Chapter 41: Crow-Crow Is a Reliable Giant “Person”
For the time being, the deer king didn’t tell the humans about it, because it still wasn’t sure whether there really were poachers.
It was just that a bloody scent had appeared in the mountains, along with a strange, stinking odor—sharp and unpleasant. And every time that odor showed up, a few small animals in the forest would disappear.
Its instincts told it: poachers had entered the mountain.
The deer king knew very well that if poachers truly appeared, the animals alone could never drive those people away. Only the good humans down the mountain—the ones whose job was to protect them—might be able to chase the poachers out this time.
In the past, the animals couldn’t communicate with humans. Humans couldn’t understand what they meant, and countless chances to catch poachers were missed because of that.
But now it was different.
Down the mountain, there was a human who could understand their language—and that human also seemed to have a decent relationship with those good humans.
If the deer king asked him for help, it shouldn’t be a problem.
So while the deer king was thinking about how to persuade the humans, something else was happening in the town police station—
A huge flock of little birds arrived.
A real flock. Birds of all kinds!
They swarmed into the station and successfully “occupied the human base” (not really), chirping and shouting Lin Jiangye’s name so frantically that the station staff nearly thought the birds had collectively lost their minds.
Lin Jiangye was in the break room when he suddenly heard the commotion outside.
Right after that, someone burst in, yelling, “Help, Adviser Lin! The birds outside have gone crazy!”
A local man, in the middle of winter, seeing this many birds—anyone would think the station was being besieged.
When Lin Jiangye opened the door, he finally heard what they were yelling.
[Where’s that human? Where is he?]
[Is this him?]
[No no no, definitely not. This human smells stinky—not nice! Didn’t the big crow say his human is fragrant~]
[Fragrant like what? Like millet?]
[Don’t know, don’t know—bird knows nothing.]
He stepped out—and wow. There were fifty or sixty small birds in the lobby. Besides the long-tailed tits he’d seen before, there were ptarmigans, snow-migratory birds… even magpies and white-rumped swiftlets had shown up.
Wait—hold on!
Lin Jiangye tilted his head and looked toward the back. “Why are you here too? No—if you’re here, why aren’t they running?”
The bird he was addressing… well, technically it was a small raptor. A kestrel usually eats small mammals and can also take sparrows and other little birds. With this crowd gathered, it was basically a gourmet buffet laid out in front of it.
So why weren’t these birds fleeing?
A chubby little “fat-jiu” chirped and hopped onto Lin Jiangye’s shoulder. This one was an old acquaintance—one of the fat-jie birds he’d questioned in the mountains.
[Because the big crow is here! The big crow will protect us!]
No sooner had it spoken than a raven over half a meter long landed behind the kestrel. That sharp, cold stare made the kestrel’s spine go ice-cold.
Alright. Now it was obvious why the kestrel didn’t dare move.
Even though it was a falcon, the kestrel was small—barely half the raven’s size. If it dared try anything, it’d get smacked flat in a second, the way Diamond had once smacked Opal.
And besides, the magpie nearby was already cackling in mockery:
[It doesn’t dare.]
That was the real reason the kestrel stood there like a statue. Forget the raven—if it truly fought one-on-one, it might not even beat a magpie.
The kestrel didn’t dare speak or move, just froze under the raven’s gaze.
Somehow… it looked a bit pitiful.
Lin Jiangye laughed helplessly. After setting the fat-jiu down, he beckoned at the kestrel. It shuffled over like a ground chicken, waddling left-right as it walked.
“So why did they want you to come here? Little guy, do you know something?”
Lin Jiangye trusted Bixi. Bixi wouldn’t ignore his orders and mess around for no reason. If it forced the kestrel to come, it must be because the kestrel had something important.
When Lin Jiangye scooped it into his arms, the kestrel froze for a second—then immediately began chirping its complaints:
[I didn’t want to come! It was your crow! Your crow! It forced me here!]
Before Lin Jiangye could explain, the kestrel added:
[The crow said you’ll give food, right? I remember that female!]
Of course. Food was the hook. And Bixi’s presence was the threat that kept it from hunting the other birds.
“Yep. That’s right. So what do you know?” Lin Jiangye scratched the kestrel’s tiny head. For the first time in its life, the kestrel experienced that strange, pleasant sensation—so good it half-closed its eyes.
After one luxurious head massage, the kestrel melted completely, going limp in Lin Jiangye’s arms.
[When I met that female, she was with a tall male. But the male seemed unwell—cough cough cough the whole time.]
By that description, it was clearly Jiang Chou and Fan Rong.
[Then they started fighting!]
Once it realized the human wouldn’t hurt it, the kestrel got even chattier, rattling off more and more.
After it finished, the other little birds lined up obediently and began telling Lin Jiangye everything they knew.
Inside the station, aside from the one officer taking notes, the rest of the police watched with their chins propped in their hands, wearing full-on “proud-auntie” smiles.
Aww—so many tiny round birds! They really look like glutinous rice balls! Would they be soft if you bit them? So cute, wuwuwu!
From the birds’ information, Lin Jiangye and the others finally understood Jiang Chou’s motive.
And their earlier guess—that Jiang Chou was the true mastermind—was also confirmed.
Jiang Chou and Fan Rong’s sister had been a couple—deep in that sweet rising phase of love. More importantly, Fan Rong’s sister had once saved Jiang Chou’s life.
Gratitude and love tangled together, and Jiang Chou’s feelings for her ran very deep. So when she learned that Fan Rong’s sister had been harassed, humiliated, and ultimately driven to suicide, she completely exploded.
The murder plan had been her idea. The execution was her arrangement. And Fan Rong—the younger brother of the victim—was moved around like a chess piece.
A question suddenly surfaced in Lin Jiangye’s mind.
“Do you think Fan Rong staying behind to distract the police—was that his own choice? Or did Jiang Chou arrange it?”
Or… did she “guide” him into a voluntary sacrifice?
Everyone froze. Their expressions turned heavy.
The captain spoke slowly. “That’s actually a very serious question.”
Because although Fan Rong looked vicious in custody, when officers observed him alone, he behaved like an idle machine—sitting there, motionless, blank.
They suspected that besides albinism, he might have mental issues too.
“The birds said she was actually pretty friendly to them. Sometimes they saw her feeding them in open areas, so when they saw her explode in anger for the first time, they were shocked.”
The birds didn’t truly understand what Jiang Chou wanted—they were simply parroting what they’d heard.
Still, as Lin Jiangye listened to the words Jiang Chou had said to Fan Rong, he felt something distinctly wrong.
“Jiang Chou said Fan Rong’s sister ended up like that because Fan Rong couldn’t protect her. That he was guilty.” Shang Fuyan’s gaze darkened.
Was she intensifying his psychological guilt… to control him?
The captain thought the same. If Fan Rong already had fragile mental stability, Jiang Chou’s relentless pressure could only push him further and further into instability.
Just then, a new wave of commotion erupted outside the station.
A white deer arrived at the gate—bringing two fishers with it. Three pairs of watery, shining eyes stared straight inside.
In the next second, the entire station turned into chaos:
“HELP—AAAAAH!!!”
The moment the fishers appeared, every bird in the lobby scattered. Even the magpies looked alarmed.
Meanwhile, the fishers stared at the dozens of birds and practically started drooling. Was this buffet-level scene the “reward” the deer had promised?
Yes!
They loved it! (^o^)/
Lin Jiangye immediately tried to calm the birds and organized the officers to lay out food.
“Feed the birds first. Do we have millet and grains ready? The kestrel eats meat—get it some meat.”
Then he led the birds to the open area behind the station, letting them eat there. Once they were done, they could return to their nests.
Just as Lin Jiangye turned to leave, one small bird fluttered onto his shoulder and gently rubbed its cheek against him.
[Can… can we take a little bit with us?] it asked softly, embarrassed.
Winter was brutal. Food was scarce. A full belly today could still mean hunger again in two days.
Lin Jiangye nuzzled back lightly, then rubbed its tiny head and nodded. “Of course you can!”
He had the officers prepare little bags of spare feed so they could carry some back to their nests.
“But… can you carry it?” Even a small bag could weigh as much as a fat-jiu.
Bixi spread its wings, standing among the little shorties like a reliable giant:
[I can carry it back for them!]
A magpie jumped forward, unwilling to lose:
[I can too!]
“Chirp chirp chirp!” The little fat birds stared at the raven and magpie with sparkling eyes, crowding around them like chicks clustering under a mother hen.
Bixi felt proud as hell. Lin Jiangye didn’t stop it—he just reminded it not to get chilled.
[I won’t! Crow isn’t cold!] Bixi puffed up proudly. It had been well raised by its two humans—its body was strong!
“Alright. Then Bixi, can you help take care of them?” Bixi nodded hard. Lin Jiangye hugged it and kissed it—his raven really was his best baby.
After settling the birds, Lin Jiangye returned to the lobby.
The moment he stepped in, two furious little eyes locked onto him.
[Where’s the fisher’s food?! Weren’t those birds supposed to be food for fisher?! Human, you tricked fisher!!!]
The fisher was already chubby, and with anger its face puffed even rounder. It made thick, heavy hmmph-hmmph noises like a tiny tractor.
Lin Jiangye was instantly destroyed by the cuteness.
A fisher! The fisher the station chief promised he could pet!
He crouched and patiently explained, “Those weren’t for you—they’re my kid’s friends, so I can’t let you eat them. But…”
He flicked his eyes toward Shang Fuyan.
Shang Fuyan immediately understood, and quickly took a chunk of meat from the officer who’d been feeding outside.
“However—if you can give me information, then this meat is yours.”
The chunk of meat Shang Fuyan brought back was about the size of an adult man’s palm. That was far more meat than what you’d get from two tiny birds. For a fisher, it was absolutely a feast.
But this adorable little cutie was still a greedy little cutie: [But there were sooo many just now! Human! You’ve only got a tiny bit here!]
The fisher wanted that much meat, like before.
Lin Jiangye didn’t indulge it. Instead, he whistled—and in the next second, a big bird flew in from the courtyard, startling the fisher so badly it shrank into a tight little ball.
“Even if I gave you tons and tons of birds, you still couldn’t eat them. Can you beat that?”
Bixi immediately understood what was going on. Smart as it was, it cooperated perfectly with Lin Jiangye’s line—strutting up to the fisher with chest-out swagger, then suddenly spreading its wings wide, over a meter across.
The fisher began trembling.
Only then did Lin Jiangye pat Bixi and send it away.
But Bixi was a mischievous kid. Just as it was leaving, it abruptly turned back and yelled a loud WAH! at the fisher. The fisher’s shaking instantly doubled.
“Bixi!”
Bixi ran off with a bleh-bleh-bleh, laughing in a weird, goofy way that made Lin Jiangye press a hand to his forehead.
Shang Fuyan’s mouth twitched. “Did it watch something weird again?”
Just like kids copying prank videos, Bixi sometimes copied human behavior from videos too.
They exchanged a look and sighed at the same time—both deeply relieved that Bixi was a raven, not a parrot. Otherwise it wouldn’t just be copying actions; it would be copying speech, too.
After Bixi left, the two fishers finally relaxed a little. The white deer looked baffled beside them: [What are you scared of? Big Crow is really nice!]
Big Crow’s feathers were unbelievably beautiful—prettier than any bird the deer had ever seen!
The fisher curled up tighter, feeling cheated. QAQ
But once Lin Jiangye placed the meat in front of them, the fishers couldn’t resist their cravings. They trembled as they stretched out their paws.
Scared was scared—but meat was still meat!
“The little white deer said you’ve seen that woman too, right? What happened then? If you answer, this meat is yours. You can even take an extra portion back to your den to store.”
To a fisher, that offer was irresistible.
After being thoroughly intimidated once, the fishers learned their lesson and spilled everything they’d seen, start to finish.
[That female fed fisher before! She was a good human! When fisher saw her, she was leading a group of humans up the mountain. After she saw fisher, she even stopped fisher from coming closer!]
Jiang Chou led people up the mountain—so that must’ve been when she brought those eight victims.
“And did you hear what they were saying?”
The fisher tilted its head. One unbearably cute move, and it instantly captured the entire station’s hearts.
[Yes! Fisher secretly followed them from behind. Humans didn’t notice fisher at all!]
Lin Jiangye suddenly heard a chorus of sharp inhales behind him. Turning his head, he saw the station chief and the major-crimes captain—two grown men—clutching their chests like they’d been cuted to the brink of fainting.
[Fisher heard them call the female a human guide. They thanked her—said without her, they wouldn’t have known they could come up from this side.]
The fisher only followed them for a short stretch. It stopped before reaching the rock wall.
But even that was enough to confirm: Jiang Chou was the one guiding the victims up the mountain. That matched what the birds had said earlier—Fan Rong dug the pit, while she lured all eight people to the trap area.
They’d set the pit up beforehand: a thin grass net across the top, then a layer of snow to hide it. Once she tricked them close, Fan Rong—hidden nearby—would jump out and shove them all in.
As for the other fisher, it had seen Jiang Chou scouting for a place to kill.
It had been fed too, even held and gently petted. And while she was petting it, she’d muttered softly about where it would be most convenient to kill someone.
“When she held you, how many moons before now was it?” Lin Jiangye asked.
The fisher went quiet for a long moment, thinking hard. Then it gave a number:
[Maybe… about twenty moons ago. There wasn’t heavy snow yet.]
Twenty moons—so about twenty days. That meant Jiang Chou had begun planning the murder location more than half a month ago.
Lin Jiangye turned to the station chief and the others. “Did Fan Rong say when he started making the plan?”
The captain recalled. “He said three days before the crime, he started thinking about how to kill all eight.”
Then he immediately realized something was wrong. “Why? Is that time off?”
Lin Jiangye let out a cold laugh. “The little fisher says that woman started thinking about where to kill people twenty days ago.”
The murders happened a week ago. By Fan Rong’s statement, he should’ve begun planning ten days ago—yet Jiang Chou was thinking about it five days earlier than that.
“She really is the mastermind,” Lin Jiangye said.
He strongly suspected that after Jiang Chou came up with the plan, she realized she couldn’t pull it off alone—so she went to Fan Rong, stabbed straight into his guilt with “you failed to protect your sister,” and used that to force him into helping her take revenge.
The major-crimes team all nodded. They were thinking the same thing.
After feeding the fishers, Lin Jiangye also prepared some food for the little white deer. “Thanks for your help!”
But the deer refused. Instead, it grabbed the young man’s sleeve and tugged him outward.
[Deer King says he needs your help with something. Told me not to take the food you brought.]
Deer King? Wants his help? Help with what—was a doe giving birth?
That thought was quickly dismissed. Does didn’t usually give birth at this time.
So what did Deer King want?
Lin Jiangye wanted to go right away, but Shang Fuyan stopped him. “Tomorrow. It’s already dark.”
It got dark early here—barely past five, and it was already fully black.
Animals could handle it, but humans’ eyesight was too weak. Going up now meant risking a bad fall on the way down, even with a deer leading them.
Lin Jiangye glanced at the sky and sighed, disappointed. “Alright. Can you come to the yard tomorrow morning and find me? I’ll go up the mountain with you then.”
The little white deer rubbed against Lin Jiangye affectionately, then turned and hopped back into the mountains.
Lin Jiangye’s side had gained a lot of useful information. But the officers who investigated Jiang Chou’s lodging found nothing.
“She definitely prepared everything in advance. Her place was spotless—no useful information at all!” The detective came back fuming.
They’d thought they’d find at least one key piece of evidence. Instead—nothing. If not for Lin Jiangye getting info from animals, they’d still be blind.
“It’s not necessarily hopeless,” Shang Fuyan said suddenly. “Maybe start from where Jiang Chou first got to know Fan Rong’s sister.”
The captain turned. “How so?”
Shang Fuyan shrugged. “Don’t you think this Jiang Chou has issues too? She’s vicious to humans, but animals all rate her highly.”
Even the lynx had said the female stayed calm while killing—while the male was trembling.
“Either she’s killed more than just these eight, so she’s used to it. Or she’s seen this kind of scene often, so she’s numb. Or she’s sick—antisocial personality, for example.” Shang Fuyan listed three possibilities. Which one was true—or whether it was something else—would be up to the major-crimes team to investigate.
But her consistent kindness to small animals still felt abnormal to him.
Not that liking animals must mean liking people—but how could someone stay that calm watching eight people die?
Then the captain moved closer to Lin Jiangye and put a hand on his shoulder. “At this point, there probably isn’t much for us to do.”
The station chief panicked, but Shang Fuyan’s next words shut him up:
“Jiangye is a special adviser to our bureau. Even if you promise him half the reward, his legal standing here is basically just a good Samaritan. Without a formal request to borrow him, he can’t legitimately receive the bonus.”
Sensing the young man shift, Shang Fuyan pressed down firmly on his shoulder—don’t talk yet.
Lin Jiangye instantly understood and obediently stayed quiet.
“Besides, Jiangye has already helped you a lot. Now, what matters most isn’t the truth—it’s evidence. Find the key evidence, submit it, and let the court determine the charges.”
The major-crimes captain stared at Shang Fuyan. He suspected the man had something hidden in his words.
And once their eyes met, he was sure: this wasn’t a suspicion. Shang Fuyan was absolutely sneering at them for being useless.
Fine.
Shang Fuyan half-forced Lin Jiangye into the car. Just then the raven returned, and he drove back to the farm courtyard with one man and one crow.
“Do we really not need to handle it anymore?” Lin Jiangye hugged the raven, still worried.
“They’re major-crimes. They’ll have skill. Worst case, the provincial department takes over,” Shang Fuyan said, parking in the yard.
After Lin Jiangye got out, Shang Fuyan patted the back of his head gently. “You’ve already helped a lot. Don’t treat this like it’s your responsibility. It’s not.”
“Oh—no, that’s not why.” Lin Jiangye realized he’d misunderstood and explained calmly. “I’m just worried the station chief won’t let me pet other protected animals.”
Today he’d successfully petted a fisher. But there were other little ones in the mountains—some hidden, some hard to find. Local police and forestry staff would know where their dens were.
What if the station chief decided Lin Jiangye wasn’t helping anymore and refused to take him to see them?
Sure, he could ask Deer King… but he couldn’t exactly have Deer King escort him to look for predators. Deer King would absolutely gore him with its antlers.
Shang Fuyan couldn’t help laughing. “Don’t worry. The station chief won’t be that stupid.”
Lin Jiangye helped this time partly for the little white deer, and partly because he wanted to pet wild animals.
Taibai Mountain had plenty of rare animals—more than enough to satisfy Lin Jiangye’s “small wish.”
The station chief could use that—so that if something happened later, he could “summon” Lin Jiangye back to help.
With little critters around, Lin Jiangye would always come.
Sure enough, that very night, Lin Jiangye received a message from the station chief: once the case ended, he’d definitely arrange for Lin Jiangye to see fisher kits up close—if not fishers, then something else!
Less than a minute later, a second message arrived:
“If this case drags on and won’t close, I’ll still find time to take you to observe rare animals up close! I, Old Gao, keep my word!”
Then he sent a panda scribbling in a notebook meme.
Lin Jiangye chuckled, remembering how the station chief had reacted to the fisher.
Then his eyes fell on the raven that had flown in, and a sudden thought flashed through his mind—one particular large raptor.
His pupils tightened. He quickly typed a message to the station chief:
“Can I see any rare animal?”
A moment later, a question mark came back—then was immediately recalled, replaced with:
“Only if it exists up the mountain…” If it didn’t exist here, he couldn’t magic it up.
“Golden eagle—Taibai Mountain has them. Can I pet one?”
This time, it took a long while before the station chief replied:
“See, yes. Pet, no. And I can’t guarantee you’ll even see one. You know… it’s luck.”
Got it. Totally got it.
Lin Jiangye was satisfied. He lay down happily—then when the raven dove into his arms, he suddenly lifted Bixi’s wing and shook it gently in the air.
Bixi: ?
Lin Jiangye was now calculating how big a golden eagle’s wings would be. Bixi was fully grown with a wingspan over a meter. A golden eagle’s wingspan was usually around 2.5 meters.
Which meant—
He sat up and looked at Shang Fuyan. In Shang Fuyan’s confused gaze, he said excitedly:
“If I raise a golden eagle in the future, we won’t need blankets anymore!”
A 2.5-meter “blanket” could cover two humans and three dogs, three crows, and three cats all at once!
Shang Fuyan didn’t understand what Lin Jiangye was so excited about—but seeing him happy made his own chest feel light too.
Only… neither of them had any idea that a piece of bad news would strike the next day without warning.
