Animal Detective

Chapter 382: Chapter 315: I’m Not Even Moving, and You’re Still Whipping Me

The villagers watching from the sidelines were howling with laughter.

One of them even shouted, "Officer, you better hurry and chase it! If that donkey runs off, you’ll never get it back."

Losing it was impossible, though.

He still had Tian Kui, after all.

Compared to this stubborn donkey, Tian Kui’s little temper was nothing at all.

With a single command, Tian Kui took off in hot pursuit.

Before long, they finally found the donkey on the west side of the village.

It was busy munching on grass with its head down.

Tian Kui blocked its path and barked at it.

The donkey wasn’t scared in the slightest.

People online say that when a donkey goes berserk, it can kick a wolf’s head in. Their fighting prowess in the wild is nothing to scoff at.

So, faced with Tian Kui’s provocations, it just kept on leisurely eating the green grass.

Seeing that their ten-thousand-plus-yuan investment hadn’t run off, the two of them finally relaxed a little.

Last time, when he faced the crocodile, Shen Xin hadn’t doubted his talent for a second. But now...

’Maybe we should just call it Yi Wan.’

Shen Xin thought, trying to find some humor in his misery.

Li Xiaowen, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, nodded.

Shen Xin pulled up a handful of green grass and cautiously approached.

Yi Wan didn’t react, just kept its head down and ate.

With a swift movement, Shen Xin grabbed the reins.

Now that it was eating, it stopped struggling.

Li Xiaowen walked over and asked what the next step was.

Shen Xin thought for a moment. "Let’s get it back to town first. Leave it to me. I’ll figure out a way to deal with it."

He was staying in town anyway, so he might as well take it back and work on building up some goodwill.

As for the method, he’d start with food.

Look at how eagerly it was eating this grass.

Shen Xin told Li Xiaowen to head back first. The search hadn’t turned up any key evidence, and with only one potential opening, interrogating Duan Dongqiang was going to be difficult.

As for things here, he wasn’t sure when he’d be done.

If he needed anything, Shen Xin could just contact Guo Jin.

"Alright."

Li Xiaowen wasn’t one for regrets or dithering. Since he agreed with Shen Xin’s plan, he trusted him. With a nod, he quickly departed.

It was noon. By noon tomorrow—24 hours from now—if they couldn’t get a confession, they’d have to let the man go.

After seeing Li Xiaowen off, Shen Xin turned his attention back to Yi Wan.

People online said you could pet donkeys, too.

From the donkey’s head to its neck, the hair grew smoothly in one direction. That’s why you’re supposed to stroke them "with the grain."

Shen Xin reached out and stroked it.

Coarse.

It was nowhere near as satisfying as petting Da Mei.

Now, Da Mei’s fur was like velvet, and warm, too. Petting her in the winter was pure bliss.

He stroked the donkey while offering grass to its mouth.

It wasn’t shy, eating whatever was brought to its lips.

But no icon appeared above its head.

’Looks like this one’s a tough nut to crack.’

Besides, based on his experience with Loki, if it already had a master it recognized, raising its affection level would be no easy task.

Just then, one of the watching villagers suddenly said, "Officer, that donkey can’t eat green grass."

Shen Xin froze and asked what he meant.

He’d been planning to take it up the mountain, let it run wild, and eat its fill.

Before, with Duan Dongqiang, it probably didn’t eat well and had to work its tail off. With him, it would eat like a king. ’Wouldn’t its affection level skyrocket then?’

The villager said, "Not all donkeys are the same. Some are fed only dry hay from the moment they’re bought, and they get used to it. If you suddenly feed them green grass, they can’t digest it properly. It’ll ferment in their stomach, cause bloating and diarrhea. If it’s serious, they can die."

"There’s an old saying, you know? ’A donkey needs its feed. All grass and no grain, and its life’s on the line.’"

Shen Xin had never heard anything like that.

’Where do wild donkeys go to eat dry hay?’ he thought.

But this man was a proper farmer, so his words had to be credible. Shen Xin immediately tried to stop it, pulling on the reins.

It wouldn’t budge.

Yi Wan twisted its head and backed away.

Two of them couldn’t pull it before, let alone one person now.

The villagers nearby chuckled, watching the show.

Yi Wan seemed to be enjoying it too, letting out spasmodic brays.

"Officer, whip it! You can’t spoil a donkey, you have to whip it." A woman called out, and it was hard to tell if she was joking or just couldn’t bear to watch anymore.

Whip it?

Shen Xin hesitated for a moment, then pulled off his belt.

Beating it into submission was still submission. A grown man wasn’t about to be outsmarted by a donkey.

"Are you coming or not? If you don’t move, I’m gonna use this."

Shen Xin threatened it, brandishing the belt.

Looking at it up close, Shen Xin noticed that Yi Wan’s eyes were unusually bright and intelligent, perhaps from having lived a long time.

And so, thanks to his talent, Shen Xin could have sworn he saw a flicker of disdain in its eyes.

It was exactly the same as Tiger Stripes back then.

In that case, why hold back? Shen Xin raised his belt and brought it down on the donkey’s rump.

A belt should be no less potent than a whip.

The belt landed with a loud CRACK. Yi Wan let out a yelp and twisted its rear to kick Shen Xin.

But Shen Xin was no sitting duck.

As Yi Wan turned, Shen Xin turned with it, enacting a scene of the King of Qin circling the pillar. Then, the belt fell like rain.

It got desperate and even started kicking with its front legs.

Shen Xin was almost hit. Only then did he realize donkeys could attack with their front legs.

"Tian Kui!"

Shen Xin dodged back and shouted.

The size difference was enormous, but Tian Kui didn’t know the meaning of fear and had been itching to jump in from the sidelines.

At the command, he shot forward with a WOOF, barking at Yi Wan and creating a pincer attack with Shen Xin.

Shen Xin seized the opportunity, striking from a distance and landing a few more lashes with the belt on Yi Wan’s rump.

But Yi Wan was not so easily subdued.

Enraged, it ignored the barking Tian Kui and charged headfirst at him.

Good boy, Tian Kui! He remained calm in the face of danger. Using his agility, he feinted a dodge to the right, then instantly exploded off the ground upon landing, leaping with perfect precision onto Yi Wan’s back.

His claws locked on, and he opened his mouth to bite.

The watching villagers were dumbfounded, crying out in alarm.