Animal Detective

Chapter 389: Chapter 320: What a Good Donkey

No one would say anything.

But Li Xiaowen was willing to give it a shot, all for the sake of his own convictions. He didn’t want to live the rest of his life with the nagging memory of a man named Duan Dongqiang who got away, never facing the trial he deserved.

He refused to let the man become a thorn in his conscience.

Shen Xin gulped down some water and said, "You think it over. You’re not going anywhere for the next two days. You’re sticking with me."

’Shen Xin didn’t know if his words would have any effect, but he had to keep an eye on the kid regardless.’

Li Shi said nothing, simply keeping his head down in silence.

The night was long, but Shen Xin was used to it.

They took turns on watch, and he managed to get a little sleep. Soon, dawn broke.

Duan Dongqiang hadn’t made a move.

He was surprisingly patient. That meant their only remaining hope was to find the murder weapon.

Li Shi, his eyes wide, had stayed up the entire night without leaving.

Zhu Qiuwei arrived with breakfast.

A full night of searching had yielded nothing.

"It’s going to rain," Zhu Qiuwei said, his expression grim.

In the distance, dark clouds seemed to swallow the sky, drawing ever closer.

Li Xiaowen nodded, saying that a severe rainstorm warning had been issued in the county’s work group, putting everyone on standby.

Zhu Qiuwei noticed Li Shi and asked quietly what was going on.

Li Xiaowen just gave a slight shake of his head, saying nothing.

Shen Xin quickly finished his breakfast, said a word to Li Xiaowen, and then set off, leading Yi Wan.

Seeing Li Shi silently eating a steamed bun, motionless, Shen Xin snapped, "What are you spacing out for? Let’s go."

Li Shi turned and looked toward the mountain.

"Captain Li will head up there in a bit. Don’t worry," Shen Xin said.

Only then did Li Shi follow him.

They started again from Duan Dongqiang’s house.

By this time, the guy was already awake.

When he saw Shen Xin and Yi Wan, a flicker of panic crossed his face.

Shen Xin paid him no mind and set off, riding Yi Wan.

Before they were even out of the village, Li Xiaowen caught up to them, saying he was going to borrow a cart from one of the villagers.

"Since we’re doing a simulation, we might as well make it as realistic as possible." He went to find someone to borrow a cart.

They hitched it to Yi Wan.

The donkey turned his head and brayed, as if to say, ’So, following you means I have to work, huh?’

"Go on, get," Shen Xin said, waving his hand at the donkey in exasperation. ’It’s not like I’m whipping you to get you to move,’ he thought.

Shen Xin then told Li Shi to gather some bricks and load them onto the cart.

’Nine bars of affection. Time’s running out. I have to try something, anything.’

Shen Xin sat on the cart and they set off.

They turned onto the main road. In a relatively desolate spot, Shen Xin stopped the cart. Then, under Yi Wan’s watchful gaze, he took a brick and crept furtively up the mountainside before tossing it into the woods.

Yi Wan tilted his head, watching Shen Xin intently.

Shen Xin offered no explanation, simply urging him to move on.

He had them turn right, stopped again in another desolate area, and got out to throw another brick.

And so it went: they’d travel a while, and he’d toss a brick.

They continued this way all the way to Ma Bao Gou Village. Finally, even the ever-silent Li Shi couldn’t help but ask Shen Xin what he was doing.

"Solving the case. You can give up, kid, but we police officers can’t."

With that, he turned Yi Wan around and headed back the way they came.

Back at Baijia Post, he found some fodder and let Yi Wan eat his fill before they set out again.

In the distance, Shen Xin saw Duan Dongqiang staring at him, motionless as a statue.

This time, Shen Xin changed his method. Instead of stopping, he threw the bricks directly from the moving cart.

Before each toss, he would first get Yi Wan’s attention to make sure the donkey saw him throw the object.

The locations were random, but always in deserted areas.

Once they reached Ma Bao Gou Village, they immediately turned back.

On the road, Li Shi suddenly spoke up. "Are you trying to get the donkey to help you find something?"

When Shen Xin turned to look at him, Li Shi added, "He’s a donkey."

Shen Xin nodded. "That’s right, he’s a donkey. I know it seems impossible, but what if it works?"

Li Shi frowned but said no more.

It was over a half-hour walk from Baijia Post to Ma Bao Gou Village, making a round trip at least an hour and a half.

Factoring in rest time for Yi Wan, they managed to make three trips in a single morning.

After resting in the afternoon, Shen Xin called to Yi Wan and they set out again.

He used the same method, tossing bricks in different spots.

They completed one more trip like this. On the second trip of the afternoon, about halfway through their route, Shen Xin got out to throw a brick. When he returned and urged Yi Wan to go, the donkey refused to budge.

Yi Wan turned his head and brayed at Shen Xin.

His brays were short and sharp. He bared a row of large teeth, his eyes seeming to ask: ’What in the world are you doing? Are we ever going to be done with this?’

The donkey had made trip after trip, and he was getting fed up.

Shen Xin slapped his rump, signaling him to keep going.

Not only did he not move forward, he started backing up.

Then he stopped again and brayed at Shen Xin.

’Looks like he’s really had enough of this.’

From the cart, Li Shi suddenly said, "Why don’t you just tell him what you’re looking for? You could say... that Duan Dongqiang lost something of yours, and you need him to help you find it."

Shen Xin gave Li Shi a surprised look.

’How did he know to mention Duan Dongqiang?’

Li Shi averted his eyes.

’He must have guessed. Looks like Liu Shasha was right, the kid is smart.’

’Still, his suggestion might just work.’

Shen Xin immediately pulled on Yi Wan’s bridle and began to reason with him. He told the donkey about the guy who used to whip him every day, what a bad man he was. He explained that not only had this man whipped him, but he’d also thrown away something of Shen Xin’s, which was why he was forced to drag Yi Wan around all day searching.

At the mention of Duan Dongqiang’s name, the pain of the whip, seared deep into his bones, made Yi Wan bray excitedly.

After a flurry of brays, he nodded at Shen Xin.

’It seemed like he understood.’

Li Shi asked in astonishment, "Did he just... nod?"

’A donkey that nods... It’s like it’s become a spirit.’

Yi Wan started pulling the cart, and Shen Xin quickly jumped aboard.

They passed Wild Sheep Well Village and were about to head up the mountain when Yi Wan stopped again. He then turned the cart around on the spot and started heading back the way they came.

Shen Xin’s heart skipped a beat. ’He gets it. He’s still searching.’

Yi Wan pulled the two men back onto the main road. Just as they were about to turn into Baijia Village, he turned around again and kept going.

A drone buzzed overhead.

Yi Wan moved in fits and starts, as if he were genuinely trying to remember something.

After a little while longer, he suddenly picked up the pace, breaking into a trot.

Li Shi’s eyes widened. "Do you think he remembered something?"

Shen Xin said nothing, gripping the cart tightly as he let Yi Wan lead them. They went over the mountain, through Ma Bao Gou Village, and finally arrived at the path leading up the next mountain.

He stopped, turned his head to bray at Shen Xin, and shook his body.

Shen Xin understood instantly. He quickly jumped down and unfastened the donkey’s harness.

The moment the harness was off, Yi Wan charged up the mountain.

Shen Xin hurried after him.

The mountain path was treacherous, but Yi Wan moved with a steady gait, heading straight for a chicken farm halfway up the slope.

The chicken farm was still under construction. The main building was unfinished, and the wire fencing around the perimeter hadn’t been fully installed.

The grass on the property hadn’t been cleared either.

’No need to clear it, though. Once the chickens are here, it won’t be long before the ground is bare.’

There were some people at the construction site. Seeing Shen Xin and the others, they came over to ask what was going on.

Yi Wan walked straight past them, stopping at the edge of a slope on the western side. He turned his head and let out a series of short, sharp brays at Shen Xin.

He even took Shen Xin’s sleeve in his mouth and tugged him forward.

Shen Xin stepped forward. They were on a gentle slope halfway up the mountain, facing roughly northwest.

To his right was the rest of the mountain. To his left, at the foot of the slope, was Ma Bao Gou Village, which ran from east to west.

Before him was an open vista of pristine mountain forest.

’It was obvious. Duan Dongqiang must have stood right here and thrown the object into the ravine below.’

The distant sky was dark, the storm clouds pressing in.

But Shen Xin’s own heart suddenly felt clear and bright.

He gave Yi Wan a hearty slap. "What a good donkey!"