Chapter 66: Chapter 66: Community Mediation Officer

Gray Tail is a little language genius, capable of mimicking other birds’ calls.

When birds of prey that eat small birds get close, Gray Tail mimics other birds’ calls to alert them, protecting birds that don’t compete with it. It seems Gray Tail is quite kind-hearted after all.

Xu Ying squatted down and asked the mongooses, “Gray Tail has been cooperating with you for so long, but only recently started giving false alarms. Don’t you find it strange?”

The angry mongooses paused and looked at each other. It seemed to make sense.

[Even so, it shouldn’t tease us like that, making us uneasy whenever we’re digging for food.]

[Right, we can’t tell if the warning is real or not, but once we hear it we have to run; if it’s true, our lives could be in danger.]

This is very much like the story of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” Humans would have been quite upset if they were teased like this.

“What Gray Tail did is indeed unethical, but there might be a misunderstanding. How about I help you communicate with it?”

“After all, it has helped you by acting as a lookout to spot airborne predators several times before, hasn’t it?”

Xu Ying felt like she was reasoning with a group of children. “Having it as a lookout is surely helpful, right?”

[That’s true, it has helped us before, but what it’s doing now is too much.]

Gray Tail, as a migratory bird, would typically fly from the northwest to Southeast Asia to spend the winter before it arrives.

But now it’s early November, and Gray Tail is still in the desert, likely planning to spend the winter here.

“Now that winter is coming, it might be worried about food shortages and has set its eyes on the food you dig up. Its method is just not ethical.”

Xu Ying glanced at the Sosso Tree where Gray Tail was perched and said, “Shall I help you communicate with it?”

The mongooses exchanged glances and nodded their little heads.

Gray Tail was peeking from a nearby Sosso Tree, watching Xu Ying and the mongooses secretly.

Once Xu Ying spotted it, it quickly hid among the leaves.

“Gray Tail, why haven’t you flown south for winter? Did you get left behind?”

Xu Ying hit Gray Tail’s sore spot with a single sentence. It poked its head out sadly and nodded slightly, chirping softly: [The other migratory birds flew south for the winter together. I got injured and missed the last group flight south, so I ended up alone, stuck in the desert.]

It turned out it missed the “last train of the great migration.”

Gently, Xu Ying asked, “So are you worried about not having enough to eat this winter and that’s why you came up with this idea to steal the mongooses’ food?”

Gray Tail nodded guiltily.

“You could communicate with them if you’re short of food. You can help them keep watch, and they can share food with you. After all, as a little bird, you can’t eat that much.”

Gray Tail tilted its head.

[I’m afraid that if I say something and they don’t agree, they’ll avoid coming here where I am, and then I won’t have food.]

“But you can’t use snatching as a method, it only temporarily solves the problem and will escalate conflicts.”

Most adult small animals have intelligence comparable to kindergarten children. Xu Ying needed to explain things clearly to them to make them understand the reasoning.

If Xu Ying hadn’t mediated, the two parties might have ended up mutually harmed today.

“If things get serious, you might not get food and even provoke their hostility, endangering your life.”

[The bird was wrong.]

Gray Tail lowered its head, its feathers already thinned due to fighting.

Xu Ying beckoned to it: “Come down, let me apply medicine and disinfect your wounds. That way, it’ll heal faster.”

Gray Tail obediently landed in Xu Ying’s palm, allowing her to apply medicine.

Gray Tail looked up at Xu Ying’s earnest face: [You’re really nice. You’re so gentle.]

It was the first time Xu Ying had been praised by a bird, and she blushed with embarrassment.

Through Xu Ying’s mediation, Gray Tail and the mongooses reached a cooperation agreement: Gray Tail would help keep watch, and the mongooses would share food with it, on the condition that Gray Tail would no longer raise false alarms.

Qiao Yuxi, observing Xu Ying’s mediation, found it amusing and whispered, “Manager, you seem like a community mediator in an animal village.”

Xu Ying was momentarily startled by the comment, then laughed. Indeed, though animal problems are not as complicated as human ones; there’s no need to navigate interpersonal intricacies. The thought work is much simpler than being a community mediator with no need to consider personal favors and connections.

“I feel more like a kindergarten teacher, ensuring two children don’t fight.”

[Kindergarten? What’s that?]

The mongooses curiously poked their heads out, their long, curved claws like manicured nails.

“Kindergarten is a human school, helping look after and train human children.”

With that, Xu Ying touched the mongoose’s claw with her finger: “Did you find a glove? Could you give it to me in exchange for some bottled water?”

In the desert, the most precious resource is water. As for food, the mongoose’s diet is peculiar as they eat scorpions, centipedes, and venomous snakes, almost immune to poison, making it difficult for Xu Ying to help them.

“That glove is important; it can help catch bad guys and put them in jail.”

[Glove? Of course!]

[But we don’t need bottled water; we just want to ask you a favor.]

[Our cubs often die before growing up, not sure if our way of raising them is the problem. As an animal doctor, you might know better. Could we send our future cubs to you to learn how to care for them from you after our queen gives birth?]

The Fox Mongoose Family is a matriarchal society, with the female leader as the queen. Other males and females in the family prioritize looking after the queen’s offspring to ensure high-quality offspring.

“Of course~”

After reaching an agreement with the Fox Mongoose Family, Xu Ying successfully obtained the glove.

Xu Ying checked her phone messages. Chen Su said she and her colleagues were heading to the coordinates Xu Ying sent.

When Mo Bailin helped her discover traces of a campfire, she contacted the police officer Chen Su and sent over the location.

Chen Su just messaged to say evidence collection at the site with traces of human presence is underway.

Xu Ying asked Chen Su to wait a moment before setting off to meet her.

Before leaving, Xu Ying had one more important question to ask the mongooses: “Earlier, you mentioned seeing several people with hunting guns randomly killing wildlife in the Desert Area. When and where did you see them?”

The mongooses scratched their heads: [It was sometime recently, but I’ve lost track of the exact days. But I remember the first time I saw those people with hunting guns was when our queen’s cubs had just opened their eyes. Now they’re almost weaned.]

From the mongoose’s breeding cycle, Xu Ying calculated: “Mongoose cubs open their eyes about ten days after birth and wean within two months, so it’s been about a month and a half.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep