The Civil Servant's Job is to Raise The Furries!-Chapter 230 - 229: Holding the Pass Alone

Xu Ying deftly secured the desert lizards’ travel crates onto the back seat of the sand motorcycle, and the roar of the engine pierced through the desert’s silence.

She looked up at the two tall wooden stakes by the rescue station entrance—two vultures stood there in their iconic posture, like gatekeepers.

Vulture Brother and Vulture Sister were reluctant to go to the Raptor Protection Center because their two chicks were not yet in stable health, so they stayed to be Xu Ying’s aerial bodyguards.

Vultures like to sleep in high places, such as cliff edges and power lines, and when they sleep, they don’t lie down but prefer the "single-legged stance."

Vulture Brother stood on one leg, the other tucked under his belly feathers, resembling a monk in meditation; Vulture Sister twisted her head 180 degrees, her beak buried in her back feathers, with only half of her sleepy eyes visible.

Both sleeping postures help reduce heat loss.

In the chilling air before dawn, this couple exemplified the warming philosophy of "tucking the neck and holding hands."

"Vulture Brother, Vulture Sister—" Xu Ying called out, and two fluffy heads turned towards her simultaneously.

Vulture Sister’s neck sprang straight like a spring, with two flattened downy feathers stuck in her back feathers; Vulture Brother lowered his curled leg, scratching his claws on the wooden stake.

Four beady eyes stared unblinkingly at her, their wingtips already slightly spread with excitement.

"I need your help to catch the poachers!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, the two vultures had already spread their wings.

Vulture Sister’s tail feathers brushed the stake, raising a small cloud of dust, while Vulture Brother had already leaped into the air, letting out a raspy call that seemed to say, "Lead the way!"

Xu Ying sent a message to Chen Su: [Tracking poachers, requesting support from the Desert Police Station!]

Xu Ying sent her real-time location to the Desert Police Station with her phone, then smiled as she twisted the throttle.

In the rearview mirror, two dark silhouettes shadowed her overhead, the shadows of their wings skimming the dunes, full of security!

The morning light hadn’t fully dispelled the desert’s chill as Xu Ying’s sand motorcycle sped over the undulating dunes, the engine roar breaking the desert silence.

Above her, the two vultures circled, their sharp eyes fixed on the path ahead.

Little Desert Rat clung tightly to her shoulder strap, its little paw pointing southeast: [Just behind that rock hill! They’re using vibrating metal boxes to catch lizards!]

Xu Ying squinted and indeed saw several modified sand motorcycles parked beside a rock wall, where three goggle-wearing men were searching the sand with some device.

One of them suddenly looked up, spotting the approaching Xu Ying, and immediately shouted to alert his companions.

"Stop!"

Xu Ying shouted sternly, but the poachers reacted fast, jumping on their motorcycles to flee.

Their motorcycles sketched flying trails of dust on the sand, clearly having perfected their escape technique.

Xu Ying gritted her teeth, twisting the throttle to the maximum.

The sand motorcycle rattled on the bumpy ground, its speed significantly reducing, making Xu Ying feel something was off.

Just then, the Little Desert Rat on her shoulder suddenly squealed: [Little Xu Station Chief, stop quickly! They’re heading towards the Quicksand Area!]

Xu Ying slammed the brakes, the motorcycle skidding half a meter on the sand before coming to a halt.

She then noticed the poachers’ route was bizarrely zigzagging on the flat sand.

[They’re luring you into a trap!]

Little Desert Rat anxiously stamped its feet, [That area is full of quicksand underneath, motorcycles can’t make it out!]

The poachers were getting further away, and Xu Ying was anxious.

She couldn’t catch up on foot, but taking the motorcycle into the quicksand area was risky.

Then, a lightbulb moment hit her, recalling the herd of Przewalski’s Wild Horses she rescued a few days ago—humans could never rival these desert natives’ understanding of the terrain.

Underneath this seemingly calm sea of sand lay countless deadly quicksand traps, but the animals living here for generations possessed the instinct to identify danger.

The Przewalski’s Wild Horse had been running in the desert for so long that they could find the safest path in the sand dunes with just ancestral survival wisdom, without any instruments!

"Vulture Brother!"

Xu Ying shouted up, her voice echoing in the empty desert, "Please go to the meadow in the west and bring the Przewalski’s Wild Horse herd over!"

She then turned to the other circling vulture: "Sister, follow those poachers and rally other raptors to keep an eye on them!"

The two vultures emitted a loud shriek, their massive wings slicing through the morning mist as they split to take action.

Little Desert Rat on her shoulder stomped anxiously: [They’re almost out of sight...]

"Don’t worry." Xu Ying squinted, a confident smile tugging at her lips, "All my friends are top runners."

After a while, a cloud of dust rose suddenly from the distant horizon. Twelve Przewalski’s Wild Horses swept in like a storm, iron hooves shattering the dawn light, their manes flying in the wind like blazing flames. The lead stallion skidded to a halt in front of Xu Ying, its dish-sized hooves sinking deep into the sand, it was the fierce lead horse she had carefully tended to previously.

[Little Xu Station Chief, need help?] The stallion snorted, its amber eyes gleaming with wild light.

"Yes!" Before Xu Ying finished speaking, her left hand grabbed the horse’s mane, her right leg kicked, and her whole body leapt onto the horse’s back as lightly as a swallow.

Her petite figure contrasted sharply with the tall wild horse, yet she sat motionless as a rock on the bareback.

"Follow the vultures’ direction, we’re going to chase three poachers wreaking havoc in the desert!"

The wild horse excitedly snorted: [Hold on tight!]

In the next second, the desert monarch was off like an arrow released from the bow.

Xu Ying leaned forward, her body pressed against the horse’s neck, her long hair trailing like a black ribbon behind her. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The other wild horses automatically split into three groups, moving in an encircling pattern like well-trained soldiers.

The thunderous sound of hooves shook the sand grains, trembling beneath them.

The three poachers were congratulating themselves on shaking off their pursuer when suddenly they heard the deafening sound of galloping hooves behind them.

They turned around and were instantly terrified—the seemingly petite girl was riding the most fierce wild horse, with a whole herd following her!

"This can’t be!"

The leader cried out in shock, "Aren’t these the wildest horses of the desert? Even experienced ranchers can’t tame them!"

They once had the idea of taming these wild horses, so they’d have ready-made transportation in the desert and save fuel for their motorcycles, but now...

But now that youthful girl wasn’t only riding on the stallion’s back, she could even command the entire horse herd!

What scared them even more was the sudden appearance of scattered raptors in the sky, now diving low to encircle them like a mesh of death descending.