Chapter 33: The Dismemberment Case
“Hah… hah… hah…”
A man’s ragged panting echoed through a dark alley. A stray cat curled in a corner watched quietly as this human—reeking of death—passed by.
Slowly, it stretched out a paw and slashed hard.
“Ah!” A sharp, sudden pain shot up from the man’s calf. His footing staggered, and he dropped straight to his knees. From the bag in his hands, scattered chunks of meat spilled out.
The man panicked instantly. Cursing under his breath, he hurriedly stuffed all the pieces back into the bag.
But he didn’t notice that a half finger had been snatched by the stray cat hidden in the shadows. Like a toy, it rolled it back and forth between its paws.
Early the next morning, a sanitation worker cleaning the street was clearing trash when she saw the little cat she often fed push over a long, narrow object and meow at her.
“Aiya, are you hungry? Grandma still has half a steamed bun.”
But when the worker squatted down to feed it, she realized the long strip on the ground looked… strangely familiar.
She leaned in for a closer look—and immediately let out a piercing scream.
“A finger! It’s a finger!!!”
The police arrived quickly. After asking around, they learned that the half finger had been carried over by a cat.
“A cat? Then where’s the cat?” Li Wei scanned the surroundings. He didn’t see a cat anywhere.
The sanitation worker looked awkward. She wasn’t sure where the kitten had gone. Usually it only showed up when it wanted food. No one knew where its nest was.
“Captain Li, then how do we find it?”
Li Wei slapped the back of his subordinate’s head hard. “How do we find it? Pull the surveillance!”
But after a whole round of frantic work, they discovered there were no cameras nearby. Even the ones that existed had long been scrapped from age and damage.
Without surveillance, the police couldn’t quickly screen the people in the area. This was an old district. Not far away were factories and construction sites, so the residents were a chaotic mix—locals and outsiders blended together, impossible to sort cleanly.
Fortunately, based on DNA from the finger, they quickly found the finger’s owner—he was a worker at a nearby construction site.
They went to the site to ask around, but were told the man had already quit. The site manager didn’t know what he’d been doing lately, or who he’d offended.
“But he used to have a buddy he hung out with. You can try finding him. His name is Zhao Dawen.” The manager offered a new lead.
And from him, the police also learned the two had recently had a conflict—though no one knew exactly about what.
“They both mumbled and dodged questions. Who knows whether they did something shady together and were afraid people would find out.” Not only the manager—other workers confirmed they were close, always drinking, whoring, gambling together.
Li Wei’s eyes turned cold. “Whoring and gambling?”
The other workers waved their hands quickly. “No, no, no—we didn’t participate! We just heard the two of them went to… As for gambling, we only play cards for fun. One bottle of iced black tea, two bottles of iced black tea—never real money.”
If they gambled away money, what would happen to their wives and kids back home?
Li Wei withdrew his gaze. From what these people said, the victim and his “friend” didn’t sound like decent men. If they got themselves into trouble, it wouldn’t be surprising.
But even so, it shouldn’t have escalated to murder and dismemberment, right?
What kind of hatred was this?
At first, they thought having another suspect would move the case forward. But when they finally found Zhao Dawen, they learned he’d gone to another city two days ago.
Hotel surveillance showed Zhao Dawen returned to his room at eight last night and never went out again until he left at eight this morning.
After investigating further, Li Wei learned that after leaving at nine, Zhao Dawen went to the lottery center to cash in his prize.
“First prize? What a coincidence.” Looking at the scruffy bearded man in front of him, Li Wei’s suspicion rose higher and higher.
Even though the cameras showed he didn’t leave, Li Wei’s years of detective instinct screamed that something about this man was wrong.
“What do you mean coincidence?” Zhao Dawen scratched his head blankly.
Li Wei stared at him coldly for a long time, then said flatly, “Nothing. Leave a contact number. We’ll come back later to ask you some more questions.”
“Oh, sure.”
As Zhao Dawen wrote his phone number, Li Wei suddenly asked, “Your friend is dead. Why don’t you look the least bit sad?”
Zhao Dawen’s hand paused slightly. He glanced at Li Wei and snorted. “Come on, officer. You already investigated me—how could you not know I had a conflict with him? Fine, I won’t hide it. That guy tried to steal my lottery ticket. I caught him, and after that, we fell out.”
Stealing someone’s money was like killing their parents—especially when it was a huge sum. He was already being generous by not laughing out loud.
Besides, he and the victim were only drinking buddies. If you asked whether there was any deep bond, absolutely not.
Zhao Dawen’s explanation was coherent and logical. And since the hotel couldn’t prove he’d left the room, the police investigation hit a dead end.
Li Wei led his team and turned the nearby area inside out again and again. They never found the kitten the sanitation worker had mentioned.
But they did find the first crime scene—and the location where the body was dismembered.
Meanwhile, in Wen’an District, Lin Jiangye was busy preparing to move.
He didn’t ask Shang Fuyan to solve the “hiring staff” issue, because the man who’d been saved thanks to Sang Biao—Mimi—happened to run a security company and a housekeeping company.
And what reassured Lin Jiangye most was that most of the employees these companies hired were retired soldiers.
Some were even veterans with level-nine or level-ten disability ratings—and the man hired them all in together.
“When I was in the army, someone saved me during a drill, but he ended up disabled by accident. After I retired, I heard he had trouble finding work, so I thought: why not start a housekeeping company for veterans? When it comes to cleaning, they won’t lose to any auntie.” Jiang Wenbing said with a smile.
When Lin Jiangye selected staff, he didn’t choose only disabled employees.
But if someone fit his needs, he would prioritize them.
Jiang Wenbing’s smile deepened. “That’s enough. They’re just missing a finger or have a lame leg—it’s not severe disability. If you treat them too ‘special,’ they’ll only feel uneasy.”
He even patted his chest and promised Lin Jiangye, “Every employee in the company—I’ve asked their squad leaders about them. I only hire people with good character. If anything goes wrong, come straight to me!”
So after Lin Jiangye brought Sang Biao—Mimi—to visit Jiang Wenbing, he swung by the housekeeping company and then took four people home with him.
When Jiang Xin saw the extra four people, his eyes lit up instantly!
Four more people—and one of them would specifically help him cook for the kids. Then he wouldn’t be exhausted like a dog anymore!
Wait—Lin Jiangye’s dogs lived more comfortably than humans!
It wasn’t that Jiang Xin was complaining the work was hard. On the contrary, he was happy doing it. It was just that… lately more and more crows had been coming to beg for food, to the point where it felt like the moment he opened his eyes, he had to start cooking.
Later, Lin Jiangye did warn the crows, so they stopped arriving in huge black waves.
But Jiang Xin actually felt happy taking care of them. If he had an assistant, he wouldn’t even mind cooking from morning until night.
The four newly hired men hadn’t even stepped inside yet when they saw a villa practically occupied by animals and froze on the spot.
Wait… was this really a residential home, not a zoo?
Did this young guy really not come to the wrong place?
“Rest well today. Tomorrow help pack. Then I’ll call a truck to the new home,” Lin Jiangye said. He’d had them come today because he needed people to pack.
He didn’t have much luggage. Jiang Xin didn’t either. What took up space was the kids’ stuff—cat nests, cat trees, dog beds, bird cages, and more.
It was all because he’d shopped too enthusiastically before and accidentally bought too much.
The four newcomers didn’t say much. After sleeping a night, they moved quickly and started working.
Lin Jiangye called a cargo truck. Along with the luggage and all five people, they went to the residential compound by the resort.
Only after verifying their identities did security allow them through.
The four men immediately sensed something, but before the employer explained, they knew better than to speak too much.
Lin Jiangye didn’t plan to hide it. After settling into the new home, he casually reminded them who lived nearby—then announced they were having hotpot!
He didn’t forget to tell the crows he’d moved. When the crows followed his familiar scent to the new place and saw endless branches across the mountains, their little black-bean eyes filled with delight.
[Can crow build a nest here?] So many branches—now crow could live here, and when hungry, just go find humans to feed it!
Lin Jiangye lifted a hand. “Go ahead. Just don’t poop everywhere, okay? Find somewhere secluded for that. Jiang Xin will clean regularly.”
The crows puffed up their chests proudly, as if to say they weren’t brainless sparrows—how could they possibly poop everywhere?
Lin Jiangye poked their heads. Perhaps because they’d been eating cooked food lately, the wild crows smelled much less. Hugging them also felt nicer.
“Remember these people too. They’ll live here from now on, alright?” Lin Jiangye led the four new staff to the front yard so the crows could come up one by one and memorize their scents.
Ever since hearing Lin Jiangye talk with the crows, the four men had been standing aside, watching the human-bird interaction with stunned faces.
Crows could actually remember scent?
“Yes. These crows are very smart—especially the ones with gemstones tied to their legs. Those are the cleverest. The resident crows in the house are Opal, Diamond, and Tourmaline. If you can’t tell them apart, just look at the gems on their legs.” Jiang Xin had been around the crows long enough to understand their temperaments.
So while the crows came up to memorize scents, the four men watched these black little birds with open curiosity.
One of them, missing two fingers, couldn’t resist when a palm-sized little crow landed on his shoulder. He reached out and petted it.
Birds ran warmer than humans, so it felt pleasantly warm—like a hand warmer.
And with their smooth, glossy feathers, the strange tactile sensation immediately hooked him.
The little crow didn’t dodge. It simply let the man cup it in both hands, tilting its head and cawing twice.
“What… what is it saying?” They all knew their employer had the uncanny ability to understand animals. They were curious what the little crow was saying.
When Lin Jiangye heard the little crow’s call, his gaze softened like spring water rippled by willow branches.
“It’s asking you whether your hand still hurts.”
The little crow didn’t know why this human was missing two fingers, but it knew that when its feathers were plucked, it hurt—so didn’t humans hurt too?
The man holding the crow was named Yu Anhe. His fingers had been chopped off by an enemy blade during a border conflict.
When he heard that translation, he froze as if he’d turned to stone.
Only when the crow sensed his hands growing cold, spread its wings, and covered both of his hands beneath its feathers—warming him so intensely it felt almost hot—did he finally snap back to himself.
“No… it doesn’t hurt anymore. It stopped hurting long ago.” In that instant, Yu Anhe suddenly understood why the employer treated these crows so well, and why Jiang Xin had immediately worried whether the crows would come by.
Not only the crows—during the move, there had been dogs lying beside him, their warm breath puffing over the places that had once been injured.
At that time… had they been worrying about him too?
It was a pity the employer had been in the car then—they hadn’t had time to ask.
The other three men’s gazes toward the crows gradually softened as well. It was the first time they’d felt concern coming from animals.
It didn’t feel the same as being cared for by comrades or family. It was more like…like stepping into a fairytale—something magical and beautiful.
Yu Anhe used his fingertips to gently rub the little crow’s head and belly, rubbing it until the little crow got so comfortable it was about to close its eyes.
After all the crows had memorized them, Yu Anhe followed behind Jiang Xin and started preparing food for the kids in the house.
As for the other three men, they went into another kitchen to prep the hotpot ingredients for the humans.
But a phone call shattered the cozy atmosphere of the new home.
Lin Jiangye glanced at the caller ID. The moment he saw it was the captain of Qingze District’s criminal investigation squad, his heart sank.
A tricky case… coming to find him again?
Sure enough—once the call connected, Lin Jiangye heard Li Wei sobbing and complaining that they couldn’t find any leads and wanted to ask for his help.
“No surveillance, can’t prove the suspect was at the scene, the victim’s remains aren’t complete, the murder weapon is missing… haha, I’m about to go crazy, wuwuwu!”
Lin Jiangye silently held the phone a little farther away. Li Wei was a grown man in his late thirties, almost forty, making that aggrieved whiny sound—honestly, it was painful to the ears.
Even though Lin Jiangye couldn’t see his overly dramatic face…
“Where did you find the partial remains?” Lin Jiangye asked casually—then heard a familiar place name.
“Downstream of the Tongji River, near the estuary.”
Again with the Tongji River? Why does every criminal want to dump bodies into that river? It’s not the Ganges—why are all the filthy, stinky things gathering there?
Li Wei scratched his head, deflated. “Because Qingze District is downstream of the Tongji River. Go a bit farther and it’s the Donghai Sea.”
Right now he suspected the remaining bones had already flowed into the Donghai Sea.
If that was the case… then forget finding them again.
Lin Jiangye pressed his forehead helplessly. He was just about to eat hotpot, and Li Wei was already dragging him into a dismemberment case.
Could he still swallow hotpot after that?
Reality proved that for Lin Jiangye, a dismemberment case couldn’t affect his appetite.
“People are iron, rice is steel—everything can wait until I finish eating first. Give me the address. I’ll go over tomorrow morning.” He’d been busy the whole day. It was already six, the sky was dark. If he went to Qingze District now, he could forget going home to sleep.
After getting Lin Jiangye’s agreement, Li Wei was so happy he practically cried again. He immediately submitted an official request to Wen’an District to temporarily borrow Consultant Lin to come help.
Very soon, Shang Fuyan heard about it too. When he heard the three words “Tongji River,” the thought that flashed through his mind was exactly the same as Lin Jiangye’s.
It’s not the Ganges—why is everything nasty getting dumped into that river?
Still, seeing how pitiful Captain Li was, Shang Fuyan didn’t reject the secondment request.
A dismemberment case… so vicious. Better solve it quickly, or it would become like Gao City—boiling over and making everyone uneasy.
Early the next morning, Lin Jiangye went out with three crows, plus the German Shepherd and “Tibetan Mastiff.”
Only after he left did Yu Anhe and the other three quietly start asking Jiang Xin about their employer.
Lin Jiangye wasn’t planning to hide anything, so Jiang Xin said directly, “Mr. Lin? He’s Wen’an District’s special consultant. That serial murder case that caused such a big stir—solved under his and the kids’ efforts.”
Their interest flared immediately. They’d heard of that case too—supposedly the crows even helped police find bodies. But they didn’t know the details.
So their employer was actually the “Consultant Lin” in the official police notice!
Jiang Xin knew quite a lot. Seeing they were interested, he happily sat in the front yard, grooming the kids while telling them the case-solving details.
From the night herons’ intel to the egret’s revenge—he had them gasping and yelping nonstop.
They were comfortable, but when Lin Jiangye reached the place where the finger had been found, he realized this area was quiet to an almost excessive degree.
Not “quiet” in terms of people—quiet in terms of small animals. There were barely any.
“Barely any—so what?” One of the officers with him didn’t understand.
“Fewer animals means fewer special witnesses. Less information, naturally. Forget it—let’s find that cat first. Did the sanitation worker describe what the cat looked like?” Lin Jiangye exhaled; white mist rose slowly. He noticed it was colder here than in Wen’an District.
Was it because it was too cold and they’d all gone somewhere warm to overwinter?
Lin Jiangye hoped that was the answer.
After releasing the three crows and letting “Tibetan Mastiff” run, it didn’t take long for a beautiful tortoiseshell cat to be led over.
[Human! Kitty found it!] Cats can smell other cats, you know!
Lin Jiangye rubbed the tabby’s little head and kissed the top of it, then looked at the not-too-big tortoiseshell.
The tortoiseshell was probably already an adult, but compared with a tabby it wasn’t much bigger—clearly, stray life hadn’t treated it well.
“Was it you who picked up half a human finger this morning?”
The tortoiseshell gave Lin Jiangye a cold look. There was faint resentment in its eyes—an expression that made him pause.
The last time he’d met an animal that hated him like this was the Angora ferret on the hillside. He didn’t expect to meet another small creature that hated humans so much.
[If you’d said you were bringing me to see humans, I wouldn’t have come.] With that, the tortoiseshell tried to leave.
“Hey, wait! I can give you food. Do you want it? I have no bad intentions. It’s just that the finger you brought—police still haven’t found the killer.”
The moment food was mentioned, the tortoiseshell couldn’t help stopping.
It looked at Lin Jiangye crouching down, then glanced at the tabby beside him. This tabby was clearly well cared for—its fur glossy and smooth, its face still pointy but its body sturdy and strong.
This human… wasn’t the same as those humans.
The tortoiseshell hesitated, then returned to Lin Jiangye, lifted its head and sniffed. The moment it caught his scent, the whole cat seemed to lag—then it tilted its head in confusion.
[Human… you also raise birds?]
Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives. The instant it finished speaking, Opal and Tourmaline returned too, dropping down from the sky.
But right as Opal was about to land on Lin Jiangye’s shoulder, a black shadow pounced—nearly knocking Opal over.
Opal’s feathers exploded in fright. It cawed wildly and flew off to the side.
Lin Jiangye looked at the tortoiseshell he’d grabbed by the waist, then gave the tabby a complicated look—he remembered that when Opal first came home, it had also gotten pounced by a cat.
Tourmaline was startled too, then immediately furious, neck stretching forward to peck the tortoiseshell—only to be restrained by Lin Jiangye as well.
“Stop it! No fighting! These two crows are mine—no eating!” The tortoiseshell’s speed was basically on par with how the tabby used to be. Luckily, Lin Jiangye had already been “trained” by the tabby, or else it would’ve been hard to catch.
The German Shepherd silently lowered its paw. Sorry—dogs can’t react as fast as cats… and it couldn’t even beat Lin Jiangye’s reflexes.
It walked to the tree Opal was hiding in and gave two soft “woo” sounds. Opal immediately dove down like it had found a senior, burying itself into the German Shepherd’s back and rolling around while crying.
[Cats are bad QAQ! Cats bully crows, and crow did nothing QAQ!]
The tabby looked a bit embarrassed too—clearly it remembered the “good deeds” it had done in the past…
After being held down by Lin Jiangye, the tortoiseshell gave up on chasing Opal. As for hunting Tourmaline… it would have to be insane to hunt a bird bigger than itself.
“If you’re hungry, I have food.” Lin Jiangye set it down and immediately pulled out a can from his backpack.
Once it was opened, the rich aroma made the tortoiseshell’s legs go weak.
“Eat. After you eat, can you answer my questions?” When he pressed it down earlier, Lin Jiangye already suspected the cat hadn’t eaten properly for days—there was nothing but bones under the fur.
But the tortoiseshell didn’t eat. It stared at the fragrant can, drooling inside, yet it still resisted the temptation and proposed a condition.
[Kitty can not eat. Human can ask anything and kitty can say. But human, can you prepare three… ugh four…] The tortoiseshell scratched its ear in frustration, apparently struggling with counting.
[Human! Can you give kitty one huge bag of kibble? The crunchy kind. One whole bag—bigger than kitty. Can you?]
After saying this, the tortoiseshell seemed to realize its demand was too shameless. It lowered its head in embarrassment.
But above it came the human’s smiling voice: “Yes. I agree. I can even take you to the pet store to pick. Whatever you like, we’ll buy.”
The tortoiseshell raised its head in disbelief. The young man was smiling at it. The big black bird on his shoulder looked displeased, but didn’t attack. The tabby that had brought it here leaned close beside it, warm and reassuring.
The little crow that it had attacked was hiding behind the big dog, peeking over. The big dog was wagging its tail, looking at it gently.
They… didn’t seem disgusted by its greedy condition at all.
The tortoiseshell’s paw twitched. It stepped on its own tail, and its eyes turned wet.
Kitty actually knows it’s a bit too much… but kitty really has no choice…
[Kitty didn’t see that person in the morning. It was at night—very, very late. The moon had only just come out.]
While translating, Lin Jiangye pulled out his phone and checked last night’s weather for Qingze District.
“Oh! I remember that time.” The squad member beside him looked up excitedly. “It was around one or two in the morning. There were clouds earlier, blocking it. It was after one, right? That’s when the moon came out.”
Damn—Captain Li was right. Once this special consultant showed up, the case would definitely move forward!
Understanding animal language is so cool… I want to learn too! I wonder if this consultant takes apprentices? What qualifications would you need…?
The young officer was multitasking—answering Lin Jiangye while internally rambling.
“Achoo!” Lin Jiangye suddenly felt his nose itch and sneezed hard.
The next second, Tourmaline spread its huge wings and covered Lin Jiangye’s entire head.
The bird’s high body temperature warmed him instantly.
[Kitty doesn’t know the exact time, kitty doesn’t understand. Kitty was hiding in the corner. That person didn’t see kitty. He had a very, very strong death smell. He was carrying two huge bags… kitty slashed him once, and he got startled. The bags fell, and some stuff spilled out.]
After that, the tortoiseshell hid half a finger. The stench was so disgusting it couldn’t even bite—one sniff and it wanted to retch.
“Did you see what he looked like? Anything different about his face from other humans?” Lin Jiangye pressed on.
The tortoiseshell nodded quickly and touched Lin Jiangye’s cheek with its paw.
[Here. A dark black thing.]
The young officer who was taking notes froze mid-pen, staring at Lin Jiangye in shock. “That Zhao Dawen has a black mark on his face.”
Lin Jiangye’s face remained calm. He waited patiently for the tortoiseshell to finish.
[Besides his face, when he was picking things up, kitty also saw a wound on his wrist—long, like a worm.]
The young officer’s face went dark. He slapped his notebook and snapped, “Zhao Dawen has a long scar on his wrist!”
A black facial mark, and a wrist scar—every detail pointed to Zhao Dawen, the man who supposedly stayed in the hotel all night.
Lin Jiangye thought for a moment, then asked the tortoiseshell, “When you scratched him, where did you scratch?”
He stood up and let the tortoiseshell demonstrate on him.
Very quickly, it left a gray pawprint on Lin Jiangye’s calf.
“Did you use force back then?”
The tortoiseshell nodded. Of course it did. It was angry. That human carried the death smell it hated most. It didn’t pounce only because it feared it couldn’t win.
“Alright…” Lin Jiangye rubbed the cat’s head hard, then turned to the young officer. “Its claws are sharp. When you investigate Zhao Dawen, look for ripped pants.”
The young officer’s eyes lit up. It might not be hard evidence, but they could use it to bluff him!
If there was cat fur on the pants, they could even take fur from this tortoiseshell for DNA comparison—maybe proving he’d been here after midnight.
Lin Jiangye held the tortoiseshell in his arms. The warmth made it start purring despite itself.
“By the way—everyone says Zhao Dawen stayed in the hotel all night. Based on what? Did someone stay with him?”
The young officer shook his head and explained everything they had found.
Hearing it was only that the hotel’s front-door camera didn’t capture him leaving, Lin Jiangye asked suspiciously, “Couldn’t there be a back door? What floor was he on? Could he have climbed down a drainpipe?”
The young officer spread his hands. “There is a back area. We checked. But even if he climbed down pipes, there’s no other exit. Behind the hotel is a three-meter wall—who could climb that? And there are no ladders inside either.”
They’d checked everything. Apart from the front door, there seemed to be no way out.
Lin Jiangye didn’t quite believe it—not that he doubted Captain Li’s ability. But since the tortoiseshell had described the suspect so precisely, it meant Zhao Dawen must have come out.
The hotel…
“Take me to where the remains were dumped first.” After checking downstream, they could go look at the hotel.
But before that, Lin Jiangye took the tortoiseshell to a pet store and bought it a full bag of cat food—four kilograms.
But then came the problem. “How will you carry it away? Do you need me to carry it to where you want?”
The tortoiseshell shook its head furiously, rejecting his help. But when it tugged hard and still couldn’t move it, it had no choice.
[Human, can you… not get close to us later?]
“Us…” Lin Jiangye paused, then understood immediately. He nodded. “Okay. I won’t get close. I can carry it to the spot you want. After I leave, you all can come out.”
The tortoiseshell grew even more ashamed. Before Lin Jiangye stood up, it rubbed itself against him voluntarily.
Lin Jiangye drove slowly, taking the tortoiseshell to an abandoned factory.
Following its directions, he placed the bag of cat food in a small shed outside, then cut open a slit so they could pull food out easily from the hole.
But before leaving, Lin Jiangye couldn’t help glancing back at the factory.
For an instant, he seemed to smell faint blood. Not strong, but mixed with a rotting scent—like a wound that had been left untreated so long it could only rot.
If even a human could smell it, then the German Shepherd, Tourmaline, Opal, and the tabby definitely sensed a severely injured animal hidden nearby.
The tabby pawed at Lin Jiangye’s arm and whispered anxiously, [Human, aren’t we going to take a look?]
Kitty is worried about them.
But Lin Jiangye shook his head. “Not now. They’re very wary. Forget taking them—just getting a look might be impossible. But good thing there’s no death smell. Once we solve this case, we’ll come back. Then we’ll ask the tortoiseshell properly and leave some wound medicine.”
Opal wanted to go check, but Lin Jiangye pressed its head down with one hand. “Don’t. You don’t want to get pounced by a cat again, do you?”
[…] Opal’s feathers bristled. Why say that? Of all things, why bring up that?
“Hahaha, sorry, sorry.” Lin Jiangye was laughing happily, but it didn’t sound very sorry.
After they fully left, a dirty Border Collie emerged slowly from the shadows. It watched the vehicle disappear onto the road, then looked at its front paw, which was nearly rotten through.
Behind it was a curled-up group of underage kittens and puppies, all injured—wounds that looked human-inflicted.
The tortoiseshell hopped down from the shed roof and trotted to the Border Collie.
[Kitty… that human wanted to ask about the bad human kitty met last night, and traded food. Kitty couldn’t drag back such a huge bag.]
The Border Collie went into the shed and saw the full bag of cat food. It sighed.
[Not your fault.]
The tortoiseshell probably weighed only four or five jin. This bag was heavier than it was. Forget it—at its current state, even the Border Collie probably couldn’t have dragged it back.
[Go on. Wake the kids up and let them eat.]
After the tortoiseshell disappeared inside, the Border Collie’s eyes dimmed.
It felt… it couldn’t hold on much longer. If it died, what would happen to these babies?
In the car, the German Shepherd was also telling Lin Jiangye about the hidden injured animal.
[It’s like me.]
Lin Jiangye frowned. “Like you? Another German Shepherd?”
[No. A dog.]
Those final three words made Lin Jiangye feel strangely unsettled. The German Shepherd’s intelligence was so high that sometimes it felt like he was talking to a human. But when he looked back at that fluffy, honest face, the contrast was huge.
Sometimes Lin Jiangye worried about the German Shepherd. Animals that were too intelligent often didn’t fit in. It wasn’t happening at home right now—but that didn’t mean it would never happen.
Yet the German Shepherd didn’t seem worried at all. It watched Lin Jiangye quietly for a while, and when they stopped at a red light, it suddenly nudged Lin Jiangye’s right hand.
[Don’t worry. I’m very happy now.]
At home there were dumb little cats and dumb little crows, but also a smart raven, and also a big crow full of elder wisdom and tolerance. It felt very happy.
“Alright then. As long as you’re happy.” Lin Jiangye rubbed the dog’s muzzle and drove on toward the dumping site.
When they arrived, Lin Jiangye stepped out and immediately saw Captain Li smoking.
“Consultant Lin!” The moment Li Wei saw him, bright light burst from his eyes. Even his voice no longer sounded miserable.
After Lin Jiangye waved hello, Li Wei led him to the place where the dismembered remains had been found.
Captain Li handed him several photos—images of minced flesh scattered along the riverbank. Based on measurements, the chunks were about the size of steamed pork ribs.
“This looks like it was chopped by a machine, right?” Otherwise, how long would it take to hack it by hand?
Li Wei nodded. Seeing the little cat on Lin Jiangye’s shoulder shaking its head, he immediately crushed his cigarette underfoot.
“It was a machine. We found the first crime scene at the victim’s home—there were traces of blood. The dismemberment site was a dumpling factory not far from the victim’s house. There was a meat grinder inside that had been used. When the dumpling factory owner heard, he got so mad he cursed nonstop.”
And the factory key had been on the victim. Li Wei strongly suspected the killer hadn’t originally planned to mince the victim into meat—at least not at the beginning.
It was only after they discovered the key to the dumpling factory on the victim that the killer changed his mind and chopped the body into pieces.
“The dumpling factory doesn’t have surveillance?” A food-processing place like that should have cameras everywhere.
Li Wei gave a cold laugh, rubbing his fingers as he said irritably, “No cameras—because it’s an unlicensed black factory!”
What would a black factory want cameras for? Wouldn’t that just record their filthy production process?
“…” Lin Jiangye suddenly understood why Captain Li had called him over. So basically, everything had gone wrong at every step.
Places that should’ve had cameras didn’t. Places that did have cameras hadn’t captured anything useful… brutal.
Meeting the young man’s sympathetic gaze, Li Wei almost wanted to clutch his thigh and sob.
“When you searched the area, did you see any small animals?” Normally there should be some gulls around here. Maybe they even saw the killer dumping the remains.
Li Wei scratched his head and pointed toward a mountain downstream. “I remember there are sika deer on that mountain, and there are seals in the bay farther out. But both are kind of far from here. As for gulls… we haven’t seen any lately.”
As he spoke, even Li Wei felt it was strange.
He’d been thinking ever since he arrived that something felt off. Logically, there should’ve been plenty of gulls along this riverbank. He even remembered bringing his son here last year to feed them—so why was there nothing now?
Lin Jiangye’s expression turned cool and flat. This empty, deserted feeling reminded him of the old city district—there were barely any small animals there too.
He released the crows. After quite a while, Diamond returned with bad news:
[The gulls don’t dare come near here. They said people often shoot birds here.]
“???” Lin Jiangye was shocked—yet not really shocked.
Whenever something violates the natural order, it’s usually tied to human behavior.
He told Li Wei. Instantly, not only Li Wei, but every squad member around them stood there with mouths open, faces full of disbelief.
Gulls might not be rare protected animals, but they were still “three-protections” wildlife. Attacking them was illegal!
“That’s not the main point.” Lin Jiangye’s voice dropped. “I’ve noticed your city basically has no stray animals. It hasn’t even started snowing yet, so freezing to death isn’t likely. And on top of that, people are shooting birds… I suspect there’s a group of people in Qingze District killing wild animals.”
Li Wei was about to argue that the sika deer on the mountain were fine—but the words died in his throat when he remembered:
Those deer weren’t wild. They were raised by a Taoist temple in the mountains, each one with a tag.
If you kill someone’s owned animals, you can be held financially liable. That might be why they didn’t touch the deer and instead targeted stray small animals—and the gulls that sometimes appeared along the riverbank.
Because if those animals died… no one would care.
This was the lower reach of the river. The banks were wide and open, impossible to monitor with cameras. It had become a perfect place for scum to do evil.
“Fuck.” Li Wei couldn’t help cursing.
Once he solved this case, he would bring people here to watch the area. He refused to believe he couldn’t catch those bastards.
He’d also notify the Forestry Bureau and get them to patrol here too!
Lin Jiangye thought again of the dog hidden in the abandoned factory—had it run into those people, and that was why it was hurt so badly?
And the tortoiseshell’s request for such a huge bag of cat food clearly wasn’t just for itself and one dog. That meant there were more small animals hidden in the shadows.
“Even if… sigh, forget it.” Lin Jiangye rubbed his brow. “In the future, if you run into stray cats or dogs, and you can bring them to me, do it. I’ll settle them properly.” If they weren’t suited to living with humans, then after spay/neuter he’d release them again—but he would never release them back into Qingze District.
Li Wei also remembered the stray dogs who had helped in that trafficking case. Back then, Qingze District’s dogs had contributed plenty too.
Their station still had a habit of feeding stray cats and dogs. It was just that lately there seemed to be fewer and fewer, until gradually no one was feeding anymore.
Back then they thought the cats and dogs had simply moved elsewhere. Who would’ve guessed…
“After we solve this, we’ll investigate properly.” Even though there wasn’t a companion animal protection law yet, Li Wei didn’t believe people who slaughtered animals so casually were “clean” in other ways.
Lin Jiangye nodded silently.
Soon, the other two crows returned—bringing with them two gray-backed gulls.
The young man placed the food he’d prepared in front of them, then led Li Wei and the others back a few steps. “Eat first. After you finish, I’ll ask.”
The gray-backed gulls had only come to test him—who knew this human would actually be so straightforward!
He smelled so good; sure enough, he was a good human!
They didn’t hold back. They gobbled everything down, then got grabbed by Lin Jiangye and treated to a comfortable round of “massage.”
After that whole routine, they had zero resistance left. Before Lin Jiangye even asked, they poured out everything they’d seen in one breath.
[Gull really did see a human sneaking around. He drove here in a car. The car looked old, and it didn’t have a plate-plate.]
One gray-backed gull hopped onto a policeman and continued:
[That person looks kind of like him, but fatter!]
Li Wei turned to his subordinate. “How tall are you?”
The guy scratched his head, then closed his eyes and mumbled softly, “176…”
“Huh? Don’t you always say you’re 180?” The coworkers were stunned; the guy quietly turned his back to them.
Li Wei recalled Zhao Dawen’s height—around 175—and he was indeed bulkier than this subordinate.
That matched again!
[Gull also saw his bags—bags with meat inside. Looks like he threw them down too!]
As soon as it said that, the other gray-backed gull suddenly added:
[Eh? Didn’t gull hear one gull picked up a bag? But because it smelled stinky-stinky, gull didn’t bring it back to use?]
A bag used to hold the body?
“Where? Do you know where he threw the bag?” Lin Jiangye asked urgently.
One of Li Wei’s subordinates had told him earlier that the victim was dismembered at the dumpling factory after death. But the police had found no weapon at either the victim’s home or the factory. Lin Jiangye suspected it might’ve been thrown away together with the bag.
[Gull knows! You follow gull!]
Only when they were about to go did everyone realize—this would require a boat.
The gulls no longer dared approach the riverbank. They’d moved their nests to the cliff on the other side, terrified their babies would get killed by bad humans too.
After translating all that, Li Wei and the others felt ashamed.
“Don’t worry! I’ll catch those bad humans and avenge you!” Li Wei swore fiercely.
Hurt that many gulls? Get your asses into prison!
