Chapter 22: Catching the Spy

Although the "Universal Animal Language Experience Card" redeemed yesterday only lasted for one hour, it could be paused. With ten minutes remaining on the card, Xu Ying hurriedly asked the little sand mouse for details.

"Boss Mouse, are you certain those bad guys are spies?"

[Confirmed! My mother's cousin's eldest nephew's wife's brother lives in the area where these spies are operating, about a hundred kilometers away from us.]

Listening to this long string of kinship, the corner of Xu Ying’s mouth twitched slightly. The mouse’s family network was truly extensive.

[They discovered a group of people carrying bulky, heavy machinery and collecting some kind of data. In their conversations, they even mentioned pinpointing the location of a military industrial base.]

[Although we mice are known for a bit of petty thievery, we still know right from wrong. We chewed through the spies' data cables.]

Boss Sand Mouse stroked its nose with a claw as it said this. Although it was actually its relative who had chewed the cables out of an itchy-toothed whim, framing it this way made the mouse family seem more principled.

[As a result, the very next day, two spies brought back a sand cat, and after that, we didn't dare to get close to them anymore.]

That explained why the spies had taken the sand cat.

[You've all worked hard. Once the spies are captured, I will fill up your pantry immediately.]

Xu Ying yawned, rubbing her sleepy eyes as she asked, "Where are the spies who took the little sand cat now?"

[I came here precisely to lead the way for you, little sleepyhead. Get up!]

Boss Sand Mouse started chirping like a little alarm clock again.

"Alright, alright, I'm getting up right now."

Xu Ying gathered the little fennec foxes that were curled up around her neck and head, placing them gently beside her sleeping bag. The alert lead fox opened its eyes, looking at Xu Ying in a daze.

"Boss, I’m going on a mission. You stay here at the station and behave with the little ones, okay?"

The sleepy lead fox nuzzled Xu Ying’s hand with its head to show it understood, then dropped its head and went back to sleep.

Xu Ying felt her heart soften. With a happy smile, she climbed out of her warm sleeping bag, and immediately, two small sand mice scurried over to drag her shoes to the side of the iron bed, lining them up neatly.

"Thank you, darlings."

Having grown accustomed to calling the fox cubs "darlings," she let the word slip. The two sand mice widened their eyes in surprise, then covered their faces and scurried under the bed.

She laughed out loud and went to boil water for a wash.

"Wait, where is my hair tie?"

No sooner had she said it than a sand mouse emerged from under the bed with the hair tie, hopped onto the washstand, and "delivered" it right to her hand.

The level of thoughtfulness surprised her. Having such smart and attentive mouse stewards taking care of things made life feel much brighter... Wait, mouse stewards?

Xu Ying immediately looked at the boxes of supplies she had stacked against the wall of the rescue station. Sure enough, a dozen or so sand mice were already circling the boxes of compressed biscuits.

The cardboard box had a hole in it, and three or four packs of biscuits were already exposed. Seeing Xu Ying look over, the mice immediately froze in place, their little claws fidgeting nervously, their short pink fingers poking at each other.

Xu Ying gave a helpless smile. Never mind. Calculating the number of mice in the room, she took out four packs of biscuits, found an old basin, and crushed them into pieces.

"You've been busy all night, haven't you? Thank you for your hard work; this is breakfast for you."

[Thank you, Boss!!!]

The little sand mice were overjoyed. They squeaked and scrambled over, gathering around the basin to eat. With their heads buried deep, all one could see were their long, pink tails standing up and twitching.

When Qi Xiao left yesterday, he had left her beef jerky and naan bread, reminding her that there was plenty of goat milk powder and that she should nourish herself alongside the little foxes.

After washing up, Xu Ying made a cup of goat milk powder and had a meal that counted as a grand feast in the desert.

Xu Ying wiped her mouth, feeling a bit greasy. If only she had vegetables and eggs, she could have a balanced diet.

Once the sand cat was rescued, she would immediately start farming!

After breakfast, Xu Ying filled the motorcycle with fuel. Boss Sand Mouse naturally hopped onto the bike to guide her. Her work uniform had a chest pocket just the right size for a mouse, and after the boss climbed in, Xu Ying used medical tape to create a makeshift seatbelt for it.

The black-footed cat she had encountered yesterday had dug a hole near the rescue station as a temporary den. Before leaving, Xu Ying called for it and secured the largest pet carrier she had onto the motorcycle.

The woman, the mouse, and the cat set off.

With a distance of over a hundred kilometers, and with the mouse family relaying information, the exact location wasn't clear yet. She would have to follow the information provided by the family intelligence network and ask for directions from mice along the way.

Because she needed to ask for directions, Xu Ying redeemed another "Universal Animal Language Experience Card." She decided that the next animal language she learned would definitely be Mouse!

Little sand mice were the most incredible intelligence officers!

Xu Ying had to confirm the spies' location before sending a message to Chen Su at the police station.

The desert management zone was located in Xizhou Province, in the far west of China. Due to the Earth's rotation and latitude, there was a two-hour time difference between the local time in Xizhou and the standard capital time.

At nine o'clock in the evening, it was still bright, and it didn't get dark until ten, while the sun didn't rise until eight or nine in the morning.

It was six in the morning now, and it was still as dark as the middle of the night.

While driving, Xu Ying caught sight of a Gobi bear that looked exactly like Boss Bear.

"Hey, Bear!"

Xu Ying excitedly stopped the bike and called out to the Gobi bear.

The bear, hearing someone call it, turned its head in confusion. Xu Ying familiarly grabbed its arm and stuffed a can of meat into its embrace.

The bear shuddered; its eyes flickered with surprise before turning awkward.

Xu Ying patted its shoulder: "Brother, are you free right now? Can you do me a favor?"

The Gobi bear looked at the can in its arms, then at Xu Ying, and nodded blankly.

"Great! Come with me then! I'm going to find the spies, and I need a bodyguard!"

Xu Ying climbed onto her motorcycle and started the engine. Seeing the bear still standing there, she waved at it: "What are you waiting for? Keep up!"

As Xu Ying rode on, she noticed the Gobi bear following at a distance. She was puzzled as to why the bear had suddenly become so introverted, never realizing she had mistaken it for the wrong bear.

Gobi bears were solitary creatures by nature. The communal living of Boss Bear was a rare exception due to his mate giving birth. Most Gobi bears were introverted, some even suffering from social anxiety.

Boss Bear had only been so enthusiastic because of the unique circumstances under which they had met.

The bear Xu Ying had grabbed was the most socially anxious of them all.

As it trotted behind the motorcycle, it wondered, why wasn't this human afraid of it, and why did she insist on coming up to it?

Most importantly, having accepted the canned food, it felt too embarrassed to refuse or help, so it had to grit its teeth and follow along.