Chapter 80: He Did It Himself

Faced with the cold, hard truth, Chen Wenli was completely stunned. She kept muttering “Impossible” under her breath, her expression dazed and unfocused.

A female officer stepped forward and handcuffed her. As the cold metal clamped around her wrists, Chen Wenli didn’t resist at all. She lowered her head in silence, as if she had finally accepted reality, her demeanor filled with despair and resignation.

The officers took her to identify the crime scene and demanded she reveal the location of the murder weapon and explain how the crime was committed. After they left, Song Changfeng brought Aofeng outside and stared at him seriously. Aofeng felt uncomfortable under his gaze and turned his head away, pretending to admire the scenery.

They remained in a standoff for two or three minutes before Song Changfeng suddenly sighed. Curious, Aofeng turned his head slightly and stole a quick glance at him.

“That bloodstain… you put it there, didn’t you?” Song Changfeng asked with a questioning tone, but his expression was full of certainty.

Aofeng looked surprised at first, then turned to Song Changfeng with an innocent face, his little eyes filled with wide-eyed confusion, as if to say he was just a pure, adorable spirit dog who had no idea what Song Changfeng was talking about.

“Show me your right front paw,” Song Changfeng said, not buying the act. After spending so much time together, no one knew Aofeng better than he did. This dog was so smart it barely qualified as a dog anymore. What Song Changfeng hadn’t expected was that Aofeng had become clever enough to frame someone. Well, maybe not frame exactly, since Chen Wenli was indeed the murderer. But the evidence on her shoe had been faked by Aofeng.

When Aofeng refused to lift his paw, Song Changfeng simply grabbed it and held it up. Sure enough, the dried, dark red bloodstain matched the one found on Chen Wenli’s shoe.

“You little rascal,” Song Changfeng said helplessly. “Don’t do that again. The body cam recorded everything. What if someone notices?”

Aofeng suddenly looked up, genuinely confused. He had thought Song Changfeng was about to scold him.

That’s right—the bloodstain on Chen Wenli’s shoe had been planted by Aofeng when no one was paying attention. At the time, the blood hadn’t fully dried, so it stuck easily when he brushed against it.

He did it because he wanted to bring the murderer to justice as quickly as possible. Earlier, when he sniffed around Chen Wenli, the overwhelming stench of sulfur and herbal medicine had filled his nose, making it hard to detect any other scents. But once he adjusted to it, he caught a faint trace of blood on her.

Aofeng moved closer and sniffed carefully. The scent matched the victim’s blood almost exactly. It seemed her hair had accidentally brushed against some blood without her noticing, revealing a crucial clue.

According to police records, the body had been discovered by a staff member at the resort. Due to a sudden power outage, everyone had been stuck in the conference room. When the repair crew finally fixed the circuit box, the staff member went around knocking on each door to apologize and offer compensation. After all, a power outage at a resort was unacceptable. Guests paid good money to relax, only to be disrupted by something so frustrating—it was bound to cause complaints.

But when the staff member knocked on Liu Fei’s door, there was no response. She called the room’s landline, but no one answered. Growing nervous, she feared something might have happened during the blackout. She rushed back to the front desk, grabbed a key card, and opened the door.

A blood-curdling scream echoed through the resort. Other staff quickly arrived, and once they confirmed what had happened, they immediately called the hospital and the police, sealing off the scene as fast as possible. Even guests in the room next door hadn’t seen the crime scene, let alone entered it.

So, there was no way Chen Wenli could have come into contact with Liu Fei’s blood—unless she had entered the room before the scene was sealed.

Realizing this, Aofeng immediately lay down at Chen Wenli’s feet, hoping to alert everyone that she was the killer. As he lay down, he noticed that at some point, his own paw had picked up some blood. He was startled, thinking he might have wrongly accused her.

Later, as Chen Wenli kept denying everything under Song Changfeng’s questioning, Aofeng grew furious. In a burst of righteous anger, he lifted his paw and smeared the blood onto her shoe. He thought he’d been subtle about it. He hadn’t expected Song Changfeng to notice right away.

In Aofeng’s eyes, Song Changfeng had always been a stickler for rules, someone who followed regulations to the letter. Aofeng never imagined that instead of scolding him, Song Changfeng would be more concerned about him getting caught.

Sensing the shock on Aofeng’s furry face, Song Changfeng crouched down and rubbed his head. “I know you’re smart, but don’t do things that might raise suspicion. We can uncover the truth using proper procedures.”

Aofeng nodded. With things said so clearly and Song Changfeng being so understanding, he couldn’t very well refuse.

Just then, another officer approached, his expression grim.

“Comrade Changfeng, Captain Li wants you to bring Aofeng over.”

The two of them followed the officer and soon arrived at the crime scene. The victim’s body had been covered with a white sheet. Chen Wenli stood nearby with her head bowed, her face cold and emotionless. It seemed the earlier interrogation hadn’t gone well.

“Comrade Changfeng, could you and your police dog help us search her room and the surrounding area?” Captain Li asked. “We’ve mostly determined the cause of death, but without the murder weapon, we can’t return to the station.”

He looked a bit embarrassed, but there was no other option. Chen Wenli was being completely uncooperative, and the resort was large. They had no choice but to rely on the keen nose of a police dog.

Song Changfeng agreed immediately and began the search right away. The first place he went was Chen Wenli’s room. Aofeng sniffed carefully around the space but didn’t detect any trace of blood. However, the scent of red wine that had clung to the victim was present here. It seemed likely that Chen Wenli had gone to see him after drinking red wine, and the two had gotten close enough for the scent to transfer. After committing the crime, Chen Wenli had quickly soaked in the hot spring, and under the heat of the water, the smell of wine had soon evaporated.

Leaving Chen Wenli’s room, Aofeng continued sniffing the air, carefully distinguishing the faint lingering scents. Guided by a subtle trace, they arrived at the electrical box on the basement level. There, in a small nearby ventilation shaft, they found the knife along with some bloodstained clothing.

With the physical evidence recovered, the police were ready to leave. They expressed their sincere thanks to Song Changfeng and Aofeng. Without their help, the case wouldn’t have been resolved so easily.

After watching the police take Chen Wenli and the victim’s body away, Song Changfeng immediately headed back inside. At that moment, his mother and the others were in the conference room, discussing how to handle the looming public relations crisis. The top priority now was to calm the remaining guests. If people started dragging their suitcases out in the middle of the night, things would really spiral out of control.

Once he confirmed that his mother was unharmed, Song Changfeng relaxed and took Aofeng home.

By then, the sky was beginning to lighten. Having barely rested all night, man and dog collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

When they woke again, it was already past two in the afternoon. Aofeng’s stomach was growling with hunger, but Song Changfeng was still fast asleep. After a moment of thought, Aofeng decided to go find something to eat on his own.

He trotted downstairs with a spring in his step, but before he could reach the bottom, he saw Song’s mother sitting in the living room, staring grimly at something on the coffee table.

Should he quietly sneak away? Aofeng hesitated, feeling a little awkward. But he was really, really hungry!