Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 170 Many Ancient Tombs in Southern Province

Suppressing the discomfort in his heart and nose, Lin Ge slowly walked to the lynx carcass.

The carcass had been dead for a long time and was severely decomposed, at least a week ago. Judging by the fact that the two lynx cubs didn't leave despite the terrible state of the situation, it was likely their mother.

As for why he died here...

Lingo saw the remains of a human arm, which must have been dragged out from deeper inside the tunnel, halfway through the tomb.

Lin Ge didn't know if it was the same one they were looking for before. He also didn't know whether the female lynx had been beaten to death or died of illness after eating a rotten arm.

But without a doubt, the discovery of human remains, along with the presence of tomb raiding tunnels and clear signs of human activity, indicates that this is at least another major case. A case involving tomb raiding, murder, and even the killing of wild animals—all of these are included.

Whether this scene is related to the previous headless corpse case is not that important.

It's also possible that the criminals were a group of tomb raiders. For some reason, they killed someone but didn't have the means or time to completely dispose of the body, so they hid something easily concealed and easy to identify here?
Lin Ge didn't know the specifics of the situation, but he knew the purpose of his trip to Nan Province. A case that might have required a long journey through the mountains to solve had suddenly found a solution.

But... where is this place?
Lin Ge looked around and found that the surroundings were completely unfamiliar. Even though he had observed the surrounding mountains from the edge of the cliff, they were vaguely different from what he saw here. Even the geological properties were different. Who knew where he had wandered off to all this time?

Returning the way they came wasn't difficult, but leading the large group back again was a bit complicated. Some sections of the route were impassable by human hands, and Lin Ge himself didn't know how to navigate the detours.

and so……

At that moment, the collar around Lingo's neck suddenly began to vibrate.

Lin Ge was stunned for a moment, then heard a voice from inside the collar: "Mimi, where did you go? Why haven't you come back yet?"

Damn, how come Nie Guoqiang can call here too?

Lin Ge narrowed his eyes in displeasure.

"Wow!"

The two lynxes that were about to approach were suddenly startled by the sound coming from Lin Ge, and they arched their backs and roared in fright.

"?"

Nie Guoqiang was stunned on the other end of the phone. Was this the sound Mimi could make?
However, being a man of experience, Nie Guoqiang quickly reacted, seemingly searching for a quiet place. After a while, he whispered, "Have you found any clues? If so, stay where you are and don't move. I'll go there right away according to the location."

Lin Ge remained silent, only helplessly watching the two little devils who were overly suspicious of each other.

The two lynx cubs' behavior made him suspicious. They might have seen or heard human voices before. And these weren't ordinary voices; they might have been hunted or attacked, otherwise they wouldn't be so wary.

Just a minute ago they were desperately trying to get closer, but now they're keeping their distance from Lingo. One of them hesitated and tried to approach, but the other grabbed its tail and pulled it back with all its might.

Lin Ge was a little annoyed, but luckily Nie Guoqiang hung up the phone, so he flicked his tail and walked over to the two lynx pups.

For Nie Guoqiang, Lin Ge's silence meant tacit agreement.

Seeing that the police officers who had finished resting and were waiting to leave were getting impatient, and even seemed to be complaining that Mimi was unreliable, Nie Guoqiang walked over expressionlessly and waved his hand to signal everyone to follow him.

Without explaining, he simply contacted Qian Wei and Sun Chang by phone, then opened the app Zhang Yong had installed for him before he arrived, found the location option, summoned the criminal investigation captain of Yexian Police Station, and instructed him to lead the way to the flashing red dot on the map.

"Hiss... This doesn't seem to be within the jurisdiction of Yexian County!"

The criminal investigation captain took a deep breath, somewhat hesitant and unwilling. He naturally knew what his superior was thinking.

Are you sure it isn't?

Nie Guoqiang turned to look at him, having no doubt about the preparations he had made the night before. Although Lin Ge's location was a bit remote, it was situated at the border of two counties, and certainly not outside the jurisdiction of Yexian County.

"Hehe...maybe, probably the border area. After all, this area is all mountains, so it's a bit unclear which side should be in charge."

The criminal investigation captain chuckled awkwardly, too embarrassed to utter the phrase "no man's land." Seeing Nie Guoqiang staring at him with a serious expression, he rubbed his head and said, "Alright, alright, I'll explain the location to everyone clearly now. Hehe... we rarely come to this kind of desolate place, so please forgive me if I misremembered, Chief Nie. Hmm... I just didn't expect your cat to be so fast, running so far in a flash, making so many of us search for it."

The criminal investigation team leader's words were somewhat veiled, but Nie Guoqiang disdained to explain.

Talking is meaningless. The harsh reality will eventually slap these lazy people in the face. Nie Guoqiang trusted Lin Ge more than he trusted the leaders of the Yexian Police Station. He believed Mimi wouldn't mislead him without reason, nor would she inexplicably go to such a far place. Therefore, there must be something going on; even if the case couldn't be solved, there must be important clues waiting there.

Therefore, he does not accept any complaints or rejections.

When the Yexian police heard the order relayed by the criminal investigation captain, some of them indeed began to complain.

Of course, there are also honest and hardworking people who have already begun to quietly pack their things and organize their equipment, ready to obey orders and set off.

Regardless of what they thought or their attitude, Nie Guoqiang took the lead and set off towards the location located on his phone.

The others followed, and the group began their journey through the mountain gully.

On the other side, Lingo had finally managed to appease the two baby lynxes.

After the collars stopped making noise, the two little ones quickly regained their trust in Lingo. Putting the previous incident aside, they howled twice at their mother's corpse and then enthusiastically led Lingo to the entrance of a nearby burrow.

This is their home.

Upon closer inspection, Lin Ge discovered that the narrow hole was likely also a tomb robber's hole, as there were many shovel marks on the hole walls and man-made mounds of earth nearby.

However, since the cave entrance was abandoned or the tomb raiders had left, the place was later occupied by a mother lynx, who turned it into her den for raising her cubs. The mother lynx even dug and filled in the depths of the cave, which was filled with dry grass and other things, making it relatively dry and warm.

Then, Lingo patiently played with the two baby lynxes by their nest.

There wasn't much play involved, because even if he just squatted there motionless, the two little lynxes were already very happy.

They hopped and skipped about, chasing each other here and there, sometimes fighting, sometimes catching insects, sometimes battling with vines, never settling down for a moment. But they would always glance in Lingo's direction from time to time, and when they saw that Lingo was still there, they became even more excited.

"These two little brats, are they planning to find themselves a dad? Hmm... I should say, a godfather? How clever." Lin Ge lazily flicked his tail, looked around, and found a flat spot to lie down.

It's clear the mother lynx had taken good care of the area around her den; the ground was covered in fine soil, without any of those annoying pebbles. It's just a pity she died so suddenly, leaving behind not enough inheritance or skills for her two chicks to survive.

I wonder how the two little ones survived the days while their mother lynx was gone.

Time passed little by little, and before we knew it, it was dark.

Lin Ge was getting impatient, but the good news was that he could see flashlights swaying below the mountain, indicating that the distance between them was closing.

The two lynx cubs also saw the incredible light. They were immediately frightened and tucked their tails between their legs into their burrow. After a while, they poked their heads out again and, seeing Lin Ge still squatting outside, quickly whined, urging him to come back inside.

Lin Ge sighed.

He knew that the time to part with the two little lynxes was fast approaching. Although he was still worried about the future of the two little guys, as a cat, Lingo really couldn't think of any way to help them.

Is sending them to the zoo really the best thing for them?
But they couldn't take them away, because these two little guys weren't like the three tabby siblings at home; they were genuine national protected animals, and even the police station wasn't authorized to keep them.

But what if we just leave it here and ignore it?
Lin Ge looked down at the ground beneath his feet. Who knew how many more tombs were nearby!

As the ancestral home of Chinese civilization, from its founding to its development, the Southern Province has witnessed countless dynasties and the tragic demise of numerous emperors and generals. While it may not be a metropolis like Luoyang or Chang'an, where antiques are readily unearthed, it is still a place worthy of the unreasonable probing of tomb raiders. Could two motherless lynx cubs truly survive and grow up peacefully in such mountains?

Even setting aside tomb raiders, how many young wild animals can successfully grow into adults and reproduce?

Lin Ge felt that the number must not be very large.

Lin Ge couldn't come up with a solution, so he decided to pass the trouble to Nie Guoqiang. Since this guy was willing to create such a mess for Zhang Yong, there was no reason for him to ignore his problem.

Thinking about giving up made Lin Ge feel much better.

"Whoa!"

Seeing that Lingo refused to hide, a little lynx mustered up its courage and ran out to question and complain to Lingo.

"Shut up!"

Lin Ge slapped the guy on the head, pinning him to the ground so he couldn't move.

Seeing that another little guy was about to crawl out, Lin Ge glared at him and let out a low growl, successfully scaring the timid one back into the hole.

Then his ears twitched, and he released the lynx and turned to look at the tomb.

"What's this!"

"Holy crap, that's disgusting!"

"No...this bone..."

"Have we found it?"

"Awesome!"

The commotion over there grew louder; clearly, the police who had come had been drawn by the stench and discovered the tomb robber's hole, the mother lynx's carcass, and the human skeleton in front of her.

The sudden sound of human voices startled the little lynx, who had just managed to get up, so much so that it ran away and scurried into the hole.

Lin Ge sighed, turned around and went to meet up with Nie Guoqiang.

"Wow!"

The baby lynx cried anxiously at the cave entrance, but Lin Ge hardened his heart and pretended not to hear it.

With a blank expression and a tense atmosphere, Lin Ge slowly walked towards the noisy area. Halfway there, he saw a guy approaching with a flashlight and, without a word, jumped up and slashed with his claws!

"Who told you to make that call?"

"Mimi?"

Nie Guoqiang was stunned for a moment after being attacked for no reason.

Fortunately, I was used to Lin Ge's recklessness, and I instinctively used my sleeve to block the cat's claws, otherwise there would have been blood.

He didn't know why Ling Ge seemed to be in a bad mood, so he just squatted down and pressed Ling Ge's head down, saying, "Well done! I knew it, finding things is no problem for you! Hehe... and you even found a tomb robber's hole, that's another great achievement!"

"I also found two orphans who had lost their mothers, what do you mean by that?"

Lin Ge glared at Nie Guoqiang, then twisted his head and slipped out from under his grasp, his tail drooping as he continued walking towards the crowd.

"What's going on here?"

Nie Guoqiang was a little confused.

He didn't know what Lin Ge had encountered in those short half-days, so he didn't know how to comfort the cat.

Seeing the cat walking forward with its head down and tail drooping, looking utterly dejected, Nie Guoqiang had rarely seen it so downcast, and his curiosity grew even stronger.

Just as I was about to follow, a voice suddenly came from behind me.

That is……

(End of this chapter)