Chapter 367: Accident? Or Orchestration?

Grassland wolf, a wild one?

Xiao Yu needed time to digest this rather jaw-dropping piece of information. After all, just hearing that a wild animal—specifically a wolf—had appeared in the city would stun most people.

Once he collected himself, Xiao Yu took out his phone and looked up some facts about grassland wolves.

They were a medium-sized wolf, with fur typically brownish-yellow and a slightly paler belly.

Toward the end of the twentieth century, humans hunted them in large numbers, and some grassland wolves went extinct. The exact population of subspecies remained unclear. Their lifespan was usually over ten years, though those raised in captivity might live over twenty.

Putting down his phone, Xiao Yu felt a twinge of surprise.

Grassland wolves generally inhabited temperate grasslands in northern regions.

That just wasn’t Bincheng.

So how did this grassland wolf wander into Bincheng?

A cold glint flashed in Xiao Yu’s eyes. He recalled the faint wild scent he’d picked up—somewhere between domesticated and truly wild.

There were two possibilities.

Someone brought a wild animal into Bincheng or maybe… a zoo?

The second possibility didn’t seem realistic. Animal keepers wouldn’t treat a wild beast like a pet dog, giving it baths off and on. And every beast in a zoo had a file.

So was the victim, the deceased attacked by a wolf, simply the victim of an accident? Or what?

***

Criminal Investigation Brigade.

Xiao Yu was watching some retrieved surveillance footage.

At 6:11 in the early morning, the victim, Cao Xude, appeared in the camera feed, heading into the open-air parking area.

He could be seen walking, talking to someone on his phone. He opened the car door, had just sat in—

Suddenly, a dark figure lunged from the side. It was a large canine, about 1.8 meters long including its tail. It was a grassland wolf. When it appeared, it clearly had a direct target. It sprang at Cao Xude, vicious and frenzied, diving into the sedan.

Due to the camera angle, what happened inside the car was unclear.

But you could see the victim’s legs flailing wildly. Blood sprayed across the car’s windows. The entire process lasted under two minutes. Then the wolf leaped out of the car and fled. 

The footage ended.

“Whew.”

Letting out a breath of smoke, Xiao Yu wore a grim look.

From the video, that grassland wolf was huge, sturdy. It had reached the maximum size for its kind. A truly wild grassland wolf rarely grew that large. Judging by its body, it was well-fed.

Wolves typically don’t attack other creatures unless they’re extremely hungry. A wolf isn’t a dog—it’s ferocious, cunning, highly vigilant, and has formidable endurance. Key point: when a wolf attacks, it’s not like a dog’s random biting. It usually goes for a swift kill: the wolf’s mouth locks onto the throat.

He remembered what He Li said in the autopsy: The victim was still alive when bitten, and the facial skin was entirely gnawed off. Only at the end was the throat torn open!

Inhaling from his cigarette, Xiao Yu analyzed further.

From the surveillance video, the wolf’s entire attack and retreat took under two minutes. It wasn’t seeking food. It was purely killing—then escaping.

Xiao Yu had a hunch the wolf acted like a person: appear, kill, flee.

“Not an accident?” Xiao Yu muttered, “Could someone be controlling a wild wolf to commit murder?”

Was that theory plausible? 

It was difficult.

Even with training, wild beasts were unpredictable. For instance, a circus tiger can be guided to perform stunts and tricks after prolonged training and constant supervision.

From the wolf’s appearance, attack, kill, and escape—there was no one else on camera. Even a well-trained police dog couldn’t necessarily do all that without a handler.

Next, the footage switched to a second recording.

It showed the grassland wolf fleeing. After running about two hundred meters from the crime scene, it entered a narrow alley, then slipped through a large hole under a wall and vanished.

Two hundred meters?

Xiao Yu was surprised.

Could it really be an accident?

If it was orchestrated, how would someone command a wolf to pick a target two hundred meters away, make an ambush, kill, and then flee?

“After investigating and visiting the area, no one’s seen that grassland wolf,” said Guo Qiang, standing nearby. “We posted a bounty, but so far not a single witness has come forward claiming to have seen it. We also haven’t found any traces of the wolf.”

‘Damn!’ Xiao Yu half-closed his eyes.

A grassland wolf hiding out in the city without being spotted by anyone?

He got up, planning to reexamine the scene.

***

The crime scene.

Xiao Yu stepped out of the police car and approached the sedan where the incident happened.

He recalled the surveillance footage. Turning around, he walked the two hundred-plus meters into that alley, going about fifteen meters.

Gazing at the large hole beneath a wall, Xiao Yu observed it for a while, then lifted his eyes toward the roughly three-meter-high surrounding wall.

He crouched and leaped.

Xiao Yu’s palm landed on the top of the wall. With slight effort, he pulled himself up, peering inside.

It was a large abandoned courtyard, filled with random debris. Probably a former construction site now left derelict.

A prefabricated housing unit’s door stood open—no one inside. The gate was locked, metal fencing with wide gaps that an adult could slip through.

Xiao Yu jumped down, wrinkled his nose, moved forward, and reached the iron gate. He climbed over it, ignoring the stares of passersby, and walked another five meters to stand on the roadway.

The scent vanished.

“Human involvement.”

Xiao Yu’s face gradually hardened.

Why was he so certain?

A grassland wolf couldn’t just vanish into thin air.

Its scent abruptly ended here, along the roadside. There was only one explanation: a vehicle picked up the wolf at this spot.

But if it was indeed murder, Xiao Yu found himself perplexed.

He turned around, looking behind him. It was over two hundred meters from here to the crime scene.

Could it be that someone was merely out walking a wolf, and the wolf’s wild side erupted, attacking the victim?

Otherwise…

How could you command a wolf to kill someone two hundred meters away?

Xiao Yu couldn’t figure it out.