Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl-Chapter 288 - : Protect Our Fragile Two-legged Beast

Chapter 288 -288: Protect Our Fragile Two-legged Beast

Golden Cat Lady brought a wild rabbit, which Chen Ying hung on a tree branch outside the cave.

“After a fall rain comes the chill, and this year’s autumn rain has come a bit early.”

Brother Chi hugged his knees, looking out of the cave; the mountain opposite was shrouded in a thin mist, which seemed quite poetic, but for those who had to work in the mountains and forests, this kind of environment was very bothersome.

The temperature was such that wearing a raincoat was too hot, and not wearing one made you prone to catching a cold.

In the afternoon, the mist had dispersed quite a bit, and the drizzle also gradually ceased.

Ying Bo planned to go alone to complete the predetermined soil sampling task, telling Brother Chi and Chen Ying to rest in the cave.

He was going to a place not far away, about twenty meters from the cave, mainly to collect soil samples and look for water sources.

A search area with a radius of fifty meters centered on the cave was sufficient.

The distance wasn’t far, and in case of danger, he could run straight back; even if he didn’t dare run, blowing a whistle for help was no problem.

Brother Chi cradled a cup of water, watching Chen Ying massage and tickle Golden Cat Lady.

“Did I hear Dr. Chen is going to do research in the highlands this winter?”

“It’s planned for me to make a trip there. The snow leopard and lynx we rescued before need to be observed further. What, Brother Chi, you aren’t thinking of going with me, are you?”

“No, no, no, my body can barely handle it here, let alone the highlands.”

Altitude and climate aren’t everything; the important thing is that most of that area is uninhabited.

For those who have never been to the wilderness, it might seem very attractive, but for people like them who work in the wild all year round, the dangers represented by the uninhabited areas are all too familiar.

That’s not work, it’s literally risking one’s life.

In their patrols around here, most of the time is spent within safe areas.

This time coming out with Chen Ying, one reason was to guide Ying Bo, and the other was to prepare for the end-of-year performance appraisal.

The system states that Dr. Chen is very lucky, working with him is immensely beneficial.

As far as the current situation is concerned, they might not have seen any miracles, but having a safe journey was already the biggest fortune.

Just one more week and they could safely return home, not to mention ten days of paid leave, and a fine addition to their resumes.

For a middle-aged man, all one wants is a warm stove, a plump purse, and family joy.

Golden Cat Lady slept for half the day, finally getting up fully rested.

She ran outside to let loose for a while, solving a cat’s problems, and on returning, was puzzled by the rabbit hanging at the cave entrance.

“Meow, why aren’t you eating? Is it not tasty, or do you want Mouse Bar? I’ll catch it for you.” fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

“No, no, no, this is your prey, I wouldn’t dare touch it without your consent.”

Who in their right mind would eat Mouse Bar!

Golden Cat Lady rubbed her pretty little face, then bit the leg of the dead rabbit that was still hanging for all to see, and pulled hard, bringing the rabbit to the ground.

“Eat up, do you want me to help you tear the skin off?”

Chen Ying didn’t need to trouble her with that, showing Golden Cat Lady with increasingly skilled knife work the art of how two-legged beasts eat.

Brother Chi’s barbecuing skills were quite decent.

After Chen Ying processed the rabbit, he took the unwanted parts and buried them deep.

Golden Cat Lady followed him and, seeing him bury things, curiously scraped around to help out.

“This isn’t excrement, why are you burying it?”

They would only bury their own stinky stuff; the remains of their meals were usually just thrown into the woods where other scavenging creatures or small organisms would deal with it.

Chen Ying didn’t know how to explain it to her, so he simply changed the subject.

“The Black and White Bear up there has a pretty good temper; do you want to see it with me?”

Golden Cat Lady sneezed and gave him a sidelong glance, going along with the idea pleasantly.

“Let’s go then.”

With that, she didn’t wait for Chen Ying to lead the way and ran directly up the mountain.

Inside the tree hollow, the big guy had just fallen asleep, and the arrival of the cat only made it barely open its eyelids for a glance, then it turned around, hugged its head, and went back to sleeping soundly.

When Chen Ying arrived, he saw Golden Cat Lady lying on the edge of the tree hollow, stretching her arm to scrape at the giant panda.

“What are you doing?”

Chen Ying leaned in for a look.

Golden Cat Lady’s arms were still a bit short; despite flailing in the air for a long time, she didn’t manage to touch a single hair.

“It’s sleeping? Let’s leave it be then, we’ll go back and come again later in the evening.”

Golden Cat displeasedly bared her teeth, huffed, and hopped up the tree and left.

This little cat wasn’t big in stature but had a fierce temper.

Little Jin compared to her, was much more mature and steady.

Chen Ying reached into the tree hollow to feel the temperature, which was alright, warmer than he expected.

He casually took out his phone and shot a ten-second video of the giant panda sleeping, also making a point to record the surrounding environment and landmarks.

Without network access, some functions couldn’t be used; everything had to be manually recorded.

Since he was out here, he might as well get some work done. Finish up early and return home sooner.

He detected a rock crevice less than twenty meters away from the tree hollow that was dripping water.

The stone underneath had been worn into a shallow groove by the years of constant water droplets.

Judging by the different growth of the wild grasses in front as compared to the sides, this was likely also a common drinking spot for the animals on the mountain.

Chen Ying took out a test tube from his waist bag, collected a tube of water, and stepped back to take a photo, considering whether to place the last camera here.

After pondering for a while, he gave up on that idea.

This watering point was relatively high off the ground, and the water volume wasn’t large, so even if animals came to drink, he guessed there wouldn’t be many.

It was a pity that the heavy snow in winter made it impossible to climb the mountain, otherwise he really wanted to see what this place looked like in winter.

Turning around, he saw a fluffy tail swishing in front of him, which startled Chen Ying and made him take a step back, nearly sitting on the stones of the watering point.

Hearing a snuffling laugh, he looked up to see Golden Cat Lady holding Mouse Bar’s head in her mouth, letting its long tail dangle, presumably trying to scare him.

He exhaled and reassured himself that little animals didn’t have any malice; they just wanted to play a game with the two-legged beast… What a joke!

Annoyed, he confiscated Mouse Bar, angering Golden Cat Lady into scratching her claws on a tree.

He couldn’t bring himself to hit her or bite her; after all, his two-legged beast needed her own spoiling.

Hmph, the next time it tried to steal her Mouse Bar, she would… she would catch two in advance!

Chen Ying had no real intention of stealing it, so when he returned to the cave entrance, he gave Mouse Bar back to her.

“Brother Chi, Ying Bo, I’m back—here are the data I just collected, and the water and soil samples as well. Keep them safe.”

Ying Bo was flipping through the data records by the fire pit while Brother Chi rested in the tent.

Hearing Chen Ying’s voice, Brother Chi sat up and shook his head.

“Age is catching up with me, not as strong as I was when I was younger.”

He picked up some water, which had cooled down, and took a cold medicine tablet.

“I’ll take a break today. Tomorrow you two rest, and I’ll do the measurements.”

“It’s fine; you’re tired too. No need to keep it so strict. You rest more, I’ll take Ying Bo with me.”

He touched Brother Chi’s forehead, no fever but it felt a bit like hypothermia.

“Get some sleep first. If you’re cold, I have a thin down jacket you can use as a blanket.”

“No need, I brought clothes.” Brother Chi didn’t refuse Chen Ying’s generosity and, taking off his shoes and jacket, curled up in the sleeping bag inside the tent and fell into a deep sleep.

Chen Ying carefully closed the tent door to keep the wind out.

“Don’t stay up tonight; there aren’t any large predators around here. Later, I’ll try to use vines to make a curtain, just to block a bit of the wind.”

The main reason was that with Golden Cat Lady in the cave, she could act as a nighttime guard.

At this point, Chen Ying couldn’t help but reminisce about the times when Jinya and Little Jin accompanied him and Yin Li up the mountain, where they didn’t even have to keep watch at night. Jinya and Little Jin had protected them very well.

Hopefully, Golden Cat Lady could learn from her friends and protect the fragile two-legged beast—cats have responsibilities!

Because Brother Chi caught a cold, they stayed two more days until he was barely recovered before descending the mountain.

Luckily, Chen Ying was prepared; besides animal medicine, he also brought plenty of human medicine.

When they were heading down the mountain, they happened to meet Great Bai who had come up to check on them.

Upon seeing Brother Chi and Ying Bo present, Great Bai did not approach rashly but barked twice from a few meters away up on a tree, probably asking why Chen Ying hadn’t come down for so long.

It’s really unsettling to feel so worried about.

Chen Ying presented Great Bai with the bamboo shoots he had dug up on the mountain.

“I dug these up there; try them and see if they suit your palate. The one above has a pretty good nature; don’t fight, okay? There’s no need to compete for food here; the bamboo forest is quite extensive.”

After blabbering for a bit, Chen Ying watched Great Bai finish eating the shoot, then patted his neck.

“We’re leaving. Do you want to take these shoots down, or should I?”

Great Bai barked twice, indicating that Jiaojiao would come later. Their previous cave had some water seepage, so they wanted to find a new, dry place.

Without hesitation, he told Great Bai about the place where he and his companions had stayed overnight.

They probably wouldn’t stay there permanently; once Leo could live on his own, Great Bai and Jiaojiao would return to the reserve to live.

Old age doesn’t favor leaving home. ┓(´∀`)┏

Chen Ying placed the shoots next to Great Bai and quickly descended with the others.

They couldn’t delay on the way; their supplies were barely sufficient, but they had brought too few clothes for the cold.

In high altitude regions, even a minor cold can lead to serious illness; everyone’s life is precious.

“Let’s hurry down the road and try to get to the Tiger Observation Station tonight for rest.”

Not to mention anything else, but there were spare coats and medicine available there, and they could get in touch with the outside world. Staying a couple more days was no problem at all.

By afternoon, Brother Chi had relapsed a bit, and Ying Bo simply carried him for a while.

Luckily, they made good progress along the riverbank and ran into Little Baby resting on a tree.

Little Baby recognized Chen Ying and leaped down from the tree to rub against him.

Chen Ying recognized Little Baby from its calls and quickly asked it to find Leopard Sister.

In recent months, Leopard Sister, along with Beibei, had grown familiar with the people at the observation station; even if those people couldn’t understand her, they could guess something from her actions and expressions.

Sure enough, upon receiving Little Baby’s message, Leopard Sister charged straight into the duty room of the observation station, grabbed the rescue stretcher in her jaw, and dragged it outside.

The observer, grinning as she barged in, was taken aback and instinctively tried to pull the stretcher back.

“Leopard Sister, it’s not a toy; you can’t bite that.”

His cry alerted the neighboring team leader and other colleagues.

The crowd rushed over to see the commotion, and someone suddenly remarked, “Leopard Sister never plays with these things; could it be that the little leopard has found someone injured in the wild?”

The group inhaled sharply. The two young men responsible for the station’s security didn’t hesitate for a moment, grabbed the stretcher, and ran outside.

“Quick, Leopard Sister, lead the way!”