However, the body of the female body was actually covered with bruises and scars, which were very eye-catching.
"She was beaten before she died. She was covered with bruises. Moreover," You He turned over the body, letting everyone see the back, "here, she was stabbed deeply."
A diamond-shaped wound on her back was exposed in front of everyone, "In other words, she was beaten severely before her death, a knife was stabbed in her lungs, all her clothes were taken off, and her body was abandoned in the Liu family's ancestral hall. Over the years, No one found out.”
After speaking, he looked at the family members guarding the ancestral hall, "Really?"
The family member felt guilty. He had been guarding the ancestral hall for many years, but had he really never been behind the memorial tablet?
He understood others' suspicion of him and stammered: "You, how do you know that the dead man has been there for so many years?"
"I don't know," You He said, "but if a corpse is kept in a place with good ventilation and little moisture, it may take more than eighty days to become a mummy, so it should be at least three months."
"Have you ever been there in all these years?" Yun Kong interrupted.
The family member shook his head and said, "I've never been there before. It's too dirty."
"So, is she the Ah Shuang you know?" You He suddenly asked, reminding everyone again.
Mrs. Liu stepped forward and boldly looked at the face of the female corpse: "It is indeed very similar, but... in the end... A Shuang had already gone away with the little dragonfly and died in childbirth."
You He blinked: "I just heard about this."
He walked to a corner of the ancestral hall where there were piles of unused tiles. He took a piece and threw it into the red coals of the small stove.
He prepared a bowl of vinegar. When the tiles were red-hot, he quickly quenched the hot tiles into the vinegar, and then covered the belly of the woman's corpse. Mrs. Liu immediately exclaimed.
A shadow faintly appeared on the tiles, like a curled up baby.
Mrs. Liu looked at You He in fear. You He's aging eyes were used to this kind of fearful expression, and he ducked away blankly: "Just now, we chatted with him and learned about what happened to your family seven years ago. "
He was referring to the family members who were guarding the ancestral hall. In order to get Yun Kong to stay and help with the rituals, he chatted with them about many family matters before waiting for Mrs. Liu to arrive.
"Excuse me for being troublesome," You He nodded and said, "What I went to the government to get were the records of those years ago."
He pointed to the pieces of paper beside Yun Kong: "Read it loudly."
"Okay," Yun Kong spread out the paper and read out the year, month and day, "I found out that a civilian girl, Ah Shuang, eloped with Liu Zi, and her old parents..." That was the record of Ah Shuang's parents hanging themselves.
The Liu family took a breath of cold air. It turned out that when You He first discovered the mummy, he thought the two things were related.
After Yun Kong finished reading, he turned over the second sheet: "Autopsy sheet: It was found that the old man's body was hanging under the roof beam, with his toes three feet above the ground. The rope was tied with a slip knot, and the thin rope was wrapped around the neck, located above the Adam's apple. There is only one rope groove on the neck, and then it goes around the beam. There is only a rope mark on the beam, and there is no mess. The deceased's mouth is closed, his teeth are clenched, and his tongue is not exposed. It is undoubtedly hanged... "
I also read about the hanging situation of Ah Shuang’s mother, which was almost the same.
"Actually," You He said loudly, "the official documents state that there is no suspicion of homicide, and A Shuang's parents undoubtedly hanged themselves."
"Of course." Mrs. Liu said.
"But...how can you tell?"
The family members guarding the ancestral hall were surprised.
"What Yun Kong was thinking just now was: The deceased had his mouth closed and his teeth clenched, and his tongue could not come out. This was because the rope was strangled above his throat. If the rope was strangled below his throat, the tip of his tongue would stick out, which shows that the deceased was indeed strangled. Death, not hanging after death."
The family members guarding the ancestral hall nodded.
"Also, there is a groove on the neck, and there is a dust mark on the beam. There are no messy marks. He probably committed suicide, right?"
Yun Kong said alertly: "You said 'probably'...?"
"Yes, the government considers it to be suicide, but I don't think so."
"How do you interpret this?"
"The two men hanged themselves, with slip knots around their necks. According to the situation at the scene, the deceased must have first wrapped the rope around the roof beam, then stepped onto a tall object and fell to death."
Yun Kong hurriedly looked at the record: "It says that the two of them were three feet above the ground, which is high enough."
"It's too high," You He said. "In fact, as long as a rope is tied, you can strangle yourself without using the force of the fall. How can you get up when the body is three feet off the ground?"
You He paused and then said: "Well, even if the man hangs his old wife first, it still can't explain how the man hanged himself up."
"He can climb up the roof beam and jump down." Liu Zi suddenly interrupted.
You He saw his expectant eyes and said expressionlessly: "Of course he can, but as I said just now, the dust on the roof beams is only a trace left by the rope, and there are no other signs of messiness."
"But...he..." Liu Zi continued to argue.
"Young man, what are you in a hurry for?" You He's eyes were suddenly filled with confidence.
Liu Zi saw the unfathomable abyss in You He's eyes: "I'm not in a hurry! I'm just... wondering if there are any other possibilities."
"Huh," You He shook his head slightly, "You thought about it many years ago, and you hung them too high."
For a moment, everyone didn't realize it, and the ancestral hall suddenly became very quiet.
Liu Zi panicked and searched the eyes of his family members, and found that they all looked at him sadly, or simply looked away to avoid embarrassment.
Only then did he realize that from the beginning, he had tried hard to avoid being suspected, but in fact, from the beginning, he was the object of suspicion.
The early spring wind swept around my feet, making me feel eerie and creepy.
"Yunkong, please read the next one."
Yun Kong picked up the third piece of paper, with a few lines of words scrawled on it in very neat fonts.
Yun Kong thought: "Father, mother, my daughter is unfilial and has gone away with Liu Zi. From now on, she will marry a chicken and follow a chicken. I hope my parents will not miss her and forgive her."
Unfilial daughter, double. "
"A Shuang's letter," You He said, "She comes from a poor family and has never gone to school or learned calligraphy, right?"
"I...I taught her to write!" Liu Zi said hurriedly.
"But this letter was written by you, wasn't it?"
"I...I..." Liu Zi was very anxious, with cold sweat pouring down his face like rain, and his hands shaking in panic, "A Shuang was afraid that the writing would not look good, so she asked me to help write it."
"That makes sense." You He said, "But why did you beat Ah Shuang so hard?"
"I don't know!" Liu Zi was shocked and angry, his eyes were covered with red threads, and he wished You He could shut up immediately.
"Did you really not kill Ah Shuang?"
"Damn old guy!"
You He's tone suddenly became gentle: "Don't be nervous. I'm just asking you if you have killed someone. Besides, no one can arrest you. Why are you panicking?"
You He's voice was originally high-pitched, but when it became gentle, it became as soft as a woman's.
Liu Zi suddenly felt like a deflated rubber ball, but his tone was still tough: "I didn't kill."
"Very good, very good." You He seemed to be tired and waved his hand, "Now there are only two people who know who killed her, one is the murderer and the other is the deceased. Since you are not the murderer, we have to ask the deceased to speak. ”
"Then we want to invite God Zigu again?" asked the family guarding the ancestral hall.
"No," You He and Yun Kong looked at each other and smiled mysteriously, "No need to invite me again."
Mrs. Liu was suddenly startled and stared at the incense burner in front of the tomb. The incense sticks on the burner had burned out. You He said to her, "You haven't invited him back yet."
Just as he was talking, there was a commotion in Liu's ancestral hall.
All of the hundreds of spirit tablets suddenly shook at the same time and clicked several times.
The brush in Yun Kong's hand suddenly took off his hand, spun around a few times in mid-air, and fell to the ground, stained with sand.
The female corpse suddenly shook, waving her arms to the sky. She opened her eyes, and her two shrunken eyeballs were wrinkled like dates, rolling in their sockets. Her neck turned with a rattling sound, and she turned her face towards the Liu family. Mother and three children.
The female corpse opened her mouth with difficulty. The face and muscles that had not been stretched for a long time had shrunk and tightened, making it difficult to open. The vocal cords that had lost their elasticity could not say even a single word: "ji...ji..."
The sound coming out of her throat was like an old wooden door struggling to open and close, and her arms were flailing around like a crazy doll, trying to move like she had in life.
Suddenly, she gave up her efforts and fell back to the ground with both hands. Only her mouth was still opening and closing slightly with difficulty, and the jaw joints on both sides made a slight clicking sound.
Everyone in the Liu family was stunned in place, and their whole bodies were shivering with fear.
In the end, the female corpse even gave up trying to open her mouth to speak, and just closed her lips slightly and blew air.
