Chapter 10: 10.第10章 初次验尸

“I am a doctor. Where is the injured person?” Driven by medical instinct, Gu Baiyu responded loudly without a second thought upon hearing the cries from the crowd. Without waiting for Cha Xin to come and assist her, she jumped down from the carriage with decisive movements and ran quickly toward the source of the sound.

“Over here, over here! The injured person is a young lady!” The shouting voice rang out again. Amidst the crowd, a middle-aged man dressed in a grey-blue constable uniform with red patterns raised his arm high, waving to signal their location to Gu Baiyu.

“Lay her flat on the ground, clear the crowd, and no bystanders allowed within ten feet!” Hurrying to the side of the injured, Gu Baiyu gave orders to the middle-aged man who appeared to be a constable while simultaneously reaching out to probe the woman's carotid artery.

Typically, a crime scene perimeter is three to five meters, but given the current chaos and congestion, Gu Baiyu could only define a rough area to minimize external interference as much as possible.

As she focused her concentration on the examination, Gu Baiyu felt no sign of a pulse. Furthermore, the abnormally cold and stiff sensation her fingertips encountered upon touching the body filled her with doubt. Judging by the degree of coldness and rigidity, one wouldn't even need Gu Baiyu's experience as a professional forensic pathologist; even someone with basic forensic knowledge could see that this woman had likely been dead for quite some time.

But why had her corpse suddenly appeared in the middle of a fire?

Looking up at the courtyard that had been nearly burned to the ground, Gu Baiyu felt that the intensity of the blaze was far too violent; it was nothing like the combustion patterns seen in the normal house fires she had encountered in her previous life.

“Doctor, how is she?” Seeing Gu Baiyu gradually cease her movements to look up at the fire, only to lower her head again and scrutinize the closed-eyed girl with a suspicious expression, the middle-aged man in the constable's uniform could not help but ask.

“Are you a constable?” Instead of answering his question, Gu Baiyu merely wore an expression of realization. She reached out to lift the deceased woman's collar, and after a careful inspection, shifted her gaze to the woman's abdomen, asking without looking up, “?”

“Yes. I am Zhan Chenghuai, the newly appointed Chief Constable of Qingzhou City. May I ask, Doctor, what is the actual condition of this injured young lady?” Rather than being offended by Gu Baiyu's perceived rudeness, Zhan Chenghuai was instead drawn to her serious, earnest expression and her professional, practiced movements. Moreover, seeing that Gu Baiyu was merely a young girl of seventeen or eighteen, yet possessed such composure and courage in the face of such a chaotic and dangerous scene, he felt a growing sense of respect in his heart.

“She is not an injured person; she is a corpse.” After moving her hands to carefully measure and press the deceased's abdomen, Gu Baiyu stood up. Her peach-blossom eyes, clear as water, held a hint of indifference as she looked directly at Zhan Chenghuai and said, “Furthermore, she has been dead for at least three *shichen*. In other words, today's fire was merely a ruse created by the killer to destroy the evidence.”

“She was already dead? Doctor, are you certain?” His thick, heavy brows knitted tightly together, Zhan Chenghuai looked down at the woman whose face was blackened by thick smoke and sought confirmation from Gu Baiyu.

Nearly ten years of service as a constable had instilled in him a habit of seeking precision in all matters. Moreover, if Gu Baiyu's words were true, then this matter was not a simple accidental death, but something that would drag out more killers and more secrets.

“I am certain.” Not at all bothered by Zhan Chenghuai's questioning, Gu Baiyu—who had worked in forensics for many years—most admired those who were serious, responsible, and unwilling to let even a shred of a clue or possibility slip away. Thus, squatting down again to lift the deceased's collar, Gu Baiyu pointed to a reddish-purple bruise on the woman's neck and said to Zhan Chenghuai, “Do you see this ligature mark? The deceased was likely strangled to death before being placed in the fire.”

“It is true there is a mark on the neck, but how can you be sure it wasn't an accidental injury caused while everyone was rescuing her from the fire?” Before Zhan Chenghuai could speak, a dissatisfied and cold voice cut in. Immediately after, an indigo-clad figure crouched beside the corpse, raising a slightly wrinkled hand to check the deceased's breathing and examine her eyes.

“Doctor, this is the veteran coroner of Qingzhou City, Coroner Zhang Zhongyuan,” Zhan Chenghuai introduced immediately upon seeing the figure forcibly wedge himself between Gu Baiyu and the corpse.

“While it is commendable that a girl in her teens has the courage to face a corpse, examining a body is not some fun fantasy from a young girl's daydream. To judge a cause of death without even asking the basic circumstances... little girl, if you lack basic knowledge, do not come here to cause trouble.” Although his tone was calmer than before, the contempt and disdain in Zhang Zhongyuan's words were obvious.

“Then, in your expert opinion, what is the cause of this ligature mark?” Looking calmly at Zhang Zhongyuan, who was blocking the body out of dissatisfaction, Gu Baiyu simply stood up and stopped competing with him. Regardless, she had already finished checking the areas she needed to; staying by the corpse was of no further use.

“I already asked when I arrived. The firefighters said this girl was rescued from the fire using ropes, so it is normal for there to be ligature marks on her body.” Pointing toward the two young men following behind him, Zhang Zhongyuan spoke to Zhan Chenghuai, though his gaze flickered toward Gu Baiyu, his aged face filled with irrepressible smugness.

“What Mr. Zhang says is not entirely baseless,” Gu Baiyu said, looking down at the pained corpse, completely ignoring Zhang Zhongyuan's provocation.

“What do you mean 'not entirely baseless'? Where did this wild girl come from, daring to question my judgment? I have been a coroner for over twenty years; do you think I would lie to you?!” Instantly enraged by Gu Baiyu's words, Zhang Zhongyuan could no longer maintain his carefully cultivated image of a senior professional. He stood up with a *thud* and glared at Gu Baiyu.

“Mr. Zhang, please do not be in such a hurry. Let this doctor finish speaking first.” Although he somewhat suspected that Gu Baiyu's words were merely arrogant claims provoked by Zhang Zhongyuan's attitude, Zhan Chenghuai still spoke up to restrain the coroner.

For some reason, although his logic told him that this girl claiming to be a doctor was far too young and that her words were largely unsubstantiated, his intuition from years of being a constable gave him an inexplicable sense of trust in Gu Baiyu, as if she truly were an experienced veteran in corpse examination.

Glancing indifferently at the trembling, white-bearded Coroner Zhang Zhongyuan, Gu Baiyu continued with a cold expression, “It is precisely because you are an experienced veteran coroner that you should be able to see that the victim has been dead for a long time. The reason I say your words are not entirely baseless is that if you observe closely enough, you will see two ligature marks on the deceased's neck: one is pale blue, and the other is reddish-purple and swollen. The difference in color indicates that the injuries were inflicted at different times. Injuries inflicted before death appear reddish-purple, while those inflicted after death appear pale blue.”

“You really are good at making things up! Two ligature marks? How did I miss that? If I find more evidence later, are you going to claim there are three marks, or perhaps even more knife wounds?” His tone was full of mockery and anger; Coroner Zhang felt a surge of irritation at Gu Baiyu's confident and composed manner.

He had originally thought that a young girl would be thin-skinned and that a few words would drive her away, but he hadn't expected her to ignore his provocation entirely and instead calmly present new evidence. Most of all, he felt a lingering sense that beneath Gu Baiyu's seemingly calm expression lay a deep-seated questioning and disdain for him.

“Whether I am making things up or not, I believe Chief Zhan can verify it himself.” Taking in Zhang Zhongyuan's exasperated state, Gu Baiyu had no intention of backing down.

A forensic pathologist is the final advocate for the deceased. To do everything possible to give the dead a voice, find the true culprit, and uphold justice—this was the first sentence Gu Baiyu heard when she decided to choose this profession, and it had remained her highest code of conduct. No matter how much resistance lay ahead, and no matter how much harm that resistance might cause her, nothing could stop Gu Baiyu's steps in her search for the truth. Even if she had lost her life because of it in her previous life, Gu Baiyu had never felt the slightest regret.

When facing the deceased, her entire energy and intellect were occupied solely by searching for clues and traces; as for trivial matters like offending people, they were simply not within her scope of consideration.

“Mr. Zhang, there are indeed two marks on the deceased's neck, one pale blue and one reddish-purple.” Leaning in to look closely, Zhan Chenghuai indeed found the two marks Gu Baiyu had described. The pale blue one was so subtle that had he not been guided by her words to look specifically for it, he likely would have missed it entirely.

He hadn't expected this young girl to possess such meticulous observational skills; Zhan Chenghuai's admiration and trust for Gu Baiyu grew even further.

“She just happened to guess correctly, what is there to be so proud of?” Seeing the respect in Zhan Chenghuai's eyes as he looked at Gu Baiyu, Zhang Zhongyuan's dissatisfaction deepened. However, he was no longer as confident as before, continuing in a questioning tone, “She is just a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl. What kind of grudge could she have that would make someone go to such lengths to both murder her and set a fire?”

As Zhang Zhongyuan spoke, Gu Baiyu was walking past him toward the two young men who had remained silent throughout.

Hearing this, Gu Baiyu paused. She turned her head and gave Zhang Zhongyuan a cold look, releasing the dissatisfaction she had previously tried to hide. Without saying much more, she walked straight up to the two young men and asked with a serious expression, “Was it the two of you who personally rescued her from the fire?”