The Green-Wolf Mastiff

Her tone was calm and unhurried, nothing like the nervous, stammering responses the others had given Tu Ran.

Tu Ran nodded and asked, "Mr. Yigan keeps two Tibetan Mastiffs, doesn't he?"

This was information she'd gleaned from questioning the others earlier.

"Yes," Naya Rivera answered without hesitation.

"What breed?" Tu Ran pressed.

"Green-wolf mastiff."

"A green-wolf mastiff, huh." Tu Ran lowered her gaze as if deep in thought, but her eyes were fixed on a strand of hair clinging to the edge of the woman's apron. "Green-wolf mastiffs are quite a rare breed these days."

Back in college, she'd been interested in everything except her studies, and she'd read plenty of books on animals.

As far as she knew, the undercoat of a green-wolf mastiff was yellow or gray, with black-tipped hairs.

And the strand before her was half yellow, half black.

Mastiffs—especially the green-wolf breed—were the most savage and vicious of dogs, recognizing no one but their master.

"Do you like eating raw meat?" Tu Ran asked suddenly.

The question came out of nowhere. Naya Rivera's kind, benevolent smile froze on her face. She stared at Tu Ran, a note of indignation creeping into her voice. "I don't like meat. I've never eaten meat in my life."

Tu Ran raised an eyebrow and turned to a man in work clothes beside her. "Is what she said true?"

The worker, caught off guard, looked bewildered. "I don't know her. I can't say whether it's true or not."

Tu Ran looked at the others. "Who knows her? Is what she said true?"

"It's true," Xiao Hei answered. "She's a vegetarian. She doesn't kill living things, and she doesn't eat meat."

A vegetarian?

Tu Ran snickered inwardly. The smell of blood on her was this strong—there was no way she'd misread it.

But she had no intention of exposing her just yet. All the evidence so far was speculation, even if the conclusion was all but certain. One last step remained.

She stepped forward, strolling casually to the next person.

After asking a few more perfunctory questions, she moved on. Soon, she'd finished with the last row.

With a leisurely gait, she drifted toward the back of the crowd.

Naya Rivera was in the very last row.

Through eleven rows of people, Tu Ran looked toward Ding Naiqing at the front.

He was busy cross-examining the suspects against his data, trying to find some flaw.

Perhaps Tu Ran's gaze was too intense, because he looked her way.

Tu Ran raised her hand, first making a shushing gesture, then jerking her eyes toward Naya Rivera.

Ding Naiqing understood immediately.

But he was clever about it. Instead of looking directly at Naya Rivera, he swept his gaze across the scene in a casual arc, locking onto her position in a single glance.

Watching his movements, Tu Ran sighed inwardly—he wasn't as naive as he appeared. And thinking deeper, just as that Li Wu had said, anyone who survived in the Threshold wasn't ordinary.

Right—the guards' earlier conversation had fallen into her ears, every word of it.

Tu Ran had no idea when her hearing had gotten so good. Ever since she'd arrived in this body, it seemed every physical trait of hers was changing, including her hearing and vision.

Her hearing now far surpassed that of an ordinary person.

On the other side, Ding Naiqing quickly wrapped up his current questioning and, pretending to patrol, ambled aimlessly toward the back.

Tu Ran had already slipped silently behind Naya Rivera.

Slowly drawing the handgun from the small of her back, she leveled the muzzle at the back of the woman's head.

The instant the sound of a round being chambered rang out.