Chu Chu had always been willing to help others since childhood, yet few ever sought her assistance. When the old man made his request, she agreed without hesitation.
The old man was named Tian Qi, a native of the outskirts of the capital. Having served as a coroner in numerous government offices for most of his life, he had participated in the investigation of many major cases. The total number of corpses examined by her father and brother combined likely wouldn't even amount to a fraction of his experience. As Chu Chu helped him fill out the form, she gazed at him with starry-eyed admiration, addressing him repeatedly as "Uncle Qi."
By the time Chu Chu finished assisting Tian Qi with the exam application and hurried to the Western Morgue while listening to his fragmented tales of the capital, a line of people had already gathered along the wall. A Clerk from the Ministry of Justice was shouting across the courtyard, "Number One, Chu Chu!"
"Coming! Coming!"
The Clerk froze momentarily upon seeing that the respondent was a young girl.
"You are... Chu Chu?"
Chu Chu handed him the wooden tag marked "One" that she had been clutching. "Yes, the 'Chu Chu' as in 'enchantingly charming.'"
Upon entering the room, Chu Chu immediately noticed a corpse tightly wrapped in thick cloth placed in the center. An elderly coroner stood beside it.
The old coroner was taken aback when he saw the young girl enter. After a stunned pause, he exchanged a silent glance with the Clerk.
It wasn't that they looked down on the girl, but the selected corpse was...
Before they could finish their silent exchange, Chu Chu had already crouched down, opened her small floral bundle, and unfurled a pouch filled with various oddly shaped tools.
Just as the old coroner and Clerk's attention was drawn to the tools, Chu Chu slipped on a pair of white cloth gloves and—whoosh—yanked the cloth off the corpse.
The young Clerk fumbled for a piece of ginger to stuff into his mouth, but before he could manage it, he turned and vomited all over the floor. The old coroner's face darkened.
This corpse had been carefully selected by several senior coroners of the Ministry of Justice from among the many unclaimed bodies in the Morgue. To ensure fairness, the Clerk had only seen the Corpse Manifest for this body upon arriving at the Ministry that morning. No one could have imagined such a stench merely from the word "putrid"!
Moreover, in his nearly year-long tenure as a Clerk at the Ministry, he had never seen a coroner perform a Corpse Examination without first lighting Chinese Honey Locust and Atractylodes Smoke!
Even if you skipped the herbs and incense, you could at least give a warning!
Before he could finish vomiting his breakfast, Chu Chu's calm and clear voice rang out.
"Deceased male, over thirty years old. Body in an advanced state of decay. Corpse stench mixed with trace amounts of musk—likely ingested musk-containing medicine before death."
The Clerk hastily wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and recorded her words.
What fragrance? Musk...?
"Skin and hair beginning to slough off. Lips everted, eyes protruding. Minor maggot activity... Likely deceased for nearly three months."
The Clerk felt his stomach churn again.
After this observation, Chu Chu's gaze fell directly upon the male corpse's crotch. The old coroner watched in disbelief as the young girl reached out and grasped it, then calmly and methodically kneaded it up and down several times. His jaw nearly hit the floor.
Before he could recover, he heard Chu Chu purse her lips and declare crisply, "Rotten to this extent and still erect. Who knows how much aphrodisiac he consumed before death? He literally fucked himself to death!"
This time, even the Clerk turned to stare at her wide-eyed, his stomach convulsions momentarily forgotten.Even that female constable from the capital who rolled around in piles of corpses all day and spoke with such bluntness probably couldn't have brought herself to do this or say these words...
Seeing the expressions on the two men's faces, Chu Chu grew anxious. She reached into her cloth bag and pulled out a small knife-like object. "I guarantee I'm not wrong! If you don't believe me, I can cut this area open to examine it for you!"
Hearing she wanted to perform an autopsy, and specifically on a man's private area, the old coroner's neck flushed with heat. He quickly cleared his throat twice and said, "You're not wrong... but there are clearly several external injuries on this corpse. How did you immediately examine that area?"
When the veteran coroners had inspected this body, they had only noticed that area after nearly completing their examination of the front side. This young girl...
Chu Chu couldn't understand why this needed questioning, but since this was the Six Doors examination, she thought it might be intentionally testing her.
"Those are clearly just superficial wounds, none on vital areas. The more severe injuries were actually added after death. But that musk scent - what kind of medicine with such heavy musk would a strong, healthy man like this need to use? It still hasn't dissipated even after all this time!"
The old coroner sighed silently. Before conducting corpse examinations, they always burned Chinese Honey Locust and Atractylodes Smoke to cover the stench. When the smell was particularly strong, even veteran coroners of many years had to hold ginger slices in their mouths. While examining this corpse, they had even lit incense due to the overpowering odor. With all these scents mixed together, none of them had detected the musk fragrance hidden within the corpse smell.
When the old coroner remained silent, Chu Chu thought her previous explanation hadn't been sufficient and added, "These wealthy families always waste good things, perfectly fine..."
The old coroner quickly cut her off with more throat-clearing, snatching the wooden plaque with the character "one" from the still-stunned Clerk's hands. "Alright, alright... exit through the back and go to the side hall next door for the injury examination test."
Normally, they would need to report and record all injuries on the corpse, but looking at her bag of tools, if they let her continue the examination, who knew what might happen!
"Thank you, honorable sirs!"
Chu Chu carefully lifted the thick cloth to recover the corpse properly, then swiftly packed away her cloth bundle and gloves. Taking her wooden plaque, she hoisted her floral bundle onto her back and hurried to the rear door of the autopsy room. She scooped a ladle of vinegar from the wooden bucket by the door and poured it over the charcoal brazier placed outside the threshold. As the vapor rose, she stepped back and forth through the smoke several times before skipping away.
Watching her meticulousness in using vinegar vapor to eliminate odors, the two men in the room exchanged glances.
They had really thought this young girl actually liked that smell...
☆、4 Jujube Ginger Soup (Four)
Chu Chu thought the Six Doors examination wasn't that difficult after all. It just had more varied tests - not only examining dead bodies but also inspecting injuries on living people. It seemed that if she joined the Six Doors, she would certainly be kept busy in the future!
OpenNovel