not even skin debris under their fingernails. This means the victims were in a completely conscious state, yet they didn't struggle at all—this is too strange. Also, the murderer took off all the victims' clothes but did not sexually assault them. What is the reason for the murderer doing this?"

Dan Yulan had also been pondering this question in his heart. Perhaps if these two questions could be explained, they could figure out what the murderer's method of killing really was. The three victims appeared to be conscious, but when Miss Lou was attacked tonight, she was completely unaware. Had the murderer changed his killing method, or was it possible that the murderer wasn't just one person?!

Zhuo Qing suddenly remembered something. Staring at Lv Jin, she said seriously, "Lv Jin, your autopsy report just now didn't mention whether the victims were sexually assaulted; this is a major omission. Perhaps you feel that there is a distinction between men and women, but as a coroner, you should discard these burdens and do what you ought to do."

"Yes." Lv Jin lowered his head slightly. Regarding her words, he had nothing to refute. He had actually examined them, but because the Madam was a woman, he hadn't specifically mentioned it. Who knew she was so open-minded; it was he who had overthought it.

It wasn't early anymore, and the corpses had been examined. Zhuo Qing took off her gloves and said, "Minister Dan, it's getting late, I'll be going first. Regarding the case, I'll come to the yamen tomorrow to discuss it with you in detail." She was afraid that if she didn't go back too late, Lou Xiyan would worry about her. Zhuo Qing sighed inwardly—since when had she cared about him so much? Was this the feeling of having a bond in one's heart?! It didn't seem bad at all.

"Please, Madam."

Zhuo Qing nodded and walked toward the door, Mo Bai's tall and cold figure following closely behind.

As Zhuo Qing's figure disappeared outside the door, Cheng Hang finally couldn't help but ask, "Minister, what is her background?"

She was so young, yet she knew so much about corpses, and when she was lecturing Lv Jin just now, that aura really made one not dare to talk back. Who exactly was this woman?

Facing two pairs of eager-to-know, interested eyes, Dan Yulan shook his head with a bitter smile. He didn't know what her background was either...

She had returned late last night and hadn't disturbed Lou Xiyan, so she didn't know if he had been asleep at the time. After waking up from a sleep, he had already left the mansion. Zhuo Qing was worried about Lou Xiwu's mood and decided to go see her first.

Who knew that just as she reached the courtyard entrance, she would hear her screaming at the top of her lungs: "Get out, go away! I don't want to see you!"

Zhuo Qing raised a strange smile and walked slowly into the courtyard. Sure enough, she saw Jing Sa standing silently to one side, his complexion as dark as ever, his usually cold black eyes carrying a trace of deliberately hidden doubt and heartache, staring intently at the woman in the room who was screaming at him.

"Get out!" As soon as she finished speaking, a porcelain cup flew out from the window, hitting exactly at Jing Sa's feet, porcelain shards flying everywhere. Jing Sa, however, didn't change his expression, still standing there silently, though his face was like a thunderstorm...

Zhuo Qing shrank her feet. This girl, her attack was too ruthless.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 80 =====