Cheng Rushan, seeing that Cheng Fuwan hadn’t returned yet and only his mother and children were shouting there, snorted coldly and reached out to grab the tail of the vicious dog.

Cheng Xinda cried uncontrollably, his eyes glaring viciously at Cheng Rushan. “Dare touch it and see!”

Ignoring him, Cheng Rushan grabbed the dog’s tail and dragged it into the courtyard, then strode into the hall and took two knives from the wall rack.

Cheng Fuwan’s mother and the children were terrified, crying and screaming, thinking Cheng Rushan was about to kill someone.

Some ran to call for help, others ran outside, creating chaos.

Cheng Xinda’s eyes were bloodshot.

He grabbed a sickle and swung it at Cheng Rushan. “I’ll kill you!”

Cheng Rushan swiftly snatched the sickle from Cheng Xinda’s hand with his knife and used the handle to shove him in the chest, forcing him back two steps and causing him to fall to the ground.

Cheng Xinda hadn’t expected Cheng Rushan to be so strong.

His chest felt like it had been punched through, and he watched in horror as the devil began to harm his Black Panther.

“Ah!” He screamed in agony, his eyes wide open.

…

Today, Cheng Decai and his younger brother weren’t at home.

They were discussing opening a factory.

The brothers had many conflicts and couldn’t decide whether to start their own or partner up, whether to make bricks or cement.

They were debating endlessly.

They wanted to ask Grandpa Cheng Fugui at the commune, but he was too busy to bother with them lately.

So, they found one of Cheng Fugui’s sons and went together to their uncle’s house for advice.

Cheng Fuwan went to the commune today and then went to check on the wheat seedlings and some remaining tasks of the production team, all needing people to handle them.

Ma Kaihua took her two daughters-in-law to the Back Temple Village to spin and weave cloth.

She thought of learning it and perhaps setting up one in Water Locust Village too.

Seeing others having side businesses always made her envious.

Since the Brick Kiln Brigade didn’t allow a second one, she could do spinning and weaving.

When Cheng Fuwan received news and returned home, he saw Shang Zonghui, Jiang Xinglei, and two young men at their doorstep, setting up a stove with bricks, burning a lively fire underneath, and cooking something in a large iron pot on top.

He rushed over shouting, “What are you doing, what are you doing!”

There had been bad blood between Shang Zonghui’s family and Cheng Fugui’s family for years, so he wasn’t afraid of Cheng Fuwan at all. “Guess,” he retorted.

Just as Cheng Fuwan was about to erupt in anger, he noticed a pool of blood, which scared him into rushing into the courtyard, where he discovered that the blood trail stretched from the doorway all the way into the house.

The scene reminded him of the time when they had stormed Cheng Yi’s house, leaving blood everywhere.

“Oh mother!” Cheng Fuwan didn’t see his own mother and grandchildren, so he ran out in fear.

Then he smelled the fragrance wafting from the large pot at the door, which caused him to roll his eyes and faint on the spot.

Jiang Xinglei and Shang Zonghui followed Cheng Rushan’s orders to watch over the pot until the dog meat was fully cooked.

Jiang Xinglei glanced at Cheng Fuwan collapsed on the ground. “Who does he think we’re cooking?”

Someone shook Cheng Fuwan awake and told him, “Hurry to the brigade office. The brigade is interrogating your son Cheng Xinda.”

“What happened to my son?” Cheng Fuwan exclaimed in panic.

“They say he trained the dog to bite people.”

Cheng Fuwan cried out in protest of the injustice and dashed off to the brigade office.

Jiang Xinglei wanted to go too, but his brother-in-law ordered him to stay and guard the pot.

He couldn’t disobey.

He really wanted to beat Cheng Xinda so badly that even his parents wouldn’t recognize him, daring to do such a vicious thing!

Cheng Fuwan hurried to the brigade office, where the brigade secretary, brigade leader, security director, accountant, and women’s director were all assembled.

Cheng Fuwan was relieved to see his mother, grandchildren, and others there.

Ma Kaihua and her two daughters-in-law also rushed in after hearing the news.

She shouted, “What are you doing? This is the behavior of landlords and tyrants!”

Cheng Yulian glared at her. “Come on, first explain how you trained the vicious dog to bite people.”

Ma Kaihua was furious, “Nonsense! Who trained the dog to bite people? That dog is raised by our family, it never bites anyone, it’s always chained at home to guard the door.”

“So why did it chase and bite someone today?” Cheng Yulian insisted it was deliberate on their part.

Ma Kaihua retorted, “Cheng Yulian, stop slandering people. The dog broke free from its chain and ran away on its own. Every family has such incidents. Why should ours be blamed?”

She clapped her hands in frustration and started crying and scolding, sounding just like her mother-in-law.

“What? ‘If you see a dog, don’t tease it, but if you tease a dog, it will bite you’? ‘If you didn’t tease it, why did you run? If you run, the dog will bite you’? ‘It didn’t really bite you, it was just playing with you!'”

If it were a cute little dog like that, no one would suspect, but that wolf-like dog—do you really expect people to be fools and believe it was just playing?

Moreover, there were testimonies from elderly women like Feng Pozi and the children.

Gouqizi added, “That dog did chase Dabao and Xiaobao and their mother. It was howling and chasing after them.”

Feng Pozi chimed in, “It scared us to death, although it didn’t bite us, it focused on biting Jiang Lin.”

“You people who are soft-hearted and short-mouthed, this is just flattery! You’re not being truthful!” Chang Jihong was hysterical.

Cheng Xinda was her beloved son; how could she let others accuse him like this?

Cheng Rushan brought over a enamel basin and placed it in front of them. “Take a good look.”

When Cheng Fugui, Ma Kaihua, and Chang Jihong looked inside… there was a pile of something, which immediately made them feel disgusted. “What is this?”

Cheng Rushan said coldly, “How did my wife’s clothes end up in your dog’s stomach?”

At that moment, Cheng Rushan was only puzzled by the torn fabric in the dog’s stomach.

Jiang Xinglei, with sharp eyes, used a stick to dig through and recognized it as his sister’s missing item.

Although it was just some shredded fibers, they could make out the fine cotton fabric, along with threads in red, pink, and green.

He picked up a lump and had Shang Zonghui rinse it with water, making it clearer.

“No wonder my sister’s vest went missing. We searched everywhere inside and out, and it turns out your dog stole it and ate it!” exclaimed Jiang Xinglei.

Cheng Rushan thought further and immediately brought a basin, dragging Cheng Xinda to the brigade headquarters to have them bring in brigade cadres to handle the case.

In the countryside, eight or nine out of ten cases were handled by the brigade.

Cheng Rushan stated to the brigade cadres, “Cheng Fugui’s family brought in a trained vicious dog, which stole Jiang Lin’s clothes. It was trained to chase and bite, which shows murderous intent. It must be severely punished.”

Cheng Xinda collapsed on the ground, clutching his head and screaming incessantly.

He was overwhelmed by anger, hatred, and fear, unable to gather the strength to stand.

No matter how Cheng Fugui and Cheng Fugui Lian questioned him, he remained silent, only growling softly.

At that moment, Chang Jihong and Ma Kaihua rushed over, one concerned for her son and the other for her grandson, cursing those who were pressuring him.

Ma Kaihua questioned sharply, “How can you prove that those were your family’s clothes?”

Cheng Rushan said, “Out of all the villagers, only my wife has clothes made from this fabric and these silk threads.”

Jiang Lin couldn’t stand wearing coarse cotton undershirts.

She bought the finest cotton cloth, soft and sweat-absorbent, with delicate embroidery on top.

As for dealing with Ma Kaihua and his group, he had no intention of reasoning with them.

He just needed evidence of their involvement in this matter.

How to prove the clothes belonged to Jiang Lin? He didn’t care.

He only needed someone to admit they trained a dog to attack Jiang Lin!

He wasn’t a police officer; solving cases wasn’t his responsibility.

He was only focused on finding those who threatened his wife and making them pay back tenfold or a hundredfold!

Chang Jihong cried out, “Even if it’s your wife’s clothes, we didn’t steal them! Who knows if the wind blew them away, and the dog just chewed on them for fun? You can’t blame us for training a dog to attack people.”

Cheng Yulian retorted, “Oh come on, your dog randomly eats clothes? There’s no such thing as a dog that eats clothes in this world! Even if it chewed on them, it wouldn’t swallow such a big lump, right?”

The community security director added, “Such big dogs are usually used as hunting dogs, police dogs, or in the military. Ordinary households can’t afford such expensive dogs. Our village gatekeepers only keep a couple of local mutts. Who would feed them meat?”

Cheng Rushan squatted down closer to Cheng Xinda on the ground.

His voice remained calm and steady as he said, “I think you must know some stories. There are people who wrap raw meat in their enemies’ clothes and let hunting dogs tear at it. After long training, with just a signal from the owner, the dog will attack the enemy relentlessly. If trained properly by someone who knows, it will deliver a fatal blow. But this dog itself is useless, dumb, only fierce without understanding people, poorly raised by someone stupid and venomous, lacking enough brains…”

“You’re the stupid one, you’re venomous! My black panther isn’t stupid at all, it’s smart and understands people!” Cheng Xinda, in his rebellious teenage years, couldn’t stand anyone criticizing himself or his beloved dog.

He jumped up and rushed towards Cheng Rushan, ready to fight. “Black panther is the smartest! It’s just not fully trained yet. If it were, it could easily kill you with one bite!”

His eyes were blazing red, his mind filled with roaring thoughts, unable to think clearly or calmly, consumed by hatred towards Cheng Rushan.

Cheng Fuwan and Ma Kaihua hurried to restrain Cheng Xinda. “He’s just being rash and angry, not serious!”

They quickly pulled Cheng Xinda away.

However, Cheng Rushan didn’t give them a chance.

He reached out and grabbed Cheng Xinda by the neck, throwing him forcefully to the ground, his deep, cold eyes showing no warmth.

Slowly and distinctly, he said, “Are you not stupid? Very stupid? Dogs reflect their owners, just as stupid as you!”

“You’re the stupid one!” Cheng Xinda struggled to speak with Cheng Rushan’s grip tightening around his neck. “The black panther can track her scent in just two days!”

Of course, Cheng Xinda was the one who stole the clothes.

He stole them randomly, taking from whoever he could.

His main target was Cheng Rushan, starting with others before targeting her.

So, at the time, regardless of whether it was Jiang Lin’s or someone else’s, he would steal it.

He had heard many stories about how during the Japanese occupation, they trained police dogs using clothes of revolutionaries wrapped around raw meat and bones.

The dogs quickly remembered the smell and sensation, never forgetting it in their lifetime, ensuring they would attack and kill enemies.

These stories deeply imprinted in his mind, and he always wanted to train his grandfather’s hunting dog.

His grandfather loved him, and he had a good relationship with the dog, which he named Black Panther.

Now that Cheng Rushan had killed Black Panther, he was determined to avenge it!

Cheng Fuwan and the others continued to dismiss the boy’s words as unreliable.

Cheng Rushan turned to look at the children from Cheng Fuwan’s family and coldly said, “Someone from your family will end up in prison or get shot for this!”

“No, not me!” cried the youngest son of Cheng Fuwan’s second son, terrified. “Not my dad either, it’s him, it’s him!” He pointed at Cheng Xinda. “It’s his grandma’s dog, he raised it!”

Though young, he understood well enough what prison or getting shot meant, and he was scared to death.

Seeing this, Chang Jihong slapped him across the face, but Cheng Yulian stopped her.

Cheng Yulian spat, “Shameless and malicious! In a household, who wouldn’t know if something bad happened? Child, explain to everyone clearly that your family is innocent. If you can’t, your whole family will be implicated.”

Not only him, but other children also started speaking up.

Children notice things that adults sometimes overlook, and they unintentionally know a lot.

Pooling their bits of information together, they reconstructed Cheng Xinda’s process of training the dog.

A few days ago, he had taken a piece of clothing and managed to get some meat, perhaps by stealing a chicken.

He wrapped the meat in the clothing and trained the dog to attack, hiding and training it near the riverbank outside the village these past few days.

The community security director immediately took people to the riverbank and indeed found some broken bones and fibers from torn clothing.

Despite the clothes being in bad shape, Cheng Rushan recognized them immediately.

Furious beyond measure, he sneered, “It seems like a life-and-death struggle between us.”

Cheng Fuwan quickly claimed ignorance, insisting he knew nothing about it and couldn’t be blamed. “It’s just a child’s prank. He’s only thirteen, still a kid who doesn’t understand!”

“Don’t understand?” Cheng Rushan glanced at him, his gaze cold and indifferent, treating him like an inanimate object.

Cheng Fuwan, fearing Cheng Rushan’s wrath, suggested reporting the matter to the police and deciding how to handle it.

He looked at Cheng Xinda, unable to comprehend his maliciousness. “How could you be so cruel?”

Cheng Xinda glared fiercely at Cheng Rushan. “I’m stronger than you!”

Cheng Fuwan felt a pang of unease.

This unruly child always heard his grandfather praise Cheng Rushan as someone with potential and talent.

Looking at his own children, none of them had achieved anything worthwhile.

Other children might brush off such comments, but Cheng Xinda took them to heart.

He knew his grandfather both feared and envied Cheng Rushan, and he believed that defeating or even killing Cheng Rushan would prove his own superiority.

After much thought, he came up with this plan.

He would train the dog, start with a trial run, and when it became skilled enough, he would unleash it to ambush Cheng Rushan.