"Secretary Shen, Anything new on the investigation?" A man on his knees looked to the man whose arms were the only thing visible, as he was facing the back window through his swivel chair. He was looking at Wen Zhulong, chairman of Wen Corp, whose, though facing the opposite direction, voice had expectations in it.
"Yes, sir! We changed tactics to espionage and stakeouts, rather than an open investigation. No one has noticed us, and we have found some new information." Secretary Shen reported with his head down subserviently.
"Do you know who did that to my son? Do you even know if it was a man or woman?" There was slight irritation in his voice. He had heard similar reports of 'new information', but the results were always disappointing.
It was always, "we've ruled out this suspect" or "we've heard some rumors". Always a bunch of nonsense. Even if there was a lead, it always lead to a dead end.
No one saw any people nearby the time of the incident, the cams only saw him entering his car and never leaving.
All the core realm cultivators in the school or were active in areas nearby all had alibis. All the students were either in class or skipping, who also had alibis. The few students who weren't had witnesses saying they were nowhere near the incident.
The only other living things around were weak contract beasts and pets, all of whom were with their owners, except one, which was nothing but a harmless cat.
The only thing that they were actually confident in was that it was a human who did it.
There were simply no species that attacked at such a high angle, or had blades like the one that stabbed his son. Most beasts with blades typically only had single edged blades, like a mantis. Those with horns have low angle attacks.
Another thing was that they thought it had to be a doctor of some kind, as only one with such medical expertise could accurately cripple someone with a single stab in the spine. One would need high precision to avoid hitting the vertebrae. But all the doctors nearby were working at the time.
They also looked through national and international fugitives, and ran a face check through the security cameras, only to come up empty again.
They went through every outlet and source they could suspect or think of. Yet they came up with absolutely nothing!
What lead could they possibly give him?
"Sir, there was a report of a possible new species in the area." Something weird came out, nothing like he expected.
"What does that have to do with this?" He didn't know where he was going with this.
"It might have a connection with your son's incident."
"How so?" What does some stupid new insect or rat have to do with his son?
"Well with every new variable comes new possibilities, sir. And this species in particular is rather peculiar."
"Then cut to the chase. Out with it, I don't need any of your nonsense filler." He was very impatient at this point. What the hell was he purpose of all that nonsense. He didn't have time for that. He may not look it, but he was very busy as the chairman of Wen Corp. it's not like he just sits around raking it in. Only he had the authority to make some big decisions after all.
"The species in particular is said to be a black tiger with wings..." Secretary Shen explained patiently.
"What?! With wings?! That's like giving a tiger wings! Wait! That's exactly what it is!" He was surprised, it wasn't often when an idiom becomes real life. What's next? Pigs that can fly? A mantis that can stop cars? Actually, the latter was actually feasible, if so called mantis cultivated high enough. Though a pig with wings was scientifically impossible.
"Not just that, it's supposed to have an extending tail, with a retracting blade!" He brought out what interested him the most.
"Then is it possible that...?" His mind began to work.
"Yes! Whoever introduced this species might have gone after your son!" He didn't consider that the beast would act on its own, as no such animal would be so intelligent, or be able to make a soul contract with a human.
"Not just that, this species might be involved in the Hall Massacre not long ago!" He dropped a bombshell.
"Alright, where did you hear about this thing?" He understood that this was a serious matter now. This could be some sort of conspiracy.
"Apparently there was an incident of an illegal dogfight among grade schoolers, and it was the contract beast of one of the combatants." He read his papers.
"Some body or qi refining animal couldn't possibly have left a golden core realm cultivator like my son in such a shape! Could it be there are more than one?" His brain worked rapidly, possibilities filtering themselves constantly.
"We believe so as well. In the camera quality rendering of the hall massacre case, the one involved in the case was a size bigger than the one the kid used." Secretary Shen shuffled through the relevant files, speaking rapidly, then finally showing a picture of a blurry feline form with red eyes and wings. Of course, Wen Zhulong couldn't possibly see it with his chair turned and facing the other direction like he always does.
"I believe you understand what to do now." Wen Zhulong said solemnly.
"Yes we're already looking for the child who owned the new species!" Said the secretary confidently.
"Then you are dismissed." With that, Secretary Shen have his regards and left the room, leaving Wen Zhulong by himself.
It was at this point that he remembered something his brother brought up a while ago.
"Wasn't Zhufeng bitten by a students' black cat?" He wondered if there was a connection...