1891: Li Qin is dead.

Li Qin is dead.

The woman, however, could not settle down her emotions no matter how hard she tried. Hence, she avoided the small talk and merely gave a perfunctory reply.1

In the morgue, the policeman took out a key to unlock the door. The moment the door was opened, a strong gust of carrion smell greeted them.

There were a few tables inside, and the corpse could be seen on top of one.

By then, the human body was hardly recognizable. It had rotted so much and was badly bloated after having been submerged in sea water for a long period. The face was contorted and hideous, with bald patches scattered across the scalp. That was not the worst, though. What was revolting to behold was the sight of the mangled and decomposing flesh. One arm had a large chunk missing, and both legs were in an odd, twisted shape. The fishes had mercilessly attacked and feasted on this corpse after it was dumped into the waters.

As an autopsy was needed, the attire on the corpse was removed for examination. There was a deep gash on the front torso, and the scalp was sawed through as well to gather samples for testing.

The pungent smell from the corpse testified to the extent of its decomposition. The rancid smell of a human corpse was different from other species, in that it was more repulsive. In serious cases, it even carried a tinge of sourness in its rancidity.

Despite Yun Shishi's best effort to hold her breath, she was unable to keep the suffocating smell at bay. A thick piece of mask had covered her nose and mouth, but this was not useful in this instance. Just as she lingered at the entrance, wondering how she could approach the body without throwing up in front of her father and the police, the officer reminded her kindly, "You don't have to go near the body if you find the smell too repulsive."

"Is it still in the middle of an autopsy?" asked Yun Yecheng as he tried to endure the overpowering smell.

The officer retorted with a nod, "The autopsy isn't over yet, so please bear with us… The body was very badly… Even the senior coroners we've engaged to look into this case couldn't stand working with the body for a long period; that's why the tedious autopsy process has gone on for over half a month."

The old man frowned. He could imagine how gruesome the scene could be during the autopsy.

After pausing for a moment, he walked toward the table until the overpowering odor forced him to halt his steps. He turned his head back abruptly as he became nauseous. His tummy was churning terribly.

"Mr. Yun, don't force yourself anymore. An average person won't be able to tolerate this sight!"

The old man waved his hand and finally got to the side of the metal table. He looked down at the hideous pile of flesh, and a tear rolled down his eye without warning.

This is too terrible.

His heart ached at the sight in front of him. He had imagined all kinds of ending between them, but the thought of such a wretched end had never crossed his mind.

No matter how shallow this woman might be, she was still his wife. At the very least, they were married for decades; this was the last thing he would imagine her to show up in front of him.

By then, tears had covered his face.

"Li Qin… who did this to you?"

His daughter dashed forward to support him. "Dad, don't be sad… She's already gone…"

"How did it end up in this way? She had to suffer such a terrible death! Who could be so cruel?!"

"…"

"No matter how bad a person she was, she didn't deserve such an ugly death!" The old man continued to bawl his eyes out.

The policeman came over, covered the body with a piece of cloth, and helped the old man out of the door.

"We have at least identified the body, so we can make a conclusion after the DNA test. I'll need you two to assist me with your statements!"

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