Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl

"Who's outside?"

Yin Li didn't answer, instead gesturing with his hand.

Chen Ying got it in a second, Big Brown Bear had arrived.

Had it stopped chasing the wolves? How did it find this place in the middle of the night?

He instantly thought of the staff on duty outside and cold sweat rushed down.

Yin Li had already dressed up to go out when Chen Ying grabbed him.

"Don't go, stay inside ready to command, I'll check it out. It might be following the mother bear."

Chen Ying had guessed this yesterday, but Big Brown Bear was so fast, he didn't get a chance to ask.

When he opened the door and stepped out, he indeed saw Big Brown Bear sitting next to the car, holding something unknown in its hand and eating.

Upon seeing him come out, the bear just lifted its eyelids, showing no intention of moving.

Chen Ying didn't get any closer but turned to look into the enclosure beside him and clenched his teeth.

That Er Sha, hiding behind the two bear cubs.

You call it dumb, yet it knows to hide behind the cubs. Say it's smart, but man, don't you know to run first?

And another thing, why didn't you go ask Brother Grey Arm for help?

Seeing Chen Ying coming, the two little cubs pounced toward him crying for help.

Chen Ying, with sharp eyes, saw Er Sha's four paws quietly shrinking back.

He laughed in exasperation, "You're not Er Sha, you're Ergou!"

What kind of fierce animal is this? Using other's cubs as a talisman, isn't that shameful? Huh!

Once Er Sha saw Chen Ying was actually a bit angry, it hurriedly stood up, hugged a bear cub and started licking it, sneaking glances at him.

Chen Ying took a deep breath to calm his anger, gave Er Sha a strong pat on the head, and picked up a bear cub to head back.

"Ali, help warm up the milk bottles we prepped earlier for these two."

The bear cubs were ineffective, almost immediately being stuffed into a tent.

Ji Xin also woke up, hurried over to help hold the bear cubs.

Big Brown Bear curiously watched Chen Ying's moves then glanced at Ergou tiptoeing around, it bared its teeth, and Ergou, frightened, bounced and twisted in the air launching into a hundred-meter sprint.

Chen Ying couldn't bother looking at it, still fuming inside.

The Big Cat from Jiamu Gully wasn't this cowardly, it was embarrassing for the fierce animals.

If Jinya went for the cute pet trend, this guy was all about the sleazy trend, frustrating!

Another tent flap was slightly open, the staff had already entered and sat at the entrance observing outside.

The moment he turned, he saw Big Brown Bear sitting not far away, marveling his heart didn't faint from the shock.

Now seeing Chen Ying moving confident and composed in front of Big Brown Bear, he internally gave him a hundred thumbs up.

"Brother Ying is truly awesome!"

He had been skeptical about Chen Ying's capabilities before; this time out, he was fast becoming a devout follower of Brother Ying.

Dr. Xiao Song was so amazing, talking about Brother Ying like a little fan girl, turns out that's why, and now he can proudly say, he's also Brother Ying's little fan brother!

Chen Ying checked the surveillance footage, everything around was calm, no unexpected presence.

Even the Tibetan antelope that could be sporadically seen before had almost completely disappeared.

"Ali, it seems all the Tibetan antelope are gone, take someone for a round to confirm the return time."

The next shift was probably already on their way, and they needed to be notified to change their route and spread out along the return path for protection.

Yin Li emerged from the tent still a bit nervous, but Big Brown Bear didn't care to notice him at all, stood up, shook off its flesh, and strolled away.

From the video surveillance, it seemed its destination was the River Beach Area.

There wasn't much food source there anymore, unclear what it was looking for.

Just as Yin Li and another team member were about to walk around the lake, Cai Rang exclaimed softly.

"Look, did Big Brown Bear catch fish from the lake?"

Once he said that, the research team members hiding inside the adjacent tent couldn't contain themselves any longer and rushed over.

"Where, where are the fish?"

Fish are rare in the highland lakes, especially at nearly five thousand meters elevation at Zhuonai Lake, they had never seen any fish.

If this was true, the research team would definitely need to stay and investigate thoroughly.

Actually, some fish samples had been found years ago and sent for testing, identified as Highland Loach. But due to incomplete samples, they could only ascertain them as first-level species.

After that, almost no live fish samples had been found.

Brown Bear brought the fish ashore and didn't rush to eat it, seemingly looking toward the camp.

Chen Ying came up with an idea and immediately hopped into the research team's vehicle, driving woefully towards the lakeside.

Seeing the vehicle approaching, Brown Bear adjusted its stance, calmly preparing to interact.

At the previously breached lakeside, Chen Ying stopped the car and dashed towards the lake.

Big Brown Bear recognized his scent, the congenial two-legged beast, and its internal alert softened somewhat.

"Big Bear, let's make a deal, give me the fish you caught, and I'll trade you some jerky?"

Actually, Big Brown Bear wasn't specifically there to catch fish, and it didn't like eating this type of fish—less meat, more bones, dry taste.

Hearing Chen Ying suggest this, it promptly spit out the fish and pushed it towards Chen Ying with a large paw.

Chen Ying dashed over, picked up the fish.

Thankfully, although the fish's body was pierced and it had struggled causing several wounds, the overall shape was very clear, perfectly manageable to process into a specimen.

There was no environment for making specimens here, so Chen Ying planned to first treat it with a chemical solution, then store it in the small refrigerator until they could remake it later.

Just after returning to camp, the two team leaders came looking for him.

The deputy team leader was an expert on highland fishes. Although not very famous in China, he was considerably stronger than Chen Ying and the others.

Chen Ying's knowledge of fish came entirely from the encyclopedia provided by the system.

Perhaps because he focused more on animals, the knowledge in that area was significantly more detailed, while information on birds and fish was relatively brief.

The simplest were the amphibians, with content almost identical to that found in commercially available encyclopedias.

Chen Ying really wanted to say that he intended to take it back for specimen preparation, but upon seeing the deputy leader's white temples, he silently closed his mouth, hesitated for half a minute, and then handed over the fish.

"You should have the conditions to make specimens, so I'll leave this with you. I'll wait for another opportunity."

The speaker had no intention, but the listener had a mind of their own.

Of course, the mindful one was not the deputy leader, but Er Sha hiding in a nearby nook.

Knowing it had displeased the two-legged beast, its big eyes swiveled around.

The two-legged beast wanted the fish? That was easy peasy, just watch Bao Bao!

It dashed toward the lake and then, to the astonishment of everyone and every animal, plunged in.

Can snow leopards swim? The answer is yes.

But could Er Sha swim?

Seeing the bubbles emerging on the lake's surface, Chen Ying, with his heart in his throat, rushed over again.

This silly girl, are you trying to kill yourself!

Fortunately, just as Chen Ying reached the lake shore and his lower legs had gotten wet, he saw Er Sha clamber up with a fish in her mouth.

(So yes, snow leopards can swim, but certainly, there are some that have never touched water in their lives)

Er Sha swam up to Chen Ying, stretched her neck, and gestured for him to take the fish.

Chen Ying stood in the cold lake water, a fire burning in his heart, his eyes also slightly moist.

He couldn't believe that Er Sha had noticed he was reluctant to part with the fish and had personally run over to catch it for him.

Taking the fish, Chen Ying stroked the cat's head and took her back to camp.

He made a fire to dry their clothes, cleaned her fur, and then fed her a basin of fragrant milk.

The two cubs in the tent watched the scene, their thoughts unknown, while the second cub's gaze drifted towards the lake.

"You better behave yourself, don't go."

Chen Ying spotted the second cub's itch to move and swiftly flicked its forehead.

"Don't even think about learning from her. One fool is enough. If you dare imitate her, your mother will kick you out."

Er Sha didn't understand and just continued to blissfully giggle.

Holding the basin, she licked it with utter sloppiness.

Honestly, Chen Ying had seen many big cats, even the scoundrel snow leopards, none had ever been this messy.

Watching Er Sha finish her milk, wiping her mouth with a wet towel, Chen Ying grew worried again.

This foolish girl, will she even survive to a ripe old age?

As dawn approached, Brother Grey Arm, the big snow leopard who had stealthily gone out, casually walked over, gave a low and choppy roar, dropped the prey beside his feet, and quickly left.

Indeed, the Tibetan antelopes were gone, with mostly wild yaks remaining around.

For the snow leopard, their favorite meals were animals like gazelles, rock sheep, and Beishan goats.

Why would a good leopard hassle with a wild yak? They're troublesome to fight and don't even taste good.

Er Sha hesitated, then went over and sniffed—it was her favorite lamb.

But bringing her prey and then leaving without looking back, what did that mean?

Chen Ying stayed silent; he really didn't understand wild animal thinking.

Especially since terrain differs, not only human thoughts differ, but animal thoughts vary too.

In Jiamu Gully, he would definitely think Brother Grey Arm fancied Er Sha, otherwise, why would he catch a lamb for her?

But to drop it and leave, like a wanderer who doesn't look back, was this a farewell gift?

Chen Ying shuddered at his own bizarre thoughts.

Er Sha, completely unconcerned, just started to eat since it was given to her.

Wasting food is a sin.

After a restless night, the next morning, Yin Li managed to contact the outside world using a satellite phone.

The patrol team that was supposed to take over from them was meant to move directly to escort them along the route, but with the discovery of live fish at Zhuonai Lake looking significant in number, the research team decided to stay and collect enough samples before leaving.

The incoming patrol team would continue their journey as planned, providing an escort for the research team while also delivering some supplies.

On the day the relief team arrived, Chen Ying and his group were ready to pack up and leave.

The mother bear had already taken her cubs away earlier.

The joy of being single and carefree was fleeting; one must still take care of their own children.

This time, the mother bear truly intended not to stay, leading her two cubs directly southeast.

(Mothers with cubs, their eyes devoid of any light)

That direction was also a crucial pathway for the migration of the Tibetan antelopes, the route lush with water and grass, meeting groups of Tibetan gazelles, Tibetan wild donkeys, and argali along the way.

Shortly after the mother bear with her cubs had left, Chen Ying, through his binoculars, saw the big brown bear also slowly ambling southeast.

The mother bear with cubs was probably less than two kilometers away from him.