A Corpse With Its Face Smashed In

The body really wasn’t too far. It was in the northernmost part of the accommodation on the east side, in a standalone yard that was on the highest point and the most deserted.

The mountain was a little chilly, but because this room was so high up, the temperature inside was akin to those in winter. Song Caitang figured it was probably one or two degrees Celsius now, and it would probably get colder later in the night.

Wen Yuansi got someone to light the candles. Five or six candles were eventually lit, but it still wasn’t quite bright enough.

“I’m sorry, it’s a bit dark in here.”

“It’s alright. It’s enough for me just to take a look,” said Song Caitang as she walked toward the table that the corpse was on and reached out to pull the cloth over it away.

Wen Yuansi froze for a moment.

It was enough just to take a look?

Then if it were brighter, what else would Song Caitang be thinking…or rather, what else would she be capable of doing?

Wen Yuansi narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched Song Caitang take a step forward, then use her slim fingers to pull away the cloth over the body slowly…

She frowned a little and seemed a little surprised, but she didn’t look frightened at all.

As the magistrate in charge of the case, Wen Yuansi had seen this body several times now. He knew that just seeing the state of this body could deal one a terrible blow. Yet, this young lady wasn’t scared at all.

When he snapped out of his shock, he realized that he had been staring at her face for quite a while, which was really rude of him.

He cleared his throat, then went to stand next to Song Caitang.

Song Caitang understood why Wen Yuansi had made such a request of her after she saw the body.

He had only asked her to help confirm the identity of this body but didn’t ask to confirm the cause of death.

That was because it was very clear how this person must have died. Someone beat him to death.

There were bruises left behind by punches, choke marks, bleeding under the skin, bleeding in the muscles, curved bruises, broken bones, and…

Song Caitang pressed on the abdomen. The internal organs had been damaged, and there was internal bleeding.

The deceased had suffered an extremely violent assault before dying. But the body belonged to a tall and muscular young man in his prime. What sort of person could have beaten such a man up to this extent?

Song Caitang frowned slightly and looked at the deceased’s face.

The victim’s face had been struck by a very hard object, like a rock or a brick. His face had been hit to the point where its shape was changed, and the flesh was mangled. The face was sunken into the skull as a result. It was so bad that it was impossible for anyone to tell his lips from his eyes or from his nose.

And that was probably why Wen Yuansi had invited her to help with identifying who this body belonged to.

His facial features had been smashed in, so she couldn’t see his eyes and was unable to determine the time of death from how cloudy his cornea was. Song Caitang picked his arm up and moved it, only to find that he was past rigor mortis. The patches of blood pooling were mostly under the head, neck, back, and the back of the waist, buttocks, and limbs. They were all areas that came into contact with the table as he lay on his back. These patches were purplish red and did not fade after she used her fingers to press on them.

She continued to check the various parts of the body.

Even though the green patches that came with decomposition hadn’t appeared yet, she was sure that this man had died for more than five days now. Based on the current temperature…it might have even been seven or eight days ago.

After she took a closer look at his back and his clothes, she saw marks on his back that looked like he had been dragged. His clothes were stained with the chlorophyll of grass…

And it smelled like that mountainy smell.

She turned to look at Wen Yuansi with her bright and clear eyes, “Was the scene of the crime in the forest behind the mountain?”

There was a glint in Wen Yuansi’s eyes. His lips curled into a faint smile, “Did my Grandmother tell you that?”

Song Caitang shook her head. She smiled and pointed at the body, “He told me that.”

Wen Yuansi fell into deep thought.

They had been here for fifteen minutes, and Song Caitang had spent the time inspecting the body. They hadn’t exchanged a single word till now. Also…he had never told his Grandmother any details about the case. All she knew was the date the person had died and that he was having trouble identifying the victim. She didn’t know any other details.

Song Caitang continued, “I know how to analyze dead bodies, but I’m no deity – I don’t know everyone in the world, and I don’t happen to know who this man is. I’m afraid an examination of the body alone will not be sufficient for me to help with identifying this person.”

In reality, in modern times, it wasn’t so difficult to identify a dead body. Sometimes one could find an ID, like a driver’s license, on the person. Or fingerprints and DNA testing, and other similar technologies would be able to be of help. But this wasn’t possible in this era.

“Magistrate Wen, you’ve only said that you are unable to confirm who this person is, but you didn’t say that you don’t have any clues at all. If you could allow me to make a bold guess…there’s someone connected to this case who might possibly know the victim, but they aren’t able to confirm. Is that correct?”

Her eyes were as black as ink, and they gleamed with cleverness. They seemed clear in the candlelight, with a stare that could see through one’s heart.

Wen Yuansi immediately concluded that this young lady was very intelligent indeed. A look of admiration lit up his eyes, “Miss Song, you are correct. I’ve already commanded one of my men to bring someone connected to the case to the room next door. This way, please.”

The person connected to the case was a woman. Her name was Ma Sanniang.

Ma Sanniang was a 24-year-old widow with fair skin, a pretty face, alluring eyes, and a snatched waist. She was very attractive.

Song Caitang took one look at her and was certain that this woman was possibly hiding something. She glanced at Wen Yuansi, but he was sipping his tea with a stern look in his eyes and no expression on his face.

“Tell me about what happened,” Song Caitang stretched her hand out to motion to Ma Sanniang to begin.

Ma Sannian’s eyes flickered slightly. She bowed her head and began to speak.

She was the one who reported this case.

“My cooking skills are quite good, and I often get orders. Half a month ago, three worshippers came to stay at the assorted east residences. Their names are Shi Qun, Ximen Gang, and An Pengyi. The three of them were sworn brothers. They came this time to piously worship Buddha, so they did not drink any alcohol and ate only vegetarian meals, but they still felt like the taste was lacking, so they hired me to cook a vegetarian meal for them…so…I became acquainted with them.”

“The victim looks a little like Ximen Gang, but not quite either. The face is gone, and I really can’t recognize him…”

Ma Sanniang’s gaze flickered slightly as she cautiously glanced at Wen Yuansi and Song Caitang, as well as around her and out of the window. But she didn’t dare to even throw a glance at the room where the body was kept.

The more she looked around, the guiltier she looked.

Her speech was also a little mumbly, as though she was trying to hide something.

Something was fishy…

Song Caitang looked at Wen Yuansi. She was sure an experienced magistrate like himself would be able to smell a rat.

But his expression remained exactly the same as before.

Was it because he had to remain solemn and hide his emotions during investigations so that the witness wouldn’t use it to their advantage and mislead him?

Song Caitang turned her attention away from Wen Yuansi and back to Ma Sanniang, “The three of them are sworn brothers, you say? In what order? What are the three of them like?”

“Their difference in age is less than seven years. Shi Qun is the eldest, Ximen Gang is the second, and An Pengyi is the youngest. Shi Qun is the most capable among them, so the other two are willing to listen to him. Ximen Gang has a hot and impatient temperament, so if not for Shi Qun, he would end up getting into a lot of trouble. An Pengyi is in poor health and always needs his older brothers to take care of him.”

“When did you discover the victim?”

“On the ninth day of the month, past seven in the morning.”

Song Caitang counted the days. Today was the 14^th day, so the victim had died for at least five days.

“And you thought then that this man was Ximen Gang?”

Ma Sanniang pursed her lips, “He…he’s wearing Ximen Gang’s clothes.”

Song Caitang paused for a moment, then asked, “Where were you on the night of the 8^th?”

“I came to deliver the food I had specially prepared for the three of them. I served them until they had finished their food, then went down the mountain again.” Ma Sanniang licked her lips and looked down, “I didn’t come to Tianhua Temple until the next morning. If I hadn’t woken up late the next morning and decided to take a shortcut to save time, I wouldn’t…have seen that body.”

Song Caitang gave her an “ohhh” and smiled at her.

She hadn’t asked her about her route or how she had discovered the body.

But then…

She thought of a way to approach the case. Her eyes glinted slightly.

“As the cook for the three men, I believe you would have been very familiar with the food they liked to eat.”

“Yes.”

“What did the three of them eat on the night of the 8^th? Especially this Ximen Gang. Describe their meals in detail, please.”

Ma Sanniang was a little hesitant.

Song Caitang’s smile widened as she spoke deliberately, “As the saying goes, alcohol and meat just go through the intestines, and it doesn’t matter as long as you keep Buddha in your heart. The three of them didn’t like the vegetarian food from the temple and insisted on buying food from outside instead. We know very well why they purposely did that, so you don’t have to panic. The magistrate can find that out very easily too.”

Ma Sanniang bit her lip and fell to her knees, “I didn’t mean to lie! It’s just that saying this sort of thing is a bit…”

“Alright, alright. Just tell me what they ate.”

Ma Sanniang began to recount her side of the story.

“These three brothers have very different tastes in food. Shi Qun likes meat very much, regardless of whether it’s braised, marinated, or boiled. He’d just eat it with wine and not touch anything else. Ximen Gang likes fried food, so I made a lot of fried peanuts, fried pork ribs, spring rolls, and fried fish balls. That plate of fried pork ribs was placed right in front of him, and he ate it all by himself. An Pengyi’s health is poor, so he likes to eat simpler and plainer fare. He always eats plain vegetables or salads…”

As Ma Sanniang went on, Song Caitang would interject with questions about their personal habits, special characteristics in the way they interacted with one another, and what they said to each other. Ma Sanniang didn’t understand why she was being asked such questions, but after noticing the stern look on Wen Yuansi’s face, she obediently answered every question.

She had told him most of these already…

Toward the end, her pretty eyes were filled with some frustration and a little pleading, “I know the three of them, but I’m not that familiar with them… An Pengyi has caught a chill and is still recuperating in the temple. If you want, you can ask him questions. He’d definitely know much more than I do.”

Why did she only mention An Pengyi and not Shi Qun?

Song Caitang’s gaze flickered. There was another witness, yet Wen Yuansi was at his wits’ end and couldn’t identify the victim. That meant that this problem had hit a dead end.

But it didn’t matter. She had found a way to identify this victim.

She dismissed Ma Sanniang, then looked at Wen Yuansi, “I have a way to determine who the victim is, but the method is a little scary. Do you dare to give it a try?”

Wen Yuansi’s expression grew serious, and his thick brows exuded a resoluteness, “As long as it will help us to crack this case, why wouldn’t I dare to give this a try?”

Song Caitang laughed.

The corners of her eyes turned upward, and her eyes seemed able to reflect the mysterious and vast starry skies.

“I want to cut the body open.”