I raise furry animals and fly them to my motherland.

Chapter 284 Chicken Soup Warms the Stomach
Seeing that the taimen and the otter were about to fight over the head, Xu Ying quickly reassured them, "You're all great. The more evidence we find, the more helpful it will be to our investigation."

The two groups of animals then quieted down.

The otter pup waved its tiny paws arrogantly: "[We even brought an underwater camera and filmed the underwater scenes, so we still win!]"
Xu Ying was both amused and exasperated by the otter's competitive nature.

The otter mother stretched out her clenched fist: [Station Chief Xu, here you go~]
Xu Ying opened her gloved palm, and the otter mother stretched out her little paw, dropping a silver key into Xu Ying's palm.

"A key? Where could this key be from?"

Xu Ying looked at the key in her palm. Its shape didn't resemble a house key; it looked more like a warehouse or a small room key.

"We don't know if it was a key that another tourist dropped into the water or the key that the woman's body found underwater."

Chen Su opened the evidence bag, and Xu Ying put the key inside.

[This is what we found!]
The lead taimen spat out a teardrop-shaped pendant from its mouth. They remembered Xu Ying's instructions: [The body was not disturbed; it was dug out of the mud near the body using its mouth.]
The otter cub secretly tattled to Xu Ying: "[Station Chief Xu, let me tell you, taimen are really fierce! We use our little claws to dig for things ourselves, but taimen drive other small fish over and make them search for them.]"
Upon hearing this, Xu Ying remarked that the taimen was truly a tyrant in the water, even managing to command its underlings.

The lead fish glanced sideways at the otter family, [Hey Station Master Xu, what's that little rascal whispering to you about?]
Xu Ying quickly brought over some water: "No, they said you got help from other small fish, and your teamwork is really impressive."

She carefully placed the necklace into the evidence bag.

Chen Su examined the broken part of the necklace: "This necklace looks like it was torn off."

The joint where the necklace broke was not neat.

Ji Xuehui transmitted the nighttime footage captured by the underwater camera to her computer, and the screen suddenly lit up with a blinding white light—a cold beam of light cleaved through the dark lake water by the underwater camera's searchlight.

Xu Ying's pupils suddenly contracted.

In the center of the pillar of light, the female corpse was suspended in a distorted posture, her arms stiffly outstretched, as if she was desperately trying to grab something before she died.

The searchlight beam shone upwards on her face, illuminating her terrified features with a pale, distorted light.

Her eyes were wide open, the whites of her eyes bloodshot, and her irises, due to death, had spread into two dark holes; her mouth was agape as if emitting a silent scream.

Because of the low temperature at the bottom of the lake, her skin showed no signs of decay whatsoever. Instead, it appeared almost transparently pale under the bright light, as if she had been soaked in the lake water and turned into a wax figure. Strands of long hair moved slowly in the water like living things, wrapping around her neck and shoulders, while her fingers were strangely curled, as if trying to grasp something.

The otter photographer was very meticulous. After circling the female corpse underwater to photograph its condition, he also got close to record the details on the surface of the corpse.

Ji Xuehui exclaimed in surprise: "There are obvious ligature marks and bruises on the surface of the female corpse's neck!"

"She didn't drown; she was strangled and then thrown into the lake. It can be preliminarily determined that she was murdered!"

Xu Ying had already looked away, thoroughly hating her own curiosity. The "stunning scene" of the female corpse on the screen was now etched into her mind.

She turned her face away, gently rubbing the little otter's cheek to ease the discomfort. "Didn't you say she looked like she was asleep? Who sleeps with their eyes so wide open?"

The otter cub scratched its little paws sheepishly: [We thought that once she was underwater, she would sleep with her eyes wide open, like a fish, just like it does underwater.]
The sensitive taimen glanced sideways again: [Station Chief Xu, are they talking badly about me again?]
Xu Ying quickly waved his hand.

Ji Xuehui then put away her computer. "Station Manager Xu, thank you for your hard work today."

"We will send the images to the forensic experts for examination, and we will also extract biometric information from the two pieces of evidence. We believe we will soon know the identity of the female corpse at the bottom of the lake."

"It's nothing." Xu Ying smiled and shook her head. The system had given her the ability to understand animal language, which changed her predicament of being thrown into the desert at the beginning. She wanted to do everything she could to repay this world.

However, as she rescued more and more animals and the rescue station grew larger, the system stopped issuing tasks as often. It was said that Xu Ying's efficiency in completing tasks far exceeded expectations. Moreover, as Station Chief Xu's network of contacts in the desert expanded, news about rescuing animals was promptly transmitted through Xu Ying's extensive animal intelligence network.

Xu Ying's points are just a few thousand points away from reaching 5.

Xu Ying patted Ji Xuehui on the shoulder: "I was just doing my part by providing information. It's up to you guys to do the tracking and investigation afterwards!"

Looking at Xu Ying, who was full of energy and enthusiasm, Ji Xuehui couldn't help but be infected by her and a smile appeared on her lips.

Taking advantage of her height, she reached out and pinched Xu Ying's cheek, her tone light and teasing: "That's great! Seeing you so energetic makes me feel like the case will definitely be solved smoothly!"

Chen Su's gaze fell on Ji Xuehui's hand pinching Xu Ying's cheek. "Everyone has worked hard today." This afternoon, there was a traffic jam and a series of car accidents in the Snow Mountain Scenic Area. There was a shortage of manpower, so Chen Su and the Snow Mountain Police Station were transferred there. They still have to investigate the case tonight.

Chen Su took out his car keys from his pocket and said to Xu Ying, "Let me take you home to rest."

"Then I'll leave it to Captain Chen!" Xu Ying smiled at Chen Su, the unmelted frost on her eyelashes shimmering under the temporary incandescent light.

Xu Ying got into the passenger seat of the police car and gasped as she bent down to climb in—the aftereffects of crawling on the ice were only now starting to surface in her joints.

Ji Xuehui clung to the car window, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopped herself. In the end, she simply stuffed the scarf that Xu Ying had dropped into Chen Su's hand: "Captain Chen, you must take good care of our lucky star who solves cases."

As the police car drove away, Xu Ying saw in the rearview mirror that Ji Xuehui was waving goodbye to her.

She couldn't help but chuckle, but when she turned her head, she bumped into Chen Su's taut profile.

The man's jawline seemed to have been sculpted by the glaciers of Xishan, and even the curve of his Adam's apple exuded a sense of ascetic restraint.

"There's chicken soup in the thermos, drink it while it's hot." He said calmly, his gaze still fixed straight ahead, but his right hand precisely pulled a spoon in a sealed bag from the storage compartment and handed it to her.

Xu Ying was taken aback and looked down at the storage compartment between the two of them—a medium-sized insulated container was placed there steadily, the lid tightly closed, but a faint trace of warm air was emanating from it.

She blinked and couldn't help but ask, "Captain Chen, where did you conjure this chicken soup from?"

(End of this chapter)