Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl-Chapter 306 - : Friends from afar, should we eat the mouse?

Chapter 306 -306: Friends from afar, should we eat the mouse?

Arriving at the outskirts of the pasture, Chen Ying parked the car and opened the back door and the transshipment cage door.

Jinya and Little Jin leaped out and stretched, then they bounced into the snow, running wild.

Uncle Tashi watched them rush into the snowy field; soon, their figures disappeared entirely.

“Uncle, let’s go. Let’s go see Er Niu.”

Recently, a herder had seen Er Niu hunting seven kilometers from the pasture and guessed that the food in the mountains might have decreased.

Er Niu was well-behaved and never harmed the cattle and sheep of the pasture. When seeing herdsmen passing by, it would keep its distance and watch them.

“A month ago, two kids in our pasture got married; we even sent a little lamb as a gift to Er Niu.”

“Last week during the heavy snowstorm, Lavang’s family lost two sheep and thought they were gone for good, but Er Niu drove them back.”

Uncle Tashi became more distressed as he spoke, “We invited it to take refuge from the snowstorm here, but it didn’t come. I have no idea how it survived those days.”

How did it survive? Well, it just did.

Wild animals have their ways of coping with nature.

For example, by taking over another animal’s lair.

Chen Ying smiled, crouched down, and greeted the big fellow emerging from the ground.

Er Niu pounced, successfully knocking Chen Ying to the ground where it stood on his chest with its forepaws and brought its grinning face close to his cheek.

“Don’t lick, faces can get sore!”

The warm breath on his face felt scorching.

Er Niu made a soft whimpering sound, as if it were being affectionate.

Chen Ying hugged Er Niu’s sturdy body and thoroughly conducted a full-body check.

The kid was doing well, growing stronger.

However, its body also had many small scrapes, not serious, but still heartbreaking.

Er Niu was thrilled, even excited by Chen Ying’s visit.

Its two-legged beast hadn’t lied to it; he did come, came to find it.

As Er Niu proudly bounced around, two figures approached from a distance.

Er Niu immediately went into combat mode.

Chen Ying hugged its neck, “Er Niu, I’m introducing you to two new friends.”

Jinya nearly crashed into Chen Ying’s face with a sudden stop.

It incredulously watched him hugging a Big Cat, tilting its head, “Meow?”

So fast? A new cat friend already?

Little Jin was slower, walked over, glanced, and rubbed the dumbstruck neck of Jinya.

“Meow, they must have known each other before.”

Little Jin sat down, examining Er Niu with a judgmental gaze.

It wasn’t unfamiliar with the silly Snow Leopard; they’s had some in Jiamu Gully.

Be it the former jerk Snow Leopard or the other mother leopards it had charmed, they seemed much smarter than this big silly one.

This big silly one didn’t seem like a cat; more like a puppy!

Seeing Er Niu held and grinning foolishly in Chen Ying’s arms reminded it of the wolf pups raised at the Protection Station and the three silly dogs that cared for the wolf pups as if they were their own children.

The silly dogs looked at the wolf pups with the same gaze and expression that Er Niu had now.

Er Niu was thrilled, the words echoing in its mind: Mine!

Mine, mine, mine!

It tilted its head, its nose touching Chen Ying’s cheek, solidifying the feeling into two words: Mine!

Chen Ying didn’t know what Er Niu was thinking, but every breath released from its body screamed excitement.

His smile momentarily froze on his face.

His arms instinctively tightened around Er Niu.

“Jinya, come, greet your new friend. This is Er Niu, my Little Baby. Er Niu, this is Jinya, my Big Baby.”

Er Niu looked up at Chen Ying and moved forward happily, touching Jinya’s fur.

Though it carried a cat scent it didn’t like, it didn’t matter. Its two-legged beast said they were both precious.

Big Baby, Little Baby, they were all precious!

Er Niu rubbed Jinya’s neck again, not caring that it was another Big Cat that could compete for food.

Jinya was the type of cat who least accepted others’ enthusiasm.

It sighed, reluctantly reciprocating the rub and before it could speak, heard Er Niu suggesting, “Let’s go have some tasty Mouse Bars.”

Jinya, who usually preferred rabbits and seldom ate Mouse Bars—only the exotic big-tailed ones—fell silent.

It turned back to Chen Ying: Your little darling eats this?

Chen Ying responded with a smile.

Though it was hesitant, Jinya still followed Er Niu to seek out the tasty Mouse Bars it mentioned.

Little Jin adapted quite well.

Despite the Golden Cat not being from the snowy fields, its performance here far exceeded Chen Ying’s expectations.

Under Er Niu’s boastful gaze, the cold and efficient Little Jin completely emptied the Mouse Bar den.

It wiped them out, family-style.

Er Niu and Jinya lay together.

“Your mate is really impressive! I’ve tried several times but I can only catch one.”

The sand rat tastes pretty good, and although Jinya reluctantly ate the first bite, she then ate in silence.

Little Jin really liked this snack, devouring most of the rat himself.

Seeing this, Er Niu started to drool (¯﹃¯).

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Jinya ran off for five minutes and brought back a Highland Rabbit.

Er Niu looked at her in amazement, “You’re so impressive, I’m not that fast. But I’ve gotten much better recently, I can catch sheep on my own now.”

Hearing the implied expectation in Er Niu’s tone, Jinya sighed and licked his ears.

“You’re really amazing, Little Baby.”

Er Niu happily rolled in the snowy plain.

“From now on, I won’t chase after your kind and beat them up, even if they steal my food.”

“Why not beat up?” Jinya crouched, her face serious, “Food is very important, you can’t let other animals take it. If it dares to steal, you beat it up, or call me if you can’t, and I’ll help you.”

Er Niu lay in the snow, staring at Jinya for a long time before nodding emphatically.

“Okay, I will beat it up every time I see it.”

That might be a bit excessive…

After such a short interaction, Jinya had already seen that this Snow Leopard was a big but simple-minded guy.

A simple-minded but kind-hearted creature, how did it survive out here? God must really favor it.

Chen Ying did not pay attention to the conversation between the three cuties. Led by Uncle Tashi, he rode around the snowy plain on a horse.

The weather was cold, but the ground was much more walkable than in spring and summer.

Water hidden in the meadow had frozen into ice, greatly reducing the chances of vehicles getting stuck as long as they weren’t heavily loaded.

However, the heavy snow also covered many holes, and it was easy for horses to accidentally step into them.

Luckily, due to the presence of Snow Leopards and Lynxes, the number of hole-digging rabbits and rodents had decreased significantly.

Holes not frequented by small animals gradually filled up with mud.

“The climate this year turned cold earlier than in previous years, but it’s still within normal limits. When extreme weather with heavy snow is forecasted, I will use food to lure Er Niu and lock her in the shed.”

“That’s not necessary. If she can find a good place to hibernate, let her do it on her own. Too much human interference isn’t good.”

Uncle Tashi glanced at him, seemingly about to say something.

Chen Ying knew that the uncle felt uneasy seeing him taking Jinya and Little Jin around while leaving Er Niu out in the wild.

But Er Niu was different from Jinya; she was too friendly toward humans. If taken to Jiamu Gully, she wouldn’t stand a chance against the lecherous Snow Leopard, nor the female Leopards around his territory.

He also couldn’t let Er Niu stay at the emergency station; that would truly violate the principles of animal conservation.

Jinya could stay because the emergency station was located within her territory.

Besides, Er Niu wasn’t as weak as he had imagined.

In the years she had been out in the wild, she had developed her own rules for survival.

The high mountain rocky area wasn’t considered because she knew she couldn’t compete with her kind.

The high mountain meadow on the outskirts of the pasture wasn’t an ideal territory for other Snow Leopards, but the herbivorous animals living there were targets Er Niu could hunt.

Living beings would instinctively seek environments suitable for survival, even if it was a bit tougher, but they lived freer and more comfortably.

The only trouble was that Er Niu’s territory was slightly far from other Snow Leopard territories, and she might need to travel a bit farther if she wanted to reproduce.

After inspecting the area and ensuring nothing could threaten Er Niu and Jinya, Chen Ying followed Uncle Tashi to his house to rest.

About three hours later, Little Jin found Chen Ying.

Unusually clingy, he jumped directly onto Chen Ying, his body trembling slightly under his fur.

Little Jin was freezing, with icicles hanging on his whiskers.

Aunt Zhaxi, seeing this, quickly fetched a fur mat for Chen Ying to wrap the cat in.

Chen Ying thought for a moment, then simply unfastened his fur jacket and wrapped Little Jin in it.

Little Jin, with a resigned face, let him do as he pleased.

“Uncle Tashi, is that Er Niu on the snowy plains outside? Is she fighting with a Lynx again? That Lynx’s color is so shiny, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

The neighbor’s child ran over to warm up by the fire, his little mouth non-stop.

“I want to ride a horse, but my mom won’t let me. Can I ride your horses?”

The child was about eleven or twelve, still a child, not even as tall as the back of a horse.

Aunt Zhaxi handed him a bowl of milk tea and at the same time denied his request.

“With the wind this strong and it getting dark, are you planning to go feed the wolves?”

“Auntie is lying, we don’t have wolves here.”

The child laughed cheekily, “With Er Niu around, there are no wolves.”

It seemed Er Niu had ascended to the status of a guardian deity in the eyes of the pasture children.

“That Lynx outside is Er Niu’s friend, don’t disturb others playing. If you want to go out, wait until tomorrow during the day.”

The child’s plan to ride a horse was thwarted, and after finishing his milk tea, he ran off.

Soon after, noisy voices of children could be heard outside the tent.

“That’s Er Niu’s friend, coming from afar to see her, just like the mainland uncle visiting Uncle Tashi.”

“You’re lying, Er Niu just defeated a Lynx recently, this one must be here to challenge Er Niu, and we need to help Er Niu defeat the enemy!”

Well, now, is this turning into a territory battle?

Just as Chen Ying was about to go out to check, he heard the sound of a horse neighing, followed by a young man calling Uncle Tashi outside, saying that another Snow Leopard and a Lynx had appeared on the snowy plains.