Chapter 6: The Finger Placed in the Nest
The tabby now had a name. Lin Jiangye decided it was time to give the little crow one too.
Although he wasn’t the crow’s owner, they would be in frequent contact. To distinguish it from the other crows, a name was necessary.
Just as he was pondering what to call it, the little crow brought terrible news.
[Human!!! Help!!!]
Lin Jiangye had been feeding the cat. When he turned his head, he saw the little crow flying toward him at full speed with something in its beak.
At first, he thought it was bringing him a gift. He even opened his arms expectantly.
But when the crow drew near and he saw what it carried, the smile on his face vanished instantly.
It was a finger.
A real, one-hundred-percent human finger.
Seeing the crow about to drop it into his hands, Lin Jiangye hurriedly stepped back and raised a hand to stop it.
“Wait! Stop right there!”
The crow braked sharply, nearly crashing into him. Lin Jiangye reacted quickly, turning aside and catching hold of the bird.
Only then did he get a clear look at the severed finger—an index finger, cleanly cut, still dripping blood. It had been severed not long ago by a sharp blade.
Thinking of the stall owner he had asked the crow to watch over, a dreadful premonition rose in his chest.
He carefully wrapped the finger in a clean towel and asked the crow what had happened.
[They took that human away! Crow tried to attack them, but more bad humans appeared. They beat him badly… and then…]
According to the crow, the villains intended to abduct the stall owner. Someone had tried to intervene, but the two sides were unequal in strength. In the end, the stall owner had three fingers chopped off.
One finger had been placed in the crow’s nest. One was left on the food street. The third had been taken away.
Then the little crow burst into tears.
Its opal had been stolen too.
[They put dirty things in Crow’s nest. They saw the shiny and took it! They even hit Crow!]
The little crow was aggrieved beyond words.
The other crows had wanted to stop them, but the villains carried huge knives. None dared get close.
Lin Jiangye stroked the crow’s head gently.
“It’s alright. I still have opals. Do you know where they went?”
The feathers around the crow’s neck fluffed up.
[Of course!]
They couldn’t stop the villains from taking the man, but they could follow them.
“Good job. Once we find him, I’ll take you to buy even better ones.”
Anyone who called crows bad omens deserved a slap. These birds were clever—they even knew how to track.
From its account, Lin Jiangye pieced together what had happened.
The Wen’an District police must have assigned protection to the stall owner. But the addicts—or traffickers—had been brazen enough to snatch him away in broad daylight, even severing his fingers.
The three fingers were clearly a provocation.
One sent to the police. One left at the scene. The third carried off.
He suspected there might have been more items left in the crow’s nest, but the bird had been too frightened to bring them.
Time was critical.
Leaving Tibetan Mastiff at home, Lin Jiangye took the severed finger and the crow to the police station.
Inside, chaos reigned.
Not long before, a child had delivered a small box to the station, claiming it was a “gift” for the officers.
The box resembled a ring case.
The moment they opened it, they saw a bloody finger.
Alongside it lay a blood-stained police badge.
This was no mere provocation. It was a direct slap to the police’s face.
The Criminal Investigation Division and Narcotics Unit had rushed over. Their expressions were grim.
They didn’t yet know whose finger it was. Whether it signaled a new homicide or the torture of the undercover officer they had been protecting—it was bad.
The undercover officer had already lost a leg. If he fell back into traffickers’ hands, the consequences would be unimaginable.
“Send it for testing immediately! Find out who gave the child the box and where!” Shang Fuyan ordered at once.
Before the test results came back, Lin Jiangye appeared at the station.
“Did someone just deliver a severed finger?”
All eyes turned toward him.
Under wary gazes, he placed the finger the crow had brought on the table.
“The crow found this in its nest on the food street. Someone put it there. I suspect there are more items left in the nest. You should check.”
The crow on his shoulder cawed loudly in confirmation.
But his next sentence was the real focus.
“The crows know where that man was taken. I can take you to them.”
His clear eyes met those of the officers, waiting for their decision.
The police were startled. How did he know so much?
Shang Fuyan stepped forward.
“The division moves out with me.”
The narcotics officers looked at him.
“I’ll confirm first. If it’s true, I’ll notify you. If not, it’s simply an assault case for Criminal Investigation.”
Better they stay put for now. No one knew if eyes were watching.
Besides, this situation was disgraceful. Undercover officers’ files were classified. How had the traffickers located him?
Though he wasn’t originally from Yue City’s police, if something happened, the entire city would bear the weight.
The head of the Narcotics Unit inhaled sharply and muttered under her breath.
“Let me find out who did this—I’ll skin them alive.”
Anger burned in all of them. Beneath it lay quiet sorrow.
Lin Jiangye glanced at them deeply, then followed Shang Fuyan into the car.
“Follow the crows. They can track their elder’s scent.”
He had given out over a dozen opals. If the little crow had made it back to him, there must have been relays along the way.
The crow flew ahead; the police cars followed.
Lin Jiangye rolled down the window and looked up. Soon enough, a familiar large crow waited atop a tree.
“Caw!” [Human! You came!]
Exhausted, the little crow hopped into Lin Jiangye’s arms.
He pointed upward.
“Follow that one.”
The officers exchanged glances.
Switching crows mid-route?
And could following a crow truly work?
As if voicing their doubt, Shang Fuyan asked calmly,
“How can you be sure this will work? Can you understand crows?”
Yan Zhou’s lips twitched. Was the captain mocking him? Hard to say—after all, he was the one who had agreed to follow.
What none expected was for Lin Jiangye to nod.
“Yes. I can.”
Before anyone processed that, he continued,
“I was the one who arranged for the crows to watch the stall owner.”
He didn’t know whether the police would act—but he could protect the man in his own way.
“Why?” Shang Fuyan asked quietly.
Why arrange protection? Why protect him? Or why could he understand and command crows?
Lin Jiangye chose one answer.
“I hate seeing undercover officers dragged back into past suffering after finally returning to normal life.”
That was one reason.
The other? No decent Chinese person would ever spare traffickers.
Whether they targeted an undercover officer or an ordinary citizen—if it happened before his eyes, he wouldn’t ignore it.
For that, he could no longer worry about revealing his ability to understand beasts.
