Animal Detective

Chapter 262 - 233: Old Dogs Don’t Die at Home (Part 2)

Some watched with cold indifference, while others huddled together, whispering.

The car didn’t stop.

Zhou Hui turned his head and saw the crowd following them.

When they reached the crime scene, he was dragged out of the car. The piercing sunlight made his vision go black. Dazed, he turned his head and saw them again—the villagers, gathered outside the police tape.

Every one of them was pointing and murmuring.

He was led to the primary crime scene like a zombie.

Identification. Photographs.

Then it was the old well. The same routine: identification, photographs.

As Zhou Hui was being pulled to his feet, he suddenly heard a mournful wail from behind the wall of Yang Maocai’s house to the northeast.

Before he could give it another thought, he was dragged away again.

Next was the septic tank to the east.

After pumping the tank and braving the foul stench, they actually found it—the rock that had sunk to the bottom.

A rock from a latrine—stinky and hard. After six years, it was still there.

Just as Shen Xin was about to follow, he caught a sudden movement out of the corner of his eye. Among the crowd outside the police tape, an old dog was watching them quietly.

It was the old dog Han Xiaolong had raised, the one named Heaven-Howling Dog.

He stood there silently, head turned, his gaze seemingly fixed on Zhou Hui as he was led away.

After Zhou Hui was led away and disappeared from view, the crowd quickly followed, but the dog didn’t budge.

Shen Xin turned and walked toward him.

Noticing Shen Xin’s movement, Ding Yuwei followed.

But just as they got close, the old dog turned and walked away.

He headed north, crossing the concrete path in front of Yang Maocai’s house at an unhurried pace.

Shen Xin paused. From Yang Maocai’s house to his right, the sound of wailing carried over.

Ding Yuwei caught up to him. "What’s wrong?" she asked.

Shen Xin shook his head, his eyes on the old dog as it slowly ambled away.

After a moment’s hesitation, Shen Xin followed it.

This old dog deserved most of the credit for cracking this case.

Whenever Shen Xin tried to get closer, the old dog seemed to sense it and would quicken its pace for a few steps.

’Strange,’ Shen Xin thought. ’It feels like the old dog is deliberately avoiding me.’

Sure enough, the old dog was heading home.

Shen Xin stopped, having no intention of seeing Luo Limei.

The case was solved and the murderer found, but her only son would never come back.

"Let’s go."

Shen Xin said to Ding Yuwei, ready to leave.

However, as he was turning the corner, he took one last look and noticed the old dog hadn’t gone into the yard. It was just standing at the gate, staring into space.

Shen Xin stopped.

After a long moment, the old dog turned around and started back the way it came.

Before long, it was in front of Shen Xin.

This time, it didn’t avoid him. Instead, it looked up at Shen Xin before walking right past him.

Ding Yuwei asked in confusion, "Where is he going?"

Shen Xin shook his head.

The old dog headed south along the main road, its pace slow.

The two of them followed, watching as the dog kept to the side of the road until it reached a T-junction. It then turned west, crossed the concrete bridge, and kept going without stopping.

"Is he... leaving?"

Standing at the head of the bridge, Ding Yuwei asked softly.

Shen Xin’s eyes followed the old dog. A thought occurred to him, and he said, "Have you ever seen that thing online, the belief that old dogs leave home to die?"

The belief is that these country dogs, these mongrels, will leave on their own at the end of their lives to find a secluded place and quietly wait for death.

Ding Yuwei’s eyes widened, and she instinctively moved to follow.

Shen Xin grabbed her arm, stopping her.

The road stretched out before them. The sun was setting, and against its lingering glow, the old dog’s form had become indistinct.

He didn’t stop, just moved farther and farther away.

But then, finally, he stopped and turned his head.

In the fading light, he was little more than a silhouette.

’Maybe he wanted one last look at the place where he’d spent his whole life—a place filled with the memory of the boy who took him romping through every street and alley, shouting, "Come on, Heaven-Howling Dog!"’

Even now, no favorability icon had appeared above his head.

He held that gaze for a long time.

Then, the old dog lowered his head again and slowly walked away.

Just then, a line of cars approached.

"Shen Xin, let’s go," Liu Jie said, rolling down his window.

They had planned a celebration dinner for that evening.

Shen Xin glanced at the dark speck in the distance. "Liu Zhi," he said, "you guys head back first. I’ve got something to take care of."

Liu Jie didn’t ask any questions. He just nodded, told Wang Cheng to stay behind, and led the rest of the cars away.

"Come on."

Shen Xin beckoned to Ding Yuwei, and they followed in the direction the old dog had gone.

After about six or seven hundred meters, Shen Xin found him.

He was under a willow tree by the riverbank.

He was lying on the ground with his back to them. His ears twitched; he must have heard them approach.

But he didn’t turn around, just kept lying there.

Shen Xin didn’t get any closer, either. He and Ding Yuwei sat on the grass to wait.

Ding Yuwei wrapped her arms around herself, saying nothing.

The sun sank lower, its fading light casting a shimmering, sparkling reflection on the water’s surface.

It was already past February, and the willow tree had begun to sprout new buds.

Spring was not far off.

But the old dog’s life, like the last rays of the setting sun, was coming to an end.

The old dog’s head drooped, and then he was still.

Shen Xin sighed.

Ding Yuwei’s eyes were already red-rimmed.

Shen Xin got up. He had already taken a look around. ’The view here is nice,’ he thought. ’This spot is good.’

He turned and waved to Wang Cheng by the road. Wang Cheng immediately opened the trunk, grabbed two shovels, and walked over.

...

In March, spring returned to the Earth, and it was the season for fresh food from the lake.

So, it was back to Xishan Island.

Most everyone made it. Amid the clinking glasses and boisterous toasts, Liu Jie was the first to get drunk. He pressed his forehead against Ding Junbao’s, pounded his own chest, and mumbled incomprehensibly to himself.

Shen Xin, too, was feeling a strange mix of emotions, and before he knew it, he’d had too much to drink.

The last thing he remembered was Ding Yuwei getting him back to the hotel.

When he woke up, it was already past nine the next morning.