Yanfu: Starting with the Six-Eared Macaque

Just as Chen Xing was pondering the strangeness of the case, a series of urgent shouts came from outside the reeds.

"Boss! Boss! The coroner is here!" Xiao Wu led a middle-aged man carrying a small red lacquered wooden box over at a brisk pace. The middle-aged man walked steadily, and although he was a little out of breath, he showed no signs of panic.

The middle-aged man approached, first bowing respectfully to Chen Xing, his voice steady: "Song Ping, coroner of Lin'an County, has been ordered to examine the body. May I ask, Constable Chen, where is the body?"

Chen Xing returned the greeting with a cupped hand, stepped aside to make way, and gestured with his right hand towards the riverbank: "This way, Counselor Song."

Following the gesture, Song Ping immediately spotted the charred corpse. He quickly walked over, knelt down, examined it for a moment, and then looked up to ask, "Who discovered this body? Was it found facing the river, curled up like this?"

Xiao Wu, who was standing nearby, quickly stepped forward and replied, "Reporting to Coroner Song, the body was discovered by Er Gou, a farmer from the neighboring village, when he went into the reeds to collect duck eggs. He didn't dare to delay after discovering it and immediately went to the yamen to report the case."

"According to Er Gou, when he saw the body, it was facing the puddle. We didn't move the body when we arrived, and it was exactly as he described."

Song Ping nodded slightly, asked no more questions, and unloaded the small wooden box from his back, placing it on the ground and opening it. He took out a pair of thin gloves and carefully put them on, then took out silver needles, silver spoons, and other autopsy tools, his movements skillful and efficient.

He picked up a small piece of charred fabric with his fingertips and examined it closely. Then he bent down and approached the woman's neck, carefully using a silver needle to pry open the skin that was curled up like a piece of charcoal, his gaze focused and sharp.

"Note that there were no rope marks on the charred skin of the neck." He paused, then examined the woman's limbs one by one. "There were no signs of binding or struggle on the limbs."

Before he finished speaking, he had already inserted a thin silver needle into the woman's lower body, and after a moment he pulled it out, the tip of the needle covered with a trace of dark brown viscous fluid.

"Note: There is a laceration on the lower body. The wound is fresh, and although it has been scorched by smoke, traces of bleeding can still be seen." Song Ping stared at the silver needles and examined them carefully, his brows furrowing slightly. "Judging from the shape of the wound, there is no accompanying large-area resistance injury."

He then switched to a silver needle and inserted it into the woman's lower abdomen. After twisting it for a moment, he pulled it out and stared at the pale red powder on the needle tip. His tone became more serious: "Remember, there is a rudimentary embryo inside the abdomen, about two months old. The internal organs are less carbonized than the surface of the body. This is because when the fire started, the body still had residual heat to protect the internal organs."

Next, he gently pried open the woman's mouth and nose, scraped a little bit of the residue from the trachea with a silver spoon, and sniffed it lightly. His eyes darkened. "Remember, the mouth and nose were covered in thick soot, and the trachea was also covered with embers. This means that the deceased was still breathing when the fire started."

He followed the tracks of the corpse to a shallow puddle not far away and immediately added, "Remember, the body was facing the water source, there was mud in the palm of the hand, and weeds were found under the fingernails."

Finally, Song Ping reached out and gently stroked the woman's skin. His fingertips were covered with a layer of greasy, burnt substance. He brought his fingertips to his nose and smelled them. His eyes suddenly sharpened: "Remember, there are oil droplets seeping out from under the charred layer of skin. This should be caused by burning kerosene."

He stood up, bowed to Chen Xing again, and pointed to the charred ground next to the corpse, where there were several shiny oil stains. His tone was flat and straightforward, without the slightest speculation: "The deceased had a neck injury that caused unconsciousness, injuries to the lower body caused by sexual assault before death, traces of burning with kerosene on the body surface, signs of breathing after waking up in the mouth, nose and trachea, and injuries to the limbs from crawling to survive."

"Thank you for your hard work, Coroner Song. This is your payment for the autopsy." Chen Xing took out a bag of copper coins from his waist and handed it over, then asked, "In your opinion, Coroner Song, was this woman's body assaulted before her death and then doused with kerosene to cover up the crime?"

Song Ping took the money bag and put it away. After bowing and thanking him, he shook his head: "It doesn't seem like it. There are no large areas of signs of struggle on the body, so it doesn't look like it was forcibly controlled and then burned."

"Based on my investigation of the scene, the body should have been ignited by kerosene and rolled around on the spot. Then, due to unbearable pain, it crawled towards the water source in an attempt to save itself," Chen Xing said, stating his deduction. "However, no container of kerosene was found at the scene. I guess there must have been another person present who provided the kerosene and then took the container away afterward."

"I am merely a coroner, skilled only in examining corpses, and have no talent for investigating cases and catching murderers." Song Ping did not agree with his speculation, and changed the subject, "However, I recently heard something that might be of help to Constable Chen."

"Coroner Song, please speak." Chen Xing's expression tightened, and he quickly pressed for details.

"I heard from colleagues in other counties that similar arson murders have occurred in several surrounding counties recently," Song Ping said slowly. "According to the victim's family, the deceased was not unusual in daily life, but would always mutter things like 'Blood Spirit Holy Mother' in the morning and evening. Then he suddenly disappeared and was found murdered not long after."

"Most of these cases are related to cult incitement. The victims mostly died by self-immolation. The cults are also elusive and impossible to trace. Many county magistrates reported the cases as cult incitement, and then nothing came of it."

"Thank you for your clarification, Coroner Song." Chen Xing paused, then added, "If there's nothing else, I'll send someone to transport the body back to the yamen and have it identified."

"Wen Yuan, have you noted down everything that Coroner Song said?" Chen Xing turned to the constable holding paper and pen, "Come here and give it to Coroner Song to confirm."

Su Wenyuan quickly stepped forward and handed over the record. Song Ping carefully looked through it and nodded in acknowledgment.

Chen Xing immediately arranged for people to properly transport the body, and then instructed Xiao Wu: "Xiao Wu, take some people to check if anyone in Lin'an County and surrounding villages has reported missing family members recently, especially young female relatives. Be sure to verify them one by one."

"Yes!" Xiao Wu clasped his hands in acceptance and immediately led his men to set off.

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After everything was arranged, Chen Xing and his group returned to the Lin'an County Government Office, and it was nearly evening. Just as they arrived at the entrance, two constables hurried towards them and stopped them.

"Boss, you're finally back!" It was Lin Ce who spoke, with Zhou An standing beside him.

According to the original owner's memories, it was he who arranged for the two of them to investigate the pawnshop fire.

Zhou An quickly added, "Boss, Wu, the pawnshop's accountant, is awake!"

"Take the body to the morgue and make proper arrangements. We'll deal with the rest when I get back." Chen Xing heard that there was progress in another case and immediately decided to go and inquire about it. He turned to the constables behind him and then looked at Lin Ce, "Take me there."

"Yes!" Lin Ce and Zhou An responded and stepped forward to lead the way, taking Chen Xing all the way to Jubaoge Pawnshop.

"Boss, when we went to the pawnshop to investigate, Manager Wang personally inventoried the items." Lin Ce reported the investigation results as he walked quickly along the way. "The missing items were all inconspicuous small items; none of the valuable items were missing."

"Do you know exactly what was lost?" Chen Xing pressed.

"I don't know for now." Lin Ce shook his head. "The fire happened at just the right time; it burned all the pawnshop's ledgers and deposit slips. Now Manager Wang can only count them from memory. The large items are manageable, but he can't remember all the small items."

Zhou An added from the side, "However, the pawnshop has already posted a notice asking customers who have stored items in the shop to bring their deposit slips to check if anything has been missed."

"Hmm." Chen Xing nodded and continued, "Was anything unusual found at the fire scene?"

"Traces of burning kerosene were found at the scene, but no other valuable clues were found," Lin Ce replied.

"Oil?" Chen Xing stopped abruptly, keenly catching the familiar word, his eyes instantly sharpening.