Animal Detective

Chapter 368 I wonder if Tianxiong has lost weight from hunger.

They didn't say how long they would search.

Shen Xin, along with Tian Kui, explored all the directions they had chosen.

With Tiankui also included, the search area should be large enough.

More than an hour had passed, but still no results were found.

I never expected that I would be the first one to return after coming back.

After waiting another half hour, Donya finally rode back.

"Officer Shen, have you found anything?" she asked anxiously, reining in her horse.

Shen Xin shook his head.

Donya nimbly dismounted with a flick of her right leg, and said dejectedly, "Where did he go?"

Shen Xin didn't reply, but just sighed softly.

Most likely, it’s gone.

As for the carcass, it's possible that it was completely eaten by wild animals on the grassland within four days.

That was, after all, a wolf, and a wolf king at that. Shen Xin didn't think Tianxiong could defeat it.

Seeing Shen Xin sigh, Donya guessed what he was thinking. Her expression changed, and she hurriedly said, "Officer Shen, please don't think the worst. Tianxiong is definitely alive."

As she spoke, she suddenly knelt down facing east, muttering incantations, and then kowtowed with a devout expression, her body bowed low, her forehead pressed against the grass.

Shen Xin was taken aback and quickly asked her what she was doing.

After Donya finished bowing, she said, "I am praying to Tengri. When I was little, I remember once I was traveling with my parents to different places."

“It hailed on the way, and then Dugar lost her; she was Honggul’s mother.”

“Then we couldn’t find it no matter how hard we looked. My father was about to give up, saying it was fate. I didn’t believe it. I said Tengri is the kindest person, so I prayed to Tengri.”

"As a result, Dugar came back on his own."

"Officer Shen, believe me, Tianxiong is definitely alive and will come back."

Her gaze was resolute.

Shen Xin thought to himself that this girl was kind-hearted, and said, "I believe you. Also, if that's the case, should I also say 'thank you'?"

As he spoke, Shen Xin, like Donya, bowed towards the east.

Shen Xin didn't believe in anything, so he simply kept repeating to himself, "Come back quickly."

If you come back, there will be a big chicken leg. If you don't come back soon, Tiankui will eat all your beef jerky.

After finishing his rambling, he continued to wait for the other two people.

Donya is outgoing and outgoing. While trying to get close to Tian Kui and teasing him, she would occasionally chat with Shen Xin about the situation outside.

This is unlike before, when we were isolated and knew nothing.

With the internet and short videos, even when you're just sitting on the toilet in the morning, you can be worried about what kind of trouble is happening on the other side of the world.

However, Donya could only watch; she never actually experienced it.

In her words, the farthest she had ever been was Ula Banner.

She could even recall who had recently held a concert in Nanjiang, and said with envy that she wanted to attend their concert.

"Do you like to sing?" Shen Xin asked.

Listening to her music, it seemed that Donya was very familiar with the singers, and even liked foreign singers.

Donya nodded generously and said, "That's right, my mother said I sing very well."

She cleared her throat, about to sing a song for Shen Xin, when a black dot appeared in the distance.

It's Liao Lei.

Shen Xin hurriedly went to greet him.

If you return empty-handed, then the outcome is self-evident.

More than half an hour later, at three o'clock in the afternoon, as the sun was setting, Zhang Qifeng finally returned.

Judging from his expression, he had gained nothing.

"Instructor Zhang, don't worry, let's go back and study the map, then look again," Shen Xin comforted him.

The effect is limited.

For Zhang Qifeng, finding Shen Xin and bringing Tian Kui along was his last resort.

As a result, they couldn't even find Tiankui.

Thinking about this, Zhang Qifeng felt as if his heart was stuffed with straw, making him feel suffocated.

His eyes were a little red, probably from crying while searching. He then said to Donya, "By the way, Donya, someone said they saw your Hongul, but they're not sure exactly where he is."

As he spoke, he took out his phone and showed it to Donya.

Shen Xin also glanced at it a few times.

It was a message from a large group chat with several hundred people.

Zhang Qifeng sent a message around 11 a.m., which was followed by dozens of comments.

Some users can send text messages, while others can send voice messages.

Some say they saw a horse near Chabuqiri, but they didn't notice if it was Honggul.

Some say that Remuhadaga next door saw it.

Actually, Hongguer is not just a simple dark horse; there is a special breed called Abaga Dark Horse.

It has been registered with the state as a geographical indication protected agricultural product.

On the grasslands, there are quite a few people who raise this kind of horse. They are all black, making it difficult to easily determine whether they are the lost Honggur.

After some discussion, no one else chimed in.

Those messages that people claim to have seen are probably not credible either.

Then, around 1 p.m., a person named Chahuer sent a message saying that he had seen it in the Peony Valley area.

Ten minutes later, another man named Sangbu popped up and said that it was not right. He said that he saw Honggul on Banlashan Mountain, and that it should be Honggul. He even called out to it and chased after it, but he couldn't catch up and it ran far away.

“I’ll call and ask Sangbu.”

Donya took out her phone.

She and Sangbu are from the same village.

The call didn't go through.

Shen Xin asked where these two places were and whether they were close to each other.

Zhang Qifeng shook his head: "No, it's far away. Peony Valley is to the west."

He pointed north, to a place with mountains in the distance.

"Banlashan is located at the easternmost part of Huergan, and the two places are dozens of kilometers apart." Shen Xin gazed into the distance.

On the northern horizon, there are continuous mountain ranges, one of which appears quite high.

It was a horse that ran around everywhere, so it's normal to see it in different places.

Shen Xin said, "Peony Valley is nearby, and it's not dark yet, why don't we go look for it?"

Donya hurriedly mounted her horse.

Zhang Qifeng naturally couldn't let her go alone, so he said he would go with her and asked Liao Lei to take Shen Xin back first.

They even said that they hadn't let Shen Xin have lunch after running around for so long.

"It's okay, I'm already full."

When herders are out and about, they often bring food with them.

Donya had brought a lot of beef jerky and milk curd in her saddlebag; she had fed herself quite a bit while waiting.

More people means more support.

Zhang Qifeng hesitated for a moment, then called on everyone to set off immediately.

It's almost 20 kilometers to get to Peony Valley from here, and by the time I get back to the village, it will be dark.

The group set off immediately.

The four men galloped on horseback, and Shen Xin became increasingly skilled as he rode.

However, to protect Tiankui, the group did not run freely.

On the way, during a casual chat, Shen Xin casually asked if the place, called Peony Valley, was full of peonies.

Donya said, "Of course, if you can stay on the grassland for another month, the peonies will be in bloom. At that time, the hillside will be covered with peonies as far as the eye can see. It will be so beautiful."

“Especially Peony Valley, I heard from the old folks in the village that decades ago, it was covered with peonies, like a carpet of peonies.”

"Unfortunately, it was all dug up later, and now there are only a few scattered ones left, which is a real pity."

Shen Xin asked curiously, "Are there still people digging for peonies?"

In my memory, peonies are just ordinary flowers that I would buy casually from a flower shop.

"How not."

Zhang Qifeng picked up the thread and explained, "Cultivated peonies and wild peonies are not the same thing. Wild peonies are mainly used as medicinal herbs."

"This herb is indispensable for treating irregular menstruation and dysmenorrhea, so it's not cheap."

"There are also wild saposhnikovia plants. They dig up these, and each time they dig, they create a huge pit, which also damages the grassland."

“When the peonies bloom next month, we’ll have to patrol frequently and catch those who illegally dig up the peonies.”

“We’ve been raising awareness and cracking down on illegal mining every year, but there are still people doing it. We can’t catch them all.”

Shen Xin suddenly realized that with a dozen or so people in their institute, managing this and that, they were quite busy.

Half an hour later, the four of them arrived at the mountain peaks they had seen earlier.

Only when I got closer did I realize that this mountain range was quite large.

Especially the one at the northeast end of the mountain range, which is even higher and should be the main peak, with a rugged and steep body, almost ninety degrees in some places.

It also has a name, Mount Uyastai.

The so-called Peony Valley is a gentle valley located in the middle of the mountain range.

There were many scattered rocks on the ground, and the terrain was undulating. The group had already discussed it and decided to split up and search in pairs.

Shen Xin and Zhang Qifeng are in the same group.

We agreed that if we discover anything, we would use a PDA to remind the other person.

The cell phone signal is bad here.

At that moment, the four of them split up and searched along the mountain range, one on the left and one on the right.

With a wide view on the grassland, Zhang Qifeng dismounted, struggled to climb a huge rock, and looked into the distance.

Just as Shen Xin was about to ask him if he had noticed anything, a cry suddenly came from the sky.

The sound wasn't loud, but it was rather abrupt, so Shen Xin heard it.

Looking up, I saw a large bird flying out from somewhere among the distant mountain peaks.

It's quite large; it must be a golden eagle.

Its call was high-pitched and thin, sounding like... a chicken clucking?

"Is that what all golden eagles are called?" Shen Xin looked up and saw the golden eagle skim low over the sky and fly into the distance.

In my memory, eagles and condors are the birds in movies and TV shows.

Especially in The Legend of the Condor Heroes, the eagle's cry is sharp and long.

Just hearing its cry evokes images of an eagle swooping down from the sky, swooping down to hunt its prey – a truly awe-inspiring sight.

Zhang Qifeng glanced at the golden eagle flying away and nodded, saying, "It really does call like that, especially the young birds, they call just like little chicks."

"As for the sounds in the TV series, I actually know why. I was also puzzled when I first heard an eagle's call."

"I later asked around and found out that the calls on TV were just dubbed; they were from a different bird, the red-tailed buzzard."

Shen Xin thought to himself that he had learned something new and asked Zhang Qifeng if he had discovered anything.

Zhang Qifeng jumped off the boulder and shook his head.

The two had no choice but to expand their search area and look further afield.

A horse can roam a wide area, and after so much time, no one knows how far it can run.

The two rode horses, and Tian Kui wandered around curiously ahead.

Looking at Tian Kui, Zhang Qifeng was moved by the scene and sighed, saying, "I wonder how Tian Xiong is doing now. It's been several days. Has he lost weight from hunger?"

Shen Xin remained silent, not wanting to offer any advice.

That's a police dog, more than just a dog; to the police, it's a colleague.

It is located far away beside the Wugai Highway.

Tianxiong lay sprawled in the grass, with gnawed chicken bones and food packaging scattered around his head.

I'm a little stuffed, so I'm lying on my back to digest.

Just then, a strong wind howled.

Tianxiong instantly flipped over and leaped away.

He turned his head and gave the mother wolf a disgruntled look, his eyes darting around before he pounced on her.

Now that we've eaten, it's time to stretch our legs a bit.

The wolf and the dog instantly began to fight.

(End of this chapter)