Chapter 230: One Man Guards the Pass
Xu Ying neatly fixed the desert lizards' flight case to the back seat of the sand motorcycle. The roar of the engine tore a hole in the silence of the desert.
She looked up at the two tall wooden stakes at the entrance of the rescue station - two vultures were standing there in their iconic posture, like two gatekeepers.
Big Vulture Brother and Big Vulture Sister were not willing to go to the Raptor Conservation Center, and the health of their two cubs was still unstable, so they stayed to be Xu Ying's aerial bodyguards.
Vultures like to sleep in high places, such as the edge of cliffs and on power lines. They do not lie prone when sleeping, but are accustomed to standing on one leg.
The eldest vulture stood on one leg, with the other leg tucked under his belly feathers, just like an old monk in meditation; the eldest vulture sister turned her head 180 degrees, with the tip of her beak buried in her back feathers, revealing only half of her sleepy eye.
Both sleeping positions help reduce heat loss.
In the cold night air with the dew still hanging, this couple took the "neck tucked in and hands tucked in" philosophy of keeping warm to the extreme.
"Brother Vulture, Sister Vulture—" As soon as Xu Ying shouted, two furry heads turned towards him at the same time.
The eldest vulture's neck straightened like a spring, with two flattened down feathers still stuck in her back feathers; the eldest vulture lowered his curled legs and rubbed his claws on the wooden stake.
Four black eyes stared at her without blinking, and the tips of their wings were slightly opened in excitement.
"I'm going to catch poachers and I need your help!"
Before he finished speaking, the two vultures had spread their wings.
The eldest vulture's tail feathers swept across the woodpile, raising a small cloud of dust, but the eldest vulture had already leaped into the air and let out a hoarse cry, as if to say, "Lead the way!"
Xu Ying sent a message to Chen Su: [Tracking poachers, requesting support from the Desert Police Station!]
Xu Yingxu used his mobile phone to send his real-time location to the desert police station, then stepped on the accelerator with a smile.
In the rearview mirror, two dark figures passed over her head like shadows, and the shadows cast by their wings swept across the sand dunes, giving her a full sense of security!
The morning light had not yet completely dispelled the chill of the desert. Xu Ying's dune scooter sped through the undulating sand dunes, and the roar of the engine broke the silence of the desert.
Two vultures circled above her head, their sharp eyes fixed on the front.
The little gerbil clung to her shoulder straps, its paw pointing southeast: "Behind that rocky hillock! They're catching lizards with a vibrating iron box!"
Xu Ying narrowed his eyes and saw several modified dune bikes parked next to a rock wall. Three men wearing goggles were searching the sand with some kind of instrument.
One of them suddenly looked up and saw Xu Ying rushing towards him, and immediately shouted to greet his companions.
"stop!"
Xu Ying shouted sternly, but the poachers reacted very quickly, jumping on their motorcycles and fleeing.
Their motorcycles drew several trails of dust on the sand, and it was obvious that they had developed a skilled running posture.
Xu Ying gritted his teeth and turned the accelerator to the bottom.
The dune scooter made noises as it bumped along, and its speed slowed down a lot. Xu Ying felt something was wrong.
At this moment, the little gerbil on my shoulder suddenly screamed: "Stationmaster Xu, stop! They're heading towards the quicksand area!"
Xu Ying slammed on the brakes, and the motorcycle slid half a meter on the sand before stopping.
Only then did she notice that the poachers' route was extremely strange, and they deliberately made a serpentine track on the flat sand.
[They are leading you into a trap!]
The little gerbil was so anxious that he was jumping up and down. "That area is full of quicksand. If a motorcycle goes in, it can't get out!"
The poachers were getting farther and farther away, and Xu Ying was getting anxious.
I definitely can’t catch up with him on foot, but I can’t risk entering the quicksand area on my motorcycle.
Her eyes suddenly lit up, and she thought of the group of Przewalski's horses she rescued a few days ago - humans can never compare to these desert natives in their understanding of the terrain.
Beneath this seemingly calm sea of sand lie countless deadly quicksand traps, but the animals that have lived here for generations have mastered the instinct to detect danger.
Przewalski's horses have been running in the desert for such a long time without any instruments. They can find the safest path among the sand dunes relying solely on the survival wisdom passed down from generation to generation!
"Brother Vulture!"
Xu Ying raised his head and shouted, his voice echoing in the empty desert, "Please go to the meadow in the west and bring the herd of Przewalski's horses here!"
She turned to another circling vulture and said, "Sister-in-law, follow those poachers and gather the other birds of prey to keep an eye on them!"
The two vultures let out loud cries, and their huge wings cut through the morning mist as they went their separate ways.
The little gerbil stamped its feet anxiously on her shoulder: [They are almost out of sight]
"Don't worry." Xu Ying narrowed his eyes, a confident smile on his lips, "All my friends are good runners."
A moment later, a cloud of dust suddenly rose from the distant horizon. Twelve Przewalski's horses swept in like a hurricane, their iron hooves crushing the morning light, their manes tumbling like blazing flames in the wind. The leading stallion braked abruptly and stopped in front of Xu Ying, its bowl-sized hooves sinking deeply into the sand. It was the fierce, leading stallion she had so carefully tended.
[Stationmaster Xiao Xu, need help?] The stallion snorted loudly, a feral glint in his amber eyes.
"Yes!" Before Xu Ying finished speaking, he had already grabbed the horse's mane with his left hand, kicked off with his right leg, and jumped onto the horse's back as lightly as a swallow.
Her petite frame contrasted sharply with the tall wild horse, but she sat as steady as a rock on its naked back.
"Follow the vulture's direction. We're going after three poachers wreaking havoc in the desert!"
The wild horse snorted excitedly: [Hold on tight!]
The next second, the desert overlord rushed out like an arrow.
Xu Ying leaned over and pressed against the horse's neck, her long hair forming a black ribbon behind her.
The remaining wild horses automatically divided into three teams and formed an encirclement like well-trained soldiers.
The sound of horse hooves was like thunder, shaking the sand.
The three poachers were just rejoicing at having shaken off their pursuers when they suddenly heard the deafening sound of horse hooves behind them.
When I looked back, I was immediately scared to death - the petite girl was riding on the back of the most ferocious wild horse, with a whole group of people following behind her!
"That's impossible!"
The leader screamed, "Aren't these the wildest horses in the desert? So experienced, even the stable owners can't tame them!"
They once thought about taming these wild horses so that they would have a ready-made means of transportation in the desert and save fuel for their motorcycles. But now.
And now, the girl with a childish face not only rides on the horse king's back, but can also command the entire herd!
What frightened them even more was that scattered birds of prey suddenly appeared in the sky. At this time, these birds of prey swooped down to a low altitude and gathered together, covering them like a net of death.
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