Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 168 Beast
"I really don't know what's so interesting about searching. We've already searched this hill several times."

The Yexian police officer complained impatiently, then tucked his trouser legs even tighter.

His colleague next to him was also silently doing the same thing, frantically spraying mosquito repellent on his neck and wrists, making himself look like a piece of cured meat.

Even in late autumn, the snakes, insects, and rodents on the desolate mountains show no signs of diminishing. In fact, to prepare for the harsh winter, their hunting is even more ferocious than usual. Have you ever seen mosquitoes the size of a fingernail? They roam here in swarms. Add to that the ever-present threat of venomous snakes and insects, and searching the mountains sounds difficult, but it's even more troublesome in practice. Especially in those remote areas, the weeds and thorny vines can grow to over a meter tall.

Lin Ge and his group silently followed the search team.

Of course, they weren't assigned any specific tasks, or rather, the direction of the Yexian police's operations; they were simply following Lin Ge and Nie Guoqiang's group. Even though Yexian had mobilized over eighty police officers, auxiliary police, and contract workers, everyone still had to defer to these few outside supporters. For these two mountains that had already been searched more than once, only by relying on the outside help brought in by the station chief could they have a chance to find any clues that might have been overlooked previously.

Nie Guoqiang naturally took over command without hesitation, dividing the team of more than eighty people into three groups and conducting the search in a fan-shaped, tiered fashion. He himself, along with Lin Ge and Bei Bei, went to the route the suspect was most likely to take.

“Mimi, this time it’s up to you and Beibei. I don’t think the suspect has the willpower to carry the remains very far, so the body must be hidden in one of the nearby mountains.”

Nie Guoqiang whispered something to Lin Ge, then loosened the reins around Bei Bei's neck.

"Wang!"

Beibei let out an excited shout and ran off without hesitation, even though it had absolutely no clue.

Lin Ge stretched leisurely, then looked around to choose a route. He and Nie Guoqiang had similar thoughts: the suspect couldn't have gone too far, but he also couldn't have taken an obvious main road with people coming and going all the time.

Looking down to sniff, the surrounding smells were mixed. Yexian police had searched the mountain more than once, and some traces that might have been left by the suspect had been helplessly destroyed.

Without much thought, Lin Ge randomly chose a route with less trampling and ducked into the bushes.

"Follow!"

Nie Guoqiang waved his hand and followed behind Lin Ge.

Nie Guoqiang wasn't too confident about the two teams Qian Wei and Sun Chang had infiltrated. However, he trusted Lin Ge's abilities; he believed that as long as the bodies hadn't left the two mountains, Lin Ge would definitely find something.

However... the idea was good, but reality was cruel.

After half a day of climbing up and down, Lin Ge didn't find anything suspicious. On the contrary, his fur was all ruffled by the grass, and he was covered in fleas and other nasty insects, making him both tired and annoyed.

"Ouch!"

With an impatient shout, Lingo picked out a flea crawling in the hair of his arm and viciously crushed it to death.

Looking back, Nie Guoqiang saw that the police team from Yexian County were also exhausted. He could only rub his leg and then, without any regard for hygiene, sit down on a straw mat next to Lin Ge: "Tell everyone to take a break. Drink some water and eat something, and we'll continue in an hour."

The police officers quickly found places to squat or sit, trying to recover their strength.

"Director Nie, have some water."

The head of the criminal investigation team at Yexian Police Station handed Nie Guoqiang a bottle of mineral water and said with a smile, "Don't rush, we have plenty of time. Chief Lu also said that we should take it one step at a time and not rush. Slow and steady wins the race and we won't make any mistakes."

"Now that I'm here, I'll naturally do what I'm supposed to do."

Nie Guoqiang ignored the implication in the man's words, took the bottle of mineral water, unscrewed it, and poured a capful for Lin Ge: "Mimi, have some too. You've worked hard all day, take a break. We'll search another hundred meters, then go back and search the area we've already been through again."

"What a load of crap! I've already searched this place; there's absolutely no way a body could be buried here."

Lin Ge grunted unhappily and lowered his head to lick the water with his tongue. He drank half of the bottle capful, spilling the rest. Nie Guoqiang poured some more, but Lin Ge still drank it all.

"Wang!"

Beibei wagged its tail frantically beside them, thinking, "Why should only the cat be taken care of? That's not fair!"

"Hehe..." Nie Guoqiang laughed, sprinkled some water on Beibei's head to cool it down, and then put some water into his palm with his fingers together so that Beibei could drink it.

Beibei lowered its head and licked Nie Guoqiang's palm. Nie Guoqiang used his other hand to groom the fur on Beibei's neck, removing the spiky balls and some withered leaves. He then rubbed its belly, making Beibei whimper contentedly.

Lin Ge watched Nie Guoqiang interact with the police dog with a calm expression, somewhat surprised that this guy would actually take care of a police dog. However, thinking about Nie Guoqiang's first-class merit award, it seemed to make sense.

Sitting there for a while was getting a bit boring, so Lin Ge rolled his eyes and wandered off to the other side.

"Chief Nie, your cat!"

The Yexian police officers nearby saw this and quickly alerted Nie Guoqiang.

"Let it be! This guy is restless and can't sit still. Anyway, it's quite sensible and will be back in about the right amount of time."

Nie Guoqiang didn't even look up.

The Yexian police officers exchanged disapproving glances. Was it really that casual? Even if it was a police cat… cats aren't exactly obedient creatures.

Lin Ge lowered his head and squeezed through the branches of a dead tree. His target was a naturally formed cliff not far ahead, where half of the mountain appeared to have slid down due to a landslide, leaving a low slope below.

Standing on the edge of the cliff and looking ahead, all you see is an endless expanse of mountains. Beyond those mountains are more mountains, lush and verdant, so densely packed that you can hardly see any roads or traces of people.

However, the air here is very fresh. Compared to the complex smells of tar and dust in the city, the environment in the mountains is more than ten times better. In particular, the clear blue sky beyond the distant mountains made Lin Ge feel refreshed.

He hadn't seen such a pure natural landscape in a very long time.

Especially after transforming into a cat, its field of vision became lower and its range of movement narrowed. Apart from this trip to the southern province, it has almost never left Zhangzhou City, let alone ventured into this kind of forest environment.

However, it is ultimately not as suitable for living as the city.

Lin Ge found a pine tree and rubbed the dirt off his feet on it. The dry bark felt strangely refreshing against his skin. As he played, he couldn't help but rub his neck as well, rubbing back and forth until he felt completely refreshed.

"Woo..."

A soft cry suddenly came from not far away, causing Lin Ge to freeze in place.

As if he had been caught doing something shameful, Lin Ge slowly turned around, wanting to see which bastard dared to show up at this time.

Upon seeing this, Lin Ge was startled.

Before him appeared a small, tan-colored lynx with pointed ears topped with tufts of downy fur. It looked very much like a cat, but its legs were longer than a typical cat's, its tail was short, and it had more fur on its cheeks. This little creature was probably still a kitten, only half the length of Lin Ge. It stared at Lin Ge with a curious gaze, seemingly intrigued by Lin Ge's similar yet different appearance. Seeing Lin Ge turn to look at it, it immediately took a step back and made a snarling gesture. Halfway through the gesture, it seemed to falter, its neck tucked in, and it turned and ran, disappearing into the bushes in a flash.

"Is this guy a lynx?"

Lin Ge stared blankly at the spot where the little lynx had disappeared, somewhat unable to believe that he would see a wild animal here.

Even though lynxes aren't particularly rare wild animals, they are still protected by the state as a Class II protected wild animal. Lin Ge had only seen pictures of them before, and had never even seen one in a zoo. Unexpectedly, he saw a live one this time in Nan Province. And this creature even lived not too far from the city; there were two fairly large villages at the foot of this mountain.

"However... judging from its size, it should still be a juvenile, right? In other words, there is at least one female lynx around here? And there are probably other lynxes in these mountains."

Using simple animal mating principles, Ringo determined the condition of the lynx.

"Woo..."

Just as they were about to return to their resting place, they heard another strange cry from behind.

This time the voice was even clearer. When Lin Ge turned around, he saw two tan-colored heads popping out of the grass, staring at him intently.

(End of this chapter)