Animal Detective

It didn’t seem to understand, staring blankly at Shen Xin.

Shen Xin shouted it twice more, and it opened its beak and squawked out "dumbass" as well.

The pronunciation wasn’t perfect, but it was unmistakably "dumbass."

Shen Xin was astonished. ’This little guy is truly one of the smartest species of bird. With vocal cords like a human, its ability to mimic speech is incredible.’

It had learned the word and began hopping back and forth on its perch, repeatedly squawking, "Dumbass."

Its calls grew clearer and clearer.

Ding Yuwei was speechless. "Can’t you teach it something nice?"

Shen Xin picked up a fig and stuffed it in the parrot’s beak.

It spat it out in one go.

Shen Xin offered it another, but it just turned its head and spat it out again.

’Heh, quite the personality.’

Shen Xin opened the cage and snatched it out.

He pinned its claws with one hand and, with the other, gripped its throat just as he had with Blackie the day before, slowly tightening his hold.

"Are you going to eat it or not?"

The parrot opened its beak, trying to speak.

But no sound came out.

Shen Xin loosened his grip slightly, and it immediately shrieked, "Piss you off! Piss you off!"

Shen Xin’s eyebrow twitched, and he immediately tightened his grip again.

Ding Yuwei said anxiously, "Be careful! Don’t squeeze it to death."

Shen Xin replied, "No way. I know what I’m doing."

Moreover, hearing it shriek "Piss you off!" made Shen Xin even more certain that this grey parrot hadn’t actually learned to converse with people.

It had simply been taught a few fixed phrases by Zhang Degui that it would repeat in specific situations.

For instance, now that it was angry, it was shouting, "Piss you off!"

’Stubborn little thing.’

But under the threat of "death," fear appeared in its eyes.

Zhang Degui probably never dared to treat it this way, which was how it had gotten so spoiled.

’But here, it has to learn the rules.’

Smart as it was, it quickly learned to submit.

Seeing it had stopped struggling, Shen Xin let go and offered it another fig.

This time, it didn’t spit it out. With a single crack of its beak, it easily broke it open.

But then, instead of eating, it stretched out its neck and spat the fruit into Shen Xin’s hand.

It even said, "Eat."

Its demeanor held a hint of wanting to curry favor.

The next moment, an icon slowly materialized above its head.

’Just as I thought,’ Shen Xin said to himself.

When he went back yesterday and Chen Wanbin was checking his "homework," Shen Xin had taken the opportunity to discuss the two ways favorability could be triggered.

One was to constantly build rapport, and the other was to beat them into submission.

That was the case with Tian Kui, Ten Thousand, and Blackie from yesterday.

Shen Xin had wanted to ask Chen Wanbin for a scientific explanation for the intimate bond between humans and animals.

After hearing Shen Xin’s examples, Chen Wanbin’s explanation was that animals mostly followed their instincts.

One was the survival instinct. You treat it well, constantly feeding it and playing with it.

Over time, it will see you as a companion and form a close bond.

The other, he believed, was the human act of domestication.

Social animals are born to obey a leader.

And solitary animals also obey the law of the jungle, where the weak submit to the strong.

This is instinct.

That’s why Shen Xin could use combat to subdue Tian Kui and Tiger Stripes, and use death threats to make Ten Thousand understand who was stronger—that he could even control its life and death.

In such cases, if you then provide them with food and drink, they will become dependent on humans.

In ancient times, dogs, horses, pigs—they were all domesticated this way.

But the ultimate goal is always to establish a close connection and bond.

After submitting, the grey parrot immediately became much more obedient.

Shen Xin beckoned to it and said, "Come here." It immediately obeyed, landing on his arm.

It then carefully walked up his arm to his shoulder and gently nuzzled its head against his cheek.

"Hello."

Its tone had even become gentle.

Ding Yuwei couldn’t watch anymore. She irritably poked the parrot’s head and scolded it, "Does he smell good, or is he just handsome? Can’t you have a little backbone?"

She had come to realize that no matter the animal, the moment they saw Shen Xin, it was like he was made of catnip; they just had to swarm him and couldn’t be driven away.

Shen Xin laughed and held out his arm, joking, "I am. Why don’t you have a sniff?"

Ding Yuwei swatted his hand away in annoyance and asked what he was going to do about the other birds.

It would be the same old method.

Shen Xin considered that if he fed them slowly over a long period, he could achieve a high enough favorability score just the same.

But different situations called for different methods.

For example, to train Tian Kui to be a police dog, he couldn’t simply be a companion; he had to be taught obedience.

It was the same for these birds.

If he was going to raise them as police birds, he needed to establish a relationship of strong and weak, making them dependent on him and obedient to his commands.

Following the same recipe, wielding both the stick and the carrot, was a method that never failed.

Icons appeared above the crows, one after another.

Except for the magpie.

It had a bit of a "rather die than submit" attitude.

Shen Xin was only trying to scare it, of course; he couldn’t actually use lethal force.

’It feels like it’s related to self-awareness.’

Being smart didn’t necessarily mean having a high level of self-awareness.

But magpies could pass the mirror test, which proved they had strong self-awareness.

An animal like that wouldn’t submit so easily.

Shen Xin wasn’t in a hurry. This was just the beginning. A few more tries should do it.

After taking care of the birds, Shen Xin assigned tasks as usual.

He sent Zhao Tianxing and Yang Zeran to investigate Guo Kaitai’s situation, as well as Fu Lanting’s family.

The victim was Fu Lanting, and back then, the focus of Sun Zhao’s investigation was also on her.

The case file noted that her parents were from Hutang Town.

They used to make a living grinding tofu, ran a small shop in town, and raised a son and a daughter.

There are three great hardships in life, and grinding tofu is one of them.

In the case file, Fu Lanting’s friends and relatives generally mentioned that she was hardworking and could endure great hardship.