The Civil Servant's Job is to Raise The Furries!-Chapter 248 - 247: Snow Pigeon’s Aunt’s Home

As the wind outside the cave gradually died down, the Snow Wolf King trotted gracefully up to Xu Ying, with silver-grey fur still dusted with unmelted snowflakes.

It lowered its head to gently nuzzle Xu Ying’s hand, a trace of gentleness flickering in its golden eyes: [Little Xu Station Chief, the storm has lessened, we can set off now.]

The four of them followed the guide bear, leaving a trail of footprints of varying depths in the snow.

The bear’s broad back was like a moving wall, shielding Xu Ying and the others from the biting cold wind along the way.

When they reached that steep snowy cliff, Xu Ying couldn’t help but gasp—the cliff face was nearly vertical, with a crooked pine faintly visible through the swirling white snow mist.

[That’s the place!] The bear pointed with its paw.

Chen Su had already deftly unstrapped his backpack and retrieved the drone equipment.

He knelt on one knee in the snow, his long fingers moving deftly over the control panel, practiced and skilled.

The drone emitted a low hum as its rotors kicked up fine snowflakes, slowly probing the area below the cliff.

Xu Ying leaned in beside him, the two watching the live feed on the monitor together.

"Sister Bear says move a little to the left..."

Xu Ying gently reminded, and Chen Su nodded slightly, his fingers lightly nudging the control stick.

The drone’s camera slowly turned, and the full view of the snowy cliff gradually became clear on the screen—

On the steep cliff, a crooked pine tree stubbornly grew from a crevice.

On its branches hung a human-shaped outline—an ice-encased body, like a cruel artwork of ice sculpture.

Xu Ying covered her mouth; it was her first time seeing such a close-up of a body—it was truly horrifying.

The corpse’s arms were tightly wrapped around the trunk, as if seeking support in its final moments of life.

A thick layer of ice covered the entire body, with only the dark outline of a climbing suit faintly discernible.

The ice crystals refracted a bizarre light under the sun, freezing the body and tree trunk into an inseparable entity.

Ji Xuehui squatted behind them: "Zoom in on the face."

The image zoomed in, revealing a distorted face under the ice—the eyes wide open, mouth slightly ajar, as if silently screaming.

Ice and snow filled his features, forming a semi-transparent mask of death.

The helicopter looped to the side, capturing more startling footage: a broken climbing stick was lodged in the back of the body, the metal tip gleaming coldly in the ice.

The surrounding ice had an unnatural dark red hue, as if soaked in blood and then refrozen.

"Facial features are unrecognizable."

Chen Su reported calmly, "Need to break the ice to confirm identity."

"The body’s current position is quite tricky, breaking the ice is going to be difficult."

Ji Xuehui sighed, "Unless we send a helicopter, but with the unpredictable weather, I’m afraid a worsening storm could threaten the crew’s safety."

Just as they were at a loss at the edge of the cliff, a rustling of wings broke the silence.

[Little Xu Station Chief, what are you looking at by my aunt’s doorstep?]

Three round snow doves landed on nearby rocks, their fluffy belly feathers gently quivering with their breaths, resembling three animated rice dumplings.

Xu Ying’s eyes lit up, she squatted down to meet their gaze: "Hello, what do you mean by ’aunt’s doorstep’?"

[That’s that pine tree!] The leading snow dove tilted its head.

Xu Ying understood immediately; snow doves habitually nested on cliffs in the snow mountain.

[My aunt had bad luck,] the second snow dove chimed in, [she went visiting and came back to find a two-legged beast had crushed her nest!]

[Exactly!] The third snow dove flapped its wings, [Both tree and man are frozen solid, leaving aunt homeless! We can only support her.]

[We doves have strength in numbers; we’ve built aunt a new home nearby.]

The three snow doves chattered away like they were performing a skit.

Xu Ying couldn’t help but smile, but quickly caught on to something: "Wait, did you say ’took away his bag’? Is that bag still there?"

[Of course! We transformed the bag into a new nest, it’s quite cozy!]

Xu Ying quickly untied her cashmere scarf: "How about I trade this with you for that bag? This is even warmer."

The snow doves approached and nuzzled the scarf, [Wow! Softer than down!] They whispered among themselves, [We’ll go ask aunt!]

"Wait!"

Xu Ying urgently called after them, "Can you help with one more thing? See if that two-legged one has anything else on him, like..." She gestured, "Little cards or pouches from his pockets?"

[Leave it to us!] The snow doves responded in unison, flapping their wings towards the cliff.

The waiting minutes felt excruciatingly long.

Guan Lin, the male officer traveling with Ji Xuehui, couldn’t help but ask Xu Ying: "Little Xu Station Chief, do you think the pouch the doves bring up will be covered with bird droppings?"

Xu Ying shook her head, explaining seriously, "Birds instinctively avoid defecating in their nests, just as people don’t relieve themselves randomly in their own beds."

"However, like human infants, young birds can’t manage by themselves and will soil the nest, but their parents will clean it up."

Finally, the three snow doves returned, struggling to carry two items—a laminated mountain guide ID and a pouch with a faint bird droppings smell.

Xu Ying felt a bit embarrassed.

The lead snow dove sheepishly tilted its head, its small claws fidgeting: [Sorry, Little Xu Station Chief, my aunt’s been having diarrhea lately and accidentally soiled the bag.]

Xu Ying quickly explained to Guan Lin, "It says its aunt’s had diarrhea these days."

The other three burst out laughing.

Chen Su, wearing gloves, cautiously took the items, the ID prominently featuring the name "Luo Zhiqiang," with a silly grin in the photo.

The pouch contained a cellphone frozen into an ice block and a packet of unopened energy gel.

"It’s Luo Zhiqiang."

Chen Su’s voice tightened, "Looks like we’ve found the fourth missing person."

Ji Xuehui took the ID, her gaze sharp: "With the body being tied to the tree, back injuries, and now finding these... it seems like homicide."

Xu Ying frowned: "All four are dead, has the killer already escaped? But all investigations showed only the four of them went up the mountain..."

"Unless..."

Chen Su slowly articulated the chilling possibility, "The killer is among those three kneeling bodies."

The wind howled through, sending shivers through everyone present.

Xu Ying stared at the block of cellphone: "Can this phone be restored?"

Guan Lin, a tech expert, took the phone, "It needs full restoration in the tech department, not hopeful."

Ji Xuehui encouraged them, "No worries, finding the fourth body is a big win."

"Once conditions permit helicopter access, and we conduct ice-breaking and autopsy on the fourth body, clues from the murder weapon might identify the killer."

Upon hearing Ji Xuehui’s words, Xu Ying looked at the phone’s time, she had gone up the mountain at 9:45 AM, and it was now 5:30 PM.

With only over thirty hours until the scheduled start of ’Desert Survival Law.’ 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Whether these thirty hours would be enough to lock down the killer, remained unknown.