Chapter 310: Chapter 309: Strangled to Death

[Then why don’t we directly give Qi Xiao brother a heart gesture!]

Fox Boss raised his paws, drawing a heart shape in the air with his two small paws.

The other little foxes followed suit, mimicking the Boss’s actions and drawing hearts for Xu Ying in front of the camera.

The little ear foxes chattered noisily, and Qi Xiao shook his head with a smile amidst their "attack." Despite not understanding Fox Language, he knew these mischievous little creatures were undermining him.

He picked up the heart-gesturing foxes from his body, holding them in his arms. Qi Xiao’s arms encircled five little ear foxes tightly, forming a fluffy bundle with their large airplane-like ears twitching.

Qi Xiao’s slender fingers sank into the warm orange fur pile, and the five little foxes simultaneously raised their bushy tails, swaying like orange seaweed.

The sound of the desert wind outside the rescue station mixed with their cheerful noise, seemingly becoming tangible even through the screen.

Xu Ying laughed, "This scene is just too cute." Her ears turned red, "I know, I know, you all wait obediently for me to come back!"

After dinner, while Xu Ying was washing dishes, the snow cleaning weasel suddenly scurried in through the small door of the rescue station.

[Little Xu Station Chief, urgent intel!!]

Xu Ying immediately paused her actions, "What’s up?"

The snow cleaning weasel wiggled its tail’s tip, [A snow sparrow said it saw a man strangling a woman with a rope over twenty days ago! Near a tourist spot by the Ice Lake, close to Cedar Forest!]

Xu Ying quickly wiped her hands clean, "Where is the snow sparrow now?"

[It’s flying over soon!]

Xu Ying hurried outside the rescue station to meet the snow sparrow.

Soon, a delicate snow sparrow flew toward Xu Ying.

Xu Ying opened her palm, wearing warm gloves, and the little snow sparrow landed in her hand.

[Wow, Little Xu Station Chief, your hand is so warm, I wish I could always be held in your palm~]

Its feathers were as white as snow, its eyes as nimble as black beans, and its delicate yellow beak gently opened and closed, resembling a fluffy cotton candy adorned with specks of ink.

Xu Ying was charmed by the flirtatious little snow sparrow, "Haha, my gloves are warm. If you can provide clues this time, I’ll give you a glove you can carry back to your nest as a warm blanket~"

The snow sparrow brightened its eyes upon hearing about the reward, [Little Xu Station Chief, let me take you to the place where the man strangled the person.]

The Snow Mountain was colder at night, yet with the snow cleaning weasel and the snow sparrow accompanying her, Xu Ying was not afraid.

As they flew, the snow sparrow recounted what it saw.

[Little Xu Station Chief, the man and woman I saw looked like a couple because, after they entered the woods, they kissed, and their actions were very intimate~]

This made the snow sparrow lower its head shyly.

[The man had prepared a snowman in the Cedar Forest earlier, but the snowman wasn’t built that night; it had been there for several days.]

Over twenty days ago, Snow Mountain had a cold snap, making it feasible to build a snowman early as it wouldn’t melt.

Xu Ying raised her eyebrows and pulled out her phone, showing photos of Lao San and Lin Qing to the snow sparrow, "Can you check if the man and woman in the photos are these two people?"

The snow sparrow shook its head hesitantly, [Little Xu Station Chief, my night vision is poor.]

[I couldn’t clearly see what the man and woman looked like, I only vaguely saw their actions.]

Xu Ying suddenly remembered that snow sparrows are sensitive to changes in light. Their vision is excellent in well-lit conditions, allowing them short-distance fog penetration, but their night vision is extremely poor.

Xu Ying rubbed the snow sparrow’s head with her fingers, comforting it, "No worries, what happened then?"

Recalling the incident, the snow sparrow’s eyes were filled with fear, [A terrible thing happened!]

[After embracing for a while, the man asked the woman to turn around and close her eyes for a surprise gift.]

[The woman turned around and closed her eyes, the man dug a bundle of ropes from under the snowman.]

Hearing this, goosebumps rose on Xu Ying, realizing that building the snowman wasn’t for a surprise but to hide the murder weapon...

[I started calling out loud immediately when I saw it, but the woman didn’t open her eyes. The next moment, the man slipped the rope around her neck.]

[The poor girl then opened her eyes, but it was already too late.]

[She was strangled to death by the man.]

The snow sparrow’s tone was somber.

[The man also dug out a large bag from the snowman, packed the girl’s corpse into the large bag, then carried it to the Ice Lake.]

[He threw the girl’s body into an ice hole on the lake and left.]

Xu Ying urgently asked, "Did the man take the rope after strangling her, or did he dispose of it?"

[He threw both the rope and the bag off a snow cliff.]

The snow sparrow’s expression was serious, [I flew to the edge of the snow cliff to look, the cliff was very high, and below was a no-man’s land, only animals could reach there.]

[While intending to use fire to burn the rope and the bag, the strong wind and snow rendered it impossible to light them. Pressed for time, he simply tossed them off the snow cliff.]

Xu Ying’s heart raced upon hearing this.

As they spoke, the snow sparrow led Xu Ying to the initial crime scene—a quiet Cedar Forest, a niche tourist spot in West Mountain, frequented only by those familiar with its terrain or professional mountaineers.

Xu Ying, not a professional detective, couldn’t discern much. She placed a GPS locator there, subsequently transmitting the signal to Ji Xuehui.

"Officer Ji, we’ve found new clues! It’s likely the first site where the suspect strangled Lin Qing."

Ji Xuehui promptly replied with excitement upon receiving the message, "Great, I’m heading to the scene with colleagues now. Little Xu Station Chief, I’m impressed, Snow Mountain is full of informants!"

Xu Ying chuckled, setting down her phone, she poked the snow sparrow’s rotund body, "Little Snow Sparrow, can you take me to see that snow cliff?"

[Certainly.] The snow sparrow flapped its small wings, guiding Xu Ying to the snow cliff where the suspect seemingly discarded the tools.

Xu Ying approached the cliff, crouching and crawling cautiously to the edge.

Fearing she might slip and fall straight off the cliff.

The cliff was particularly tall and steep, resembling a sudden mountain fracture, giving the impression that falling from there would shatter one’s body to pieces.

The chilling wind whistled around the cliff edge, making Xu Ying’s heart flutter uneasily.

She scrutinized the cliff, finding that although steep, it wasn’t smoothly like a geometric slant; the protruding rocks could serve as footholds.