A Lone White Bird

Chapter 45: The Lone White Bird

"You're looking too," Feng Ling said eagerly. "The maze clue is a riddle. The first line is 'The Frog in a Top Hat charges into the clouds,' and the second is 'The Salivating Kiss covets the lone white bird.' We've already found the Frog in a Top Hat, now we need to find the lone white bird."

"Huh?" Zhou Diao listened, utterly bewildered.

He looked around—where was there any bird here?

And specifically a lone white bird—it definitely wasn't a real bird from nature, it had to be some kind of metaphor, right?

There were pedal boats shaped like big white geese on the lake, and not just big white geese, but little yellow ducks too. But the problem was... they were miles away, how could there be a "Salivating Kiss"?

Zhou Diao thought it was unlikely, but he still pointed it out to Feng Ling. "Hey, is it that boat?"

Feng Ling glanced at it, then asked Huangfu Miaomiao beside her, "Take a look, does that boat look like a white bird to you?"

Huangfu Miaomiao was uncertain. She looked at the lake, then at Feng Ling. "...It looks like one, but... I feel like something's off."

Feng Ling propped her chin in thought. "It's missing something."

Huangfu Miaomiao hesitated. "Besides, the riddle says 'the lone white bird.' This boat... it's not alone, is it?"

There was more than one pedal boat on the lake—what counted as being alone?

Zhou Diao said, "Being alone doesn't necessarily mean just one boat by itself. Maybe it means this is the only boat of its kind."

"Makes sense~" Feng Ling nodded.

It seemed the three of them, with their combined wits, could match even a Zhuge Liang.

"We'll ask someone when we get down. If there's only one white boat in the entire amusement park, then we've found it!" Feng Ling said.

Everything was going smoothly. She felt she'd already achieved 66% victory!

Keep it up!

The cabin reached the highest point of the Ferris wheel.

Zhou Diao admired the view. He didn't spot anything else that looked like a "white bird," but he did unexpectedly see the Supervision Bureau building.

"You can see the Supervision Bureau from here... wow, and Qingjiang Bridge No. 1 too."

Zhou Diao couldn't help pulling out his phone to take a few scenic photos. "This angle is really nice~"

Hearing this, Feng Ling also looked toward the distant bridge.

For convenient transportation, Qingjiang City had built many bridges. Bridge No. 1 was practically an antique.

When she'd passed by it in a car before, she always thought it looked old. She never expected it to look so beautiful from above, like a snow-white bird spreading its wings.

Huh...

A white bird?

Feng Ling's heart skipped a beat, and she looked again more carefully.

But as the cabin descended, the bridge didn't seem as much like a bird anymore.

Could it be an illusion...

Feng Ling wasn't sure.

If she wanted a clear answer, she'd probably have to ride the Ferris wheel again.

The cabin slowly descended, the vast view gradually shrinking. The nearby buildings and trees surrounded them like giants, blocking the distant scenery.

Feng Ling stepped out of the cabin and headed toward the Lake District.

From the Ferris wheel, the lake had seemed close. Walking there on foot, she realized it was quite far, and the path was winding, which unknowingly made her irritable.

Passing the Candy House, she caught the sweet aroma wafting out. The wild agitation in her heart eased slightly. Feng Ling sensed the shift in her mood and immediately stopped, alert.

"Why aren't you walking?" Zhou Diao behind her asked in surprise.

Feng Ling took a deep breath of the fragrance and asked Huangfu Miaomiao beside her, "Where's the perfume?"

Huangfu Miaomiao quickly took off her little backpack and unzipped it—she'd bought five or six bottles, with floral, woody, tea, and milky scents—everything.

Feng Ling grabbed a bottle at random and sprayed herself and Huangfu Miaomiao.

Zhou Diao, following behind them, immediately covered his nose in disgust.

Being too close, the fragrance was too pungent for him.

"Do you two have a problem? We're on serious business, why are you spraying perfume!" he protested.

Feng Ling ignored him and kept walking.

On the shore of the Lake District was a small house, the rental booth for boats.

Just as Feng Ling arrived, she saw a park worker standing on the wooden boardwalk, using an iron hook to pull in a returning pedal boat.

A dozen empty boats were neatly lined up along the shore. At a glance, there were four pedal boats shaped like big white geese, not counting the one still floating on the lake.

"No," Feng Ling frowned. "This thing isn't the lone white bird."

She decisively turned back toward the Ferris wheel.

The others, not understanding, all followed her.

The Frog Cabin had already gone up, one full rotation taking 15 minutes.

Feng Ling held her breath, patiently waiting for the Frog Cabin to come back down.

Beside her, Huangfu Miaomiao watched Feng Ling with anxious unease, the perfume in her hand hovering between spraying and not spraying, torn and tense.

Not just Feng Ling, whose Corruption Value was off the charts, but even Zhou Diao was getting annoyed, glaring at the cabin and cursing, "Damn it, can't it spin faster? Like a turtle pulling a millstone."

Huangfu Miaomiao thought for a moment, then quietly sprayed Zhou Diao twice with the perfume.

"What the hell?! What are you doing?!" Zhou Diao leaped a big step to the side, his fur practically standing on end, "Don't spray that crap on me! It's girly as hell!"

Feng Ling focused entirely on the cabin, "It's coming down now. Let's go, we're heading over."

The three of them sat back down in the frog-painted cabin.

This time, Feng Ling kept her eyes fixed on the direction of Qingjiang Bridge, afraid of missing any detail.

"I felt earlier that Qingjiang Bridge looked a lot like a White Big Bird. You two take a look too," Feng Ling said.

Zhou Diao rubbed the spot where he'd been sprayed with disgust, frowning, "There are Triangular Cable Frames on the bridge, one on each side. They do look kind of like wings, but Qingjiang Bridge has several spans, all with similar designs. How can you be sure which one it is?"

Feng Ling thought seriously for a moment, then looked toward the river on the other side—

In truth, the distance between each bridge was very far, but because of the Ferris Wheel's unique position, the distant bridges appeared close together. Only Bridge No. 1, directly facing the Frog Cabin, stood alone, fitting the metaphor of a "solitary white bird."

Feng Ling felt she could be fairly certain.

The solitary white bird referred to Qingjiang Bridge No. 1.

But there was still one thing she couldn't understand—what did "Salivating Kiss" mean?

The frog was in the sky, the white bird was on the river. They had nothing to do with each other. How could they kiss?

"Let's go check out Bridge No. 1," Feng Ling said.

"You sure?" Zhou Diao frowned, "The bridge is jammed right now. Lots of cars and people. A Xenomorph might spot you."

Xenomorphs might not come to the Amusement Park, but Bridge No. 1 was a daily commute route for many people. Some of them could be Xenomorphs.

Feng Ling didn't care, "I'll be in the car. A Xenomorph might not see me. Besides, we still have Little Skeleton with us, right? If there's a Xenomorph, she'll be the first to notice."

She looked at Huangfu Miaomiao.

Huangfu Miaomiao immediately nodded with fierce loyalty, "Yes!"

Zhou Diao was speechless, pursed his lips, and said, "Fine, let's go to Bridge No. 1 then. I've already warned you."

When they got off the Ferris Wheel again, it was already 7 PM.

The sun slanted westward, its afterglow draping the city like a delicate pink veil.

On the road leading to Qingjiang Bridge No. 1, vehicles lined up like a long dragon, traffic jammed to a standstill.