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.
