Chapter 370: So Straightforward and Rough?

Three sets of documents lay before Xiao Yu.

Xing Chuyang, male, 41, Bincheng local, owner of a nightclub…

Fang Jie, male, 41, Bincheng local, unemployed…

Gan Yuzhen, female, 41, Bincheng local, unemployed… married to Xing Chuyang.

“Although we found their information, we haven’t found them.” Guo Qiang wore a guilty expression. “Fang Jie is single and has no fixed address… Meanwhile, Xing Chuyang and Gan Yuzhen recently went traveling. To locate them, we’ll have to track their whereabouts, possibly needing cooperation from out-of-province police.”

“They went traveling?” Xiao Yu found that a bit unexpected. “All right, they’ll probably come back eventually, so we can put them aside for now. Has Fang Jie’s ID and spending records been checked?”

“Yeah, he’s still in the city,” Guo Qiang said with a nod. “Finding him will take some time.”

“I’ll give the top brass a call.”

Xiao Yu took out his phone and dialed municipal chief Yun Xiangguo’s number. 

The wild-wolf murder case now had two victims. This was serious. Zhao Changshan had already reported it to higher-ups, and the city bureau was pushing for a rapid conclusion. Case info had been distributed to other law-enforcement units, with the Criminal Investigation Brigade leading the investigation and the entire city’s police force assisting. It was a standard procedure.

With the city’s entire force and the suspect’s ID and transaction data, Fang Jie was found in short order.

***

A Certain Apartment, Short-Term Rental.

When Xiao Yu arrived at the rental’s door, his expression changed.

His Monarch Butterfly’s Nose instantly detected a distinct smell—drugs.

“Break it down,” Xiao Yu’s voice turned cold.

Two officers smashed through the flimsy wooden door. The group entered to find a man sprawled across the bed. He saw Xiao Yu and the others and continued grinning foolishly. He was evidently in a daze.

At the bedside stood a baby-bottle contraption repurposed as a bong. It resembled a water-pipe, with a glass mouthpiece on either side and a straw—clearly drug paraphernalia.

On the nightstand lay a tiny plastic packet about the size of a thumbnail, still half-filled with a translucent white powder. 

Drugs?!

Their faces changed. Nobody had expected that investigating a wild wolf murder would lead them to drugs. Drug-related cases were as big as homicide and, potentially escalated to a major special case at any time.

Was mere drug use that serious?

Yes, it could be. If there’s drug use, there’s often drug trafficking; where there’s trafficking, there’s a source. Following the trail could lead all the way to a production lab. That was the standard logic for anti-narcotics police.

“Call over someone from the anti-drug unit, have them send someone,” Xiao Yu ordered, staring at the middle-aged man who lay on the bed, Fang Jie, giggling like a lunatic.

Drugs were insidious. Long-term use could damage the brain; overdoses kill. According to world statistics, 31%–43% of drug users developed neurological conditions. One misstep and they could really go insane.

Less than ten minutes later, two officers arrived. 

Upon seeing Xiao Yu, one—a First Class Inspector—smiled and offered his hand. 

“Captain Xiao Yu, we’ve long been hearing about you. I’m Cheng Shuai from our city’s Anti-Drug Brigade, and this is my colleague Li Helong.”

“Pleasure to meet you.” Xiao Yu smiled, shaking hands with both. 

‘Long been hearing about me?’ That phrase sounded a bit odd. But formal niceties aside, he could play along.

“No time for small talk.”

Xiao Yu motioned toward Fang Jie, still high on the bed, then pointed at the half packet of drugs on the nightstand. The two anti-drug officers exchanged a glance.

Cheng Shuai walked over, scrutinizing Fang Jie with a cold gaze. 

“He’s overdosed, but he won’t die.”

Li Helong donned white gloves and picked up the packet, examining it. Then from his pocket, he took out a small metal box, opening it. He took out a tiny glass tool, dipped it into the drug bag, and got a bit of the powder. Finally, he lit a lighter under the glass tool, producing a subtle reaction.

“Ice. Very pure!”

Li Helong’s face changed. He glanced toward his partner. Instantly, Cheng Shuai’s expression darkened.

Xiao Yu, Guo Qiang, and the others blinked at the pair’s professional methods, inwardly thinking, ‘They’re pretty slick.’

Xiao Yu also realized that he himself still had a lot to learn—compared to them, he wasn’t nearly as flashy.

It wasn’t his fault, either. In his previous life, he rarely handled drug cases. In this life, he had only encountered one, where he retrieved a new-type drug formula. He had limited knowledge regarding drug-related crimes.

“We might have a bigger problem,” Cheng Shuai said seriously to Xiao Yu. “We seldom see ice this pure in our city. All the supply lines we know of are under our monitoring. This is a new source. The case might be pretty big.”

Xiao Yu understood at once. 

The Anti-Drug Brigade’s job was to catch traffickers. They had a handle on all known sources, dealers, and lines in the market. They didn’t immediately bust them, because they wanted to trace everything to its root. Baiting small fry didn’t matter. Once they struck, they aimed to net the entire operation.

So if a new supply was discovered, that was huge. 

Xiao Yu kept his expression calm, though internally he was cursing. They had only been trying to catch a wild wolf murderer—how did it turn into a drug case, too?

Still, that kind of development isn’t unusual. When law enforcement investigates, they often encounter overlapping cases. They can split them up or merge them. 

Xiao Yu, however, had no interest in juggling two at once. Just the single grassland wolf case was giving him a headache. He still hadn’t figured out how the killer managed to direct a wolf to kill.

“All right, let’s wake him up so we can ask some questions, then you can take him,” Xiao Yu told the two anti-drug officers with a smile. “After that, you can investigate separately as a new case.”

He definitely didn’t have the bandwidth to handle both.

Seeing Cheng Shuai and Li Helong’s professionalism, the group shoved Fang Jie into the bathroom and gave him a cold-water shower, bringing him around. Xiao Yu and Guo Qiang stood by, rolling their eyes at the sight.

So simple and brutal, huh?!