It was getting late today because of the jade theft case. Xia Zhining and Gu Huaiye took the small animals and left the police station before going back to rest.
The next morning, Xia Zhining and her brother Ji Shuyun went to the location where the body was found to investigate the case.
The culvert where the body was found is located next to a long-abandoned mountain road. The entrance is half-hidden behind overgrown vines and bushes, and the stone walls are covered with moss and damp watermarks.
The air was filled with the smell of earth and decaying plants.
Xia Zhining used a flashlight to observe whether there were any signs of small animals living there.
Ji Shuyun's sharp eyes scanned the surrounding terrain.
He pointed to a steep cliff not far away, his face full of suspicion: "According to the autopsy report from that year, the deceased had comminuted fractures all over his body, consistent with a fall from a height."
"The police deduced that the crash site was over there—a cliff about 300 meters from here."
He crouched down, his fingertips tracing the rough concrete surface of the culvert's edge, his brow furrowed: "But there's a contradiction here. If the murderer didn't do anything and left the body directly below the cliff, the case could very well be classified as an accidental fall or suicide."
"But the murderer went to great lengths to move the body to this hidden culvert..."
"This is tantamount to proactively telling the police: there is a third person at the scene, and this is a case of homicide and body disposal."
He stood up, looked into the deep culvert, and said in a deep voice, "It's unnecessary."
Xia Zhining frowned upon hearing this, her gaze sweeping carefully over the dark culvert as she examined the upper part of the culvert from the wooden ladder that had been brought over.
Suddenly, her gaze fell on an inconspicuous crevice in the stone wall.
Several dark, oval-shaped droppings with a resinous sheen were stuck to the edge of the crevice.
This is the droppings of the finless flying squirrel (pronounced "wu"), which is also a valuable traditional Chinese medicine called "Wulingzhi"!
It can promote blood circulation, remove blood stasis, and relieve pain.
There are even professional herb collectors whose families have been collecting the droppings of the flying squirrel for generations, acting as the little creature's "toilet cleaners."
"It's the toilet of the flying squirrel's house."
Xia Zhining's eyes lit up, and she tugged at Ji Shuyun's sleeve, "Brother, let's wait here, maybe we can wait for it to come back."
The complex-toothed flying squirrel resembles a squirrel, but has a more bushy, long tail.
What's most peculiar is that they have membranes between their limbs, which, when unfolded, resemble a glider, allowing them to move lightly through the forest, like little elves with their own parachutes.
More importantly, this small animal has unique habits.
They have an almost obsessive insistence on their "toilet location," and once a fixed location is chosen, they will use it day after day for years and never change it easily.
Xia Zhining and Ji Shuyun were whispering about finding a secluded spot that wouldn't disturb their owner to "guard the nest and wait for the mice" when they turned around—
A gray-brown shadow landed precisely on the stone platform at the entrance of the culvert with a "whoosh".
The two of them stopped moving at the same time.
The polydont flying squirrel clearly hadn't expected two strange humans to be standing at its "home" door.
Its fluffy tail still retained the slight upward curve after gliding, and its pair of dark, round eyes widened instantly.
Its little paws clung tightly to the edge of the stone platform, the whole mouse frozen into a furry, shocked expression.
Xia Zhining was also stunned, remaining in her position on the ladder, staring at it in an unexpected "big eye to big eye" moment.
The air froze for a few seconds.
The flying squirrel's little nose twitched rapidly twice, and its gaze quickly shifted from Xia Zhining's face to its own "toilet" spot inside the culvert.
Then, as if realizing something, it covered its mouth in surprise with its little paws: [Human, you've come to steal my poop again?]
This little guy mistook Xia Zhining for a herb gatherer who coveted its "specialty".
——Illustration Warning——
—This is what a highway culvert looks like—
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