Chapter 529 - 433: Who Says Only Those Who Stand in the Light Are Heroes?

Shen Xin's visit was a rare occasion, so it went without saying that Pan Chenghai had to play the part of a good host and show him a good time.

Dong Jiamu immediately approved a week's leave for Pan Chenghai so he could properly show Shen Xin around Dehong.

"Isn't a week a bit much?" Pan Chenghai said, hesitating.

He wanted to take the week off, but he was worried the schedule at the station was tight.

If you took time off, that meant someone else couldn't.

Dong Jiamu smiled and nudged him toward the door. "Come on, now. How long has it been since you had a proper break? Take this chance to get some real rest."

"Besides, Celestial Skill gets to take a break with you. You might not be tired, but don't you think she is?"

She's done nothing but work in the three months she's been here.

She's had no rest at the station and has even been loaned out to help from time to time. Now that her original master is here, she deserves to spend some quality time with him.

"See? Look how attached she is to him."

He gestured with his eyes to a spot not far off. Sure enough, wherever Shen Xin went, Celestial Skill followed, never leaving his side.

Pan Chenghai glanced at Celestial Skill, nodded, and said nothing more.

Shen Xin, however, had some reservations.

'Fun is secondary on this trip. I still have a mission to do.'

His main purpose was to check on Celestial Skill.

'If I take Celestial Skill out to have fun now, will it affect the station's work?'

'This station operates 24/7. The officers can't just take a break, so how can a police dog?'

"It's fine."

Pan Chenghai smiled, saying it was no problem. They still had Battle Tiger.

Besides, they usually get advance notice for most smuggling attempts.

"Celestial Skill has been in Simao for three months. She's always at the station and has never been out. I feel like I've wronged her."

Pan Chenghai glanced at Celestial Skill, feeling a pang of guilt.

'She's still a dog, not a person,' Shen Xin thought.

'As long as her master is with her and she has food and water, that's all she needs.'

But since Pan Chenghai put it that way, it was hard to refuse his enthusiastic offer, so Shen Xin had to agree.

'Anyway, the mission hasn't started yet. I have to wait for intel, for the right moment.'

As far as Shen Xin knew, the operation had a deadline. They had to wrap things up before June 26th, the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, no matter what.

There were still more than twenty days to go, so time wasn't tight.

Celestial Skill grew visibly excited when she heard Shen Xin say he was taking her out.

As they were about to head out, the five little ones tagged along.

Celestial Skill barked at them, then pawed at Shen Xin's pant leg.

'Let's go, quick!'

'Don't bring them!'

She was just like a parent driven mad by their kids, desperate to go out and have some fun on her own.

It was almost four o'clock when they set off.

But as Pan Chenghai put it, the timing was perfect.

"Since you're here in Simao, you can't miss the Gold and Silver Tower. If we head out now, with a bit of speed, we can catch the sunset from the peak. You'll get a great view of the whole city."

"Besides, I've always thought those two places are kind of boring during the day—it's just praying and whatnot. They're much better at night when they're all lit up."

Pan Chenghai laid out his plan.

First, they'd do some sightseeing at Simao's must-visit spots, and then they'd find a place to have a big feast.

He also invited Wang Feng to come along.

Wang Feng laughed. "Of course! I was planning on coming even if you didn't ask."

Celestial Skill had helped their anti-drug division solve cases before. Now that Shen Xin was here, he had to extend his hospitality as well.

"In that case, let's go to Ah Chang's place tonight. I'll call him and have him save us a table."

With that settled, they drove back toward the city of Simao.

As they drove down roads lined with palm trees, they could see the great golden pagoda on the mountain peak in the distance.

Halfway up the mountain stood another pagoda, just as magnificent, but this one was silver.

Along the way, when Pan Chenghai heard that Shen Xin was still waiting for intel on his mission and had some time to kill, he suggested they might as well tour all of Dehong.

"Simao has lots of other fun places, like the Rare Garden. It's full of free-roaming peacocks, and the scenery is beautiful."

"We could also go to Mengmao. They have the 'One Village, Two Countries' scenic area there—you can't miss it. And weren't you asking about buying jadeite earlier? Mengmao is the place to go. I'll ask around, find someone I know. I guarantee you'll get the good stuff."

Pan Chenghai was incredibly enthusiastic.

Shen Xin had indeed asked about jadeite earlier.

It was because of his mom.

When she heard Shen Xin was going to Dian Nan for work, she had made a small request: see if he could get her a jadeite bracelet.

She had visited Dian Nan as a tourist before but didn't buy one because she was afraid of getting scammed.

But Shen Xin was a police officer; no one would dare scam him.

She had even told him to buy two.

Price wasn't an issue, as long as they were high-quality.

She was being all mysterious about it and didn't say what they were for.

She already had a bracelet of her own.

So Shen Xin immediately guessed they were for him and Shen Shuang.

One as a dowry, one as a bride price.

'In that case,' he thought, 'I might as well move my base of operations to Simao. The mission's going to be carried out here anyway.'

Shen Xin called his contacts in Spring City and asked them for a favor: to drive over the MPV he had arrived in and, most importantly, to bring Teddy and the others.

Teddy was doing a bit better now and would allow Shen Xin to leave his side.

But only for a day at most.

He still couldn't handle being away from Shen Xin for long periods.

Nearby, Pan Chenghai overheard Shen Xin on the phone giving instructions—"make sure the cage is locked tight," "feed them if they get too rowdy"—and was a little puzzled.

When Shen Xin hung up, he asked curiously what that was all about.

"You brought birds on a mission?"

'Didn't he say he was here on a mission?'

Shen Xin briefly explained that he was training police birds, adding that his current mission was to use these birds to help solve a case.

Pan Chenghai listened, completely stunned. "You mean to say," he asked in disbelief, "you can make birds follow your commands?"

He knew Shen Xin was a master at training police dogs, but he'd never imagined he could extend that skill to birds.

His interest was immediately piqued, and he asked for some details on how it worked.

He was astounded by what he heard.

"That's seriously impressive. I mean, think about it. It's all mountains around here—tall mountains, dense woods, nothing but primeval forest."

"Take our old missions, for example, going to the border to catch traffickers. Honestly, a single trip was enough to peel a layer of skin off you."

He described some of his past experiences arresting drug traffickers.

The process usually started with intelligence gathered from surveillance or passed on by an informant. That's how they'd learn that traffickers planned to move a shipment within a certain timeframe.

But they wouldn't know the specific time or the exact route.

So all they could do was set up surveillance in advance.

It's a primeval forest, and this close to the border, it's basically the tropics.

"To be honest, the mountains are full of poisonous insects, and it's sweltering. Staying out there for days on end is pure misery."

"Look at this," he said. "This is from a venomous snake bite. I still have two holes here."

Pan Chenghai pulled up his pant leg, showing Shen Xin the back of his calf.

Two pits in the flesh, each the size of a mung bean, were clearly visible.

They were scars left from a venomous snake bite he'd gotten during a stakeout in the mountains, which hadn't been treated properly at the time.

"In the past, the smuggling caravans were all locals. They'd spent their entire lives in the mountains and knew them like the back of their hand. They'd always take the most obscure, hidden paths."

"So the hardest part was just finding them. Even now with drones, it's a long shot. The tree canopy is so dense, it's incredibly hard to spot anyone."

"But your birds are another story. To them, the forest is just like their own backyard."

Pan Chenghai was finally starting to understand why they had gone to such lengths to bring Shen Xin all the way here to help with the case.

It had to be because of the birds' natural aptitude for the forest environment.

The incredible part was that Shen Xin could actually train them.

"When I visited the base in Nanjiang, I kept hearing people call you a Druid. I thought it was strange and wondered what they meant."

"I looked it up later. Shen Xin, with skills like yours, you really are a Druid."

Pan Chenghai looked at Shen Xin. 'This is definitely a one-of-a-kind talent,' he thought.

Shen Xin accepted the title with a smile.

Now that they were talking more freely, Shen Xin, who was holding Celestial Skill, decided to ask a few more questions.

'This man is a sixteen-year veteran of the anti-drug war. He's a hero with countless merits to his name. He must be full of stories.'

At the mention of this, Pan Chenghai's tone grew a bit somber. He waved his hand dismissively. "Hero? Don't say that."

"I remember an interview I did with a reporter once. He said something afterward... something like, 'Not all heroes stand in the spotlight.'"

"I think he was right. I feel guilty, honestly, that I'm the one who survived to stand in the spotlight and accept these honors."

"Because I know so many others never got that chance."

His voice was heavy, and his gaze seemed distant, lost in some unknown memory.

The next moment, perhaps feeling the topic had become too heavy, he quickly forced a smile. "Anyway, if you're talking about heroes, we don't count for much."

"We were border defense. By the time we were deployed, it was usually for the arrest."

"Honestly, that part isn't as dangerous. We always have a pre-approved operational plan, and we move as a large team. Even if the traffickers put up a desperate fight, they're manageable."

He said it all very casually.

But Shen Xin knew that what Pan Chenghai called "not that dangerous" was, in fact, the height of danger.

Pan Chenghai continued, "The ones in real danger are the investigators."

"Take Captain Wang, for example. Don't let his cheerful demeanor and his bit of extra weight fool you. He actually started out as an investigator and has a distinguished record."

"He's even worked undercover. I personally know of several times he's had a gun to his head."

Shen Xin glanced back at the car following them.

'You'd never be able to tell by looking at him.'

'But on second thought, it made sense.'

'Someone like Jiang Wengang, who could rise to become captain of a district's anti-drug division, was already no ordinary officer.'

'And this is Dehong, the absolute front line of the war on drugs. If Wang Feng didn't have some serious skills and a solid record of achievements, how could he possibly have become the captain of Simao's anti-drug division?'

But later that evening, over dinner, Wang Feng told a different story.

He just shook his head and said to Shen Xin, "Don't listen to Old Pan's nonsense. His line of work is the most dangerous."

"Make Old Pan take off his shirt and show you all his scars. Then you'll see who's really in danger."

As he spoke, he even reached out to pull at Pan Wenhai's shirt.

The two of them wrestled playfully for a moment before Wang Feng gave up, downing his drink in one go. "In reality, things have gotten much, much better over the years," he said.

"It might have been more dangerous ten or twenty years ago. But now... they don't allow undercover operations anymore."

"I mean, think about it. Why use an undercover agent? To get evidence?"

"We catch them red-handed. What evidence do we need then? We catch them, we take them down. Old Pan and his men have run so many missions, fought and killed for so many years, that's what it took to finally beat back that evil tide."

As he spoke, Wang Feng's tone was laced with a chilling killing intent.

"Besides, in practice, the hardest part isn't finding evidence. It's discovering that a trafficking ring exists in the first place."

"Once you know about them, the rest gets easier."

"And you have to have faith. Our country is powerful now, so every life is precious. We don't allow any of our comrades to take unnecessary risks."

"Captain Jiang should know, right? Nowadays it's all informants and sting operations. Not nearly as dangerous."

He glanced at Jiang Wengang.

Jiang Wengang was focused on his food, but he was listening, and he gave a slight nod of agreement.

Shen Xin raised his glass. "Captain Wang, Pan Group, my respects to you both."

Wang Feng and Pan Wenhai were both the same, speaking of these things so lightly.

But Shen Xin knew, deep down, that the reality was nowhere near as simple as they made it sound.