Chapter 158 The Drowned Frog

Liu Kai just wanted to finish the task quickly and put an end to this torture. Seeing that Xu Ying wanted to stay at Crescent Lake, he said a few words in a bad mood: "Are you going to take pictures and check in? Now is not the time to play."

Xu Ying raised an eyebrow and said calmly, "Then you can go to the village alone to investigate the situation first. You don't have to wait for me."

Liu Kai stopped talking. The four villages in Crescent Oasis generally do not welcome outsiders and have a very fierce attitude. Moreover, the villagers here are generally tall and strong.

Liu Kai didn't dare to enter the village alone.

With the development of transportation in recent years, many outsiders have come to the village disguised as self-driving tourists to commit fraud, theft, and even human trafficking...

The villagers living in Crescent Oasis are very simple in character. After being deceived in many ways over the years, they are very hostile to outsiders. Even the staff sent by the government are cold and uncooperative.

"Then hurry up." Liu Kai muttered.

Xu Ying was too lazy to explain to him. He stepped on the accelerator and rushed towards Crescent Lake. The scenery in the distance kept zooming in. Crescent Lake also changed from a small puddle in sight to a vast lake. The area of the lake was very large, but now it was the dry season and most of the water in the lake had evaporated.

However, a lean camel is bigger than a horse, and the current water volume of Crescent Lake is still sufficient compared to the entire desert.

The Crescent Lake in front of us was illuminated by the afternoon sun like a silver mirror, and the dried-up parts of the edge had formed salt crusts, cracking on the shore.

On the way to the lake shore, Xu Ying could see claw marks left by reptiles like lizards.

In the distance, the reflections of three or five poplar trees were immersed in the water, and the trunks still had marks left by the water during the rainy season.

Seasonal lakes are like accounts with insufficient deposits. During the rainy season, the water volume surges and the lake surface expands. During the dry season, the lake evaporates rapidly and may even dry up completely and become saline-alkali land.

Now that winter is approaching, the area of Crescent Lake has shrunk again, and now it looks like a pond of more than ten acres.

Xu Ying parked the car and walked to the lakeshore. Liu Kai moved slowly and lagged far behind him.

Xu Ying noticed a row of people squatting by the water. Judging from their young faces and school uniforms, they were probably about thirteen or fourteen years old, and were just starting junior high school.

Those squatting on the shore were all boys, a total of six people in the group.

Although they were only thirteen or fourteen years old, their height was estimated to be around 1.7 meters, and they were really strong. If it weren't for their childish faces and school uniforms, Xu Ying would not be able to tell them apart.

During the dry season, the water depth of Crescent Lake is six or seven meters, enough to drown people.

The drowning prevention education he had received since elementary school was already ingrained in his mind. Xu Ying quickly quickened his pace and walked towards the group of teenagers.

As he got closer, Xu Ying heard what the group of teenagers were discussing.

"Why aren't they moving in the water?"

"Their stomachs are so bloated, will they explode?"

"Don't frogs on TV do the breaststroke when they return to the water?"

…

Xu Ying walked to the water's edge and took a closer look. He saw more than ten frogs floating on the water with their backs, their bellies swollen, and they dared not move at all.

These frogs are different from the commonly seen green frogs. They have round bodies like fluffy steamed buns, short hind legs, and are light sandy yellow in color. They have irregular spots on their bodies, as if they were casually sprinkled with cocoa powder.

Xu Ying recognized it at a glance as a unique frog species that lives in deserts and savannas, the Mantou Frog.

The steamed bun frog is a famous landlubber among frogs. It has a small lung capacity and is easily suffocated after entering water.

Xu Ying quickly said to the group of teenagers, "Children, hurry up and pick up these mantou frogs! They can't swim!"

When a strange stranger appeared in Crescent Lake, the young men looked at Xu Ying with alert eyes.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"How could there be a frog that can't swim?"

The teenagers did not trust Xu Ying's sudden appearance. Some of them had already picked up small stones from the lake and held them in their hands, looking like they were ready to throw stones at Xu Ying if they found anything wrong.

The tall and strong young men had fierce eyes and were quite scary as they surrounded Xu Ying.

When Liu Kai, who was walking behind, saw this scene, he stopped timidly, quickly retreated to his motorcycle, and secretly observed what was going on.

Xu Ying quickly showed her work ID: "I'm an animal rescuer at the Desert Rescue Station, not a bad person."

"Look at their tiny, short legs. They have no power at all when they move. They can't kick the water like ordinary frogs."

"Also, their lung capacity is very small. Although they can breathe through their skin, their efficiency is very low."

"In order to avoid drowning, they can only lie on their backs and breathe in air frantically, making themselves into a bulging air-filled bun, floating on the water, but this cannot last long.

After hearing Xu Ying's professional and easy-to-understand explanation, and looking at her work badge which read "Director of 032 Rescue Station", the children all opened their eyes wide.

"What should we do? We only have a net for catching frogs, but they've already drifted far away. The pole is too short to catch these little buns!"

The teenagers were holding up a net bag. The pole on the net bag was short and thin, made simply from half a branch. It and the inflated steamed bun frogs were floating farther and farther away. Its stomach could no longer support it and was deflated visibly.

The teenagers looked worried and guilty. "These frogs kept croaking in the village. The adults wanted to kill them all, but we couldn't bear it, so we saved them and wanted to put them back in the water."

"I didn't expect that good intentions would lead to bad consequences!"

——"Don't worry, just dismantle the pole of the net bag, hand the net bag to me, and I will take care of the rest."

As Xu Ying spoke, he took out the military drone that the soldiers had given him last time from his bag. This drone could glide on the water.

Upon hearing this, the teenagers quickly opened the net bag and handed it to Xu Ying. When they saw the camouflage drone in Xu Ying's hand, their mouths opened into an O shape. This machine is so cool!

Xu Ying quickly fixed the net bag under the drone, and then used the handle to control the drone to fly towards the mantou digging door.

"Don't be afraid, little buns."

Xu Ying pressed the handle and shouted to the desperate frogs on the water: "This flying machine is here to save you, not to eat you!"

When Xu Ying was watching Lingsi Photography videos before, she had already activated the skill of understanding frog language. What she said was very comfortable and friendly to frogs. When the little frogs on the water heard that someone was coming to rescue them, they used all their strength and tried their best to breathe.

But some of them could no longer hold on and sank into the water. The steamed bun kids watched their companions fall into the water one by one, and tried desperately to breathe, but they still could not resist the speed of sinking.

However, at this time, a drone with a small net hanging on it was controlled by Xu Ying, and it quickly picked up the steamed bun frog that had sunk into the water.

Xu Ying calmly operated the handle, controlling the drone to move up and down, and actually salvaged these steamed bun frogs one by one.

The teenagers watched as Xu Ying's fingers pressed the command keys so fast that they left afterimages. He calmly controlled the drone and successfully rescued the little ones who fell into the water. The look in Xu Ying's eyes gradually changed from vigilance to admiration.

This sister is so good at operation, so cool!

(Mantou frog illustration)