Bone Painting Coroner

Chapter 33 - Bone Broth

As the corpse's throat was cut open, it began emitting a vile, nauseating smell of charred flesh and blood.

Jing Rong continued to frown, but kept his mouth shut.

Ji Yunshu put the knife aside. Next, she used both her hands to tear open the cut she had made on his throat. As she applied some force with her fingers, the bones in his throat snapped. This action also ruptured some veins, causing gelatinous blood to trickle out slowly. As Ji Yunshu had forgotten to wear her gloves, her hands were now completely soaked in blood. As if she was playing with a toy, she continued to fiddle inside his throat cavity in search of something. The sight was absolutely sickening!

It was no longer possible to describe what Jing Rong was feeling. He had killed countless people on the battlefield; his hands were dyed with the blood of more than ten thousand souls. He had seen enough corpses littered around him to the point it had become a normal sight. Yet, it was the first time he had seen someone dismantle a dead body with their bare hands in such a manner. The scene was truly too sensational!

"Did you see something?" Jing Rong wrinkled his nose as he prodded.

"When we examine the body of those deceased by poisoning, the most important thing to determine is the type of poison used."

"What poison killed them?"

"We still don't know for now." Ji Yunshu knocked her hand on the throat bones. After pondering for a moment, she took the bones, still dripping in blood, with her.

Fu Bo, who had just finished offering incense to the dead, came in and saw Ji Yunshu going to the door. She asked, "Fu Bo, did you boil the vinegar and water?"

Fu Bo nodded while pointing at a small hut inside the courtyard, "I thought you might need it, so I prepared it beforehand. When you're done with it, don't forget to change the water."

"I know." She promised straightforwardly. She clasped the hyoid bone and surrounding cartilage bones and went inside the hut. Like a shadow, Jing Rong slipped in stealthily after her.

As soon as he entered the hut, Jing Rong was scared out of his wits. His legs halted right in front of the door and wouldn't budge, like it was glued to the floor. He still forced himself to move forward one step at a time. There was only a single candle moving to and fro from the ceiling inside the dimly-lit hut. All the walls inside the hut were covered by tall shelves. On each shelf, there were earthen jars, each with bone ash piled inside!

Ji Yunshu walked to a big cauldron, containing a solution of white vinegar bubbling merrily under the heat of the fire. Next, she threw the gathered bones into the cauldron. She shot a glance at Jing Rong and could already guess what was on his mind. She took a moment before she spoke to him, "Your Highness doesn't need to be scared. Those jars contain the ashes of those travelers from foreign lands whose identities remain unknown. Fu Bo couldn't bear for their corpses to be thrown out in the wilderness, so he cremated them and their ashes are placed in an earthen jar."

Jing Rong retorted, "Scholar, when was this prince scared?"

Ji Yunshu's mouth curved down. Damned bastard! He can't even admit it!

While Ji Yunshu was lost in thought, Jing Rong moved next to her and watched the bone that had sunk into the boiling vinegar solution. He voiced his doubts, "What are you doing?"

Ji Yunshu blurted out, "I'm making bone broth ."

The instant Jing Rong heard her answer, he felt as if the back of his skull had been forced open, and chills traveled down his spine! While he was assailed by shivers, Ji Yunshu let out a cry of surprise and pointed at the vinegar solution. "Your Highness, look at this quickly!"