The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 19: A Glimpse of Skill, the Cold and Beautiful Forensic Doctor's Surprise! (Please read, two chapters combined)

at the same time.

Chongyifang, the dilapidated Wutong Temple.

Wutong Temple is located on the north side of Chongyifang. It is a small Taoist temple with only one hall enshrining the statues of the Three Pure Ones and a house where Taoist priests live.

After all the Taoist priests were arrested last June, Wutong Temple became completely empty.

The thick snow remained unswept.

The tree trunks at the entrance were broken by the weight of the accumulated snow, lying across the doorway like a lock, separating the two worlds.

Cheng Chumo was about to lead his men to rush in.

"and many more!"

Liu Shuyi stopped him.

He looked down at the tree trunk that had collapsed under the weight of the snow. The trunk was quite thick, and there were several clear footprints in the snow on it.

Some are big and some are small.

Upon seeing this, Du Gou immediately dismounted.

He went to the tree trunk, compared the footprints with his fingers, and then said to Liu Shuyi, "It should be the footprints of three people, two adults and one child."

"But only one adult footprint showed signs of walking outwards; the others were one large and one small..."

His expression was grave as he said, "There is only in, no out."

Hearing Du Gou's words, even though Cheng Chumo was already prepared, his heart still skipped a beat.

Now, he doesn't even need to look; he knows what happened inside.

He couldn't help but look at Liu Shuyi: "Manager Liu, it seems that what you predicted is indeed true..."

Liu Shuyi had deep-set eyes. His gaze passed through the half-open door and looked into the Taoist temple.

In the snow-covered courtyard, these footprints stretched out, appearing like blood spreading across the snow under the setting sun.

At that moment, Liu Shuyi seemed to see Zhao Shi leading her young son, trembling and cautiously treading on the blood-stained path, inching closer to the Sanqing Hall that could shelter them from the wind and rain, praying that this precious hall could help them, mother and son, escape disaster and obtain peace.

But little did she know that this was a path of blood... and that the end point was purgatory.

He took a deep breath and said, "Don't disturb these footprints, avoid them, go."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Chumo did not hesitate at all. He led the Imperial Guards across the tree trunk and entered the Taoist temple.

Liu Shuyi looked at Du Gou and said, "Please have Vice Minister Du order someone to prepare beeswax and pine soot ink. Mix the beeswax and pine soot ink, then pour it onto these footprints. After it solidifies, compare these footprint models with those of the Zhao mother and son to determine which two footprints belong to them, and which..."

He narrowed his eyes: "It's the murderer's!"

Du Gou was startled and immediately said, "Alright! I'll go and order people to prepare right away."

"No need!"

Before he could even turn around, he heard a clear and melodious voice behind him.

"I have."

"You have one?" Du Gou looked at his sister with some surprise.

Liu Shuyi was also somewhat surprised.

Du Ying took out beeswax and pine soot ink from the wooden box on his back, handed them to the Imperial Guards to mix, and said in a cool tone, "Is there a problem with a doctor carrying beeswax that can be used in medicine and inkstones that can be used to write prescriptions?"

“This… is not a problem.” Du Gou’s eyelids twitched involuntarily.

There's no problem, but couldn't you speak more gently? He was genuinely afraid that Liu Shuyi would dislike his sister.

He increasingly felt that the task his father had given him was so difficult that he could not see any hope of a future.

Even more disorienting than the case before him was the one that made him feel dizzy and disoriented.

Liu Shuyi chuckled, leaving even the gentle and refined Du Gou speechless. This Du Ying was truly amusing.

"Manager Liu, come quickly!"

At this moment, Cheng Chumo's shout came from inside the Sanqing Hall.

Liu Shuyi and Du Gou and his sister exchanged a glance, and then without any hesitation, they quickly walked inside.

After stepping through the snow-covered courtyard, we soon arrived at the Sanqing Hall with its gates wide open.

As soon as he entered, Liu Shuyi's pupils dilated sharply.

Du Gou and Du Ying's expressions changed instantly.

On the dusty floor of the Sanqing Hall, two figures, one large and one small, were kneeling.

They have no heads.

The wound on their necks was frozen solid and stuck to the ground. Crimson blood flowed from the large scar, as if guided by the devil, eventually converging in front of them.

Then, this blood transformed into several shocking blood-red words.

—You could be next!

In front of the blood-red characters are the majestic statues of the Three Pure Ones.

The statues of the Three Pure Ones stand solemnly, their tall figures sharply overlooking the crowd.

It was as if these words written in blood were the will of the gods.

Despite being a place brimming with divinity, the Sanqing Hall now exuded a chilling, blood-red aura.

Cheng Chumo couldn't help but touch his arm, which was covered in goosebumps, and said to Liu Shuyi, "Steward Liu, Zhao Chengyi's wife and children are indeed here, but this..."

Liu Shuyi understood what Cheng Chumo meant.

After the murderer killed the person, he arranged the scene like this.

They clearly knew they might find this place.

Therefore, this handwriting was specially left for them.

—You could be next!

Is this word a provocation?

Is it mockery?
Or is it a teaser?

If this is a preview...

Liu Shuyi narrowed his eyes, looked at the group of people in front of him, and said, "General Cheng, send more men. First, ensure your own safety."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Chumo felt a chill run down his spine.

"Are these guys really so lawless? I'm investigating him, do you think he'd dare to lay a hand on me?"

"The murderer has already thrown his head into the palace, what else wouldn't he dare to do?"

Du Ying had regained her composure. As she spoke, she squatted down and carefully examined the two headless corpses kneeling in worship before her.

Cheng Chumo's expression changed, and he immediately turned around and ordered someone to go to the Jinwuwei government office to dispatch manpower.

Liu Shuyi and Du Ying were right. This murderer had become so audacious as to be lawless that we must not risk our own safety.

Watching Cheng Chumo's figure disappear quickly, Liu Shuyi's gaze deepened.

This murderer not only delivered his own head, but also deliberately left these words here...

Is this because they're afraid they won't accept the challenge?
What an extremely arrogant guy!
He's really getting more and more eager to find out who it is!
Taking a deep breath, Liu Shuyi calmed his turbulent emotions. The fact that the murderer was so confident meant that this case would not be easy to solve. He needed to be more calm and rational and could not let the murderer lead him by the nose.

He turned his gaze back and saw Du Ying go to examine the body on her own initiative, and nodded secretly.

Although Du Ying is a woman, she was able to quickly detach herself from this shocking and bizarre scene and calmly examine the body immediately... This inner strength is no less than that of any man.

In addition, there's her superb medical skills and coroner's expertise...

This is the kind of incredible luck I could only dream of!
It's just a matter of whether Du Ruhui would be willing to let himself take this chance.

As he pondered this, Liu Shuyi looked around.

Then he noticed an overturned table next to the statue, with an incense burner beside it.

The incense ash in the incense burner spilled out.

The incense ash was indeed blue.

The dust on the ground nearby showed obvious signs of friction...

Everything was in line with his deduction.

After thinking for a moment, he turned back to look at the corpse kneeling before the statue.

The child's body was covered in a little dust, but his expensive clothes were without a single wrinkle.

As he expected, the child was killed instantly without any resistance.

As for Zhao Chengyi's wife, Madam Zhao...

The padded jacket she was wearing was thrown aside, and the dress underneath clearly showed signs of tearing.

His clothes were covered in dust and incense ash, and his exposed arms had obvious bruises. He frowned, a bad feeling creeping into his heart.

Seeing that Du Ying had begun to remove Zhao's clothes for a more detailed examination, Liu Shuyi turned his gaze away and told Cheng Chumo to take his men out first.

He turned his back and walked out as well.

"Ok?"

Just then, he took two steps and suddenly stopped.

Then he squatted down and gently stroked the ground with his fingertips.

He quickly withdrew his finger and looked down... Besides dust, there were some white, gray, red, and gold powders on his fingertip. There weren't many of these powders, just a few scattered here and there.

If the setting sun hadn't shone through the doorway onto the golden powder, which reflected light like gold, Liu Shuyi might not have noticed it.

"what is this?"

He was certain that the powder was not originally from the Sanqing Temple.

Inside the Sanqing Temple, apart from the dust that had accumulated over a long period of time without being cleaned, there was nothing else.

"Did the Zhao mother and son bring this?"

"Or……"

Liu Shuyi narrowed his eyes: "Did the murderer drop this?"

After thinking for a moment, he went to the door and looked at the footprints.

The snow was white, and the footprints were very clear.

However, there was no such powder in the footprints or on the snow near them.

"It's not stuck to the shoe..."

He frowned slightly, and then he noticed some unusual marks on the snow beside the footprints, stretching from the entrance of the Sanqing Hall all the way to the entrance of the Taoist temple.

They look like animal footprints.

But it doesn't quite seem right, because these marks are very small circles. What animal's footprints would be round?

As I was pondering this, I heard very light footsteps behind me.

Liu Shuyi's heart skipped a beat, and he turned around to look.

Then he saw Du Ying walking towards him.

At this moment, although Du Ying's expression remained aloof and full of heroic spirit, Liu Shuyi keenly sensed that she was not in a good mood.

It seems something has affected my mood.

"Is the test finished?" Liu Shuyi asked.

Du Ying stood beside Liu Shuyi, the last rays of the setting sun falling on her, making her skin appear even more delicate.

She nodded: "Zhao Chengyi's son had no wounds on his body. It can be confirmed that the fatal wound was in his throat. He must have been killed by the murderer by slitting his throat first, and then his head was cut off."

"Zhao had a total of 28 wounds on her body, indicating that she had been beaten before her death. The fatal wound was in her heart. Based on the wounds, it can be determined that the murder weapon was a sharp weapon such as a dagger."

"at the same time……"

She turned around and looked at Liu Shuyi, her usually cold voice dropping a few notches: "She was raped before she died."

really!

Liu Shuyi's eyes sharpened.

He had this suspicion when he discovered that Zhao's dress was torn.

Unexpectedly, it really is true!
What kind of beast did Zhao Chengyi entrust his wife and children to?
Her son must have been killed from the beginning, otherwise he couldn't have remained indifferent to seeing his mother being harmed.

In other words, the person Zhao Chengyi entrusted to kill his son Zhao Zhi first.

Then, beside Zhao Zhi's young corpse, under the unseeing gaze of Zhao Zhi's unclosed eyes, he beat, insulted, and forced his mother, Zhao Shi. After the insults were finished, he killed her with a single blow.

This is not finished.

Then they cut off the heads of the mother and child...

Even though he was quite knowledgeable and had seen all kinds of murderers... he had never seen such a ruthless and twisted killer!
Ironically, this was someone Zhao Chengyi personally chose and trusted!

No wonder Zhao's face was filled with such resentment.

No one could rest in peace in this situation!
Liu Shuyi took a deep breath to suppress the turmoil in his heart. The worst thing to do when investigating a case is to let the case itself affect his emotions, as this would impair his judgment.

"Can you determine the time of their murders?" he asked.

Du Ying shook her head: "In such a freezing environment, the corpses will be greatly affected in terms of lividity and decomposition. Under such circumstances, it is very difficult to determine their time of death."

Liu Shuyi frowned.

Without determining the time of death of the Zhao mother and son, it is difficult to narrow down the scope of the case. After all, an alibi for the entire night involves a completely different number of people than an alibi for a single period of time.

They have limited time and cannot waste it on this.

If the time of death cannot be determined by livor mortis and the degree of decomposition, what other methods can be used?

Liu Shuyi recalled his memories of his past life when he came into contact with forensic doctors...

suddenly.

He looked at Du Ying and said, "There is a way to determine their time of death! However, the process is quite bloody, and I'm afraid you might not be able to..."

Before Liu Shuyi could finish speaking, Du Ying's clear, beautiful eyes fixed on him, and she asked, "You have a way? What is it?"

Her tone was somewhat surprised.

Even I was completely helpless, how could Liu Shuyi possibly have a solution? Is that really true?
As for whether the process was bloody, she didn't consider it at all.

She studied medicine under Sun Simiao, but it wasn't just about taking pulses and prescribing medicine.

The first time she operated on a wounded patient, stitching up the wound, she was covered in blood and cried loudly... She was only nine years old.

She is nineteen years old now.

Ten years of cultivation had rendered her indifferent to blood and even to corpses.

So it's bloody?
Which eye of Manager Liu could see that she was a delicate little girl who was afraid of blood?

Seeing the aloof forensic doctor looking at him expectantly, Liu Shuyi didn't keep him in suspense.

He stated directly, "When a person eats, food goes into their stomach and undergoes a digestive process, which stops when the person dies."

"That is to say..."

He looked at the stunningly beautiful Du Ying and said, "If you can dissect their corpses and open their stomachs, you can deduce how long the food had been stored in their stomachs based on the food residue, and thus determine their time of death."

As Du Ying listened to Liu Shuyi's words, her black, gem-like eyes first showed a thoughtful expression, and then flashed with surprise.

"It works! It really works!"

She couldn't help but look at Liu Shuyi. The usually aloof fairy had taken the initiative to approach Liu Shuyi, her tone filled with a rare joy and surprise: "How did you think of these things? I should have thought of them too, but I didn't think of them at all."

Liu Shuyi sensed the aloof forensic doctor's excitement and simply chuckled, "It was just a flash of inspiration and good luck."

Du Gou, who had just finished making the footprint model at the door, looked up and saw his younger sister leaning towards Liu Shuyi.

Seeing the unusual expression that rarely appeared on his sister's icy face, Du Gou couldn't help but widen his eyes slightly.

What happened?
Why are my sister and Liu Shuyi suddenly standing so close?

Has my younger sister finally figured it out?
At this moment, Du Gou had mixed feelings.

The younger sister's enlightenment brought him a sense of relief, as he finally had a chance to complete his father's mission.

There's also the unpleasant feeling of having perfectly good cabbages willingly offered up to a pig's mouth.

He couldn't stop shaking his head, wondering if this was the feeling every older brother had when his younger sister was about to marry off...

Then, his eyes widened suddenly, and his mouth opened wide.

He felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

"You... you..."

He saw his younger sister, who had been talking to Liu Shuyi just a moment ago.

Unexpectedly, the next moment, she bent down and her delicate nose touched Liu Shuyi's finger.

then……

It stuck out its small, red tongue.

And then, he licked it.

At that moment, Du Gou felt like the sky was about to fall.

Stop talking about him.

Liu Shuyi was also stunned.

(End of this chapter)