"Junior Brother Xu and I were trained by the same master, and his ability to examine corpses and solve cases surpasses mine. You two must listen carefully..."
The two young apprentices, one strong and one slender, one tall and one short, upon hearing Wang Lingyuan's words, referred to Xu Qing repeatedly as "Uncle Xu," showing much affection.
As Xu Qing examined the corpse, he taught those two apprentices the skills of forensic examination.
When he came upon a female corpse, Xu Qing pointed at it and asked, "Now, can you tell when this woman died and the cause of death?"
The short and robust Song Tu began, "Reporting to Uncle Xu, this woman appears to be around thirty years old. The body is stiff and the livor mortis is present on the spine, indicating she died lying on her back within the last two days."
The slender Dou Yun added, "The woman's forehead has a contusion, with no other visible injuries. She was likely struck with a weapon face-to-face, and the assailant either fled in fear or was confident of a deadly blow due to familiarity with such acts, but we need to see the crime scene for further verification."
Xu Qing nodded, saying, "While what you said is correct, it is far from sufficient."
"Forensics requires not just conjecture but also methodology."
In terms of understanding corpses, no one was more professional than Xu Qing.
After all, he himself was a zombie.
Xu Qing retrieved some vinegar from the shelf and said, "Song Tu, use this to cleanse the crown of her head."
When the forehead of the woman became visible with a purplish-red bruise, Xu Qing had Dou Yun fetch some scallion whites, pound them into a paste, and apply it to the forehead, covered with a vinegar paper.
After about half an incense stick's time, Xu Qing personally removed the materials, revealing a three-inch depression on the woman's forehead, indicative of a blunt weapon strike.
After finishing this, Xu Qing continued, "Besides this method for injury examination, there is a red oil umbrella in the forensic room. When the sun is at its peak, open the umbrella and inspect outside with the shadow of the umbrella ribs, and you might discover more."
The two apprentices were eager to try, and Xu Qing looked at Wang Lingyuan, who nodded in approval.
Xu Qing was delighted and waved his hand, encouraging the apprentices to learn freely!
Song Tu and Dou Yun, one holding the red oil umbrella and the other carrying the body, headed to the door, their enthusiastic demeanor reminiscent of Xu Qing.
"Uncle! There is indeed a difference! The woman's skull, from the glabella, shows signs of bone fracture, likely from being struck with a heavy object."
Xu Qing approached, and with just a glance, discerned more details: "Not only that, but see how the bone fragments are upturned inside without any external laceration, indicating the weapon was something like a wooden or iron bat, without sharp edges."
Beside them, Wang Lingyuan chuckled, "You two still have much to learn."
Saying this, Wang Lingyuan turned and took out an object from the evidence shelf.
The murder weapon was nothing but a laundry pestle.
Xu Qing looked at the laundry pestle, his expression unclear.
The life lamp of the woman had already been seen; she was the wife of the cloth shopkeeper Chen from Qu Ping Village, near Ziyun Mountain.
The shopkeeper Chen had married a wife and taken a concubine. The wife had no children, while the concubine bore a son.
The wife, Chen, harbored jealousy and, finding an excuse to send the concubine away, threw the infant still in swaddling into the river.
Qu Ping Village is upstream; after throwing the child into the river, Chen's wife, still uneasy, followed the river downstream until she reached its mouth, where she finally felt at ease.
At the downstream riverbank, she also found a laundry pestle that had been left behind.
The pestle fit her liking, and she happily brought it home.
However, coincidences happen.
Returning home with the pestle, Chen's wife found a bloodied rogue in her house.
The rogue was none other than Yuan Hu, a water bandit wounded by Zhao Zhonghe and had escaped by jumping into the river!
Everyone thought Yuan Hu would follow the current downstream after jumping into the water, but who could have predicted he would head upstream?
The malicious hearted Chen's wife couldn't muster her usual bravado when faced with the murderous Yuan Hu.
Yuan Hu, seeing Chen's wife scream, decided to go all out, picking up the laundry pestle she'd dropped and chasing her into the courtyard.
Panicked, Chen's wife fell, and as she propped herself up, looking back, she saw an unyielding laundry pestle coming right at her face!