No. 47 Crimson Lotus Tribulation (3)

  There were many things to deal with after the disaster, and before long it was daylight. I watched as they busied themselves searching for the bodies of the victims among the ruins, clearing the fire scene, arranging for consolation afterwards, and on top of that scheduling the itinerary for the water department experts, by the time everything was done, it was almost noon.

  The charred inn yielded seven corpses, all of them burnt to a crisp, their faces unrecognizable, limbs curled up as if ready to throw punches. Although I had read about the phenomenon of carbonization in books, where the muscles contract due to heat, causing the body to assume a defensive stance like in a boxing match, known as "pugilistic attitude", I had never actually seen corpses burnt to this state before. Now, this row of gruesome bodies lay lined up on the ground, sending shivers down one's spine.

  If what I intuitively feel is wrong, then it's no longer a chill, but a huge anger!

  In the meantime, I didn't idle around either, I activated flower vase mode and used all my strength to steady Zhang Er Lang. He was clearly unwilling to go to the county yamen with the county magistrate, crying on one side while hurriedly wanting to take his elder brother's body back home so he could rest in peace as soon as possible. I comforted him with gentle words, telling him that this was a case of arson after all, with so many lives lost, it was a serious matter, going to the county yamen was just a standard procedure.

  This kind of thing was originally what Han Meilan was best at doing, but now she's been sent away, and she's gone to accompany the Water Department's bricklayer Shi Daren to survey the river. I don't understand why they sent her, clearly it was my proposal, so it should be me who goes. However, this arrangement is just what I wanted, now that a case has occurred, who still cares about surveying rivers?

  I called out to my ally, Yūyè Gōngzǐ, in the darkness.

  The Master of the Mysterious Night indeed has eyes that see in all directions and ears that hear from all sides. That night, he arrived before midnight, and as soon as they met, his first words were: "How did you figure out that Second Brother was not right? Don't bother making up those stories to protect your injured brother for my sake."

  For some reason, every time I see him at night, I have an urge to confront him, so I say: "This must be a fair exchange, you have to tell me how Autumn knew he was not good!"

  I'm actually more curious about what Nie Qiuyuan discovered.

  The Young Master of the Night let out a deep sigh and began to speak in a long, drawn-out tone. Sighing in front of me seemed to have become his habit, as if I was the bane of his existence. He spoke to me with a sense of resignation, his words vivid and lifelike, as if he had experienced it all himself.

  "At the time, Zhang Er Lang said that when he entered the fire scene, he found his older brother pressed under the wardrobe. Nie Qiuyuan felt a bit strange about it. Upon inspection at the scene, it was indeed the case. Think about it, the wardrobe is very heavy, even if there's a big fire, it should have been burned to explosion or tilted and fallen down, but instead, it's rarely seen that it's pressed down like this."

  So, Nie Qiuyuan squatted down and carefully observed the deceased's body, and indeed found a suspicious place.

  Qiu said that he had seen many charred corpses before, and they all shared a common characteristic: in the areas that were not burnt, you could see swelling, blistering, and bleeding. But this corpse was different - it didn't have any of those symptoms, as if the blood had stopped flowing even before the body was burned.

  I was shocked, he had such a detailed observation of the living reaction of human tissue. Yes, whether the wound on the body is an antemortem injury or a postmortem injury can be completely judged. If the wound was formed when the body was already dead, then congestion, edema, bleeding, and many living reactions would disappear. Nie Qiuyuan did not find the living reaction of human tissue that should have been present on the charred corpse, so he initially judged it as a postmortem burning of the body.

  Moreover, if one puts themselves in the shoes of someone who has been attacked by fierce flames and thick smoke, they would instinctively close their eyes tightly. This is something that Qiū had observed before - people who died from burns would not have completely burnt eyelashes, only the tips would be burnt while the roots remained intact, and there would hardly be any ash in their eyes. However, this corpse was entirely different, with both eyes being charred, probably because they were already dead when they encountered the fire.

  I couldn't help but have a few more points of admiration for the male god, as he understood all these things that are typical evidence to distinguish whether someone was burned to death or not. If all these were conclusions he observed and summarized by himself, then in this era, it's really impressive.

  As a thank you, I explained to Ye the relationship between burns and nerves, as well as the period of pain loss. Master Ye listened with great interest, occasionally making sounds of appreciation, and showed extreme enthusiasm for the "nervous system" of the human body.

  "You can tell Qiu, but don't drag me into it!" I warned him.

  "Don't worry, I have a measure of it, didn't we agree that the heavens would strike with thunder and lightning?! He said, while muttering to himself, "If it's burned badly, won't it really hurt?"

  "You can go try it yourself." I said coldly.

  The Young Master of the Night had long been accustomed to my coldness and turned to the next topic without hesitation: "So, what do you think we should do next?"

  Combining what both of us have observed, it's likely that this can be confirmed as a case of arson and murder. And Zhang Er Lang, who has been lying, naturally has the greatest suspicion of being the perpetrator.

  "To confirm it's a murder, we should first figure out how the person actually died, don't you think?" I said.

  He nodded slightly: "That's why I came looking for you tonight."

  This sentence made me laugh: "Excuse me, did I ask you to come? You were called here to go see the corpse with me!"

  I've prepared masks, gloves, homemade disinfectant, and a set of sharp knives. The Phantom Knight looked at me curiously.

  What's this stuff for?

  I have a bad feeling that this poor Zhang Gongzi might unfortunately become the first dissection subject of my life today. Because charred corpses are very difficult to discern anything from on the surface.

  Actually, I'm quite scared because my major wasn't forensic medicine to begin with, and the knowledge of forensic medicine is just superficial. My level is just having observed a few autopsies, memorized some theoretical knowledge from books, as for personally performing an autopsy, that's something I've never done before. Even if one has a big enough nerve, it's still hard to overcome psychological barriers when doing it for the first time in life.

  I feel very depressed. There have been so many deaths around me lately, and the most frequently used thing is actually forensic knowledge. You know that in the criminal investigation process, inspections are handed over to professional personnel, and schools also have forensic medicine majors. We majors in criminal investigation, studying almost the same things

  That's it. I really regret not participating more at the beginning and taking action myself. Now, there isn't even a reliable person around me, only a half-baked ancient thief.

  "No matter what happens, you're not allowed to leave!" I warned my little partner.

  The Young Master of the Night smiled and nodded: "Of course, you must be up to something interesting again. I won't leave."

  Alas, this heartless and ruthless guy.

  But the presence of night, the relaxed atmosphere emanating from her body, effectively dispelled the tension in my heart.

  "Let's go, take me to the morgue!" I gritted my teeth and gave the order to the man in blue clothes.

  "Datang Chang'an Evening News Column: 'Want to Come Over and Play?'"

  Reporter: Today we are visiting Author's home, hello Author.

  Author: Hello. Come on, there are melon seeds here.

  Reporter: Thank you. I have a feeling of being at home (I think I've also learned to be hypocritical with the female lead)! Author, actually many people find it strange, why do they all call you "Tang Er"? Is it because you're usually quite "er" (foolish)?

  Author: This is a long story, sigh... I have to take a deep breath first. Actually, the first time someone called me "Tang Er Shen", I also found it strange. At that time, I had clearly hidden all my aura, how could anyone still see through me?! (That despicable Ding Miao Miao, it was you!) Later, Miao Miao innocently said: Hey, don't you have two "Shen" characters? Isn't it Er Shen then? And so the name "Tang Er Shen" spread. It really doesn't mean "two", really not!

  Reporter: Ah, sounds like he was shot while lying down!

  Author: Isn't it? Later I found out that in the remarks of "Smoke Rain Wind Full West Building", I wrote ";tanger;", and I said what a high-end name this is! Then Hou Xingyu represented Du Niang saying: ";Tanger[place name][Morocco] Tangier!"; Then Lou Lou said: ";What's going on, this is clearly the pinyin of Tang Er!"

  Reporter bacteria: sweat, let's just eat and drink something. [id = 3236891, name = 《Pet System》]