Chapter 346 - 218: A Hero’s Shortness of Breath
Although somewhat puzzled, Ran Yunsheng felt that nothing would go awry at the Ministry of Criminal Justice Office, so after giving Ran Yan a few instructions, he went with Liu Qingsong to rest in the side hall.
Xiao Song and Ran Yan then went to a small room in the southeast corner of the courtyard. As soon as the door was opened, Ran Yan immediately smelled the strong scent of burning atractylodes and soap nuts, accompanied by the sight of smoke filling the room.
The room was brightly lit; two figures ran out of the smoke and stood firmly in front of Xiao Song, bowing, "Assistant Minister Xiao, we have burned the atractylodes and soap nuts as you instructed and prepared the ginger slices."
It was only then that Ran Yan could see clearly; the two men were both around thirty-five years old, their skin showing an unnatural pallor— a symptom of prolonged exposure to corpses without adequate protective measures.
Forensic Doctor was a despised profession, and those who practiced it were often of low status. They understood basic medical knowledge but lacked self-protection awareness, usually just covering themselves with a cloth when working closely with bodies. Sometimes they might not even use that thin layer of cloth, directly facing the corpses. Prolonged exposure to decaying gases led to their sickly appearance.
Xiao Song waved his hand to disperse the smoke and asked, "Is everything prepared?"
"Everything is ready," the two men answered in unison, sneaking glances at Ran Yan, thinking it strange enough that the Assistant Minister of Ministry of Justice was personally observing the autopsy, but even stranger that he brought a woman along. Weren’t they afraid she would get scared?
As they thought this, their hands were already dragging over the prepared chests, opening them in front of Xiao Song.
"You have injuries; will it be improper to come into contact with unclean things?" Xiao Song turned his head to look at Ran Yan.
Ran Yan shook her head, "It’s now just bones left, not much decaying gas is present, it’s not a big deal."