Chapter 28 Exposure

"...In the chest, the wounds are honeycomb-shaped, totaling fourteen, and nine steel balls remain within the body, each about three fen in size."

"The abdomen has nine wounds, with four steel balls remaining within."

"There is one penetrating wound by the collarbone, approximately half an inch in length and width, and on the left shoulder there is a knife wound, about six inches long and half an inch deep..."

The secretary's brush moved swiftly, recording every sentence spoken by the coroner, as the coroner's frown deepened while examining the body, eventually circling the corpse.

To be honest, he had seen many bodies, and it wasn't his first time witnessing cultivators committing violence, but such peculiar wounds were a first for him.

Meanwhile, Mr. Xue stood numbly on the spot, staring blankly at his son's stiff body still sprawled across someone else's doorway, the bulging eyes and the gesture made it clear,

The deep resentment present before death.

The government officials stepped forward, perhaps out of consideration for the family's sentiments of the deceased, and even their actions were extremely careful. They moved Mr. Xue's body off the door planks to lay it flat, and the pedestrians in the vicinity had been completely kept away, the entire street was thoroughly sealed off.

The only sound on the street was the coroner's emotionless voice.

"The deceased, Xue Wuwei."

A shiver ran through him.

Mr. Xue, not yet fifty, now looked like a man in his sixties, his face aged, eyes vacant, unwilling to believe the reality even now.

"No abnormalities found in the head after examination, no obvious wounds."

"No abnormalities in the chest."

"There are three penetrating wounds in the abdomen, suspected to be torn by iron wire, each approximately an inch in length and width."

"The same is found in the lower back area."

"There are two wounds on the thighs, both legs penetrated, located at the meridians, with femur fractures, and the feet show no abnormalities."

"All ten fingers are shattered, likely having suffered extreme pain before death."

"In summary, although the abdomen has penetrating wounds, they are not fatal, and if treated or bleeding is stopped in time, there is a chance of survival."

"The preliminary conclusion is the cause of death was excessive blood loss, most likely due to the perpetrator severing the victim's legs, which could not be stemmed in time, and the wounds being exposed in the rain led to more blood loss, the scraping of the door planks with the fingers probably happened after experiencing extreme pain..."

"Cough!"

A forceful cough.

The aged County Magistrate glared at the coroner who was reporting loudly, signaling him to shut up immediately.

The man realized he had said something wrong, especially upon seeing Mr. Xue's ashen face, he swallowed his saliva, not daring to speak.

What he hadn't finished saying was this.

There had been signs of mutual violence between the two bodies, as the force behind each wound varied. The shallower wounds on Wang Qi's body were clearly due to Mr. Xue's frail constitution.

And the wounds on Mr. Xue's body were clearly decisive and piercing with each strike, particularly in the abdomen, clearly the work of Wang Qi.

"Mr. Xue Ming."

With a sigh, the Lord County Magistrate walked beside Mr. Xue and patted his shoulder as a gesture of comfort.

"This official can only express regret for your misfortune, but with the deceased gone, if you remain disheartened, how can you let your son rest in peace."

"You must pull yourself together and send people to find the perpetrator's whereabouts. That's what truly matters."

"Rest assured, as the Magistrate of Qingshui County, I will do everything in my power to bring the rogue to justice and escape they shall not, ensuring justice for you!"

Continuously consoling the numb man.

Although he had no fondness for Mr. Xue, he still felt a sense of regret - not for any other reason, but mainly because...

He single-handedly supported half of the government office.

Every time Mr. Xue caused trouble, he would find ways to smooth things over through connections.

As long as things weren't too outrageous, they would turn a blind eye. From childhood to adulthood, Mr. Xue Wuwei must have lost thousands of taels of silver in the office.

As unpleasant as it is to say, compared to the commoners tormented to death by Mr. Xue, he would choose Mr. Xue without hesitation - that's the reality.

Hearing of avenging his son, the numb Xue Ming regained some sparkle in his eyes and nodded vigorously.

"Sigh—"

He finally breathed a sigh of relief.

As the County Magistrate, he must stabilize the other party. Xue Ming was influential in Qingshui County, and should he go insane with revenge, disregarding all consequences, it would result in mutual destruction.

Shifting attention to the killer and having the Xue family send out people to investigate was the wise choice, at least to divert some attention. However, the Lord County Magistrate had no expectations of catching the real murderer.

Could they really capture the person who easily killed Wang Qi?

Everyone knew Wang Qi's skills; at the very least, he was considered an expert in the county. The person who could kill him is probably one of the disciples taken in by Mr. Yan, but the problem is, those people aren't in Qingshui County.

They had gone to State City with Mr. Yan a few days ago.

The coroner behind him, who had been silent, began to extract the steel balls from the body one by one. Each was deeply embedded, some even piercing through the body entirely. How was such destructive power achieved?

Could it be some hermit with extraordinary abilities? But what would they want?

Although the Xue family was arrogant in Qingshui, Mr. Xue was not stupid. He knew whom he could bully and whom he shouldn't provoke. So far, he had only oppressed the local commoners; he never initiated trouble with the nearby esteemed families or passing merchants.

Completely baffled, but just then, the coroner investigating the body suddenly shouted as if he had found a clue.

"Look quickly!"

Everyone followed his gaze, even Mr. Xue looked over.

"Here, look here. No wonder his fingers are a bloody mess; it must be a clue left by Mr. Xue before his death!"

The coroner pointed to the door.

Following the door downward, near the bottom, there seemed to be several scrape marks, vague and merely scratching off the door paint.

Startled, they realized they had not noticed this clue when they first arrived at the scene. But it was raining that morning, and the water on the streets had not completely receded, probably reaching up to the calf.

But now, the water had receded to just around the sole of the foot, revealing the clue at the bottom.

Everyone crowded closer, especially the somewhat delirious Mr. Xue, who pushed the coroner aside. The sole clue was now exposed before his eyes.

Although the scratching was crooked, one could still discern that it seemed to be the character "Jiang".

The Lord County Magistrate furrowed his brows, quickly filtering through all the people with the surname Jiang in Qingshui County. The surname was actually quite common locally, with seven or eight families, but at least it was a clue.

But Xue Ming understood his son's message in an instant, with memories flooding his mind.

He even had an illusion, as if seeing his son lying in front of the door, carving out the character with his mangled fingers, and his mouth still shouting to avenge him.

Finally, he fell completely, with resentment and indignation.

Mr. Xue mustered all his strength to utter that name.

"Jiang! Feng!"