Chapter 716: Coyote: I Think I Saw My Great-Grandma (Part 2)

But these creatures are huge, and the males can easily reach 70 kilograms.

Even Tian Kui would be outmatched.

So, after thinking it over, it seemed better to just pick on some coyotes.

Alternatively, there were other animals with large territories.

North American Grizzly Bears, for instance. They wander all over and are highly intelligent.

But with an animal like that, Shen Xin felt he’d first need to tame a Northeast Tiger, or maybe go to Africa and wrangle a silverback gorilla, before he’d dare to challenge one.

In a corner of the yard, an area was sectioned off to keep the four coyotes.

Coyotes have proliferated to the point of being a nuisance. In the United States, there are even competitions for hunting them, with prize money awarded to whoever kills the most.

It seemed that with a little taming, they could be turned into guard dogs.

So, once they were penned up, they didn’t make a fuss at all. They ate and drank on schedule, and the one with the lightest injuries even seemed to have put on a bit of weight.

Only the leader remained wild and untamable. Its neck wound had been stitched up, and it lay there with an icy gaze, silently licking its injury.

It immediately grew alert upon seeing Shen Xin and his group arrive.

Shen Xin had Ding Yuwei stand back as he stepped into the enclosure himself.

Lin Wei, who was with them, had already quietly placed his hand on his hip.

If there was any danger, he would not hesitate to shoot the coyote dead.

The coyote leader sensed the killing intent in his movement. It remembered humans often pulling out objects, long or short. A loud BANG would follow, and its companions would fall, never to rise again.

The other three coyotes had already retreated to a corner.

Only the leader held its ground, lowering its body slightly and baring its fangs as it watched Shen Xin warily.

It was then suppressed by a low, ferocious growl from Tian Kui, who stood behind Shen Xin.

The coyote leader finally noticed Tian Kui and the other dogs that had entered. Its heart sank. ‘There are too many of them. I can’t win.’

Just as its eyes darted about while it schemed, SMACK!

Shen Xin had suddenly raised his hand and slapped it across the head.

The slap stunned the coyote leader.

Stunned for a moment, it instinctively bared its teeth.

SMACK. Another slap landed.

Wolves are tough-headed creatures; a couple of slaps meant nothing to it.

Besides, a good beating wasn’t a big deal. After all, hadn’t he gotten into a fight to subdue Tian Kui?

This slap seemed to have smacked a look of utter confusion onto the coyote leader’s face.

It tilted its head and stared at Shen Xin, as if to say, ‘A human like you has this much nerve?’

It instinctively tensed to move.

With a low growl, an agitated Tian Kui took a step forward, staring coldly at the coyote.

Its gaze flickered, and the coyote lowered its head. ‘I won’t stoop to your level!’

York and Griffin had come over as well, watching curiously from outside the enclosure.

Although many days had passed without any results,

they had seen Shen Xin’s ability to control animals with their own eyes. It was the real deal.

So when Shen Xin proposed a new idea, they didn’t object, but respectfully agreed.

Their only request was that he be as discreet as possible and not let the animal rights activists find out.

“Shen Xin, I think you should use a gun,” York chimed in. “These critters are smart. If you want them to fear you, a gun is your best bet.”

Shen Xin slapped it twice more, but an icon stubbornly refused to appear above the coyote’s head.

York’s words reminded Shen Xin of some videos he had seen online.

He remembered one of a lynx encountering a human with a gun and immediately pretending not to see them as it quietly backed away.

Another example was a bear going from ferocious to frightened the moment it saw a human with a gun.

People even joked about the animals, captioning it with things like, ‘In that moment, its whole life flashed before its eyes.’

“That could work.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Shen Xin nodded.

York immediately turned and fetched a Remington M700, a bolt-action sniper rifle.

It was their standard-issue weapon, as well as the best-selling, most widely used civilian hunting rifle in North America—a gun that struck fear into the hearts of countless wild animals.

Guns aren’t banned in the United States, so when he had free time, Shen Xin had even used their weapons to practice his marksmanship.

Sure enough, when Shen Xin took the rifle and pressed its muzzle against the coyote leader’s head, the animal’s attitude changed dramatically.

Previously, it had an air of defiance, as if to say, ‘I’ll take your hits, but I won’t submit. Hit me harder if you dare.’

Now, though, its eyes held a new clarity.

As Shen Xin applied pressure with the muzzle, the coyote’s body sank lower and lower, until it was almost kneeling.

It no longer dared to look Shen Xin in the eye, and all its muttering ceased.

The next moment, an icon slowly materialized above its head.

‘Well, I’ll be damned,’ Shen Xin thought. ‘So you *are* afraid of this thing after all.’

“Lie down. Like him.”

Now that the icon had appeared, things were much simpler. Shen Xin pointed to a nearby police dog, motioning for the coyote to lie down like it.

With the muzzle pressed to its head, it was remarkably obedient and immediately lay down.

“Good. Now sit.”

Shen Xin continued giving commands.

This method of beating it into submission ultimately led to the same result.

First, you had to establish dominance and make the target feel fear.

Then, by repeatedly forcing it to do things against its will, you could wear down its own volition.

They were animals, after all; they didn’t know how to feign compliance at first.

Each time it obeyed a command, its fear of Shen Xin deepened.

Sure enough, after a series of commands, the affinity meter above its head shot up by two bars.

“Eat.”

Shen Xin brought over some food.

Without a second thought, it lowered its head and began to eat.

After a couple of bites, Shen Xin took the bowl away.

The creature didn’t seem to be possessive of its food. Then again, with a gun pressed to its head, it wouldn’t dare to be.

After repeating this a few times, its affinity rose again, reaching four bars.

Shen Xin lowered the gun.

‘That should do it. The test was a success; this method is completely viable.’

Moreover, using a gun was ideal. It was hands-off, safe, and a powerful deterrent.

As for Tian Kui and his pack, their main role would be to corner their targets using pack tactics, avoiding direct confrontations to prevent injuries.

He closed the gate to the enclosure, allowing time for the new affinity level to set in.

After discussing further details with York and his team, the group set out the next day.

They traveled primarily in off-road pickup trucks.

As for personnel, Shen Xin had persuaded Ding Yuwei to stay behind.

He was accompanied by Lin Wei and another military attaché from the embassy, whose primary task was to ensure his safety.

From the FBI, York was going, along with Blake—the agent who looked like Zhao Xinna, the muscle of the BAU, who also had experience in a special tactics unit.

A veterinarian came along as well.

As for the animals, they brought the four coyotes, and Tian Kui would be deployed with his pack.

They also brought along Teddy and another raven.

Their mission was to search for the target animal.

It could be said that when it came to finding animals, the two of them were more effective than drones.

Early in the morning, the large contingent set off.

They crossed the state line, turned onto Highway 191, and headed straight for Grand Teton National Park.

About 80 kilometers east of there, on the connecting Highway 26, a related case had occurred back in ’08.

Therefore, this area was also part of the investigation zone.

Most importantly, this region stretched for hundreds of kilometers. It was crisscrossed by the Rocky Mountains, covered in dense forests, and interspersed with swamps and lakes. Being sparsely populated, it was the designated search area.

They would start here and extend the search north toward Yellowstone National Park.

The team wasn’t targeting populated areas; an AI had helped them designate several regions that fit their criteria.

Area One was near the junction of Highway 191 and Highway 26. To the south of it, they had marked off a section measuring roughly ten by ten kilometers, for a total of one hundred square kilometers.

Shen Xin’s plan was to search for a local coyote pack within each one-hundred-square-kilometer block.

He would take control of its leader and then issue the command to find the wolf-dog.

The local packs are active in these areas long-term, so the probability of one of them spotting the target would be very high.

Once they were deep in the wilderness, Shen Xin released the four coyotes.

After a night for the affinity to take hold, the lead coyote had become quite submissive in Shen Xin’s presence.

The creature was surprisingly smart; it had even learned to act fawningly, constantly trotting around Shen Xin.

“Alright, go on. Go back to your home.”

Shen Xin gently pushed it away.

Of course, he first had to make it recognize the target.

He showed it large, printed photos and even an extremely realistic model.

He made it clear to the coyote that if it encountered this wolf-dog, it must remember what it looked like, keep an eye out for it, and even actively help him search for it.

There was no time to raise the affinity level any further. Four bars seemed like it would be enough, as long as the coyote roughly understood his instructions.

But as it turned out, the critter didn’t want to leave.

“Go on, get going.”

Shen Xin didn’t dwell on it. He released the four of them right there and moved on to the next area.

The leader wore a tracking collar so they could find it again later.

After a moment’s hesitation, the four coyotes turned and plunged into the forest.

Shen Xin watched them disappear, feeling as if he had just dispatched a team of secret agents.