Chapter 14: Capturing the True Poaching Culprit
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Jiang Cha opened the sealed jar and poured the honey into the hole that had been dug in the ground.
Song Bo was utterly bewildered. He stepped forward to stop her. “Why are you pouring honey there?”
“To attract ants, of course. Don’t you know that pangolins will die if they don’t eat ants? And you call yourself a zoologist.” Jiang Cha gave him a mocking look.
A rare trace of embarrassment appeared on Song Bo’s usually cold and composed face. He quickly recovered. “But you can’t bring ants into my house, can you?”
Jiang Cha smiled lightly. “Don’t worry. Those pangolins will eat every last one of them. They’ll make sure not a single ant remains in your house.”
Honey was expensive, after all, and Jiang Cha could not bear to bury too much of it. She scraped out two small pieces from the jar and placed them on the ground.
“Call me when the ants arrive.” Jiang Cha dusted off her hands and walked inside.
The pangolins were curled up to one side, drinking their medicine with miserable expressions, but they were clearly much better than before. They no longer looked as though they were on the verge of death, as they had the previous night.
They were even able to come out and move around a little. When the little pangolin saw Jiang Cha approaching, it excitedly wrapped its paws around her leg.
[Big Sister, my mother and my brothers and sisters are all alive again. Thank you, Big Sister!]
Jiang Cha picked up the little pangolin and instructed it, “I used honey to attract ants. I know pangolins will die if they don’t eat ants, so hurry outside and eat them. You must eat every single one.”
[All right!]
[Thank you, young lady. Thank you for saving us.]
The mother pangolin opened her eyes and offered her sincere thanks. Jiang Cha waved her hand.
“It wasn’t just me who saved you. Everyone helped last night. I’ll pass on your gratitude, so don’t worry.”
[Those villains are truly hateful. They wanted to pull out our scales, sell our meat, and even blew up our home.]
Jiang Cha felt a pang of sorrow as she listened to the pangolin. She had no idea when people had begun spreading such absurd rumors—that pangolin scales could be used as medicine, and that eating their flesh could make one immune to every poison and disease.
It was utterly ridiculous. Did they think pangolins were made of the flesh of the Tang Monk?
That was why pangolins fetched such high prices, attracting so many poachers.
Thinking of this, Jiang Cha squatted down. “What happened? Did you see what those people looked like? We have to catch them quickly, otherwise the same thing will happen again.”
[I—I saw them! One of the men was limping, and he had a mole beside his mouth.]
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One of the little pangolins spoke.
“Limping, with a mole beside his mouth,” Jiang Cha murmured.
“Isn’t that Wang Ermazi, from the western end of the village?” Song Bo suddenly appeared behind her.
“What did you say? Wang Ermazi?”
Song Bo replied with certainty, “That’s right. There aren’t many people in our village who limp, and even fewer who have a mole beside their mouth.”
That made perfect sense. Only someone from the village would know the paths into the forest well enough to move through it as easily as on level ground.
“Song Bo, go find your father. Hurry and get people to Wang Ermazi’s house and arrest him. Interrogate him at once. They didn’t just poach pangolins—they were grave robbing as well. Even a hundred death sentences would not be too many for him.”
At that moment, Song Yingjie had just returned home from work. Seeing the mass of ants gathered outside his house, he stared in horror.
“What’s going on? How did so many ants get here?”
Jiang Cha realized what had happened. “Oh no! The ants have arrived. Hurry and eat them, or Song Bo’s house will be overrun!”
Carrying several injured pangolins, Jiang Cha walked to the doorway and gave Song Yingjie an apologetic smile.
“Uncle Song, I’m sorry. I was the one who attracted these ants. Pangolins need to eat ants, or they’ll starve to death, so I came up with this idea. Don’t worry—I’ll have them eat every last one right now!”
Seeing the helpless look on Song Yingjie’s face, Jiang Cha quickly set the pangolins down.
The injured pangolins were indeed starving. They had been locked up for so many days without eating anything at all. When they saw the swarm of ants, their appetites immediately returned.
As she watched them eat happily, Jiang Cha did not forget the important matter. “Uncle Song, those poachers weren’t just hunting pangolins. They were grave robbers too.”
Song Yingjie frowned deeply, unable to believe it. “What do you mean, grave robbers?”
Song Yang chimed in from the side. “That’s right, grave robbers. Yesterday, we were almost shot to death by those people. If we hadn’t encountered a ti—Mmph, mmph…”
Before he could finish, Zhong Jialin clapped a hand tightly over his mouth.
Song Yingjie was completely confused. “What tiger?”
Zheng Jialing hurriedly laughed it off. “Nothing, Uncle Song. Song Yang is talking nonsense. The grave robbers… well, they ran away on their own, and then we went forward and rescued the pangolins.”
Cold sweat nearly dripped from Jiang Cha’s forehead. Song Yang’s loose mouth truly could not keep a secret.
Song Yingjie watched the group gesturing wildly and slightly furrowed his brows.
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Poaching protected animals and robbing graves—there was so much evidence that even a death sentence might not be enough.
Jiang Cha nudged Song Bo’s arm. He understood immediately and hurried forward.
“Jiang Cha and the others saw one of the men last night. He was limping and had a black mole beside his mouth.”
Song Yingjie fell into thought. Then he suddenly slapped his thigh.
“Isn’t that Wang Ermazi? Well, well! That Wang Ermazi is usually lazy and good for nothing. I never imagined he’d have the nerve to do something like this!”
With that, he turned to leave, not forgetting to give them instructions. “You lot stay home and behave. And have the pangolins finish off all these ants. We can’t have an ant infestation later. I’m going to find the police right now.”
After Song Yingjie left, everyone let out a collective sigh of relief. Zhong Jialin also removed her hand from Song Yang’s mouth.
Song Yang was puzzled. “Why wouldn’t you let me say it?”
Before Jiang Cha could answer, Song Bo said gloomily, “Do you think anyone would believe you if you told them you can talk to animals? Your father might think you’ve gone crazy and send you to a psychiatric hospital.”
Song Yang quickly clamped both hands over his mouth and mumbled, “I—I won’t say anything. Even if you beat me to death, I won’t say a word.”
Before long, the pangolins had cleared every ant from the ground. Not a single one remained. They even ate the honey that had been poured onto the ground.
Seeing the pangolins grow stronger by the minute, Jiang Cha finally felt at ease.
Song Bo, however, looked at her with deep concern. She was puzzled.
“What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Song Bo sighed. “Do you know who those people were last night?”
“No. Why?”
“They were the foremost animal experts in North City. Yet the problem they couldn’t solve last night was solved by you.”
Jiang Cha thought he was complimenting her. “Isn’t that a good thing? Why do you look so troubled?”
Song Bo’s expression was complicated. He shook his head.
“Forget it. You wouldn’t understand even if I told you.”
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