Xing Ruyi was not idle, she walked to the coffin and peeked inside.

"What do you want to do?"

Yanagi leaned his right shoulder back against the door frame.

"Nonsense, since you know that Qing Wei's death is suspicious, of course you have to check the body to confirm whether the conjecture in your heart is correct. You're not curious at all. ”

"Even if the cause of Qing Wei's death is suspicious, it should be investigated by people in the government. Madame, you don't seem to be from the government. ”

"I'm not, but you are." Xing Ruyi glanced at Liu Sheng: "It seems that not only Qingwei's death is very suspicious, but even her corpse is also suspicious." According to the young man, she has been dead for at least five days. Even if the weather is cool now, the corpse will be stored for longer than in the summer, but five days have passed, and she has not had the slightest sign of decay. It's not scientific. ”

"Science?" Yanagi raised his eyebrows.

"Unscientific means unreasonable. Lord Liu is a fast catcher, and there are many living people who catch them, and there are many dead people who see them. This person who has been dead for at least five days must know what kind of situation it must be. ”

Yanagi furrowed his eyebrows and walked over.

In the coffin, Qing Wei lay there calmly, surrounded by some gadgets she liked when she was alive. At first glance, I didn't think there was anything wrong with it, but everyone who was waiting for the burial was almost like this. Soon, Liu Sheng realized what Xing Ruyi said was wrong?

First of all, he didn't smell the rancid stench he expected, or the stench of corpses. A corpse that has been dead for at least five days, no matter how well it is preserved, will give off some unpleasant smells. In Xing Ruyi's words, it was the stench caused by the decay of the corpse, but Liu Sheng, who was close to the coffin, did not smell any unpleasant smell, but also smelled a faint fragrance, and the faint fragrance was a little different from the smell of the sachet placed in the coffin.

Secondly, Qing Wei's body was well preserved, except that there was no expected corruption, even her bare hands were not blue and white like ordinary dead people, but ruddy. It looked like she wasn't dead, but like she'd fallen asleep in a coffin.

Finally, there is the location of Qingwei's coffin. Normally, the coffin of the deceased would be placed in the mourning hall, but Shopkeeper Liu put his daughter's body in his bedroom with the coffin.

Qing Wei is the only daughter of Shopkeeper Liu, her beloved daughter is dead, her father is in pain, and it seems understandable to do any abnormal behavior. However, even if you have to guard your daughter, you don't need to place the coffin so close to your bed.

On the side of the bed, Yanagi also found a bamboo stick. The top of the bamboo stick is stained with some black substance. After comparison, those black things are the tung oil on Qingwei's coffin.

Why did the sick shopkeeper Liu put a bamboo stick at the head of his bed, and why did he use a bamboo stick to beat the coffin?

"The bamboo stick only hit the surface of the coffin, not the person in the coffin, which shows that Shopkeeper Liu is not guarding against his daughter's corpse, but something else." Xing Ruyi circled around the coffin, and when she reached the side facing the door, she squatted down: "It looks like the paw prints of some kind of animal." Well, this paw print doesn't look like a dog's, but like a common cat. ”

"Cats?"

Liu Sheng followed, he stood behind Xing Ruyi, bent down and glanced at it. Sure enough, on the edge of the coffin, some subtle marks similar to animal scratches were found. Because Qing Wei left suddenly, this coffin was also bought by Shopkeeper Liu asked the young man to buy it temporarily. Therefore, the paint and tung oil on the surface of the coffin are freshly painted. The paw prints are also new and very clear, which indicates that this uninvited little animal came to visit on the day Qing Wei was put in the coffin, or the next day.

"I don't know if Yagyu-sama has heard a rumor."

"What rumors?"

"Legend has it that cats are not allowed to approach the Hall of the Dead, because their meows can cause corpse fraud."

"You mean, the reason why Shopkeeper Liu prepared that bamboo stick is to prevent night cats from frightening corpses?"

"It's possible. After all, the Liu family is still a little different from ordinary people, the Liu family is thin, and there seem to be no other relatives other than Lin Hu. Although the surrounding neighbors are very enthusiastic, they are not always bothered by their neighbors to help manage their own affairs. In addition, when Qing Wei had an accident, Shopkeeper Liu was already seriously ill, and I am afraid that he would not have the extra energy to take care of his daughter's funeral, let alone guard his daughter's mourning hall all the time. That's why I came up with the bad idea of putting my daughter's coffin in my bedroom. ”

Xing Ruyi said, but stood on tiptoe and poked most of his body into the coffin.

"But I always feel that there is still something that makes some sense here. For example, the black veil that Qing Wei's face has been wearing all the time. ”

"Madame!"

By the time Liu Sheng realized what Xing Ruyi wanted to do, it was already too late. The black veil that had been covering Qing Wei's face was torn off and put in Xing Ruyi's hands.

"I'm sorry Lord Liu, it looks like you said it late."

Xing Ruyi shook the black yarn in his hand. Yanagi reached out and snatched it, wanting to cover Qing Wei again. But when he saw Qing Wei's appearance in the coffin, he was stunned.

"Surprised? Do you feel like you're being taken aback? ”

Xing Ruyi asked on the side, Liu Sheng glanced at her quickly, and returned his gaze to the coffin.

In the coffin, Qing Wei's face was a little strange.

Even though he was well-informed, Yanagi was still frightened by the face he saw in front of him. It was neither a living man's face nor a dead man's face, and it was not the same as the putrid impression that made him feel acid reflux in his stomach, but ...... It's a singular phenomenon that he can't describe.

Just when Liu Sheng was stunned, Xing Ruyi put his hand in. She pinched Qing Wei's face.

"What does it feel?"

Yanagi couldn't help but ask. If it weren't for the difference between men and women, if it weren't for the fact that the one lying in the coffin was Lin Hu's sister, he would also touch Qing Wei's face to see what happened to that strange face.

"It's weird, I've never seen anything so strange. Her face looked as if it had undergone a woody change. That is, the skin becomes like a piece of wood that is about to rot. Supposedly, it's supposed to be a disease, and it's a very rare disease, but—"

"But what?"

"But her situation is a little different from the rare disease I know about. Her subcutaneous tissues were already corrupted. ”

"Corruption?"

"It means that under her seemingly wooden-like skin, there's water hidden."

"Water?" Liu Sheng's brows furrowed: "I don't seem to understand what you're saying." ”

"I don't think I know what I'm talking about." Xing Ruyi's eyebrows were raised: "Our human body is mainly composed of three parts. One is flesh and skin, the second is blood, and the third is bones. Let's take our own faces. ”

Xing Ruyi pinched his cheeks: "The first thing your fingers touch must be the skin of our face, that is, the skin on the surface." Of course, there are still many mechanical tissues and many tiny blood vessels hidden under the skin, and this Yanagi-sama can just listen to it. You don't study medicine, you don't understand medical theory, and you don't need to know these things too carefully.

Of course, more importantly, I'm too lazy to explain it to you now, and you may not be able to understand what I say. ”

"Can Madame get to the point?"

"That's the point." Xing Ruyi patted his face: "Bone." In addition to touching the smooth skin, your fingers can also touch the bones hidden under the skin. The presence of these bones will make our face more three-dimensional, so that it looks like a person. ”

"I know that. No matter what kind of person they are, they will be buried in the loess after death, and after a period of time, they will turn into white bones. Whether it's a beautiful woman or an ugly woman, they will eventually become a similar skeleton. ”

"Well, that's what it means." Xing Ruyi gave Liu Sheng a slightly approving look: "But the bones under Qingwei's skin are gone." If she is buried in the loess, after a while, you may be able to see her torso, you can see her hands and feet, but you can't see her head. ”

"It can't be!"

"You don't believe it? If you don't believe it, you can pinch it yourself. Xing Ruyi said, took a step back, and made an inviting gesture. Lord Liu, you're fast, you won't even dare to touch a dead person, right? ”

Liu Sheng didn't reply, just glanced at Xing Ruyi, walked to the coffin, and poked his hand in.

Qing Wei's face does look like rotten wood to the touch, but under the wood, it seems that there is a pool of water hidden. It's a strange feeling.

"Something particularly strange must have happened to Qing Wei." Xing Ruyi turned his gaze to Shopkeeper Liu: "It seems that all this will not be known until Shopkeeper Liu wakes up." ”

"But this is not the cause of Qing Wei's death."

Liu Sheng stared at Qing Wei's face.

"I believe what you just said, something must have happened to Qing Wei. She may have had the strange disease you just mentioned, and it is not even ruled out that because of this disease, she had suicidal thoughts.

Lin Hu said that someone went to Liu's house to propose marriage, and the other party was also Qingwei's favorite person. If he missed this marriage because of his illness, it must be a very painful and unacceptable thing for Qing Wei. ”

"It is indeed very painful to not be able to marry the person you like because of illness. But just now, we've seen the scene. Qing Wei's death was neither a stumble, nor a suicide. If you commit suicide, it is more safe to hang yourself with a rope than to jump from that small building. ”

Xing Ruyi said and made a gesture of wiping his neck and hanging himself.

Liu Sheng was stunned for a moment, and the corner of his right mouth twitched slightly.