Fix Smile Order Chapter 13
Translated by Pure
Edited by cookiecrunch
Chapter 13: Call My Little Soul
The corpse was a young girl’s. She had a wooden hairpin and wore plain cotton clothing. There were several scratches on the clothes, probably due to branches and sharp stones. There was a dark circle around her neck, and it looked like she might have been strangled and suffocated to death.
Other than that, Tang Tianyuan couldn't see anything else. He was not a coroner, and this was the first time he'd seen a corpse up close.
Tang Tianyuan clapped his hands in prayer, took a few steps back, and looked down at Tan Lingyin, who was still on the ground.
She was still in a daze. Usually a restless rat, but now she’d become a sick cat. Tang Tianyuan shook his head, "Guileless!"
Tan Lingyin slowly turned her head and looked at him.
"Sir, are you and Head Commissioner Tan okay?" Zhao Xiaoliu's question came from above.
"We’re okay."
He bent down and pulled Tan Lingyin's arm, "Can you stand?"
Tan Lingyin sat still, "My... my legs feel weak..."
Tang Tianyuan looked at her pale face and felt a little sympathetic. Although this person was very annoying, she was still a girl, so he squatted down, "I'll carry you."
"That’s a litte……"
"Then never mind." He was ready to stand back up.
Tan Lingyin quickly landed on his back.
Tang Tianyuan carried her on his back and began to climb the slope. He only took a few steps before stopping.
Tan Lingyin was a girl, and her soft chest, which was completely different from a man's, was pressing against his back. His face began to heat up, and the blush refused to subside.
"You better go yourself." Tang Tianyuan was ready to put her down.
“No.” It’s more convenient to be carried by someone else.
Tang Tianyuan was helpless, “Then keep some distance.”
Suddenly comprehending his misgivings, Tan Lingyin also mirrored his embarrassment. However, she didn’t want to climb the steep slope; the worst came to worst, she might fall down again. Anyways, it was him who pushed her down in the first place, so allowing him to carry her was not considered a grievance.
So she chose to straighten her back and strived to stretch her back backward.
As the two were on a steep slope, Tan Lingyin's action was equivalent to pulling Tang Tianyuan backward. The latter lost his balance because their backs were almost perpendicular.
Sure enough, they rolled down again. Tan Lingyin was a little frustrated. She looked at Tang Tianyuan reproachfully.
Tang Tianyuan could read her eyes, and it said: why are you so stupid?
Tang Tianyuan really didn't know what he had done in his previous life for him to meet such an astonishing person like Tan Lingyin. He patted his clothes, got up, picked up Tan Lingyin, and put her over his shoulder. He put some force into his feet and climbed up the steep slope in one go.
Tan Lingyin was then thrown to the ground like a sack.
Afterward, Tang Tianyuan briefed the situation under the slope with Zhao Xiaoliu and Li Dawang and asked them to return to the county government to find the wucha[1]. On such a hot day, the corpse could easily decompose, so the site must be inspected, and the corpse must be transported back as soon as possible. When the two learned that there was a murder, they hurriedly went back to request personale.
Only Tang Tianyuan and Tan Lingyin were left on the big stone slab.
Tang Tianyuan looked at the languid Tan Lingyin and said, "With this courage, you dare to visit the county government at night?"
"No, sir, you don't understand," Tan Lingyin said with a sad face, "I rolled down and plunged into her arms. Because of the suddenness, my soul was frightened out of my body."
Tang Tianyuan initially thought she was just exaggerating, but he didn't expect her to continue and ask, "Sir, can you call my little soul back?"
Tang Tianyuan presumed she must have hit her head during the fall, making her already bad brain even worse. Otherwise, how could she pretend to be a ghost and even ask for her soul back in front of a government official?
Seeing that he didn't believe her, Tan Lingyin explained, "Sir, I really lost my soul. I'm weak, sleepy, and listless now... You’re the one who clearly threw me down!"
"Cough, I didn't mean it, pardon me."
"Then… can you call my little soul?"
"No."
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Footnotes:
[1]wucha- 仵差 (249) The only official female profession of the era. They were coroners and would also go out of the government office to make arrests.