Chapter 181 Lying
The woman, wearing linen clothes, ran towards Jiang Yuzhu in panic. She was so flustered that she tripped over a stone by the river.
The woman fell to the ground because she didn't stand firmly. Her palm was scratched and bleeding. She got up quickly, but she walked with a limp because she had twisted her ankle.
"Kind person, save me!"
After performing several movements in succession, the woman's forehead was covered with sweat. She wiped it away with her sleeve, still in shock, and could not recover for a long time.
"Don't be impatient, Auntie. If you have something to say, please take your time."
Jiang Yuzhu and Xie Zhao looked at each other. After getting the affirmation, she took two steps forward to support the woman and asked patiently, "Although we are just passing by, we are all kind-hearted people. If you encounter any difficulties, you may as well tell us."
Under normal circumstances, Jiang Yuzhu never meddles in other people's business.
On this journey, our side planned to divert attention and create a gap between us and the caravan that had transported food and fodder ahead of us, so we would inevitably be delayed on the road.
The woman's request was just what she wanted.
Faced with inquiries, the woman was covered in dust and dirt. She slowly turned her head and stared at Jiang Yuzhu. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out for a long time.
The woman was anxious and her face showed a bit of anxiety.
“The people in our village…”
The woman was so frightened that she stammered and trembled uncontrollably.
Jiang Yuzhu asked the strong Hong Jin to carry the woman on his back and lead the way, while she and Xie Zhao followed closely with a few men.
The sun sets in the west, the setting sun is blood-red, and the sky is a streak of blood red.
Crows were circling in the air, occasionally letting out shrill cries.
The group followed the direction the woman pointed and determined that she lived in a nearby village.
Inside the official road, there is a flat mountain area with lush vegetation.
The further you go in, the more you smell, not only the smell of wet and rotting grass and trees, but also an inexplicable stench.
As a forensic doctor in her previous life, Jiang Yuzhu knew very well what this smell meant. She took out a mask from her sleeve pocket and covered her mouth and nose with it to suppress the urge to vomit.
Realizing something was wrong, Xie Zhao winked at his men.
The subordinate understood and immediately pushed aside the grass that was more than one person tall and went around to the village to explore the way.
The woman was still frightened. When the word "village" was mentioned, her body trembled violently and she resisted inexplicably.
Apart from instinctively calling for help, the woman could not utter any more words.
After about an incense stick of time, the group arrived at the village entrance.
Unlike ordinary villages, there is a small thatched pavilion at the entrance of the village, and next to the pavilion there is a stone tablet with the words "Xiahe Village" engraved on it.
Xie Zhao stared at the stone tablet with deep eyes.
Before the group entered the village, several of Xie Zhao's men ran out of the village, all with grim faces.
One of them tried to speak but couldn't help running to the bushes and making a retching sound.
The stench in the village was so strong that even Xie Zhao, who was usually calm, couldn't help but frown, feeling quite uncomfortable.
"quack!"
Crows circled low in the sky and scattered, leaving bird droppings all over the ground.
The woman finally came to her senses and cried heartbreakingly: "What should I do? The whole village of more than a hundred people were killed by bandits!"
Walking further in, there were corpses lying all over the path leading to the village.
The corpse was soaked in almost dried blood, with eyes wide open and bulging, as if the dead man died with his eyes open.
Strong men, women, old men and even children of a few years old, none of them escaped his clutches.
Faced with such a tragic scene, even those who had been stained with blood for years were speechless and remained silent.
Who on earth could have such a deep hatred that he would commit such a murder on innocent and unarmed civilians?
Some of the people in Xiahe Village died in their houses, some lay face up in the yard, and some collapsed on their way back from farm work.
There was blood everywhere, Xie Zhao frowned, his expression became more solemn.
Seeing the body cut in two, Xie Zhao stepped forward and stood in front of Jiang Yuzhu, holding her in his arms and said, "Yuzhu, don't be afraid. Everything is up to you."
Jiang Yuzhu stared blankly at the gloves she had brought with her and swallowed the words that were intended to attack Xie Zhao.
This is her area of expertise and she is not afraid of it.
Although it was the first time she saw so many corpses, Jiang Yuzhu remained calm.
I was so good at it in my previous life that every step of the autopsy seemed to be engraved into my bones.
"Yuanhe, I can protect you too."
After thinking it over again and again, Jiang Yuzhu expressed it tactfully, and pulled herself out of Xie Zhao's arms and stood in front of Xie Zhao.
She used her actions to show that she was not afraid, and by the way, she checked the time of death of the villagers, but this move was misunderstood by Xie Zhao.
Xie Zhao's heart was suddenly moved and bitter, and he said quietly: "My husband has been the Jingzhao Yin for several years and has taken on countless cases. How could he be afraid of these?"
Here, the woman was already sitting on a big rock, wiping her tears with a handkerchief: "My daughter Cuihua got married and had a child. The village is a day's journey away from Xiahe Village. I brought the produce from the village to visit Cuihua, but who knew that when I returned to the village,..."
All the people are gone!
The woman's husband and son were all lying in a pool of blood.
Seeing this scene, she was heartbroken, and worried that the bandits would return to continue the massacre, so she subconsciously ran to the official road to call for help.
"If I hadn't left the village, I would have..."
The woman hugged her arms and cried loudly, and finally she couldn't breathe. It can be seen that she was extremely sad.
Xie Zhao asked about the situation in Xiahe Village, and the woman told him everything in detail.
The afterglow of the setting sun faded away and it was already evening.
It was just getting dark and the vision became blurry.
The crowd went to the villagers' homes to find oil lamps and candles for lighting, and continued to count the number of people in preparation for reporting to the authorities.
The woman was taken away to rest. Jiang Yuzhu looked through the wounds on several bodies and said, "There's something strange."
Xie Zhao stood aside with his arms folded, his face extremely calm. He raised the corner of his mouth and whispered, "Did the Madam also notice it?"
After a preliminary examination, Jiang Yuzhu said with certainty: "That aunt said she went to visit her newly born daughter and it was only two days. It's obvious that she was lying."
The couple found a small Buddhist temple in the village and sat on cushions to communicate.
Xie Zhao looked around, his eyes fixed on the Buddha statue, and asked after a while, "Madam, how did you see that?"
When it comes to professional fields, Jiang Yuzhu replied without any ambiguity: "Normally, rigor mortis will set in within half an hour to an hour and a half after a person dies, and will begin to ease after one to two days. If it is completely relieved, it usually occurs three to seven days after death."
"Judging from the weather and the decay of the corpses, the entire village was slaughtered over at least three days, but that auntie insisted on only being away for two days."
From the spoilage of food in the room, we can make a rough judgment that Jiang Yuzhu's calculation would not be too problematic.
"Secondly, when my aunt went to the official road to call for help, why was it determined that it was a bandit who committed the crime?"
First of all, the time of death of the villagers did not match what the woman said, but what aroused Jiang Yuzhu's suspicion was the bandits mentioned by the woman.
"Yuanhe, the murderer is indeed cruel, but he is a novice."
If Jiang Yuzhu guessed correctly, the order of killing should be from outside to inside.
From the moment we entered the village, we saw that the wounds of the dead people around us were not smooth. Most of them were stabbed multiple times and eventually died from excessive bleeding, so some of them were crawling out to call for help.
As the murderer went along, he began to master the techniques and became more and more skilled in committing crimes.
"Of course, special circumstances are not ruled out, but the probability is too low."
Unaware of how much she believed the woman's words, Jiang Yuzhu lowered her eyes and waited patiently for Xie Zhao's analysis.
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