I was forced to cultivate immortality when I just wanted to lie down

Chapter 39 The Master Can't Tell

The Patrol Office is a special institution in Linhe. Due to the richness and strategic location of this place, its scale is even larger than that of the main office of Baisha County.

The Linhe government office also has three shifts and six offices, and is not short of runners and clerks to run the office. It will only take one day for the imperial edict to be issued, and then it will be promoted to the county seat.

The coroner was affiliated with the criminal justice department in the sixth room.

Inside the morgue, Wang Lingyuan returned from undressing and saw Xu Qing looking deep in thought, so he decided to test him.

"Junior brother, what do you think of this corpse?"

There is no beauty or ugliness in the eyes of a coroner, all corpses in the world look the same.

The body Wang Lingyuan was referring to was definitely not Sai Yuxian's lying body. Apart from his job of burial and makeup, Xu Qing did not care about the beauty or ugliness of the corpse.

At this time, the two were talking about nothing more than the real cause of Sai Yuxian's death.

"The fatal wound on this body is the strangulation mark on the neck. The only difference is whether it was a suicide by hanging or strangulation."

Although Xu Qing was neither good at literature nor martial arts in his previous life, it did not prevent him from being an all-rounder who was good at everything.

As he spoke, Xu Qing had already put on fish-skin gloves, transforming himself into the 'Dayong Chief Justice'. Then, with the foresight of the ticker tape, he came up with various arguments at will.

"The strangulation marks on the neck of a hanged person usually show a hollowing phenomenon, with a deep groove at the point of force and a shallow groove on the opposite side. There will also be bleeding spots on the cheeks, and cyanosis on the lips and nails."

"The pupils of the deceased in front of me are dilated, and the grooves left on the neck are very even, with basically the same depth and no gaps. We can basically rule out suicide." As he spoke, Xu Qing used his fingers to pry open Sai Yuxian's eyelids and gave her a death stare.

Upon hearing this, Wang Lingyuan stroked his beard and nodded. Although his junior brother's explanation was not comprehensive, it was rare for someone who had never worked as a coroner to have such insights.

Next, Wang Lingyuan made many additional points regarding Xu Qing's missing arguments, such as the neck being tied with a rope, the flexion and extension of the deceased's palms after the rope was tied around the neck, the differences in facial features, and most importantly -

"Ordinary people who hang themselves cannot put their hands around their necks to break free, so there will be no flesh left between their fingernails. However, those who are strangled, unless they are unconscious due to drugs, will most likely have scratches on their necks, either from the murderer or from the person themselves, and there will also be flesh left between their fingernails."

Following Wang Lingyuan's guidance, Xu Qing, combined with the moving picture from the ritual of salvation, came to his final conclusion: "There's some flesh residue between the woman's fingernails. According to my senior brother, this suggests she struggled. However, there are no scratches anywhere else on her body. This means the residue between her fingernails most likely came from the murderer."

"If that's the case, we can follow the clues and find out who the victim had short-term contact with before his death. Then, based on their interpersonal relationships, we can find the suspect with a motive and examine his body to see if there are any scratch marks."

As for more complicated matters, such as the murderer deliberately erasing the scratches with external forces such as tattoos and burns, or there being a case within a case and being framed, these are all later matters, and we will not give up the current investigation process because of these.

Hearing this, Wang Lingyuan turned around and took out a copy of the case file from the shelf and handed it to Xu Qing for review.

After a moment, Wang Lingyuan asked with a smile, "How is it? Any progress?"

"It's still unclear, but since ancient times, murders have often been motivated by love. Sai Yuxian's husband stated in the case that his wife committed suicide out of shame after an affair. But he and Sai Yuxian met at a romantic venue and knew each other well. How much shame must Sai Yuxian have felt to have committed suicide?"

Wang Lingyuan laughed heartily upon hearing this, and said mysteriously, "Yesterday, Sai Yuxian's husband came to the yamen to retrieve the body. Guess what I found?"

I'm just a kid, still guessing!

Xu Qing pretended to be dumbfounded and said, "How could I guess that? Could it be that Senior Brother just happened to see scratches on his body?"

"."

Wang Lingyuan's smile froze slightly, then he clapped his hands suddenly and said, "Junior brother, you really guessed it right!"

Here, the two brothers were fiddling with the corpse and were studying it with great interest when suddenly a shout came from outside the door.

Wang Lingyuan frowned when he heard this and asked, "Master Tang? It's so dark out here, why is he looking for me?"

When the two men walked out of the morgue, they saw a middle-aged scholar with an unusual appearance standing at the door.

He has lychee eyes, a raised chin, and two mustaches, and the word "shrewd" is just missing from his forehead.

Looking at his clothes again, he was wearing a neat green gown that looked as new as ever, and a dark blue jacket as an outer layer, looking like a fortune teller!
"Brother Lingyuan is truly a role model for our generation. Even when he's off duty, he still handles official business here."

Master Tang lightly flicked his beard with his index finger and thumb, greeted with a smile, and then turned his gaze to Xu Qing.

"Who is this?"

"My junior fellow apprentice, we are from the same school. Today I have come here specifically to learn the skills of a forensic doctor."

"Good, good! I think your junior brother is a handsome man, and he will be a capable leader in the future." Master Tang is very good at dealing with people. He can say different things to different people.

Now that he has seen zombies, he still speaks in a standard manner.

After saying some polite words, Master Tang grabbed Wang Lingyuan's arm, pulled him in front of him, and whispered to Xu Qing with his back to him.

Xu Qing had just transformed into an armored zombie, and his ears were very sharp. Even if the other party was intentionally carrying him from behind, he could still hear everything clearly.

"Old brother, I don't think there's anything strange about Mr. Liu's case. Sai Yuxian was born into an opera family. You must have heard that these opera singers have unpredictable personalities. Perhaps one day he got caught up in the drama and felt that life was meaningless, so he wanted to imitate the love-struck suicide and hanged himself."

Having said that, Master Tang turned his head to look at the fair-faced young man who was picking his nose and snapping his fingers not far away, then secretly took out a ten-liang silver ingot from his sleeve and stuffed it into Wang Lingyuan's sleeve.

"Liu Sheng came to look for me today. I could see he was really sad. When he mentioned his wife, tears streamed down his face. He is obviously a good husband and a good man!

How could such a person kill his wife? What do you think, Brother Lingyuan?"

Wang Lingyuan was silent for a moment, then shook his head and sighed, "He is indeed a good husband!"

Xu Qing watched the two of them talking about Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio and telling ghost stories, and thought to himself that there are still many good people in the world!

Master Tang laughed, took Wang Lingyuan's arm and was about to walk out.

"Today, there's a small gathering at the Liyuan. Mr. Liu misses his wife, so he specially booked a small pavilion and invited guests to come and pay their respects. It's spring now, and the Liyuan Spring Wine is a wonderful product. Brother Lingyuan, please come with me to taste it."

Wang Lingyuan couldn't refuse, so he planned to send Xu Qing out of the yamen first and then go to the banquet.

Master Tang said with a smile, "Since you are my junior fellow apprentice, then we are all family. We can go together."

Liyuan Theater, spring returns to the small pavilion.

Master Tang Zhou listened to the opera he had specially ordered, shaking his head and humming it in a very good manner.

"I have braved all odds for him, and endured all hardships along the way."

"I am also a daughter of an official family. I have read a few chapters of books since I was young. I was born with two eyes and no experience. I mistakenly took that unfaithful man as my lover."

"I brought all this suffering upon myself, and so ended up like this. One misstep can lead to eternal regret, and it will take a hundred years to turn back."

On the stage, a song about a heartless man was being sung. Beneath the stage, Mr. Liu, with a beaming face, toasted Mr. Tang with wine and poured him more tea.

"Master Tang, please! Mr. Wang, please too, and this little brother."

It was a rare opportunity for Xu Qing to eat for free, but while he was eating, he suddenly remembered something.

With Liu Sheng's family background, he couldn't afford the expense of this banquet. If he guessed correctly, the money used to bribe Mr. Tang and the money for the banquet should have been earned by Sai Yuxian from entertaining guests.

He had originally thought that the freeloader he had saved had already reached the lowest point, but he hadn't expected that there were always people better than him, and there was even a pile of stinking dog shit under the dung bucket! Master Tang had listened to the opera for a while and drank a lot of wine, and was already slightly tipsy.

The leading actor on the stage came down and drank a few more cups with a few people. Master Tang couldn't hold on any longer and staggered to the toilet.

Among all the people present, only Xu Qing used some tricks and did not drink a drop of alcohol.

Seeing that Master Tang was drunk, he reached out to stop Wang Lingyuan and said, "Brother, please wait. I will accompany Master Tang to drain the water."

After saying that, he helped Master Tang walk outside.

On the way, Master Tang, with a rosy face, patted Xu Qing's arm as he supported him and said, "You are quite clever, learn the craft from your brother. When your brother gets old, I will keep this stable job as a coroner for you."

Smelling the familiar smell of pancakes, Xu Qing smiled.

He had never used his dream-making technique on anyone else, so this mentor who came to his door was a good candidate.

After accompanying his master to the toilet, when they were walking out of the toilet, Xu Qing pressed his palm, which was covered with Yin energy, against the back of the other's forehead.

Master Tang was walking back comfortably while humming a heartbreaking little tune about a heartless man. Suddenly, he felt a chill on the back of his head and fell to the ground.

Xu Qing withdrew his hand, took out a stick of incense from his jacket bag, put his hands together, and gently pinched it, then the Yin Fire lit the incense head.

Inserting the incense into the empty space next to Master Tang's head, Xu Qing chanted an incantation to ignite the incense, muttering to himself and reciting the devil's whispers.

"It was because you abused your power for personal gain and perverted the law, and for the sake of petty gains, you released Liu Sheng, the murderer who murdered your wife. Years later, Liu Sheng, under the pretext of a past relationship, deceived your young, inexperienced daughter."

"How could such a sensible and good girl be so tortured because of your wrong choice? She was strangled to death by Liu Sheng in the wilderness, and even her body was buried in the mouths of jackals and wild beasts."

The dreamer needs to guide the dreamer's thinking in order to make the other person fall into a Nan Ke dream.

When Xu Qing said this, Master Tang in front of him should have fallen into a dream of regret and hatred.

But unexpectedly, Master Tang's eyes began to shake rapidly, and he was about to wake up!

Xu Qing frowned.

Isn't this amiss? Could it be that this advisor is so determined to be corrupt that he doesn't even care about his own family and children?

When Xu Qing was wondering, he heard Master Tang mumbling in his sleep.

"It's not right that I didn't give birth to a daughter. It's not right."

"."

Xu Qing was speechless. It turned out that there was something wrong with the direction he was guiding!
The reason why dream creation is so real is that the people, events and scenes in the dream are reflected in reality, which is why it is the most profound.

Xu Qing had no choice but to abandon the original dream setting and make up a new story to please this clear-minded old man.

"You've lived most of your life without a daughter. Seeing the daughters of your colleagues and friends all so clever, sweet, and filial, you envy them immensely. One day, while you were handling official business at the government office, you suddenly received good news from home: your wife was pregnant."

"An old clam bears a pearl—truly a gift from heaven. After ten months of pregnancy, my wife gave birth to a stunningly beautiful girl, praised by neighbors, colleagues, and friends alike. You consulted a fortune teller at Watergate Bridge, who said your daughter is the reincarnation of a lucky star, but faces a calamity in her fate, meant to alleviate your misfortunes and offset the negative karma you've incurred in the past."

"Fifteen years later, your daughter will be even more charming and adorable, and your career will be blessed with good fortune and rise steadily."

"But unfortunately, the world is full of unexpected events, and people are subject to misfortunes at any time. When your daughter was about to set a date for her wedding with the newly crowned number one scholar, she was abducted by Liu Sheng, the murderer of your wife whom you had once let go due to your partiality and perverted the law. Although your daughter is a delicate woman, she has an extremely strong character and would never do anything that would bring disgrace to the family and damage your father's reputation."

"After being arrested and imprisoned, Mr. Liu recounted your past actions. Your highly respected character immediately became a laughingstock, and your wife resented you and died of depression. Your son also disowned you, and your former colleagues and friends despised you, and their relationship gradually faded."

"Your Majesty fears that this incident will affect the dignity of the court, so you will be dismissed and investigated."

"Alas! Master Tang, a man of exceptional intelligence and a bright future, suffered a tragic end, abandoned by his own greed, his wife and daughter both perished, and his integrity was ruined in his later years!"

Xu Qing was so devoted to what he said that if he had not learned to sing opera, he would have wanted to sing another part to put an end to Master Tang’s frustrated life.

Master Tang, who had experienced a big dream, was still lying on the ground. Although he had not woken up yet, two lines of tears filled with pain had already burst out.

Spring returns to the little pavilion.

At this time, the play was still being performed on the stage, but it was no longer a play scolding the unfaithful man, but a new piece of music.

I think Liu Sheng secretly changed the plan while Master Tang was away.

Xu Qing supported the unconscious master and returned to the teahouse.

Mr. Liu was very concerned, as if he had met his father-in-law.

"Master, what's wrong? Do you want to see a doctor?"

"It's okay. I think I drank too much and passed out. I just need to rest."

Upon hearing this, Liu Sheng felt so distressed that he immediately asked the servant to bring some sobering soup and personally fed it to Master Tang spoonful by spoonful.

"Hmm" After a while, the master woke up slowly, opened his smart eyes dazedly, and saw Liu Sheng's big head in front of his eyes with a look of concern.

"Master, are you awake?"

"Hah—get out of the way!"

Master Tang let out a loud cry and woke up from his drunken dream.

He used all his strength in both hands to push Liu Sheng to the ground.

"Master, what are you doing? It's me, Mr. Liu. You just got drunk, how could you forget about me?"

"Forget? I'll remember even if you turn into ashes!"

Master Tang's eyes were wide open with anger. He was always gentle to others and never got angry, but now there was a bit of murderous look on his face!
"My Yinyin died a tragic death because of you, a beast!"

"Who is Yinyin?" Not only Liu Sheng was confused, even Wang Lingyuan was confused.

"That was my daughter's nickname. When she grew up, I named her Yuqin."

"Yuqin? Daughter?" This time, not only Wang Lingyuan and the others were confused, but even Xu Qing and the person involved, Master Tang, were stunned.

Xu Qing was stunned because he hadn't named the characters in his dream. In other words, Yinyin and Yuqin's maiden names were chosen by Master Tang in his dream.

Thinking of this, Xu Qing really wanted to know what Master Tang had experienced in his dream.

At this moment, the person involved, Master Tang, called out his daughter's maiden name, then suddenly froze in place, and then fell back down as if he had lost his soul.

After a while, he finally realized it and murmured:

"It was just a dream"

　Two chapters in one
　　
　
(End of this chapter)