"My name is Lu Ruo. I'm not a monster, and I appreciate the information you've given me," Lu Ruo promised the two birds. "Next time I come by, I'll bring you some rice grains."
"Rice grains don't taste good," the female sparrow on the right finally chirped, her voice delicate and sweet. "I like cooked rice—it's fragrant and sweet!"
"Then I'll bring you cooked rice. I'll make sure you're well-fed," Lu Ruo said, thinking for a moment. "If your range is large enough, you can even come find me in the city to eat."
The female sparrow perked up at this. Despite the scent of cat lingering on Lu Ruo, she hopped from her branch to the one closest to her. Tiny as she was, her bean-sized eyes were filled with a desperate longing for rice. "Where in the city do you live? I can move house and come find you!"
Lu Ruo gave her the address of the Gu Family Villa. The little sparrow nodded to show she had memorized it.
"I'll feed you once I get back," Lu Ruo continued, "but right now, I need to find Big-Eyed Crow. Can you help lead the way?"
"Sure, sure!" The little sparrow called out to her brother, "Let's lead the way for her together, brother! That way we can trade for even more rice!"
Clearly, her brother was just as fond of rice. The two sparrows flapped their wings and took flight in front of Lu Ruo. Even while playing guide, their little beaks didn't stop, as they chattered away with gossip from the bird colony. They talked about two male sparrows who had fought over food, one losing an eye and the other his tail feathers. They talked about a mother sparrow who had been incubating eggs, only to discover later that she had been raising another bird's brood.
Lu Ruo matched their storytelling with looks of shock. After walking for twenty minutes, she heard, "Look, Lu Ruo! That's Big-Eyed Crow on that branch. He's been standing there every day recently."
The trees in April were already dressed in green leaves. Hidden amidst the foliage, there sat a pitch-black crow. From a distance, his eyes were indeed remarkably large and prominent.
As Lu Ruo looked at the crow, Big-Eyed Crow spotted her, too. He shifted his talons and asked, "Little sparrows, why are you so close to a human, and why are you saying my name?"
To Lu Ruo, the bird's call was automatically translated into a deep, magnetic bass voice.
Just as Lu Ruo was about to reply, the sweet-voiced little sparrow spoke up proudly, "Big-Eyed Crow, you're wrong! Lu Ruo isn't a human!"
Big-Eyed Crow was startled. "What do you mean, she isn't a human?"
The little sparrow puffed out her chest. "Lu Ruo isn't a human; she's a monster! She can understand what we're saying!"
Lu Ruo: "..."
So, even though the little sparrow had switched to calling her by name, she still secretly assumed Lu Ruo was a monster. However, with such a sweet, delicate voice, Lu Ruo didn't mind being called a monster at all.
That worked out perfectly.
Lu Ruo turned to the two little creatures, who had returned to her shoulders, and said gently, "His name is Big-Eyed Crow. Do you two have names?"
Both sparrows shook their heads.
Lu Ruo said, "How about I give you names? Your voice is lovely, so I'll call you Jiaojiao. And since you're Jiaojiao's brother, we'll call you Guoguo. Unless, of course, you have better names in mind?"
"Oh, I really like that name!" Jiaojiao agreed readily. "Our sparrow family is just too huge, unlike Big-Eyed Crow who is all alone, so nobody really bothers with names."
Seeing Jiaojiao so happy made Lu Ruo happy, too. She looked up at Big-Eyed Crow in the tree and asked politely, "Hello, Big-Eyed Crow. I'm Lu Ruo. I wanted to ask if you happened to see who hid the human corpse in the wooden barrel in the warehouse."
Having watched Lu Ruo talk to Jiaojiao, Big-Eyed Crow was now certain that she could truly understand avian language. Someone who could talk to birds was definitely a monster! Still, she had no wings and her hands were empty—she didn't bring any tools, so he had nothing to fear!
With that thought, Big-Eyed Crow cawed, "I did see it, but I like the pretty treasure in the water. If you fish it out and give it to me, I'll tell you what I saw."
[New Mission: Help Big-Eyed Crow retrieve the treasure from the water. Mission Reward: 10 points, one random animal language.]
"A pretty treasure in the water?" Lu Ruo looked at the shimmering surface, unable to imagine what kind of treasure could be in there. But if Big-Eyed Crow wanted it, she had to find a way to get it.
"Should I call someone?" Lu Ruo muttered to herself.
Her troubled expression caught Gu Qi's attention. He waved his clean, slender-fingered hand in front of her. "Don't tell me you were having such a good time with the animals that you forgot about me."
Gu Qi's words made Lu Ruo offer an awkward smile. How was she supposed to tell him that she had indeed forgotten all about him?
Lu Ruo's silence made Gu Qi's expression turn even more resigned. "I'll have someone bring the equipment over. You can chat with Big-Eyed Crow some more."
Gu Qi pulled out his walkie-talkie to summon his subordinates. But to his surprise, the moment Big-Eyed Crow heard the word "equipment," he flapped his wings and took off. As he flew away, he let out a cawing, mocking laugh: "Vile humans, trying to use tools to catch me, Big-Eyed Crow! Absolutely impossible!"
"We aren't trying to catch you..."
A bird in full flight is fast, and Lu Ruo's shout was swallowed by the air. In a moment, Big-Eyed Crow was nothing but a small black dot in the blue sky, vanishing from sight.
Since Big-Eyed Crow had run off, she would have to fish the item out first and then go look for him. Fearing that the little sparrows would be scared of strangers, Lu Ruo took the initiative to warn them: "Jiaojiao, Guoguo, a few people are coming here soon. If you're afraid, you should fly further away."
Jiaojiao tilted her head, her bean-sized eyes sparkling. "Then we'll go help you find Big-Eyed Crow, so he doesn't fly too far away."
"That would be great!" Lu Ruo was delighted that Jiaojiao and Guoguo were willing to help. "Thank you!"
The two sparrows flew off. Ten minutes later, Zhao Kuo and his team arrived.
As Zhao Kuo pulled on his waterproof pants, he asked Gu Qi, "Captain Gu, did you find a lead? Why the sudden order to dredge this pond?"
He had looked around on the way over and hadn't seen any clues. Once Zhao Kuo finished his question, Gu Qi was silent for a moment before looking at Lu Ruo. "It was my god-sister, Lu Ruo, who suggested we dredge it."
The statement left Zhao Kuo stunned, and the other officers were equally taken aback. On the way here, they had assumed the Captain had used his extraordinary skills to spot a detail they had missed. To find out that it was this young girl, Lu Ruo, who had requested it—
"It was indeed my request," Lu Ruo said, deciding to come clean now that Gu Qi had spoken. "It's related to the case. I'm sorry to trouble you all." She bowed.
Seeing the seriousness on Lu Ruo's face, a thoughtful look crossed Zhao Kuo's baby-faced features. She had provided the intelligence for the previous theft case, which led to the arrest of one of the perpetrators. Could this young girl be a criminal investigation prodigy? Was there an extra clue to a murder case that led her to ask for the pond to be dredged?
Zhao Kuo knew about the theft case, but the other officers did not. One officer named Zhang Cheng frowned, unconvinced. "Captain Gu, we're here to solve a case. We can't just follow a young girl's whims. What if this delays the investigation?"