An Oriental Odyssey

    It was four o'clock in the morning, the sky in the east was starting to brighten, and the streets of Luoyang City were still silent. Only a few ox carts delivering vegetables and water to large households occasionally passed by, the wooden wheels grinding on the stone road, making creaking sounds. 

    Yuan'an and Zhao Lanzhi rode through the city and arrived at Luoyang's county's building. Zhao Lanzhi led the way in front, and Yuan'an followed. The two went to a black door in the west corner of the building, a black door. Zhao Lanzhi was about to open the door to go in, he hesitated for a while, turned around and asked Yuan'an: "Do you have a copper coin on you?" 

    Yuan'an was startled for a moment, and then she brought out a silver coin: "Only this, what's this about?"

    Zhao Lanzhi took it and put the silver coin in the doorway. Yuan'an instantly understood his intention, she thought to herself that not only did this constable seem to be highly skilled and courageous, but in fact, he was also cautious. The silver coin was used as an offering to passing ghosts and spirits here in the morgue room.  

    He finally pushed the door open and they went in, it was very gloomy inside...

    On stone slabs, there were three rows of twelve corpses lying stiffly covered with white cloths. Yuan'an gritted her teeth for a long time, knowing that she shouldn't, but she still failed to control herself again. While Zhao Lanzhi was not paying attention, she opened a white cloth and looked, she saw that the corpse was blue-purple, swollen, with a head that was double the average size, the two eyes were tightly closed and each seemed to be building with a half-ball shape, and the lips were swollen as if filled with air.  There was a huge wound cut from the top of his head, through the nose bridge and down to the chin. The blood was dried, and she could see the nose bone and broken white teeth inside, this person truly died in an ugly manner, he seemed to be grinning at Yuan'an. Zhao Lanzhi turned to her and coldly smiled: "Hmph, I told you not to come, what is it? Are you scared?"

    Yuan'an said: The cook at home once cooked pig head meat for the servants. After cooking, it was garnished with red sauce, and then it was cut horizontally and vertically all over like this. I was really curious, so I tasted it and it was not bad. The meat was bouncy, the bones were flavorful, the taste is really good."

   Zhao Lanzhi turned his head when he heard those words, he didn't respond for a long time - this person in front of him really made him speechless.

　　While Yuan'an was looking at the corpse with the appearance that reminded her of a pig head she had eaten, a person silently and erratically stopped behind her. Yuan'an turned her head sharply, and seeing an old guy with a long beard, this living person scared Yuan'an into a shiver: "Who are you?!" 

    The old man didn't bother to talk to her, he looked at Zhao Lanzhi and in a hoarse voice said: "Official Zhao, which salted fish do you want to look at?"

　　Yuan'an looked at Zhao Lanzhi: "What salted fish?"

　　Zhao Lanzhi said: "A salted fish is a corpse. This is Lao Yang, the coroner here, this is the language of the trade. Lao Yang, show me Ru Yue, the dancer from Qianduan Pavilion." Zhao Lanzhi said.

　　Lao Yang: "Master Zhao, the case has been concluded, according to the rules, the salted fish was buried..."

　　Yuan'an anxiously said, "Where was it buried? I'll dig it out! "

　　Lao Yang blankly stared at Yuan'an for a bit, and then asked Zhao Lanzhi: "Who is this kid? the spirit is too hot, you should eat some sheep grass fruit to nurse your health."

　　Yuan'an was puzzled: "What is sheep grass fruit?" 

　　Lao Yang said: "It's a sheep manure eggs."

　　Yuan'an became furious and grabbed Lao Yang's collar: "I dare you to say it again."

　　Lao Yang pointed at Yuan'an with a finger and slowly said: "I will tell you three times then. You said it three times. Sheep manure eggs. Sheep manure eggs. Sheep manure eggs!"

　　Yuan'an gritted his teeth and shook her fist.

　　Zhao Lanzhi stopped Yuan'an: "Hey, do you still want to handle business?! Lao Yang, do you still have the autopsy notes, can you bring them for me to see? Was there anything strange?"

　　The coroner was silent for a while: "Strange? I have never seen such a strange salted fish before. It was so strange that even though the order was given, I was not willing to bury it. Come with me both of you..."

　　After the coroner said that, he turned and scurried forward. Zhao Lanzhi and Yuan'an followed behind. They entered another room, then went down a few steps and entered a dark room. There were many huge ice blocks around the room, and there was a huge box in the center, Lao Yang opened the lid of the box and lifted the white cloth cover, Yuan'an and Zhao Lanzhi finally saw the naked body of the girl Ru Yue.

　　It was a well-preserved corpse, with a well-proportioned and slender body, and the half of her face that could be seen showed the side profile showed the outline of a woman who was beautiful in life, but she was curled up, her arms and legs were brought to her chest, her hair was crimped --- this was clearly the state of a body that was exposed to high heat. The skin of the woman was dark blue, and there were traces of blisters of various sizes under the skin - which were caused by veins bursting under the skin. 

　　Yuan An said: "No matter how she looks... it seems as if she was burned to death..."

　　Zhao Lanzhi said: "You have some insight. But if she were really burned to death, why is her skin intact? No part of her body turned black, There isn't even a single burn mark on her?"

　　Lao Yang said, "I checked her nasal cavity, and there was also no ash in it."

　　Zhao Lanzhi said: "That is to say, no matter how you look at it, it is a burnt corpse, but there it has not touched fire at all. It's really strange!"

　　Lao Yang smiled: "Offical Zhao also thinks it's strange too, right? I've been in this industry for 30 years, and I haven't seen anything like this. I reported it to the county magistrate, this is not something a person can do! It's the work of a supernatural being!"

　　Zhao Lanzhi: "Did he believe it? "

　　" He believed it, but he could not judge like that! I heard that a suspect was caught and that the old man sentenced that person. It's about time for the Ministry of Personnel to examine the political achievements of county-level officials, so he could not delay."

　　Yuan An angrily said, "Truly have no regard for human life! "

　　Zhao Lanzhi turned at her: "You can't wash away Duan Xiao Yu's crime just by saying that. Lao Yang, do you have any clues? "

　　Lao Yang said: "That's all the clues, although there is one more thing that can't be explained. Well, I have a record on it. At the scene of the crime, there was water in that room! It seems this woman was originally about to take a bath but was then burned to death. When she was found, the surroundings were intact, and the bathtub was still full of water..."

　　Yuan'an said: "That is really strange."

　　Yuan'an and Zhao Lanzhi left the morgue. When they came out, they were each thinking of their own plans and silently walked all the way to the outer courtyard. Zhao Lanzhi then asked Yuan'an: "How is it? Young Master Ye, you have come to the morgue now. Are you satisfied?"

　　Yuan'an looked up at him: "This is what I should be asking you, Official Zhao, a person was burned to death, but the inside of the room was intact, and there was even a bathtub filled with water. There were so many unclear explanations in this case, but the judgment was rushed. I think Your county magistrate was just trying to judge the case indiscriminately for the sake of his performance evaluation. Let me ask you, are you satisfied? Even if you know Xiao Yu is not the murderer, must you still take her back?"

　　Facing each other, Zhao Lanzhi pondered for a while and then seriously said to Yuan'an: "The case has already been judged. If the real culprit cannot be found, then the case cannot be overturned. Duan Xiao Yu will still have to be brought to justice."

　　Yuan An thought for a moment, then said solemnly: "I understand... that you asked me for a coin to place at the door of the morgue just now, and I understand that you are afraid of ghosts! You know that you can't catch the real murderer! You are just like the magistrate, you want to use Xiaoyu as a scapegoat!"

　　Zhao Lanzhi's fake smile surfaced again, like a good-looking wolf: "Don't provoke me, this trick is useless. What I want to do, no one can stop it, and what I don't want to do, you can talk until the sky falls and it won't matter! Ye Yuan'an, don't worry about whether I'm afraid of ghosts or supernatural beings, if there is anything suspicious about this case, then I'll investigate it and set things to order! We still have a three-day period. Within three days, either you or me, the real murderer will be caught, I will release Duan Xiao Yu to you! "

　　"Good! We'll each do things our way, different means to achieve the same end!" Yuan'an turned around and left.

　　Zhao Lanzhi watched her back, obviously just like an energetic little tiger, he lowered his eyes and smiled to himself.