Book 19 Chapter 12

Autopsy (檢屍)

-Cumbersome procedures

The day has dawned.

Sometimes the light reveals an ugly truth that has been hidden in the darkness of the night. The night protests that its consent was not given, but its protests are always drowned out by the waves of light.

Light does not judge good or evil. It only shows. It is always left to humans to draw the line. Once again, the line has been drawn, and it's made life very difficult for some people.

Boom!

A group of martial artists, apparently from the Heavenly Martial Arts Academy, have put up a yellow golden cordon to prevent passersby from approaching. Their job was to preserve the crime scene so it wouldn't be tampered with, and none of them felt the urge to test how many footprints they could get per unit area, especially when it was a murder scene where not a single hair on the ground could be missed.

Nanchang is a big city, so the influence of government officials is huge.

Normally, it is the role of the guan to organize, investigate, and deal with such incidents, and the guan has no intention of shirking their responsibilities. However, when the victim's identity is revealed to be a martial artist, the guan's attitude changes abruptly, as the responsibility and authority to investigate the incident is transferred to the Heavenly Academy. More specifically, a battalion under the authority of the Heavenly Martial Academy will be assigned the task. This was made possible by a high degree of political coordination between the Guan and the Murim. Of course, no matter how prestigious one's name was in the martial world, from Guan's point of view, a civilian was still a civilian. It went without saying that civilians were not qualified to perform official duties.

Therefore, in this case, the government would request the deployment of the Muyuan in the form of a "request for assistance" to experts in the field. Although the Muyuan is an organization under the authority of the Heavenly Martial Academy, it is a temporary, temporary, temporarily employed, temporary force that has temporary but legitimate authority. Through this series of intricate and highly refined political deals and arrangements, the Heavenly Martial Academy has the legitimate authority to legally intervene in incidents of injury and murder between martial artists within Nanchang.

The overriding purpose of the unit, which was to ensure that there was no injustice, was to examine the bodies and determine how they were killed, and then to apprehend the perpetrators on that basis. It is noteworthy that the accompanying autopsies and investigations were all cloaked behind the shield of legitimate authority.

Currently in charge of the martial arts school are Baek Moo-young of the Hsing San Diary and Cheng Hyeon of the Three Swords, two pillars of the Guzheng Council.

Despite their status as guandao, they had already taken on several responsibilities. Most martial arts-related incidents in Nanchang are handled by the Tianmu Academy, which is mostly handled by the students themselves. The idea is to increase student autonomy, so adults are rarely involved. This is because we want them to gain first-hand experience. In reality, there are many cases where theory and practice are not the same, and there are many things that cannot be understood unless you experience them yourself. Therefore, accumulating a lot of experience while you are still in the process of learning will become blood and flesh later. What is held in the head is often abandoned in the forest of forgetfulness, but what is tattooed on the body is never easily forgotten.

"Shall we get started then?"

"You're ready."

At Baek Moo-young's words, Cheong Hyeon nodded and replied.

"…but no matter how many times I do this, I never seem to get the hang of it."

Qingfeng frowned as he looked at the giant-covered body.

"Getting used to it is a duty, my friend."

When his friend complained, Baek spoke up.

"Obligations……."

They weren't doing it for the love of it, either. There's nothing uplifting or life-enriching about this kind of specialized work. On the contrary, one could hardly find a better environment for emotional drain and emotional exhaustion, which is why they all shunned it and shied away from it. Neither of them had the stench of a corpse to get excited about, but paradoxically, they volunteered to do it for the very reason that everyone else was reluctant.

"Nothing in life is free."

Standing above others is not just about having more rights; it's about fulfilling duties as well as exercising those rights. Only the few who are able to balance both are able to command the respect of the people and the trust of their subordinates at the same time.

It's not a very hopeful observation to expect your subordinates to work harder than you do. Therefore, they were obliged to fulfill the duties of their higher status, which is why they chose to do this job even though others were reluctant and you didn't really want to do it. Of course, they could have forced others to take on the task, as they both had the power to do so, but that would have meant losing more and more support.

No subordinate likes a boss who only wants the sweetness of power. In any organization, there are few at the top and many at the bottom. Organizations, like buildings, need strong, solid trust and support among their members to remain stable. Trust is the glue that holds an organization together, and a system that loses it will inevitably crumble.

"It's been said for a long time that if you're unqualified, a reverse sexual revolution is possible, so what can ordinary people like us do?"

"Who are you talking about, it's obviously someone famous because of the emphasis on the old days?"

"You're very famous. Mencius said so."

"You're so famous that even a mere mortal like me has heard of you."

The adoption of Confucianism as a tool of state governance after the Han Dynasty gave it a particular vested interest in protecting vested interests, but when you get down to it, it's a discipline that doesn't tolerate laxity.

That's what a canonical name is.

君君臣臣(君君臣臣)! Parents and children (父父子子)!

A wage is a wage, a servant is a servant. A father is a father, a child is a child.

So what if the wage isn't a wage? You can't change the name, so why not change what you're naming it after?

In short, it's the idea that if you're not worthy of the name, you don't deserve the name.

Sometimes names tend to overstate their value relative to the market. But it's also always characterized by its lack of ennui.

Therefore, Cheonghyeon and Baekmu-young were no exception, and they had to pay the full price even if they didn't want to, otherwise they wouldn't be able to keep their names. It was similar to a business in that it requires constant investment and management, and if you don't manage your investments properly, you'll go broke.

"Do you think the words lasted because they were famous, or did they become famous because they remained indelible in the winds of time? What do you think?"

"Don't ask me. I'm not a scholar, I'm a Taoist. You haven't forgotten that I'm a shaman, have you, my friend?"

"Disciplines have no boundaries, my friend. Narrow minds are lame, my friend. When an idea fails to recognize diversity, it rots. Like this corpse here."

With that, Baek Moo-young gave the corpse behemoth a swift slap.

"My master, Hyung Sanpa, is also a Taoist, but studying abroad is fun. It's just as exciting to learn the written word as it is to learn the martial arts."

"I don't want anyone to think I'm not a member of the Old Council. But I'm sure most of the members of the Heavenly Martial Academy would disagree with you. They'll tell you that it's much more exciting and exhilarating to swing your sword like a gale, punch like lightning, and sweat like a maniac."

"Sure, I admit it. But it doesn't hurt to have one person like that, does it?"

"Do it in moderation."

"I see. Then let's start with the field technology first."

The basics of an autopsy start with the description of the scene. Anyone who thinks that an autopsy is just a bunch of randomly picking up dead bodies is sorely mistaken.

An autopsy is a process governed by very strict regulations and rules, and it's always been a delicate affair.

He loved procedure, and he had no intention of disregarding the formal process for things that didn't need to be disregarded, especially when it came to something as public as this, where lives were at stake, but procedure had to be followed for the sake of uniformity and smooth administration.

"Do you have any relatives of the deceased?"

As part of the process, Baek asked.

"Witnesses say they didn't see Sitchin, but they did see someone who looked like a coworker, but they don't live in the neighborhood, so Sitchin must be far away."

"Then I guess we can't use Sitchin as an autopsy witness."

In such a case, it would be necessary to state that the shichin had not arrived and to have several witnesses swear to it. This was done to expedite the process, as the body might decompose while waiting for the shichin to arrive. Also, in such cases, a neighbor or friend might be used as a substitute witness.

Bai Muyoung glanced at the body from top to bottom once. Judging from his demeanor, he must have come to Nanchang to take the entrance exam for the Heavenly Martial Academy, and it was rare for someone to come alone, especially if they belonged to the Great Gate Sect rather than the Military Fire Sect.

"Do you know where those who appear to be his associates are?"

Qinghun asked.

"Yes, according to the testimony, she's undressing in a pint glass."

"Then take five of your men and go get them now."

"Okay."

Before an autopsy can be performed, it needs to be verified by a witness, and at the Museum of Heaven and Earth, the autopsy was performed in exactly the same way as it would be in a coffin. This was to minimize noise so that there would be no problems later when handing over the material to the coffin.

"So let's start with your complexion."

Baek said, transmitting the backs of his running subordinates to his eyes.

Complexion was a very important indicator of cause of death.

This is why it's ignorant to blindly cut a corpse open from the belly down without looking at its complexion, and it's something that any common sense coroner would avoid.

It could be said that dealing with the living and the dead was both different and the same: just as putting a knife to a patient is the last resort left to a doctor, putting a knife to a corpse is the last and alone step in an autopsy.

Not feeling the need to be unorthodox and incompetent coroners, Baek and Qinghun slowly began to examine the corpse's complexion in detail.

"The whole thing has a blackish-black color to it, so is it a flesh wound?"

Black color was a very important indicator of a beating or hanging wound.

"Then I guess I don't need to use this silver bullet."

Qing Shui lifted up a silver scroll, gleaming white as a chaste maiden, and said in a wistful tone.

It belonged to the Wu Yuan Dynasty, and was a genuine piece of artifact that had been personally maintained and graded by the coffin.

However, if you're not an addict, there's no chance of this expensive autopsy tool coming into play.

"But let's take a stab at it anyway, who knows, and we shouldn't pass up even the most unlikely of possibilities, right?"

Baek Moo-young said with a nonchalant face.

"You just stabbed him because you were bored?"

It wasn't unreasonable that it sounded like that to Cheonghun's ears.

"It can't hurt to be careful. Besides… it's expensive, and you'll need to use it often to get the most out of it. It would be a waste to just tease it. A tool is only as good as its use, and I'm pretty sure this silver hairpin isn't meant to be a headdress, is it?"

Qingfeng stopped frowning at some unpleasant imagination.

"If I were you, I wouldn't wear a scarf that's been stabbed through hundreds of corpses on my head for its purity."

Moreover, there was one fact he couldn't bear to talk about. In the case of a poisoned corpse, both the initial and secondary examinations required the insertion of a silver thread, but where to insert it was a problem. The recommended procedure is to insert the silver thread deep into the throat and remove it after a short period of time to see if the thread has changed color. If the silver turns black, the person is poisoned.

It's a big deal that the place to stick a precious and expensive silver hairpin is the throat, but some people misunderstood the location of the throat and stuck it in their nostrils, which was not uncommon. Whenever that happened, whether it was luck or misfortune, it rarely came out with a runny nose afterwards, but there were unidentifiable bits of gritty stuff, which was never a refreshing experience.

Just the thought of having something like that shoved up a corpse's nostrils sent a cold sweat running down her spine. Even a beautiful woman would lose her radiance in an instant.

"I'm creeped out just thinking about it. Wouldn't that already be a murder weapon?"

At the very least, it would be mentally draining.

"I agree. Then there's only one use for this silver wand."

Baek added, "I think it's a great idea.

"Who knows, maybe they poisoned him first and then attacked while he was paralyzed and unable to move."

It was a plausible line of reasoning.

"If you go so far as to say……."

Cheong Hoon reluctantly agreed.

"Don't stick it up your nostrils."

Baek was kind enough to mention the most frequent mistakes of coroners.

"I'm not going to mistake it for your nostrils. So don't worry."

Qinghui felt a slight sweet, dark temptation, but exercised proper restraint and plunged the silver thread deep into the corpse's throat with his own hands. Consoling himself that this place was at least considerably cleaner and healthier than some of the other orifices. It was a bit of a shame for the corpse, but the fact that it couldn't complain was the only real consolation.

Some time later, lifting the silver braid from her throat, Qinghui looked up and down in the sunlight and called her friend's name.

"Hey, Moo-young."

"Why but?"

Baek Moo-young, who was examining the corpse and writing it down on the corpse's autopsy record sheet, 'Stable Formula', replied without turning his head.

"I've been wondering about this for a while now……."

"What?"

"If one makes poison and specializes in raising poisonous insects, collects the poison of plants, buys and sells poison, and harms human life, is there not a certain punishment for each?"

"Right."

That was the law.

"So, how long will the Sichuan Tang family have to live in the form?"

Only then did Baek realize that his friend was joking.

"Well… we probably won't be buying tofu in our lifetimes."

It was the infamous Tang family of Sichuan that experimented and created new poisons on a daily basis, their obsession with poisons and memorization bordering on paranoia.

Whatever your party's mantra is, 一日一毒!

It is said to mean to experiment and create new poisons, one a day.

"In fact, maybe they built the danga because they had to keep them locked up for so long, and the building is actually classified as a prison on official documents."

Baek cautiously put forward a hypothesis.

"Hmm… that makes sense."

It might be a waste of time to arrest them, since they'd just keep piling up the sentences anyway. It might be easier to just register the house they were living in as a jail.

"All good."

Luckily, he didn't have to give Tang Ga the benefit of the doubt. But then it came into Baek Moo-young's view.

"There's something wrong here!"

Hmmm!

Qing Shui's head slowly turned.

A mess of blood vessels, like a spider's web. It was an unremarkable wound.

"It's a bright red color."

Qing Shui said without lifting his furrowed brow.

"So it's a stab wound. Is it a sword wound?"

"Nope. The wound is too fine for a sword. Even the finest of sword herbs can't make such a thin cut."

"Not a sword……. Then what do you think the weapon is?"

After a moment's hesitation, Baek finally spoke up.

"This looks like a sword wound."

Cheong Hyeon didn't seem to trust his friend's judgment.

"You mean that technique where you cut someone with a thread or something, and you can inflict this much damage with that?"

"If you're a skilled player, you can do that, and it works in our favor."

"Why is that?"

"There aren't many people who can wield such a unique poisonous weapon. Fewer still are skilled enough to end a life like this. By identifying this murder weapon, we've narrowed down our suspects to a minimum, and how can that not be an advantage?"

"So I hear, all that rummaging through corpses is finally paying off. By the way, who the hell is this man, I've never heard of him or his reputation as a swordsman in this south wing?"

"It's our job to figure that out."

Bai Mu Ming said, not taking his eyes off the red wounds on the corpse, which were tangled like spider webs.

"Besides, this wound, I think I remember seeing it before."

Baek said, remembering a young man with long bangs who had always been at the center of a flatland windstorm for the past two or three years.

Instead of Xie Qin, four of his former friends were summoned. None of them knew what had brought them here, and they were all anxious.

"There's nothing to be nervous about. We're just going to check a few things."

Once it was cleared, I reassured them.

"Yes……."

Everyone stiffly replies.

"Come on, ease up. It used to be that they'd just start beating you up whether you were guilty or not, but not anymore. So you don't have to be so nervous."

He may have meant it as a consolation prize, but it was something he would rather not have said. Qing Shui opened his mouth to speak to the young men, who had hardened even more.

"Well, let's start by verifying your identity."

Qinghui crossed the golden line with four people who had shrunk to the size of fingernails. The complexions of the four men behind him changed. The mood of the men at the golden cord was sinister. Moreover, this was the scene of a murder, and they could be named as suspects. How could they not feel uneasy?

Cheung Hyeon lifted the curtain that covered the body.

"Do I recognize you?"

"Huh!"

The four men's eyes widened and a simultaneous gasp of disbelief escaped their lips: lying there was a friend who, until yesterday, had been laughing and talking and drinking with them.

"Aaaaaah!"

One of them was so weak that she fainted, and a sigh escaped her lips at the pathetic sight. He could understand her mental shock, but she shouldn't have fainted like a baby. Especially from someone who wanted to enter the Heavenly Martial Academy.

"Wake him up!"

When his fainted friend regained consciousness, Cheong Hyeon asked again.

"Does anyone have any suspicions that you've gotten a grudge against someone?"

I wasn't expecting much, but all four of them nodded at the same time!

"Yes, I do."

There was a gleam in Qinghui's eye.

"Really?"

"Yes."

If he's still nervous, he answers in a gnatty voice.

"Go get a hundred lenders here."

"Old!"

Baek was more of an expert in this area, and he respected his friend's expertise.

"Hmmm, this is an unexpected harvest."

Otherwise, I've been struggling with the lack of witnesses.

"First, let's split up the four of you, and then we'll hear your statements."

"Why, isn't it easier to listen in one place?"

Cheonghun protested.

"Then it's hard to tell if they're talking to each other, and it's only when you hear them separately that the differences become apparent when you compare them later."

"Indeed, he meant something so profound!"

Qinghui clapped his hands in admiration.

"It's not profound, it's just common sense, common sense, and it kills two birds with one stone because it allows us to more objectify observations from four different subjectivities."

"I'll do that right away."

"Um, and don't forget about being told twice in a row."

"Why is that?"

"That's customary. It makes it harder to perjure yourself."

"That's a hassle."

"Oh, come on, even the authorities say that in a case as big as a murder, it's due process to have it reviewed three times, and we're lucky to have it reviewed twice!"

This process, which is based on the idea that human life is handled with care, is called "triple jeopardy".

"What do you think?"

When he was done listening to the ejaculation, Cheonghyeon asked.

"Well, all four people's statements about the suspect's dragon hair match up."

Baek replied in a solemn voice.

"Let's hear it."

His friend nodded wordlessly, then pulled out a form to record the testimony.

"He was described as male, around twenty years old, wearing a black robe with long sleeves, and a golden armband on his right arm."

"What, a golden armband?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"So you're saying there's a culprit among the admissions examiners? Who? Why?"

Everything that happens has a cause and a reason. Murder was no exception.

"We don't have that figured out yet. But I can make some educated guesses."

And Baek Moo-young went over the issues in his mind, and immediately several hypotheses came to mind. None of them were funny, and he chose one carefully.

"If you had to pick one thing?"

I didn't want to be confused.

"The most likely one is a failure to control emotions."

"You mean you killed it for sure?"

"That's easy to say. We're all on edge these days, you know, and if we weren't on this job, we'd have our golden armbands back, too. Don't you think?"

"I'm not sure I would have been able to keep my cool in that case."

That was his honest sentiment. It was no wonder that there were so many indigestion and abdominal pain patients around him these days.

"Are there any other characteristics?"

"In fact, we're down to one of the most important features."

"Why are you telling me that now?"

"Because you have to be careful."

"Discreet?

What could possibly be making this prudently unbeatable fellow so nervous?

"Finally, and this is a characteristic that all four agree on, the killer… had very long bangs, so long that they covered his eyes."

In that moment, a single name flashed through their minds.