The forensic examiner standing to one side answered, “The cause of death is still unclear. If you have doubts about the cause of death, just sign the document and we can proceed with the autopsy.”

Wen Xu glanced at his niece. “Qingqing… what about this?”

“Uncle, if we want to determine the cause of death, an autopsy is necessary. Although we can’t say for certain right now whether Mo Xiangrong’s death was suicide or homicide, the fact that he walked out onto the frozen sea completely naked in the dead of winter is truly baffling. Based on what you know of Mo Xiangrong, do you think he would take his own life?”

Wen Xu shook his head. “Although we should show respect for the dead, this man lived life to the fullest every day, utterly carefree and indulgent. How could he possibly have committed suicide?”

“If Uncle is uneasy about it, how about I perform the autopsy myself?”

“You?” Wen Xu was startled.

Wen Yan spoke up from the side. “Father, you probably didn’t know — Qingqing is a forensic consultant for the Military Police Division. She’s helped them crack many major cases.”

Wen Xu had long wondered how Yan Qing had come to know Shi Ting, and it turned out there was this connection behind it all.

“In that case, let’s proceed with the autopsy.” Wen Xu sighed. “He deserves to die with clarity, and once we know the cause of death, I’ll have something to tell Yun Hua.”

Yan Qing escorted Wen Xu out of the autopsy room. Just then, Shi Ting came walking over. After exchanging a few words of comfort with Wen Xu, he asked Wen Yan to accompany him home to wait for news.

Shi Ting walked up to Yan Qing and slipped one of his small quilted vests over her. “There’s no floor heating in the autopsy room and the temperature is low. Wear a little more.”

The quilted vest still carried his body warmth. It not only warmed her body but warmed her heart as well.

He fastened the buttons of the vest one by one, speaking softly as he did. “Examiner Ren is here — you don’t need to handle everything yourself.”

Yan Qing smiled. “Is Director Shi encouraging me to slack off?”

He cupped her face gently in his palms — his hands were warm — and she couldn’t help turning her cheek to nuzzle against them.

“Go on. I’ll hold a briefing with Chief Li and the others.”

Yan Qing turned and entered the autopsy room. With the vest on her now, it suddenly didn’t feel quite so cold.

She glanced down at the vest, feeling the warmth that belonged to him, and the corners of her mouth curved up without her even noticing.

Examiner Ren was already preparing for the autopsy. When he saw Yan Qing come in, he straightened up quickly. “Miss Yan, I’ve prepared an autopsy gown for you, but there’s only one set of instruments.”

Yan Qing reminded herself that this was the branch office, not the Military Police Division headquarters. She couldn’t very well overstep, so she smiled and said, “Examiner Ren is the lead forensic examiner — I’ll just observe from the side. What I said earlier was only to persuade my uncle to agree to the autopsy.”

Hearing this, Examiner Ren felt considerably more at ease. No matter who the person was, no one liked having someone else throw their weight around on their own turf — even if that person might genuinely have some ability.

As Yan Qing watched Examiner Ren perform the autopsy, she noticed a number of non-standard movements and incorrect techniques, but she simply observed without offering corrections.

She thought that if the opportunity arose, she could gather forensic examiners from various regions together for training. The knowledge she carried shouldn’t serve only her alone — if it could be used to cultivate more elite forensic professionals, that would truly make it worthwhile and put it to its best use.

“Strange.” As Examiner Ren continued with the autopsy, he occasionally voiced his puzzlement.

The same questions that puzzled Examiner Ren were naturally things Yan Qing had also noticed in her observations, but she said nothing.

Not until Examiner Ren had completed all his examinations and stood beside the body at a complete loss, his brow furrowed into deep creases.

“Miss Yan.” Examiner Ren finally turned to look at Yan Qing. “Can you determine the cause of death?”

“The cause of death isn’t clear?” Yan Qing asked.

“No external injuries on the body surface, the cranium is normal, internal organs are normal…” In Examiner Ren’s view, the more normal these things appeared, the more abnormal the situation truly was.

Even if Mo Xiangrong had committed suicide, there still had to be a cause of death — yet based on this body, he couldn’t find even that.

“Could it be that he didn’t freeze to death?” At the scene, Examiner Ren had confidently declared exactly that conclusion.

“The deceased did not freeze to death,” Yan Qing said. “The blood in the deceased’s left and right ventricles is the same color — there is no change presenting different color states.”

Examiner Ren looked bewildered. “What’s the reasoning behind that?”

“If the deceased had frozen to death, having inhaled large quantities of low-temperature air while alive would inevitably cause changes in color between the left and right ventricles. In such a case, the blood in the left ventricle of the heart would appear bright red, while the blood in the right ventricle would appear dark red.”

It was the first time Examiner Ren had heard such a theory. The gaze he directed at Yan Qing gained a measure of focused attention.

“Furthermore, the submucosal layer of the deceased’s stomach is entirely normal, with no hemorrhagic spots. And if the deceased truly froze to death, there should be frostbite somewhere on the body — yet there is none. This is clearly inconsistent with the facts.”

Examiner Ren nodded quickly. “If it wasn’t freezing, then what was the cause of death?”

Yan Qing put on her gloves, and Examiner Ren promptly passed her the hemostatic forceps.

She opened the deceased’s throat area. “Look here — there is mild laryngeal edema.”

“Laryngeal edema this mild wouldn’t be sufficient to obstruct the airway and shouldn’t be the fatal cause, and besides, the deceased shows no signs of asphyxiation.”

“Laryngeal edema is naturally not the cause of death,” Yan Qing said, “but we need to ask ourselves: what caused the laryngeal edema in the deceased?”

Examiner Ren thought for a moment. “Laryngeal edema is generally caused by inflammation — pharyngitis, for instance.”

Yan Qing nodded and used the forceps to open the separated airway. “Look here again — the color of the airway mucosa is dull and dark. This is also a point of suspicion.”

“And then there is this area of bruising on the deceased’s back.” Yan Qing lifted the body and indicated the waist area with the forceps. “This bruising shows no vital reaction — it was caused postmortem by violent friction against an object.”

As she spoke, she used the small forceps to pinch off a tiny fragment of blue material from the area, examined it carefully for a moment, then placed it into an evidence bag.

“The lividity is concentrated below the deceased’s buttocks.” Yan Qing narrowed her eyes slightly.

“What does that indicate?”

“Lividity concentrated below the buttocks indicates that the deceased was in a seated position at the time of death — not in the supine position we found him in at the scene. This proves that the body was moved after death.”

Though these were all details Examiner Ren had overlooked, he didn’t feel that these seemingly unremarkable discoveries were particularly helpful for determining the cause of death, and so his mood remained subdued.

Yan Qing understood well enough what he was thinking, but she said nothing further.

After all, the first time E’Yuan had seen her, hadn’t he also been full of distrust and contempt? Given her age and experience, it was perfectly normal that she couldn’t win people’s confidence at a glance.

“Miss Yan, have you found the cause of death?” Examiner Ren asked curiously.

“I have a hypothesis in mind,” Yan Qing said, “but I’ll need a little more time to verify it. I’d like to ask Examiner Ren for a favor.”

She pointed to the deceased’s head. “Could you please remove the cerebellum and cerebrum?”

“I already examined them — nothing unusual.”

Yan Qing gave him a calm, steady look. “Please.”

Examiner Ren had no choice but to comply. He moved to the top of the body and began. He didn’t believe Yan Qing could truly find the cause of death in an area he had already examined.

—