Animal Detective

Chapter 546: Chapter 449: Can’t Do Without You

It was nearly eleven at night when the team from the Mengle Rescue Center finally arrived, travel-worn and dusty.

Meanwhile, inside the Lianjiang Public Security Bureau, the interrogation of Cai Xingquan and the others had already been going on for several hours.

Under the hot, dazzling lights, both the interrogated Cai Xingquan and the lead interrogator, Wang Feng, were nearing the limits of their stamina.

Cai Xingquan licked his chapped lips and said weakly, "Captain Wang, that’s about enough. Just do me a favor and let me be. Go collect your commendation with a clear conscience."

"As for me, I’ll go on my way with a settled heart. If fate allows, we’ll meet again in the next life."

"I know you’ve worked hard too, but I really can’t tell you what’s in my head."

"If it were just me, I wouldn’t care. Out of respect for your heroic spirit, I’d tell you anything you want to know."

"But I have a wife and kids, and I’m secretly keeping several mistresses. If I talk, I’d be pushing them all into a pit of fire."

"Yes, you said that if I talk, you’ll help get my wife and kids back for me. But there’s no need. Why should I cause you more trouble?"

"Besides, we both know how it is with drugs."

He pointed at himself, then at Wang Feng, a hint of mockery on his face. "You can’t ban them. There will always be people like me—people ’blinded by greed,’ as you’d say—who insist on doing this kind of business."

"So when I got into this, I already knew what my end would be. I’ve accepted my fate."

"Speaking of which, there are certain people I just don’t get sometimes. You’d think he’s seen through human nature, so how can he still be so naive?"

It was a sudden, heartfelt sigh, prompted by a thought.

Across from him, Wang Feng’s eyebrow twitched. ’Who’s he talking about?’

Cai Xingquan obviously wasn’t going to explain. He sighed and said, "So what’s it going to be, Captain Wang? If you’re dead set on dragging this out with me, then let’s keep at it."

"If you’re not in the mood anymore, shall we call it a day?"

Wang Feng glanced at the observation room next door.

Cai Xingquan turned to look as well, his eyes asking a question.

Behind the one-way glass, the room was full of people.

Wan Xiaoyang from the Dehong City Bureau was there, and even Lu Chunze was watching the interrogation remotely.

After a moment of contemplation, Wan Chaoyang stepped forward, pressed the microphone button, and said, "Wang Feng, let’s call it a day."

Inside, Wang Feng stood up and was about to leave when he stopped, turned his head, and asked, "Cai Xingquan, we’ll drop this for today. Let me ask you something else. What’s the deal with that elephant? You can at least talk about that, right?"

After all that talking, Wang Feng didn’t want to walk away with nothing.

"The elephant?"

Realization dawned on Cai Xingquan. "Right, there was an elephant. But I’m sorry."

He shook his head slightly. "Captain Wang, I can’t talk about that even more."

Wang Feng stared at him with a deep look for a moment, then turned and walked out of the interrogation room.

There was no breakthrough with Cai Xingquan.

Elsewhere, Huang Delin’s interrogation of Zhu Kun hadn’t yielded any breakthroughs either.

As for the two junkies from the bonsai nursery—a couple of Little Kalamis—they didn’t know anything.

"Director Wan, I’m sorry." Seeing Wan Xiaoyang, Wang Feng took the initiative to admit his failure.

After so much effort, he still hadn’t managed to pry open Cai Xingquan’s mouth.

Wan Xiaoyang waved a hand, his expression grave and serious.

The first interrogation is always the most effective. From here on, it would only get harder.

Seeing the heavy atmosphere, Wan Xiaoyang let out a hearty laugh. "Don’t all look so glum. Remember, we were the ones who won today. Cheer up a bit."

Only after he said that did smiles return to everyone’s faces.

Wan Xiaoyang then added, "By the way, where’s... um, Shen Xin? Why haven’t I seen him around?"

He had made a special trip over from Simao, partly to watch the interrogation, and partly because he wanted to meet Shen Xin.

Without Shen Xin’s police bird, this case wouldn’t have gone so smoothly, so perfectly.

"Him?"

Chen Ruidong chuckled. "Probably still with the elephant."

Since he hadn’t come back, he must still be in Hudian.

「Far away in Hudian.」

The team from the Mengle Rescue Center had arrived.

Leading them was the center’s deputy director, He Jinglin.

They had brought quite a few people, along with a flatbed semi-trailer carrying a huge iron cage.

Their plan was to take the female elephant directly back to their base for further treatment.

At that moment, the truck was parked on the side of the road.

Guided by Shen Xin, the mother elephant followed him, slowly climbing onto the truck.

Meanwhile, He Jinglin, Tan Qingming, and the others watched from a distance.

"The guy’s truly incredible," He Jinglin said, pushing up his glasses and clucking his tongue in amazement.

At first, he had suspected it was a captive-bred elephant. But after arriving, he was chased by the elephant the moment he got close, which immediately confirmed that this was a wild animal.

But that only made it all the more unbelievable to him.

’How could a purely wild elephant, one so aggressive, be so fond of Shen Xin and so gentle with him?’

’It won’t even leave his side.’

Tan Qingming nodded in deep agreement. "Director He, did you know he can also train birds? He trained a crow to be just like a police dog—it does whatever he tells it to."

He had heard the story of Er Long during an earlier chat—how it could even speak human words—and it had given him quite a shock.

He Jinglin glanced at the crow perched atop the cage, curiously observing everything, and was at a loss for words.

In all his years of animal research, this was the first time he had ever seen a human and an animal in such harmony.

On the truck, with Shen Xin’s guidance, the mother elephant entered the cage.

The cage’s bars were especially thick, and the gate was heavy. Shen Xin struggled to close it and slide the bolt home before waving to the others in the distance.

Then he reached out and stroked the mother elephant’s trunk. "Nan Ji, you go with them for now. They’re good people, and they’ll help you get better."

"Don’t worry, I promise I’ll find your baby and reunite you both."

While waiting around, Shen Xin had wracked his brain and come up with a name for the mother elephant.

Nan Ji.

It came from the movie *Zootopia*—the elephant who taught yoga and had a "superb" memory.

Nan Ji trumpeted once, as if she understood.

After one last look at Nan Ji, Shen Xin jumped off the truck.

’I don’t know if this will work. Without me here, will Nan Ji go berserk?’

’But I have to try.’

For her, going to the rescue center meant getting the best possible care.

And he couldn’t spend all his energy on her. Most importantly, it was inconvenient for her to stay with him.

A cat or a dog would be easy to handle.

But she was an elephant that weighed several tons.

"Officer Shen, thank you for all your trouble. You can leave the elephant to us. Rest assured, we’ll take good care of her," He Jinglin said, coming forward to shake Shen Xin’s hand.

Shen Xin nodded and asked them to do their best for her.

With that, the driver started the truck, and the group set off.

Before He Jinglin and his team had arrived, Shen Xin had already helped Tan Qingming inspect the mother elephant’s wounds.

Several of the wounds had already started to become inflamed and fester, and they needed immediate treatment.

"Old Pan, let’s go."

’I wonder how the interrogation with Cai Xingquan is going. If we want to find out where the baby elephant is, we’ll have to get it out of them.’

After saying goodbye to Guo Zhao Yue and the others, the two of them got in their car and left.

The car made a U-turn. Not long after they started driving, Pan Wenhai hesitated and said, "Shen Xin, there’s something I want to ask you."

He had a troubled expression and seemed to be hemming and hawing.

Only after Shen Xin told him to just say what was on his mind did he continue, "It’s about the police bird. I know it wasn’t easy for you to train it, so I really shouldn’t be asking this."

"But this Er Long is just too useful. It’s a huge help to our anti-drug work. So I was hoping to ask if you could... train one for us."

He looked at Shen Xin sheepishly, feeling terribly ashamed.

’He worked so hard to train it, and here I am just asking for one. It’s really putting him on the spot.’

But after witnessing Er Long’s tremendous value in tracking drug traffickers today, he had agonized over it for a long time before finally deciding to ask.

Shen Xin smiled. "Old Pan, actually, even if you hadn’t asked, I was already planning to do something for you guys. Don’t worry, there are plenty of police birds to go around."

"And it’s not just police birds. I have another idea."

Shen Xin explained his idea to Pan Wenhai.

"If my idea can be realized, then drug traffickers won’t be able to easily smuggle drugs across the border through the forests anymore."

Shen Xin knew that even if they blocked this route, traffickers would still find other ways to smuggle drugs. But at least this would increase the difficulty for them.

"It’s not just police birds, or monkeys, but also police dogs."

"You probably know that it only took me a little over a month to train Celestial Skill."

"So I’m also prepared to help you train a batch of police dogs—the more, the better. Hundreds, even thousands. We can arm every entry channel and completely block the drugs at our nation’s gates."

Police dogs were also indispensable.

A single Celestial Skill had already greatly improved the efficiency of their Shu Kang checkpoint.

So what if Dehong, or even all of Dian Nan—every checkpoint, every port of entry, every police station—was equipped with outstanding police dogs like Celestial Skill?

If they had enough to spare, their officers could even take police dogs with them on street patrols.

The drug traffickers would have nowhere to hide.

Shen Xin had been mulling this over for a few days. The more he thought about it, the more he felt it was his responsibility to make this meaningful endeavor a reality, so as not to waste his talent.

Pan Wenhai stared at Shen Xin, stunned. After a long moment, he said, "Shen Xin, regardless of whether this can be done, on behalf of Dehong, and indeed every anti-drug officer in Dian Nan, I thank you."

He had worked here for sixteen long years.

He had braved the dangers and dedicated the best years of his life to this place.

He had always been reluctant to retreat to a background role because he understood the hardships of anti-drug work and knew the price paid by generations of officers.

That was why he knew exactly how significant and helpful Shen Xin’s proposed plan would be for their work.

"Thank you."

Pan Wenhai reached out and squeezed Shen Xin’s shoulder.

Shen Xin smiled. Seeing that the atmosphere had grown a little heavy, he was about to change the subject when his phone rang.

It was a video call request from Tan Qingming.

He answered, puzzled, and was immediately met with Tan Qingming’s anxious voice. "Quick, quick! Shen Xin, where are you? You have to come back! The mother elephant isn’t doing well; she can’t be without you."

He pointed the camera at the truck up ahead.

The truck was stopped on the side of the road, its hazard lights flashing.

Inside the cage, Nan Ji was roaring continuously, repeatedly ramming against the bars in the cramped space.

Each impact made a tremendous sound.

Even the entire truck was shaking nonstop.

A few steps away, He Jinglin also turned and shouted, "Officer Shen, please hurry over! We can’t do this without you!"

The scene was reminiscent of the Jade Emperor hiding under his table, yelling, "Quickly, go and get the Tathagata Buddha!"

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