Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl-Chapter 284 - : The Elegant It, the Chubby It, and Their Domineering Family

Chapter 284 -284: The Elegant It, the Chubby It, and Their Domineering Family

Ying Bo stiffly took a step backward, his peripheral vision sweeping over the surroundings. At that moment, he greatly hoped that Brother Chi and Brother Ying would appear.

The animal in the tree resembled a little leopard, roughly a meter long with beautiful markings.

If it had been smaller, he might have been tempted to touch it, but the look in that suspected little leopard’s eyes deterred him from any rash action.

The Golden Cat usually moved on the ground but wasn’t averse to climbing trees, especially after it discovered some unfamiliar “animals” in its territory, so it had come over in the wee hours to stay and watch.

This Two-legged Beast seemed clumsy and not threatening at all.

The Golden Cat gracefully descended from the tree, wandered around the tent for a while, sniffed around, then lay down in front of Chen Ying’s tent door.

Its posture was elegant, its small face stern, observing Ying Bo’s movements.

Ying Bo froze in place, thought for a moment, then slowly approached the tent, trying to grab his waist knife to scare it away.

But as soon as his hand reached out, the Golden Cat huffed a breath, its eyes half-closing as if it might leap up and slap him the next moment.

Ying Bo quickly stepped back.

After a standoff between the man and cat, Ying Bo clenched his teeth and retreated away.

He had heard from the seniors at work that in the wild, one should neither act rashly nor turn and run.

Backing away while facing the animal was the best choice.

Once he was behind the bushes, Ying Bo relaxed his back and exhaled heavily.

It was a bit embarrassing, but he truly didn’t dare to make any sudden moves.

Forget it, he thought, better to finish the tasks Brother Ying had assigned first.

His work progress that morning was touching; Ying Bo couldn’t calm down and kept wanting to check back.

By noon, he could no longer hold back and told himself that since he had to go back and cook anyway, plus Brother Ying had told him to keep an eye on the camp and prevent that leopard or whatever it was from causing any damage.

With renewed courage, he returned to the tent area. Hmm, the little leopard was not to be seen.

Just as he was about to smile, he suddenly remembered that the creature could climb trees!

He immediately looked up and indeed, by the tree beside the rocky cliff, he spotted a dangling furry tail.

Oh no, he really didn’t want to have such good eyesight!

For the whole day, he had no idea what he had accomplished.

Around five in the afternoon, Chen Ying and Brother Chi rushed back, worried about him.

“Brother Chi, Brother Ying~”

“What happened, what’s wrong?”

Chen Ying swiftly pulled him closer, vigilantly surveying their surroundings.

His voice even bore a tilde, his tremor was evident, something was definitely amiss.

“Brother Ying, look, look up.”

Chen Ying glanced upwards and immediately saw the leisurely swaying furry tail.

“Golden Cat?” he asked, leaning closer to look up, easily recognizing the species from the fur lying on the tree trunk.

“Or rather a Golden Cat with markings, these patterns are perfect.”

Though having Golden Cats in this area was quite rare.

The Golden Cat in the tree watched Chen Ying for a while, then quickly jumped down, sniffing around him incessantly.

“Meow, why do you carry the scent of my kind?”

“I have a Golden Cat back home too, but it’s entirely golden-red, not as beautifully spotted as you.”

Chen Ying stood up and looked at Ying Bo.

“This is an Asian Golden Cat, resembling a leopard in appearance, but their size and facial markings differentiate them quite a bit.”

Golden Cats were quite fiery in temperament; Chen Ying was a bit wary by now.

He and Brother Chi thought that since no large wild animals were around, it should be relatively safe, forgetting that even small creatures like Golden Cats and ferrets had a dangerous side.

Had Ying Bo been injured on his first outing with them, he might have been traumatized.

Fortunately, the hardest task for today was already completed; in the coming days, Brother Chi and Ying Bo could work together.

Old rules, one click, three connections.

Photos, physical measurements, and biological sample collection.

The specimen box he carried this time was small, fitting only ten test tubes.

He carefully placed the collected hairs and trimmed nails, then turned to see Ying Bo with an exaggerated expression.

“What are you looking at me like that for? Is there something wrong?”

Chen Ying subconsciously reviewed the sampling process he had just performed, which was perfect.

“No, Brother Ying, it’s a wild beast, not a domestic cat, you think you can trim its nails?”

“Why not. If I don’t trim them, it will do it itself by scratching.”

He shrugged, packed up his things, and then gave the Golden Cat a full-body massage.

While making it comfortable, he also performed a full-body tactile check.

If it weren’t for the great distance they had traveled, he would have collected some blood samples too.

As it was, finding a chance to collect some Golden Cat fecal samples would suffice.

Although this guy was quite a bit longer than Little Jin, the weight advantage was still with their Little Jin.

Little Jin had grown up and looked very different from his cute younger self; he was now the majestic Old Jin!

Chen Ying pulled up a photo of Little Jin from his phone to show the new Golden Cat.

He also took out the little Golden Cat pendant he had crafted during his free time from his backpack and let the Golden Cat sniff it for a while.

Golden Cats seldom shed their fur and their fur is naturally short, so collecting enough fur for a two-finger-long needle felt pendant took several months.

Unlike Jinya, the long-haired Large Lynx, which could gather enough fur with just a few brushes.

Worried that the Golden Cat staying here would keep affecting Ying Bo negatively, Chen Ying walked with it towards the lake.

He had been busy all day and wondered how the little otter was doing.

The Golden Cat, bored, casually followed the fragrant Two-legged beast, its tail swinging and swaying relaxedly.

When they arrived at the lake, Chen Ying was just about to check the little otter’s nest with his binoculars when he spotted a group of dark figures swimming across the stream in front.

At another tributary, there were successive splashing sounds as similarly dark little figures moved closer to each other.

Chen Ying was first startled, then realized,

“Damn, is this an otter battle?”

He quickly blew his whistle to call Brother Chi and Ying Bo to come watch.

The whistles were not blown haphazardly; the rhythm and length conveyed different meanings.

The few blasts from Chen Ying meant one thing: there was gossip to share!

The sounds from the shore couldn’t stop the two groups of otters from fighting.

The numbers on each side were similar, and upon getting closer, they clashed not far from the lake shore.

When otters fight, they are brutally fierce, each bite followed by loud squeals.

Chen Ying recorded the entire event and casually counted,

“Seven in the group on the left, nine in the group on the right. But three from the right group didn’t join the fight.”

Those three watched from the water, seemingly waiting for something.

After about three to four minutes, the two groups separated.

With the naked eye, it was hard to tell if any otters were injured, but clearly, the smaller group wanted to retreat.

Just then, the three otters that hadn’t joined the fight dove in, and the opposing side, in a panic, tried to scramble onto the shore. Consequently, the biggest one was caught and dragged underwater by two otters.

The other otters tried to rescue the large otter, but the larger group overwhelmed them, and the opponents had no choice but to flee in disarray.

Soon, blood stained the surface of the water.

Clearly, the large otter was left forever in the lake.

Too far away to see clearly, Chen Ying couldn’t tell if the little otter was among them, nor did he know if the fleeing injured otters were its family.

The victorious otters played joyfully, and then two smaller ones swam toward the nest.

The nest was built in the roots of a large tree growing near the water. If not observed closely, most people wouldn’t recognize it as the entrance to an otter’s nest.

Chen Ying knew to look for it only because he had once saved otters, had studied up on the relevant knowledge, and had visited a freshwater lake otter community, which enabled him to recognize the seemingly disordered pile that was actually the entrance built on the water by the otters.

The Golden Cat had little interest in otters, at the effort it would take to dive and catch them; it could have fed itself several times over.

The Golden Cat, which should have rested well during the day to roam and feed leisurely at night, was too exhausted and just lay down beside Chen Ying, falling straight to sleep.

Chen Ying laughed to himself; did he earn the cat’s trust just like that?

Seeing the otters still chasing and playing happily, Chen Ying called Brother Chi and the others back to their tent.

“We’ve had a long day, let’s just cook some noodles for dinner. You and Ying Bo should sleep first after eating. I’ll take the first half of the night, and you two can take over at three.”

Two people standing watch was much safer, and Brother Chi could also take the chance to teach Ying Bo some outdoor overnight skills.

During the first half of the night, Chen Ying updated their records while on watch, and the Golden Cat stayed by him, resting a bit away from the fire.

When he and Brother Chi swapped shifts, ready to sleep, the Golden Cat stood up, shook its fur, and disappeared into the woods in a flash.

He slept soundly until ten in the morning.

Ying Bo was writing something on a stone beside the tent.

“Where’s Brother Chi? Sorry I overslept today.”

“No worries, you’ve been running on fumes these past few days. Take it easy, and you’ll recover faster.”

Ying Bo handed him some hot water.

“Brother Chi went down to the lake, said he’d set up another camera for safety.”

They hadn’t anticipated that many animals were active around the area; just the otter group alone was enough for their task.

Since both the Golden Cat and other animals also hunted by the water, installing just one camera really wasn’t sufficient.

After freshening up, Chen Ying carried the first aid kit down to the lake.

He wasn’t sure if yesterday’s otter group was still around, but if not, he might find an opportunity to call the little otter over for a check-up.

He had just reached the lake when he heard Brother Chi’s laughter.

“You little guy, did you find a girlfriend that fast?”

He hurried to the lake and saw Brother Chi squatting, with two otters standing, one behind the other, each holding a large fish in their mouths.

“Chen Ying, come quick, the little guy brought us fish.”

Seeing Chen Ying approach, the little otter wobbled over, hugged his leg, opened its mouth, and dropped a fish a third the length of its body onto the ground.

The fish looked odd, clearly not the kind one could eat.

Still, without internet access, he wished he could ask the all-knowing netizens what kind of fish it was.

Chen Ying crouched down and checked the little otter; thankfully, it had only minor scratches. It it were any later, the wounds would have healed on their own.