Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl
Chapter 525 - 474 Mysterious Elf Phantom_2

However, overall, most of the male members of the cat family are relatively decent. As long as they are sure it's their own offspring, they will also provide a bit of food or a relatively safe environment for the mother beast.

Little Baby returned at dusk, looking exhausted.

Upon returning, it snuggled up beside Beibei, nuzzling and rubbing all over, and those whimpering sounds completely didn't match its muscular body.

At the time, Beibei was holding Little Leopard while sleeping, and after Little Baby came back, it took Little Leopard to Dao Meihua's side, then moved in itself, insisting that Beibei hold it and lick it.

"I can't watch, simply can't watch. I say, Brother Ying, could your Little Baby have gotten the wrong gender? It feels like Beibei is more carefree than it."

Chen Ying was writing records, glanced up, and laughed, "Who says a tough guy can't have a girly heart? You can ask Duanmu if he whimpers in front of Xiao Song too. And Little Sen, I have seen him seek comfort from Mengmeng several times."

"Gosh, the feng shui of your Jiamu Gully is simply deadly." Old Gao laughed loudly, insisting he isn't one of Jiamu Gully's people, fearing the tough guy's stomping.

Dao Meihua's cousin hadn't seen Chen Ying so relaxed before, nudged her sister-in-law lightly upon seeing it.

"Hey, did you ever see him like this when you were with him?"

Dao Meihua smiled slightly and nodded lightly, "I have seen him; the atmosphere at their rescue station is great. Sister-in-law, if you have the chance to go, you'll fall in love with it."

"Alright, I haven't seen the giant panda yet. Is it really okay to handle them casually?"

"Not really, but if Mama Panda agrees, then it's okay."

Back in the day, Great Bai and Jiaojiao's offspring were alright. Later, the three cubs of Mendun'er were a bit picky; only Little Sen and Chen Ying could touch them. Others could occasionally, but only briefly, or they'd get angry.

This time Sasa's cub is said to be watched quite closely, besides Little Sen and Mengmeng, only Professor Bai can get away with a touch during inspection; others get a glance at best.

The opportunity is more rare now, as Sasa took her cub into the forest, which is the most suitable environment for the cub's growth.

After moving, apart from Little Sen and Mengmeng being able to approach, not even Panda Man can get close, or else Sasa directly calls upon the muscle-brained male panda.

That guy's daily routine now includes watching over Sasa, fighting, eating bamboo, and sleeping.

Both burly and simple-minded describe him perfectly!

So fitting! Even the street rat from Jiamu Gully would give a thumbs up hearing it.

"Ah-Ying, why don't you and Meihua accompany me for a walk later?"

During dinner, Dao Meihua's cousin made a request, "I read a report about a tree lizard being discovered here before, and I'd like to try my luck."

"No problem, we were just planning to search for some things too, let's go together."

Chen Ying didn't even think before agreeing, but after speaking, he noticed Meihua's cousin had a rather indescribable expression on her face.

Did he say something wrong? Instinctively, he looked toward Dao Meihua.

Dao Meihua showed a bit of helplessness, but she knew Chen Ying wasn't saying this to evade.

"Ahem, Ali and my junior brother and I plan to go alone; you all go ahead first."

Old Gao gave Yin Li and his junior brother a look, and the two immediately nodded.

"No need, let's go together; it's safer in this deep mountainous forest saying with more people." Dao Meihua proactively spoke up, "I happen to know of a nearby unique plant, Ali hasn't seen it yet, so it can be an opportunity to learn. Sister-in-law, are you planning to pursue a Ph.D? Have you chosen a research direction?"

After Dao Meihua took the initiative to change the topic, Chen Ying reacted.

Feeling a bit awkward, he lowered his head and raised his hand to touch his cheek.

Little Baby, next to him, seemed to understand, laughed merrily, and had its wildly swinging tail bitten by Beibei.

The place they are now is at the edge of the forest, which is the living area of the White-lipped Tree Lizard.

The White-lipped Tree Lizard has a very beautiful appearance, with blue on top and white below, and its lips have a touch of white.

Some tree lizards have yellow-brown backs and change color based on temperature. These tree lizards also use color changes during mating rituals.

Reportedly, the male White-lipped Tree Lizards are a deeper shade of blue, more mystical.

For this reason, for a long time, they were captured and sold as pets. The consequence of this is that they're now rare in the wild, mostly found in exotic pet breeding farms.

After eating, the group took their equipment and headed into the forest.

Little Baby went out to find food for Beibei, while Beibei stayed near the camp watching over Little Leopard.

If Chen Ying were here, they'd certainly go together, but with others, Beibei wasn't as at ease.

The luck wasn't particularly good; they didn't see any beautiful White-lipped Tree Lizards this time, but Old Gao's luck was decent, as he captured a stunning photo of the Orange Crowned Sparrow.

Its thick brows, wise little eyes, were quite amusing.

It also had two white mustaches, but the angle made them hard to see.

There's a village not far from the camp, not many people remained, as it's within a nature park, with a few families staying there, setting up small stalls, running food shops.

The next day, Guide Brother Li led the group to replenish some food and daily supplies, as for the next seven to eight days, there wouldn't be any places for supply.

This time, they planned to take the Tengxi North Line.

From Tengchong County through Guyong, Niuquan River enters Myanmar through Friendship Pass, where the journey stops.

Originally, this ancient road led to Myanmar's Mizhi, but due to the situation, even scientific expeditions are advised against entering dangerous areas.

Chen Ying and the others were conducting research, not adventurers, so it wasn't necessary to confront danger.

Upon completing their supply, the team continued forward, arduously trekking along the ancient road formed over two thousand years ago.

"I heard that poaching is rampant over there; will we encounter danger this time?"

The cousin-in-law is a researcher but works in safe areas; this trek through the ancient road is her first adventure, saying she's not nervous would be impossible, yet deep down she feels thrilled.

"Probably not, they have much poaching there, but hardly cross into our territory."

Brother Li is familiar with the border areas; he had done prior research on the situation of this line. If it weren't safe, he wouldn't dare bring so many people here.

"Anyway, we should all be careful." Old Gao put down his camera and reminded, "There was quite a stir over there recently, lots of smuggling, thankfully we were prepared early. But since the national border is long and this area is dense forest, encountering trouble isn't an impossibility."

Chen Ying didn't respond, he was observing a tree, mainly the claw marks on it.

Little Baby and Beibei had been persuaded to stay at the previous supply station by him.

They were traversing horizontally this time, not suitable for Little Baby and Beibei to carry their child for a long journey.

If it were just the two of them, it would be fine, but the leopard cub is only three months old, not even weaned yet, so why make it suffer?

Moreover, the mother leopard with a cub also worried Chen Ying.

Although the cub isn't Little Baby's, clearly the mother doesn't have a reliable partner to help, injured and unable to rest, still striving to hunt and feed the cub. Without help from Little Baby and Beibei, the mother leopard's family would face dire consequences.

For this reason, Beibei agreed to stay, but it asked Chen Ying to come and visit after he returned.

Beibei's request is something Chen Ying surely wouldn't refuse.

That night, Little Baby and Beibei took their child to a cave they found earlier for temporary shelter. When Chen Ying departed, Little Baby waved its tail from the rocks on the mountainside to bid farewell.

Now, seeing the claw marks on the tree, he first thought it might have been left by another leopard, but after a close inspection, he dismissed this guess.

"Everyone be careful; tigers might be around," Chen Ying snapped a photo of the claw marks on the tree trunk, and after a careful search around, he finally found something resembling feline feces under a tree.

The custom sample box came into play.

Dao Meihua sensed something special from Chen Ying's carefulness.

"You suspect it was left by the Indochinese Tiger?"

She's a smart person; due to being part of M Alliance, she's well aware of the distribution of cats within the country.

Bengal Tigers live in the southern and southwestern Tibetan Region, while the area bordering Dian Province and Myanmar is the rare activity area of the Indochinese Tiger.

From ten years ago until now, investigations into the Indochinese Tiger have been ongoing, and recent data show that domestically, there are less than ten individuals remaining.

These big cats are elusive to humans, not appearing unless truly lucky.

Could it be that this time, they'd get close contact with this mysterious Mountain Elf?