Chapter 97 (continued)

He called Zhou Hongzhong: "Captain Zhou, have you heard about the herdsman losing his horse?"

Zhou Hongzhong: "You mean the incident where Zhake's horse went missing? He's already reported it to the police, and our colleagues also checked the surveillance footage, but it wasn't captured on camera."

Shi Wen, "Really? Not even a single clue?"

"Yes, our colleagues also suspected someone was stealing horses, but we didn't find any trace of them on the surveillance cameras along the major highways." Zhou Hongzhong revealed some information to him without violating confidentiality principles. "We checked even more surveillance footage, but we still didn't see any horses."

Shi Wen, "A horse can't just disappear for no reason, can it?"

Zhou Hongzhong: "This place is too big. They might have taken some remote routes and wandered off to other areas. Although there are many horses, they are nothing compared to the vast land. We even suspect that the horses might have wandered into uninhabited areas."

If a brown bear or other carnivore goes missing, Shi Wen can sometimes deduce its whereabouts based on its hunting habits.

Horses are content as long as they have grass to eat; they might travel on the grass all the way to places no one could have predicted.

This is a grassland, surrounded by grass on all sides. Who could guess where the horses went?

In particular, Zhake didn't immediately seek help; he himself couldn't pinpoint the exact day the horses went missing, making it extremely difficult to find them.

Shi Wen finally came up with a clue, they even considered giving up.

However, whenever he thought about it, Zhake's crying face would reappear before his eyes, along with the messy state of his home—this was definitely not a wealthy family.

Losing a horse worth hundreds of thousands of dollars means the elderly in this family may not be able to afford medical care, the children may not be able to go to school, and Zhake may never be able to get over it for the rest of his life.

Thinking of this, Shi Wen felt a pang of guilt.

Shi Wen about it day and night, but I still can't find a breakthrough.

He couldn't sleep that night, and not wanting to wake Yan Kexing who was lying next to him, he stared at the ceiling with his eyes open.

After watching for an unknown amount of time, Yan Kexing turned to look at him and asked, "Aren't you going to sleep yet?"

"I have something on my mind, and I can't sleep." Shi Wen Yan Kexing. "Speaking of which, since I came to the ranch, I've been unstoppable and haven't encountered any difficulties yet."

Yan Kexing: "This isn't a problem for you either."

Shi Wen, "It's not that I like taking on things; I just had a feeling that I should be able to find it, but I overlooked something."

Yan Kexing: "Perhaps you didn't fully utilize your abilities?"

"I can't figure out how else to do this?" Shi Wen said. "I'm even thinking of having a fortune teller done."

Yan Kexing: "Among the people I know who know divination, none of them are accurate."

Shi Wen, "Then forget it, we can't waste the money. Actually, I still think that not all horses smell the same, even though the difference is small."

Yan Kexing: "You can smell it?"

Shi Wen, "Really? It's a very subtle difference; it could just be my imagination."

Yan Kexing suddenly said, "Shall we go out to look for them tonight?"

Shi Wen: "Huh? Now?"

Yan Kexing: "Yes, let's both go out and look for it."

Going out to look for something is better than lying here unable to sleep.

After a brief moment's thought, Shi Wen quickly agreed.

Yan Kexing took his hand and helped him up.

The two got up and changed into their outdoor clothes.

Shi Wen followed behind Yan Kexing, walking with uneven steps, and asked, "How are we supposed to find it? Should we get a car?"

"Driving isn't convenient, let's go on horseback," Yan Kexing said. "Let's ride Shi Suo."

They went to the stable and brought out the Shi Suo.

Shi Suo hadn't expected to go out so late, and he kept yawning as he came out.

Shi Wen fed it grass and beans, and it gradually perked up after eating.

Shi Suo belongs to the particularly tall type of horse, much taller than local horses.

The two people rode on its back, and it didn't seem to feel any strain.

Shi Wen stroked the horse's neck and said, "I always felt I underestimated it; its strength is incredible."

"It probably wasn't this big before. It was fed better after we came to the ranch, and its strength gradually increased." Yan Kexing tucked the horse's belly in his hand. "It can eat a lot more than the average horse."

Shi Wen hadn't paid attention to this; his pets were always big eaters, Shi Suo wasn't much of a culinary enthusiast.

When the tiger cubs are allowed to eat freely, they can consume dozens of kilograms of food in one meal, Shi Suo they eat beans and the like, they can't even eat dozens of kilograms.

They rode their horses through the night. Because the saddles were narrow, Shi Wen's back was pressed tightly against Yan Kexing's strong belly, and he was almost nestled into Yan Kexing's arms.

Yan Kexing in excellent physical condition and had strong core strength. Shi Wen that leaning on him made riding the horse much easier than riding alone.

When riding a horse alone, you need to use your waist, abdomen, and thighs. After riding for several hours, your entire waist, abdomen, and buttocks will feel numb.

The Shi Suo ran very fast, and the valley where Zhake released the horses was not far from them.

About half an hour later, they arrived at the valley.

Yan Kexing looked at the valley in the darkness. "If I had to guess, which direction do you think the herd of horses would leave from?"

Shi Wen and said, "We should go with the river. The grass is the tenderest on the river side, and horses are picky eaters; they prefer to eat tender and juicy grass."

Yan Kexing: "Then let's start looking from here. Don't be afraid of making mistakes. Use your sense of smell and intuition to search. If it doesn't work, we can go back and start over."

Shi Wen, "Okay. Wait for me to try."

Yan Kexing led Shi Suo and followed behind Shi Wen. Shi Wen carefully smelled every molecule of scent in the air and guessed the direction the herd of horses had gone based on his intuition.

His nose twitched, and suddenly he caught a whiff of the scent of horses, probably their body odor.