Animal Detective

Chapter 572: Chapter 474: She Is Very Important to Me

At 1:00 AM, Wan Xiaoyang and his group finally arrived.

There were so many of them they had to take a bus.

Celestial Skill crouched obediently at Pan Wenhai’s feet, looking up at him from time to time.

Dogs can sense human emotion, and she could feel Pan Wenhai’s spirits were low.

The bus came to a halt and the doors slid open with a hiss. Celestial Skill, who had been resting, suddenly lifted her head, having caught a familiar scent.

After a glance at Pan Wenhai, Celestial Skill immediately darted off the bus and ran straight to Shen Xin, whining urgently twice.

’Missed you.’

’Where did you go?’

She paused, then tilted her head up in confusion.

’What’s wrong?’

She sensed something was wrong with Shen Xin’s reaction.

’Otherwise, he would have already knelt down to hug me.’

Hearing her thoughts, Shen Xin realized he’d been neglecting Celestial Skill. He quickly crouched down, pulled her into a hug, and stroked her fur.

"I’m okay. I’m fine."

As he stood up, he spotted Pan Wenhai in the crowd.

Their eyes met. Pan Wenhai hesitated for a moment, but then he walked over, bowed, and apologized. "Shen Xin, I’m so sorry. I never thought something like this would happen. I just feel..."

He was so overcome with shame he couldn’t go on.

In an instant, all eyes were on them.

Guan Baofeng instinctively started forward to smooth things over, but Wan Xiaoyang pulled him back.

Celestial Skill tilted her head, looking from Shen Xin to Pan Wenhai, then settled down beside Shen Xin.

Shen Xin paused for a beat. He reached out to help Pan Wenhai up, saying, "Captain Pan, no one could have imagined this would happen. It’s not your fault. You don’t need to do this."

Logically, Shen Xin knew he couldn’t blame Pan Wenhai.

But a person can’t always be rational.

Now that this had happened, Shen Xin was just deeply upset. And furious.

’He was furious with Fan Liping. ’Are you a fucking man? If you have any balls, come after me!’’

But he was also angry with Pan Wenhai.

’Pan Wenhai was consumed by guilt, always feeling like he’d wronged Fan Liping. So hadn’t there been a problem with how he’d raised and guided him?’

’If Fan Liping wanted revenge, he could have taken the righteous path. He could have worked hard to become a police officer, just like Ding Yuwei, and carried on his father’s legacy.’

’Not fighting fire with fire, not becoming some ’Angel of Judgment’ under the pretext of avenging his father and killing all drug dealers.’

’The fact that he’d turned out this way... Shen Xin truly believed Pan Wenhai was at fault.’

’And because Ding Yuwei had been hurt because of it, Shen Xin couldn’t let it go.’

Pan Wenhai swayed on his feet.

He heard it in Shen Xin’s voice.

’Before, it was ’Old Pan.’ Now, it was ’Captain Pan.’’

"I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry." Pan Wenhai felt a sharp, cutting pain in his heart.

Just then, Wan Xiaoyang came over. "Shen Xin, let’s put everything else aside for now. The most important thing is to get her back."

Tang Youkun came over as well. He patted Shen Xin’s shoulder and gave him a look that said, ’We’ve got your back.’

Shen Xin nodded, pulling out his phone. "Director Wan, Fan Liping sent a message."

Wan Xiaoyang quickly took the phone.

The message instructed Shen Xin to go to a town called Pakang by noon the next day.

Luopei Town was in Nongkan County, which was part of Sava State.

Nongkan was the capital of Sava State.

Pakang was another town within Nongkan County, located to the northeast, nearly a hundred kilometers from Luopei as the crow flies.

The message demanded that at twelve o’clock sharp, Shen Xin go to the west gate of a jade market in the city, hold his phone, and await further instructions.

That was all the information there was.

Wan Xiaoyang had come personally this time to take full command of the operation.

He gathered Guan Baofeng, Wang Feng, Tang Youkun, Qian Feng, and the captain of the Cloud Fox Assault Team.

The captain was a young man with a broad chest and a resolute gaze, named Fu He.

Shen Xin joined them as well.

"Let’s hear your thoughts," Wan Xiaoyang said, his voice grave.

Guan Baofeng spoke first. "A few of us were just discussing this. Tracing the source of the message will be difficult, but we have to try. The most crucial thing is that we can’t let him lead us by the nose."

"We have eleven hours until noon. Ideally, we find Fan Liping and rescue her within that time."

Wan Xiaoyang nodded.

He completely agreed with the point about not being led by the nose.

He crossed his arms. "The provincial department is treating this with the utmost importance. We’ve already reported to the ministry, and they’ve contacted the Mianguang authorities. They’ve promised their full cooperation in a large-scale search of the entire Sava State."

"I was thinking about this on the way here. The situation in Sava State is unique. Various factions are vying for power, and the Mingguang Government’s influence is relatively weak. Fan Liping has lived here for years; he knows this area best. So I believe if he’s going to hide, it’s highly likely he’s still somewhere in Sava."

"Therefore, our efforts must be focused on Sava."

"’Every goose leaves a trace where it passes.’ Fan Liping has been operating here for years. We have that surveillance footage of his men, don’t we? Let’s go through it, one person at a time."

"In a bit, I’m going to meet with a few people. They’re all local factions. By leveraging their power, we can certainly obtain some useful intelligence."

The various factions in Sava are all intertwined, and each has its own sphere of influence. We can’t rely solely on the Mingguang Government.

"If you find the target, act immediately. The department’s orders are not to pull any punches."

Wan Xiaoyang looked toward Fu He and Qian Feng.

Fu He nodded, his expression grim.

They had come fully equipped for this.

"Shen Xin, stay calm. He’s targeting you, which means he has an objective. That’s an advantage for us. As long as you can keep your composure, we have a chance to resolve this."

Wan Xiaoyang reached out and patted Shen Xin’s shoulder, his gaze profound.

In truth, as a special asset, Liu Baoquan was well aware of Shen Xin’s importance.

Sending Shen Xin to Mianguang this time was, for one, because Song Zhi’s team had formally requested his cooperation on a case. They couldn’t just ignore such a request.

Even if Shen Xin eventually succeeded in his plan, it would still require a joint effort from both sides to completely stop the flow of drugs across the border, and perhaps even to eradicate this cancerous tumor at its source.

From a strategic perspective, they had to cooperate with Mianguang and continue their partnership.

They had also considered that very few people knew about Shen Xin’s plan, so there was little chance the drug traffickers would find out about it at this stage.

And even if there were risks, they had taken precautions, hadn’t they? They’d had Qian Feng and his armed men follow him.

They never expected that while Angdu’s capture went smoothly, the real problem would stem from Fan Liping, a man who was already in custody.

Shen Xin nodded. "Director Wan, I understand."

Wan Xiaoyang said no more and immediately began assigning tasks.

He himself would go meet with his contacts.

Guan Baofeng would be in charge of coordinating with the Mianguang authorities to conduct the search of Sava.

Wang Feng was responsible for forensics and investigation at the scene. It was a large crime scene, some of the attackers were dead, and there was surveillance footage to review. They could work on identifying the assailants.

They would even trace the source of the firearms—treating it all as a standard criminal investigation.

Shen Xin, for his part, would use the police dog to track them.

Tang Youkun would be in charge of that detail, with Fu He and his men providing backup. If they found anything, they could move in at a moment’s notice, and they would also serve as protection.

Time was short, so everyone moved out immediately.

Shen Xin led Celestial Skill to the side and sat on the ground, stroking her fur continuously.

She could sense the shift in Shen Xin’s emotions. She whimpered softly, nuzzling into his arms and licking his hand over and over.

"Good girl."

Shen Xin cradled Celestial Skill’s head in his hands and whispered, "Celestial Skill, do you remember Yuwei?"

Celestial Skill nodded.

Of course she remembered. She turned her head, looking around.

’Where is she?’

She was asking where Ding Yuwei was.

Shen Xin stroked her gently and continued, "She’s gone. Bad men took her away. Celestial Skill... she’s very important to me."

The incident had happened a little after four.

It was now one in the morning. Nine hours had passed.

Before, Shen Xin had thought of Ding Yuwei as a good colleague and a good friend. They had worked together for almost a year, from the precinct to the municipal bureau.

When she was taken by Fan Liping, Shen Xin had been incredibly tense and worried.

But over these last nine agonizing hours, Shen Xin realized that his worry for Ding Yuwei went beyond that of a mere friend.

It was a worry born of deeper feelings.

The thought of Ding Yuwei in danger, her life hanging in the balance, made Shen Xin want to grab a gun and riddle Fan Liping with holes.

His hatred was that intense.

And so, in that moment, Shen Xin finally realized that Ding Yuwei already occupied a special place in his heart.

Just how important she was to him.

"Celestial Skill, I’m so scared right now. I’m scared I’ll never get the chance to tell her that I love her."

"So, Celestial Skill... I’m begging you. Help me find her."

Shen Xin looked at Celestial Skill, his gaze intent.

’Fan Liping had driven off; who knew how far he’d gotten by now. Tracking him would be incredibly difficult.’

’It would take a miracle.’

At that moment, Celestial Skill’s eyes were fixed only on Shen Xin.

The next moment, the green Stage Two Favorability icon above her head, its ten bars completely full, slowly faded to red.

She had been at Stage Two with ten full bars of favorability for a long time. For some reason, she just never broke through to Stage Three.

The same was true for Tian Kui.

’Perhaps they were missing some catalyst, or the right conditions for a qualitative change.’

Shen Xin hadn’t figured it out yet, so he never expected that in this moment, Celestial Skill would actually break through.

Celestial Skill gave a sharp bark.

’I will.’

’Thank you.’

He didn’t have time to wonder why Celestial Skill would say "thank you." Because they were in physical contact, in that instant, Shen Xin was suddenly seeing images from her memory.

It was the moment he rescued her, his hand outstretched as he told her, "It’s okay, I won’t hurt you."

There were other fragmented images, too.

Him, staying by her side while she gave birth.

Scenes of him playing with her at the K-9 base.

And another of him resting on a lawn, while she lay nearby, occasionally opening her eyes just to check that he was still there.

She barked again and suddenly shot out of Shen Xin’s arms.

She lowered her head and began to pace urgently, trying to isolate Ding Yuwei’s scent from the jumble of smells at the scene.

She knew Ding Yuwei well; she would never forget her scent.

’Not this one.’

’Where is it?’

Shen Xin could hear the constant, frantic stream of her thoughts. The urgency in her ’voice’ made his nose sting, and his eyes well up.

It was the feeling of someone giving their all for a loved one.

Once again, Shen Xin felt a powerful wave of emotion wash over him from an animal—from Celestial Skill.

A thought suddenly struck Shen Xin. ’Could entering Stage Three be related to an animal’s needs?’

So far, only Yuexiao and Teddy had reached Stage Three.

’At first, I had thought it was because Yuexiao was self-aware.’

’But Teddy wasn’t.’

’Teddy was intelligent for a bird, but he was nowhere near as smart as a dolphin.’

Now Shen Xin had a new theory: ’Perhaps it’s all related to need.’

’The feeling of "I need you," for example, is a powerful emotion.’

’Yuexiao had practically fallen in love with me; she had that need.’

’Teddy was the same. He saw me as his mate and also felt a powerful need.’

’So what about Celestial Skill?’

’I know that Celestial Skill has always been dependent on me, which logically should have fulfilled the "I need you" condition.’

’So why did she only enter Stage Three now?’

’I guess it might have something to do with our superior-subordinate relationship.’

’Dogs are social animals that recognize a master.’

’Celestial Skill certainly depends on me, but perhaps because of her past trauma, she’s more insecure and sensitive.’

’Or perhaps she believed in a hierarchy, that I am her master and she couldn’t dare to ask for too much.’

’But in this moment, when I begged her for help, she must have felt my intense trust in her, the feeling of being truly needed.’

’And it was precisely because of that need that she broke through to Stage Three.’

Just then, Celestial Skill let out a sudden bark, spun around, and took off.

’Found it!’

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