Chapter 3

Uesugi Muneyuki had always held doubts about the matter of his transmigration; although he had already accepted the fact that he had transmigrated, from the moment he awoke, he realized that this might be a parallel world.

The history of this world was generally similar to the one in his memories, yet there were still places where it was clearly different.

One of these was that ever since he awakened the memories of his past life, he could notice an azure, oval-shaped gem embedded beneath the skin of his right hand; the entire gem was at least ten centimeters in diameter, firmly embedded in the back of his hand.

The Bishamonten Wood Carving that prompted his awakening shattered after the first contact; at the time, Uesugi Muneyuki saw with his own eyes strands of azure, soft light spray from the wood carving and inject into his palm and the back of his hand. He was scolded thoroughly by his older brother, Uesugi Sadanori, who said it was a precious cultural relic and he had broken it for no reason.

Did his brother seem not to see the changes in him, or not realize the energy contained within the relic?

However, it was not until today that Uesugi Muneyuki understood the function of the gem embedded in the back of his hand.

But for now, he still needed to solve the problem at hand.

"Hey! Little Brother Uesugi! Don't you go talking nonsense!"

"Mr. Forensic Pathologist, you are, joking, right?"

Sure enough, after Uesugi Muneyuki said this, the first to react most intensely was Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka; the middle-aged Detective glanced suspiciously at the agitated Endo Shosaku, but he still decisively scolded Uesugi Muneyuki, who had suddenly taken the wrong medicine.

The male host, Endo Shosaku, turned even paler; he looked agitated, slightly flustered and dissatisfied: "Are you saying that I killed my father? Mr. Forensic Pathologist, are you serious?"

"I am, of course, serious." Sure enough, as Uesugi Muneyuki spoke to reveal the truth, many particles of the dark green light bursting from the corpse's chest immediately surged into the back of his hand; the deceased's strong desire and unwillingness stung Uesugi Muneyuki's Soul, and he knew what he had to do: "Mr. Endo, once the Judicial Autopsy is accepted, everything will be clear."

"You! What kind of joke is this!" The male host was enraged by Uesugi Muneyuki's calm and indifferent attitude: "How could I possibly murder my own biological father? Mr. Detective, what kind of people are these coroners you've brought here?"

"Mr. Endo, please calm down, let me talk to him." Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka hurriedly signaled the male host not to be angry, and he grabbed Uesugi Muneyuki by the shoulder, forcibly pulling him outside the courtyard.

The middle-aged man's grip was surprisingly strong at this moment; Uesugi Muneyuki could not resist him for a moment and was dragged into the courtyard.

"Hey, little brother, what exactly are you doing?" Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka was truly speechless at Uesugi Muneyuki; he gripped Uesugi Muneyuki's shoulder tightly: "Suicide, suicide, it's just suicide. If you sign the death certificate, won't the matter be over? Why must you make such a fuss? The family is angry now, too; what are we supposed to do about this?"

"What do you mean, what to do?" Uesugi Muneyuki looked coldly at this old Detective: "Naturally, we conduct a Judicial Autopsy."

"To just say you want to conduct a Judicial Autopsy, what kind of joke is that! Uesugi-kun! Can you clear your head? I beg you, don't cause trouble for the family, for me, for the entire Police Station, alright?" Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka shook Uesugi Muneyuki's shoulder fiercely, his face extremely impatient: "Do you know what you are doing? You are wasting public resources, you are causing secondary trauma to the family, you don't understand the rules of our profession at all!"

"No wonder you were transferred from the Department of Surgery to the Forensic Medicine Department. A guy like you is indeed only fit to spend all day with corpses, because you don't understand how to communicate with the living at all!" Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka curled his lip and let go of Uesugi Muneyuki: "You say the homeowner killed someone, where is the evidence?"

"Evidence, there will be evidence after the Dissection." Uesugi Muneyuki frowned: "Didn't I say, I want to apply for a Judicial Autopsy."

"So you don't understand at all! Idiot!" Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka finally couldn't help but start cursing: "Without the family's consent, how can you apply for a Judicial Autopsy? This isn't an unnatural death! This is a suicide! It's a civil matter! Even we police don't have the qualifications to apply for a Judicial Autopsy. You say it's homicide, then give me the evidence, stop causing us trouble, alright?! If all autopsies were like yours, how are we police supposed to carry out our work?"

"I'm doing this for your own good, Little Brother Uesugi. You don't want to mess everything up on your first time out for an Autopsy and get expelled from the university, do you? I can tell you, if our Police Station files a complaint, you won't be able to stay in the Forensic Medicine Department either!"

The right to perform a Dissection in a civil matter is not in the hands of the police?

Uesugi Muneyuki thought to himself that he didn't know about this, but looking at Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka before him, a nameless anger still enveloped his chest.

It's like this again, always like this; everyone wants to muddle through, everyone is afraid of causing trouble for others, everyone says it's for your own good, but in their hearts, they are only thinking of themselves!

Damn this life!

In this world, the rot lies in blending in with the crowd, the rot lies in the fact that you have me and I have you!

"Tanaka-san, can you translate something for me." Uesugi Muneyuki asked slowly: "What is meant by 'adding unnecessary trouble'? What is meant by 'causing potential secondary trauma to the family'? What is meant by 'not conforming to the rules of your profession'?"

"Tanaka-san, why don't you translate it for me? What are 'rules'? And what is the law?"

Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka was speechless for a moment, his momentum weakening slightly.

"If the cause of death is unknown, it must be dissected; what kind of thing is muddling through?!" Uesugi Muneyuki said sternly: "If all police were like you, the country would truly be finished! You say there is no evidence? Fine, if I find evidence that this is a criminal case, what will you do?"

"Fine, fine, fine." Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka was so angry he laughed: "Fine, if you find evidence of a criminal case, I will help you apply for a Judicial Autopsy, and I'll even treat you to Jojoen. If you can't find evidence, I'm sorry, I will represent the Police Station and file a complaint against you! Just wait to be expelled, you failure from the Department of Surgery, Uesugi Muneyuki."

After speaking, Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka let out a fierce "Tsk," muttering "young people these days," "young people these days," and grumbling as he signaled that Uesugi Muneyuki could begin: "Come on, my Lord Uesugi."

As a result, his first debut as a Forensic Pathologist had forced him into a desperate situation.

Uesugi Muneyuki closed his eyes, thinking that if he failed like this, his career as a Forensic Pathologist would be over.

Tell me, tell me quickly!

He tried to summon the Soul of the deceased through the azure gem on his right hand.

Tell me, Mr. Endo Masao, how did you die? By what means did they murder you?

【Shozo... strang... hang... Matsu she...】

The dying words of the deceased echoed in Uesugi Muneyuki's mind; the young intern Forensic Pathologist rested for a moment and began his actions. After a round of examination, he understood.

"This is a murder."

Returning inside, facing the family, the two police officers, and his mentor, Professor Okochi, Uesugi Muneyuki began his performance.

"It is homicide!"

"The murderer is none other than the deceased's son and daughter-in-law, Endo Shosaku and Endo Matsu, you two as a couple!" Uesugi Muneyuki pointed his hand under the gaze of the six people, pointing at the male host and the female host: "You joined hands to murder your own biological father!"

Endo Shosaku and Endo Matsu, the couple, both subconsciously took a step back at Uesugi Muneyuki's gesture; the female host's face turned snow-white as she awkwardly shook her head, indicating how could that be, and the male host's expression was equally ugly, looking bewildered: "Are you saying that I killed my biological father? Mr. Forensic Pathologist, are you joking? What is the reason? Are you doubting the affection between my father and me? Go ask the neighbors around here, how I treat my father, it's not for an outsider like you..."

"Why you killed your father has nothing to do with me." Uesugi Muneyuki shook his head.

"Fine, this has nothing to do with you, that has nothing to do with you, then let me ask you, since you say it is homicide, then what about the ligature marks on the neck? And what about the rope hanging from the beam?" Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka pointed at the marks on the corpse's neck and asked sternly: "This has to do with you, right? Explain it, my great Forensic Pathologist Lord Uesugi?"

"It's very simple, because the deceased did not die from hanging, but was first strangled to death alive, and then hung on the beam to disguise it as a suicide." Uesugi Muneyuki pointed at the deceased's neck: "Can you tell me, what is the difference in the appearance of a corpse between someone who was strangled and someone who died by hanging?"

"This..." Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka was speechless for a moment, thinking he wasn't the one in charge of this.

"Let me tell you." Uesugi Muneyuki said softly: "The corpse of someone who committed suicide by hanging and the corpse of someone who was strangled are completely different. Hanging in mid-air is a typical case of death by strangulation; the entire body weight is concentrated on the neck, not only is the trachea compressed, making it impossible to breathe, but the blood vessels and nerves distributed on both sides of the neck, the top of the head, and the face are also compressed, stopping blood flow. This further paralyzes the nerves and causes death, so the deceased usually has a pale face with no petechial hemorrhages in the facial conjunctiva."

"Those who are strangled are different. Although those strangled also die of suffocation, their blood vessels and arteries remain active, which causes congestion in the face of the deceased. Now look, does the deceased's face have congestion, or does it not?"

Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka heard this and looked carefully at the dark red marks by the old man's lips, his expression not looking very good: "Mr. Endo, you tell me?"

"This..." the male host stammered: "Didn't I say, it's because my father's ability to eat was failing before he died, and it was caused by wearing a towel all year round!"

"Wearing a towel wouldn't cause this, Mr. Endo." Uesugi Muneyuki became more certain of his judgment, and he held up a second finger: "Second, the rope marks from hanging and strangulation are different. The rope marks from hanging should go around the forehead and upward, while the rope from strangulation should encircle the neck. Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka, take another look, are there two marks on the deceased's neck? Does the mark pointing upward have no peeling or bleeding, while the mark encircling the neck has symptoms of broken skin and subcutaneous bleeding?"

"Indeed, that is the case." Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka followed along and checked, indeed discovering the two marks on the old man's body: "But, what can this prove?"

"It's very simple, this proves that the deceased was strangled to death while alive, and then moved and hung on the beam to disguise it as a suicide." Uesugi Muneyuki pointed at the Endo couple: "The answer is obvious. These two people first strangled the old man to death, and then moved him to the beam to fake a hanging. In order to make this matter look real, they even let the old man hang on the beam for quite a while before taking him down!"

"Nonsense!" Endo Shosaku immediately interrupted Uesugi Muneyuki's description: "Where is the evidence? Where is the evidence?"

"As for the evidence, it is Corpse Stiffness!" Uesugi Muneyuki said loudly: "The Corpse Stiffness of a standing posture and the Corpse Stiffness of long-term sitting or lying down are different! The old man was already semi-incapacitated before, spending most of his time sitting or lying down; it is impossible for it to be the Corpse Stiffness of a standing posture. The only possibility is that after you strangled him, you hung him on the beam, and during this time, Corpse Stiffness occurred; that is the only reason it would look the way we see it now!"

"Sir, you and your wife colluded to personally murder your own father in the early morning, and then disguised him as a suicide by hanging. In order to prevent the matter from being exposed, you waited until noon to choose to report it. If it hadn't been me who came this time, you really would have fooled everyone." Uesugi Muneyuki looked calmly at the couple, his pair of clear eyes as sharp as a Sword and as cold as snow.

"This is not evidence at all." Every word of Uesugi Muneyuki's made the male host's face turn a shade paler, but he still tried hard to defend himself: "Where is the evidence you say that my wife and I committed murder?"

(This Life, It's Truly Here!)

"The evidence is your belt. If I'm not mistaken, you used your belt to strangle the deceased, right?" Uesugi Muneyuki glanced at the husband, recalling the echoes of the old man's dead soul: "As for other evidence, Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka has checked the nearby surveillance. No one else has entered or left your home in the past two days, and it is impossible for the old man to have committed suicide, so there is only one answer."

"This is a criminal case!"

"Strangled by you with a belt, there will be skin cells from the deceased on your belt, and at the same time, there will be traces of this belt on the deceased's neck. Modern forensic science can easily extract them. What does this mean, Mr. Endo?"

Endo Shosaku's expression changed drastically.

Impossible! How could this guy know? He had clearly worn this same outfit for two days without changing, specifically to deceive others and avoid being searched for the murder weapon, and these two stupid police officers had indeed not noticed anything wrong with the belt on his person.

But how did this young man know?

"Wait!" Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka couldn't help but interrupt Uesugi Muneyuki again: "Even if you say that, couldn't it be that the deceased asked his children to assist in his suicide?"

"It should be said that it is possible." Uesugi Muneyuki listened to Police Inspector Tanaka and pondered for a few seconds: "Although strangulation is a very painful way to die and most people wouldn't choose it—the correct method would be to assist the deceased in hanging—that is no longer my business, but yours. Whether it is assisted suicide, manslaughter, or a crime of passion, it is still homicide."

For a moment, the scene fell into silence.

"You missed one detail, Uesugi-kun." Just then, Professor Okochi's dry voice came: "When the deceased is in a prone position, the chest and abdomen face upward, and blood will move downward, so lividity will appear on the back. If the deceased had committed suicide by hanging, lividity would appear on the limbs and lower body."

The old professor slowly turned the body over; on the old man's back, the dark red lividity was so obvious.

Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka opened his mouth wide. He looked at this 22-year-old young man with an expression of disbelief. After a long while, he slowly walked in front of the husband, Endo Shosaku.

"Mr. Endo, could you take off your belt and let us have a look?"

"I..." The husband retreated again. He made a move as if to run, but Police Sergeant Kuwabara had already blocked the doorway.

"Enough!" At this moment, the wife, Endo Matsu, signaled that it was enough, and she shrieked: "Stop talking!"

Hysterically, the previously gentle and kind wife roared: "Then what do you want us to do? You tell me, what do you want us to do? I've had enough, I've really had enough!"

The wife covered her face and sat on the ground: "Father was just too difficult to serve. If he didn't get his way, he would deliberately smear his excrement everywhere. He slept during the day and kept calling for people at night. He would punch Shosaku in the face because he couldn't chew his food, and he would hold a kitchen knife to force us to kneel and beg for forgiveness. Yet in front of others, he would cry and say we were unfilial. He wouldn't go out himself but would force us to go out and buy this and that for him, otherwise, he would kick us out of his house. That little bit of National Pension wasn't enough for his medical bills and medicine, and every month we still had to pay at least one hundred thousand for a home doctor... We have to live too, we have to survive!"

"Relying on Shosaku's one salary and my part-time jobs, living in Tokyo is already very hard, and Toshio still has to go to junior high... This family can no longer go on!"

"So, for our future, we had no choice but to do this!" The wife was already tearful without realizing it: "We had no other choice. If he didn't die, we would have to die, Officer!"

"Stop it, Matsu, stop it." The husband was much calmer now: "They don't understand. University professors, civil servant police officers—their National Pension and Welfare Pension are not something Father, a former construction worker, could compare to. They don't understand our pain."

The couple was eventually handcuffed. Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka, with a complex expression, let Kuwabara take the couple away. The middle-aged veteran police officer hesitated for a long while before coming to Uesugi Muneyuki and saying with difficulty: "Tonight? Jojoen?"

"Tomorrow night. I have plans tonight." Uesugi Muneyuki raised an eyebrow, signaling: where is your apology?

Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka really couldn't bring himself to apologize. The muscles on the old man's face twitched wildly, and he forced out a non-committal remark: "Much appreciated. Consider this a help from you. Not bad, rookie. I think... I like you."

After finishing, the middle-aged veteran police officer tucked his tail and fled, not giving Uesugi Muneyuki any chance to speak.

"I understand why Zaizen recommended you to me." Professor Okochi bowed slightly toward the back of Assistant Police Inspector Tanaka and said dryly.

"Professor, do you not approve of my methods?" Uesugi Muneyuki's gaze remained sharp; his residual anger had not yet subsided.

If the police in Japan were all like this, how was he supposed to perform an autopsy in the future?

"I support your methods. As a Forensic Pathologist, what we must do is clarify the facts. As for whatever problems the criminal has, that is a matter for the police and the Prosecutor to consider." Professor Okochi packed up his things: "Perhaps you really are a genius of forensic medicine."

As the truth was revealed, the ghostly green energy formed by the dead soul of the deceased gradually stabilized.

【Thank... you...】

"You told me the truth. You made your son and daughter-in-law bear the charge of murder. You made your grandson half an orphan. Is this really worth it?" Uesugi Muneyuki asked the dead soul of Endo Masao.

【It is worth it... This is... the end... of being unfilial.】

【Please send me to the afterlife...】

Almost instinctively, Uesugi Muneyuki raised his right hand. The Azure Gem's halo flashed violently. The dead soul quickly disintegrated under the guidance of the gem. The soul named Endo Masao rose along the light of the gem and gradually dissipated, while the remaining "Po" used to drive the body's activities turned into balls of light that surged toward Uesugi Muneyuki and injected into his right hand.

Having received the injection of new energy, the color of the gem became much brighter, and Uesugi Muneyuki felt that something had been activated.

He had attained enlightenment!

Although it was a late-coming ability, although it was a late awakening, and although he completely did not understand what the principle was.

But looking at the limited abilities he had now, wasn't this perfect for being a Forensic Pathologist?

Great, he really had it in this lifetime!

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(End of chapter)