Chapter 91: Human, you promised me revenge!
[Human! Bird doesn’t want dried fish—bird wants to know how to recognize a golden eagle as Dad!]
The pelican came swooping down excitedly, and that first sentence froze Lin Jiangye in place.
“W-What… what are you even saying???” Did he just hallucinate? Otherwise, how could a pelican be asking to acknowledge a golden eagle as its father?
Were these two even the same species?
Who knew—the pelican stared at him for a long time, gaze deep and intense.
[Hm? Didn’t you also acknowledge a tiger as your mom? Then what’s wrong with this bird acknowledging a golden eagle as Dad?]
Lin Jiangye went silent, slowly turning to look at Bixi perched on his arm.
Honey… can you tell me what on earth you two talked about?
Bixi’s eyes were just as blank and confused. The little raven itself had no idea how things had spiraled into this either!
[Crow just said stuff about Dad and the Mountain God, and then it got super excited. It didn’t even want the dried fish and rushed down.]
To be honest, even Lin Jiangye’s mind was full of question marks after hearing the whole story.
But seeing the pelican’s earnest look, he asked—almost possessed:
“How old are you? I do know a golden eagle… but it lives up in the snowy mountains. It’s freezing. Can you handle that?”
If he remembered right, pelicans lived near coastal lakes, mostly in tropical regions. Back when he went to Nanhai, he saw plenty of pelicans.
In Yue City, temperatures rose once spring arrived. Some pelicans would move north around this time to breed—but Taibai Mountain was still far too cold for them.
Sure enough, the moment it heard that kind of environment, the pelican’s eyes widened and it hesitated immediately.
[Tch. This bird has been to Taibai Mountain—it’s insanely cold! I nearly froze to death there!]
Huh? It really had been there?
Just as Lin Jiangye was about to chat with the pelican properly, two urgent shouts suddenly came from behind.
“Wait!”
Ah—while talking about Dad-recognition, he almost forgot the real business.
Lin Jiangye waved at Bai Zhengwen, signaling him to block the two people chasing after them. Then Lin Jiangye got into the car with the pelican.
Door shut—nice. Now he couldn’t hear anything.
“I have a deal. I want to ask you some questions. Dried fish is your payment for answers. And if what you provide is especially valuable, I’ll agree to one additional condition. How about it?”
The pelican’s eyes lit up instantly.
[Including recognizing Dad?]
Lin Jiangye didn’t nod or shake his head. He only said:
“If you can handle Taibai Mountain’s temperature, and you don’t mind recognizing a newly adult golden eagle as Dad… I don’t care. I’ve got plenty of ways to get you there.”
That “newly adult golden eagle” was the silly one he’d first met at Taibai Mountain—the one that got injured and was picked up by the Forestry Bureau to recover.
Because it was a bit dumb, Lin Jiangye only needed to coax it a little and feed it something, and it definitely wouldn’t mind.
And anyway, it would be another bird calling it Dad—not it calling someone else Dad.
The pelican fell silent for quite a while, probably shocked by the “just adult” age.
Lin Jiangye didn’t interrupt. He propped his cheek on one hand and watched the pelican with amused interest.
This pelican was also unusually “spiritual.” Maybe China’s ecology had been improving lately, making animals more and more sharp and aware.
Or maybe animals had always been this smart—it was just that he used to not understand them, so he’d been arrogantly like other humans, assuming “animals are just animals.”
In truth, their alertness and intelligence might have always existed; humans simply couldn’t perceive it.
Then Lin Jiangye glanced at the two people Bai Zhengwen was stopping.
The Fang family’s eldest son, Fang Hexuan, only had eyes and a nose somewhat like Lin Jiangye’s.
But the second daughter—her face shape and features matched Lin Jiangye by at least eighty percent.
If their ages weren’t off, someone could easily believe they were twins.
Honestly, they might even be more alike than twins.
They didn’t even need DNA to confirm there was definitely blood relation.
But too bad—Lin Jiangye had no interest in acknowledging these “relatives.”
In the hardest and most painful twenty-plus years of his life, not a single family member had ever appeared.
Now he had money, a “family” of cubs, and a career—he needed so-called relatives even less.
Besides, if you really counted it, he already had family, didn’t he?
Tiger Mom, Zang’ao, Bixi, Opal, Diamond, the German Shepherd, the Border Collie, Gaojiasuo… they were his closest family.
Suddenly Lin Jiangye felt something wet on his hand. He looked down— the German Shepherd was gently licking the back of his hand.
[Don’t be sad over irrelevant people. We’re all here. Even if one day we’re gone, there will still be cubs with you. And cubs will have cubs.]
An animal’s lifespan wasn’t enough to accompany a human all the way to death—but it was okay. They had descendants, didn’t they?
Lin Jiangye’s heart shook. His eyes reddened and heated up instantly.
[You have to be okay. We’ll stay with you as long as we can.]
Lin Jiangye took a deep breath, then suddenly threw himself onto the German Shepherd.
“You love me so much! I thought you only loved your wife!”
With that one sentence, the warm atmosphere shattered into scraps. The German Shepherd almost wanted to roll its eyes like a human.
But… feeling the person on top trembling slightly, the German Shepherd sighed quietly in its heart.
It wagged its tail and licked Lin Jiangye’s face to comfort him.
Still just a cub, huh—crying so easily.
When they got home, it would have to tell the Mountain God. This kid acted like he didn’t care, but there was definitely a knot in his heart.
After years in police work, it had seen plenty of humans like this.
Meanwhile, the pelican was startled by Lin Jiangye’s sudden whaaa, and seeing his red eyes, it panicked as if it had bullied him.
[This bird didn’t say I won’t answer! Recognizing a little brat as Dad is unnecessary—I’m not into that. Just give me dried fish. Fresh fish would be even better!]
Lin Jiangye sniffed, wiped his tears on the German Shepherd’s head, and rubbed his face hard until his mood finally steadied.
“Of course. Dried fish or fresh fish—whatever you like. Then can I ask questions now?”
The pelican nodded. It was curious what this human wanted to ask.
Lin Jiangye did still care about why it wanted to recognize a golden eagle as Dad—but the case mattered more right now.
“When did you arrive here?”
Easy question. The pelican felt like it earned fish for free.
[Yesterday. This bird finally flew out of the wetland the night before. To escape you humans’ claws, I deliberately came here.]
Wetland… so it was actually a Yue City bird! Were Yue City birds all this smart?
Lin Jiangye pressed on.
“Yesterday when you arrived, did you see anything? For example—three people break into someone’s home, slam a woman’s head into a wall, and then carry that woman and a child away?”
The pelican tilted its head, and its gaze gradually changed into the look you give an idiot—as if saying, “You already said the whole story, so why ask me?”
Lin Jiangye coughed lightly.
“That’s my guess. I need you to confirm it. So—did you see it? And what exactly did you see?”
The pelican snorted.
[Wasn’t it just like you said? This bird was scared when I saw it. You humans are so brutal. You didn’t even spare the cub—stuffed him into a box and carried him away.]
A box?
“What box? What color?”
The pelican recalled slowly.
[This bird doesn’t know your human boxes. But it was huge—big enough to fit the woman. And the little one was put into another box the same size.]
Then, according to the pelican, three people came—three tall adult males, and they were not to be messed with.
[This bird doesn’t like those three male humans. They felt dangerous. One of them was covered in black patterns—ugly!]
Black patterns—tattoos.
Three adult men, one with large tattoos, carrying two massive suitcases.
Clearly they knew Fang Mian and Fang Dongling were in that apartment. They came specifically to take them away.
So the question became: why take them?
Kidnapping for ransom? Fang Mian still owed debts. If they could get fifty million from the Fang family—hell, even ten million—it would be enough to cover the debt.
But until now, they hadn’t called the Fang family once.
Were they not planning to extort, or were they waiting until they reached a safe place before calling?
Lin Jiangye thought, then asked the pelican:
“Did you see how they left the building?”
That, the pelican didn’t know. From its balcony, it could see the incident apartment’s living room and the building’s main entrance—but not other areas.
“Thanks. Dried fish or fresh fish?”
After sending the pelican away, Lin Jiangye decided to circle the entire apartment building.
By now, the two Fang family members were gone—either talked away by Bai Zhengwen or left for other matters.
Either way, it was good for Lin Jiangye.
This time he didn’t study maps. He personally walked the perimeter, scanning for any hidden exits.
Bixi and Opal searched for possible “witnesses.”
The German Shepherd and Yuheng checked lower bushes and sniffed for suspicious smells.
They made several loops. Finally, from a stray cat, they learned how those men left the building—and which direction they went afterward.
When Hong Xingwang heard it, he was completely stunned.
It wasn’t like they hadn’t suspected an alternative exit. But no matter how they searched, they found no trace—so they couldn’t track anything.
That was why they’d begged Lin Jiangye to come. They truly had no other choice.
Who would’ve thought—Lin Jiangye hadn’t even been in Gao City for half a day, and he’d already traced their trail!
“How did they leave? Why did we find nothing?” Hong Xingwang felt like his defenses shattered.
Lin Jiangye himself found it hard to believe.
“If you mean the three thugs who attacked Fang Mian—they slid down from the rooftop. The cat saw them tied with something, probably safety ropes. But… they had no boxes. They left empty-handed.”
That was the key problem.
Those loan shark men stuffed Fang Mian and Fang Dongling into boxes, clearly intending to disguise them as luggage and carry them out.
But according to the cat, they left without a single box.
So where did the boxes go?
“Could they… still be inside this apartment building?” Hong Xingwang felt a chill.
Think about it: if they hadn’t brought in Lin Jiangye today, then even if later they found rooftop or exterior-wall traces, they would’ve assumed the suspects took the boxes away.
And right now, their blockade was checking every car—especially cars with unfamiliar passengers or suspicious suitcases.
If a car drove by with only two or three people and an empty backseat, would Hong Xingwang let it go? Of course he would.
As for Fang Mian and Fang Dongling, as time passed and they still couldn’t find them, inspections would inevitably weaken. Then moving the targets would become easy.
Lin Jiangye suddenly offered a chilling possibility.
“Or… what if they never planned to move Fang Mian and the child at all?”
Hong Xingwang: ?
If the purpose was extortion, once they got the money, they could simply tell the family to pick them up in a specified room. Lin Jiangye had checked—the apartments used keypad locks.
“But…” Hong Xingwang’s head hurt. If the kidnappers weren’t here, what if Fang Song’s family wanted to check the child and sister?
Lin Jiangye revealed another critical detail.
“The cow-pattern cat says the number of people who left was three—exactly three. When they left, one of them almost kicked it, so it remembers very clearly.”
That was why the cat held a grudge and followed them, discovering their next stop after leaving the building.
Cats held grudges, you know~
And if all three left, that meant someone else was still hiding inside the building.
Maybe that person was even an owner here.
Lin Jiangye laid out everything he knew. He didn’t care how many doubts Hong Xingwang had.
Right now, the police’s top priority was simple:
Search every unit in the entire building.
And even if the crime-scene unit had no hidden room, that didn’t mean other units didn’t. So searches had to be extremely thorough.
Hong Xingwang looked half-dead after hearing it.
Searching every unit—including other owners’ homes—there was no way higher-ups would approve that easily!
“Is… is there any better method? QAQ” Hong Xingwang looked like he was about to cry.
Lin Jiangye could only shrug—he really couldn’t help with that.
At this moment, he was already following the cow-pattern cat to the suspects’ foothold. Before long, they arrived at a small motel.
Lin Jiangye asked the owner which room the three big men checked into yesterday afternoon, and whether there was CCTV.
The owner hesitated. Lin Jiangye smiled, handed him a cigarette, and tucked two bills in his palm.
“Boss, I’m public personnel. Those three are criminals. Yesterday they smashed a woman’s head in and fled here.”
Seeing the red bills, the owner’s attitude softened immediately.
Only then did Lin Jiangye show his credentials.
The owner didn’t understand what a “special consultant” was, but with money and cigarettes in hand—who cared? A bargain you don’t take is a bargain you lose.
“Cameras have been broken for ages. Just for show. They’re in the innermost room on the second floor. I told you, those three didn’t look like good people. Three grown men squeezed into one double-bed room—I even thought they were doing a threesome.”
Thre—cough cough!
Lin Jiangye’s ears heated up. He and Bai Zhengwen glanced at the spot and instantly understood why that room was chosen.
Bai Zhengwen went upstairs first. Lin Jiangye hid under the window of that room—perfect blind spot. Unless someone jumped down, no one upstairs would notice he was there.
The cow-pattern cat didn’t understand what the young man was doing. It meowed angrily.
[Human! Didn’t you say you’d get revenge for me?!]
Why are you hiding here doing nothing? Are you bullying me?!
Lin Jiangye rubbed the kitten’s head hard and shushed it.
“Quiet. Once they jump down one by one, I’ll get revenge for you!”
Good thing they arrived quickly—the suspects hadn’t left Gao City yet. Otherwise finding them again would’ve been a nightmare.
Soon, fighting and cursing exploded above, loud and violent. Bai Zhengwen was alone, but he was military-trained—special forces, at that. In a fight, he wasn’t even in the same league as ordinary people.
Before long, a shadow jumped down.
Before the man could react, Lin Jiangye charged in with the cat in his arms.
The man suddenly felt a sting on his face. He focused—
and saw a young man holding the cow-pattern cat’s paw and slapping it onto his face.
He wiped with his hand—his fingertip came away with blood.
“You fucking—!” The man exploded in rage and swung a fist at Lin Jiangye’s face. The cow-pattern cat immediately burrowed into Lin Jiangye’s clothes, hiding.
Hey—you little coward cat!
Lin Jiangye tilted his head slightly, dodged easily, and in the next second slapped the man hard across the side of the face.
The blow made his vision go black and his ears ring.
The man never expected the young man to have such terrifying strength. One slap almost knocked him out cold.
He shook his head desperately to clear it—when the second man jumped down.
This one was covered in tattoos, matching the pelican’s description.
Lin Jiangye tried to pull the cow-pattern cat out, but the little thing was scared. It clung to the inside of his shirt and refused to let go.
Fine. Once he put the men down, the cat could take revenge properly.
The tattooed man flinched when he saw Lin Jiangye, but he reacted much faster than the first. He immediately threw a punch.
This time Lin Jiangye didn’t dodge.
He caught the fist and clamped down hard, not letting the man pull back.
The man struggled, but no matter how he fought, he couldn’t break free.
He tried with his other hand—only to have Lin Jiangye lock that one too.
“Kitty, kitty—come out and get revenge~”
The man thought he’d run into a lunatic, but then he saw a black-and-white cat head pop out of the young man’s clothes.
Seeing both the man’s hands pinned, the cat’s eyes lit up like a switch.
“Meeow—RAAAH!”
[Mii is here!]
And with that, the cat launched itself, delivering left hook, right hook, upper hook, lower hook—clawing wildly in a flurry.
The man wanted to run. No hands? Fine, he still had legs.
Too bad Lin Jiangye had already seen through him. One kick snapped his leg bone.
Trying to kick the cat? Then first try getting your bones kicked apart, hehe!
After the cat vented its anger, Lin Jiangye was about to give the man a “clean finish,” when the first man behind them finally regained consciousness.
He couldn’t see his partner’s situation clearly and thought Lin Jiangye had been restrained—he was just getting happy when he saw Lin Jiangye smile.
Then he watched as his partner was lifted high—
and… thrown at him?!
“Ah—” The man barely managed a scream before everything went black.
The man who landed on him tried to crawl up—only to get slapped twice by Lin Jiangye and knocked out again.
Both ended up sprawled on the ground, unconscious.
Bai Zhengwen looked down from the window leisurely. Seeing Lin Jiangye let the cat bounce on the two men, he shook his head and smiled.
“I’ll notify Team Leader Hong.”
When Hong Xingwang arrived, he saw three criminals tied back-to-back, all eyes closed, all unconscious.
Hong Xingwang: What the hell did you do???
“The suspects have been found. The rest is your job now!” Lin Jiangye had only been invited for one purpose—find Fang Mian and Fang Dongling.
Now it was confirmed that the two of them were still stuck inside the apartment building. As long as they ran one thorough sweep, they would find them.
If they really didn’t want to go through all that trouble, that was fine too—interrogate these three men and they’d get the answer anyway.
Hong Xingwang sucked in a sharp breath. Sure enough, inside the room the suspects had stayed in, they found safety ropes and other gear—proof that the little cow-pattern cat was telling the truth.
Lin Jiangye picked up the cow-pattern kitten squatting off to the side. Seeing its satisfied little expression, he reached out and poked its soft belly.
“Hey, little one—do you want to come home with me?”
He couldn’t bring the tiger cubs home, but a kitten? That was totally doable!
