C5 The Real Cause of Death

The examiner suddenly burst into laughter. "Women just don't get it. Do you think you can fool everyone by randomly accusing someone? I've been a post-mortem examiner for over ten years and never made a mistake. Magistrate, if you don't trust my diagnosis, I'll leave right now."

With that, the examiner made a move to leave.

"Wait, don't go! I paid good money... I mean, of course, I trust you. Please, come back!" Tang Zhong pleaded desperately, but the examiner, angered by Wan'er's mockery, was determined to teach her a lesson.

Tang Zhong was at a loss, sweating in the freezing cold, unsure of what to do. Finally, with no other options, he leaned over to Wan'er and whispered, "You caused this mess, you fix it."

"Father, keep your composure!" Wan'er sighed, then called out to the examiner, who had walked about thirty feet away. "Before you leave, you might want to check your wound."

The examiner stopped and looked at the wound on his hand. The blood was a slightly dark red. He stared at it for a while, noticing nothing unusual, until a sudden realization hit him. He turned to Wan'er, shouting in panic, "Did you poison the blade?"

Wan'er smirked. "That's right! You'd better keep an eye on that wound, or the poison might spread."

"Magistrate, this is attempted murder! You can't ignore this just because she's your daughter. Arrest her and make her hand over the antidote!" The examiner exclaimed in shock and fear.

Even Tang Zhong felt overwhelmed, knowing his daughter wouldn’t act recklessly, but her words were another matter!

“Haha! My daughter was just joking, there’s no poison, really no poison.” He forced a smile to calm the post-mortem examiner, finally getting him to settle down. He couldn’t help but grumble to Tang Wan’er, “Daughter, now’s not the time to make things more complicated.”

Tang Wan’er raised an eyebrow and coolly said to the examiner, “If I were you, I’d quickly think of a way to neutralize the poison.”

“You... you...” The examiner was so exasperated he nearly fainted.

“I’ve never seen such a timid examiner. Can’t you tell if you’re poisoned?”

Prompted by her words, the examiner quickly checked his own pulse, and after confirming he was fine, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. But feeling embarrassed in front of everyone, he muttered angrily, “Women and petty people are hard to deal with.”

Tang Wan’er ignored him and continued, “Look at the wound on the back of your hand. In about fifteen minutes, it should start to coagulate and turn a deep brown, like gel. In a few hours, the blood from the wound will begin to separate into a pale yellow serum and dark brown clots, just like the wounds on the deceased’s face. This indicates the injuries occurred while the person was still alive, and the facial tissue was trying to repair itself. The skin being peeled off looks gruesome, but it wasn’t the cause of death.”

"What do you think the fatal injury is?" The post-mortem examiner felt the sarcasm in Tang Wan'er's gaze, gritting his teeth in frustration.

The two locked eyes, tension crackling between them.

Tang Zhong hesitantly asked, "Daughter, with the face of this body so bloodied, are you sure it wasn't fatal?"

"Father, there's something you might not know. A person doesn't die immediately when the skin on their face is removed. Look at her abdomen and internal organs; there's no blood. This actually proves she died from blood loss." Tang Wan'er then lifted the deceased's right hand, revealing a deep wound on the wrist, the flesh turned outward.

"This is the real cause of death."