Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 35 Seeking Death
Lin Ge underestimated the girl's physical strength.

Or perhaps he underestimated Lin Jia's inner pain and her determination to never return.

After following the scent through the streets for over half an hour, Lin Ge could clearly sense the little girl's confusion and helplessness. But just when Lin Ge thought she would hide in a secluded, deserted place, the scent turned around and left the city.

"They left by car?"

Lin Ge, Zhu Jun, and Nie Guoqiang stood in front of the bus stop, which had already suspended service, and their faces all looked very grim.

There are fourteen bus routes passing through this bus stop, so it's impossible to guess where Lin Jia will go.

If it were daytime, they could use the security cameras in the surrounding shops, but in the middle of the night, with limited manpower, finding clues about the girl in a short time would not be so easy.

Nie Guoqiang went to a supermarket that was still open on the side and checked the security camera at the entrance. Unfortunately, the camera wasn't facing the street and didn't capture Lin Jia passing by. There was actually a bank nearby, which would undoubtedly have a higher chance of capturing the footage. However, at this point, contacting someone in charge at the bank and obtaining permission to enter the monitoring room in the shortest possible time was not an easy task.

The longer Lin Jia's matter is delayed, the greater the risk becomes. Lin Ge is also quite tired; he had been running and sniffing for over half an hour, which was no easy feat.

Seeing that Nie Guoqiang was rubbing his legs more and more frequently, Lin Ge simply jumped onto the dashboard of the motorcycle driven by Zhu Jun.

"What do you mean?"

Nie Guoqiang didn't react for a moment.

"Maybe... I should drive around looking for it? Anyway, Lin Jia is definitely heading this way. What if I smell her getting out of the car on the way?"

Zhu Jun offered his guess.

"Then what are you waiting for? Let's go!"

Nie Guoqiang roared.

Zhu Jun dared not utter another word and quickly got on his motorcycle and set off.

At first, he didn't dare ride too fast, but the feeling of riding against the wind still made Lin Ge very uncomfortable. What was worse, at this speed, it was extremely difficult to smell a scent that had vanished in an instant. Lin Ge could only do his best while his mind raced.

"Lin Jia's choice to take a car indicates that her destination is probably not nearby. So, in the dark and without a phone, where would she choose to spend the night? A friend's house? But her parents have already asked all her classmates..."

"In such a painful and desperate situation, would she choose to end it all? And for a young girl, what methods of suicide could she possibly think of..."

Just as Zhu Jun rode to the edge of the city and was about to turn around and take another bus, Lin Ge slapped the back of his hand and pointed to the road leading out of the city.

"Have you left the city?"

Zhu Jun assumed that Lin Ge had smelled Lin Jia's scent and quickly changed direction.

As time passed, Lin Ge and Zhu Jun got closer and closer to the Zhanghe River, and the police station gathered more and more clues. Unfortunately, Nie Guoqiang, who had just returned to the police station, didn't even have time to rest before Zhang Yong hurriedly came to find him.

"Boss! The bus company's surveillance footage has found Lin Jia! At 4:50 PM, she boarded bus number 4 from Guoyuan 2nd Road and sat in the last row by the window. At 6:22 PM, she got off at Letian Picking Garden and disappeared again."

"Lotte Picking Garden?"

Nie Guoqiang suddenly raised his head.

"It's near the Zhanghe Reservoir, in a very remote location with hardly anyone around. Apart from two fruit picking gardens, there aren't even any villages nearby."

Zhang Yong nodded heavily.

"That girl, she wants to die! Hiss..."

Nie Guoqiang gritted his teeth and stood up, but before he could even steady himself, he fell back down. He could only press hard on his right leg and pinch it desperately, hoping to use the physical pain to mask the excruciating cramping sensation.

Zhang Yong looked at Nie Guoqiang's ferocious expression and whispered, "Boss, leave it to me! Your rheumatism has flared up, you need to rest now. I'll take men there as fast as I can, we'll definitely find her."

"Then what are you dawdling about here for?"

Nie Guoqiang glared at Zhang Yong: "Aren't you leaving yet? Also, call Zhu Jun! In this desolate place, we'll have to rely on Mimi's help to find that child."

"I called a long time ago, but Zhu Jun's cell phone didn't go through and there was no response on the radio."

Zhang Yong gave a wry smile.

"If that bastard dares to play on his phone and chat with people during work hours again, or dares not to wear his mounted police helmet again, I'll kill him!"

Nie Guoqiang gritted his teeth.

Forced to crawl out of bed, Jiang Yiyi and Zhu Jun, huddled in the straw, both shivered inexplicably. But Zhu Jun now had an even more troublesome matter: he had lost the station's cat!
Just as the motorcycle reached the vicinity of this picking garden, Ling Ge jumped off the speeding vehicle to Zhu Jun's astonishment. By the time he quickly braked and looked back, all he could see was the swaying grass.

That cat... vanished without a trace in an instant.

At this moment, Zhu Jun wanted to cry but had no tears. He knew how much the institute, especially Nie Guoqiang, valued this cat. If they found out that he was the one who lost the cat, he would definitely be killed!

Lin Ge was equally anxious at this moment.

After jumping off the bus, he clearly identified Lin Jia's scent at the bus stop. The boy lingered at the bus stop for at least ten minutes before resolutely plunging into the pathless, decaying woods.

Lin Ge didn't know where she was going, but he knew one thing: if they kept going in this direction, they would definitely reach the bank of the Zhanghe Reservoir.

Based on the scent analysis, Lin Jia left the bus stop about an hour ago. If she were a decisive person seeking suicide, she would probably have successfully found her destination by now, and bubbles would be rising from the riverbed, right?
So Lin Ge didn't dare to delay for a moment, and buried his head to chase after the scent left by Lin Jia.

The low-lying weeds and thorny trees caused him a lot of trouble; he had to be careful not to get pricked in the eyes by those thorns that were several centimeters long. And those damned burrs were sticking to his body and legs, making him feel uncomfortable and making running very awkward.

But since it involved lives, Lin Ge dared not linger.

In truth, he didn't know what he could do. Even if he found the child, would he be able to stop her from jumping into the river? Lin Ge didn't know. He only knew that if he did nothing, the outcome would be terrible, and he would regret it for the rest of his life.

"Even though I'm a cat, deep down I still consider myself a human being!"

With a low growl, Lin Ge quickened his pace again.

It was the first time he had discovered he could run incredibly fast, many times faster than when he took a leisurely stroll. Neither bushes nor weeds posed an obstacle, and his exceptional eyesight allowed him to precisely choose his footing in the low grass. By simply lowering his head to protect his eyes, he could dash forward like lightning, rushing across a field of weeds and leaping over an irrigation ditch, gradually even able to smell the river.

"really……"

Lin Jia sat on a dry clump of mud, hugging her knees. She was surrounded by wet mud and messy branches, hiding herself in a grove of trees on the riverbank like a fisherman.

Looking back in the direction she came from, her eyes were filled with confusion and regret.

"What am I expecting? How could I possibly be found in a place like this? Even if my parents and the police are looking for me, they can't just fall from the sky and appear here, right? So, according to the decision we just made, if no one finds me in half an hour, I'll close my eyes and keep walking down, and walking down until I don't know anything anymore. After all, that's what we agreed on, right? I've already given myself a chance."

Lin Jia muttered to herself, carefully using the branches beside her to stand up.

She carefully patted her trouser legs and buttocks, then tidied her cuffs and bangs before cautiously lifting one leg and stepping into the wet, disgusting mud.

Lin Jia's beautiful sneakers were completely shoved into the mud, with mud seeping into the shoes through the gaps. The dampness and coldness made her shiver.

"Don't be afraid, just bear with it. Don't be afraid, Lin Jia..."

Lin Jia muttered to herself, then put her other foot down as well. After both feet were in the mud puddle, she carefully held onto the clump of mud to steady herself, then looked into the distance at the gently undulating river surface that reflected phosphorescence in the moonlight, and took a deep breath.

Then, she forcefully pulled her left foot out and took her first step.

"It will be a bit difficult, but I can still do it. If you want to do something, you can definitely do it. I've made up my mind, and one shouldn't go back on their word."

She muttered to herself as she staggered toward the deeper water.

But the pace slowed down, and he kept looking back every few steps.

"You can't go back on your word!"

The disappointment in her eyes became more and more obvious. Lin Jia pouted and decided that from now on she would never look back.

'Crash...'

Just then, an unusual sound rang out. Lin Jia's eyes lit up and she quickly turned around, almost stumbling.

But when she looked around, there was nothing at all in the pitch-black night! And... there were no sounds of her parents, police officers, or anyone else calling for her; no one was coming to save her!
Lin Jia's nose tingled, and she couldn't help but shed tears.

But she resolutely wiped away her tears, and this time, without hesitation, she even quickened her pace and walked step by step into the river.

"Ow~"

A chilling scream grew louder as it approached, and Lin Jia shuddered instantly, instinctively crouching down and covering her head.

"Fuck!"

Something swept over her head and plunged headfirst into the river.

(End of this chapter)