The white fabric in her hand was shaped in a rectangle and the material used didn’t feel coarse. It was similar to hemp. There was no embroidery on it, but when she rubbed it, she felt that it was greasy. She approached the cloth to her nose and sniff it.
“It smells like lard!” This was the conclusion she came to after examining it. It made her quite baffled. She muttered in shock. “If this cloth was something used by the woodcutter to wipe his sweat, it should smell sour from the sweat. So, why does it smell like lard?”
She sniffed it once again and frowned. “There’s a faint smell of makeup!”
The discovery got even weirder. ‘How is it possible for this cloth to have the faint fragrance of women’s makeup and also lard at the same time?” Entranced by those confusing clues, she didn’t notice Jing Rong standing behind her until his voice was heard.
“For this piece of white cloth, you were willing to throw your life away. It is also for this that you left behind your ‘boyfriend’?”
“……” She turned around and saw Jing Rong dressed in blue brocade. His whole body was refreshed and his mood happy. He didn’t appear the least bit injured and very unlike the pitiful state he was in yesterday. She opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but in the end, she swallowed back her words, staying still where she was. She was a bit fearful of him right now.
“It’s broad daylight, I’m not going to eat you.” Jing Rong teased her.
Her shoulders slumped, appearing defeated by his words. She lowered her brows. “I am not afraid that you will… take advantage of me. I am thinking about the case right now.”
“Tell me what you found!” Jing Rong lifted the hem of his cloth and sat on the stone chair next to her.
Ji Yunshu’s expression was serious as she spoke while showing him the white cloth. “This cloth was found in Liang mountain. I’m not certain if this is a clue related to the missing girls case. However, this cloth is strange.”
“What do you mean by strange?”
“Since it was in the mountain, it should belong to a woodcutter. If it was the case, it should have been covered in the smell of sweat. However, it smelled of lard instead. In addition to that, there is a faint scent of rouge on it.”
“It might be the smell of rouge from your body.”
“No!” Ji Yunshu overruled his conjecture. “The smell isn’t the same.” Jing Rong became curious and also sniffed the white cloth, but no matter how much he smelled it, he couldn’t even tell any difference in the smell at all. He inquired, “Are you a dog? Last time, you were able to smell wine from that tiny sawdust. And now, you can surprisingly detect the smell of rouge on this white cloth.”
‘This is too mysterious!’
Ji Yunshu smiled sourly at him. “Maybe I was a loyal police dog in my past life.”
‘Police? What is that thing?’ Ever since he met her, Jing Rong had heard her use too many odd words to the extent that he became even more curious about her. “Who in the world are you?” His question abruptly came out of nowhere.
Ji Yunshu stared at him. “Does your Highness have amnesia?”
“I do not!”
“Oh…” She successfully evaded Jing Rong’s question. She couldn’t explain that her sharp sense of smell had been rigorously trained by her forensic investigator dad.
For him, a veteran forensic investigator, a well-developed sense of smell was very important. Since she was a child, she was trained in order to follow in his footsteps. Frequently, he would make her smell many strange things and after a long time, she was even able to differentiate fresh water from sea water with her eyes closed. Fortunately, this became her special skill which helped her solve many cases.
1. Maoshi = 5-7am