Chapter 34: The Cute Little “____”~
Gulls might not be like crows, always picking up shiny things to bring home, but they’ll still grab novel objects to examine.
Like that bag that once held a corpse—those gray-backed gulls had originally wanted to haul it back and stuff it into their nest. But the moment they opened it, they nearly got knocked out by the stench inside.
The smell of death—disgusting! Blegh!
The gulls acted out, vividly, the exact expression of the gull that found the bag, making Li Wei and the others laugh nonstop.
But while they were laughing, Li Wei contacted the Forestry Bureau and told them about people hunting gulls.
The people on the other end instantly exploded and demanded to know how Li Wei had learned such a thing.
“Don’t worry about how I know. I’m not the kind of person who would use something like this to mess with you. Just send people to patrol and you’ll see for yourselves. I’ll be reporting it to my superiors too.” After saying that, Li Wei hung up immediately.
Very soon, all the police in Qingze District knew gulls were being hunted. Not just gulls—many of the little strays they used to feed had also vanished. The ones doing it might very well be the same group.
At first, they thought Li Wei might be mistaken—but once Li Wei dragged Lin Jiangye into the picture, nobody doubted it anymore.
Meanwhile, after nearly twenty minutes by boat, Lin Jiangye and the others finally reached the gulls’ new home. When they saw an entire cliff face covered in gulls, a chill ran down Li Wei’s spine.
It wasn’t imagination. The gulls really were staring at them.
That stare carried wariness, fury, and a hatred so sharp it felt like they were about to swoop down and tear them apart!
If the two gray-backed gulls hadn’t stopped them, these people probably wouldn’t have been standing here in one piece.
Li Wei shrank his neck and silently hid behind Lin Jiangye. The others followed. Gradually, the whole group lined up like a little train—one behind another—forming a long chain.
The German Shepherd watched this “little train” come into existence, its brown eyes full of helplessness.
Sometimes it couldn’t understand human logic. Humans were clearly smarter than it—yet when it came to doing something stupid, they could outdo a dog with ease.
Lin Jiangye wasn’t afraid at all. Under the gulls’ wary gaze, he poured out the bird feed he’d brought from his backpack.
This wasn’t store-bought feed. It was something Jiang Xin and he had made together—high in nutrition, and unbelievably fragrant.
Sure enough, once the feed appeared and the wind carried that scent upward, the gulls immediately began to stir.
“You can eat first. After that, just answer a few questions for me.” He stepped back—only to step squarely on Li Wei’s shoe, nearly collapsing the “little train” behind him.
The German Shepherd silently lay down and covered its eyes with a paw.
Lin Jiangye stared at the crowd hiding behind him, both shocked and speechless… Every district squad really did have its own “special flavor.” Was Qingze District’s squad especially childish?
The humans’ ridiculous behavior amused the gulls. The tense, knife-edge atmosphere instantly eased by more than half.
They watched the two companion gulls fly down and start eating, and couldn’t hold back anymore. One after another, they dropped to the ground and began pecking like little chicks.
Once they tasted it—even with their beady eyes, everyone could clearly see their eyes light up.
Li Wei crouched nearby watching them fight for food, and seeing how deliciously they were eating, he suddenly felt hungry too.
Taking advantage of the moment, Lin Jiangye asked several questions and got answers smoothly. Unfortunately, when the killer appeared, the gulls hadn’t dared get close, so they didn’t have much useful information.
After the two guide gulls finished first, they led the group to find the discarded body bag.
It had been thrown on the far side of their nesting area, landing on a rock by the shore—half the bag soaked in seawater.
The gulls helped drag it over. After examining it, Li Wei and the others collected a sample of blood from it, then asked about the second bag.
But the gulls said they’d only found one bag. As for the other…
[Maybe the seawater washed it away.]
For Li Wei, that was not good news.
Lin Jiangye thought for a moment and asked which gull had been the first to find the bag.
Maybe the “food attack” was just too effective—because the moment he asked, a gull hopped forward at once, puffing out its round chest proudly:
[It was gull!]
It looked so adorable that Lin Jiangye couldn’t help himself—he reached out and gave its round head and chest a quick pat.
Before its beady eyes could glare at him, he snapped his hand back and asked where it had picked up the bag.
The gull had been about to scold him for being rude, but its tiny brain couldn’t keep up. In the next second it completely forgot the “sneak attack” and spread its wings, ready to lead Lin Jiangye over.
They followed the gull to the spot. This was Donghai Bay, where a mountain jutted into the river, making the current turbulent—but it was also because of that mountain wall that some remains and the bag had been trapped instead of being swept away.
Li Wei quickly opened a map. Based on what the gull said, he marked three places: the dumping point, the beach where the remains were found, and the spot where the bag was discovered.
“Look. The killer dumped the remains from up here. Because there’s a beach and a mountain wall here, part of the remains and the bag got trapped. Logically, the other bag should’ve been blocked here too.” This bend actually collected a lot of trash, which was why volunteers came here every year to clean it up.
So why did one bag remain while the other disappeared?
Someone offered a thought: “Maybe the other bag is still here—just sunk to the bottom?”
Everyone looked at him, puzzled.
Lin Jiangye and Li Wei reacted instantly. “The weapon?”
If the murder weapon was something heavy, wrapped inside that other bag, then it would naturally sink to the riverbed.
But if it wasn’t…
“Whether it is or not, it’s worth trying,” Lin Jiangye said. “When the killer dumped the remains, the gulls thought he came to hunt them, so they didn’t dare get close. They don’t have much useful detail. But if the other bag really contains something heavy, you can try dredging it up.”
As he spoke, his eyes stayed fixed on a certain spot.
Li Wei followed his gaze—and saw a round, fat “fish” leap out of the water.
Wait. That didn’t look like a fish!
“It’s a finless porpoise,” Lin Jiangye corrected him. Judging by the appearance, it was likely an East Asian finless porpoise.
Finless porpoises live where freshwater and saltwater meet. This was exactly the estuary where the Tongji River flowed into the Donghai Sea—perfect for it.
The moment Lin Jiangye saw it, a plan formed. “Who can steer a boat and take me over?”
Li Wei’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You can understand porpoise speech too?”
“?”
There weren’t many dumb creatures under cetaceans. Finless porpoises, dolphins—and larger ones like orcas were all incredibly intelligent.
Lin Jiangye didn’t even need to answer. One look at his face and Li Wei realized he’d asked the wrong question. He immediately urged a subordinate to take Lin Jiangye over to the porpoise.
“Wait—don’t rush. Let me check my backpack.” He remembered bringing some small fish biscuits—special snacks he’d made for big fish or other fish-eating animals.
After confirming the fish biscuits were still there, the two set out.
The porpoise saw the humans approaching and quietly slipped back under the water.
But soon, a strange scent lured it back. Seeing food floating on the surface, the porpoise couldn’t understand what these humans were doing.
Lin Jiangye called softly toward the water. “Hello. I want to ask you a few questions. These fish biscuits are for you—don’t be shy.”
For a long time, there was no movement below. Lin Jiangye didn’t rush. He simply sat in the boat and played on his phone.
After a while, the porpoise finally couldn’t resist. It darted up, swallowed one biscuit, and a cheerful chirping call came from underwater:
[Tasty, tasty, tasty!]
Then it ate every remaining piece on the surface.
Lin Jiangye chuckled and pulled out more biscuits, shaking them above the water. “If you like them, I’ve got more. Want some?”
[Yes!]
“Then pop your head up? I really only want to ask a few questions. I won’t catch you.”
East Asian finless porpoises were protected animals, yes—but plenty of people still took risks, catching them to sell.
Before long, a gray, chubby head surfaced. It looked at Lin Jiangye pitifully.
“Want to eat?”
The porpoise nodded with ridiculous, human-like sincerity. The officer beside them was already completely bewitched into a stupor by how cute it was.
Lin Jiangye smiled and fed it another fish biscuit. Only after he’d finished an entire bag did he bring up what happened early yesterday morning.
“You live around here, right? Then when the moon came out the night before last, did you see a person over there?” As he spoke, he stroked the porpoise’s big head and pointed toward the dumping spot.
The porpoise tilted its head, thought for a moment, then nodded again.
[Saw him! He threw lots of stinky stuff down!]
Lin Jiangye raised his brow, a hint of a smile appearing. “Good job, little cutie. Want more fish biscuits?”
The porpoise froze, then stared at Lin Jiangye with widened eyes.
It wasn’t stupid. The moment it realized this human could understand it, it had felt fear.
Not fear because “how can a human understand animal speech,” but fear that if humans could do that, it might bring disaster to itself—and its whole group.
But the fear didn’t last long, because it saw several little birds perched on the human’s shoulder. From their calm state, it was clear this human had never harmed them.
And the human’s scent was clean—so clean—nothing like the humans it had met before.
And on top of that… the fish biscuits in his hand were too tempting to resist!
The biscuits were made from a blend of many fish meats. Soaked in water they turned soft and slippery; dry they were crisp. Either way, they were delicious.
“Don’t be scared. I won’t hurt you. I just want to ask—when that human threw things down, did you hear any other sounds?”
The porpoise relaxed bit by bit and even dared swim closer to Lin Jiangye.
[Sounds? Just the crackling sound of stuff splashing down. Oh! And at the end, that human threw something really heavy—boom! One loud thud! It scared me to death, QAQ!]
Seeing it huffing in grievance, Lin Jiangye looked genuinely sorry. He stroked it again and opened a third bag of fish biscuits.
The porpoise ate happily, and the fear from last night vanished without a trace.
Wow, you know what (chew chew chew), these fish biscuits (chew chew chew) are ridiculously good (chew chew chew).
Lin Jiangye passed the porpoise’s information to the officer, who relayed it to Li Wei. If there’d been such a loud sound, then they could basically confirm the second bag really did contain something heavy—and that heavy object was likely the murder weapon.
After the porpoise finished eating, Lin Jiangye was about to leave when the porpoise suddenly clamped its mouth around his forearm.
That scared the boatman officer half to death—his vision went black, thinking the porpoise had suddenly turned hostile.
Just as he was about to yell, Lin Jiangye lifted a hand to stop him.
“It’s not attacking me.”
His arm didn’t hurt—so clearly this little cutie was just playing.
[Human, are you looking for that heavy bag?]
The porpoise was clever. It immediately understood that these humans were targeting the bad human who threw stinky things.
“Yes. You know?” Lin Jiangye was startled—then immediately thought: if the bag had really sunk, this little cutie might genuinely be able to help them find it.
Although gulls don’t collect shiny things the way crows do, they’ll still pick up anything novel just to take a look.
Like that bag that once held a corpse—those gray-backed gulls originally wanted to carry it back and stuff it into their nest. But the moment they opened it, they nearly got knocked unconscious from the stench inside.
The smell of death—so disgusting! Blegh!
The gulls acted out, vividly, the exact facial expression of the gull that found the bag, making Li Wei and the others laugh.
But even while laughing, Li Wei contacted the Forestry Bureau and told them about people hunting gulls.
The people on the other end immediately blew up and demanded to know how Li Wei learned about it.
“Don’t ask how I know. I’m not going to use something like this to mess with you. Just arrange patrols and you’ll see for yourselves. I’ll be reporting it to my superiors too.” With that, Li Wei hung up.
Very soon, the Qingze District bureau cops all learned that gulls were being hunted. And not just gulls—many of the little strays they’d fed before had vanished too. The ones behind it might even be the same group.
At first they thought Li Wei had misunderstood something, but once Li Wei pulled Lin Jiangye into it, nobody doubted anymore.
Meanwhile, after nearly twenty minutes by boat, Lin Jiangye and the others finally reached the gulls’ new home. Seeing an entire cliff face filled with gulls, Li Wei and the others suddenly felt a cold shiver down their backs.
It wasn’t imagination—the gulls really were staring at them.
It was a gaze full of vigilance, anger, and a hatred that looked ready to rush down and rip them to shreds!
If the two gray-backed gulls hadn’t restrained them, these people probably wouldn’t have been standing here intact.
Li Wei shrank his neck and quietly hid behind Lin Jiangye. The others followed, and little by little the whole group formed a long line like a tiny train.
The German Shepherd watched the birth of this “train” with helplessness in its brown eyes.
Sometimes it couldn’t understand humans. Humans were smarter than it, yet when it came to doing something stupid, they could be even better at it.
Lin Jiangye wasn’t afraid at all. Under the other gulls’ wary stares, he poured out the bird feed he’d brought.
This wasn’t ordinary store-bought feed. It was something Jiang Xin and he had made by hand—high in nutrition and incredibly fragrant.
Sure enough, once the wind carried that scent, the gulls instantly began to stir.
“You can eat first. After you’re done, just answer a few questions.” He tried to step back, but his foot landed on Li Wei’s shoe, nearly collapsing the whole “train.”
The German Shepherd silently lay down and covered its eyes with a paw.
Lin Jiangye stared at the crowd hiding behind him, shocked and speechless… Every district squad really did have its own “character.” Was Qingze District’s squad especially childish?
The humans’ silly behavior amused the gulls. The tense atmosphere eased by more than half.
They watched their two companions fly down to eat, and couldn’t hold back anymore. One after another they dropped down, pecking like chicks.
After tasting it, even with beady eyes, everyone could clearly see their eyes glowing.
Li Wei crouched nearby watching them fight for food. Seeing how deliciously they ate, he suddenly felt hungry too.
Using the moment, Lin Jiangye asked a few questions and got answers smoothly. Unfortunately, when the killer appeared, the gulls hadn’t dared approach, so they couldn’t provide many useful details.
The two guide gulls, having finished first, led everyone to find the missing corpse bag.
It had been thrown on the other side of their nesting area, landing on a rock by the shore—half the bag soaked in seawater.
The gulls carried it over. Li Wei and the others examined it and extracted some blood, then asked about the other bag’s whereabouts.
But the gulls said they’d only picked up one bag. As for the other—
[Maybe the seawater washed it away.]
For Li Wei, that was not good news.
Lin Jiangye thought for a moment and asked which gull had been the first to pick up the bag.
Maybe the “food attack” was too effective—because the moment he asked, a gull hopped out at once, puffing its round chest proudly.
[It was gull!]
Seeing how adorable it was, Lin Jiangye couldn’t resist—he gave its round head and chest a quick pat.
Before it could glare with its beady eyes, he snapped his hand back and asked where it had found the bag.
The gull had been about to scold him for being rude, but its tiny brain couldn’t process so much at once. In the next moment it forgot being “ambushed” and spread its wings, eager to lead Lin Jiangye over.
They followed it to the spot. This was Donghai Bay. A mountain cut into the river, making the water here fast and turbulent. But it was precisely because of the cliff wall that some remains and the bag had been trapped instead of being swept away.
Li Wei smartly opened a map. Based on what the gull said, he marked three places: where the killer dumped the remains, where the remains washed onto the beach, and where the bag was found.
“Look. The killer dumped the remains from up here. Because of the beach and cliff wall, the bag and some remains got trapped. Logically, the other bag should’ve been trapped too.” This bend often collected a lot of trash, which was why volunteers came here every year to clean.
So why did one bag remain while the other vanished?
Someone proposed, “Maybe the other bag is still here—just sunk to the bottom?”
Everyone looked at him, puzzled.
Lin Jiangye and Li Wei reacted instantly. “The weapon?”
If the murder weapon was something heavy, wrapped inside the other bag, it would naturally sink to the riverbed.
But if it wasn’t…
“Whether it is or not, try dredging anyway.” Lin Jiangye said. “The gulls thought the killer came to hunt them, so they didn’t dare get close. Useful info is limited. If the other bag contains something heavy, try fishing it up.”
As he spoke, his gaze stayed on one spot.
Li Wei followed it—and saw a round, chubby “fish” leap out of the water.
Wait. That wasn’t a fish!
“It’s a finless porpoise,” Lin Jiangye corrected. From the look of it, probably an East Asian finless porpoise.
East Asian finless porpoises live where freshwater meets saltwater. This is the estuary where the Tongji River flows into the Donghai Sea—perfect for them.
Seeing the porpoise, Lin Jiangye immediately had an idea. “Who can pilot a boat and take me over?”
Li Wei’s eyes went wide in disbelief. “You can understand finless porpoise language too?”
“?”
There aren’t many dumb animals under cetaceans. Porpoises, dolphins—larger ones like orcas are even smarter.
He didn’t need to answer. One look at Lin Jiangye and Li Wei knew he’d asked a stupid question. He quickly told his subordinate to take the boat over.
“Wait—don’t rush. Let me check my backpack.” He remembered bringing fish biscuits, something he’d made specifically for big fish or fish-eating animals.
After confirming the biscuits were still there, they headed out.
The porpoise saw humans approaching and quietly dove under the surface.
But soon it was lured back by an odd scent. Looking at the food floating on the water, it couldn’t understand these humans’ intentions.
Lin Jiangye called gently, “Hello. I want to ask you a few questions. These fish biscuits are for you. Don’t be polite.”
The water stayed still for a long time. Lin Jiangye wasn’t in a hurry—he sat in the boat playing on his phone.
After a while, the porpoise finally couldn’t resist. It swallowed one biscuit quickly, and a cheerful call came from underwater.
[Tasty, tasty, tasty!]
Then it ate all the remaining biscuits on the surface.
Lin Jiangye chuckled and pulled out more, shaking them above the water. “If it’s tasty, there’s more here. Want them?”
[Yes!]
“Then pop your head up? I really just want to ask you a few questions. I won’t catch you.”
East Asian finless porpoises are protected animals, but people still take risks and capture them to sell.
Soon, a gray, chubby head surfaced, staring at Lin Jiangye pitifully.
“Want to eat?”
The porpoise nodded with human-like sincerity. The officer beside them was already totally stunned by how cute it was.
Lin Jiangye smiled and fed it another biscuit. After finishing a whole bag, he brought up what happened at dawn.
“You live around here, right? When the moon came out the night before last, did you see a person over there?” Lin Jiangye stroked the porpoise’s head and pointed to the dumping spot.
The porpoise tilted its head, thought, then nodded again.
[Saw him! He threw lots of stinky stuff down!]
Lin Jiangye raised a brow, a faint smile appearing. “Good job, little cutie. Want more fish biscuits?”
The porpoise froze, then stared at Lin Jiangye with widened eyes. It wasn’t stupid—once it realized Lin Jiangye could understand it, it immediately felt fear.
Not fear because “why can a human understand animal speech,” but fear that if a human could do that, it might bring disaster to itself and its whole group.
But the fear didn’t last long. It saw the little birds on the human’s shoulder—judging by their calm state, this human had never harmed them.
And the human’s aura was clean—so clean—nothing like the humans it had met before.
Plus he was holding fish biscuits. That temptation was impossible to resist.
The biscuits were made from mixed fish meat. Soaked in water they became soft and slick; dry they were crisp. Either way, delicious.
“Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you. I just want to ask—when that human threw things down, did you hear any other sound?”
The porpoise relaxed gradually and even dared move closer.
[Sound? Just crackling splashes. Oh right! At the end he threw something really heavy—BOOM! One loud thud! Scared me to death QAQ!]
Seeing it grumbling in grievance, Lin Jiangye looked sympathetic, petting it while opening a third pack of biscuits.
The porpoise ate happily, and its fear from last night vanished.
Wow, you know what (chew chew chew), these fish biscuits (chew chew chew) are insanely good (chew chew chew).
Lin Jiangye relayed the porpoise’s info to the officer, who passed it to Li Wei. If there was such a loud thud, they could basically confirm the other bag contained something heavy—likely the murder weapon.
After the porpoise finished, Lin Jiangye was about to leave—but the porpoise suddenly clamped onto his forearm.
The boatman officer nearly blacked out, thinking it had turned hostile.
Just as he was about to shout, Lin Jiangye raised a hand to stop him. “It’s not attacking me.”
His arm didn’t hurt—clearly this little cutie was playing.
[Human, do you want that heavy bag?] The porpoise was smart; it instantly understood their target was the bad human who dumped the stinky things.
“Yes. You know?” Lin Jiangye jolted—then thought: if the bag really sank, this little cutie might actually be able to help them find it.
Great chapter!!! Thank you, also there is some repeated content