Chapter 46 - 45: All the Same Once the Clothes Are Off (Part 1)

Chapter 46: Chapter 45: All the Same Once the Clothes Are Off (Part 1)

Chen Hu: "...!!!"

Seeing Chen Hu looking at her dazedly, Xu Jing furrowed her brows slightly and said, "Why haven’t you started? Do you still care about propriety between men and women while solving a case?"

Her expression almost had the words "what’s more important, propriety or catching the culprit?" written all over it.

Chen Hu snapped back to reality, but was still somewhat hesitant when the man beside him said calmly, "Do as Miss Xu says."

Xiao Yi didn’t see any issue with it. The laws of Great Chu required that investigators not avoid female corpses during investigations, with solving the case as the priority.

He was indifferent to matters between men and women, especially in such a setting. In his view, it wasn’t a man or a woman, just a body.

Upon Xiao Yi’s instruction, Chen Hu immediately complied and began undressing Old Master Fang.

Halfway through, he suddenly heard the woman beside him mutter under her breath, "What’s there to guard against? Undressed, aren’t they all the same?"

Standing next to her, Xiao Yi also heard this and couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, glancing at her.

Though he thought the same.

Hearing such a statement from a woman was somewhat intriguing.

Chen Hu: "..."

Of course, they’re not the same!

Alright, a commoner like him couldn’t compare to the likes of Miss Xu and Vice Minister Xiao...

Soon, Chen Hu finished undressing the deceased. Xu Jing slowly stepped forward, first examining from head to toe.

The deceased’s body indeed had wounds all over—on the limbs, chest, abdomen, neck, and face.

The cuts weren’t deep, and their locations were scattered and quite erratic, as if the perpetrator had slashed at will.

Xu Jing narrowed her eyes slightly, then examined again, suddenly using her hands to gently spread one of the wounds, murmuring, "The cuts aren’t deep..."

Having recovered from his initial shock, Chen Hu immediately asked, "Miss Xu, is there something wrong with the wound?"

Xu Jing stood up, looked at the two men in front of her, and said, "Every action the culprit takes must have a reason. Not to mention, the perpetrator sees his crime as an honor and achievement; he wouldn’t treat it carelessly.

At first, when I heard that every corpse had wounds all over, I wondered if the perpetrator had some kind of hatred to vent. However, if it’s out of hatred, the wounds should’ve been deeper."

Chen Hu was momentarily stunned, then quickly understood, "Yes! When Miss Xu puts it that way, it does seem odd. If I had a grudge against someone, I’d want to tear them apart, not leave a few playful scratches!"

Xiao Yi looked at Xu Jing and asked, "Then what do you think is the reason for the perpetrator’s actions?"

Xu Jing shook her head, "I don’t know. Cracking this mystery might be a key to unraveling the case."

She focused on the wounds on the deceased, feeling something was off, but she couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

She decided to set it aside and began a careful examination of the corpse before her.

Yet, from head to toe, she found no apparent cause of death.

As Xiao Yi mentioned, from the surface, there seemed to be no discernible cause of death!

The deceased’s body showed no signs of poisoning, and both Xiao Yi and the previous forensic doctor had used various methods to test for toxins, all with negative results.

Xu Jing’s brows furrowed slightly.

Could it be that the cause of death wasn’t external, but internal?

For instance, a change or severe injury in the body could lead to death, but such cases require a full autopsy, not just a surface examination...

Seeing Xu Jing remain silent for a long time, Chen Hu asked worriedly, "Miss Xu, is something wrong?"

Xu Jing came back to her senses, shook her head, and said, "Nothing. Old Master Fang is done. Let’s move on to the next body."

With that, she walked towards the corpse of Mr. Lv, who was killed half a month ago.

Despite severe decay, Mr. Lv’s body held more intact information than Zhu Dalang’s.

As Xu Jing lifted the white sheet covering Mr. Lv, Chen Hu couldn’t help but gag.

Mr. Lv’s post-mortem swelling was far more advanced than Old Master Fang’s, deforming the body, with eyes bulging as if about to burst. The skin had turned a visible dark green, crisscrossed beneath with what seemed like a web of veins.

This...this hardly looked human anymore, more like a monstrous creature from god-knows-where!

Anping County was small, and Chen Hu hadn’t participated in many major cases. He had never seen such a body before.

The intense odor emanating from the corpse couldn’t be masked even with face cloths and burning Cangzhu and soap in the room.

Though Xu Jing was mentally prepared, she still furrowed her brows slightly before regaining composure.

She stepped forward to thoroughly examine Mr. Lv’s body, but after having Chen Hu remove the clothes, a thought struck her. She immediately turned to Old Master Fang’s corpse next to her.

Chen Hu instantly asked, "Did Miss Xu discover something?"

Without replying, Xu Jing scrutinized Old Master Fang’s body for a while, then looked back to Mr. Lv’s, suddenly asking, "Do you see that the wounds on the abdomen of the two corpses seem denser, more numerous than elsewhere?"

Although Xu Jing said this, at first glance, the wound distribution on the abdomen didn’t differ much from other areas.

If there was a difference, it was particularly subtle.

Chen Hu let out a small exclamation, still processing, when Xiao Yi solemnly added, "Dividing the body into parts, the abdominal wounds on Old Master Fang are one or two more than in other areas, and it’s the same for Mr. Lv.

Moreover..."

Before Xiao Yi could finish, Xu Jing continued, "The consistency of abdominal wound positioning between the two is more pronounced than in other areas!"

While the overall distribution of wounds on the corpses was similar, the precise locations often varied slightly.

For example, Doctor Lv had a diagonal cut near the eye on the right side of his face, differing from Old Master Fang’s.

Doctor Lv’s was closer to the eye, while Old Master Fang’s was a bit further.

However, examining the abdominal wounds more closely revealed almost no positional differences!

Particularly one cut above the navel, which appeared nearly identical in location!

Xu Jing immediately moved to Zhu Dalang’s corpse, lifting the covering sheet.

Most of Zhu Dalang’s clothing had been burnt off in a fire, including on the abdomen. Fortunately, the burns weren’t particularly severe, allowing examination of wound positions.

Zhu Dalang’s abdominal wound placement matched the previous two bodies, with a similar above-navel slash!

Staring intently, Xu Jing suddenly smirked, speaking coldly, "Corpses tell us many things, even with the killer’s desperate attempts to hide them, it’s futile.

Chen Hu, prepare some strong liquor and vinegar, and a red oil-paper umbrella.

I intend to uncover what exactly the killer is trying so hard to conceal!"