The villagers began to chatter when they saw the youth who was carrying a wolfdog in the distance, and they began pointing and gesturing at the wolfdog behind him.
Wang Kui walked up to Officer Zhao and greeted him, "Greetings, Officer Zhao, and thanks for coming all this way. I'm Wang Kui, the one who called you just now. This is the wolfdog I've captured on the mountain, please take a look!"
And in that very instant, Old Li, the man with an injured leg finally could not hold back his rage. His eyes turning red, he lifted his crutch and was about to lunge at the wolfdog, "I'll kill you, you mutt!"
"Calm down, Mister Li—you're injured! Calm down!"
Officer Zhao promptly reached out to hold him back before giving Wang Kui a look. "It's fine, it was inevitable. Please put the dog in the trunk and get into the car!"
He was afraid that emotions would run high and cause conflicts if this continued, causing unnecessary incidents.
However, just as Officer Zhao said that, the jingle of a System notification could be heard in his head.
[Beep!]
[You have accomplished System objective two: Successful hunt of young wolfdog upon entering hunting grounds. Calculating hunt completion rate…]
In the next instant, his mind replayed the final scene where the wolfdog had fallen for his trap, and a slow-motion replay of his sub-zero flying lunge on the animal as well as a golden line of data began to appear!
[Fatal Strike Score]
[Lung hits: ✖️ (0/10)]
[Heart hits: ✖️ (0/20)]
[Live capture: ✔ (30/30)]
[Aggregate score: Thirty percent (Three methods of concluding the hunt, only highest score is counted)]
[Hunt Completion Score]
[Fur/skin: Serious scarring (0/10)]
[Muscles and organs: Light damage (5/10)]
[Bones: Complete (15/15)]
[Aggregate Score: Twenty percent (All three completion scores are added together)]
[Beep! According to your hunt completion score, your final rewards are: Hunting Partner Ticket x1, 600 Hunt Points, System Shop unlocked!]
Wang Kui spaced out.
He did not have the time to study the stacks of data, but he was a little thrilled when he saw the 'Hunting Partner Ticket!'
He could now hunt with a companion!
Then, the wolfdog…
He remembered the animal's outstanding performance in various aspects along the way, including its endurance, strength, bones, muscles… and most importantly, its ability to hunt and situational awareness!
It had to be protected!
Pausing, Wang Kui did not get in the police car as instructed, and instead, he turned toward Mister Li and said, "I understand how you feel, Mister Li, but I believe that there are many questionable aspects to this incident. You see, Officer Zhao, I'm a professional hunter, and according to my observation…"
He then told everyone everything he knew: About his analysis of the man-eating incident, the dog owner's behavior, and the dog's own injury.
Nearby, a heavily bearded man with a scowl was the first to protest—he was presumably the one who had gone up the mountain with Mister Li. "Young man, stop selling your snake oil here. That wolfdog is a cold-blooded beast! Do you even know what a beast is?! That thing, helping people? No way! Let's just cut the crap and kill it right now!"
"Yes! Kill it!"
Several other villagers echoed.
The audience in the livestream was immediately frustrated and saddened at the sight.
They were frustrated because the villagers were being unreasonable, and saddened because no one would easily forgive the loss of a human life.
Still, Officer Zhao adjusted his glasses, his eyes darting right and upward in recollection. "Your information might be true, but you should know that Sigou village is a little backwater, and there is no CCTV surveillance. Moreover, the wolfdog's owner himself has run away, and thus, there is no evidence we can use. So, I'm afraid things will be difficult…'
"The owner ran off?"
Wang Kui was rather baffled. He had initially thought that he had found no signs of the wolfdog's owner in the forest because the hunter must have been caught by the police… but it turned out that he had escaped?!
His livestream viewers were confused as well.
A bounty had been posted on the dog, but the owner had managed to escape?!
What the heck were they playing at?!
"Yes, he escaped…"
Glancing at Mister Li and his wife who were bawling their eyes out, Officer Zhao sighed and quietly led Wang Kui behind his car and explained, "The truth is that this man-eating incident occurred by chance, because there were no indications that the owner let his dogs loose deliberately to kill."
"I've learned from my colleague that the wolfdog's owner is Cui Yi'an, nicknamed Lame Cui. It has been less than two years since he moved to Mount Sigou, and the villagers mentioned that the Li family's kid often played with his dogs, even bringing them food. Lame Cui was not at home on the day of the incident, and the dogs were kept in his yard. It was the Li family's boy who sneaked into the courtyard to play with them."
"As you know, there are not many people around quiet villages, and keeping things locked was not a habit. Then, something like this happened, sigh… furthermore, Lame Cui did not come back after the incident and has not returned since."
"That is why this does not qualify as a criminal case, just as the owner could not be put on the wanted list. Even filing a report on this is a problem, and the whole incident will only qualify as a civic dispute at best, settled with an apology and compensation. There are just too many incidents where domesticated dogs had injured other humans, and this is usually how the law handles it."
The more Officer Zhao explained, however, the more the viewers became frustrated.
[How can a death be treated so lightly?!]
[Sigh, there's no helping it. It does sound like an accident…]
[No, didn't Old Kui say that this was not an accident?!]
And it was certainly as the comments put it.
Hence, Wang Kui began to retort, "Officer Zhao, I suggest that you further investigate this incident. I will stick to what I've said—both wolfdogs are not ordinary domesticated dogs. In fact, they are both professionally trained hunting machines, specializing in capturing their prey alive."
"Lame Cui is not at home? Fine. However, a professional, rearing professional canines as ordinary pets and allowing outsiders to approach them so easily? He trained them. He knows what the dogs are capable of and what might happen. This is considered a threat to society's peace and personal safety!"
"Moreover, I am convinced that this wolfdog held the child's safety in mind and protected the child with its life. I hope you can trust me on this, Officer Zhao. In fact, you can contact a city's forensics department to see if there is any animal saliva on the corpse as well as this wolfdog's wounds and the content of its stomach."
Officer Zhao appeared to be a responsible person. After thinking about it for a while, he nodded and said, "Thank you for your valuable information, but forensics will be leaving work at this hour. How about I keep the wolfdog at our police kennels and arrange for you to stay somewhere? We'll investigate this incident further tomorrow—what do you think?"
"Young man, if you don't mind, you can stay with us…"