Animal Detective

The airport had only opened for flights at the beginning of the year and was a long way from the city. It was already eight p.m. by the time they arrived at the Municipal Bureau.

But they still had to eat dinner.

And they had to drink.

Shen Xin had done his homework before he came.

People from Longzhou were nicknamed the "Wolves of the Northwest," and they bowed to no one when it came to drinking. This was especially true in winter when farm work slowed down. With nothing else to do, a few friends would get together and drink for an entire day.

They had two distinct habits: first, they loved playing finger-guessing games, and second, they drank without eating—just straight liquor.

Reading online about how much the people of Longzhou could drink made Shen Xin’s scalp tingle.

With his tolerance for alcohol, he felt like a lamb in a den of wolves.

So, Shen Xin had already made arrangements.

Zhao Tianxing, the best drinker, would be the main "attacker." As the guest of honor, Shen Xin couldn’t avoid drinking, so Yang Zeran and Ding Yuwei would have to run interference for him.

Of course, that was the ideal scenario.

If he really couldn’t handle it in the end, then so be it. He’d just get drunk and pass out.

Sure enough, at the dinner table, even a man as important as Director Cai Yaohai was exceptionally hearty. Once he raised his glass, he hardly ever put it down.

He was considerate, knowing that Shen Xin and his team were from the Southern region and might not be heavy drinkers.

But after a few rounds, everyone had loosened up, and his tune had changed.

He said the Jinhui Liquor they were drinking was a local specialty of Wudu, produced in nearby Hui County. He called it the number one Baijiu in Longzhou and insisted they had to try it.

Then he added that Shen Xin and his team were young—what was a little liquor to them?

In the end, the table full of good food went almost untouched. Within an hour, Shen Xin was already passed out on the table.

He didn’t wake up until almost ten the next morning.

"Did I make a fool of myself last night?" Shen Xin asked Ding Yuwei, clutching his head.

Ding Yuwei just smiled.

Shen Xin sighed. "The folks in Kang Province are probably heavy drinkers too, aren’t they?"

’There’s still another round to go.’

"What do you think?" Ding Yuwei retorted.

Shen Xin sighed again. Kang Province was known as the "Land of Abundance," a place of natural treasures. Its people drank with the same hearty and fiery spirit they brought to eating spicy food.

They had brought gifts for Longzhou and for Kang Province. How could they not receive a warm welcome in return?

𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"I guess we’ll be drinking, then," Shen Xin said with resignation.

’Building a good relationship is what really matters.’

’We can’t solve this case without the full support of the local police.’

Besides, this was part of Shen Xin’s original plan.

The police dog project could be put on hold for now; it wouldn’t be affected.

Shen Xin’s plan was for him and Ding Yuwei to go to Anjing.

It would take some time for the giant panda, Walnut, to enter the third phase.

In the meantime, Yang Zeran and his partner would stay behind to get a handle on all aspects of the case. Once Walnut entered the third phase, they would officially commit their full manpower and resources to a large-scale investigation.

Since those two were staying behind to work, they had to maintain good local relations.

After taking a shower in the bathroom to clear his head, Shen Xin called the others. They were heading to the Municipal Bureau to find Chang Zhigang and go see the crime scene.

’They couldn’t come all this way and not see the crime scene.’

The drinking session had indeed brought them much closer. When they met, Chang Zhigang was already cracking jokes.

He said that toward the end of dinner last night, Shen Xin and Cai Yaohai had ended up sitting together. Cai Yaohai had clapped Shen Xin on the shoulder, talking about the case and saying he believed in Shen Xin’s abilities and so on and so forth.

"And then," he continued, "you slung your arm around Director Cai’s shoulders, pounded your chest, and promised him you’d do everything in your power to crack the case."

"I slung my arm... around Director Cai’s shoulder?"

A cold sweat broke out on Shen Xin’s back.

’There’s a saying that rank doesn’t matter at the dinner table, but that’s just a saying. You still have to consider the man’s position.’

’He’s a director and a vice mayor—a deputy provincial-level official!’

Chang Zhigang roared with laughter, amused by Shen Xin’s expression. He clapped Shen Xin on the shoulder and said, "It’s fine. Director Cai really likes you. It’s no big deal."

Shen Xin was mortified. He quickly changed the subject, saying he wanted to go to the crime scene.

"You’re not going to review the case files first?" Chang Zhigang asked.

Normally, one would review the case files first to understand the case and get a handle on things before visiting the scene.

He could brief them, of course, but he was worried he wouldn’t be able to cover everything.

Shen Xin shook his head. "Chang Zhi, I imagine there’s a mountain of case files, right?"

’Five years, three incidents, six lives... The files must fill an entire room.’

Chang Zhigang sighed without a word and led Shen Xin directly to the archives room on the third floor.

In the back of the archives, there was a room.

He opened the door, pointed inside, and said, "There. These are all the case files for the November 2nd case series."

Shen Xin peeked inside and shook his head to himself.

’I was right.’

The room, about a hundred square feet, was filled with shelving units packed with evidence boxes.

Case records, witness statements, and related investigation documents had been continuously added over five years. Calling it a mountain of paperwork wasn’t a figure of speech.

And this was just the paperwork.

There was still the physical evidence to consider.

Some of that evidence required special storage conditions, so there was probably another huge pile of it somewhere else.

Shen Xin nudged Yang Zeran with his elbow.

Yang Zeran looked dumbfounded for a moment, but his expression quickly turned to excitement.

’This is a real major case!’

Shen Xin explained his plan to Chang Zhigang.

He would visit the crime scene here, then leave immediately for Kang Province. After seeing the scene there, he would head to Anjing.

So, he would leave the files for Yang Zeran and his partner to sift through. Once he got results on his end, they would officially launch the investigation.

Chang Zhigang listened without much of a reaction.

This struck Shen Xin as odd, so he asked, "Aren’t you surprised that I’m trying to use an animal to solve a case?"

"What’s so strange about it?" Chang Zhigang said with a wave of his hand. "Never mind the fact that you’ve actually solved a case with an animal before. Even if you hadn’t, it wouldn’t matter."

"Let me put it this way: back when we hit a dead end with this case, I was so desperate that if I’d run into a fortune teller on the street, I would have paid them to tell me who the killer was."

The fact that he, a man who never believed in fate, was willing to resort to fortune-telling said it all.

Shen Xin was struck by the sentiment. ’This is what a cold case does,’ he thought. ’It really pushes people to their absolute limit.’

The atmosphere grew heavy. Chang Zhigang opened his mouth as if to say something more.

But he swallowed the words before they came out.

’What else was there to say?’

’Should he tell him that Hu Zeyang’s mother had lost her mind, and his father was on the verge of breaking down, still calling constantly for updates on the case?’

’Or that Zheng Shaodong, the detective captain in Yinping County, had turned down several promotions just so he could stay in Yinping?’

’In his own words, "That son of a bitch might strike again, so I have to be in Yinping, waiting for him."’

’From ’09 to now, a full nine years—this case had affected so many people and changed the course of so many lives.’

But Chang Zhigang felt that saying any of this would only put more pressure on Shen Xin.

「A little over two hours later」 The group arrived at Liujiaping Town in Yinping County.

Arriving here was just the beginning.

From the town, they had to go to a village, and from the village, they had to go up into the mountains.

Times had changed, and the protection station’s patrol routes had long since been altered. When they reached the station and explained the situation, the on-duty patrol team captain, Zhou Huayong, didn’t hesitate. He immediately gathered some men and personally led the group into the mountains.

The man looked to be in his thirties or forties, with a stocky, solid build.

It was late November in Yinping County, and the temperature could already dip to around freezing. The protection station was located on the edge of the nature reserve’s core area.

Farther south, it was all vast mountains with an average elevation of two thousand meters, so the temperature there was even lower.

He wore a black cotton jacket that was worn to a sheen, his hair was a mess, and his beard was untrimmed. He was completely unkempt.

The group first took motorcycles along a narrow mountain path until it became impassable, then continued on foot into the mountains.

Zhou Huayong and Chang Zhigang seemed to know each other well. As they led the way, Zhou Huayong asked in a low voice, "Chang Zhi, is it starting up again?"

Chang Zhigang nodded slightly, his expression complex.

He had walked this path countless times over the past nine years.

Zhou Huayong asked again, "I heard they found Wang Erpeng?"

Chang Zhigang nodded again.

The authorities in Kang Province had examined the body. After confirming they found nothing, they returned it to his family just last week.

Zhou Huayong was a local, so it was normal for him to have heard the news.

"That’s good. His mother had an empty grave prepared for him. At least now it can be put to use," Zhou Huayong sighed, filled with emotion.

Chang Zhigang’s brow furrowed slightly. He suddenly turned and introduced Zhou Huayong to Shen Xin, explaining that he used to be a Patrol Officer in Liu Baoli’s group.

If Shen Xin wanted to know more about Liu Baoli, he could ask Zhou Huayong.

’Even though we’ve already asked him many times.’

The mountain path was difficult, but manageable.

This area was a mountainous deciduous broad-leaf forest zone; higher up, there was a coniferous forest zone.

At this time of year, most of the trees had lost their leaves and were bare.

There weren’t many shrubs or weeds in the mountains, either. And while there were no proper roads, it was a huge improvement over the impenetrable tropical rainforest they had navigated back in Dian Nan.

Shen Xin thought for a moment, then asked, "Captain Zhou, I’ve heard about something called the ’curse of the panda.’ Are you familiar with that?"

Zhou Huayong nodded.

Shen Xin asked if he knew who had started the rumor.

Zhou Huayong shook his head. "I honestly don’t know. The story just started spreading a few years ago. No idea who started it."

Chang Zhigang interjected, "We found him."

"Wang Erpeng was from Guan Village. Wang Shulin, who was his cousin, was from Qixin Gou Village, just west of Guan Village."

"There’s a villager in Qixin Gou named Wang Chunliang. He was the one who started it."

"We brought him in and interrogated him thoroughly. He’d had a dispute with Wang Shulin over some land, and Wang Shulin had beaten him up."

"He held a grudge. One time when he was drinking with some people, he just made the whole thing up."

"According to him, he came up with it on his own. He felt Wang Shulin got what he deserved and was jealous that a punk like him had become a Patrol Officer, so he deliberately tied it to the pandas."

"We confirmed it. He has an alibi and no opportunity to commit the crime."

Shen Xin nodded silently.

’It seems the special task force had already investigated every possible angle, and every single one led to a dead end.’

After a moment of thought, Shen Xin changed the subject, asking about Liu Baoli’s character.

He would have been Zhou Huayong’s team leader back then.

"How should I put it..." Zhou Huayong hesitated. "Lao Liu was a very upright man. A good man."

"Lao Liu’s family were hunters. When he was young, he used to go hunting in the mountains with his father, so he had experience."

"Back in ’90, they first established a dedicated management bureau for the nature reserve here. Later, when they wanted to recruit more Patrol Officers, they specifically sought out people with hunting experience like Lao Liu."

"But a lot of people didn’t want the job. Back then, it wasn’t a permanent government position, the pay was low, and the work was exhausting. Lao Liu was one of the few who stepped up and became a Patrol Officer."

"And he did that job for over ten years. He was diligent and took his work seriously."

"Take the patrol route assignments, for example. He was always fair to everyone. A lot of the guys in the unit respected him for that."

"Plus, he was named a model worker year after year. So..."

After a moment’s hesitation, Zhou Huayong continued, "If you’re trying to tell me he got mixed up with a scoundrel like Wang Shulin and deliberately killed a giant panda just for some commendation and a reward... I don’t believe it."

"A giant panda! Who would dare kill one? It’s a major crime. And how much could the reward money possibly be? As far as I know, the bureau only gave Lao Liu a thousand yuan for that."

"A thousand yuan... It wouldn’t be worth it at all if you got caught later."