Chapter 55 Searching for People by Their Teeth

Well-reasoned and supported by evidence.

After listening, Yan Zhao raised one eyebrow and lowered the other, looking at her and then at Li Jin, before standing with his hands behind his back and saying nothing.

There was absolutely no need for him to say anything more.

Li Jin remained silent for a long time before nodding: "We will do as you say, sir."

Starting the next day, doctors from all the medical clinics in the capital lined up in long queues outside the coroner's office.

They went in with the air of refined scholars, but came out either pale-faced and unable to utter a word, or vomiting profusely and sitting there gasping for breath.

It's truly a difficult situation. Few of the seasoned doctors who dedicate themselves to healing and saving lives have ever seen a body so badly disfigured.

As the sun rose high in the sky, the courtyard was filled with doctors resting and catching their breath. Just when everyone was wondering when this identification would end, an old man with a pale face said to Zhou Zheng, "This, this tooth, I've seen this tooth before."

After saying that, he raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead: "This person came to my clinic last month and caused a scene because of this tooth, so I remember him clearly."

But that's all I remember.

This elderly doctor, over sixty years old and suffering from illness, spoke with a trembling left hand and his thoughts were not very clear.

Li Jin decided to go to his clinic in person and ask his apprentices, hoping to find some more valuable clues. For him, identifying the victim was the top priority.

The crime scene was remote, there were no eyewitnesses, the conditions at the scene were poor, and there were very few valuable clues.

If the identity of the deceased cannot be determined, this case will most likely remain a cold case, difficult to solve.

“Since the murderer set the fire, it means he didn’t want me to know who died.” Li Jin stood at the entrance of the clinic, looking at the bustling crowd, glancing at Zhou Zheng and Jin Shu behind him, and said “Let’s go” indifferently.

“Not necessarily.” Jin Shu followed behind him. “There is also the possibility that the murderer is unable to face the fact that he committed this heinous crime.”

Unable to face the victim's gaze, unable to accept that he had done such a thing.

In Jin Shu's memory, there are many such people, whether in her past life or this life, whether in Dingzhou or now, there are quite a few.

Glancing at her face, Li Jin said leisurely, "What you said is also possible." He smiled, "You've grown up."

Jin Shu was taken aback.

"The sect leader is badmouthing me again." She frowned slightly. "This is a basic judgment."

Basics? A fleeting look of surprise crossed Li Jin's face.

Indeed, after seeing so many breathtaking maneuvers by "Mr. Jin," he's become quite accustomed to this level of "showmanship."

"I've asked Feng Chao to help Yunfei investigate the origin of that yarn bag," he said as he walked into the clinic. "I think it won't be long before we have another lead."

He paused for a moment, then added, "Lord Feng Chao is the Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture. You met him a few days ago. He's somewhat like Liu Cheng'an in temperament. You two will have a lot of interaction in the future."

"Huh?" Jin Shu didn't understand what this intersection meant.

“His coroners aren’t very good.” Li Jin waved his hand, then tapped Jin Shu’s chest with his fan as if he were a brother. “Feng Chao is my man, you can rest assured.”

Whose man he was didn't matter anymore. Jin Shu took a solid hit to the chest, grimaced, and glared at him, her brows furrowed.

"Sect Master, is this really a fan?"

The black folding fan in his hand was only of ordinary size, but when it struck him, it had the force of an iron rod.

In that instant, Jin Shu felt as if she had broken a rib; it hurt so much.

Li Jin was stunned.

Oh no! I relaxed for a moment and didn't pay attention to the force in my hands, so I used 80% of my strength.

Slightly guilty, he looked at Jin Shu's expression and stubbornly said, "What else could it be but a fan?"

After saying that, he quickly turned around and went inside.

Jin Shu, who was following behind him, rubbed her chest while staring at the black fan in his hand.

Now she understands why Prince Jing could carry only a fan, without a knife or sword.

Who would have thought that the fan in his hand was also a kind of divine weapon? A few more blows and it would be fatal.

When the apprentice at the clinic saw Jin Shu looking pained, he came up to him and asked, "Sir, is it a sudden pain in your chest?"

He had barely finished speaking when Zhou Zheng solemnly raised the black plaque of the Six Doors. His fierce and menacing appearance made the apprentice tremble.

"The Six Doors must not publicize their investigations."

The apprentice at the medical clinic paused for a moment, then swallowed hard. "Gentlemen, please come to the back room. My master has been waiting for you for quite some time."

Everyone says that the Six Doors is the gate to hell, and there is a living Yama inside.

Looking at the man before him, the apprentice felt for the first time that the rumors were true; he was terrifying.

He led the three of them from the bustling front building of the clinic, through a small, square courtyard, and toward the back hall.

“Our clinic has a registration requirement, and my master went to look for it as soon as he got back.” He said as he walked, “I also have some impression of that old woman; she looks like a businesswoman.”

"I heard there was a big commotion at your clinic earlier?" Li Jin asked.

“Exactly.” The apprentice at the clinic recalled a few things, a hint of helplessness flashing across his face. “That old woman’s teeth weren’t bad, and there was no need to add gold leaf to them. Our master originally didn’t want to do it that way because adding it wouldn’t be good for her teeth.”

He raised his hand and opened the Ruyi Gate separating the front and back courtyards, inviting Li Jin and his group to enter first.

"But the mother-in-law insisted on making one, and her son had no objection at the time, so the master had no choice but to take on the task."

"But who knew that afterwards, this old woman would cause a huge scene in the clinic, claiming that the gold foil teeth weren't shiny and smooth enough, and demand that my master apologize. My master's wife couldn't stand it and even said a few words to her." The apprentice at the clinic chuckled contemptuously as he said this, "She said if she wanted shine, she should just get gold teeth, why bother with gold foil? The old woman then lay down on the ground, making the scene even more chaotic."

Li Jin didn't understand either; what was so interesting about a gold foil tooth?

"In the end, there was no other way but for the master to return three taels of silver to her to resolve the issue," he said. "That old woman kept saying that her son earned seventy or eighty taels a month from doing business. Who would believe that she would throw a tantrum over three taels of silver when she was only making a fuss over seventy or eighty taels?"

In the back room, the old doctor was still going through the names recorded in the register, recounting the extraordinary gold foil tooth incident of that day as he flipped through the pages.

It's largely the same as what the apprentices at the medical clinic complained about before.

"For that one gold foil tooth, she paid him one tael of silver, which wasn't even enough to cover the cost of the work." He searched for a long time before finally finding the information about that tooth in the thick stack of medical records.

On the paper, the old lady who needed dental work had only her name written as Xia Shi.

"She said she lived in Jiahuifang in the west of the city, about a quarter of an hour's walk from here," the old doctor said, pointing to the information above. "It seems to be the Xia family residence in Jiahuifang, but I don't know any more details."

He put his hands in his sleeves: "I heard it's a business family, and they're quite well-off."

This clue is already quite clear to anyone.

Only Li Jin remained silent on the way to Jia Hui Fang.

He instinctively felt that the address was fake, for no particular reason other than his intuition honed over years of handling cases.

So when a Xia family mansion actually appeared before him in Jia Hui Fang, he stood there stunned for a long time, unable to come to his senses.

There really is one?