Volume 2: Female Corpse in Monk's Clothes Chapter 77: The Corpse of a Woman in Monk’s Clothes (Part 2)
The female corpse was not wearing a cassock, but a common gray monk's robe made of ordinary material.
No one knew how long the woman had been dead. She sat cross-legged on the stone platform, as if she had become one with the platform.
Turning closer to the corpse, Xu Zun saw that it was indeed a relatively young woman with long black hair, without a hair tie or any ornaments.
The woman had her eyes closed, her hands clasped together, and a rosary hung around her neck. She maintained a posture of chanting and meditating.
oh……
Xu Zun's heart trembled, and a chill came over him.
This posture seems normal, but for a corpse, it is too weird!
It is obvious that the deceased's death posture must have a deep meaning.
Looking at the woman's face, although not particularly beautiful, she was still pretty, but it had turned waxy white due to the frost and snow.
Xu Zun also smelled a faint fragrance emanating from the woman, which seemed to be some kind of sandalwood.
The woman was rather thin and looked light and weightless.
"This woman..." Zhao Yu bit his lip and pondered, "If it's not Miss Lu, then it can't be that Miss Xiaofeng, right?"
Lu Xiaofeng?
Xu Zun had the same idea and immediately asked Ju Ran, "Detective Ju, what did the Marquis say when he saw the body just now? Does he know this girl?"
"Ah?" Ju Ran was stunned and answered hesitantly, "No? The Marquis just said that she is not a young lady, and didn't say anything else?"
"Really?" Zhao Yu asked, "What about the followers in the Marquis' Mansion? Didn't they recognize the identity of this girl either?"
"Eh?" Ju Ran was confused. "What do you two mean? This is our first time at the crime scene, and no one mentioned recognizing the deceased?"
oh?
Then he is not Lu Xiaofeng!
Yes, Xu Zun then remembered that the maids said that Lu Xiaofeng was two years younger than Lu Mingyue, so he was at most fourteen years old.
But the girl in front of him had very obvious adult features, and she was estimated to be between 18 and 20 years old.
"Detective Ju," Xu Zun approached and observed carefully. He found that there were no wounds on the woman's neck, so he asked Ju Ran, "Can you tell the cause of death?"
"I can't tell," Ju Ran replied, "but judging from the environmental factors here and the signs of the corpse, she has been dead for at least ten days!"
"Ah?" Zhao Yu was surprised, "So long?"
"It's freezing cold," Ju Ran said, "and the body is already showing obvious signs of dehydration. It could be more than ten days. It could be even longer."
"Just looking at his face, he doesn't seem to have frostbite," Xu Zun speculated, "which means he didn't freeze to death..."
While speculating, Xu Zun couldn't help but reach out and want to untie the monk's robe to take a look inside.
"Hey?" Ju Ran hurriedly stopped him as if frightened, "Sir, wait a minute!"
Xu Zun stopped, looking puzzled.
"Sir, um..." Ju Ran quickly explained, "The coroner from the government office will be here soon, they are more professional, let them handle it!
"This may be your first time in Shangyuan City," he whispered in Xu Zun's ear, "This Huguo Temple is a bit weird. To prevent you from getting contaminated by something bad, please don't do it yourself!"
"oh……"
Xu Zun wanted to argue with him, but found that Ju Ran's forehead was soaked with cold sweat, and his eyes and expression were very unnatural.
Could it be that... this Ju Ran knows something?
Or, does he have some unspeakable secret?
"It's okay, it's okay," Xu Zun said as he took out a pair of rough gloves from his sleeves and put them on his hands. "I'll wear this so I won't come into direct contact with the corpse!"
This pair of gloves was brought over by Xu Zun from Xinye County. They are made of thick waterproof cloth and were previously used by coroners for autopsies.
As he spoke, Xu Zun reached out to the corpse again.
"Sir, wait a moment!" Ju Ran stopped him again excitedly, "This woman died in the temple wearing a monk's robe. I'm afraid you are in danger!"
Um?
The more Ju Ran tried to stop him, the more suspicious Xu Zun became.
"Damn it," Xu Zun suddenly pointed at a strange cry in the distance, "There's a ghost!"
"What?"
As soon as Ju Ran turned his head, Xu Zun immediately reached out and grabbed the monk's robe of the female corpse.
Swish…
Ju Ran realized that he had been tricked and actually flew out of the scabbard of his sword to block Xu Zun's arm.
Xu Zun flicked the scabbard open with one palm and stretched out his other hand, but was blocked by Ju Ran's scabbard again.
"My Lord, my Lord!" Ju Ran shouted, "You really can't touch me! Listen to me!"
"I'm a judge, can't I even do an autopsy on a corpse?" Xu Zun got angry, opened the scabbard of his sword again, and reached for the corpse once again.
Ju Ran waved the scabbard again to stop them, and the two actually started fighting!
At the same time, the detectives outside heard the unusual movement and immediately rushed into the scene, drawing their swords.
"Damn it!"
Zhao Yu didn't expect that the two men would start fighting so quickly, so he hurried over with a knife to help.
"My Lord, please listen to me..."
Ju Ran was very anxious, and his men moved faster and faster. As the head of the Shangyuan City Police, he was naturally good at martial arts, and he forced Xu Zun out in the blink of an eye.
However, he overlooked the tacit understanding between Xu Zun and Zhao Yu.
When he turned around again and prepared to meet Zhao Yu's attack, he found that Zhao Yu drew his sword not to attack, but to take the opportunity to lift up the monk's robe of the female corpse!
It turned out that Xu Zun was deliberately forced away by Ju Ran in order to lure him away so that Zhao Yu could take action.
"ah!!?"
After opening the monk's robe, Zhao Yu was stunned.
"this……"
Ju Ran hurried over, and after seeing the condition of the female corpse, his knees immediately went weak and he fell to the ground on one leg.
Xu Zun followed closely behind, and when he reached the front, he was shocked to see a long and conspicuous knife wound on the abdomen of the female corpse!
However, the wound has been sutured with needle and thread!!!
After seeing this scene, all the detectives who entered the scene put down their swords and showed a very strange look of relief on their faces.
"How dare you!" Xu Zun shouted at Ju Ran, "You clearly knew the cause of death of this female corpse but you didn't tell the truth, and you even tried to stop us. What's your intention?!"
"My lord, I..." Ju Ran knelt down in front of Xu Zun and defended himself, "I... I don't know the cause of her death! We all came to the scene with the Marquis, and no one has opened the monk's robe..."
"You still dare to quibble!" Xu Zun was furious and stated his inference, "Since you don't even know the cause of death, why did you insist that this was a homicide just now? Why didn't you suspect that she committed suicide or froze to death?"
"This..." Ju Ran was speechless.
"If you didn't know she was disemboweled, why did you try so hard to stop it?" Xu Zun shouted, "I see, you not only know the cause of death, but also the whole story.
“How dare you attack me, trying to attack me!
"Ju Ran, do you know that you are committing a crime of insubordination? Can I punish you according to the law now?"
"My lord, please calm down..." Ju Ran said with horror on his face, "This... This is not what I meant, my lord!"
"What!?"
Xu Zun's heart skipped a beat. He didn't expect to encounter such a puzzling thing just after arriving in Shangyuan City.
If Ju Ran acted under instructions, then it means there is someone else who wants to stop me?
"Ju Ran," Xu Zun shouted, "I'll give you one more chance to explain yourself. If you can't , I'll put you in jail now!
"Don't think that I can't do anything to you just because you have a backer. I will tell the Marquis about this and say that you are obstructing my investigation into the young lady's disappearance. Let's see if the Marquis will let you go."
"My lord, my lord, you misunderstood, you really misunderstood!" Ju Ran bowed and said, "This case of the female corpse has nothing to do with the daughter of the Marquis, but... it is..."
"And what is it?" Xu Zun shouted , "Tell me now!"
"A female corpse in a monk's robe..." Ju Ran said hesitantly, "This is not the first time in Shangyuan City..."
