Chapter 10: Golden Body Dharma Image

"Pop~"

A thick stack of autopsy reports was tossed onto the table. Professor Okochi sat behind his desk, a research paper on esophageal hiatal surgery displayed on the computer screen beside him. No expression could be discerned on the old professor's ancient, weathered face, but his deep, triangular eyes emitted an inexplicable meaning: "Sit, Uesugi-kun."

"Yes." Uesugi Muneyuki sat opposite Professor Okochi, feeling somewhat uneasy.

They had just returned from the scene. After Uesugi Muneyuki's deafening replies, judgments, and interrogations, the police had nothing more to say. Even so, Tanaka Laodeng did not immediately act according to Uesugi Muneyuki's theory; they stated they would apply for an administrative autopsy to determine if it was indeed a suicide pact as Uesugi Muneyuki had speculated.

The real problem arose from Uesugi Muneyuki's questioning of the nearby neighbors. After he finished speaking, he did not receive apologies or shame as expected, but rather angry, defensive abuse. Led by the woman with the shopping basket, who shouted things like "We are the actual victims," "We have already tolerated them for so long," and "If they have dementia, they shouldn't be causing trouble for others," they swarmed Uesugi Muneyuki until several Police Sergeants and Tanaka Laodeng maintained order and told everyone to disperse.

At this moment, Professor Okochi, who had been hiding for a long time, finally appeared and signaled for Uesugi Muneyuki to stop. The two were escorted by a police car back to Tokyo Medical and Dental University.

Uesugi Muneyuki now understood more and more what Professor Okochi meant by "this country is sick." When Professor Okochi seriously told him to sit down, he himself felt a bit uneasy; he was not sure how this old professor viewed him.

Professor Okochi sat up straight, tucked his hands under the table, pressed his elbows against the armrests with his hands on his legs, and leaned back. He stared at Uesugi Muneyuki for a full one minute and fifty-five seconds. Only after Uesugi Muneyuki showed a slightly uneasy expression did he slowly say: "A brilliant autopsy, and also a very beautiful deduction. Uesugi-kun, you might truly be a genius in this field."

"I don't deserve such praise, Professor." Uesugi Muneyuki still did not understand what Professor Okochi wanted to say, so he could only react as the situation demanded.

"Actually, I am puzzled. How did you discover that the deceased committed suicide by swallowing sleeping pills?" Professor Okochi scrutinized Uesugi Muneyuki's expression. The sunlight streaming in from the window behind him made his old, turbid eyes appear even sharper: "Also, how did you know about the deceased's living conditions before death?"

"Uh, while preparing, I heard the neighbors talking about the deceased. Inside the house, I noticed sleeping pills. From the Koban Chief, I learned that the deceased had a history of purchasing and taking large quantities of sleeping pills, so I deduced that death was likely caused by taking a large amount of sleeping pills." Uesugi Muneyuki's answer was what he had already prepared.

"Not enough!" Professor Okochi closed his eyes and shook his head in disappointment: "That is an inference, not evidence. Uesugi-kun, we are forensic pathologists, not some famous detectives! The police like orthodox deduction, but as forensic pathologists, are we supposed to be like those police? You saw it yourself—what kind of level the local police station is at. They only know how to use their meager experience and the deceased's interpersonal relationships to infer cases. You are still young; don't learn from them."

"Yes." Uesugi Muneyuki was lectured again and felt a bit depressed. After all, he couldn't tell Professor Okochi that these things were told to him by a Dead Soul, that it wasn't an inference at all, but ironclad evidence!

"Well, however... I said it, it was indeed a very brilliant autopsy." Professor Okochi's demeanor changed immediately after the lecture. He closed his eyes and continued to lean back: "Although the police station was unwilling to admit defeat and sent the deceased for an administrative autopsy, based on my decades of experience, the results of the dissection, even if not completely identical to what you said, will be very close. Uesugi-kun, if one-tenth of the forensic pathologists in Japan were like you, it would be great... I don't understand, I don't understand."

Professor Okochi sighed. It was unclear whether he meant he didn't understand why a genius like Uesugi Muneyuki would end up as a forensic pathologist, or if he felt that the status of forensic pathologists in Japan was too low, or perhaps he didn't understand where Uesugi Muneyuki got the confidence to make such bold judgments.

Uesugi Muneyuki was about to speak, but seeing Professor Okochi open his eyes, he immediately shut his mouth.

The rules regarding seniors and juniors, mentors and students in Japanese society were extremely strict. He still had to work in the forensic field in the future. Although Professor Okochi was old-fashioned, serious, and humorless, and wouldn't give him any special favors, he was, after all, a big shot in the industry with high status and no negative influence on him.

"Since that is the case, I will teach you something." Professor Okochi picked up the report: "Being too sharp is not a good thing."

"I am willing to listen to your teachings, Professor." Uesugi Muneyuki immediately sat up straight, pressed his hands together between his legs, just like a primary school student listening carefully to a lesson.

"There were five police officers present today: Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka, Koban Chief Ito, Police Sergeant Kuwabara, Police Sergeant Naito, and that Miss Takasaka. Among them, Tanaka and Ito thought it was suicide, Kuwabara and Naito thought it was homicide, and Takasaka... let's not even mention her. Uesugi-kun, do you know why this is?" Professor Okochi said slowly.

"Tanaka-san and Ito-san are both experienced veteran police officers; they made their judgments based on experience. While Naito and Kuwabara reached their conclusions based on investigation and deduction?" Uesugi Muneyuki tentatively voiced his thoughts.

"Wrong." Professor Okochi shook his head: "If you think that way, you are very wrong."

"Professor?"

"Tanaka is a forty-something Non-Career Track Assistant Police Inspector, and Ito is a nearly fifty-year-old Police Sergeant. To them, this matter doesn't matter one way or the other, so they naturally and subconsciously thought it was suicide."

"Kuwabara and Naito are different. They are young, and they still have hopes of promotion. A credit for investigating a case might not be of much use to veterans like Tanaka and Ito, but to the younger ones, it counts as an achievement. So, they subconsciously thought it was homicide."

"Only by analyzing it this way can you understand why these police officers had different deductions. You were wrong from the very beginning."

Uesugi Muneyuki was stunned. Thinking about it carefully, it really seemed to be the case!

He had been wrong from the start; the deductions of these police officers had nothing to do with their experience or skills! It only had to do with their personal interests!

"The essence of the police is bureaucracy, just as the essence of the physician professors in this hospital is also bureaucracy. It just so happens that their duty as bureaucrats is to investigate and patrol, or to heal the sick and save lives." Professor Okochi's deep, triangular eyes were filled with disdain and hatred: "But their essence is still bureaucracy. To look at these bureaucrats, you must look at them from their interests and positions. Generally speaking, personal interests are greater than factional interests, which are greater than national interests. You must remember this."

"Sometimes, the interests of solving cases, catching criminals, and healing the sick coincide with their personal interests, and at those times, they are defenders of the national interest. But often, this is not the case. Just like in the hospital, some cancer patients can receive the highest level of care, while others will be asked to transfer hospitals quickly." Professor Okochi said: "In the future, you will come into contact with all kinds of police and people. Do not be as reckless and impulsive as you were these two times. These two times you encountered Tanaka; if it had been a key operative from the Metropolitan Police Department, it would not have been so easy."

"I know you are very direct, and there is nothing wrong with that. I appreciate you, but there are some things you still don't understand. Do you know why I only served one term as Medical Department Director? If you even lose your qualifications to practice medicine, do you still have the chance to speak your mind? Those on the street were just ordinary housewives and people watching the excitement without working. If it were Director Ukai or Professor Zaizen, and you made them lose face, what would happen?"

Professor Okochi's words plunged Uesugi Muneyuki into deep thought. He understood the meaning of the old professor's final words.

To put it bluntly, a veteran grassroots police officer like Tanaka Laodeng had no self-esteem to speak of; after being confronted once or twice and knowing he was wrong, he would back down. But if he encountered key elites from the Metropolitan Police Department, things would not be so simple. Their self-esteem could not be easily offended, and admitting a mistake would be even harder.

"Thank you, Professor. I will remember it." Uesugi Muneyuki knew that Okochi was giving him a lesson—a lesson called life.

"Hmm, you were exposed to the stench of a corpse today; it's not pleasant, is it? Go back and rest early. If you really feel that the stench of the corpse won't dissipate, you can go smell the scent of feces." Professor Okochi signaled that Uesugi Muneyuki could get lost.

Just as the scent of a corpse is imprinted in human genes, the scent of feces is also imprinted in human genes. The former implies danger nearby, while the latter implies that the surroundings are relatively safe, thereby ending the alarm in the genes and allowing one to be freed from the shroud of the corpse's stench.

What a cold piece of trivia full of scent.

Uesugi Muneyuki muttered to himself.

————I am the dividing line for cold trivia with scent————

While all his colleagues in the Department of Surgery were still working overtime, Uesugi Muneyuki got off work after three in the afternoon and returned to his apartment in Bunkyo Ward.

He habitually hung his clothes on the hanger and then smelled his sleeves, thinking to himself, "I didn't get the stench of the corpse on me, did I?"

After smelling for a good while and confirming there shouldn't be any strange odors, Uesugi Muneyuki still took a shower, changed into clean clothes, and pulled the curtain open a crack to look outside.

The prosperity of Tokyo and the scholarly atmosphere of Bunkyo Ward poured into the small apartment through the crack in the curtain almost simultaneously. A faint ray of sunlight shone on Uesugi Muneyuki's face, adding a bit of vitality to his cold, sharp eyes. Following the sun came Uesugi Muneyuki's raised right hand.

Golden Body Dharma Image—Wisdom King Aizen.

Wisdom King Aizen is a relatively special existence among the deities of Esoteric Buddhism, a Wisdom King who dwells in the samadhi of great love and great greed. The Dharma Image represents "intense love." In folk belief, Wisdom King Aizen can bless smooth marriages. There is a saying that Wisdom King Aizen is an incarnation of Dainichi Nyorai, but there are also claims that Wisdom King Aizen is transformed from other Bodhisattvas such as Vajra Bodhisattva, and so on.

He views the love and afflictions of sentient beings as Bodhi wisdom, hoping that sentient beings can awaken from love and finally attain enlightenment and the Dao.

In Japan, people believe that worshipping Wisdom King Aizen can bless the harmony of marriage and love between men and women. There are also those who believe that Wisdom King Aizen can bless success in exams. The most well-known believer among them is Naoe Kanetsugu, the "greatest vassal under heaven" of the Uesugi Residence, who is known for the large character "Love" engraved on his helmet. This "Love" refers to Wisdom King Aizen.

It was precisely for this reason that Uesugi Muneyuki recognized this Dharma Image at a glance. He saw that the Wisdom King Aizen revealed in the Qinghui Stone was in a wrathful form, with three faces and six arms, his whole body red, wearing a lion crown, and sitting in the lotus position on a red lotus.

The six arms each held an object: the upper left hand held a fist, the middle left hand held a bell, and the lower left hand held a bow. The upper right hand held a lotus flower, the middle right hand held a five-pronged Vajra, and the lower right hand held an arrow.

So, what exactly is going on?

Why is it not Vaisravana, but Wisdom King Aizen? I'm not a member of the Naoe family either!

After Uesugi Muneyuki revealed the Dharma Image, he still didn't understand. He currently didn't know what he should do. Thinking about it carefully, the only thing he could do was...

Action followed thought; Uesugi Muneyuki tried to inject the "Courage" he had gained from solving the case into the Golden Body Dharma Image.

The blue stream of light, representing the energy of the Soul driving the body, flowed into the Golden Body Dharma Image. Wisdom King Aizen began to change.

The Golden Body Dharma Image was activated!

Aizen, the defiled heart of greed and attachment to the six dusts. Externally, he appears in a wrathful state of hating evil; internally, he uses love and respect to lead sentient beings to salvation and liberation.

Possessing justice, a pure nature, where defilement and purity are not two, and there is great wisdom in his words.

Recalling the texts about Wisdom King Aizen, Uesugi Muneyuki felt the blessing of the power of the Dharma Image.

Through a series of incomprehensible and unknown methods, Uesugi Muneyuki activated the Golden Body Dharma Image—Wisdom King Aizen. The power of this Wisdom King would be permanently added to his body as a passive protection.

The power of Wisdom King Aizen could also be actively activated. By providing a massive amount of Courage, Uesugi Muneyuki would be able to temporarily manifest his Golden Body Dharma Image to confront and subdue enemies. Different Golden Body Dharma Images have different strengths, some with special endowments, others with unique Dharma arts, and so on.

Uesugi Muneyuki currently only possesses the Aizen Myoo Dharma Image, and as for how to search for, how to activate, and what types of Dharma Images can be activated, he is almost completely clueless.

Namu-san! There isn't even a system or a white-bearded old man inside an amulet to teach me!

Uesugi Muneyuki instinctively tried to transform into Aizen Myoo, yet before the transformation was even complete, he had already consumed more than thirty percent of all the Soul Essence he had painstakingly collected from solving two cases, scaring him into immediately aborting the transformation.

The Soul Essence he had collected with such difficulty could not be squandered like this!

After disengaging from the transformation state, Uesugi Muneyuki was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled.

I knew it; since I've transmigrated, I must be given some benefits, and although there is no system or white-bearded old man to guide me, at least he knows what to do now.

The current goals are nothing more than three things: money, Soul Essence, and power.

Uesugi Muneyuki extended his right hand, the Qinghui Stone Power bloomed, the Aizen Myoo Dharma Image was blessed behind him, and as he clenched his fist, brilliance overflowed.

I want it all!

No sooner said than done, Uesugi Muneyuki immediately made a phone call to his older brother, Uesugi Sadanori, at Waseda University.

Being cautious and careful, he could not casually expose the fact of his supernatural ability, nor would he take his new ability out to show off, but he had to confirm one fact: were there other people in this world besides himself who possessed supernatural abilities?

Regarding this point, he was not sure; at least during his schooling and while occasionally reading history books, he had never heard of it.

The call connected, and his brother's steady, deep, and serious voice sounded: "What is it?"

Uesugi Sadanori was a man of few words who worked in archaeological research; although his relationship with Uesugi Muneyuki was not close, they were, after all, the closest of brothers born of the same mother, and there was currently no struggle for inheritance rights, so Uesugi Muneyuki believed that his brother Uesugi Sadanori was still reliable.

"Brother, can you help me check something?" Uesugi Muneyuki said in a deep voice: "Can you help me check if there is any mention in historical records and ancient books of people possessing supernatural abilities?"

"............ Why are you asking this suddenly?" Uesugi Sadanori pondered for a few seconds without answering directly.

"I have been studying Dissection during this time and accidentally saw a document that was a Dissection report on a corpse with supernatural phenomena, but the subsequent data was clearly tampered with, so I thought you might know." Uesugi Muneyuki fabricated a reason: "Don't you have a lot of materials there?"

"I remember having seen it before... Give me some time, and I will help you look into it." Uesugi Sadanori thought for a while longer: "It might take a few weeks to a few months; after this project of mine ends, I will apply to consult the old historical archives, where there might be some things that haven't been deleted."

"Okay."

A few days later, Tokyo Bunkyo Ward Otsuka Police Station, Criminal Investigation Division.

Police Sergeant Kuwabara arrived in front of Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka with a thick stack of Dissection reports, his expression shocked.

"Tanaka-san! It's simply, simply divine! Look, regarding the Dissection report for the Ishizaka couple, all the death details are exactly the same as what Uesugi-san said!"

"Exactly the same? That's impossible, right?" Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka quickly sat up straight from his seat: "I know little brother Uesugi is very capable, but to say exactly the same is... being roughly the same would already be very impressive..."

He could not speak, because the Dissection report was truly exactly the same in every detail as what Uesugi Muneyuki had said; he had even provided more detail than the information that could be obtained from the Dissection report!

This kid, what exactly is his background?

Before Tanaka and Kuwabara could react, someone arrived from outside.

"Tanaka, Kuwabara, the Section Chief wants you to come over."

"It's about that young intern Forensic Pathologist from the Tokyo Medical and Dental University Forensic Pathology Department, Uesugi Muneyuki."

Adding one chapter; the female leads of this book are preparing to appear one after another~





(End of this chapter)