Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl-Chapter 234 - Dai Wang Called Me to Patrol the Mountain

Chapter 234 -234 Dai Wang Called Me to Patrol the Mountain

Old Gao was right—Chen Ying’s expedition was quite a spectacle.

Leopard Sister and Brother Leopard led the way, followed by Beibei, while Chen Ying and Old Gao were flanked by Jinya and Little Jin, who were darting back and forth nonstop.

Then, trailing behind was a Black Bear.

“Since when did that street rat follow us? Doesn’t it stay glued to its little girlfriend every second?”

“It looks like the young female bear realized she wasn’t pregnant with cubs, and she’s throwing a tantrum, thinking the street rat didn’t try hard enough. Last night, she even beat him up, and he didn’t dare fight back.”

“No way, that young female bear is so gentle. How could she pin down the street rat and beat him?”

Chen Ying shrugged—no matter how gentle someone is, they can still lash out when angry.

After all, the young female bear was a Black Bear.

Chen Ying wasn’t worried about anything else; he just worried that when Big and Small Baby roamed around and came back, they’d find their parents and sister missing, and he didn’t know what the brothers would feel.

The path up the mountain was familiar, especially since the Protection Station’s Forest Patrol Officer walked it every now and then, keeping it relatively easy to navigate.

But the trail beyond the patrol point was not so easy.

From early spring to early summer, this area was barely touched by humans, and in two to three days, wild grass could take over.

With Leopard Sister and Brother Leopard leading, there was basically no need to worry about big holes or dead ends, but those who often hiked in the mountains knew that an animal trail that was not frequently used could easily result in tumbling and crawling.

Supported by a pair of climbing poles, Chen Ying and Old Gao climbed the steep animal path, a feeling of accomplishment that was hard to describe with words.

They both had one thought—next time, they definitely couldn’t let Leopard Sister and Brother Leopard lead the way.

What the heck, did they think they both had four legs like them? Did they know how hard it was for humans to climb up?

Jinya had darted back and forth three times while he was still tremblingly climbing to the top of the slope.

“Damn, I finally believe what’s said online, even if it’s a ninety-one-degree slope, it’s still a slope!”

Old Gao was even more tired than Chen Ying, and if he hadn’t been afraid of sliding down, he would have liked to lie down for a while.

After resting for about ten minutes, urged by Little Jin, they continued upward.

Little Jin said it had already spotted a big cave ahead where they could all spend the night.

About twenty minutes later, they saw the big cave Little Jin mentioned.

It wasn’t very deep, but the entrance was quite spacious.

It wasn’t an environment that fierce animals liked, but it was good enough to spend one night temporarily.

It was sheltered from the wind, well-ventilated, and the view was decent.

After a bit of cleaning up, Chen Ying and Old Gao set up tents and laid out their sleeping bags.

With so many fierce animals keeping watch at night, they could rest well.

The street rat didn’t want to stay with the big cats, so it found a big tree beside them and climbed up, planning to nest there for the night.

Leopard Sister and Brother Leopard usually slept up in trees too, but since they had Beibei, Leopard Sister had changed her habits. As long as her daughter was with her, she would stay on the ground next to Beibei.

Brother Leopard fulfilled his fatherly duties by keeping watch over his daughter and wife.

In the trees by the cave entrance, a bear and a leopard provided maximum security.

Chen Ying and Old Gao hadn’t had such intense activity for a long time, and they fell asleep the moment they lay down.

At five in the morning, the alarm went off, and after Jinya called out several times outside the tent, Chen Ying crawled out with messy hair and stretched violently at the cave entrance.

The brisk mountain wind finally woke him up completely.

After a quick wash and breakfast, they shouldered their packs and continued climbing.

Before long, Brother Leopard said he smelled another of their kind.

“It must have just passed by, it didn’t leave much scent on the stones and trees.”

Brother Leopard circled around a tree trunk, “It’s a male, probably not very old, possibly a young leopard that has left its mother to find its own territory.”

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Jiamu Gully didn’t look big, but with mountains connecting to mountains and peaks to peaks, it actually covered a substantial area.

The area they usually frequented was just at the end of the gully, and it was easy to get lost if they followed the gully inside.

This area was situated on a fault zone, one of the most active orogenic regions.

The mountains here were towering, and further inside, Snow Mountain stood majestically, like a pure maiden quietly watching the distance.

Chen Ying certainly didn’t dare venture too deep; his and Old Gao’s goal was at the large mountain located at the convergence of Old Bear Gully and Huaqiu Valley.

It was impossible to climb it—its altitude was nearly five thousand meters, and the summit was covered with snow all year round.

The sunlit side featured towering ancient trees, while the shaded side was full of rugged rocks.

They had surpassed a third of the Protection Zone, and the spacing between the streams had also gradually widened, making the depth of the canyons difficult to judge.

It took them a full seven days to get this far.

Along the way, they saw many traces of mudslides and collapsed rocks and broken giant trees.

Judging from the traces, it was probably caused by the last earthquake.

They were very careful and did not get too close to the collapsed areas.

The remote-controlled drone took many photos and videos, but they didn’t dare continue and simply detoured another shallow gully to make their way back.

Mobile phones had long since lost signal, and they hadn’t used the satellite phone yet, not knowing if it would work.

The two tried not to cause trouble for the rescue team, cautiously treading along, but still encountered some minor troubles.

“Old Chen, can we save this little thing?”

Chen Ying, wearing gloves, picked up the fox by the scruff of its neck, its hind limbs dangling and its head drooping as if it could breathe its last at any moment.

Jinya, curious, leaned in and sniffed it, a loud sneeze bursting out, and the fox subtly shivered.

Chen Ying paused and silently set it down.

What a clever little thing, so skilled at playing dead. One would think it had a wealth of experience with such antics.

After setting the little fellow down, Chen Ying gestured to the others, and the group of humans and animals quickly moved away, then circled back to hide behind a tree and silently observe.

The little fox sneakily opened one eye and twitched its ears, seemingly sensing no danger, but still waited a few more minutes before slowly getting up.

It crouched down and sniffed the ground, seeming a bit hesitant.

Beibei wanted to approach, but Leopard Sister gently bit her ear to stop her.

On the other side, Jinya was itching to pounce on the fox’s fluffy tail.

In reality, a fox’s tail is not as fluffy and soft as one might imagine. The fox tails sold in markets are treated and sometimes made from other animals’ fur.

In the wild, it’s impossible for it to be so clean and sleek.

Foxes have a strong body odor, which the feline animals dislike. Jinya, for instance, thought this little guy could be buried straight away.

Little Jin bit its cheek fur a bit and licked it a few times before making Jinya obediently lie down.

Brother Leopard yawned, feeling bored.

This wasn’t his favorite environment, and if possible, he wanted to leave sooner.

Chen Ying watched the little fox’s movements and posture, deciding there were no issues, and without further delay, turned to leave.

At this movement, a rustling sound startled the little fox, its fur bristling as it trembled.

After a while, when the noise had moved farther away, the fox relaxed slightly, ready to return to its den.

However, after taking a few steps, the little fox looked back for a while and finally decided to follow them.

Street rat had parted ways with them two days earlier.

The big fellow disliked climbing mountains. Seeing a wild beehive on a cliffside during the journey, it charged towards it without a second thought.

Chen Ying wasn’t worried about its safety; after all, a black bear’s fighting power is strong; usually, unless it provokes a tiger, it tends to dominate other animals.

“Up ahead is the range of the last earthquake, should we go over?”

Along the way, Old Gao had also collected a lot of data and materials on birds, especially pheasants, which were found to be more widespread than he had previously understood.

It was unclear whether this was due to global climate changes over the past decade or the birds beginning to adapt and evolve proactively. Regardless, environments previously thought unsuitable for them now had thriving pheasant populations.

They walked along the foothills toward the outer area; the path was rugged and challenging, sometimes requiring Little Jin and Brother Leopard to scout ahead to find a way out.

Little Jin was fine, but Brother Leopard swore never to follow the bipeds again.

Many spots could easily be jumped over, yet the bipeds couldn’t manage, always needing to find detours.

By detouring, they ended up far from their intended path.

The good thing was, since hardly anyone entered the mountains, the small animals’ food chain was intact; they never lacked food.

And because their group’s combat value was so high, they often only smelled the presence of predators, but couldn’t see a single one.

As Chen Ying moved through the area, he collected many specimens of fur and bones, but would need to go back and analyze them with equipment to identify the animals.

The team was not familiar with the mountainous terrain, which made finding a safe place to spend the night labor-intensive.

When nearing the center of the earthquake area, they also had to worry about the potential for heavy rains causing the fragile geology to collapse again.

Fortunately, during this trip to the mountains, they hadn’t encountered a single rainstorm.

Looking up at the night sky, clear with faint moon and stars, Chen Ying and Old Gao decided to simply camp in the woods overnight.

They planned to set out early the next morning and, if they found a suitable resting spot, stop to rest for a full day before continuing.

What they called a forest was actually more of a shrubland.

Sloping down beside them was a stream less than one meter wide.

It snaked between the trees, flowed over a gravelly beach, and then disappeared into another thicket of shrubs.

This area showed many signs of animal activity, likely a watering spot.

To avoid the animals that would come to drink at night, they chose a less ideal campsite but made sure to avoid blocking any animal paths.

Resting temporarily for three or four hours was still manageable.

Today, when coming down the mountain, they passed a small spring, filling up two water canisters. They planned to boil the water for cooking that evening and then cool it down for drinking the next day.

Old Gao had also brought along what he called a “water filter cup.” Chen Ying looked at it and felt it perfectly interacted with a “stupidity tax.”

Water that was initially clear, after filtration, now had a layer of white floaters, making it hard to swallow.

Old Gao thought the cup was fine, suggesting perhaps they had bought a fake filter replacement. He grumbled about confronting the seller when they got back.

Chen Ying rolled his eyes, suspecting the seller’s shop had probably closed down.

Jinya, listening to their bickering, ran over to inspect Old Gao’s cup and even tried to taste the filter by biting it, which scared Chen Ying into quickly covering Jinya’s mouth and lifting him by the shoulders.

Just then, a faint cracking sound was heard, causing everyone to look simultaneously in that direction.