[Cloud City · Forensic Examination Center]
Yin Wuwang pulled the car smoothly into the parking lot. The two of them hadn't exchanged many words during the drive—from the moment they'd gotten in the car, Xie Qingyan had closed his eyes, running continuous autopsy simulations in his mind with Little Deer Assistant 9528. To help them handle this "Modern Crime Investigation" story and properly play the roles of forensic pathologist and detective, Elder Mo had granted them conditional use of their divine sense.
Xie Qingyan pushed open the car door. Sunlight fell across his profile, tracing lines as cold and flawless as jade. His pure white shirt was buttoned meticulously all the way to the top. No matter what world he was in, this Sword Sovereign always carried an air of inviolable asceticism.
Xie Qingyan walked ahead, his footsteps steady and measured. Yin Wuwang followed half a step behind, watching that straight-backed figure, a flicker of contemplation passing through his eyes.
Last night, Yin Wuwang had gotten up in the middle of the night for water. He'd seen the study light still on, and when he knocked and entered, he found Xie Qingyan rapidly flipping through the mountain of thick tomes piled on the desk—Forensic Pathology, Forensic Toxicology Analysis, Homicide Scene Investigation and Reconstruction, Human Anatomy.
To an ordinary person, that flipping speed would look like random page-turning. But in reality, Xie Qingyan was using his "divine sense" to imprint everything—diagrams, text, even the most obscure Latin medical terms—directly into his memory, word by word, in an impossibly short time.
For cultivators, a medical knowledge system that would take mortals seven or eight years of intensive study to master wasn't particularly difficult to comprehend.
Xie Qingyan had explained that he didn't need to read everything. He only needed to focus on the theoretical knowledge related to Chen Wan's three contradictory causes of death: the pathological characteristics of cyanide poisoning, the ligature patterns of mechanical asphyxiation, and the wound structure from blunt force trauma. After memorizing the theory, he could run multiple simulations in his mind—enough to avoid going OOC in front of the NPCs.
This was Fuguang. His pride would never allow him to show cowardice or ignorance under any circumstances, even when facing nothing more than a cold corpse.
Yin Wuwang quickened his pace to catch up with Xie Qingyan, and the two walked side by side into the examination center building.
The corridor stretched long before them. Overhead fluorescent tubes cast a lifeless, cold white light that carried an oppressive quality. The air was saturated with a mixture of formalin, disinfectant, and low temperatures—ice cold, bearing some unspeakable weight. There was no vitality here. Only the smell of death.
Yin Wuwang's gaze swept across the door signs lining both sides of the corridor—"Cold Storage Room 1," "Cold Storage Room 2," "Toxicology Lab," "Negative Pressure Isolation Autopsy Room"...
The autopsy room door was a heavy, airtight stainless steel barrier. Xie Qingyan swiped his ID card, and when he pushed it open, it released a low metallic hiss of depressurizing air.
Inside was even colder than the corridor, temperature strictly controlled at around sixteen degrees Celsius.
A stainless steel autopsy table equipped with a sink and ventilation system stood in the center of the room. A sterile white cloth covered something on top, revealing the vague outline of a human form beneath. The walls were lined with stainless steel panels. The shadowless surgical lights on the ceiling hadn't been turned on yet. On the instrument cart by the wall, various sizes of scalpels, hemostats, rib shears, craniotomy saws, dissection forceps, and sample collection containers were arranged in perfect order.
A man was already waiting inside. He wore green surgical scrubs and a medical mask, checking the case number on the whiteboard. He looked up at the sound of the door.
"Dr. Shen! Officer Jiang!"
Little Deer Assistant 9528 provided a timely prompt in Xie Qingyan's mind: "This is Sun Peide, your forensic assistant. Everyone calls him Old Sun. He's diligent and hardworking, and has immense respect for Shen Han's professional abilities."
Xie Qingyan nodded slightly, confirming: "Old Sun. Everything ready?"
"All set. Instruments checked and accounted for. I've already contacted the toxicology lab—specimens will be processed as urgent the moment they're sent over." Old Sun efficiently handed over a disposable protective coverall and two layers of latex gloves. "Cold storage conditions were excellent. The body has been kept in a four-degree refrigerator since delivery, no surface frost. Thawing is now complete."
Xie Qingyan took the equipment and began putting it on with natural ease. Yin Wuwang also retrieved a protective suit from a nearby cabinet and pulled it on like second nature, then took out a DSLR camera from the equipment case.
According to the character profile, Major Crimes Unit's Jiang Ye accompanied Shen Han during autopsies. Shen Han handled the cutting and examination, while Jiang Ye observed throughout, photographed close-up details for evidence preservation, and received trace evidence extracted by the forensic pathologist in real time. Fortunately, after watching Xie Qingyan absorb all that forensic knowledge last night, Yin Wuwang had returned to his room and learned photography skills under Little Deer Assistant's guidance.
Little Deer Assistant 9527 muttered in Yin Wuwang's mind: "Master, the forensic autopsy process may be somewhat..."
Shut up. Yin Wuwang cut it off coldly in his mind. He'd lived for millennia. He'd seen mountains of corpses and seas of blood on countless battlefields. A single mortal's remains wasn't going to frighten him.
The moment he finished putting on his second layer of latex gloves, Xie Qingyan's gaze deepened slightly, his breathing slowing.
He had the theory completely mastered—absolutely foolproof. But actually standing at the autopsy table, the angle of the cuts, the standard operating procedures for dissection—these still required Little Deer Assistant's real-time guidance. After all, this was his first time putting this new knowledge into practice.
Xie Qingyan walked to the autopsy table and lifted the white cloth.
The deceased: Chen Wan. Thirty years old. His skin had taken on the waxy yellow-gray coloration characteristic of death. Eyes closed, lips bluish, all vitality extinguished. This was a handsome face—even death couldn't erase his good looks.
Xie Qingyan had witnessed countless deaths. In the war between immortals and demons, cultivator deaths came with spiritual energy collapse, soul annihilation, and the trembling of heavenly laws. But mortal death was different—quiet, mundane, silent. No heavenly mourning. Just a cold body and a mystery waiting to be unraveled.
He said silently to Chen Wan: Your story—I will read it clearly.
"Turn on the shadowless lights. Activate recording equipment." Xie Qingyan instantly entered a state of focused concentration. "Now beginning external examination. Jiang Ye, prepare to document."
Yin Wuwang removed the lens cap from his camera, positioned himself on the opposite side of the autopsy table, aimed the lens at the deceased, and responded in a low voice: "Ready when you are."
Little Deer Assistant 9528's voice shifted to a calm professional assistance mode in Xie Qingyan's mind: "First step of external examination: Record body surface characteristics from head to toe. Key focus: compare against the collapsed causes of death, and confirm livor mortis and rigor mortis status to estimate time of death."
Xie Qingyan began his methodical examination. "Deceased is male, height one hundred eighty centimeters, weight seventy kilograms, normal development. There is a 'W' tattoo beneath the left nipple."
His hands gently pressed the deceased's jaw and limb joints. "Rigor mortis has spread to all major joints throughout the body. Extremely stiff, difficult to break. Consistent with approximately three days since time of death."
He turned the body slightly to the side: "Livor mortis presents as dark purple-red, primarily distributed on the face, chest, abdomen, and anterior surfaces of the limbs—all dependent areas not under pressure. Does not blanch under finger pressure. The livor mortis distribution is completely consistent with the 'face-down prone' position in which the deceased was discovered. This proves that after the deceased fell at the crime scene, the body was not significantly moved or repositioned by anyone before police discovery."
Click. Yin Wuwang pressed the shutter with precision, capturing the livor mortis distribution.
"Next, examining the head." Xie Qingyan's gaze moved to the right side of the deceased's head. He accepted the dissection forceps Old Sun handed him and gently parted the hair matted with half-dried, blackened blood.
Little Deer Assistant 9528 reminded: "This relates to Collapse Point One—the author's later revision to 'death by blunt force trauma.' Please examine wound characteristics carefully."
"Right temporal region shows one laceration-contusion. Wound length approximately four point five centimeters, width approximately one point two centimeters." Xie Qingyan held a scale ruler against the wound. Yin Wuwang immediately moved closer, using macro focus to capture the ruler and wound together, taking three consecutive shots.
Xie Qingyan picked up a magnifying glass for closer observation: "The wound cavity contains intact 'tissue bridging.' The edges show linear skin abrasion. This proves the weapon was an angular blunt object, not a sharp-edged instrument. The wound morphology is consistent with impact from a square whiskey bottle."
Xie Qingyan reached out and, through his gloves, lightly touched the scalp around the wound. "Surrounding area shows obvious subcutaneous hematoma and redness—a 'vital reaction.' This indicates that when the blow was struck, the deceased's blood circulation was still functioning."
Yin Wuwang lowered his camera, one eyebrow slightly raised: "In other words, when Zhang Yunxiang hit him in the head with the bottle, the man was still alive. This blow wasn't the fatal injury."
"Not only was it not fatal—it didn't even cause a depressed skull fracture." Xie Qingyan pointed to the base of the wound. "A blunt force impact of this degree would cause severe concussion resulting in immediate unconsciousness, but wouldn't be enough to kill in a short time. Zhang Yunxiang's 'confession' amounts to intentional assault at most, not murder."
Old Sun was rapidly taking notes nearby, unable to help interjecting: "But the district station's second preliminary report definitely says 'death by blunt force trauma'?"
Xie Qingyan and Yin Wuwang exchanged a glance across the autopsy table. They both knew exactly what that report was about—it was a bug left behind when the author changed the settings mid-story.
"The district forensic examiner was misled by the obvious head wound. Besides, the conclusion did say detailed cause of death pending autopsy." Xie Qingyan gave an explanation that fit this world's logic without batting an eye, then shifted his gaze down along the deceased's jaw, slowly moving to the neck.
Little Deer Assistant dutifully prompted: "The neck injury relates to Collapse Point Four—the 'mechanical asphyxiation' recorded in the disappeared forensic report."
[End of V2_Chapter 07]
Next: The ligature mark tells a story—and it's one of murder from behind.