Animal Detective

Chapter 138: Jealousy

In the video, Yuanyuan’s bite didn’t land squarely.

Wang Lei’s chin was scratched, and blood immediately started to flow.

He looked stunned. He backhanded Yuanyuan, then grabbed the dog by the collar and dragged it off-camera.

’He probably put it in its cage.’

His voice could still be heard. "It’s okay, family. I’m fine, just got a little bite. Like I said, this dog’s been acting crazy today."

About a minute later, he reappeared on camera.

The blood had been wiped from the two scratches, but he hadn’t even applied any iodine. He simply stuck on two adhesive bandages.

A chill ran down Shen Xin’s spine.

Normally, after being bitten by a sick dog, you should immediately rinse the wound with running water and then clean it with soap.

Of course, those measures probably wouldn’t do much good. The most important thing is to go to the hospital for a rabies vaccine.

But for the sake of his livestream, Wang Lei hadn’t done anything.

This was basically a death sentence.

After sitting down, he acted as if nothing had happened. "It’s all good, family. The dog has had its rabies shots, so it’s fine. He scratches me all the time."

Then he went on to thank the "big bro" for the Cloud-Piercing Arrow, asking if the guy had any other requests he could fulfill.

He couldn’t even pronounce the account’s name properly.

The next moment, that account appeared again and sent another Cloud-Piercing Arrow.

"Fuck, what is this, a celebration?" Zhao Tianxing yelled, pointing at the screen.

The first Cloud-Piercing Arrow sent Wang Lei to the gallows.

The second one felt like the sender was celebrating.

What was even more horrifying was that Wang Lei was still excitedly thanking the big bro for the Cloud-Piercing Arrow.

Shen Xin snapped back to reality.

’That’s it, this has to be the livestream.’

’The 8th. The date matches up.’

Ding Yuwei sucked in a cold breath. She pointed at the account that was now ranked first because of the two Cloud-Piercing Arrows and said, "This account... it couldn’t be Zhang Qingpeng’s, could it?"

She suddenly shivered.

At that moment.

Through a computer screen, through the internet cable, Zhang Qingpeng was possibly watching Wang Lei’s livestream.

Two Cloud-Piercing Arrows were all it took to send Wang Lei down the path to his own death.

So at that moment, what must have been going through Zhang Qingpeng’s mind as he witnessed it all?

Coldly watching someone fall into his trap, and then continuing to live by Wang Lei’s side, watching him walk step by step toward death.

Recalling the Zhang Qingpeng in the interrogation room, the one who was so scared he trembled when he spoke, Ding Yuwei could hardly reconcile the two images.

Shen Xin felt a shiver himself. He picked up the phone and called Manager Li again.

"The stream on the 8th, right? And the account that sent two Cloud-Piercing Arrows... Officer Shen, please wait a moment while I check the backend records."

Soon, Manager Li replied, "This account was registered on September 15th. It has no other spending records. Then, at 9:11 PM on October 8th, just over ten minutes after sending the two Cloud-Piercing Arrows, the user voluntarily deleted the account."

"However, we have his registration information in our backend, including a phone number."

He read out a phone number.

Shen Xin’s heart skipped a beat.

’It’s Zhang Qingpeng’s.’

The mobile carrier investigation had shown that Zhang Qingpeng had two phone numbers registered under his name.

They were with two different service providers.

The number Manager Li read out seemed to be the one he used for work.

"Manager Li, please send the relevant information to us."

Shen Xin hung up the phone.

They had the most crucial piece of evidence.

Even if they couldn’t find the dog, Yuanyuan, it wasn’t a huge problem anymore.

Yuanyuan had already gotten sick on the 8th. By now, it was long dead and had been disposed of by Zhang Qingpeng.

And Zhang Qingpeng had been stalling and refusing to cooperate with the investigation, probably waiting for the platform to delete the livestream video.

In another four days, the most critical evidence would be gone.

"Damn it, this bastard is ruthless," Zhao Tianxing cursed. He tugged on Ding Yuwei’s arm, gesturing that they should go interrogate him again.

"I’m going to ask him just what could have possibly made him so determined to kill Wang Lei."

The investigation had shown that the two had no financial disputes or conflicts over women.

’Could it really be just because of an argument?’

Shen Xin wanted to know the answer to that question too.

「In the interrogation room.」

Zhao Tianxing entered with a dark expression.

Zhang Qingpeng tensed up instantly.

"Zhang Qingpeng, this is your last chance. If you talk, we can consider it a confession. If you don’t, then I’ll talk," Zhao Tianxing said coldly.

Zhang Qingpeng started shaking again. With trembling lips, he said, "I don’t know what to say. He was bitten to death by a dog. It has nothing to do with me."

"Is that so?"

Zhao Tianxing smiled, stood up, and slapped a folder down in front of Zhang Qingpeng.

"Then tell me, what’s the difference between the dog in this video and the dog in this one?"

This was the trump card they had prepared.

Zhang Qingpeng glanced at it and began to tremble even more violently. He shook his head. "There’s... there’s no difference. It’s just a dog."

"Still trying to deny it, are you?!"

Zhao Tianxing sat back down, turned the laptop screen toward him, and started playing Wang Lei’s livestream from the 8th.

The moment Wang Lei appeared on the screen, Zhang Qingpeng let out a sudden, sharp gasp. He looked as if he’d seen a ghost, pressing himself hard against the back of his chair in absolute panic.

As the video played, his panic grew.

’He must have confirmed it. This is the livestream from the 8th.’

Then, he actually pissed himself!

He wet his pants uncontrollably out of fear.

"Wh-why are you making me watch this?" He still hadn’t given up.

Zhao Tianxing shot a disgusted look at his pants, fast-forwarded to the part where Wang Lei was bitten, and said coldly, "Zhang Qingpeng, that was a hell of a Cloud-Piercing Arrow you sent."

That one sentence shattered all of Zhang Qingpeng’s psychological defenses.

Seeing Wang Lei get suddenly bitten by Yuanyuan in the video, he broke down completely and started to cry.

"I... I didn’t mean to... I didn’t."

He could barely form complete sentences, sobbing his eyes out.

Zhao Tianxing and Ding Yuwei watched him coldly.

In the observation room, Shen Xin also watched coldly, trying to see the demon’s face beneath Zhang Qingpeng’s pathetic display.

A full five minutes passed before Zhang Qingpeng calmed down. He said frantically, "I really didn’t mean to kill him. I saw him when he died in the hospital. His face was all twisted, his mouth was open, and his eyes... they were staring, wide, wide open, like they were looking right at me."

"I truly regretted it then!"

"No, I regretted it the day after he was bitten. I wanted to tell him to get the rabies vaccine. It had only been a few hours since the bite, so there should have still been time."

"But I didn’t dare. You don’t understand, I was so scared. I was afraid he’d find out what I did. So I really do regret it. I didn’t want to kill him."

He frantically tried to justify his actions.

Zhao Tianxing didn’t believe that bullshit for a second.

"You don’t regret it. You committed a crime, and you’re scared of getting caught!" Zhao Tianxing rebuked coldly.

Those who regret murder never regret the act of killing itself, but rather the fear of being punished.

"Tell me, why did you kill him?" Zhao Tianxing asked in a heavy tone.

Shen Xin immediately perked up his ears.

Zhang Qingpeng was in a terrible state. It took him a long while before he managed to stammer, "I don’t even know what I was thinking at the time. That night, the streamer I was working with... I was helping him plan content for his short videos, but I had to revise the script so many times. He was never satisfied."

"I remember revising it over and over until I was sick of it. But he still said it wasn’t good enough and that it needed more changes. What could I do? He’s the streamer. The company relies on them. We all have to cater to him."

"Just then, Wang Lei said something."

Zhang Qingpeng gritted his teeth. Even now, as he recounted the incident, a glint of fury still showed in his eyes.

"He told me, ’You only earn that little bit of fucking money a month, working your ass off like a dog every day. Is it worth it?’ He told me I should learn from him, said he could make more from one video than I make in a whole month."

"What right did he have to say that to me!"

Zhang Qingpeng’s eyes suddenly widened as he questioned loudly.

"Who was he trying to act all high and mighty for? Back when I was popular, what was he like? Sucking up to me all day, calling me ’Brother Peng, Brother Peng’."

"When I was fucking raking it in, he was a nobody!"

"Now he has one viral video, makes a little money, and he’s showing off to me? He just got lucky! What real talent does he have?"

He stared, asking resentfully.

Zhao Tianxing and Ding Yuwei exchanged a look, their eyes filled with utter astonishment.

In the observation room, Shen Xin’s eyes widened as well.

’All because of that? Because of one sentence?’

Zhao Tianxing was silent for a moment, then said, "You were jealous of him, so you chose to kill him."

Zhang Qingpeng bit his lip so hard it bled. Then he nodded. "That’s right. I was jealous of him. Why should he get popular again? And what about me? I’m more talented than him, so why did I end up like this?"

"And my parents... all they do is ask me for money to give to my useless little brother. Where do you think the money to build their house came from? I earned it! I was fucking streaming until the middle of the night, calling everyone ’big bro’ and ’big sis’, earning it dime by dime."

"Fine. The moment I stopped making money, they started saying I was worthless, that all I did was play video games."

"Fuck them! So what if I wasn’t making money? What right did they have to say that about me?"

"So yeah, I was jealous of Wang Lei. Who the hell does he think he is? Why should he get famous and act all high and mighty in front of me? So I decided to kill him."

His features contorted, his cheeks twitched unnaturally, as he spoke, filled with bitter resentment.