Chapter 34: The Cute Little “____”~
Although seagulls aren’t like crows that love picking up shiny things, they are still curious about anything new and will grab it to take a look.
For example, that bag which once held a corpse—those grey-backed gulls originally wanted to bring it back and stuff it into their nest. But the moment they opened it, the stench inside nearly knocked them out.
The smell of death—truly disgusting! Yuck!
The seagulls vividly reenacted the expression of the one that picked up the bag, making Li Wei and the others burst into laughter.
But while laughing, Li Wei also contacted the Forestry Bureau and informed them that someone was hunting seagulls.
The people on the other end immediately bristled and urgently asked how Li Wei knew about this.
“Don’t worry about how I know. I’m not joking around with something like this. Just send people to patrol and you’ll see. I’ll also report this to higher authorities.” After saying that, Li Wei hung up right away.
Very soon, the police at Qingze District Sub-bureau all learned about the seagull killings. Not only seagulls—many of the stray animals they had previously fed had also disappeared. It was very likely the same group responsible.
At first, they suspected Li Wei might have misunderstood something. But once Lin Jiangye was brought forward, no one doubted it anymore.
Meanwhile, after nearly 20 minutes on the boat, Lin Jiangye and the others finally arrived at the seagulls’ new dwelling. Seeing an entire cliff face covered with seagulls, Li Wei and the group suddenly felt a chill down their spines.
It wasn’t their imagination—the seagulls were indeed staring at them.
There was vigilance, anger, and even a kind of hatred, as if they were ready to rush over and tear them apart at any moment.
If not for the two grey-backed gulls stopping them, the group probably wouldn’t still be standing here intact.
Li Wei shrank his neck and silently hid behind Lin Jiangye. The others followed suit, and gradually the group lined up one after another like a little train.
The German Shepherd watched the formation of this “train,” its brown eyes full of helplessness.
Sometimes it couldn’t understand humans. Clearly their intelligence was higher than its own, yet when it came to doing foolish things, they were even more impressive.
Lin Jiangye, however, showed no fear at all. Under the wary gazes of the seagulls, he poured out the bird feed from his backpack onto the ground.
This wasn’t ordinary market feed—it was something he and Jiang Xin had handmade together. Not only was it highly nutritious, but it also smelled especially fragrant.
Sure enough, as soon as the feed appeared, the scent carried by the wind instantly stirred the seagulls into agitation.
“You can eat first. After that, just answer a few questions for me.” As he spoke, he stepped back—only to accidentally step on Li Wei’s shoe, nearly causing the “train” behind him to collapse.
The German Shepherd silently lay down and covered its eyes with its paws.
Lin Jiangye looked at the group hiding behind him with both shock and resignation… Every district team really had its own characteristics. Was Qingze District’s team especially childish?
The humans’ childish behavior amused the seagulls, and the previously tense atmosphere eased considerably.
Seeing their two companions fly down decisively to eat, the rest couldn’t hold back anymore. They fluttered down with “hululu” sounds and began pecking at the food like chicks.
The moment they tasted it, even with their beady eyes, everyone could clearly see them light up.
Li Wei squatted nearby watching the seagulls scramble for food. Seeing how deliciously they ate, he suddenly felt a bit hungry himself.
Taking the opportunity, Lin Jiangye asked several questions and smoothly received answers from the seagulls. Unfortunately, when the culprit appeared, the seagulls hadn’t gotten close, so there wasn’t much useful information.
After finishing their food, the two leading gulls went to search for the missing body bag.
The bag had been discarded on the other side of their nesting area, landing on a rock by the shore, half of it soaked in seawater.
The seagulls helped carry it over. After inspecting it, Li Wei and the others extracted some blood samples, then asked about the location of the other bag.
However, the seagulls said they had only found one. As for the other… [It was probably washed away by the sea.]
This was not good news for Li Wei.
Lin Jiangye thought for a moment and asked which seagull had first picked up the bag.
Perhaps the “food tactic” worked extremely well—upon hearing the question, one seagull immediately hopped out, puffing up its round chest: [It was me!]
Seeing how adorably round it was, Lin Jiangye couldn’t resist and gave its head and chest a quick rub.
Before its beady eyes could glare in protest, he quickly withdrew his hand and asked where it had found the bag.
The seagull originally wanted to scold this rude human, but when asked the question, its tiny brain couldn’t keep up. In the next second, it forgot all about being “attacked” and spread its wings, ready to lead Lin Jiangye over.
They followed it to the location. This was Winter Sea Bay, where a mountain jutted into the river, making the nearby current turbulent. But it was precisely because of this cliff that some bones and the bag had been retained instead of being swept away.
Li Wei smartly opened the map and, based on the seagull’s account, marked three locations: where the killer dumped the body, where the bones were found on the beach, and where the bag was discovered.
“Look—the killer dumped the body from up here. Because of the beach and the cliff, part of the bag and bones were retained. Logically, the other bag should have been blocked here too.” This bend often accumulated a lot of debris, and every year volunteers came here to clean up trash.
But why was one bag left behind while the other disappeared?
After thinking for a moment, someone suggested, “Maybe the other bag is still here… just sunk to the bottom?”
Everyone looked at him, puzzled.
Lin Jiangye and Li Wei reacted quickly: “The weapon?”
If the weapon was something heavy, then wrapped in another bag, it would naturally sink to the riverbed.
But if not…
“Whether it is or not, we should try. When the killer dumped the body, the seagulls thought he was there to hunt them, so they didn’t get close. There isn’t much useful information. If the other bag really contains a heavy object, you can try dredging it up,” Lin Jiangye said. However, as he spoke, his gaze remained fixed on a certain spot.
Li Wei followed his gaze and saw a plump, round “big fish” leap out of the water.
Wait—that didn’t look like a fish!
“It’s a finless porpoise,” Lin Jiangye corrected. Judging by its appearance, it should be an East Asian finless porpoise.
These porpoises live in areas where freshwater and seawater meet. This was the estuary where Tongji River flowed into the Winter Sea—perfect for their habitat.
The moment he saw the porpoise, Lin Jiangye immediately came up with an idea. “Who can take a boat and bring me over there?”
Li Wei’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You can understand porpoises too?”
“?”
Among cetaceans, there are hardly any that are stupid. Porpoises, dolphins, orcas—they’re all highly intelligent.
There was no need for Lin Jiangye to answer. Seeing his expression, Li Wei realized he had asked a silly question and quickly urged his subordinate to take Lin Jiangye over by boat.
“Wait, no rush. Let me check my bag first.” He remembered bringing some small fish biscuits when he left earlier—something he had specially made for large fish or other fish-eating animals.
After confirming the small fish biscuits were still there, the two of them finally set off.
The finless porpoise over there noticed the two humans approaching and silently dived back into the water.
However, it was soon attracted by a strange scent. Looking at the food floating on the surface, the porpoise couldn’t quite understand what these two humans were up to.
Lin Jiangye softly called toward the water, “Hello, I’d like to ask you a few questions. These small fish biscuits are for you—please don’t be shy.”
There was no response from below for a long time. Lin Jiangye wasn’t in a hurry and simply sat in the boat, playing with his phone.
After quite a while, the porpoise below finally couldn’t resist the temptation. It quickly swallowed one of the biscuits, and soon a cheerful call came from beneath the water: [Tasty, tasty, so tasty!]
Immediately after, the remaining biscuits on the surface were all eaten up.
Lin Jiangye chuckled, took out another batch of fish biscuits, and waved them over the water. “If they’re tasty, there’s more here. Want some?”
[Yes!]
“Then show your head? I just want to ask a few questions. I won’t catch you.” Although East Asian finless porpoises are protected animals, there are still people who take risks to capture and sell them.
Before long, a chubby gray head popped out of the water, looking pitifully at Lin Jiangye.
“Want to eat?”
The porpoise nodded in a very human-like way. Its adorable appearance left the nearby police officer completely dazed.
Lin Jiangye smiled and fed it a biscuit. Only after finishing an entire pack did he begin asking about what happened early yesterday morning.
“You’ve been living around here recently, right? Then when the moon was out the night before last, did you see a person over there?” As he spoke, he pointed toward where the body had been dumped, while gently stroking the porpoise’s big head.
The porpoise tilted its head to think, then nodded again: [I saw! He threw down a lot of smelly things!]
Lin Jiangye raised his brows slightly and smiled. “Very good, little cutie. Do you still want some fish biscuits?”
The porpoise froze for a moment, then widened its eyes at him. It wasn’t some silly little cub—once it realized Lin Jiangye could understand its speech, it immediately felt fear.
This fear didn’t come from a human understanding animal language, but from the worry that such an ability might bring disaster to itself and its entire species.
But the fear didn’t last long. It noticed a few small birds perched on the human’s shoulder—judging from their state, this human had never harmed them.
Moreover, the aura around this human was very clean—completely different from any humans it had encountered before!
And on top of that, the young man was still holding fish biscuits. This temptation was simply irresistible!
These biscuits were made from all kinds of fish meat blended together. When soaked in water, they became soft and slippery; when dry, they were crisp. Either way, they were 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 sounds?”
The porpoise gradually relaxed and even dared to approach Lin Jiangye.
[Sounds? Just the splashing sounds of things falling. Oh right! At the end, that human seemed to throw something really heavy! It made a loud thump—it scared me to death QAQ]
Seeing the porpoise whining pitifully, Lin Jiangye looked distressed. While comforting it, he opened a third pack of biscuits.
The porpoise happily ate, and the fear it felt earlier vanished completely.
(Chomp chomp) You know… these fish biscuits (chomp chomp)… why are they so delicious? (chomp chomp)
Lin Jiangye relayed the information to the officer, who passed it on to Li Wei and the others. Since such a loud sound was heard, it was almost certain that the other bag contained a heavy object—and that object was most likely the murder weapon.
After the porpoise finished eating, Lin Jiangye was about to leave when suddenly it grabbed his arm in its mouth.
The officer driving the boat nearly fainted in fright, thinking the porpoise had suddenly turned hostile.
Just as he was about to shout, Lin Jiangye raised a hand to stop him. “It’s not attacking me.”
There was no pain—clearly, the little cutie was just playing.
[Human, do you want that heavy bag?] The porpoise was clever and quickly understood that these humans were targeting the bad human who threw the smelly things.
“Yes, you know where it is?” Lin Jiangye was surprised, then realized that if the bag had sunk, this little cutie might actually be able to help.
The porpoise nodded even faster, its voice becoming more cheerful: [I can help, but…]
It seemed a bit shy, its big eyes blinking rapidly: [I… still want that food…]
Got it—a little foodie!
Lin Jiangye threw his head back and laughed. Before the porpoise could get embarrassed and angry, he hugged its big head and gave it a kiss. “Deal! If you bring it up, I’ll have people come feed you for three days. How about that?”
The porpoise lifted its head, looking a bit confused: [Can’t you come yourself?]
It clearly didn’t trust other humans—it only wanted this one.
The smile on Lin Jiangye’s face deepened. He rubbed the little cutie’s head and, after only a second of thought, agreed. “Alright. I’ll come for three days in a row. Wait for me near the seagulls’ nest. I’ll also try to catch those people during this time.”
Those scum who specialize in killing seagulls and wild animals!
If he catches them, he’s got plenty of strength to deal with them!
He also needed to visit that abandoned factory to check on the injured animal. If things got critical, he could take it straight to a pet hospital.
Thinking about it this way, even after the case is solved, he’ll still have to come to Qingze District several more times.
After receiving the promise, the porpoise let out a cheerful cry and immediately dove into the water, swimming toward the riverbed.
The officer beside him leaned half his body out of the boat, eagerly waiting for it to reappear.
But before the porpoise came back, Li Wei and the others arrived first.
“I heard from that kid that the East Asian finless porpoise is helping us find the bag and the weapon—how could I not come see it!” If he missed this, he’d probably slap himself awake in the middle of the night!
Someone excitedly took out their phone, ready to record the moment the porpoise surfaced with the body bag.
Soon, the chubby figure of the porpoise appeared before everyone.
Li Wei and the others instinctively held their breath. As locals, they had seen finless porpoises near the estuary before—but never this close.
Seeing more humans, the porpoise visibly became nervous.
[Human… the bag you wanted… remember to come feed me tomorrow! Otherwise I… I’ll get angry!] After saying that, it tossed the bag onto the boat and quickly swam away.
Lin Jiangye hurriedly called out toward the water, “I’ll come tomorrow when the sun is right overhead!”
[Okay~]
Back underwater, the porpoise was no longer tense, its voice turning cheerful again.
Li Wei put on gloves and carefully picked up the other bag, which was wrapped around a stone. Sure enough, inside they found a hammer, still with traces of blood that hadn’t been washed away by the water.
“Good thing we retrieved it quickly. Otherwise, even this bit of blood would’ve been gone,” Li Wei sighed.
Still, they didn’t place too much hope on this weapon. Even though it had been wrapped in a bag, once submerged underwater, much of the evidence would be lost—fingerprints, for example.
But no matter what, they had at least found the weapon… right?
Lin Jiangye returned to the seagulls. Seeing that they had cleaned up all the bird feed, he told them he would be coming back for the next three days to feed both them and the porpoise.
After this feeding, the seagulls became especially enthusiastic toward him: [Welcome, welcome!]
By now, it was already noon. Li Wei originally wanted to treat him to a proper meal, but Lin Jiangye refused.
“Food doesn’t matter. Let’s hurry to that hotel. I still need to go home tonight and make more fish biscuits. If I don’t make it in time, what will I use to feed the porpoise tomorrow?”
Li Wei scratched his head awkwardly, feeling a bit guilty.
He had kept Lin Jiangye busy the whole morning—how could he not even provide a meal?
“Captain Li, don’t worry about such small things. Once this case is solved, you can treat me properly then,” Lin Jiangye waved it off.
He truly didn’t care. After running to two locations and getting limited information, he had no choice but to take the last location—the hotel—more seriously.
After arriving at the hotel, Lin Jiangye greeted Li Wei and released his little “team.”
The hotel owner watched as crows, cats, and dogs rushed into his establishment, his heart instantly leaping into his throat. “Officer… what is this…?”
Crows, cats, dogs—what, were they here to check for rats?
Li Wei couldn’t be bothered to explain. “Just watch.”
Not only the hotel owner, but even the assisting local officers were completely confused.
Weren’t they investigating? Why had it turned into a rat hunt?
“I don’t believe this hotel has zero flaws. Some things are hard for humans to notice, but animals can find them,” Lin Jiangye explained to Li Wei—and to everyone else.
The hotel wasn’t very large—four floors total. Aside from the first floor, the rest were all guest rooms.
Lin Jiangye went up to the rooftop. The area wasn’t very developed; nearby buildings were mostly six or seven stories high.
After comparing the distance between buildings, he ruled out the possibility that the suspect had jumped to another building to escape.
On the other side, however, another building stood very close—a closed-down nightclub. Its doors and windows were sealed, the walls smooth with no climbing points. Even if someone jumped across, getting down would be extremely difficult.
But the nightclub and the hotel were so close that from the rooftop, they almost seemed connected.
Still, the nightclub’s roof was just a flat surface, with no adjacent structures. If someone crossed over, the only way down would be to jump.
Yet Lin Jiangye felt that this nightclub likely played a key role in the suspect’s escape—he just didn’t know how exactly.
Hearing this, the hotel owner curled his lips, looking at Lin Jiangye with disdain.
That nightclub had been closed for years. No one could get in, and from the hotel’s side, the walls faced it directly—there was no way to cross over!
What kind of person had these police brought from another city?
Just as the owner was doubting him, the German Shepherd returned first: [Found it!]
Lin Jiangye’s spirits lifted. “What did you find?”
The dog wagged its tail excitedly and led him to a storage room at the end of the second floor. Inside, the crows and the Tibetan Mastiff were already waiting.
There was a camera in the corridor, but it only captured people going upstairs—not the hallway itself.
Everyone followed Lin Jiangye into the storage room. The moment they stepped inside, they started coughing and waving their hands.
“Cough cough… This place hasn’t been cleaned in ages. Why come here all of a sudden?” The hotel owner, still puzzled, watched as the German Shepherd barked at a wall.
[There’s another space behind here! The smell is different!]
Lin Jiangye’s expression turned serious. Following the dog’s cue, he knocked on the wall, then compared it with other sections. The sounds were clearly different.
Li Wei and the others noticed it too. They carefully felt along the wall and finally found a slight seam in one corner.
The local officers quickly provided tools, and they pried the wall open.
It wasn’t a wall—it was a hidden door.
Without the German Shepherd, they would never have discovered it.
Li Wei’s sharp gaze immediately turned to the hotel owner. “Why is there a door here?”
Seeing the owner’s equally shocked expression, he sneered. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know.”
The owner looked like the sky had fallen. “I really didn’t know!”
How would he know there was a door hidden in the storage room? He barely even came here!
Li Wei didn’t say whether he believed him or not. That could be investigated later.
After opening the door completely, the animals all stepped back. Even Lin Jiangye had to turn his head away.
The smell behind the door was utterly revolting.
To avoid possible toxic gases, they decided to ventilate first and brought in a batch of gas masks.
When the local officers returned, they even thoughtfully prepared a dog-sized gas mask for the German Shepherd.
However, this meant the crows and the Tibetan Mastiff couldn’t follow inside. After entrusting them to the Qingze District team, Lin Jiangye entered with the German Shepherd and Li Wei.
They went in first. As the flashlight swept across the space, it became clear that this was an abandoned area—old sofas and other items still scattered around.
“It’s the nightclub next door.” Lin Jiangye’s guess had been correct.
However, their position inside was strange. It didn’t seem like a normal floor—the ceiling height was only about 1.8 meters, forcing taller people to bend as they walked.
As they carefully explored, they discovered a row of unfamiliar footprints. Li Wei immediately got excited and had them collected.
“Once we compare these with Zhao Dawen’s shoe prints—if they match, he’s finished, hehehe!” Li Wei let out a villain-like laugh.
Zhao Dawen’s attitude was truly infuriating. At first, when he saw the police, he appeared honest and compliant. But after Li Wei exposed the fact that he had a bad relationship with the victim, both his gaze and tone immediately turned arrogant.
Of course, he might not have been aware of the arrogance he was showing, but as criminal investigators, Li Wei and the others were very sensitive to such changes.
The man clearly had something to rely on—he believed the police would never find any evidence of his crime!
Li Wei actually wanted to bring Zhao Dawen here right now. He really wanted to see the expression on his face when they opened the hidden door in the storage room.
It would definitely be very interesting—hehehe!
Hearing their captain’s strange laughter, the other team members suddenly felt a bit of regret—they should’ve stayed behind to look after Consultant Lin’s crows and cats.
Wouldn’t it have been better to just play with the cats outside? Why did they insist on coming in here and embarrassing themselves with the captain? (:??)_
No, wait—Captain Li wouldn’t feel embarrassed. The only ones embarrassed were them. (:??)_
Even Lin Jiangye couldn’t help but glance back at Li Wei.
Following the trail of footprints, they found a switch. After pressing it, a humming sound rang out, and the floor in front of them began to slide open, revealing a hole just big enough for one person to pass through.
Next to the opening was a long ladder.
Lin Jiangye leaned over to take a look, gauged the height, and then jumped down directly.
With a dull thud, the German Shepherd remained calm, but the others were startled—especially Li Wei. Surrounded by darkness, he thought Lin Jiangye had accidentally fallen.
“Consultant Lin!!!” He sounded more anxious than when his own child had fallen off a bicycle.
Fortunately, Lin Jiangye’s voice soon came from below: “I’m fine. It’s not that high—I landed safely.”
As he spoke, he called out for the German Shepherd to jump down as well. “Come, I’ll catch you!”
Before Li Wei and the others could react, the dog actually jumped without hesitation, completely trusting that Lin Jiangye would catch it.
“Such courage!” Unfortunately, both of them were wearing masks, so he couldn’t even give it a kiss.
After the others climbed down using the ladder, Lin Jiangye had already surveyed the surroundings. “That place above should be a mezzanine. This is the first floor. The stairs to the second floor are over there.”
The question was—why build a mezzanine between the first and second floors? What was the nightclub trying to hide?
Unfortunately, the nightclub had been closed for years. Even if Lin Jiangye was curious, there was no one to ask now.
Upon hearing this, the ones with the worst expressions weren’t Li Wei and his team, but the local police.
Clearly, they had no idea such a mezzanine existed in the abandoned nightclub. And as for what it was used for… well, there were far too many possibilities.
Li Wei and his team also thought of several things but didn’t say them out loud. After all, matters related to the nightclub didn’t fall under Qingze District’s jurisdiction.
“Let’s go. Are the footprints still there?” Hardly anyone had entered this place, which was why the trail remained so clear.
Following the footprints, they arrived at a public restroom on the first floor. One of the windows there was broken—just enough for a person to crawl out.
“Look at the footprints on the stool. The person was clearly familiar with this place. I suspect… the suspect had already been here before the nightclub closed and knew about the mezzanine,” Li Wei analyzed while staring at the clear trail.
On the other side of the stool, there was a fallen brick. Based on its position and the scattered fragments nearby, Li Wei suspected the window had been broken from the outside.
Lin Jiangye picked up another stool and stepped on it, preparing to climb out, when he noticed that one of the glass shards had an unusual color.
“Captain Li, there seems to be blood here…”
He climbed down and pointed out the stained glass. Seeing the relatively fresh blood, everyone felt a surge of excitement.
Another piece of evidence!
Shoes could be discarded, but DNA from blood couldn’t lie. Zhao Dawen’s claim that he stayed in the hotel all night would immediately collapse.
While they collected the sample, Lin Jiangye walked to the main entrance on the first floor and tried pushing the door.
It seemed to be locked from the outside with a heavy chain. He could hear the clanking of metal, but precisely because of that, they couldn’t exit from here.
“Captain Li, should we go back the way we came?”
Before Li Wei could answer, a local officer waved his hand. “No need. I’ve already called colleagues to unlock the chain outside.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of unlocking came from outside. Soon, the nightclub’s doors—closed for years—were opened, and fresh air rushed in, dispersing the foul, decaying smell.
“Let’s go! Check outside the restroom window for more clues!” Li Wei was visibly excited now, dragging Lin Jiangye along.
The team members followed, carrying the four little animals. Outside the broken window, they found a strand of fabric caught on a plant.
Li Wei crouched down, carefully picking it up with tweezers. After examining it, he hesitated. “Does this look like denim?”
Come to think of it—it really did.
The crows and the Tibetan Mastiff also searched nearby and quickly found more suspicious traces—like a half-smoked cigarette butt and a partial shoe print left in a corner.
“You didn’t check this area before?” There were quite a lot of traces left behind by Zhao Dawen.
At Lin Jiangye’s question, Li Wei awkwardly scratched his nose. “We didn’t notice the nightclub at the time…”
The local police were even more ashamed. They had confidently insisted that no one could enter the nightclub, which led Li Wei’s team to skip inspecting it.
No one had expected a hidden door connecting the hotel and the nightclub!
As for the hotel owner, he was utterly devastated. He had been running this place for ten years, and this was the first time he learned there was a hidden door in his storage room.
If he said he didn’t know… who would believe him?
Seeing the three parties fall silent, Lin Jiangye also fell silent.
…Alright then.
After confirming that Zhao Dawen had escaped through the nightclub, Li Wei and the others seemed to have a breakthrough and soon identified the vehicle he used.
“Captain Li, don’t forget—the seagulls said the killer’s car had no license plate!”
Li Wei grinned smugly. “That’s exactly what we want! If it had a plate, it’d be harder to find!”
There was only one fastest route from here to the first crime scene—and that road had working surveillance cameras!
“We’ve gathered quite a few clues now. Next, we just wait for the test results while tracking down that unregistered car to confirm the suspect’s route.”
In just one day, Lin Jiangye had practically exposed everything about Zhao Dawen!
And this was with limited help from stray animals and cautious seagulls. Li Wei suddenly understood why that previous serial murder case had been solved in just two days!
Who could possibly defend against this?!
Damn!
After returning to the station, Li Wei suddenly clutched his chest in pain. When the others looked over, he said with a miserable face, “If only I had been the first to invite him! Then Consultant Lin would be one of ours now!”
No way—he’d definitely wake up in the middle of the night and slap himself twice!
Author’s note:
Captain Li: Regret! Pure regret! [sobbing]
Team: Lin Jiangye’s motto—hesitate and you lose [nod]
Xiao Ye: Do you think I’m some stray cat? [?]
Great chapter!!! Thank you, also there is some repeated content