Chapter 65

Ling Yue bid farewell to the officers, and as she was leaving she glanced at Lin Shaoze; he handed her a document with a seal on it. Ling Yue froze: "What is this?"

Lin Shaoze: "Internal documents. I represent the Jing Shi Criminal Investigation Brigade, hiring you as an external consultant. These are the interrogation materials for the poaching case; we have temporarily identified several targets, but we fear that existing electronic technology will alert them, so we can only have you act."

Upon hearing this, Ling Yue almost laughed out loud; she had become the police station's secret weapon, and this police‑civilian cooperation was getting more and more promising.

However, doing it this way, the police will also provide certain conveniences for her stray‑animal rescue base and zoo; after all, some favors cannot be settled with money alone.

Before leaving, she took that document, and under the gaze of everyone at the police station she started the car; above the car was a group of exquisite, pretty little birds, while the relatively weak pearl‑bird couple perched on the roof, leaning on each other.

Cheng Ziming stared in shock at the scene; that flock of birds looked like a variegated, fluffy cloud.

No one expected that in just a few minutes Ling Yue could tame this flock of birds and come up with such a method; they arranged themselves into various formations, neat as a military unit.

Ten minutes later, a surprising sight appeared on the roads of Jing Shi.

Above the off‑road vehicle, dozens of pretty little birds hovered lightly in midair, while passing vehicles gazed in amazement at the scene; amidst the steel forest of skyscrapers, their tender, ethereal chirping sounded like swaying blossoms.

Such ostentatious display attracted more attention than any gimmick; the beautiful birds would occasionally pause, then take off, like dragonflies skimming water, sending ripples across people's hearts.

Inside the car, many pairs of eyes watched them, and quite a few people pulled out their phones to take pictures.

On the car roof, the timid pearl‑bird couple snuggled together.

"Honey, do you like it?"

The pearl‑bird wife nodded, the cold wind ruffling her feathers as she tucked into her husband's wings, revealing a pair of rolling, curious eyes; she gazed wonderingly at every corner of the world: "I love it—is this what the world outside the cage is like?"

It chirped twitteringly.

The other birds were equally curious; passing a tree, a bunch of flowers, a multicolored balloon was enough to make them gasp in wonder, reluctant to leave.

"The outside world is so vast!" exclaimed the lively goldfinch, standing on the car roof with wings spread.

Qing Ling followed the car at a steady pace, watching the astonished little birds, and said: "This is only a part of the world; I have left the city and ventured into remote jungles where the trees are as tall as these skyscrapers, various small creatures live in the forest, and there are clear streams whose water is as transparent as glass—lower your head and you can see all kinds of tiny fish and shrimp."

All the birds were captivated by her description; lost in reverie, Ling Yue returned to the villa, where on one side of the courtyard stood an osmanthus tree so thick that two people could barely encircle it—October is its blooming season, though not yet due, the canopy already sprouted dense clusters of pretty little buds.

The birds perched above, catching a faint fragrance from the branches and leaves.

They stood on the branches, preening their feathers.

Or they twisted about curiously, surveying the unfamiliar surroundings.

Such a commotion caused the villa's small animals to come running out; when Jun Jun emerged, its pure white fur still had various colored little pom‑poms attached, and upon seeing Ling Yue it immediately let go of its paws and sprang over energetically.

"Meow meow meow~"

The soft, milky voice made Ling Yue's heart melt; she bent down, picked up Little Star, and weighed it: "Oh dear, Little Star, you've gotten heavier again."

Little Star licked her wrist, its soft tongue's tiny papillae scraping lightly: "You… you're the one who's heavy!"

Countless kittens leapt toward her; Ling Yue merely cupped her hands and gathered a big bunch of cuties, all with star‑shaped eyes, gazing at her sparkling brightly.

"Wuu wuu wuu I like it so much I like it so much…"

"I want Yueyue to kiss, hug, and lift me up high~"

The clingy‑type kittens surrounded Ling Yue; from afar she looked as if she were drowned in a sea of fluff.

Ling Yue had to strain greatly to draw attention away; the Black Cat Queen stood at the eaves, beside her was the treasure‑hunting mouse Duo Duo wearing a small satchel.

Sensing her gaze, the Black Cat Queen leapt down lightly; as a creature with an extremely strong territorial instinct, it noticed the strangers' arrival instantly.

Before the treasure‑hunting mouse could say anything, it saw the wife jump down; it almost followed, but seeing the seven‑ to eight‑meter drop below, it burst into tears.

At that moment, the Black Cat Queen gazed far into the distance, landing on the osmanthus tree in the courtyard; then it turned its gaze to Ling Yue, its feline eyes making her scalp tingle: "Um…"

Even when she agreed to Ya Ya, Ling Yue had anticipated this scene; facing it squarely, she was utterly dumbfounded, sitting on the lawn: "If I say this was an accident, would you believe me?"

The Black Cat Queen elegantly crouched on the grass, its fluffy tail coiled around its paw pads, looking at her: "What do you think?"

Ling Yue explained the situation: "... I'm not just being kind‑hearted; this is only temporary, and if they want to stay here, they'll need to provide compensation."

She had already planned out how to use these pet birds, believing they would surely enjoy it, just like these kittens learning manners.

She likes small animals, but not without limits or conditions.

Ling Yue lowered her head, opened her palm, and countless tiny cute paws reached out to rest in her hand; the kittens said in their milky voices: "Hold paws~"

Ling Yue rubbed the kitten's head, her eyes curving: "Really good."

On the road, she had already bought some feeding troughs for the birds; after the long journey, the birds were already famished and dizzy.

The crushed milk bits were mixed into the food, and thanks to the lesson from Little Fatty Chirp, these birds are so tiny and pitiful that normal portions of milk bits are far too much for them.

The instant Ling Yue produced it, the lush osmanthus canopy trembled: "Chirp chirp chirp—"

Countless pea‑sized eyes stared at it; the tiger‑striped parrot Ban Ban lowered its head to glance at its belly—it was hungry.

Qiao Qiao leaned against it, her bird eyes full of longing: "Hubby, I'm hungry."

Not just her—other birds were hungry too, but the more tempting the food, the more dangerous the cats; these are pet birds, not foolish ones.

"I'm so hungry too, I really want to eat some fragrant food QAQ"

"Who isn't? But there are lots of cats down there—I don't dare go down."

"Cats are terrifying—they'll catch us, pluck out all our feathers, and then swallow us whole!"

"How scary!"

The branches swayed; many birds were so frightened by those words they dared not lift their heads, except for one bird that fearlessly stepped onto the twig nearest the ground.

Suddenly, a brilliant goldfinch flew down from the tree; Ling Yue rose, opened her hand, and the bird landed in her palm.

Qing Ling: "I'm hungry; can I have something to eat?"

She displayed a maturity and independence starkly different from the other birds, tilting her head to meet the cats' gazes, just as expected.

The kittens on the lawn are just a month old; only adult or nearly adult large cats would pose a threat to them.

Ling Yue looked at the Black Cat Queen, which let out a call; the kittens all stumbled and ran over, like a receding tide leaving the lawn, leaving only Ling Yue and the feeding goldfinch Qing Ling.

"Whoosh la la~~"

The next moment, all the birds flew down, heads bowed, pecking fiercely at the trough; whether from extreme hunger or the food being too delicious, they ended up so stuffed they couldn't fly, each round and plump, even more standard than Little Fatty Chirp's family.

Ling Yue had previously given notice that no animals would disturb her and these little birds for the time being; her gaze fell on the birds, and she suddenly opened her palm, where Qing Ling landed skillfully.

It told a story about itself and its mate.

"I was born in a breeding aviary; my parents were purebred canaries bought by humans, so I and my siblings were selected by humans as soon as we hatched. If nothing unexpected happened, I would become a pet canary like my other siblings, a caged bird."

"But then an accident happened—or rather, I caused it to happen."

Ling Yue propped herself on her elbows, closed her eyes, and Qing Ling's voice was ethereal and melodious; her storytelling was pleasant to hear, but hearing her say she had single‑handedly caused the accident left Ling Yue somewhat surprised.

According to Qing Ling's account, it was simple: before being transported, she secretly learned how to open the cage, and she did so because of her nature.

Qing Ling herself admitted: "I am the most rebellious canary in my family; while they looked forward to the human world, I preferred nature."

The family that kept them had an old dog that loved nothing more than lying lazily on the floor, warm sunlight falling on its whitened fur, telling the youngsters stories of the past—stories the mischievous puppies did not like.

On the contrary, the canary nearby heard plenty of stories from nature; she heard the old dog grandfather say that every breeze there carried the fresh scent of grass and trees.

For a canary that had always been kept indoors and harbored countless hopes, the old dog grandfather's tales of freedom and wind were especially attractive.

Thus, during the long wait of the transport process, it opened the cage that confined it and escaped.

At first it was delighted—tall trees, flowing streams, every patch of wildflowers and every blade of grass on the ground made it gasp in wonder.

But when night fell, the shadow beneath the beautiful facade appeared: a pampered pet bird alone in the wild realized for the first time how hard it was—no scheduled bird feed, only sour, tiny wild fruit, no way to rest, and it had to dodge predators that could appear at any moment.

But it endured; wind and rain could not topple it, and so it transformed.

"I have grown so much that even if I returned home to my parents, they would not recognize me." Speaking of her parents, Qing Ling rare self‑mockery arose.

"Later, on a night of heavy rain..."

It was the first gale of summer; for a canary that had just fled its home, it was practically a huge disaster—the wind raged, the rain poured down, and it hid in a nest it had happened to find.

That was a hollowed‑out tree trunk; after the rain stopped and the sky cleared, it was astonished to discover a large bird perched above its head.

"It has a sharp beak, its wings spread as thick as a tree, its talons are extremely sharp—together they are as big as my body!"

Hearing this, the other birds froze stiff as clay figurines—just from hearing the description.

The skylark shrank its head in fright and asked, "That's too terrifying—why would there be such a horrible big bird, and how did you manage to stay alive back then?"

But what happened next made everyone's eyes pop out.

"It said its name was falcon, and later it became my companion."

Ling Yue stared in astonishment at the delicate little canary that could fit in one palm—its husband was actually a bird of prey!

The canary's story continued: "That storm brought an injured falcon; its presence blocked the rain that kept drifting into the hollow and also barred my usual exit. I wanted to leave, to fly out from above, but I lacked the sharp beak of a woodpecker—my advantage is singing."

It is hard to imagine how a canary could resist fear and repeatedly fly past the falcon.

After the rain, the forest teems with insects, which for the canary Qing Ling is a veritable feast.

Occasionally it would glance up at the half‑dead large bird, perhaps because it was immobile, and it would temporarily rest in the tree.

Its food was provided by the canary—some small grasshoppers, tiny insects. It was not out of pure kindness; the price was stories of the outside world: the falcon's migrations over deserts of yellow sand filling the sky, misty blue‑gray mountain ranges, and endless oceans.

At that time it never expected to become the little companion cradled in the falcon's talons.

The canary liked to appear promptly when the first ray of morning sunlight shone into the hollow, greeting the dawn with song from the branches—and thus it actually got along harmoniously with the falcon above.

Later, summer rains came frequently, and another storm struck, even stronger than before, with howling winds that made the great trees sway.

But this time it felt no raindrops falling; strangely, Qing Ling lifted her head, met the falcon Mr.'s gaze, and it spread its strong, powerful wings, completely covering the hollow.

The rain and wind outside the nest blended into a roar, as if the world would end in the next second.

Afterward, in the downpour, the falcon Mr. was permitted to enter the canary's nest; they huddled together in the warm, dry burrow, she lived under its protection, and after the rain cleared she continued to aid that poor large bird.

When one day she began singing again, a sharp chorus rang from above; seeing it look over, the Altai falcon came to a halt.

Qing Ling thought it absurd: "Is your song a courtship song?"

The fearsome‑looking big bird Mr. nodded and extended an invitation: "I hope you will agree to spend the rest of your life with me."

That day, the tender, lingering song echoed late into the night.

Much later, it and its companion left the forest where they had lived, placed in the palm of a sincere, devoted partner, they flew together over a calm, waveless lake, skimmed the rustling woods, and sang love songs amid splendid, dreamy twilight.

"Until one day I didn't realize when we had been targeted; by the time I noticed human traces, the other side had already spread a huge net…"

"I can't find it."

Qing Ling's tone grew urgent, her pleading gaze fixed on Ling Yue: "Please, you must find it—I'm certain it hasn't been captured; I want to find it."

Before Ling Yue could speak, the system's mechanical tone sounded belatedly, accepting the canary's wish to find her lost husband, with the reward: Requiem.

Accept or refuse?

Ling Yue clicked accept without hesitation, telling the canary she would certainly help—but it wasn't unconditional, just as the canary had said before, she wanted compensation.

Ling Yue's gaze fell on the flock of small birds; those immersed in the canary's music snapped to attention, trembling as they looked at her.

"Do you want a new master, or to be adopted by me to work for me?"

The lively canary spoke first, asking: "What is work?"

After a moment, having heard all the explanations, the birds chorused in unison: "We want to work!"

Ling Yue was somewhat surprised: "Why?"

The tiger‑striped parrot Banban looked at her: "Because of you."

"Don't you realize what your appearance means to us? No human has ever been able to understand our voices and treat us so generously."

"By your side we have absolute freedom."

The timid pearl‑bird couple could not help but speak: "We also have to thank the crows; if it weren't for them, we wouldn't have been bought by you and become your birds."

Qing Ling gave a light cough, affirming their words: "Whatever you want to do, we will fully cooperate."

Ling Yue blinked, having already decided what to do; she rubbed her sore brow, her eyes falling on Qing Ling: "I want to form a bird choir, and I need you, Qing Ling, to be its leader."

"If the songs can be released, the royalties will be your wages."

The birds stared at her in shock—humans enjoy birdsong, but no one had ever thought of forming a bird choir.

No one has Ling Yue's ability, and no bird possesses Qing Ling's ethereal, exquisite voice.

After looking to the future, these birds temporarily roosted in the osmanthus tree; they were quite pleased with the arrangement, and at night they could count the stars under a clear sky—those are stars, after all!

Only the lamp was lit, or else it was utter darkness.

Ling Yue rubbed her stomach, feeling she was not as good as those birds; she glanced at the time—was the meal at three in the afternoon still called lunch?

The next day, Ling Yue got busy; she wouldn't forget what she had promised Captain Lin, but after counting, the small animals she had were all unsuitable for this surveillance— they needed to be tiny, utterly unnoticeable little animals.

Ling Yue's thoughts stirred— she had an idea!