Chapter 369: The Brotherhood

Dawn was just breaking. A few sparse, lingering stars were still set against the pale green sky.

Morning arrived on the first strand of faint blue glow, ushering in a new day.

Xiao Yu opened his eyes, glancing at Mu Qingwu dozing peacefully in his arms. Even though he’d come home late last night, he had still slept with his wife until morning. He kissed her silky, jade-like cheek, then carefully got up.

After washing up, he found Bai Ting already sitting in the living room.

“Thanks for your hard work, Sister Bai,” Xiao Yu called out with a smile, then left the house.

***

Criminal Investigation Brigade.

Guo Qiang and the others hadn’t gone home. Encountering a case, working overtime to exhaustion was so basic that no one gave it a second thought. 

This made Xiao Yu feel a bit apologetic. But in reality, no one in the squad minded at all. With his wife seven months pregnant—only a few months from delivery—this stretch of time was critical. Of course he needed to spend more of it with her. Everyone completely understood his situation.

“Any new developments?” He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and passed them around.

“No.” Guo Qiang shook his head. “No criminal record in the past. We also checked with all of Cao Xude’s friends. Nobody said he’d ever offended anyone, or had any enemies. No financial disputes either.”

Xiao Yu frowned. 

That was odd. 

He trusted the team’s investigative abilities. 

Why had Cao Xude told his wife he deserved retribution? Unable to figure it out, Xiao Yu was about to invite everyone to grab some breakfast when trouble struck.

***

Two police cars roared out of the Criminal Investigation Brigade.

Thirty-one minutes later, they arrived at a construction site in a certain district of Bincheng. The site had halted work for some reason. By the time Xiao Yu led his team there, the area had been cordoned off. 

An on-site prefab house was completely burned down, with a badly charred, curled-up corpse inside. The body had bright red livor mortis, patches of red and blistering on the skin, and severe shrinkage. The victim’s face and neck bore tooth marks from a canine attack. In particular, the neck had been ripped open more than halfway, with missing flesh.

He Li arrived at the scene as well, taking a brief look at the body. 

“The deceased wasn’t dead long before being burned. The corpse shows clear signs. The neck wounds are basically the same as in the last one. We don’t even need an autopsy to be sure.”

‘A wild wolf killing someone…’ Xiao Yu’s face grew dark.

This was the second victim.

They quickly confirmed the dead man’s identity.

Lu Shun, male, forty-one, a local resident working as a night watchman on this site. He was killed around four in the morning. 

Scene investigation turned up dog-like paw prints and a suspicious footprint, estimated to be a size 40 shoe. Then, from He Li’s autopsy, they deduced that after the victim was attacked and killed by the grassland wolf, someone came and set the prefab house on fire. But there was no surveillance inside the site. Outside, they found nothing either.

Back at the Criminal Investigation Brigade, Xiao Yu sat in his office, deep in thought. One conclusion was emerging—one that made his expression even more grim.

It seemed someone had indeed directed the grassland wolf to commit the killings.

The moment he accepted that, a voice rang in his mind.

【Ding! Case triggered successfully.】

【Police God case check-in activated.】

【Does the host wish to check in?】

Xiao Yu wasn’t surprised. He checked in.

【Ding! Congratulations to the host on successfully checking in for the case.】

【System reward granted: Skill: Magic Expert.】

【System task issued: Solve the wild-wolf murder case.】

【Time limit for case resolution: twenty days.】

【If the host completes the task within the time limit, the system will grant an additional skill: Winter Frog’s Slumber.】

【If the host fails within the time limit, the system will reclaim the system abilities granted.】

【Time-limit countdown begins…】

‘Twenty days?’ That surprised Xiao Yu slightly.

Yet he got an even bigger shock next. 

An immense volume of knowledge about magic and its techniques flooded into his brain, body, and bones. At the same time, tens of thousands of magic tricks appeared in his mind, combined with the data and skills, letting him instantly master a huge array of illusions.

As long as he had props, he could conjure all sorts of magic in minutes. Even without props, he could still perform improvising on the spot. 

For instance, he gave a light wave of his arm. The gun holstered at his waist appeared out of nowhere in his hand. Naturally, it wasn’t truly appearing from thin air. He moved so fast, distracting onlookers with the wave of his arm, so it seemed to materialize.

He waved his palm again, and the gun vanished, returning to the holster.

“Interesting!” Xiao Yu chuckled.

A handy ability, but somewhat limited. In most cases, it might not come in handy. Besides, many magic tricks require props. 

Who carries around a bag of magician’s gear all day?

Dropping the smile, he turned his mind back to the case. Two people had now been murdered—both by a controlled wild wolf. Though he still couldn’t figure out how the culprit achieved it, the killer had plainly done so. 

The two victims shared three things.

Age: both were forty-one. 

Residence: both were local to Bincheng. 

Manner of death: both killed by a wolf.

Without waiting for Xiao Yu’s instructions, Guo Qiang and the others were already investigating whether the two victims were connected.

Four hours later, Guo Qiang came into Xiao Yu’s office, excitedly saying, “Boss, the two victims used to be high-school classmates. Back then, they were pretty close. They only lost touch after going to college.”

“Classmates?” Xiao Yu was surprised.

“Right.” Guo Qiang nodded. “Not only that, at the time, they belonged to a small clique called ‘The Brotherhood.’”

“Heh…” Xiao Yu smirked. “A gang of rowdy boys?”

“More or less. Kids at that age liked running in packs, getting into fights.” Guo Qiang laughed, too. “I dug around, there were five members in that group. The victims Cao Xude and Lu Shun were two of them.”

A flicker of insight flashed in Xiao Yu’s eyes.

“Find the other three!”