Animal Detective

"That stupid bird only goes to a few places. We’ve figured out its pattern, so we’ll definitely catch it next time."

They’d been observing this Hunting Falcon for a long time.

It wasn’t doing anything else, just pacing back and forth between the places where the female birds were. It was frantic.

So even though they didn’t catch it today, they could still get it later.

The man who fired the gun came to his senses and said hastily, "Right, boss! We can just catch it again. Even if she takes it to the police, they’ll just release the bird."

"They release it, we catch it. It’ll be ours sooner or later. Boss, you’re the smart one."

"Smart your ass!"

The man with the pencil mustache slapped him.

The shooter ducked, muttering, "We have the same mom..."

The two of them quickly got their bearings and hurried back.

Their gear was still in their bags; they couldn’t just leave it behind.

Meanwhile, after nightfall, Doniya kept looking back, but she never saw the motorcycle again.

Still uneasy, she rode on for a while longer before finally stopping, collapsing on the ground to catch her breath.

After resting for a bit, there was still no sign of anyone following her, and she finally relaxed completely.

She figured they couldn’t catch up anyway.

Once it was dark, it was hard to tell which way was which, making it impossible to give chase.

But by the same token, she couldn’t get her bearings either.

Doniya looked around. It was pitch-black, and she couldn’t see a thing.

All she could do was wait for the moon to rise, which would light up the grasslands a little.

The Hunting Falcon was still motionless.

Doniya checked on it a few times and confirmed it wasn’t dead, which brought her a small measure of relief.

’Even if it’s dead, I have to take it back.’

’This should count as evidence.’

She rested for nearly an hour. When the moon had slowly risen and her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, Doniya got up, ready to set off.

"Hong Gu’er, let’s go home."

Doniya murmured to Hong Gu’er.

An old horse knows the way. She had to rely on Hong Gu’er now.

Hong Gu’er started off at a slow pace with Doniya on his back.

It felt like they had been traveling for a long time, but the surroundings remained unchanged, as if they hadn’t moved at all.

Doniya decided to stop.

In the dark, wandering aimlessly would only get her more lost. She might as well wait out the night and continue at dawn.

’As long as those two don’t catch up, I’ll be fine.’

In the dead of night, time seemed to stand still. Doniya didn’t dare to rest. She forced herself to stay awake for who knows how long, only to find that she had waited for wolves to arrive.

Doniya gripped the mane tightly as Hong Gu’er broke into a frantic gallop.

Behind them, five wolves—ten points of ghostly fire—followed like shadows.

A wolf at a full sprint is no slower than a horse.

And wolves are extremely smart. They don’t attack right away. They’ll trail their prey, wait for the horse to get exhausted and panic, and then they’ll spread out to encircle and herd it.

They make the horse run around in a panic to wear out its stamina.

Hong Gu’er, however, wasn’t panicked at all. It just put its head down and galloped, letting the five wolves follow. Its speed was incredible, and it showed no signs of strain.

As time went on, it was the wolves who lost their patience first.

The Wolf King let out a cry, and one wolf immediately sped up, catching up from the side and leaping, trying to bite Doniya’s leg.

Doniya instinctively pulled her leg back, and Hong Gu’er, as if it had seen the attack coming, instantly accelerated and dodged.

But the attacks came one after another. The next moment, the wolves lunged, one by one.

Hong Gu’er also had to protect Doniya on its back, so it couldn’t go all out and was clearly at a disadvantage.

One vicious wolf leaped onto the horse’s rump, its sharp claws digging deep into the flesh.

In that critical moment, Doniya didn’t panic. She gripped her dagger with her free right hand and stabbed it fiercely into the wolf’s shoulder.

With a yelp of pain, the wolf loosened its claws and fell off the horse.

The motion nearly pulled Doniya off the horse as well.

Seeing the wolves lunging relentlessly, Doniya yanked the mane and shouted for Hong Gu’er to stop.

’We can’t outrun them. If we stop, without me as a burden, Hong Gu’er might be able to fight them off.’

Hong Gu’er was extremely intelligent. It came to a sudden stop, and as if it had eyes in the back of its head, it kicked out with its hind legs, viciously striking one of the wolves.

It was a brutal kick that sent the wolf flying several meters.

Doniya quickly dismounted, holding her dagger defensively.

Beside her, Hong Gu’er was whinnying. Seeing a wolf charge, it lunged with swift precision, biting down on the wolf and flinging it far away.

Its ferocious display of strength forced the other wolves to a halt, and they began to circle from a distance.

Doniya adjusted the Hunting Falcon in her arms. It was head-down, and its long tail feathers stuck out from her deel, obstructing her view.

The situation was a stalemate.

But Doniya knew the pack wouldn’t disperse so easily. They would attack again.

She panted heavily, her eyes fixed on the wolves’ movements.

In the distance, a noticeably larger wolf paced back and forth, likely assessing the situation.

At this moment, Doniya knew she absolutely could not show any fear.

The second she did, the wolves would surely attack.

"Come on, you wolf pups!"

She shouted, both to bolster her own courage and to intimidate the wolves.

The pack grew a little restless.

The Wolf King let out a low whine, restraining its pack.

Clearly, it wasn’t falling for her act.

It was waiting—waiting for Doniya to exhaust herself and reveal an opening.

After shouting for a long time, her voice grew hoarse. Doniya was drenched in sweat, and she couldn’t help but feel a sense of despair creeping in.

It was obvious this was a pack of experienced wolves.

Finally, sensing Doniya’s weakness, the Wolf King let out a howl, and the five wolves instantly launched their attack.

Just as they were about to pounce, a sharp gunshot suddenly rang out from the bottom of a nearby hill.

The charging pack stopped dead in its tracks.

Doniya was just as startled, and a single thought flashed through her mind: ’I’m done for.’

’Those two poachers actually caught up.’

The next moment, a swaying beam of light appeared on the distant hill.

At the same time, something came speeding down from the hill.

It moved incredibly fast, whistling as it closed the distance.

A sound almost like a wolf’s howl rang out.

Doniya stared and, to her disbelief, saw that it was Tian Kui.

Tian Kui lowered its body and barked incessantly at the wolf pack.

And just then, three figures appeared on the hill, flashlights in hand, racing toward her.

BANG!

Lakshen raised his pistol and fired another warning shot.

At the sound of the shot, the Wolf King hesitated for a moment, then quickly turned and fled.

Tian Kui, unafraid, took off after it.

"Tian Kui, come back!"

Shen Xin shouted urgently.

’You may have some atavistic traits and you’re as fierce as a wolf, but you can’t actually think you are one.’

’Besides, there are five of them.’

Only then did Tian Kui return, looking disgruntled.

’I could’ve taken them.’

Shen Xin ignored him and quickly dismounted.

Doniya had already collapsed onto the ground.

Her deel was filthy, she looked completely disheveled, and her hair was a bird’s nest.

She stared blankly at Shen Xin, ignoring his calls.

The next moment, she suddenly reached out and pinched Shen Xin’s face.

Shen Xin yelped in pain.

’What are you doing?’

"I’m not dreaming. It’s really you," Doniya said, her eyes wide. Then she just flopped straight back onto the ground.

That gave Shen Xin a start. He thought something was wrong and rushed to help her up.

"Don’t move me. I’m dead tired. Just let me lie here for a bit."

Doniya waved her hand weakly.

It was then that Shen Xin noticed a large bird stuffed inside her unfastened deel.

Lakshen saw it too and said in surprise, "Is that... a Hunting Falcon? Why is it white?"

Doniya just waved her hand, not wanting to speak.

Shen Xin asked Liao Lei, who was with them, for some water and gave it to Doniya to drink.

Doniya was parched. She gulped down several mouthfuls before finally recovering a bit and asking, "How did you find me?"

"What do you think?"

Shen Xin pointed to Tian Kui beside them.

Doniya quickly beckoned to him. When he didn’t respond, she forcibly pulled him over and hugged him.

"Tian Kui, I could just kiss you!"

Doniya nuzzled his head affectionately.

Shen Xin couldn’t help but say, "Honestly, you got lucky. I think you doubled back on your trail. Otherwise, we might not have found you so quickly."

Given the situation just now, if they had been a step slower, Doniya would have been killed by the wolves.

After confirming Doniya was missing, Shen Xin had immediately split up his people and started tracking her with Tian Kui.

They headed west, and partway there, Tian Kui suddenly hesitated, having caught two different scents.

Luckily, Shen Xin could hear its thoughts and knew which scent was clearer, so he decisively chose the other direction.

That saved them a lot of time and allowed them to track her down so quickly.

"Right, you ran into poachers, didn’t you? What’s with this bird? Is it dead?" Shen Xin asked curiously, looking at the rather large bird.

It was completely still.

"It’s not a bird, it’s a falcon."

Doniya explained, carefully taking out the Hunting Falcon. She nudged its talons, but there was no reaction.

She lifted it and listened closely.

She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she couldn’t hear anything.

Doniya panicked at once. "I... I didn’t suffocate it, did I?" she asked urgently.

’It’s a Class I protected animal.’