Animal Detective

Chapter 386: Chapter 318: Lawless

"Li Shi!"

Liu Shasha, up ahead, chided him, then quickly apologized to Shen Xin, saying that Li Shi was just like that—immature—and asked Shen Xin not to take it personally.

Geng Aiyi, who was on the tricycle, also reached out and tugged at him, trying to get him to say something.

Li Shi didn’t speak. He suddenly vaulted off the tricycle and ran ahead with his head down.

Liu Shasha couldn’t stop him even when she called out.

"It’s fine." Shen Xin waved his hand, thinking to himself, ’This kid’s a rebel. Got a strong personality.’

He ran a short distance, then just walked ahead of them.

Geng Aiyi propped herself up a little, apologized to Shen Xin, and then rambled on about how Li Shi hadn’t been like this before. He used to be so good, but the older he got, the more he became like this, and she couldn’t control him.

Li Xingping couldn’t control him either. The father and son would argue the moment they saw each other.

Shen Xin said it was fine and urged her not to get upset.

Liu Shasha drove the tricycle slowly. Hearing Geng Aiyi, she nodded in agreement. "That’s right. Li Shi was really well-behaved as a child. I remember what grade was he in... I had just started at Baijia Primary School. He was sensible and smart; you could teach him anything, and he’d get it right away."

"He was eager to learn, too. He’d run over after class to ask us about more difficult problems. But then... something happened."

She shook her head slightly and didn’t continue.

They still had a long way to go, so Shen Xin asked curiously what had happened.

Liu Shasha glanced at Li Shi walking sullenly up ahead. "I think it was about six years ago. Li Yao wasn’t even one year old yet. His dad had gone out again to work, leaving just his mom at home."

"He was only eight at the time, in second grade, dark and skinny. I forget which month it was, but his mom took him into the mountains to gather medicinal herbs, and there was an accident."

"She fell into a ravine. I don’t know how he did it, but that kid managed to climb down. His mom had broken her leg and couldn’t walk. He supported her and took a long detour, walking for a whole day and night before they finally got out of the mountains."

"I saw them when they got back. He was covered in injuries, his little face was filthy... a whole day and night in those mountains. I have no idea how he managed to endure it."

Shen Xin was stunned.

An eight-year-old boy, helping his mother with a broken leg, had actually walked out of the mountains, even surviving a night. One could only imagine how helpless he must have felt in the dead of night.

At the mention of this, Geng Aiyi started wiping her tears again.

Li Yao looked up and asked in confusion why she didn’t know about this.

Liu Shasha patted her head, saying she was still little, then continued, "After that, I felt like he changed. He started arguing with his dad a lot. Then, just over a year later, his mom developed a growth in her stomach and passed away. After that, the boy changed completely."

She let out a long sigh. "I think he blames his dad for not taking good care of the family. But it was hard for his dad, too. According to the villagers who went to work with him, he worked himself to the bone, scrimping on food and clothes. And in the end, he was still hit with this."

She sniffled and pulled Li Yao closer into her arms.

Shen Xin watched Li Shi walking sullenly ahead and suddenly recalled what Guo Jin had said.

Guo Jin had said before that he was a good judge of character and that Li Shi wasn’t a bad person at heart.

At that moment, although Shen Xin couldn’t fully empathize with the hardships Li Shi had endured, he suddenly understood why he had become this way.

Thinking of this, Shen Xin urged Yiwan to walk a few steps faster and catch up to Li Shi.

"You’ve still got a long way to go. Teacher Liu has classes to teach. Don’t hold her up."

Shen Xin sensed a stubborn streak in the boy. ’He doesn’t want to trouble others. He wants to support the entire family on his own.’

Sure enough, at the mention of this, he gritted his teeth, turned around, and got back on the tricycle.

"Officer Shen, we’ll be on our way then." Liu Shasha cast another curious glance at Yiwan beneath Shen Xin, then stepped on the gas and sped away.

Yiwan instinctively took a few quick steps to follow.

Shen Xin quickly pulled on the reins.

Without a saddle, Shen Xin couldn’t handle it if the donkey ran too fast.

He’d read online that wild donkeys could run at over sixty kilometers per hour. Domesticated ones could generally reach forty to fifty kilometers per hour.

At that speed, if it really took off, it might even be faster than Liu Shasha’s tricycle.

An hour later, Shen Xin arrived at Baijia Post.

As he passed the main road, he saw Zhu Qiuwei and his team searching for the murder weapon on the hillside.

Shen Xin greeted them and continued on his way.

He needed to start from the beginning to reinforce Yiwan’s memory.

By the time he reached Baijia Post, Duan Dongqiang had already returned to the village by minibus.

At the village entrance, he was animatedly telling the villagers about his experience in the interrogation room, spitting as he spoke.

He was shouting that the police were doing it on purpose, fabricating a case to frame him.

He claimed that with Li Xingping dead, the police couldn’t answer to the Zhang Family, so they were using him as a scapegoat.

This line of reasoning actually found a receptive audience.

It could only be said that the village’s resentment toward the Zhang Family ran deep.

When he saw Shen Xin, he immediately rushed over and loudly demanded to know why Shen Xin was back again.

Shen Xin hadn’t wanted to deal with him, but a thought struck him, and he changed his tune. "I’m a police officer. What do you think I’m here for? To investigate the case."

With that, he rode Yiwan right up to Duan Dongqiang’s doorstep.

Duan Dongqiang and some villagers followed, especially Duan Dongqiang, who watched Shen Xin with a look of alarm and suspicion.

Shen Xin ignored him and, under his gaze, leisurely rode Yiwan away again.

The villagers watched expectantly. One of them muttered, "What’s he doing?"

Another said, "Didn’t he say he’s investigating? Just looking around?"

Another person clapped Duan Dongqiang on the shoulder. "Old Duan, looks like the police still suspect you."

Duan Dongqiang snorted coldly, his expression shifting uncertainly as he watched Shen Xin ride off into the distance.

’Investigating?’

’On a donkey?’

Duan Dongqiang’s eyes darted around. He remembered seeing a police car by the road and officers combing the hillside when he was on the minibus coming back.

’They seemed to be looking for something.’

Duan Dongqiang’s heart skipped a beat, and his gaze grew dark.

Shen Xin had already started down the concrete road leading out of the village. He turned his head and saw Duan Dongqiang and the others still watching from a distance.

Just now, it had occurred to Shen Xin that since they had already searched his place and interrogated him, he might as well rattle him a bit more. Let Duan Dongqiang know the police were still investigating.

’He must have seen Zhu Qiuwei and the others on the hill when he came back.’

’Wouldn’t that give him some ideas?’

’He’s probably wondering if the murder weapon he tossed is still safe.’

’Once that thought takes root, he won’t be able to stop thinking about it. He might even sneak out in the middle of the night to check the spot where he threw it.’

’It’s just like Han Xiaolong’s case.’

’Liu Jie had played the long game, letting Zhou Hui get so antsy that he went to check where the car was sunk, which led to the discovery of key evidence.’

On the road, Shen Xin kept murmuring to Yiwan.

First, he got him to understand that a nod meant YES and a shake of the head meant NO.

With a 9-bar favorability rating, that level of comprehension was no problem.

Then, he used "the bad guy who always whips you" to refer to Duan Dongqiang and asked him to recall the last time this bad guy took him out to work.

He told the donkey that this guy not only beat him but also made him work, trying to jog his memory.

Then he told him to take him to the place where he worked, so he could see for himself just how bad this Duan Dongqiang guy was.

Yiwan must have remembered the stinging pain of the whip. He brayed excitedly twice and nodded his head repeatedly.

The murmuring had clearly worked.

Shen Xin didn’t give any directions. Yiwan followed the route Duan Dongqiang used for work all on his own.

Donkeys can remember routes.

Shen Xin nodded to himself. ’Looks like this method might just work.’

Along the way, he ran into Zhu Qiuwei and his team again.

The group watched in silence as Shen Xin rode his donkey into the distance. One of them couldn’t help but ask, "Captain Zhu, what on earth is he doing?"

From buying the donkey to riding it and wandering around, they couldn’t make any sense of Shen Xin’s actions.

Of course, they simply didn’t understand. They didn’t think he was just lazily strolling around while they were here working hard to find something.

It was their own case, after all. They were already grateful that he was helping them out.

Zhu Qiuwei placed a hand on his lower back, watched Shen Xin disappear, and shook his head as well, indicating he didn’t understand either.

But after a moment’s thought, Zhu Qiuwei said, "Honestly, I’m kind of hoping he can give us a surprise. Searching like this is just too difficult."

He looked around, sighed deeply, and called for everyone to continue.

Riding the donkey wasn’t tiring for Shen Xin, but it was hot.

The sun wasn’t scorching, but it was oppressively muggy, the kind of heat that feels like it’s about to rain.

On the first run, Shen Xin didn’t lead the way, and Yiwan successfully reached Ma Bao Gou Village, the work site.

Then it turned its head and brayed excitedly at Shen Xin.

Braying wasn’t enough; it even led Shen Xin to the foot of a small mountain path, stomping its hooves with excitement.

If it could talk, it would probably be cursing up a storm right now, denouncing Duan Dongqiang’s inhumanity—making it work on such a difficult mountain path, and carrying hundreds of pounds of bricks and cement, no less.

Looking at the half-finished houses on the mountainside, a thought struck Shen Xin as he suddenly realized a possibility.

’Could Duan Dongqiang have taken the opportunity while working to toss the blood-stained brick in with the bricks being used to build the house on the mountain?’

’Once the brick is laid into the house, it would be impossible to ever find it again.’

They were using red bricks to build the house on the mountain, so it was possible.

However, this was just a flash of inspiration. After thinking it over, he felt it was unlikely.

’It was stained with blood. What if someone noticed?’

Besides, deep down, Shen Xin hoped Duan Dongqiang hadn’t disposed of the weapon in this way.

If he had, a splash of water, a rub in the mud, and exposure to the sun would render it useless as evidence, even if they found it.

But it was still a possibility. Shen Xin sent a text message to Li Xiaowen to see if he could arrange something.

He got a reply saying that someone would be sent over immediately.

Yiwan was still braying angrily. Shen Xin soothed it with a few words and rode it back.

While there was still time, he wanted to go over the route two more times to reinforce the memory.

He picked up the pace, and before long, Shen Xin was back at Baijia Post.

Just as he reached the village entrance, he saw villagers running up the mountain.

Shen Xin stopped a villager and asked what was going on.

The villager must have known Shen Xin was a police officer. He hurriedly said that Zhang Kaisheng had taken his men to Li Xingping’s house again and had beaten someone up.

Shen Xin’s expression changed. He quickly slapped Yiwan and rode the donkey up the mountain.

A crowd had already gathered outside Li Xingping’s house on the mountain.

As he got closer, he heard a girl’s cries—it had to be Li Yao.

Shen Xin quickly jumped down and pushed his way through the crowd.

Before he even entered the doorway, he heard a man’s voice shouting, "Believe it or not, I’ll burn your house down!"

It must be Zhang Kaisheng.

Shen Xin rushed inside. Li Yao was being held by a man, wailing loudly.

Geng Aiyi was crawling on the ground, crying and pleading for them to stop.

In front of her, Li Shi’s arms were pinned behind his back by an adult man, who held him firmly to the ground.

He struggled frantically, his face scraping against the ground, screaming, "I’ll kill you!"

Meanwhile, Zhang Kaisheng had grabbed a cornstalk and was trying to light it with a lighter.

The entire courtyard was in utter chaos.

Liu Shasha was also there, held back by another man, struggling and shouting for them to stop.

"Zhang Kaisheng, what do you think you’re doing?!"

Shen Xin bellowed.

This was complete lawlessness.

Seeing Shen Xin, Zhang Kaisheng’s hand trembled, and the lighter fell to the ground.

The man pinning Li Shi down also quickly let go.

Li Shi scrambled to his feet in an instant.

"Fuck your mother!"

Li Shi let out a beast-like scream, then turned and ducked into the kitchen on his right.

The next moment, he charged out, brandishing a kitchen knife.