Liu Kai just wanted to complete the mission as soon as possible and end this tornt. Seeing Xu Ying still lingering at Crescent Lake, he snidely remarked, "You’re not planning to take pictures for your social dia, are you? This isn’t the ti for fun."
Xu Ying raised an eyebrow and responded coolly, "You can go investigate the village by yourself first, there’s no need to wait for ."
Liu Kai fell silent; the four villages near Crescent Oasis were generally unwelcoming to outsiders, often aggressive, and the villagers here were typically tall and strong.
Liu Kai didn’t dare enter the village alone.
Over the years, as transportation improved, many outsiders had pretended to be self-driving travelers to deceive, steal, or even traffic people in these villages...
The villagers living in Crescent Oasis were simple-minded, but after being deceived multiple tis over the years, they had beco very resistant to outsiders. Even with official workers, their attitude was cold and uncooperative.
"Hurry up then," Liu Kai muttered.
Xu Ying couldn’t be bothered to explain further. He hit the gas pedal and headed toward Crescent Lake. The scenery in the distance magnified continuously, and the small puddle of Crescent Lake soon transford into an expansive lake in his line of sight. The lake was vast, though now, in the dry season, half of the water had evaporated.
Still, the taphorical phrase goes, ’A scrawny cal is bigger than a horse.’ Even now, Crescent Lake’s water supply was abundant compared to the rest of the desert.
Under the afternoon sun, Crescent Lake shimred like a silver mirror, and the fringes where it was dry had already ford a salt crust, cracking along the shore.
Along the road approaching the lake, Xu Ying could see the tracks of reptiles like lizards crossing the area.
In the distance, the reflections of three or five poplar trees were subrged in the water, with marks still visible on the trunks from when the lake overflowed during the rainy season.
The seasonal lake resembled an underfunded account: during the rainy season, the water level rose sharply, expanding the lake; in the dry season, it evaporated wildly and could even entirely dry up to beco a saline-alkali land.
Winter was nearing, and the area of Crescent Lake had shrunk again, now looking like a ten-acre pond.
Xu Ying parked the car and walked to the lakeshore, with Liu Kai trailing leisurely far behind.
Xu Ying spotted a row of silhouettes squatting by the water. Judging by their fresh faces and school uniforms, this group of people was likely around 13 or 14 years old, just starting junior high.
The boys squatting by the shore numbered six in total.
Though just 13 or 14, they were quite tall, around 1.7 ters, and robust-looking. If not for their youthful faces and school uniforms, Xu Ying wouldn’t have been able to tell their age.
Even during the dry season, the water in Crescent Lake was about six to seven ters deep, which was enough to drown a person.
The anti-drowning education they had since elentary school was ingrained in Xu Ying’s mind, prompting a quickened pace toward the youngsters.
As Xu Ying approached, he overheard the boys discussing sothing.
"Why aren’t they moving in the water?"
"Their bellies are so swollen, could they explode?"
"Don’t frogs swim back to water like in the shows?"
...
Standing by the water, Xu Ying focused his gaze and saw more than a dozen frogs lying on their backs, floating on the water with bloated bellies, motionless.
These frogs were unlike the common green frogs, with round, plump bodies resembling fluffy buns. Their hind legs were short, their bodies a light sandy color with irregular spots, as if sprinkled with cocoa powder.
Xu Ying instantly recognized them as Stead Bun Frogs, a unique species living in deserts and sparse savannas.
Stead Bun Frogs are famously poor swimrs among frogs, with small lung capacity, prone to suffocate upon entering the water.
Xu Ying quickly told the boys, "Kids, you need to fish out these Stead Bun Frogs right away; they can’t swim!"
With an unfamiliar outsider at Crescent Lake, the boys’ gazes toward Xu Ying turned wary.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"How could there be frogs that can’t swim?!"
The boys didn’t trust the suddenly appearing Xu Ying. So even picked up small stones by the lake, looking ready to throw them at Xu Ying if sothing seed off.
The boys were tall, stout, and intimidating as they surrounded Xu Ying.
Seeing this scene, Liu Kai, who was at the back, timidly halted his steps, quickly retreating to his motorcycle to observe the situation.
Xu Ying hurriedly showed his work ID, "I’m an animal rescuer from the Desert Rescue Station, not a bad guy."
"Look at their tiny, short legs; they have no strength to move and can’t paddle like regular frogs."
"Moreover, their lung capacity is very small. Although they can use their skin to assist in breathing, the efficiency is very low."
"To avoid drowning, they can only lie on their backs, inhaling wildly, turning themselves into round inflatable buns to float on the water, but this can’t be sustained for long."
The kids listened to Xu Ying’s professional yet easy-to-understand explanation and looked at her ID badge, which read "Rescue Station Manager 032." They widened their eyes.
"What should we do? We only have nets for catching frogs, but now they’ve floated away, and the net pole is short and can’t reach those little buns!"
The boys held up nets with poles that were short and thin, crudely made with half a stick, while the inflated Stead Bun Frogs drifted further away, their bellies visibly deflating.
The boys’ faces were anxious yet guilt-ridden, "These Stead Bun Frogs kept making noise in the village, and the adults wanted to kill them all. We couldn’t bear it, so we caught them to release back into the water."
"Didn’t expect a good deed to go bad!"
—"Don’t rush; remove the net pole and pass the net, and I’ll handle the rest," Xu Ying instructed while retrieving a military drone gifted by soldiers from his bag. This drone could glide over the water.
Hearing this, the boys quickly disassembled the net and handed it to Xu Ying. Seeing the camouflage-colored drone in her hands, their mouths shaped into an ’o.’ That machine was super cool!
Xu Ying deftly secured the net under the drone and subsequently maneuvered it with a joystick toward the Stead Bun Frogs.
"Don’t be afraid, little buns," Xu Ying shouted towards the desperate Stead Bun Frogs while manipulating the joystick, "This flying machine is here to save you, not to eat you!"
Having picked up the ability to understand frog language while watching Spiritual Photography videos before, Xu Ying’s words resonated with the frogs, comforting them. Upon realizing they were being rescued, the frogs summoned all their strength and inhaled desperately.
However, so couldn’t hold on and sank into the water. Watching their companions fall one by one, the Stead Bun Frogs struggled desperately but were overpowered by their sinking.
Yet at that mont, the drone, with the net hung beneath it and controlled by Xu Ying, swiftly scooped up the sinking Stead Bun Frogs.
Cool-headedly manipulating the joystick, Xu Ying maneuvered the drone up and down, gradually retrieving each of the Stead Bun Frogs.
The boys watched as Xu Ying’s hands moved rapidly over the buttons, calmly rescuing the drenched creatures with the drone. Their wariness gradually turned to admiration.
This sister’s skills are impressive, how cool!
(Stead Bun Frog illustration)
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