Problem With Livor Mortis

Standing in the corridor were two women in white. One was slightly taller, with confident facial features and slim built. The other was curvaceous with doe eyes and attractive facial features.

The same white color on two different people reflected two very different styles.

It made the confident woman seem aloof, but it made the attractive woman look pitiful.

The one accusing the other of not having the right to wear a mourning dress was the attractive woman. “Ye Nan, I can’t believe you’re so shameless!”

The taller, confident woman, Ye Nan, was expressionless. “Even though we were not married yet, I went through every single ceremony before that and therefore I am officially his wife-to-be and now, his widow.”

The attractive woman instantly flew into a rage. “What do you mean by that? Are you mocking me because I’m a concubine and my status is not high enough?”

Ye Nan looked out at the sky. “I’m just stating facts.”

“Using facts to mock me? Then again, it is true that I, Xi Rui, is his concubine.”

The attractive woman, or Xi Rui, covered her mouth and giggled quietly. “I’m not just his concubine, but his only woman! The one and only woman he has ever slept with!”

“Ye Nan, aren’t you terribly jealous? You’ve never had him before, right? I can tell you right now that he’s really strong, has so much stamina, and gave me so much pleasure!”

Xi Rui’s glee and smugness was practically flowing out of her eyes.

Ye Nan pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. “We have a guest today.”

Xi Rui ignored what she said and continued speaking boldly, “So what if we’ve got a guest? Don’t you know why I have the right to stand here?”

“That’s exactly why I allowed you to be here,” Ye Nan remained expressionless, “If you don’t want to be here, you can go back.”

“You wouldn’t dare to disallow me to come!” Xi Rui glared fiercely at her. “Listen up! You cannot cut his body open! I know why you want that Miss Song to be here! And I won’t agree to it! I won’t agree to it!”

The quarrelling in the corridor was too loud, so it was impossible for anyone in the next room to pretend they couldn’t hear it. Thankfully, this was the core of the Night Sanctum, so nothing said here would leave these walls. Song Caitang turned to Xin Yongwang to hint at him to start talking about the case.

Xin Yongwang did not hesitate further and explained, “We have invited you here to help with a murder case. The victim’s name is Liao Xingjian, and he was the groom-to-be for the next sect leader of the Night Sanctum.”

Night Sanctum… Ye (which means night) Nan…

With that information and what the two women just said, Song Caitang quickly put two and two together.

“Ye Nan is the bride, and Xi Rui was Liao Xingjian’s concubine?”

“That’s correct,” Xin Yongwang nodded, “The wedding was scheduled to be the 14th day of the 9th month, but on the 13th day, which is the night before the wedding, Liao Xingjian was found dead.”

That was a pity.

Xin Yongwang did not say much, but what he said raised many questions.

This was a highly patriarchal society. What would make them choose a woman as their next sect leader?

The aged sect leader definitely had no sons, basically.

The reason for getting a man to marry into the family was usually so that the family would be able to continue having descendants with the same surname. But the person who would eventually become the head of the household was not necessarily the woman. A sect leader would need to interact with others or deal with difficult situations personally, and the person doing that had to be a man.

Regardless of how outstanding the daughter might be, or how much the father trusted her, that was just how society worked and everyone just had to go along with it.

And of all times, the groom had to die on the night before the wedding? That was very suspicious timing.

Song Caitang wanted to ask if this Liao Xingjian was someone very capable, and whether he was an ambitious man.

But the quarreling was way too loud and she couldn’t ask more questions.

Ye Nan’s voice was calm and dull. “Why won’t you agree to cutting his body open?”

“Are you seriously asking me this question?!” Xi Rui scoffed in disbelief. “He’s already dead and I just want him to be able to rest in peace! You aren’t sad and you don’t care if his body is mutilated, but I can’t bear to let that happen to him! I love him more than you! I love him so much more!”

Ye Nan lowered her gaze slightly and her fingertips seemed to tremble slightly. “Love… you said…”

Xi Rui shut her eyes. “You’ve been playing hard to get for so many years – is it because you’ve always been confident that he wouldn’t fall for someone else? My dear, hearts can change, don’t you know? If you continue to treat him like he isn’t worth anything, then it’s not surprising that he does the same to you after some time. I loved him and I gave up everything for him. He’s not made of stone, so of course he would be touched by what I’ve done.”

“He told me himself that he likes me, he likes to hug me, to touch me, to kiss me, and what he likes most about me is my glowing and flawless skin that’s as smooth as a pearl, unlike someone else who has callouses on her palm and rough skin between her fingers…”

Ye Nan clenched her fists tightly.

Xi Rui leaned closer to her and smiled as she said in a gentle and flippant voice, “He said that he’ll love me for the rest of his life and he wants to be with me forever. You’re just a stepping stone to him and nothing else. Get it?”

“And so, when it comes to his funeral and what to do with his body, I’m the only one who has the right to make any decisions! If I say no, then that’s final!”

Ye Nan sighed, “I thought it’s more important to find the truth and catch the murderer.”

“There are a million and one ways to find the truth and catch the murderer without cutting the body open! Why do you have to get an outsider involved? What’s your motive?”

“We have very reliable sources of information and you’ve heard all about Miss Song from Luanze. I’m sure we’d be able to crack this case with her help…” Ye Nan’s gaze suddenly grew aggressive as she glared at Xi Rui. “Are you putting up so much resistance because you’ve done something you shouldn’t?”

Xi Rui became even angrier. “Don’t you dare try to pin the blame on me! Are you purposely pretending to be upright and eager to crack the case at all costs so that others would think you’re not the murderer? You regretted it, didn’t you? Even though everyone calls you the sect leader out of respect, you’re just a woman, so Night Sanctum will eventually go to someone outside the family! You changed your mind and didn’t want to get married, but you didn’t want to break off the engagement and anger the elder sect leader, so you killed Xingjian! That’s what happened, isn’t it?!”

“Ye Nan, how could you do such a heartless thing! What did Xingjian ever do to you?!”

Xi Rui’s eyes were bloodshot and tears covered her face as she spoke. She looked ready to tear Ye Nan to pieces.

Song Caitang frowned as she watched this argument and started thinking through all the possibilities.

Was this a love triangle? Was the man a douchebag? Or was this woman just being shameless?

Xi Rui was very insistent that the man’s body was not cut open, but she was only a concubine. They were all members of the Night Sanctum and Ye Nan was the leader.

As the saying goes, an arm cannot defeat a thigh. Her status was simply too low compared to Ye Nan’s.

Ye Nan was too frustrated to continue this argument and raised a hand. Someone clamped a hand over Xi Rui’s mouth and pulled her aside.

After that, Ye Nan walked into the inner room and greeted Song Caitang. “I’m sorry about that. The deceased was my fiancé and also her husband. I thought she would be able to face this more rationally.”

Song Caitang nodded. “Let’s take a look at the victim first.”

Ye Nan asked Xin Yongwang, “Did you give instructions?”

Xin Yongwang normally didn’t bother to look at the person he was speaking to, but when it came to Ye Nan, he immediately smiled and even his voice was gentler than usual, “Don’t worry, I’ve already given them instructions. The body is in the room next door and everything is almost ready.”

“Let’s go over then.”

Song Caitang went with the group to the room where the body was, along with the two boxes full of autopsy tools.

The one holding the knives had a round, metal clasp which looked fairly threatening.

Guan Wan was a little frightened and held her cousin’s sleeve tightly.

Song Caitang caressed her hair and said, “Wanwan, can you help to write the autopsy report later?”

The young lady was already trying hard to be brave. Giving her something to do would help her feel more at ease.

Guan Wan pointed at herself. “Me?”

Song Caitang sighed and put on a vexed expression. “There’s nobody else I could possibly ask besides you, Wanwan.”

Guan Wan paused to think with a frown, then nodded vigorously like a loyal comrade in battle. “Got it! I will help you!”

She suddenly felt like a hero!

Song Caitang had no idea what condition the body was in and she was afraid that Guan Wan might find it repulsive, so she stuffed a storax pill into her mouth.

It tasted a little strange and Guan Wan couldn’t identify what it was. But she knew that her cousin must have her reasons for making her eat this…

She tolerated the taste and swallowed it.

Cold air rushed out of the room as the door was open and everyone couldn’t help but shiver.

Guan Wan had a mission so she just held onto the paper given to her and did not go further to look at the body. She kept her eyes on her cousin and focused her attention on her. She was determined to make sure she did not leave any details out! She was going to take this job very seriously!

Song Caitang came to the table and frowned.

The victim had features that were as valiant as his name, and if his eyes were open, he would be very handsome. But his body was very stiff and there was still frost in his hair…

The body had been overly frozen.

Xin Yongwang didn’t seem fazed by this. “We were worried that something would happen to the body, so we used more ice.”

Ye Nan’s eyes instantly reddened when she set eyes on the body and looked like she was about to cry.

Xin Yongwang called out to her and she wiped her tears away before saying to Song Caitang, “Miss Song, please go ahead.”

Since she was already here, Song Caitang was going to have a good look at this body.

“Has the body been touched since it was found?”

She was referring to whether the body had been cleaned or his clothes had been changed and so on.

Ye Nan understood what she meant and shook her head. “No. He looks exactly the way we found him.”

Song Caitang nodded, then turned to look at the body.

“Victim’s name is Liao Xingjian. He is about 1.8 meters tall, his hair is untied, his clothes are in disarray, his shoes… a little crooked.”

“No livor mortis on the surface of the body, they are mostly behind the shoulder, the back, the lower abdomen. The color… is bright red.”

She paused before stating the color.

Ye Nan noticed her pause and asked, “Is there something wrong with those patches?”

Song Caitang answered her, “Normally, these patches are a darker color. They’re usually a purplish red.”

Xin Yongwang leaned over to take a look. “So, the fact that the color is so bright is a problem?”

Ye Nan’s thoughts moved more quickly. “It has something to do with the cause of death?”

Song Caitang nodded.

If the tissue cells could not get oxygen, or if the cells metabolized less before he died, the cells would use less oxygen and there would be more oxyhemoglobin in the blood, so the patches would be a brighter red.

In other words…

“He was poisoned, or frozen to death.”

Hua Rong, who had been quietly following the group the whole time, was rather surprised by this statement. “But Brother Liao was killed by that knife!” He even pointed at the wound in Liao Xingjian’s chest, because the dagger he was talking about was still right there. “Everyone saw that!”

Song Caitang noticed the dagger the moment she saw the body, and that was why she asked if the body had been moved.

The dagger wasn’t fully stabbed into the chest and the blade looked extremely sharp. There was dried blood around the wound and the fabric around it, so it looked like a fatal wound, yet there wasn’t a lot of blood. Also…

She couldn’t say for sure since she hadn’t cut the body open yet, but based on her experience, this dagger seemed to be just slightly off from hitting anything that would be fatal.

Zhuang Qingyu frowned too. “Xingjian’s mouth and nails aren’t blackened, so could it be that it’s not poisoning but freezing?” Then he shook his head, “No, that’s not right either. When Xingjian was found, his body wasn’t cold…”

He paused to think, then asked Song Caitang, “Would the patches become this color if they were frozen after dying?”

Song Caitang shook her head. “No.”

Zhuang Qingyu frowned but did not say anything else.

Song Caitang looked at the dagger and squinted slightly.

There was one more problem with this dagger. Besides missing a fatal spot by just a bit, the angle was wrong too. It entered the body from a low angle and was stabbed upward.

Regardless of whether he was killed or he killed himself, this was a very weird angle.

Unless the murderer was a child, that is. But based on what she could see, there were no children among the people related to this case.

This dagger was not the cause of death, but it was definitely important to this case.

She asked another question, “Where was he found? Was it very messy?”

“Xingjian died in his own room…” said Ye Nan before she looked at the floor to hide the grief on her face. “He was found below the study table, and there are books, scrolls, paintings all over the floor. Only that area is a mess, the rest of the room is very neat.”

Song Caitang nodded slightly.

In other words, the victim had struggled.