“Well done.”
“Well done, little kitty.”
The nearly three hundred jin wild boar struggled hard twice, then its windpipe leaked air, and its whole body gradually lost strength.
“Woo woo.”
The Northeast leopard bit down hard twice more, killing the wild boar completely, before finally releasing its mouth.
Then, it let go, stepped back two paces, looked at Lu Zheng and Lin Wan, and yielded the wild boar’s corpse.
“Good boy, so obedient.” Lin Wan did not mind the blood on the leopard’s mouth. She went forward, touched the leopard’s head, then patted its skull, pointed at the big wild boar, and let it eat as it pleased.
The Northeast leopard: ???
It looked at Lin Wan, then at Lu Zheng. The Northeast leopard decisively stepped forward and tore open the wild boar’s belly with one bite, starting to eat the meat.
Lu Zheng and Lin Wan squatted to one side, watching the Northeast leopard feed.
Very barbaric, very primal, very bloody.
But also very satisfying, even sacred. Watching made one’s blood boil.
After all, humans, strictly speaking, are hunters too.
The leopard ate most of the wild boar’s internal organs in one go, plus plenty of fresh meat from the belly, until it was finally full.
In theory, after catching prey, if it could not finish it, it would drag the prey up a tree to store.
But…
The Northeast leopard looked at the big wild boar on the ground, then tried to drag it with its mouth.
It could not move it.
It had never hunted such a large prey before.
The Northeast leopard blinked, momentarily unsure what to do.
“Hee hee, so cute.” Lin Wan said with a grin.
“Shall we help it out?”
“Of course.” Lin Wan nodded, then went forward and touched the leopard’s head. “Where is your home? Shall I take it back for you?”
The Northeast leopard naturally could not understand, so it just looked at Lin Wan in confusion.
Lu Zheng did not know either. “Northeast leopards probably do not have fixed dens. How about we just pick a tree and toss it up?”
“That works. Anyway, the forest is freezing everywhere. No difference.”
Lin Wan nodded, then reached out, grabbed the wild boar corpse, swung her arm, and threw it onto a crooked-necked tree. It landed at the fork of three branches, fully five metres high.
She pointed at the pork on the tree and looked at the Northeast leopard. “Can you get up there?”
The Northeast leopard whooshed out, climbed up in three or four bounds, then looked at Lin Wan, whimpered twice in thanks, and leaped down again in three or four moves, stretching its head to rub against her.
“Ah ha ha ha.”
Then, Lin Wan started playing with the Northeast leopard in the snow, while Lu Zheng turned into a photographer, snapping various moments.
“You come too, you come too.”
Lin Wan called to Lu Zheng, then they switched and continued.
They played for a good while until satisfied. Lin Wan patted the little cat’s head, pulled Lu Zheng over. The two hugged the Northeast leopard’s neck together for a close-up selfie, before reluctantly parting.
“Sigh, what a pity. Cannot post this photo to Moments. Too bad.”
Lu Zheng laughed. “Post it. Say it is photoshopped. We are still in Haicheng now. Who can come verify?”
“Forget it.” Lin Wan rolled her eyes at Lu Zheng. Easy to say. Who knew who was always hiding and covering up, never exposing anything.
But this was comfortable, free. If they really wanted to take someone out, no one would suspect. Otherwise, if exposed, who knows how many unsolved cases would pile up.
“Keep it. Put it with those panda photo ones. Later, compile into an album.” Lin Wan said contentedly.
Lu Zheng nodded. “As you like. Shall we continue looking for the Siberian tiger?”
“Of course.” Lin Wan nodded repeatedly. How could a Northeast leopard compare to a Siberian tiger? One was a seventy or eighty jin little kitty, the other a three hundred plus jin brain axe. No contest.
If they could not stroke the big cat, the goal was not achieved.
…
“What is going on ahead?”
“Such thick black smoke. Is it a forest fire?”
Lu Zheng and Lin Wan did not fly. Flying too high meant missing details in the woods. Plus, Siberian tigers were masters of stealth.
So they just moved quickly through the forest. When they reached a certain clearing, they saw thick black smoke billowing in the distant sky.
“Still in national territory now?” Lu Zheng asked Lin Wan.
They had been heading east. Maybe already in Russia by now.
Lin Wan nodded. “No border marker seen. Still inside.”
“Go. Take a look.”
Lu Zheng pulled Lin Wan. White clouds appeared under their feet. They soared up into the sky.
In the distance, firelight flickered in the forest, with thick black smoke rising above. Countless animals were fleeing out from it.
As Lu Zheng and the other approached, they saw fire trucks arriving from the southwest. Many were already there, drawing water from a nearby river to send into the fire zone.
Lu Zheng also saw some firefighters dragging hoses, charging into the blaze.
“Team Two, set up a defence line north. Teams Five and Six, set up south. Absolutely no letting the fire cross the alert line.”
“Yes.”
“Team One, spray water. Team Three, use wind to extinguish ground fire. Team Four, continue advancing.”
“Yes.”
“Captain, the helicopter is here, but the smoke is too thick. They cannot find Professor Gu’s team position.”
“General position known?”
“Yes. In a valley on the east side.”
“Call Team Seven. Five minutes to gear up. Come with me to rescue.”
“Captain, you should command here. Let me go.”
“Nonsense. You with all those theories in meetings. Time to test you. You command here now.”
“Captain…”
“That is an order.”
“Yes.”
“Once I rescue Professor Gu, notify the rear to spray suppressant immediately.”
“Yes.”
As the commander assigned tasks, he did not know two invisible people were beside him, listening quietly.
…
In a valley several thousand metres away, a team of seven or eight people was trapped inside.
Black smoke roiled, flames raged. The dense trees at the valley mouth were fully ablaze, blocking any breakout.
No, it was not just blocking. The fire had already spread to their sides, about to burn them.
Though they had cleared a firebreak around them, facing the raging blaze, a break less than two metres wide was still like a drop in the bucket.
“Hold on. Hold steady. Rescue is on the way.”
“Woo woo… I do not want to die…”
“Professor, move further in a bit.”
“No need. You girls inside. I will stay out.”
“No. If we all die, you cannot have an accident.”
“Rubbish. Your futures have endless possibilities. No one gives up lightly. No status now. You go back.”
…
As the group argued over who inside and who outside, they did not notice two people had already sneaked up beside them.
