Chapter 125: Case Closed

“Then how do you explain these?”

One photo after another was displayed, showing bizarre and unthinkable tools. Wang Bo had purchased them frequently, buying a new batch every two or three months.

Wang Bo’s eyes darted around before his expression darkened. “What I buy is my own business. You have no right to question how I use them. And besides, what gives you the right to keep checking my phone? This is a violation of my privacy. I’m filing a complaint!”

Song Changfeng stared at him. “If it turns out you’re innocent, I’ll take full responsibility for my actions. But for now, I need you to explain these tools. There are several animal traps here. They’re illegal even in the mountains, let alone in a city. You’re suspected of endangering public safety.”

“I have my own uses for those tools. They have nothing to do with this case, and I refuse to answer!” Wang Bo, confident that they hadn’t found those items in his backpack and assuming they wouldn’t search his home over this, put on a defiant, non-cooperative stance.

The interrogation room fell into silence. Since it couldn’t be definitively proven that the tools were related to the case, Wang Bo did have the right to refuse to answer certain questions.

But just then, Wang Bo’s phone started dinging repeatedly. Clearly, someone was messaging him. Song Changfeng wasn’t supposed to check the messages, but as he moved to swipe them away, a few keywords caught his eye.

So, right in front of Wang Bo, he tapped the messages open.

“Wang Bo, did you get it or not?”

“Did you catch that cat?”

“What tool are you using this time to deal with the cat? I just bought a few new ones. Want to try them?”

“Why aren’t you replying? The bounty task deadline is coming up. If you don’t hurry and submit it, all your effort will be wasted.”

One message after another made it clear that Wang Bo hadn’t just acted on impulse when he saw the cat. This was premeditated. Normally, this kind of behavior would be wrapped up under theft charges. The actual sentence would depend on the value of the stolen item.

The British Shorthair Wang Bo stole typically sells for at least thirty-five hundred yuan for an average kitten. The one the girl owned, named Danhuang, had even better features and had cost fifty-five hundred when purchased. She had already gone home to retrieve the receipt. If she couldn’t find it, they’d have to get a professional appraisal.

Moreover, the messages didn’t just prove premeditated theft. They revealed something else: the mention of a bounty task. This meant Wang Bo wasn’t just sharing animal abuse videos, he was profiting from them.

Song Changfeng knew that legitimate websites and social platforms would never host bounty tasks for such vile content. Which meant this might involve illegal websites or underground forums.

In just a split second, Song Changfeng had processed all of this. To the others, it looked like he was simply stunned by the messages. A nearby officer leaned over to take a look, but the messages seemed ordinary, nothing explosive.

Wang Bo, seeing the officer’s puzzled expression, felt a bit of relief. But the very next moment, Song Changfeng’s question sent a chill down his spine.

“You’re doing bounty tasks?”

“…What are you talking about? I don’t understand.” Wang Bo tried to feign innocence.

“Your friend, the one with the WeChat name ‘Lone Wolf’, messaged you saying your bounty task deadline is coming up and told you to hurry and submit it.” Song Changfeng read the message aloud.

Wang Bo forced a laugh. “I don’t really know that guy. No idea why he sent me that message.” He had always deleted his chat history with Zhang Qiang after each conversation, so the police couldn’t trace it. That previous group chat with the animal abuse videos had slipped through the cracks. He hadn’t logged into that social platform account in a long time.

“Then I’ll ask him myself.” Song Changfeng smirked slightly and lowered his head to type.

“Got the cat, just finishing up. Send me the bounty task link, I’ll upload it in a bit.” After typing it out, Song Changfeng showed Wang Bo the message, then hit send.

Wang Bo panicked, shouting that Song Changfeng was violating his privacy and coercing a confession. Song Changfeng ignored him. Coercion? Not at all. This was standard criminal investigation procedure.

Soon, a reply came back: “Are you out of your mind from abusing cats? Where’s there a link for Crimson? Just log in on your computer and upload it yourself.”

Song Changfeng didn’t reply. Instead, he sat down at the computer used for taking statements and typed in the word “Crimson.” To his surprise, there was no direct web access to any site by that name. Only in certain forums and message boards did people vaguely mention it.

Song Changfeng told Wang Bo to log into the account himself, but Wang Bo adamantly denied knowing anything about the website. So Song Changfeng picked up his phone and sent a message.

“My computer crashed, and I’m out right now. Send me the website link, I forgot it.”

The reply came quickly: six dots, followed by, “Dude, I seriously give up. You visit that thing like three hundred times a day and you forgot? The site is www… Did you get too worked up today or something? I kinda want to see the video you shot.” The guy on the other end was clearly excited, chalking up Wang Bo’s odd behavior to overexcitement.

Song Changfeng typed in the URL he received. After searching, what popped up was actually an educational exchange platform. He clicked on one of the posts and saw that it really was just study materials.

What was going on? Had the other guy realized it was a trap? Song Changfeng was puzzled. He didn’t think the guy had the brains to figure that out. He kept browsing the site and finally, in a hidden corner, he found a link. After clicking it, the screen jumped to another site. Against a black background, two blood-red characters clawed across the screen, with streaks spreading out like they were bleeding. Just looking at it made one feel uneasy.

Song Changfeng found the login button and clicked it. Two dialog boxes popped up, prompting him to enter a username and password. He didn’t have this information, and Wang Bo clearly wouldn’t enter it himself, so Song Changfeng had to try on his own.

He started with Wang Bo’s ID number, but the system said the account didn’t exist. Then he tried Wang Bo’s phone number. This time, it didn’t say the account was nonexistent, but the password was still an issue. Fortunately, modern websites are pretty user-friendly. He just clicked “Forgot Password,” received a verification code on the phone, entered it, and was able to reset the password and log in.

As soon as he entered the site and saw the flood of content, Song Changfeng felt like his entire worldview was shattering. He quickly navigated to Wang Bo’s profile and found that he had already uploaded over twenty videos. The most viewed one, posted just over ten days ago, showed him torturing and killing a tiny white kitten. It had over five thousand views and more than a hundred people had sent tips.

The bounty task he’d recently accepted was pinned at the top, complete with a countdown timer.

After reading the task details, Song Changfeng finally understood why Wang Bo had taken the risk of stealing someone’s pet.

Faced with the open website and the occasional videos where his face was clearly visible, Wang Bo could no longer deny anything. Confronted with irrefutable evidence, he confessed everything he had done on the site.

At the same time, the owner of Danhuang brought over the purchase receipt and handed it to the police as evidence for prosecution. After seeing the videos Wang Bo had posted of abusing cats, Danhuang’s owner was not only shocked but also deeply shaken. If it hadn’t been for Xiao Hei leading the way, and if Song Changfeng and Aofeng hadn’t been alert, Danhuang might have fallen victim too.

She became even more determined to take Wang Bo to court, refusing any settlement. Someone like him deserved to face legal consequences. Even if he didn’t end up in jail, there should at least be a permanent black mark on his record.

But things were only going to get worse for Wang Bo. Once it was confirmed that the kitten he had tortured and killed was He Honghong’s Xueqiu, Song Changfeng contacted He Honghong to come identify him and bring relevant evidence. When she saw the video, her eyes turned red with rage. If someone hadn’t held her back, she would’ve lunged at Wang Bo and beaten him senseless.

Since He Honghong had already filed a police report when Xueqiu went missing, the two cases were now combined. Wang Bo was hit with an additional charge of maliciously taking and destroying another person’s property. The law would see to his punishment.

On top of that, He Honghong exposed the incident on the university town’s website. As public outrage grew, more and more people learned about it. Wang Bo’s university came under increasing scrutiny, with many calling for the school to take action against such a vile act.

Soon after, a notice appeared on the official website of Anyang University of Science and Technology, announcing that Wang Bo’s student status was revoked effective immediately and that he was expelled.

As for the site called “Crimson,” the police placed it under strict surveillance. Besides videos of animal abuse, it also hosted other illegal activities, including drug transactions.

The police enlisted the help of a top-tier tech expert, Li Zihao, the owner of Kaka, to assist in the investigation and crack the IP addresses involved in these illegal activities. With his support, it took only a few days for the police in Anyang City to join forces with authorities from other regions and successfully bust a major drug trafficking operation involving a massive sum of money.

After the case was closed, the website “Crimson”—a platform steeped in darkness and notorious for amplifying the worst of human nature from the shadows—was officially shut down. Several accounts that had been particularly active on the site also received formal warnings from the police.