22: Chapter 22 Cruelty

The headlights pierced through the thick, dense curtain of rain, illuminating a short, potholed, and slippery section of the country road ahead.

The vehicle turned off the main road and began to crawl slowly along the narrow, bumpy country path.

The world outside the car windows was ruled by the rain.

The rolling farmland was a blur under the torrential downpour, its greenery rendered hazy and indistinct.

Scattered farmhouses stood silently behind the curtain of rain, the lights visible through their windows appearing faint and hazy.

Finally, the vehicle stopped in front of a single-story farmhouse with mottled exterior walls and a small courtyard.

The headlights illuminated the curtain of water falling from the eaves and a figure already waiting at the entrance.

Uncle Wang was draped in a heavy black raincoat, his hood pulled down low.

Before the car had even come to a complete stop, Uncle Wang hurried over, the rain pattering loudly against his raincoat.

He didn't even wait for the passengers to get out before reaching out to pull open the front passenger and back doors, his voice carrying through the rain with evident anxiety:

"Officer Zhang! Officer Liu! Officer Lin! You've finally arrived!"

"Uncle Wang, don't panic. Take your time."

Old Liu, who was sitting in the back seat, replied calmly and was the first to nimbly climb out of the car, tightening his raincoat hood as he did so.

Zhang Zhi and Lin Chen followed him out.

"Come inside, come inside first!"

Uncle Wang urged them repeatedly, wading through the mud as he led the three of them hurriedly toward the farmhouse.

Pushing open the drafty wooden door, they were met with a wave of air mixed with the damp scent of soil.

The interior was simple; the living room was small and dimly lit, with only a single energy-saving lamp emitting a cold, white light.

"Sit, please sit! Let me pour you some tea to warm you up!"

Uncle Wang scrambled to grab a thermos and teacups, his fingertips trembling slightly.

"Old Wang, there's no rush for tea."

Old Liu raised a hand to stop him, the wrinkles on his face appearing deeper in the light, yet his tone remained exceptionally calm: "Take us to the scene to see the situation first."

"Right! Okay, okay! This way, please!"

As if he had found a pillar of support, Uncle Wang quickly set down the thermos and turned to head back outside: "It's just in the livestock pen out back, not far."

The group stepped back out into the torrential rain.

The cold rain instantly soaked their trouser legs and shoes.

Walking around the main house, they found a small courtyard enclosed by a simple wooden fence and asbestos tiles, with a low livestock shed built in the corner.

The rain had turned the dirt ground into a muddy mess, creaking and squelching with every step, kicking up thick sludge.

Uncle Wang led them straight to the entrance of the livestock shed.

The wooden gate was left ajar; it was pitch black inside, with only the loud sound of rain drumming against the asbestos roof echoing out.

"It's, it's inside..."

Uncle Wang's voice wavered in the rain. He reached out as if to push the door open, but hesitated. Finally, Old Liu stepped forward and pushed open the creaking wooden door.

A pungent smell of blood, mixed with the stench of livestock manure and the sour, fermented odor of rain-soaked fodder, rushed out from the shed, hitting them directly in the face.

Even standing at the entrance, they couldn't help but frown at the overwhelming stench.

The interior of the shed was dim, lit only by the daylight filtering through the entrance and the faint glimmer reflected by the rain.

But even in this dim light, it was enough to see the scene inside—wherever they looked, it was a glaring, dark red.

On the muddy ground, pools of blood of various sizes, not yet fully washed away or diluted, pooled together, shimmering with an ominous, dark luster in the dim light.

Lying in the pools of blood were four stiff corpses.

They were three medium-sized pet beasts that should have had fluffy, curly white long hair—Kapok Sheep.

This gentle, almost combat-incapable Awakening-rank pet beast was one of the most common economic livestock raised by farmers around Qinglan City, prized for its fine, warm, and easy-to-care-for wool.

However, at this moment, their once cloud-white curly wool was stained and matted with blood, mud, and their own bodily fluids.

The four corpses lay sprawled on the ground in various twisted postures, their necks limp and crooked, their limbs stiff.

"Th-they are the ones..."

Uncle Wang's voice sounded from behind them, filled with uncontrollable sobbing and agitation. He pointed at the tragic scene on the ground, speaking incoherently:

"I've been raising these Kapok Sheep for over two years, and they've always been fine."

"I came to feed them this morning, and the moment I opened the door, th-this is what I saw! They're all dead! They're all dead!"

The more he spoke, the more agitated he became, slapping his thighs violently. Rainwater rolled down his dark cheeks, making it impossible to distinguish between rain and tears:

"Last time it was the crops! This time... this time they've gone straight for their lives! It must be those damn things from the mountains! They won't let me live in peace!"

"Old Wang, don't get agitated, don't get agitated. Take your time and tell us everything you know clearly."

Old Liu stepped forward, slightly blocking Uncle Wang's overly agitated gaze with his body. His voice remained calm, and at the same time, he gave a subtle look to Zhang Zhi beside him.

Zhang Zhi understood and whispered to Lin Chen: "A-Chen, come with me."

The two bypassed the emotional Uncle Wang, carefully avoiding the larger pools of blood on the ground, and approached the three Kapok Sheep corpses.

The pungent scent of blood and the aura of death were almost suffocating.

Zhang Zhi crouched down. He did not choose to rashly touch the corpses but instead summoned the Qinglan Hunting Dog first.

Zhang Zhi spoke: "Zhuifeng, sniff carefully. Besides the scent of the Kapok Sheep and Uncle Wang, what else is here?"

The Qinglan Hunting Dog let out a low whimper in response and began to sniff around the three corpses with extreme caution, pausing occasionally and sometimes looking up toward the mountains shrouded in the curtain of rain outside the shed.

Lin Chen suppressed his discomfort and crouched beside another corpse.

As a prospective college student, it was inevitable to feel uncomfortable seeing something like this for the first time, but fortunately, his adaptability was good, and he recovered to normal in a short time.

His method of adjustment was also very simple—a Kapok Sheep corpse wasn't necessarily bloody and terrifying; after all, it could also be turned into delicious lamb skewers.

But the scene before him was still unbearable to look at.

Every Kapok Sheep was covered in crisscrossing, shallow and deep claw marks.

Some wounds were extremely deep, almost revealing the bone, with the flesh curled up and turned white from being soaked in the rain.

The pure white wool was torn into a mess, matted with dark red blood scabs and mud.

Their state of death was painful; it was clear they had experienced terrible torture in the final moments of their lives.

Pure slaughter.

This judgment pierced into Lin Chen's mind like an ice pick.

If it were ordinary hungry wild pet beasts coming down the mountain to forage, after a successful hunt, they would usually eat as quickly as possible or drag the prey away.

There would absolutely not be this kind of near-venting behavior; this did not conform to the survival-first instinctual logic of the vast majority of wild pet beasts.

"Did you see anything?"

Zhang Zhi asked Lin Chen in a low voice while keeping an eye on the Qinglan Hunting Dog's reaction.

Lin Chen did not answer immediately; he frowned, moving his gaze from one sheep's corpse to another.

"Brother Zhang."

Lin Chen's voice sounded exceptionally clear amidst the noise of the rain hitting the shed roof: "I think something is very wrong."

"If it were a starving predator, it wouldn't waste like this. This looks more like..."

Before he could finish, he saw the Qinglan Hunting Dog suddenly lift its head and look toward the distant curtain of rain, its tail standing straight up, its gaze alert, barking incessantly.

"Woof! Woof! Woof!!!"