Chapter 376: I’m Not Ning Caichen

Zhuo An recounted his past with his ex-wife, Jiang Huiying.

From their first meeting to their deepening relationship, they eventually entered marriage and spent twenty years together.

The two rarely argued and had always been devoted to each other. They even had a daughter, who was currently studying abroad. 

But a year ago, Jiang Huiying suddenly filed for divorce.

She had already prepared the divorce papers, leaving him no choice but to sign them.

After the mandatory 30-day cooling-off period, the divorce was finalized.

She then moved out of Z City and settled in Bincheng.

“I really don’t understand why she changed like that.” Zhuo An looked anguished, his voice rising with frustration. “She wouldn’t tell me anything. She never told me anything.”

No warning before the divorce?

Xiao Yu’s expression turned strange.

“Signs?” Zhuo An thought for a moment before replying, “Now that you mention it… Before the divorce, she kept saying she was really busy and would often stay out. Sometimes, I wouldn’t even see her for months.”

“Oh?” Xiao Yu narrowed his eyes. “Can you remember when this started?”

“Around a year before the divorce.” Zhuo An shook his head. “But I can’t pinpoint the exact time.”

A year since the divorce, plus the year before it… that made over two years.

Xiao Yu’s eyes flickered.

Coincidentally, that was also when Jiang Huiying had gone to the farm to buy two grassland wolves.

“One more question.” Xiao Yu looked directly at Zhuo An. “Did you know your ex-wife had a younger sister?”

“Sister?” Zhuo An was stunned. He shook his head. “She never mentioned anything like that to me.”

‘That’s not right.’

Xiao Yu was startled.

Her own sister had been missing for years.

She was married to this man for twenty years and never once mentioned her sister? Was that even possible?

Just as Xiao Yu was about to press further, his phone rang.

Zhao Changshan’s voice came through the line with just one sentence, “Gan Yuzhen and Xing Chuyang have been found dead. Killed by wolves. Get back here, now.”

Xiao Yu’s brain buzzed.

One thought filled his mind, ‘Four lives lost. The case has escalated. This is officially a special case.’

Xiao Yu answered four more calls.

First, the municipal bureau reported the overall situation to the national level.

Then, Hou Bojian, the head of the criminal investigation team, called.

After that, Zeng Lei, the head of the provincial department, contacted him.

And finally, Wang Dong from the National Security Second Group.

Cases were classified from S to E based on severity.

For standard criminal cases involving civilian victims, two lives meant the case was approaching a major classification.

Three lives automatically made it a special case.

Four lives? That was a case escalation, minimum classification D.

And if the victims had special statuses, such as individuals who had made major contributions to the nation, even a single death would be classified as a special case.

Why the distinction?

Because those who contributed to the country deserved special protection.

“I swear, brother, how long has it been, and you’re already caught up in another mess?” Wang Dong grumbled over the phone. “What the hell is going on?”

“What do you mean, what the hell? I’m not Ning Caichen.” Xiao Yu felt helpless. “You think I want to keep running into these cases?”

Speaking of Ning Caichen… that reminded him of Xiao Qian. Xiao Qian was a ghost. Ghosts don’t have physical bodies. So how did Ning Caichen¹ manage?

Very metaphysical!

“Our Group Two unit is swamped too. You figure this out yourself.” Wang Dong cut him off. “I’m getting old, little brother. Don’t drag me into this, alright?”

Xiao Yu understood his reasoning.

A case like this wouldn’t benefit from the second group’s involvement. If Xiao Yu himself couldn’t crack it, sending more people would be pointless.

Without another word, Wang Dong hung up.

A textbook case of passing the buck.

If he didn’t make himself scarce, Xiao Yu would probably work him into the ground.

“Damn it.”

Xiao Yu rolled his eyes as he put his phone away. Once again, he got stuck with everything.

***

Bincheng City

Inside a high-end villa complex, Xiao Yu stepped in and was immediately hit by a disgusting, foul stench.

Inside the bedroom, two corpses lay in a state of severe decomposition.

Zhao Changshan, Guo Qiang, and several criminal investigators were already on the scene.

Forensic examiner He Li was crouched near the bodies, conducting an on-site autopsy.

With corpses in an advanced stage of decomposition, moving them wasn’t an option. By the time they were transported, they would fall apart.

“The estimated time of death is about 30 to 35 days ago. The cause of death: deep lacerations on the throat, consistent with sharp canine teeth. The wounds are nearly identical to those in the previous wolf attacks. Considering the timeline, these two were the first victims. They were mauled to death by canines.”

After removing her gloves and mask, He Li looked at Xiao Yu, who was crouching over the bodies.

“Headache?”

Four victims.

It was a real headache.

Xiao Yu frowned and stood up. “What about surveillance footage?”

“Gone.” Zhao Changshan’s voice was grim. “The villa’s surveillance system is just standard civilian-grade. It only saves footage for one day, after that, new recordings overwrite the old ones.”

Why did he emphasize this?

Because with normal deleted or formatted footage, there was always a chance of recovery. But when footage was overwritten, and repeatedly at that, even top-tier forensic techs would have a hard time restoring it.

Most likely, it was gone for good.

Zhao Changshan’s implication was clear—there was no way to retrieve footage of the victims’ deaths.

“What about the community’s surveillance? And the cameras outside?” Xiao Yu asked, “Did anything unusual show up?”

The stench in the room was overwhelming.

Even Xiao Yu’s Monarch Butterfly’s Nose ability was useless. Any scent he might have picked up was completely overpowered by the putrid odor.

“The neighborhood surveillance caught something unusual.” Zhao Changshan handed Xiao Yu a tablet. “28 nights ago, a large canine figure was spotted entering the complex.”

Xiao Yu flipped through the files, checking the timestamp.

Then, he played the surveillance footage.

Late at night—around 2:50 AM. A shadow, large and unmistakably canine, darted across the leisure area of the complex. It was gone in an instant.

That was the only captured footage.

Setting the tablet down, Xiao Yu moved toward a team of investigators near a window in the living room.

It was early autumn, and the weather was still hot. The windows were open, with only a mesh screen in place. But the screen had been torn open, leaving a gaping hole.

On the mesh, strands of coarse canine fur were visible.

On the ground—paw prints.

Xiao Yu visualized the scene in his mind.

A grassland wolf snuck into the neighborhood, reached the victims’ home, broke through the window, mauled them, then left. But this wasn’t a person. This was a wolf. And that was where the logic stopped making sense.

Was it scientific?