Chapter 324: Chapter 323: Identifying the Culprit!

Xu Ying’s eyes lit up instantly. The White-tailed Ground Crow—known as the "Desert Ghost" bird—is famous for its elusive nature and remote habitat, making it a dream target for many birdwatching enthusiasts.

Just as she took a step forward, four Earth Crows immediately fluffed their feathers, flapping their wings in panic as they flew up to the nearest branch. [Humans are coming! Run!]

Cried one of the Earth Crows.

Xu Ying quickly stopped and pulled out a pack of specially made bird food biscuits from her backpack. The sweet aroma spread through the air, stirring up the Earth Crows in the trees. [Wait... that smell...]

One Earth Crow twitched its small nose.

"Don’t be afraid, I won’t harm you," Xu Ying said softly, tossing a biscuit gently under the tree. With a "plop," the golden biscuit landed on the sandy ground, emanating an enticing fragrance.

Four pairs of round black eyes blinked between the branches, full of caution yet unable to hide their curiosity. [It looks... like it would be really tasty...]

The smallest Earth Crow swallowed hard.

Finally, the boldest one flew down first, cautiously pecking at the biscuit.

Its eyes lit up immediately: [Oh my! This is better than all the breadcrumbs I’ve ever eaten!]

Seeing this, the other Earth Crows also flew down one after another, pecking at the biscuit bite by bite. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Xu Ying slowly approached and squatted a meter away from them.

"Little cuties," she asked softly, "have you seen a young man?" She gestured as she described, "wearing a green Jade Peaceful Coin around his neck, shining diamond earrings on his ears, and with a black big round camera secretly taking pictures of you?"

[Click, click...]

The Earth Crows pecked at the biscuit while tilting their heads to think.

[Ah! That shiny human!] One Earth Crow suddenly raised its head, [The shiny things on his ears and neck were so beautiful; I wanted to steal them to decorate my nest!]

Xu Ying smiled, knowing that crows tend to have a "collecting obsession," liking to gather shiny objects like glass or bottle caps.

Xu Ying tossed another handful of biscuits and continued to ask, "Where did you see him?"

[In the back garden of the desert resort to the northeast!]

Another Earth Crow answered while eating, [There are always lots of tourists there, and the most food is dropped there.]

[We were hiding well at first,] the third Earth Crow interjected, [but he still found us. He wanted to secretly photograph us, but fortunately, we reacted quickly and flew away in a flash.]

It puffed out its chest proudly, [He was so disappointed at the time that his camera dropped down.]

[Why are you looking for him?]

The first Earth Crow asked suddenly, cautiously, still pecking at the biscuit but staring straight at Xu Ying with its black beady eyes.

Xu Ying explained gravely, "Because he’s a bad person who harms birds. He tracked a Bai He with a drone. Likely due to poor operation, the drone’s propeller directly cut off both of Bai He’s legs."

She clenched her fist, "Now this culprit has fled to the resort, and I must catch him, otherwise other birds will be in danger too."

The feathers of the four White-tailed Ground Crows fluffed up after hearing this. [Oh my! How cruel!]

The Earth Crow with the most fluffy crest cried out, [To harm Mr. Bai He!]

The cleverest Earth Crow flapped its wings: [We can go around the back garden again! That bad guy will definitely show up when he sees us.]

It tilted its head and added, [But there are several humans in the resort with black big round cameras photographing birds; they seem to know each other and inform each other.]

[You have to guarantee our safety!]

The smallest Earth Crow said timidly, its eyes like black pearls shining with worry.

Xu Ying solemnly nodded, taking out a few more biscuits from her bag: "I promise to protect you all."

She gently stroked the feathers of the smallest Earth Crow, "Once the bad guy is caught, I’ll bring you more delicious biscuits."

In the golden sunset, the four White-tailed Ground Crows fluttered their wings and landed lightly on the tamarisk trees in the back garden of the resort. Their hallmark "punk" crests gently swayed in the breeze, and their black and white wings shone with a metallic luster in the sunlight.

"Look! It’s the White-tailed Ground Crow!" a tourist exclaimed.

Almost instantly, shutter sounds burst out from all directions. A man wearing a baseball cap and lugging a long-focus lens brightened his eyes, immediately pulling out his phone to dial: "Same place, come quickly!"

In less than ten minutes, three other well-equipped photography enthusiasts hurried over.

Xu Ying, hiding behind a nearby palm tree, locked her sharp gaze like a hawk on the youngest man among them—short hair, earrings, and with a Jade Peaceful Coin hanging conspicuously around his neck! Her pupils shrank suddenly: it’s him!

"Captain Chen, Boss Qi," Xu Ying immediately lowered her voice to contact her teammates, "Target spotted, northeast corner back garden, four-person gang."

At the other end of the phone, Chen Su’s urgent response came, "Sand Rat Boss here seems to have found the drone wreckage and is tugging on my pants leg. You and Qi Xiao go first, I’m on my way!"

"Understood." Qi Xiao’s voice came through the intercom, steady and powerful, "I’m already on the way."

At this moment, the four "photographers" were fully focused on surrounding and photographing the Earth Crows. The short-haired man was adjusting his camera parameters, his lens greedily following the birds’ every move.

The other three were encircling from different angles, shutter sounds firing continuously.

Xu Ying, now somewhat famous, always went out wearing a baseball cap and a patterned mask.

She stealthily approached the short-haired man, adjusting her mask position, and spoke with a deliberately admiring tone: "Hey, what kind of birds are you photographing? They look so special! Can you tell me about them?"

She pointed to the professional camera hanging around his neck, "Your equipment is so well-prepared; you must know a lot about this, right?"

The young man couldn’t help but smile at her words. He straightened his camera, his tone carrying a bit of pride: "This is called the White-tailed Ground Crow, nicknamed the ’Desert Ghost’. They’re elusive and hard to capture." He pointed at the little creatures preening their feathers on the tree, "I didn’t expect to be so lucky today to find a group of them at the resort."

"Wow!" Xu Ying’s eyes curved like crescents, her voice full of wonder, "You’re so knowledgeable at such a young age; are you a professional ornithologist?"

Though wearing a mask, the man could tell from Xu Ying’s bright eyes that she was a pretty girl. He feigned modesty with a wave of his hand: "Just an amateur hobby, but I do know a bit about them."

"That’s amazing!" Xu Ying gave a thumbs-up, her genuine praise making the man’s spirits soar.