Chapter 136

After clearing away the debris to expose the head of the corpse, Mu Mian and Fang Rui discovered that the deceased's teeth were pink.

"We have rose teeth here, which suggests the deceased likely died from asphyxiation, or at least experienced a period of suffocation," Mu Mian analyzed.

The surface of the body, even the mouth and nose, was covered with some white crystals.

The deceased was a male.

Mu Mian used a scalpel to scrape off some of the white crystals, planning to send them for testing.

"These white crystals look like clumped salt," Fang Rui picked up a few and observed them closely.

"Salt is a good preservative," Mu Mian agreed.

"The deceased's head seems to have wounds," Fang Rui noted.

"Yes, there are wounds on the left forehead, the back of the head, and behind the ears. Judging from the shape of the wounds, they were likely caused by hitting the steps of a staircase. He probably rolled down the stairs before he died," Mu Mian explained.

"Zhang Mingli said she pushed the deceased from upstairs, causing him to roll down the stairs. The deceased's experience is exactly as she described," Fang Rui was a bit surprised. He speculated, "Could Zhang Mingli be a witness to this murder? She might have amnesia or was too young at the time of the incident to remember. But now, returning to the scene, she has recalled it."

"It's possible. When the murder occurred, Miss Zhang was just a child. She might have witnessed the killing process and, due to the intense shock, lost her memory. When she returned to this house, she remembered the scene but, due to inaccurate memory, she distorted the killer into herself, mistakenly thinking she had killed someone."

Fang Rui suddenly remembered that Zhang Mingli had a mother with schizophrenia. He made a bolder conjecture: "Could it be her mother who killed the person? Her mother might look very similar to her, so she mistakenly thought she had killed someone?" Fang Rui even suspected that her mother went insane because she accidentally killed someone.

But if that were the case, why didn't Zhang Mingli know she had lived in this house before? Even if she had amnesia, wouldn't her uncle know? It seems they need to investigate the previous owners of this house thoroughly.

"Your guess makes sense, but we don't have any evidence," Mu Mian was still more interested in the corpse. She restrained her urge to dissect it immediately. Chen Xue had certainly never dissected a corpse like this before. She wanted to wait until tomorrow when Chen Xue came to work and dissect it together with her. Let Chen Xue gain some experience.

Of course, a more important reason was that she was very tired now. This state was not suitable for dissecting a corpse.

Around one in the morning, they drove home.

Mu Mian took out her key to open the door, but the door opened by itself. Shen Xiyin had heard Mu Mian's footsteps and came to open the door for her.

"Sister, I encountered a mummified corpse today. It was buried in cement, and I dug for a long time to get it out. You were right not to let me become an archaeologist; it was a wise decision. Digging up corpses is too tiring," Mu Mian couldn't wait to share the corpse she encountered with Shen Xiyin.

"Xiaomian, then go get some rest quickly."

"I need to adjust my schedule. I'll sleep in twenty minutes later tomorrow. The paper I was supposed to read tomorrow morning, I'll move it to the evening."

"Alright, then I'll wake you up twenty minutes later tomorrow."

"No need, I'll set an alarm myself."

Mu Mian turned back to look at Fang Rui, "Fang Rui, goodnight. See you tomorrow." After saying that, Mu Mian walked towards her room.

"Goodnight."

After Mu Mian entered her room, Fang Rui said to Shen Xiyin, "Miss Shen, you don't need to worry too much about Mu Mian. I'll protect her. What happened last time won't happen again."

Shen Xiyin smiled at him and said, "It's not that I'm worried she'll get into trouble. It's just that I'm used to sleeping after Xiaomian falls asleep. I think I should change this habit."

"Are you going to marry Lin Sen?"

"Your way of speaking seems a bit influenced by Xiaomian. Of course not, whether I get married or not won't affect Xiaomian's life. I just feel that she no longer needs me." Shen Xiyin felt both relieved and a bit lost.

Mu Mian was the most important piece of her life. She didn't know if in the future, she could find another piece to fill the void.

Shen Xiyin took down a notebook from the bookshelf and handed it to Fang Rui, "I'll give this to you; I think you might find it useful."

Fang Rui saw that the notebook was titled: "Mu Mian's User Manual."

He flipped through it casually. It was divided into sections on clothing, food, housing, and transportation, recording various habits of Mu Mian. There was even an appendix that listed Mu Mian's various behaviors and language corresponding to her thoughts. It even had color illustrations depicting Mu Mian's various actions and small stories.

There were two types of handwriting in it, one light and elegant, the other powerful and vigorous. The first part mixed both handwritings, but the latter part only had the light and elegant one.

"I'm very happy that Xiaomian can have love," Shen Xiyin said with a smile, "When she was in that stage where she didn't talk much, we once wondered if Xiaomian would ever have love. So we started writing this manual, hoping to help that person better understand her. She's a bit troublesome, but she's also very simple; she's easy to take care of."

When Shen Xiyin mentioned "we," she seemed to think of something and then withdrew her smile.

"Sister, are you saying that she likes me?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

Fang Rui's heart instantly bloomed with joy. Shen Xiyin was the most understanding person of Mu Mian, and her words must be correct.

"Thank you!"

After seeing Fang Rui off, Shen Xiyin also planned to go to bed. At that moment, Mu Mian came out of her room again, half-asleep, and walked up to Shen Xiyin.

"Sister, I just said goodnight to Fang Rui but forgot to say it to you. Sister, goodnight."

"Xiaomian, goodnight."

Mu Mian squinted her eyes and dragged her feet back to her room.

Aliali: 6743211ac4f3f33ac42e7315

Shen Xiyin thought that even if Mu Mian no longer needed her, she would still be the most important person in Mu Mian's life.

The next day, Mu Mian sat listlessly in the office. She looked at the time; it was already 9:05, and Chen Xue still hadn't come to work. Although Chen Xue always came late and often arrived just in time, she was never late. Had something happened to her?

Just as Mu Mian was about to call Chen Xue, she walked in. She had a drooping face, her eyes were red, and she looked more exhausted than Mu Mian, who had stayed up all night.

Mu Mian sighed; digging up corpses was indeed a physically demanding task, looking at how tired Chen Xue was. Fortunately, Mu Mian was prepared; she had bought two cups of extra strong black coffee.

"Chen Xue, I bought you some coffee. Drink it first, and then we'll go dissect that corpse," Mu Mian took a sip of the black coffee, it was so bitter, she stuck out her tongue to relieve the bitterness, but then she drank several more sips. She needed the coffee to perk herself up.

"No thanks, life is already bitter enough; who would drink such a bitter thing," Chen Xue said softly, her head lowered.

"But aren't you the one who loves coffee the most? You wouldn't be picky about whose coffee you drink, would you?" Mu Mian felt that today's Chen Xue was very unusual.

"I won't drink it anymore."

"Then I'll give it to Fang Rui. Don't waste it."

"..."

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