Animal Detective

Having confirmed the location of the real casino, Li Fang didn’t rush to act. The group continued watching the video footage.

Teddy’s search was comprehensive.

He had spotted hikers on the trails, couples climbing the mountain for the view, and the temple.

At the same time, Teddy discovered another shed covered in the same camouflage tarp in a different location.

This one was closer to the foot of the mountain. Barring any surprises, it had to be the fake casino.

Li Fang circled the location with a pen and quickly estimated the distance.

A little over two kilometers.

"Captain Yang, I think it’s time to move," Li Fang said gravely.

Yang Qingmin nodded slightly, reminding him to be careful.

He didn’t need to worry about the specific details of the operation.

Confirming the location was the hardest part. As for making the arrests?

If he let the suspects escape now, then Li Fang might as well resign as unit commander.

Li Fang immediately rolled up the topographical map and left, calling on Zhou Shaobo and the others to formulate an operational plan.

The main force was still on the perimeter. They would raid both the real and fake casinos simultaneously to ensure no one could escape.

Meanwhile, Shen Xin continued to watch the recorded footage.

Teddy had clearly finished his search. It took less than fifteen minutes, just as he had predicted.

Then he began to circle high in the sky.

Shen Xin knew at a glance. ’He’s about to start hunting.’

Unfortunately, the mountain forest wasn’t his usual hunting ground. After circling for a while, he came up empty-handed.

With no other choice, he turned and headed toward a more distant area to search.

Just then, something black flew out from the mountains, heading straight for Teddy.

The body cam was strapped beneath Teddy, so it captured the scene with perfect clarity.

Chen Guanglin jumped. He saw Teddy suddenly pull up as a black shadow shot past beneath him and exclaimed, "What the hell is that?"

It happened so suddenly that Shen Xin didn’t get a clear look either.

He rewound the video and played it in slow motion. Only then could they see it clearly: a large, black bird.

"Hey, isn’t that a crow?" Zhang Hancheng said, glancing at the screen.

Shen Xin thought so too. ’All black, it looks like a crow.’

He couldn’t quite make out the specific species, though.

But it was clearly quite large. It probably wasn’t one of the smaller species like a carrion crow, house crow, or jackdaw.

As they spoke, the crow in the footage caught up again.

The camera was pointed downward, so it didn’t capture the crow, but they could infer from Teddy’s movements that the crow was likely harassing him.

Shen Xin was inwardly surprised. ’This crow has some serious guts.’

Sure enough, the crow’s actions infuriated Teddy.

He pulled up sharply and then dived like a bomber.

He was so fast the camera feed became a blur.

In the end, he missed by a hair’s breadth, allowing the crow to escape into the thicket.

He didn’t catch it.

Teddy circled above the treetops. The video picked up the sound of whistling wind and, faintly, the cawing of the crow.

But the caw was a little strange.

Zhang Hancheng asked, puzzled, "Does anyone else think that crow sounds like it’s... laughing?"

Shen Xin nodded hurriedly.

That was exactly it. He felt the crow’s caw sounded just like a person laughing.

In the video, Teddy prepared to leave.

But then the crow darted out again, catching up to provoke him once more.

Teddy immediately wheeled around to attack.

The moment he charged, the crow ducked back into the forest.

This time, they were closer, and its strange laugh could be heard even more clearly.

Yang Zeran, craning his neck to see from beside Shen Xin, blurted out, "Holy shit," then added, "This crow is such a little troll."

Shen Xin nodded in agreement.

’Exactly,’ he thought. ’That’s the perfect way to describe it.’

It was like watching someone troll an opponent, repeatedly dashing in and out of range.

And it wasn’t just provoking him; it was laughing at him, too.

Shen Xin turned to the real Teddy beside him and teased, "Teddy, it’s laughing at you. You’re just going to let it get away with that?"

In the footage, Teddy had chosen to ignore the provocation.

The real Teddy tilted his head, looking at Shen Xin in confusion.

A moment later, as if the meaning of the words finally clicked, his eyes went wide.

He let out a sharp cry, pushed off with his talons, and shot straight up into the sky.

The reaction startled Shen Xin.

"My God, did he just... go off to get revenge?" Yang Zeran was dumbfounded.

Zhang Hancheng and the other two men had the same stunned expression.

’Forget the fact that it understood human speech for a second—the bird actually wanted revenge!’

In an instant, Teddy was already far in the distance.

Zhang Hancheng asked anxiously, "Shen Xin, is this going to be a problem?"

Shen Xin watched Teddy fly off, momentarily speechless.

’I can’t believe Teddy’s pride was suddenly stung like that.’

’So where was all this pride when you were being provoked and mocked just a minute ago?’ he thought.

Shen Xin shook his head. "He should be fine."

It wasn’t that he worried Teddy couldn’t beat the crow.

The problem was, this wasn’t Teddy’s home turf.

On the open plains, Teddy could probably take down that crow in a matter of minutes.

But in a mountain forest?

Shen Xin pursed his lips. ’It’s going to be tough.’

Just then, it occurred to Shen Xin that the crow had appeared near the fake casino.

’Could it be? Are these guys using the crow to pass messages?’

Crows were certainly smart enough.

The way it repeatedly provoked Teddy and used the terrain to its advantage was proof enough of its high intelligence.

The more Shen Xin thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

And there was more evidence.

Crows could imitate human speech. Maybe not as well as African Grey Parrots, but they were definitely among the top contenders.

The fact that this particular crow could produce a human-like laugh was a clear sign it had been trained.

Shen Xin immediately shared his theory with Zhang Hancheng and the others.

Zhang Hancheng’s eyes widened slightly. "You’re saying they’re using that crow to send messages?" he asked, astonished.

He’d been reviewing the case and wondering about that himself. He couldn’t figure out how the criminals could alert the real casino, which was in a signal-jammed area, after the fake one was busted.

His initial theory was the same as Yang Zeran’s: someone was posted at a distance, watching with binoculars.

However, knowing how treacherous the mountain paths were, he had quickly dismissed that idea.

But he never would have imagined they’d use a bird.

Shen Xin said, "Captain Zhang, I reviewed the footage from the previous raid and noticed someone was using a bird whistle."

"This crow can laugh like a person, which means it’s obviously been trained. It’s lingering near the fake casino. If a suspect spots us, they just have to blow the whistle."

"The crow hears it and, as per its training, immediately flies off to find its master."

"It can fly two or three kilometers through the mountains in just a minute or two. The moment the people at the real casino see the crow, they’ll know the fake one has been compromised."

Zhang Hancheng frowned, remaining silent.

Beside him, Yang Qingmin and the other man drew in a sharp breath.

Neither of them had ever considered such a method.

Yang Zeran just looked at Shen Xin, speechless. He knew Shen Xin must have had this idea for a while, but he didn’t say anything when asked.

At this, Yang Qingmin exclaimed, "Damn it! If that’s true, we have to notify Li Fang’s team immediately. They can’t raid the fake casino first."

They had been trying to figure out what special communication method was being used.

But who would have thought they’d be using a trained crow?

Without knowing this, no one would pay any mind to a single bird in the sky.

If they raided the fake casino first, the message would get out and jeopardize the raid on the real one.

With that, he hastily dialed Li Fang.

Shen Xin had already considered this, but he wasn’t worried.

It was a happy accident.

Teddy’s pride had been wounded, and he’d flown off for revenge.

’If that crow so much as takes flight, is Teddy going to let it go?’

’There’s no way the message will get through.’

On the other end, Li Fang had already deployed his men. The main force was heading into the mountains, straight for the real casino.

Zhou Shaobo was leading them.

For the fake casino, which had fewer targets, Li Fang was leading the team himself.

When he got Yang Qingmin’s call and heard Shen Xin’s theory about the crow, Li Fang asked in disbelief, "Captain Yang, is that even possible?"

Yang Qingmin replied, "What do you mean, ’is it possible’? I think Shen Xin’s theory is sound. Think about it. That crow can laugh like a person, which means it’s been trained."

"It also happens to be hanging around the fake casino. You tell me if that’s a coincidence."

After he finished, Yang Qingmin couldn’t help but marvel at how sharp Shen Xin was.

When he’d heard the crow laughing, he just thought it was an amusing little curiosity.

But Shen Xin had immediately connected the laugh to human training and linked it to the location.

Li Fang fell silent, asking no more questions.

A wave of retrospective fear washed over him.

’If we hadn’t been warned, things could have gone wrong and we could have lost them.’

’Letting them escape right under the noses of three captains...’

Li Feng drew a sharp breath, grabbed a pair of binoculars, and observed the fake casino’s location from a distance.

The first thing he spotted was Teddy, circling in the sky.

Teddy was furious.

’He couldn’t be bothered with that piece of charcoal, and it had the gall to laugh at him.’

’Worst of all, it made him lose face in front of Shen Xin.’

’Unforgivable!’

His gaze was locked onto that piece of charcoal on a branch below, and he let out a continuous series of cries.

*Come on! Let’s settle this in the sky!*

The crow wasn’t stupid. It knew Teddy had it in his sights.

And this time, he was serious.

’If I fly out from under the cover of these dense branches, I’ll be no match for him.’

So it stayed put, hopping back and forth on its branch and cackling up at the sky.

It enraged Teddy so much that he wanted nothing more than to dive into the branches and twist the little piece of charcoal’s head off.

Of course, that was just a thought.

’I can’t just charge in there,’ Teddy knew. ’The woods are too dense. I can’t maneuver.’

’I’m not like that bastard owl. The open sky and the plains are my hunting grounds.’

This time, however, Teddy didn’t give up so easily.

He was patient. ’I don’t believe this piece of charcoal can hide in the woods forever.’

’The moment it comes out, I will have my revenge.’

Time passed.

At a certain point, the crow on the branch suddenly heard a shrill bird whistle.

It instinctively started to take flight, but just as quickly, it settled back down into hiding.

’Teddy is still staring at me from up there.’

’Flying back to master gets me a treat, but if I fly out now, I’ll probably become a treat myself.’

The crow cawed up at the sky a few more times.

’Are you ever going to give up?’

’Believe it or not... I’ll just stay here forever! We’ll see who can outlast who.’

Not far away, at the fake casino.

Shen Xin moved in with Li Fang and his team.

He even got to stretch his limbs, swiftly pinning one of the suspects.

Under the camouflage tarp, everyone had already been brought under control.

One of the young men had a bird whistle in his mouth and was blowing it frantically.

"Still blowing that thing!"

Shen Xin stepped forward and snatched the bird whistle out of his mouth.

Shen Xin was sure the crow had heard the whistle, but it was no use.

He stepped out from under the tarp and looked up.

Through the gaps in the canopy, he could still see Teddy circling relentlessly in the sky.

Teddy was clearly livid, determined to settle the score with that crow.

Just then, Zhou Shaobo’s voice came over the walkie-talkie.

"Captain Li, the scene is secure. No one got away."

"Good."

Li Fang nodded to himself. ’At least I didn’t screw up in front of my superiors.’

He couldn’t help but glance at Shen Xin.

He had only one thought. ’He was a huge help.’

Shen Xin heard the radio chatter, and after a moment’s thought, moved to a more open area and whistled up at the sky.

Teddy heard it instantly and quickly spotted Shen Xin below.

After a moment’s hesitation, he spiraled down.

The moment he landed, he started crying out.

*Wait for me!*

*I’ll get him!*

Quite the temper.

"All right." Shen Xin gently held him down to soothe him. He’d already noticed the crow seizing the opportunity to fly up into the sky and away into the distance.

’It must be going to find its master.’

Shen Xin was quite curious himself. ’What kind of person comes up with a scheme like that?’