Chapter 74: Wolves Are Seriously Awesome!
How long does it take a case to snowball from petty theft to two deaths?
Lin Jiangye can tell you: less than half a day.
Hearing the young man complain, Shang Fuyan’s mouth twitched slightly. They’d thought that catching Liu Zhi for drug use would be the end of it—only for them to arrive at the show and catch him poisoning other people in the act, and then, on top of that, discover two corpses buried on the island.
“Whose island is this?” Lin Jiangye suddenly asked.
From the manager who’d tried to stop them earlier, it was clear the garden above the bodies—the flower sea—was something the island’s owner valued deeply. So… did the owner know there were corpses buried beneath it?
Or worse—were those two bodies connected to him?
“The island is under Qinghu Group chairman Zhang Weian’s name. He bought it to ‘fulfill a dream’ for himself and his wife.”
Lin Jiangye glanced at him, a little puzzled by how much Shang Fuyan seemed to know.
Shang Fuyan understood the look immediately and smiled. “Because I participated in that auction too.”
Lin Jiangye paused, then looked at him with open envy. “What else was in that auction?”
They were selling islands? He wanted one too.
Shang Fuyan shrugged. “It was a charity auction. All proceeds went to impoverished mountain areas. So the auction had everything. The island itself was put up by the government—if it was just sitting unused anyway, they might as well donate it and use the money to build kids a proper mountain road.”
He listed several items that had appeared at the auction. Lin Jiangye couldn’t help sighing to himself—what a shame he’d come back too late. Otherwise, that island might’ve been his.
“Back to the point,” Lin Jiangye said. “What do you think the two dead are?”
They’d examined the bodies, but found no identity clues at all. The only thing they could glean was from the ruined clothing.
“Their faces were slashed—cut with a blade. I suspect the killer had a deep grudge against them. And… I suspect burying them here had another purpose.” Shang Fuyan recalled the details they’d found and explained carefully.
The victims’ living conditions must have been excellent. Even with decay, you could still tell the fabric was high-end—expensive.
And from what remained of the skin that hadn’t fully decomposed, you could also tell they’d lived a pampered life.
Shang Fuyan tried to recall whether any wealthy people had died in the past year or two, but after going through the list, all of them had died naturally.
“Maybe… missing persons?”
Shang Fuyan and Lin Jiangye exchanged a look. The man’s brow gradually furrowed. “If we’re talking missing… then yes. There actually are two.”
Oh? Who?
Lin Jiangye’s eyes sharpened with curiosity—only for Shang Fuyan to drop an unexpected name:
“The former chairman of Qinghu Group—Zhang Weian’s parents-in-law.”
It sounded surprising, but when you thought about it, it wasn’t that surprising at all.
“But their disappearance was filed as an ‘accident.’ The police couldn’t find their bodies, so they were listed as missing.” In other words, it wasn’t wrong to assume they were already dead.
“A live-in son-in-law?” Lin Jiangye heard “accident” and immediately went full conspiracy mode.
Shang Fuyan thought for a moment. “More or less. If we put it bluntly—he’s a classic ‘phoenix man.’”
Lin Jiangye looked at him in surprise. Shang Fuyan’s tone carried undisguised disdain—rare for him.
Normally he was icy and unreadable, and almost never showed emotion. For him to display this much contempt… Zhang Weian was the first.
Shang Fuyan rubbed his brow and patiently laid out the background.
“Qinghu Group originally belonged to the Yuan family. The Yuan family’s eldest daughter was supposed to inherit it. Back when the Yuans were in charge, the company kept a low profile—if anything went wrong, they cooperated with investigations and made the required corrections right away. A company that saves the authorities that much trouble—who wouldn’t like it?”
But not long after Miss Yuan married a ‘phoenix man,’ she and her parents were involved in a plane incident a year ago.
That was the “accident” Shang Fuyan meant.
The plane had only just left Yue City when engine trouble occurred. By then it couldn’t return, so it attempted an emergency landing on the sea.
When police reached the site, many passengers were already missing. Later, some bodies were recovered—but far more people were never found at all.
Miss Yuan was rescued, but she suffered brain damage. She’d been in a vegetative state for a full year.
Her parents, meanwhile, disappeared in the crash. With no bodies, their deaths couldn’t be confirmed.
“In another year, if Zhang Weian applies, her parents’ status can be legally changed to deceased.”?
Lin Jiangye’s gaze turned sharp. “Then can we directly test whether these bodies are related to Miss Yuan?”
If Miss Yuan—and some others—could survive the crash, it was possible the couple survived too, only they hadn’t been found by police for various reasons.
Then they made it back to Yue City on their own, discovered their daughter comatose and the company seized by their son-in-law.
And if Zhang Weian wanted full control of Qinghu Group, he definitely wouldn’t want the couple to reappear—
“So he killed them,” Lin Jiangye concluded.
As soon as he said it, he felt Shang Fuyan ruffle his hair hard.
“Good guess,” Shang Fuyan said, “but we need evidence.”
If those bodies really were Miss Yuan’s parents, most officers would share Lin Jiangye’s suspicion.
But suspicion can’t convict anyone. They needed hard proof.
While they talked, seagulls brought in nearby finless porpoises.
The moment they saw Lin Jiangye, the porpoises were just as excited as the seagulls—chirping and squeaking, begging for pats and hugs.
Lin Jiangye didn’t care about getting soaked. He hugged the chubby porpoises one by one, kissing and petting them. “Good babies, good babies—did you miss me?”
“Eee-eee!” “Missed you, missed you, missed you!”
After greeting them properly, Lin Jiangye finally got to business.
Something that happened at least half a year ago… the porpoises all looked miserable. They weren’t stupid, but that didn’t mean they could remember half a year back—humans couldn’t always do that either.
Unless something happened that day that was unforgettable.
Unfortunately, the batch of porpoises the seagulls found had no impression of the island at all.
So they could only keep searching.
They spent most of the day on the island before finally finding one porpoise with a vivid memory.
And what it said made Lin Jiangye’s skin crawl.
“What is it saying?” Li Wei, Jiang Heping, and the others crowded around Lin Jiangye. Seeing his face change so abruptly, unease spread.
Was it bad news?
Lin Jiangye wanted to look back at the two bodies—then remembered they’d already been transported back to the station. He clicked his tongue, pressed a hand to his forehead, and said slowly:
“The killer is insane.”
Under everyone’s puzzled stares, he explained:
“The two victims were buried there in late June.” Right in line with his earlier “half a year” estimate.
But then a question followed.
“If they only died half a year ago, how did they decompose so fast?” The bodies had been found more than a meter deep—nearing two meters—beneath the flower sea.
Even if they were buried naked, Yue City isn’t cold, but it’s not so hot that skeletal decomposition should happen that quickly either.
And that led to the real reason Lin Jiangye called the killer insane.
“Because the killer cut off parts of their flesh and threw it into the sea to feed the fish.”
Everyone froze, staring at Lin Jiangye as if he’d cracked a joke.
But his helpless expression made it clear—
He wasn’t joking.
“Jesus…” Li Wei crouched down, clutching his head. Looking at the seawater and the fish within, his face twisted.
How was that any different from dismemberment? The difference was, dismemberment breaks bone. This killer “dismembered” flesh.
“Wait.” Jiang Heping suddenly spoke, asking something even more chilling: “When the flesh was cut and fed to the fish—were they alive or already dead?”
A coldness crawled up everyone’s backs.
If it happened after death… horrifying, but at least there was no pain.
But if it happened while they were still alive—
That wasn’t dismemberment. That was torture-murder.
Lin Jiangye blinked, then asked the chubby porpoise in front of him.
The porpoise liked this island and stayed nearby year-round. It had witnessed what happened that day—and remembered it for half a year.
Just talking about it made the porpoise shiver, its blubber wobbling.
If this weren’t such a situation, Lin Jiangye would’ve reached out to poke it.
“I… I think I heard their screaming…” the porpoise said.
Meaning: the victims were alive when their flesh was cut away, watching the fish eat them.
“Killing someone and breaking their spirit too…” That was monstrous.
Lin Jiangye closed his eyes and let out a long breath, then pressed on: “Do you remember the person who did it?”
Everyone’s eyes lit up. That was the key point.
And the porpoise delivered good news.
“I saw him, I saw him! It was a male human! And he looked like he knew those two old humans!”
“A man—someone acquainted with the victims.” Lin Jiangye summarized aloud for the other officers.
The porpoise continued: “He seemed very familiar with this place. He appeared on the island often. And everyone else seemed scared of him—whenever they saw him, they’d bow and back away.”
“High authority on the island. Shows up often.”
“And—oh! He had a colorful braided bracelet on his wrist!”
“A multicolored wrist cord?”
The moment that detail came out, Shang Fuyan’s expression turned strange. “I think I know who it is.”
Someone who could come and go freely on a private island—and who wore a five-colored wrist cord—there was basically only one answer.
“Who?” Three voices asked at once.
“Zhang Weian.”
No one was surprised.
And when forensics later confirmed the victims’ identities, it became even more “as expected”—
They really were Zhang Weian’s parents-in-law.
From an interest standpoint, with the Yuan family out of the picture, Miss Yuan’s husband would inherit everything—especially since the two of them don’t have any children.
A suspect was one thing. Evidence was another.
When they parted, Jiang Heping sighed. “I won’t have time to help with this case. Good luck.”
She still had to investigate Liu Zhi—where his “milk tea powder” came from, who ordered him to poison those three celebrities, and what the goal was.
Li Wei waved. “It’s fine. I’ve got Captain Shang.”
He planned to investigate this together with Wen’an’s criminal team. Maybe it would be solved soon—heh.
The moment he said that, Jiang Heping’s reluctance vanished. She stared at Li Wei with a shadowy, murderous look: you’re dead.
“Hehehe,” Li Wei kept laughing.
“Hmph!” Jiang Heping turned and left, but after two steps she looked back and shot Li Wei another vicious glare.
Lin Jiangye and Shang Fuyan exchanged a look—both utterly helpless.
What are those two doing? Seriously—aren’t they childish?
After that, Lin Jiangye headed back too. But before going home, he made a stop at Yue City’s biggest luxury mall.
Pets were allowed inside, even big dogs—though you needed staff escort, and the dog had to sit in a little cart.
When the attendant saw Yuheng, she jumped a bit. It was her first time seeing a dog this huge; it looked almost like a little bear. She was still nervous, but Lin Jiangye had Yuheng leashed and muzzled, which gave her some peace of mind.
Once they were inside, Lin Jiangye casually asked where he could buy pet collars.
“Collars?” The attendant glanced at Yuheng’s size. “For a large dog?”
Lin Jiangye nodded and tipped his chin toward Yuheng. “One for him, one for his brother. The other one’s just a little smaller.”
At the moment, Yuheng was sprawled in the roomy cart, his fluffy head drooping over the rail, eyes bright as he took everything in.
This mall was nationally famous for luxury brands. The décor was gorgeous—crystals everywhere, glittering like starlight. Yuheng couldn’t look away.
“Woo, woo!” [It’s so pretty here!]
His little head was turning so much he almost couldn’t keep up.
[Next time! Next time bring Kaiyang too!] Good things had to be shared with his little brother!
The attendant was in the middle of explaining when she suddenly saw the young man smile, rubbing the big dog’s head while saying, “Okay, okay.”
…What just happened?
Soon, they arrived at a luxury store. The staff there didn’t seem surprised at all to see a customer wheeling in a pet.
“Hello. What can I help you with?”
They had a huge selection of collars—tons of styles, and all kinds of materials. Yuheng was dazzled.
He’d never seen so many shiny things in his life. He didn’t even know what to choose.
[I don’t know… which one…] Even his eyes felt a little overwhelmed.
Lin Jiangye had trouble picking too, so he started matching them against Yuheng’s coat color, trying to find the one that would make him look the most stunning.
“Want to try this studded one? It’ll look super wild,” the sales associate suggested. She rarely saw a dog this big and couldn’t help getting involved.
To be fair, the studded collar really did look wild—very… wolfish. Which, well, Yuheng was a wolf.
“What about this light gold? It matches his eyes perfectly!”
“Want to see this tri-color white one? It’ll contrast his coat—he’ll stand out like crazy!”
“How about this blue? It has an engraved pattern on the outside…”
Under the associate’s enthusiastic guidance, Yuheng practically tried on every collar in the store. And the whole time he sat neatly on the floor—no fussing, no barking, no moving around. Only when Lin Jiangye asked if he liked one would he give a single aowu.
So well-behaved. So, so well-behaved.
In the end, Lin Jiangye narrowed it down to four styles.
Yuheng was still hesitating, wanting to choose… but Lin Jiangye waved a hand. “I’ll take all four.”
Yuheng snapped his head up, utterly confused.
[Weren’t we only buying two?]
Lin Jiangye ruffled his head and grinned. “Save your bonus to buy collars for the other buddies. These four—think of them as my reward to you two.”
Based on Lin Jiangye’s experience with police “bonuses,” Yuheng’s would probably be around three to four thousand yuan.
That would be enough for regular collars for the others, sure—but for the ones they’d just tried on? Not even close.
But his wolf had earned it. As his owner, he should reward him properly—just like he did with Bixi, Opal, Diamond, and the rest.
“There are four. You and Kaiyang can take turns wearing them. They’ve got adjustable buckles. If I’m not home, go find the steward uncle to help you switch them out, okay?” As he spoke, Lin Jiangye buckled the studded one onto Yuheng.
Once they got home, he’d attach the stainless-steel tag. After that, every cop in Yue City would know: this kid belonged to the Lin household.
“And it won’t just be the police. Even the crows will know you’re mine.” Crows couldn’t read, but they could remember what the shape of “Lin Jiangye” looked like.
With the collar on, Yuheng looked even more imposing—sharp and majestic.
“So handsome! My Yuheng is the coolest!”
Yuheng couldn’t help swishing his tail.
Collars were done. As for the tags, Lin Jiangye planned to order a dozen at once—each with a tracker installed.
Shopping complete, one man and one wolf left the store feeling very pleased with themselves.
The sales associate was pleased too—she’d not only made a six-figure sale, she’d also gotten to pet a giant dog.
But just as they were about to head home, something unexpected happened.
“Why are you leaving me? Is it because I’m broke?!” A man’s voice boomed through three floors, instantly drawing curious looks.
Lin Jiangye happened to be passing a dessert shop. At the entrance, a man and a woman were arguing. Hearing him shout like that, Lin Jiangye stopped with Yuheng a short distance away.
The woman clearly hadn’t expected to run into him here—her face was full of shock.
“Let go of me! What are you doing?!” After the initial surprise, she tried to wrench free. But the man had her arm in a death grip, veins bulging on the back of his hand.
Her resistance only fueled his anger. His emotions escalated; his eyes reddened slightly.
Standing nearby, Lin Jiangye narrowed his eyes as he noticed something off.
Then he saw it—something tucked at the man’s lower back. Through the fabric, it formed a rectangular outline… like a kitchen cleaver.
Lin Jiangye led Yuheng closer, bit by bit. If this man really had a cleaver and pulled it out to threaten her, things would get ugly fast.
His expression turned impatient.
What was with today? It wasn’t even noon and it had already turned into three incidents chained together!
People around them kept watching in silence. Without knowing the couple’s relationship, bystanders didn’t want to jump in and get hurt.
After listening for a while, everyone pieced it together: the man and the woman met in college and dated for a year. After graduation she wanted to break up. The man refused to accept it. When he tried to “talk,” he saw her get into a wealthy older man’s luxury car.
“So he thinks she dumped him the second she found a rich guy?”
People murmured, but no one rushed to label her a gold-digger. They watched her expression, her clothes, her reactions.
Lin Jiangye, meanwhile, watched the man’s hands.
The argument kept intensifying. In the end, the man snapped and slapped her.
Smack. Even people upstairs heard it. That was not a light hit.
And the one who moved faster than Lin Jiangye was Yuheng beside him.
That massive gray wolf leapt straight out of the cart and lunged at the man.
Before he could strike again, Yuheng’s weight slammed him down—thud—pinning him hard to the ground.
The sight made everyone jump. When Yuheng pounced, he was silent. To the crowd it was like a black shadow flashed by, and the man was suddenly flat on his back.
At the same time, Lin Jiangye yanked up the man’s shirt at the waist and pulled out a cleaver.
The people who’d been pointing and whispering went dead quiet, staring in horror at the blade in Lin Jiangye’s hand.
They’d seen clearly: it came from the man who hit her.
Which meant—
The woman, slapped and shaken, collapsed into silent tears—terror mixed with the dizzy relief of surviving something she hadn’t even understood was coming.
No one expected him to be carrying a knife. What if one slap hadn’t been enough? What if he’d decided to hack her to death?
The man realized his “secret weapon” was exposed and started cursing—only to get smacked in the face by Yuheng’s paw, followed by a deep, rumbling growl. He froze, too scared to move.
Up close, face-to-face with Yuheng, the man felt like there was a wolf on him, not a dog.
Those golden eyes… it felt like being hunted. His lips trembled, but he didn’t dare speak. His whole body began to shake.
Lin Jiangye had deliberately wrapped the cleaver’s handle in tissue so he wouldn’t leave fingerprints.
It was a regular kitchen cleaver. The worn edge suggested it was old—probably grabbed straight from home.
Soon the mall’s security arrived, along with management.
Hearing someone had pulled a cleaver during an argument, they went pale, terrified they’d come to a bloodbath.
Luckily, the situation had been stopped quickly.
“S-sir, hello!”
The manager could tell at a glance that the young man holding the wrapped handle was the one who’d prevented disaster. His eyes practically shone with gratitude.
Lin Jiangye wasn’t used to that kind of look. From animals, sure. From people—no thanks.
He stepped back and said to the manager and guards, “I already called the police. This can’t be treated as a normal dispute.”
The woman nodded hard—this was basically attempted murder.
The manager’s face collapsed. He’d been hoping to smooth it over, keep it quiet, protect the mall’s reputation.
Now that the police were involved—and the victim clearly wasn’t going to settle privately—the guy was definitely going to jail.
Great. He was going to get penalized for this.
Not long after, officers from the nearby station arrived. Seeing the man still pinned under Yuheng, they couldn’t help praising the dog.
One even reached out and patted Yuheng’s big head. “Aiyo, this good boy! So well-behaved! Even catches bad guys!”
Lin Jiangye’s gaze drifted away. For some reason, he felt a little guilty.
Since Lin Jiangye was a witness, he had to give a statement. But the moment the officers heard his name, they fell silent.
“Y-you’re… Consultant Lin?”
They hadn’t expected to run into Lin Jiangye here.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in Qingze District?” News about the two bodies found there had already spread through every precinct in Yue City.
With the New Year coming, each station had its own performance targets. Qingze and Chiyuan had basically already hit theirs.
And now—this consultant casually handed Wen’an District another “small case” in the evening.
Amazing. Truly worthy of being their district’s consultant.
Lin Jiangye inhaled deeply, not sure what to say.
And right then, the officer who’d patted Yuheng stiffened. He remembered something he’d heard recently—
This consultant liked taking a wolf out.
Wolf… dog… wolf…
He looked down at the “dog” sitting obediently with clear, gentle eyes. At first glance he’d thought it was a Blue Bay Shepherd.
“C-consultant…” His voice went weak.
Not weak—straight-up shaky.
“Consultant Lin… your… is that a wolf or a dog?”
Yuheng lifted his head and looked at him with pure, clean eyes.
So good. So obedient. So adorable—
Surely he’d misunderstood. This had to be a dog—
Lin Jiangye coughed. “Uh… North American gray wolf. But it’s all canines—basically the same! He can’t be released into the wild anymore, you get it.”
After hearing how Yuheng had jumped in first, pinned the attacker, and protected the victim, the officers’ eyes softened.
“As expected of Consultant Lin’s kid—truly impressive!”
And as they praised him, the big gray wolf sat tall and proud, like: That’s right. Wolves are just that awesome and that well-behaved.
Cute enough to kill.
In the end, the officers couldn’t resist. Before leaving, they patted Yuheng again—and even shook his paw.
“Thank you, Yuheng. If it weren’t for you, that scumbag wouldn’t have been taken down so fast!”
The station was genuinely grateful. If Yuheng and Consultant Lin hadn’t been there, someone might’ve died. With the holiday so close, the director would’ve chewed them to pieces.
Before they left, the rescued woman came over with tearful eyes too. “Thank you, big doggie. You saved me.”
After being praised by so many people in a single day, Yuheng looked like he was about to float into the sky.
On the way home, he walked with a proud little prance—tap tap tap—like a pony.
When Jiang Xin came out to greet them, he saw an extremely smug North American gray wolf.
That smug look was painfully familiar—Bixi, Zang’ao, Opal… every kid in the household looked exactly like that after earning merit.
Different species, different personalities—yet that “I did great” expression had somehow become a Lin-family trademark.
“Only the German Shepherd and Diamond are steady,” Jiang Xin said, amused.
Lin Jiangye lifted a finger and shook it. “Nope. Only the German Shepherd and the Border Collie. I’ve seen Diamond show off too.”
That was back when he took Opal and Diamond to pick gemstones—before Jiang Xin even lived with them.
Jiang Xin raised a brow, surprised. He spent the most time with the Border Collie, the German Shepherd, and Diamond; he never expected usually-stable Diamond to have such a cute side.
“The German Shepherd was steady from the start…” Thinking of their first meeting, Lin Jiangye’s smile faded a little.
Even now, he didn’t know what the German Shepherd had gone through back then. He was curious, but he didn’t want to poke at old wounds.
Forget it. The dog had a wife, kids, and a warm home now. No need to stir things up.
Jiang Xin had been watching Lin Jiangye’s expressions the whole time. When Lin talked about Diamond and the German Shepherd, his face looked no different than when he talked about Shang Fuyan.
As if, in his eyes, those animals and Shang Fuyan held the same place.
No—maybe the animals ranked even higher.
After all, Shang Fuyan had gradually gotten close to Lin Jiangye; his position in Lin’s heart was already special.
If it were a stranger, there’d be nothing to compare.
The next day, Lin Jiangye was woken by a phone call. He struggled out from under a pile of furry bellies to find his phone.
“Hello?”
“Hehehe—Consultant Lin! Can you do me a favor?” It was Li Wei.
Half-asleep, Lin Jiangye listened as Li Wei explained: after Lin left, Qingze and Wen’an teamed up, investigated the old plane crash, marked likely landing spots, and then drove overnight.
“We found a small fishing village. It confirmed they once sheltered an older couple. They had amnesia—until about half a year ago, early June, when they remembered who they were.”
As Li Wei spoke, Lin Jiangye gradually woke up.
“So? Why are you calling me?” Purring filled the air. Lin turned his head and saw Zang’ao and the Caucasian cat sprawled by his pillow, sleeping sweetly.
He wanted to sleep too… that purr was criminally soothing.
Two cats on the right, lynx and cheetah on the left, and at his feet Yuheng, Kaiyang, and Mimi—three big canines.
Thank goodness the room’s temperature auto-adjusted. Otherwise he’d be roasted awake by all this fur.
Li Wei chuckled awkwardly on the other end. “We’re currently locked in with him at his company. We want you to go back to the island and do a full search.”
Even though it had been half a year, they still hoped the island might hold some remaining clues.
Lin Jiangye sighed. “Fine. I’ll take my kids with me.” The island was five square kilometers—carpet-searching it would take serious effort.
Meaning… full mobilization.
“Oh, and I’ll file a report first. This time we might be deploying large carnivores.”
After he said that, both Shang Fuyan and Li Wei sent back approval.
He sat up, clapped his hands, and looked at the kids lifting their heads around him. His brow arched as he announced the good news:
“A new chance to earn merit! This time—everyone’s going!”
After he washed up, every kid in the house knew.
The German Shepherd looked at Tian Shu, Tian Xuan, Tian Ji, Tian Quan, and the rest who were itching to move, and stared at Lin Jiangye in surprise.
This time… even they were going?
The island had already been cleared of personnel. Perfect for the whole family to deploy.
“This should be our first full-family operation. I hope you’ll surprise me.”
Author’s Note:
? Under the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China, the time requirements to declare a missing person dead are:
- General case: Missing for 4 years ? interested party may apply to court to declare death.
- Accident: Missing for 2 years ? interested party may apply.
- Special case: If an accident occurs and authorities can prove the person cannot have survived, the 2-year limit does not apply.
