I raise furry animals and fly them to my motherland.

Chapter 318 White Crane's Broken Leg
Qi Xiaorui smiled and turned to look at her: "Station Chief Xu, Dean Xu. From now on, you'll have another title: Captain Xu."

Their eyes met in the air, and Xu Ying's face immediately flushed.

With a smile, she asked, "Coach Qi, where is the training base?"

“It’s 300 kilometers away,” Qi Xiao added. “Don’t worry about the distance. I’ll fly this Airbus H145 to take you to your flight training classes every week.”

Xu Ying's ears suddenly burned.

Who's the kind person who takes a helicopter to school?!

The thought of learning to fly a helicopter filled Xu Ying with excitement. She grabbed Qi Xiao's wrist, felt the throbbing pulse in his veins, and released his hand: "Captain Qi, can we take a test flight now?"

Qi Xiao's long, thick eyelashes cast a fan-shaped shadow under his eyes.

When the aircraft arrived, he had already applied for a flight plan with the relevant departments. "Of course," he said.

Qi Xiao grabbed her cold fingertips and pressed them onto the start button, the claw mark embedding perfectly into her palm.

All the control lights in the cabin were turned on.

Qi Xiao took a half step back, casually placing his right hand on his left chest, his knightly salute tinged with a touch of unruliness: "Fox-One special flight, Captain Qi Xiao is on standby for you at any time."

As he bowed, the silver chain with wolf fangs traced a silver arc from the open collar of his shirt.

Xu Ying's heart pounded wildly, and her cheeks flushed crimson.

"Is there anything we need to do for the flight?"

"Leave everything to me."

*
Qi Xiao changed into a black flight jacket, his slender fingers checking the instrument panel.

Xu Ying also changed into the small-sized flight jacket that Qi Xiao had prepared.

Seeing Xu Ying approach, he casually picked up the noise-canceling headphones from the passenger seat; the metal clips gleamed in the sunlight.

"Come here." He beckoned to Xu Ying, his voice carried on the wind.

When Xu Ying sat in the co-pilot's seat of the helicopter, he reached out and brushed aside the wind-blown strands of hair from her temples, his fingertips brushing against her earlobe as he put the earphones on her head.

The leather straps carried his body heat, and Xu Ying could smell the faint amber and citrus scent on his wrists.

"seat belt."

Qi Xiao leaned over and carefully pulled the seatbelt. The metal buckle clicked softly as his breath brushed against her collarbone.

Xu Ying looked down and saw a small flight badge on the back of his neck, which appeared and disappeared between his collar as he moved.

Amidst the roar of the engine, the veins on the back of Qi Xiao's hand, gripping the control stick, bulged slightly.

He tilted his head to check on Xu Ying, his profile illuminated by the light: "Ready?"

After receiving a nod of approval from Xu Ying, he pressed the communication button. Qi Xiao adjusted the headset with one hand, tapping the communication button three times with his knuckles.

Amidst the static, the small mole on his Adam's apple twitched slightly with each low report.

“Area control, this is Fox-One, hospital special equipment requesting test flight.”

He rubbed the microphone with his fingertips; the electromagnetic waves converted this small movement into minute noise. "Coordinates are synchronized; altitude maintained below 300 meters."

Qi Xiao was clearly familiar with the area control, as the air traffic controller replied with a smile on the other end of the radio: "Roger, Fox-One. Flight area check complete."

The sound of keyboard typing could be faintly heard in the background. "Is your 'special equipment' code name still QX-09 today?"

Xu Ying saw Qi Xiao's eyelashes suddenly tremble. He spoke quickly, unable to hide the sudden reddening of his ear tips: "Correction, the equipment has been upgraded to XY-52 today."

A suppressed laugh suddenly broke through the radio: "Understood, XY-52 equipment test flight clearance approved. Best wishes, Captain Qi." The static paused subtly, "...Test flight acceptance was successful."

Qi Xiao decisively ended the communication, but met Xu Ying's curious gaze. "What kind of medical equipment is XY-52?" She poked the still-hot radio.

"Is that the aircraft's code name?"

Qi Xiao suddenly lifted the collective pitch stick with his left hand, and the helicopter jerked its head up like a wolf being choked by the scruff of its neck.

Amidst the roaring sound waves, his voice came through the headset: "This is your code name."

The deep, low-pitched radio tone sent shivers down Xu Ying's spine.

The moment the helicopter took off, Qi Xiao suddenly covered Xu Ying's hand with his right hand: "Don't grab the seat, hold on here."

He guided her to press the central control panel, his palms bearing the thin calluses from years of gripping the joystick, the warmth emanating from their skin as they pressed together.

Outside the porthole, the desert was unfolding like a scroll at an astonishing speed. Qi Xiao suddenly tilted the fuselage, and Xu Ying cried out and leaned against his shoulder.

He chuckled softly and executed a beautiful hovering turn: "Look east."

It turned out to be a group of cheetahs chasing shadows on the sand dunes, and when they saw the helicopter, they all stood up and waved their claws.

"Hold on tight." Qi Xiao suddenly lowered the control stick, and the helicopter plummeted like a swooping falcon, almost grazing the palm treetops of the oasis.

The massive airflow from the rotor blades swirled up the dewdrops from the treetops, shattering them into countless tiny rhinestones on the windshield.

Xu Ying's exclamation caught in her throat, turning into a light, joyful laugh.

She saw the swirling air currents create a silver ring on the lake's surface.

A barely perceptible smile curved Qi Xiao's lips. He tilted the aircraft, and the wind whipped up by the rotors swept across a patch of flowers. In an instant, thousands upon thousands of petals rose into the air, forming a pinkish-purple blizzard in the sunlight. Some even pierced through the open porthole and landed in Xu Ying's outstretched palm.

Xu Ying suddenly realized, how could there be such a large flower field in the desert?
It was prepared in advance by someone.

“This is cheating.” She turned her head, holding a flower petal, only to find Qi Xiao looking at her through his water-drenched goggles.

Behind the glass that reflected rainbow-colored light, his gaze was focused and gentle: "For passengers' first flight experience, the service must be perfect."

Xu Ying smiled, revealing two dimples: "The passengers are very satisfied and give Captain Qi a five-star rating!"

The helicopter slowly landed beside a mirror-like lake, where the splashing water droplets exploded into countless diamonds in the sunlight.

As Xu Ying leaped off the hatch, her boots sank into the wet mud. She took a breath of the fresh air, and the sweet, metallic smell of rust mixed with the earth assaulted her nostrils—

In the reeds, a white crane crawled forward, its broken wing bones supporting it on the ground. Its legs were broken cleanly at the joints, revealing the stark white bone fragments.

The blood left two viscous red lines along its crawling path, and with each inch it advanced, new drops of blood dripped from the cut surface.

“Oh my god…” Xu Ying quickly turned to Qi Xiao and said, “Quick, give me my animal first aid kit.”

Qi Xiao quickly took the medical kit off the plane and handed it to Xu Ying.

Xu Ying knelt beside the white crane and began to stop its bleeding.

The crane suddenly convulsed violently, and a special steel cable was found wrapped around its broken leg bone—a carbon fiber traction rope used by aerial photography drones.

Half a propeller blade was still stuck at the knot.

As Qi Xiao's shadow descended, a whirlwind of bloody stench swept over him. He knelt on one knee, his tactical dagger already piercing the steel cable binding Bai He's leg.

He held up half of the propeller wreckage, with a few crane feathers still entangled on the sharp edge. "German-made octagonal drone, camera gimbal model."

Xu Ying frowned, his gaze sweeping over the reeds, then over the mineral water bottles and snack bags left behind nearby, and a map that resembled a birdwatching guide.

"It appears that the crane's legs were severed by a birdwatcher's drone..."

(End of this chapter)