"This is the Dali Temple investigating. Step aside, irrelevant people!"
Zhong Li stood beneath the city wall, glancing at the young constables who had begun to cordon off the scene. Her gaze then returned to the female corpse lying on the ground.
Lin Jin leaped down from the city wall, handing the rope that had been suspending the female corpse to Zhong Li.
Zhong Li took a look and said, "This is ordinary hemp rope, readily available everywhere. It can't serve as a clue. As for the way the knot is tied, it's also very common. It'll be difficult to start the investigation from here."
After speaking, she continued to thoroughly examine the female corpse in front of her.
"Yao'er, lend me a hand." Zhong Li donned her gloves and crouched down to examine the female corpse. As her fingers gently parted the corpse's clothing, her expression darkened, and she looked at Hua Yao.
Hua Yao reacted quickly, taking out scissors from the medical kit and cutting open the corpse's inner garment. When she clearly saw the state of the female corpse before her, and after pressing lightly here and there, she exclaimed, "How could this be?"
Zhong Li narrowed her eyes, looked at Lin Jin, and said, "See if there's anything around here we missed. The remaining people will escort the female corpse back to Dali Temple. This place is not suitable for further investigation."
"Yes!" As soon as she finished speaking, everyone sprang into action.
Zhong Li sat in the carriage, wiping her dissection knife with a clean cloth. She appeared as composed as ever. However, if one observed closely, it wouldn't be hard to notice that her furrowed brow indicated she had encountered a thorny case.
"Li'er!" Hua Yao, after tidying up some minor matters, waved to signal everyone to head towards Dali Temple. She then turned to the woman opposite her and said, "How could this happen? Her insides were completely removed, all the organs gone. Who would do such a thing?"
Zhong Li shook her head, placing the dissection knife back into her sleeve. Her gaze, through the curtain lifted by the wind, fell upon the female corpse being transported behind the carriage. She said, "This murderer is quite interesting."
"What do you mean?" Hua Yao asked.
"I took a preliminary look at the female corpse just now. If I'm not mistaken, the cause of death was strangulation. There are marks of throttling on her neck. As for the murder weapon, it should be this hemp rope," Zhong Li said, placing a length of rope on the table.
"Is this the rope Lin Jin found that was used to hang the female corpse?" Hua Yao asked.
Zhong Li nodded and spread out the hemp rope. She first pointed to the knotted end and said, "This is where the female corpse's wrists were bound, and here..."
As she spoke, she pointed to the middle section of the rope and said, "Look closely. Is there anything unusual here?"
Upon hearing this, Hua Yao leaned over the table to study it carefully. After a while, she said, "This part seems rougher than the rest, and if you look closely at the strands, they're slightly thinner than elsewhere."
Zhong Li nodded, casually picked up the medicine box, and took out some cinnabar. She marked the spot Hua Yao indicated and said, "There are two possibilities for the roughness. The first is from the deceased scratching with her fingernails during a struggle. The other is the friction between the two strands of the rope when the murderer was strangling the deceased.
Take this section back for a detailed examination. If we're lucky, we might find dead skin or blood left in the deceased's fingernail crevices. This will help determine the deceased's cause of death."
"How does Li'er know the deceased's skin cells would be left there?" Hua Yao asked.
"I observed the female corpse roughly earlier and saw cracks on her fingernails, which is why I suspected this was the cause," Zhong Li explained.
"Oh." Hua Yao nodded and carefully put away the hemp rope, intending to take it back for examination.
"Oh, right." After finishing her work, she suddenly remembered something and quickly said, "Why did Li'er think this murderer was interesting?"
Zhong Li said, "Have you ever seen a murderer who not only killed someone and removed all their organs but also stitched the body back up, even if the stitching was crude?"
Hearing this, Hua Yao's face showed understanding. Soon, she remembered something and wanted to speak, but she then found it absurd. She shook her head and ultimately swallowed her words.
Upon returning to Dali Temple, Zhong Li shut herself in the autopsy room and began her work.
Before long, Lin Jin also returned, holding a large cloth bag filled with small jars. Without asking too many questions, he also went into the autopsy room.
"Miss Zhong."
Zhong Li heard someone call her, raised her eyes, and met the gaze of the person opposite her.
"Did you find them?" she asked.
Lin Jin nodded and placed all the bottles he was holding onto the table.
Zhong Li put down her dissection knife and walked to the table. She picked up one of the bottles, opened it, and as a pungent smell of blood filled the air, she knew what it contained without even looking.
"Where did you find this?"
As she spoke, she opened each bottle one by one, then went to the female corpse and began examining the contents of the bottles before placing them into the corpse's abdomen.
Lin Jin watched the woman opposite him. In the past, he would have felt nauseated. Now, having worked on so many cases, he found it commonplace.
"It was buried in the ground at a corner of the south city wall. I found the spot based on the bloodstains," he said.
Zhong Li nodded, and as she began to stitch the female corpse back up, she said, "Seeing your expression just now, it seems you have something you want to tell me?"
Lin Jin hesitated for a moment and then said, "Miss Zhong, do you remember the old Taoist who came to cause trouble yesterday?"
Zhong Li's hands paused in their work. She looked up at Lin Jin. "You mean this female corpse has a connection to that old Taoist?"
"Yes!" Lin Jin replied. "Miss Zhong has been in Anding County, so you're likely unaware of something about Jincheng. Ten years ago, there was a cult in Jincheng."
"Called the Divine Maiden Cult?" Zhong Li asked with a raised eyebrow.
"How does Miss Zhong know?" Lin Jin pressed.
Zhong Li, having finished stitching the corpse, then turned back to the small bottles containing the organs. While checking for any omissions inside the bottles, she began to observe the material and details of the bottles. "This morning, Hua Yao briefly mentioned it, but I didn't take it seriously. Now, finding the woman on the south city wall, and Hua Yao looking distracted and wanting to speak all the way here, coupled with what you've just said, I've made this deduction."
Lin Jin cupped his hands. In his eyes, Zhong Li was the most intelligent and composed woman he had ever met. It was only such a woman who could make him willingly obey the Prince's orders, follow, assist, and protect her.
"Tell me!" Zhong Li put down the small bottle in her hand and looked at Lin Jin opposite her. "Since everyone from Jincheng knows about this Divine Maiden Cult, I'd like to know how this evil cult was so wicked, and especially why those people earlier all knelt and worshipped when they saw this female corpse?"
Lin Jin nodded, found a stool, and sat down, recounting the story.
"It happened ten years ago..."