Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 10 Strange Stabbing Wounds

Although she did see the ghostly figure on the window frame and even the words that appeared out of thin air on the bamboo slips.

However, Zhou Zhao still believes that Zhang Ruoqing's face was not bitten by a ghost, but that the murderer was just making a fuss.

Because she had witnessed too many horrific cases, if there were truly vengeful ghosts in this world, she should have encountered them hundreds or thousands of times over.

"The deceased, Zhang Ruoqing, showed no signs of severe head trauma, needle marks, or asphyxiation. Her face appeared to have been bitten, judging by the teeth marks..."

The body had been examined by the coroner from the Court of Justice last night. The bloodstains on Zhang Ruoqing's face had been cleaned up, revealing the hideous wounds.

Zhou Zhao stood beside Liu Huang, leaned closer to take a look, and saw the clear teeth marks, his heart skipped a beat.

"Look at these teeth marks, they look like marks left by human teeth biting..."

King Liu Huang of Chu's voice rang out faintly in the room. His voice was exceptionally cold, and if the living dead could speak, it would most likely sound like this.

"To tear off a piece of meat raw, what kind of deep-seated hatred must there be!"

Upon hearing this, Min Zangzhi, who was installing the murals behind him, couldn't help but gasp, and looked at Liu Huang with even greater surprise.

The King of Chu, the emperor's son, was actually a coroner!

There are actually people in this world who would rather give up royalty and nobility to become the universally despised coroner!
Liu Huang was unaffected by Min Zangzhi's words and continued reading, "There's a stab wound on both the neck and chest; judging by the width of the wounds, it's probably from a dagger. But..."

Liu Huang paused, making more room for Zhou Zhao. "These two wounds are indeed different, which should be why you felt the amount of blood was a bit off. When you get to the scene later, you can confirm it by looking at the bloodstains there."

Zhou Zhao took a closer look. If you looked at a single wound alone, you might not think much of it, but when you compare the two, the difference is obvious.

"The wound on the chest was somewhat red and swollen, and there was a lot of blood on the chest of the deceased's robe."

Liu Huang didn't pause for long before opening the deceased's collar again. "Looking at the wound on the neck, there were no signs of redness or swelling, and the wound was somewhat grayish-white. There was also no large amount of blood on the white collar."

At this point, Liu Huang straightened up and walked back to the head of the deceased Zhang Ruoqing, looking again at the wounds on her face.

"The wound on my face has the same problem as the one on my neck."

As he spoke, he looked up and his gaze inadvertently met that of Min Zangzhi.

Liu Huang's pupils contracted sharply, as if he had been burned, and he quickly looked away. He first glanced at the bamboo hat, and then looked at Zhou Zhao.

“I once stabbed five pigs with a dagger. If a live pig was stabbed in the neck, a lot of blood would spurt out the moment the dagger was pulled out. But a dead pig would not.”

"When you cut live flesh with a dagger, the wound will become red and swollen, and it will heal on its own even without medicine. But it won't when you stab dead flesh."

As Liu Huang spoke, he continued to make stabbing and cutting motions with his hands.

Min Zangzhi watched, and couldn't help but use the goose feather fan in his hand to cover half of his face, afraid that he would dislocate his jaw because he was too shocked.

He simply couldn't imagine the King of Chu being surrounded by pigs in his palace, being stabbed repeatedly, and then frantically writing afterward. This made him feel that his own simple attire, adorned with flowers and powder, seemed remarkably normal.

Zhou Zhao paid no attention to any of this; she was carefully pondering Liu Huang's words.

"So, the murderer first stabbed Zhang Ruoqing in the chest, when she was still alive. Then he stabbed her in the neck, but by then she was already dead. So, the chest wound was the fatal one."

As she spoke, she frowned and looked at Zhang Ruoqing's face again.

"After her death, the murderer also gnawed on her body and then hung her upside down from the rafters to create the illusion of a ghost eating a person." Why would the murderer do this?

Zhou Zhao thought that she did not believe any murderer would do anything pointless at the scene; every action he took was meaningful and a clue.

Liu Huang nodded emphatically. "That's right."

As he spoke, he continued examining the body. "There were no obvious wounds on other parts of the body. However, there was a bruise on the right elbow, which must have been caused by an impact."

Zhou Zhao was not surprised by this, after all, she had only been able to prove her innocence last night because of the non-defensive wounds on Zhang Ruoqing's hands.

Every time Liu Huang mentioned something, images of the murderer killing people would flash through her mind, but the more she did so, the more questions she had about the case.

If she wanted to solve all the cases in the world, she couldn't simply study the law. Without careful examination of criminal cases, she could easily be misled by the coroner. While she wouldn't dare say she was more capable than the old coroner from the Court of Justice or Liu Huang, she still understood the art of autopsy.

Even after being skinned, a frog can still spring its legs together, and a carp can still twitch when it's put into a frying pan.

The significant difference between the wounds on the chest and neck indicates that a considerable amount of time had passed between them.

So the question is, why did the murderer stab Zhang Ruoqing in the chest, and then stab her in the neck after she was already dead?
As for the even more horrifying act of eating its flesh raw, that is something no ordinary person would do.

Zhou Zhao simply couldn't fathom what kind of irreconcilable enmity Zhang Ruoqing, a young girl with such a virtuous reputation, could possibly have with anyone!

But what does "ghosts eating people" mean?

There was also the wooden plaque bearing the name "Zhou Zhao" in the deceased's hand. Zhang Ruoqing was not in her boudoir in the middle of the night, but went to Ghost Alley alone. Who did she meet?

As Zhou Zhao pondered this, his eyes flickered, and he looked towards the doorway. Someone was coming.

Under the sunlight, Ji Yun, the clod of earth, was gilded with gold, looking like a dazzling gold nugget. Behind him followed an impatient-looking Wu Qingshan and an unfamiliar young man from the Northern Army.

Zhou Zhao looked further ahead and saw the remaining two groups of people walking over on the main road not far away.

The small mortuary was soon packed with people.

Zhou Zhao lowered his eyes, glanced at Zhang Ruoqing's corpse again, and nodded to Liu Huang, "Let's go to Wujin Lane first. There are some things I need to confirm. We'll come back later."

Liu Huang's expression changed drastically upon seeing the large group of living people.

Hearing Zhou Zhao's words, he let out a heavy sigh of relief, rushed to the side in three steps to put on his bamboo hat, then quickly washed his hands and pulled the hat down low, almost covering the upper half of his face.

Then, in a flash, he followed closely beside Zhou Zhao.

Seeing Ji Yun swaggering towards him from the doorway, Liu Huang froze, feeling somewhat at a loss.

Seeing this, Zhou Zhao reached out and grabbed his wrist, separating him from Ji Yun, and the two quickly walked out.

"I'm here for you, Ah Huang."

Zhou Zhao lowered his voice and spoke in a tone that only the two of them could hear.

Liu Huang trembled and gave a soft "hmm," his voice slightly nasal.

(End of this chapter)