"This is... livor mortis? How could this happen?" the old coroner said.
"Livor mortis? What does that mean?" Si Hongxi asked.
The old coroner stepped forward, pointing at the back of the corpse. "Look here!"
"Why are there so many bruises?" Si Hongxi asked in confusion.
The old coroner shook his head. "These aren't bruises. They're livor mortis. Simply put, after a person dies, the blood stops circulating and due to gravity, it accumulates in the lower parts of the body, creating a state that looks like bruises, as if the person had been beaten. Normally, these on the back are normal... But look here!"
He walked to the feet of the corpse and pointed at the soles, saying in confusion, "Strangely enough, there are also signs of livor mortis on his soles!"
"Could it be that he could still walk after he died?" Mu Qing joked from the side.
Si Hongxi gave him a look, and he immediately fell silent.
But a single sentence from the old coroner sent shivers down the spines of the two men!
"It's not entirely impossible!"
What? How could a dead person still walk? Was it a ghost possession? Or did someone control the corpse?
"Please have the new autopsy report delivered to the prince's mansion tomorrow, Master Coroner!" Si Hongxi said.
Si Hongxi and Mu Qing left the morgue and immediately headed to the crime scene.
Little did they know that just as they left, something seemed to be lurking there, waiting for an opportunity!
The old coroner was left alone in the morgue, tidying up the corpses and doing the final clean - up.
Suddenly, the oil lamp beside the corpse began to flicker wildly. The old coroner quickly covered the lamp with his hand, afraid that it would go out.
The room was sealed. Where did the wind come from?
Under the old coroner's protection, the oil lamp returned to normal. Just as he began to pack up his autopsy tools and was about to leave, he didn't notice that the wick of the oil lamp began to burn rapidly, slowly emitting a faint green light!
In this dim morgue, the eerie green light was the first thing the old coroner had ever seen in all his years. A chill ran down his back!
In this spooky place, such an event was not a good omen!
He was just about to rush out of the room when -
The oil lamp went out with a "puff", as if something had blown it out!
He started to feel panicked. No matter how hard he shook the door, he couldn't open it.
Meanwhile, the guards outside seemed to hear nothing. It was as if the inside and outside were isolated!
There were no less than dozens of corpses in the room. In the faint moonlight, he vaguely seemed to see something approaching step by step among these corpses!
From time to time, there came the extremely miserable sobs of a woman. "I'm so wronged... Ah..." It was extremely eerie!
He thought it was the ghost of one of the corpses lingering here.
With a "thud", he knelt on the ground and begged for mercy. "I don't know who's here. I didn't mean to offend. I'm just a low - level coroner. If I've offended you, please forgive me! In all my years of work, I've never disrespected any corpse. I conduct autopsies to seek justice for you all, and I always restore your bodies after the autopsy. Spare my life, please..."
After a moment of silence, the old coroner was sweating profusely. He nervously raised his head slowly and looked around. Suddenly, he heard the ghostly wailing of the female ghost. It was extremely tragic!
What he didn't know was that at this moment, the vengeful spirit of the female ghost was being devoured by something unknown. Along with the female ghost's shrill screams, there came the occasional terrifying laughter!
It scared the old coroner so much that he almost wet his pants!
Suddenly, he seemed to vaguely see the shadow of a child darting among the corpses, accompanied by the sound of laughter!
By this time, Si Hongxi and Mu Qing had arrived at the crime scene of Zhang's Butcher Shop, which had already been sealed off by the government.
"You guards stay here to prevent the scene from being damaged. Mu Qing and I will go in first. Call us if anything happens!" Mu Qing instructed the guards.
Si Hongxi pushed open the door with one hand. With a "creak", the door opened.
The inside of the room was pitch - black. You couldn't see your hand in front of your face. The air was filled with a strong smell of blood, no less pungent than that in the morgue. It was extremely unpleasant!
The two men carried lanterns and covered their noses as they walked in carefully. Mu Qing lit the oil lamp in the room, and the room was instantly illuminated.
Si Hongxi covered his nose and said to Mu Qing, "Watch your step. Don't damage the scene!"
Mu Qing looked down. Good heavens! The floor was covered in bloodstains. Although the blood had dried and turned a dark red, it was still a large expanse!
The foot he was about to step forward with immediately retracted. Just from the scene, one could tell how bloody it had been at that time!
"Your Highness, this scene seems like there was a fight. Could it be that the two victims had a conflict before they died?" Mu Qing asked, looking at the messy room in confusion.
Si Hongxi looked at the outline drawn on the ground where the corpse was found and then at the impact marks on the pillar.
"From the outline, this should be where the body of the victim Zhang was found... But look here!" Si Hongxi walked to the pillar and said, "Look, there are obvious impact marks here. If Zhang Biao had hit here, he shouldn't have fallen there. He should have been a bit in front of this pillar!"
"Could there have been a third person at the scene? Or is there really something unclean?" Mu Qing speculated.
Si Hongxi looked troubled. It seemed that this case was quite tricky!
"After dawn, send someone to question the neighbors around here. Ask if there were any suspicious people on the day of the incident, or if they heard any strange sounds. Find out what the relationship between the couple was like!" Si Hongxi instructed.
"Yes, Your Highness!"
The next day, Qin Manman arrived at the prime minister's mansion early to take Wei Zhong to meet her parents.
Wei Zhong was extremely excited to learn that he would meet her family today, but this matter had to be kept quiet!
He told Qin Manman to wait for him at the main gate. He would come out later!
Prime Minister Wei left the house quietly alone and followed Qin Manman to her home.
Unexpectedly, he was spotted by the personal maid of his wife. The maid quietly went back and reported to Lady Su!
Prime Minister Wei arrived at Qin Manman's home. Sure enough, when Qin Jiang saw Wei Zhong for the first time, he recognized him!
Qin Jiang was in awe of Wei Zhong's current status. He quickly stepped forward to greet him warmly.
Looking at Qin Jiang in front of him, he had changed a lot compared to more than a decade ago. He seemed much older, but still gave the same feeling as before - a snob.
When Wei Zhong was in a relationship with Qin Mo before, Qin Jiang reluctantly supported them because he saw Wei Zhong as a wealthy young man with potential. He had taken a lot of money from him! Presumably, now that he felt Wei Zhong's status was noble, he was even more enthusiastic!
"I didn't expect that after all these years, you've become the prime minister of the court. If your family hadn't opposed it back then, maybe we would be in - laws now!" Qin Jiang said as he served tea and tried to get on friendly terms.
"Oh right, let me introduce you. This is my wife, Zhang." Qin Jiang introduced her and quickly urged Zhang to step forward and greet Wei Zhong.
Zhang quickly stepped forward and said politely, "You've honored our humble abode. Please forgive our poor hospitality!"
"You're too kind. Please sit down!" Wei Zhong said politely.
Wei Zhong also said with emotion, "So many years have passed in a blink of an eye. Is Granny Yin still alive?"
Zhang replied quickly, "Thank you for your concern. She's gone. It's been quite a while since she passed away!"
"Ah? I'm so sorry. Please accept my condolences... I wonder how Mo'er is doing?"