Animal Detective

But Shen Xin had a plan.

He took out his phone and called Doniya.

It was almost five o’clock. The eastern horizon was already pale with the light of dawn.

The call connected instantly. Doniya hadn’t rested and was still at the camp looking after Teddy. The first thing she did was anxiously ask how things were going.

She added that Teddy was being extremely restless.

Shen Xin didn’t have time to explain and told her to just release Teddy.

"Release him?" she asked, stunned.

"That’s right," Shen Xin said. "Just let him go. Tell him I’m to the northeast and that he should come find me on his own. Don’t worry, he’ll be able to find me."

’No point wasting time returning to the camp. If I give him the general direction, Teddy will find me quickly.’

Doniya was a little dumbfounded on the other end of the line. ’If I just tell Teddy which direction to go, he’ll understand?’ she thought to herself.

But since Shen Xin had given the order, she didn’t ask any more questions. She immediately took hold of Teddy, pointed northeast, and kept telling him that Shen Xin was over there and that he should go find him.

She was afraid Teddy wouldn’t understand, so she repeated it several times.

Teddy, however, was already impatient. He pecked her hand, and as soon as her grip loosened, he immediately beat his wings and flew northeast, disappearing in an instant.

「Meanwhile, back with Lakshen.」

While waiting for Teddy, Shen Xin thought of another problem.

Before, when he hadn’t suspected Sangbu, Shen Xin believed the criminals were planning to retreat and cross the border to the northeast.

But now, the situation had changed.

Shen Xin began to wonder, ’Is it possible that their plan to escape to the northeast is just another smokescreen?’

The group halted.

Shen Xin dismounted, folded his arms, and paced on the grassland, his mind racing.

’Let’s assume their plan had gone off without a hitch.’

’Liao Lei resisted fiercely. He had no gun, and it was one against two, so he was definitely at a disadvantage.’

’But they didn’t shoot, which meant they were hesitant about something.’

’So even if they had successfully snatched the falcon, they probably wouldn’t have done anything serious to Liao Lei.’

’They also knew the camp had police dogs capable of long-distance tracking.’

’If I were in their shoes, I’d have to figure out a way to evade the pursuit too.’

’They must have known that attacking the camp was a major incident. Every police officer would be mobilized to follow the K-9 unit’s trail.’

’So, could this be a ploy to lure the tiger from its mountain?’

’Their real escape route isn’t to the northeast, but to the northwest!’

Shen Xin stopped and looked to the west.

To the west was the no-man’s-land, where it was possible to cross the border secretly.

The east is lined with barbed wire and dotted with border outposts. ’Are they suicidal enough to run headfirst into a hail of bullets?’

Shen Xin felt that their original plan must have been to steal the falcon and draw the pursuing forces to the east.

Then, they would meet up with Sangbu along the way, change direction, and head west.

It was a classic misdirection, creating a diversion in the east to strike in the west, all while buying themselves precious time.

Taking advantage of the search parties in the west being redeployed, they would seize the brief opening to quickly cross the border.

Once they were across the border, they would be free as a bird, and no one would be able to touch them.

But now, the situation had changed.

Doniya had said the two criminals were brothers; the older one was smart, the younger one more reckless.

’Thinking from the older brother’s perspective,’ Shen Xin mused, ’with the plan in shambles, escaping would be next to impossible.’

’The best way would be to sacrifice someone as a decoy.’

’This person couldn’t be Sangbu, because Sangbu was still useful; he could help him cross the border.’

’That only left his foolish younger brother.’

’It was the younger brother’s shot that made them lose the falcon and triggered this whole mess, after all.’

Shen Xin wondered if the older brother had come up with the idea of sacrificing his younger brother, getting out of the vehicle on foot and letting his brother draw the police’s attention.

Meanwhile, he himself would secretly meet up with Sangbu and escape according to the original plan.

This person claimed he was only after money, but daring to attack the camp was enough to prove he was far more ruthless than he let on.

At this thought, Shen Xin immediately asked for the satellite phone again and called Duan Zijie.

"A misdirection?" On the other end of the line, Duan Zijie broke out in a cold sweat after hearing Shen Xin’s analysis.

Shen Xin’s theory was pure speculation, but it was a very real possibility.

After all, the suspect had already demonstrated a keen ability to evade detection since the incident began.

And his rendezvous with Sangbu also gave him the means—a motorcycle—to execute such a misdirection.

"Shen Xin, thanks. I’ll inform headquarters."

Duan Zijie thanked him again and hastily hung up the phone.

The search forces in the west had indeed been redeployed here because the criminal was fleeing east.

Even if there were still people in the west, once forces were moved, a gap would inevitably appear.

’If I’d had time to think calmly, I might have come to the same conclusion,’ Duan Zijie thought.

But only five hours had passed since the incident. The pressure was immense, making it impossible to calm down and think.

And the criminal had exploited that.

After he hung up, Teddy arrived.

They were more than ten kilometers apart, but for a bird, such a distance was trivial.

He dived straight down, landing precisely on Shen Xin’s shoulder, and then a stream of chatter filled Shen Xin’s mind.

’Where did you go?’

’Don’t leave.’

’Go back.’

He was probably trying to say, ’You should be resting in your nest, not running all over the place.’

Lakshen and the others were in disbelief.

They knew there were eagle and falcon trainers on the steppe, but for a bird to find its master so precisely from so far away was still too incredible to believe.

Shen Xin had Lakshen pull up Sangbu’s ID photo on the satellite phone.

Then he took Teddy aside to calm him down and showed him the photo.

’I tested this with Doniya before, but I’m not sure if a photo will work,’ he thought.

"Got it memorized?" Shen Xin asked.

Teddy tilted his head.

’What are we doing?’

He seemed more confused about why Shen Xin was sending him all over the place instead of keeping him close.

’Food.’

He seemed more concerned about hunting for Shen Xin.

Shen Xin could only be patient and repeat it a few more times.

’I remember.’

A look of impatience flashed in his large eyes.

Shen Xin was now certain. ’He might be a bird, but he’s definitely got a brain.’

Shen Xin pointed to the northwest.

"Go find him. When you do, come back and tell me!"

Teddy tilted his head, glanced at Shen Xin, and with a beat of his wings, quickly vanished over the horizon.

Shen Xin immediately called for Lakshen and the others to set off.

Lakshen suddenly realized and exclaimed, "Shen Xin, you’re not planning to use the falcon to find Sangbu, are you?"

Shen Xin didn’t want to explain too much, so he just nodded and said, "That’s right. Teddy has seen Sangbu. Trust me, he can find him."

With that, he spurred his horse and set off.

With a sharp bark, Tian Kui immediately followed.

Tian Jian and the other young men eagerly followed.

It was clear to them that Shen Xin was the brains of this operation; they’d just do whatever he told them to.

"Hong Guler."

Lakshen’s gaze followed Shen Xin, and he muttered the name under his breath.

When he returned from Nanjiang, he had told Zhang Qifeng.

He said Shen Xin was like Hong Guler from the epic poems of the steppe.

A son of nature, a hero, who could even understand the language of animals.

Snapping out of his reverie, Lakshen took a deep breath and spurred his horse to catch up.

He didn’t want to think about it too much right now. He just wanted to catch the man and make the audacious poacher pay for his crimes.

A bird’s speed in the sky is immense.

Especially a falcon.

The morning sun gradually illuminated the land.

The group rode for about an hour, and Teddy’s silhouette appeared on the horizon.

Shen Xin reined in his horse.

Teddy swooped down with a cry and landed on Shen Xin’s shoulder.

’Found him.’

He began to nuzzle against Shen Xin.

With the thought, a vision immediately flooded Shen Xin’s mind.

In an instant, it was as if his third eye had opened. His perspective soared high into the sky.

The land rushed past below.

It was only then that Shen Xin truly understood just how formidable a hunting falcon’s vision was.

His vision swept across the land, flickering at high speed as it constantly zoomed in and pulled back.

Not a single detail on the steppe could escape its eyes.

It was like a high-speed slideshow.

Quickly, a target was locked.

On the desolate steppe, two people were riding a motorcycle.

The view zoomed in.

It was so clear that Shen Xin could even see the fine hairs on their cheeks.

It was none other than Sangbu and the older of the two criminals.

Moreover, Shen Xin also noticed that the older brother was holding onto the motorcycle with one hand, while his other hand held a gun pressed against the small of Sangbu’s back.

The image vanished, and Shen Xin returned to his senses.

Everyone was looking at him, and Lakshen asked uncertainly, "Did he find them?"

The vision had only lasted an instant.

Shen Xin’s spirits soared. ’Now that we’ve found them, they can’t escape.’

He lifted his arm, sending Teddy into the air again, and shouted, "Teddy, take me to him!"

In mid-air, Teddy let out a cry in response and headed west.

Shen Xin pulled on his reins and quickly followed.

Tian Kui ran alongside him.

Lakshen and the others also spurred their horses and rode along.

The clatter of hooves echoed as the vast steppe stretched out before them.

At this moment, the line of poetry from Elder Su popped into Shen Xin’s mind again.

With a yellow hound on a leash to the left, a grey goshawk on the fist to the right, in brocade cap and sable cloak, a thousand riders sweep across the plains!