Chapter 68
Chapter 68
A Lion... A White Lion?
The scene was a little awkward for a moment.
Lin Qianyu held back repeatedly, the corners of her mouth twitching upward several times. In the end, she had no choice but to press a hand to her forehead, suppressing her trembling shoulders, and lowered her head to ask, “Are you okay?”
The sea turtle clearly wasn’t new to big scenes—calm and composed. When it first sensed something was off, it had decisively withdrawn into its shell. After spinning around for a while without being affected in the slightest, it only slowly stuck out its head once it had calmed down.
It lifted a front flipper and patted Lin Qianyu’s hand as if comforting a junior, then continued slowly stepping through the sand toward the sea.
“Eee—!”
The orca rolled back and forth, trying to leap out of the water to greet Lin Qianyu.
Because of the orca’s considerable weight, each time it landed it kicked up a huge splash, with the traces of water gradually spreading up the beach as evidence.
“Good afternoon, Dabai.” Lin Qianyu waved toward Dabai, then reached out to stop the sea turtle. “How about staying on shore a bit? Eat something before heading back.”
With the ocean right there, there was no need to worry about the sea turtle dehydrating.
Lin Qianyu pulled out some jia mushroom fruit from a side pocket of her backpack. “Want to try some wild fruit? It’s really tasty.”
Sea turtles have a varied diet, with most documented foods being marine life—seaweed, algae, squid, and some species even eat jellyfish.
The sea turtle, intent on heading into the sea, had its vision blocked by the dangling fruit and looked up.
At that distance, it only needed to open its mouth to take a bite.
Seeing it seemed interested, Lin Qianyu continued holding it up.
Chasing Wind was nearby, crunching on jia mushroom fruit. One side of its backpack was filled with the wild fruit. When it wanted to eat, it would bounce around to shake the fruit loose.
The sound of crunching fruit and rolling waves filled the air.
Lin Qianyu held the fruit there—after all, the turtle wasn’t moving, as if it were contemplating whether it wanted to eat and whether it could eat.
If it were just an obstacle, the turtle could have stepped aside, so that probably wasn’t the reason.
She kept holding it there for quite a while—so long that Lin Qianyu thought the sea turtle wasn’t interested—when suddenly, the sea turtle opened its mouth and took a big bite.
Sea turtles don’t have teeth, but their mouths are lined with sharp ridges, and their beaks are extremely sharp—capable of crushing crabs.
After the first bite, the turtle began gobbling down mouthful after mouthful.
Seeing it liked it, Lin Qianyu placed two more fruits in front of it.
To keep the fruit from falling on the ground and getting sandy, she even laid a banana leaf under the turtle’s neck.
The sea turtle nodded toward Lin Qianyu, then faced the ocean and continued eating.
【Hahaha, this scene is just so funny no matter how you look at it.】
【Sea turtle: This kid’s not bad, knows what’s up.】
【I’m dying—judging by its size, that sea turtle must be pretty old. Calling it grandpa doesn’t seem wrong at all.】
The grassland wolf, carrying its prey, ran a little slower than Chasing Wind.
Lin Qianyu finished laying out the banana leaves, then turned to meet the little wolf. “Good work, Little Wolf. Come, I’ll take care of the rest.”“Wuu.” The grassland wolf lifted its head, nudging the zebra toward her. Lin Qianyu grabbed the zebra and stood by the sea, turning sideways and shouting loudly, “Dabai! I’m throwing it in—be careful not to get hit!”
This time, she was tossing an entire zebra—definitely not something Dabai could catch in its mouth.
A small chunk of meat hitting you was no big deal, but if an entire zebra came crashing down, even a humpback whale could get knocked out, let alone an orca.
“I’m throwing it now! Be careful!”
Lin Qianyu had originally planned to walk to the right to throw it, but she moved too slowly, and before she got there, the orca had already swum over and waited for quite a while.
So she just asked Dabai to move aside in the water.
“Eee!”
The orca raised the upper half of its body out of the water with a call and shifted to the side.
Lin Qianyu swung the zebra, and once she had the right height and momentum, let go. The zebra flew straight toward the sea.
The moment it hit the surface, the orca caught it cleanly in its jaws.
Lin Qianyu could only see the splashing waves—Dabai was probably eating underwater. It would be hard for something that big to eat while keeping its head raised.
She rinsed her hands in the seawater and gave them a shake. With the current temperature, they’d dry on their own in no time.
Lin Qianyu carefully avoided the waves and sat down beside the sea turtle, leaning back against the grassland wolf.
She reached behind and rested her hand on Little Wolf. “I’m going to the rescue center tonight. Do you want to stay home and rest early?”
“Wuu…”
“You want to come along? Okay.” Lin Qianyu figured she’d be back late tonight anyway. There wasn’t really a need for Little Wolf to run back and forth with her to the rescue center—it would be better for him to stay home and get a good night’s sleep.
But since Little Wolf wanted to come, of course she’d take him along.
Soon, the orca popped back up, and there was no sign of the zebra around—it must’ve already been eaten.
“Eee!”
The orca swam in circles in the sea after eating.
“You’ve been here all day?” Lin Qianyu pinched the grassland wolf’s paw pad and raised her voice, “Really not going to find the pod?”
Being alone all the time did seem a little pitiful, though maybe Dabai didn’t feel that way at all.
“Eee…” Dabai’s call sounded hesitant—clearly it didn’t want to find the pod. Even its spinning slowed when the topic came up.
A moment later, as if something came to mind, the orca surfaced again. “Eee!”
Something.
Lin Qianyu asked, “Something?”
“Eee!”
In the sea. It moves.
Lin Qianyu paused—something in the sea?
With how intelligent the orca was, it should recognize anything it had seen in the ocean. So this “moving thing” definitely wasn’t just a regular sea creature.Lin Qianyu asked again, “Where is the thing? Is it far?”
The orca let out a soft cry, then dove underwater as if trying to gauge the distance. After a while, it resurfaced, blowing water from its blowhole, and even its cry sounded aggrieved.
It probably didn’t know how far it was.
Lin Qianyu thought for a moment, took off her jacket, and draped it over the grassland wolf. “Little Wolf, hold this for me. I’m going to take a look—I’ll be back soon.”
“Wuu!”
Seeing Lin Qianyu coming down, the orca, who had just been feeling a bit down, immediately perked up.
It wanted to rush over but remembered that Lin Qianyu didn’t want it coming ashore, so it waited in the shallows for her to come down.
As she approached, it hurried up and nudged her affectionately. “Eee!”
“Alright, alright.” Lin Qianyu opened her arms and hugged the orca. Though it was called a hug, the size difference meant it looked more like she was just pressing her arms against the orca.
The orca clearly enjoyed this affectionate gesture. Delighted, it seemed like it wanted to roll in the water again.
But before flipping over, it stopped, realizing doing so might accidentally knock the human away. So instead, it just leaned closer… and closer.
Lin Qianyu led the orca into deeper water, only stopping when her feet no longer touched the sea floor. “Which direction is the thing you mentioned?”
She intended to swim over and check it out.
The orca didn’t point it out, but instead dove underwater, letting Lin Qianyu sit on its back, then turned and swam toward the deep sea.
To be safe, Lin Qianyu wore a watch into the water this time. Planning for only brief contact with water, she hung the watch on the orca’s dorsal fin once they were stable at sea, so it wouldn’t stay submerged.
Short-term splashes weren’t an issue—like a light drizzle—but prolonged submersion would be a problem.
Sitting on Dabai’s back, Lin Qianyu flicked her wrist to shake off the water from the watch screen. The display worked fine, and the touchscreen was still responsive.
Lin Qianyu sent a message to Su Yuxing: 【Director Su, I’m heading into the ocean with Dabai to look for something.】
She figured it was best to let the director know she was going into the sea.
Su Yuxing was probably busy, as there was no reply yet.
Lin Qianyu exited the chat window and was just about to set the watch down when a few comments on the livestream caught her eye.
【Forget the “thing,” this looks like they’re almost at the deep sea.】
【Not sure, but it does seem like they’re getting farther and farther from the shore.】
【Who rides an orca into the deep sea for fun?! Lin-jie, turn back now—while you still can!】
Going out to sea without any safety equipment, even while live on camera with people tracking her direction, was still extremely risky.
Some viewers couldn’t help but grow anxious.
Lin Qianyu, however, didn’t show much concern. Dabai was swimming steadily and at a good pace. Seeing how worried the fans were, she took the initiative to reassure them: “Don’t worry about me. I’m confident I can keep myself safe. Just don’t imitate me, okay?”
【?】
【“Just don’t imitate me”—what am I supposed to imitate? Riding an orca around the ocean?】
【I can protect myself too! When do I get my orca? Is it officially assigned or do I apply for one? I’d settle for a smaller one, I’m not picky.】…
Su Yuxing: 【Wait, what the hell?! What are you doing?! You're not allowed to go!】
Su Yuxing had just returned from dinner and was completely stunned when he saw the message Lin Qianyu had sent him.
He hurriedly opened the livestream, only to see Lin Qianyu—like some reclusive sage—riding an orca, gradually swimming out into the vast ocean.
Su Yuxing thought, I was gone for just ten minutes. He hadn’t even brought his phone, thinking it was such a short break there wouldn’t be any incident. To be precise, from opening his meal box to finishing it took him just eight minutes.
And yet—
In those exact eight minutes!
Lin Qianyu rode an orca out to sea!
He didn’t know if the fans were panicking, but he was already in full-blown panic mode!
Su Yuxing waved over his assistant and said, “Quick! Alert the marine rescue team—have them follow her, now!”
If something happened out at sea, even calling a helicopter wouldn’t be fast enough.
He sighed. Though logically he knew Lin Qianyu seemed fully confident—when she said she’d be fine, she probably would be fine—and the orca was extremely protective of her, sticking to her side like a shadow, unwilling to part...
With the orca there… she should be safe.
But—emotionally, he wanted to trust Lin Qianyu; rationally, he had to arrange for marine rescue just in case.
You always had to prepare for the worst.
If Lin Qianyu returned safely from the sea, that was the best-case scenario. But if anything really went wrong, their people had to be able to rush in and pull her out immediately.
Speaking of pulling her out—
Su Yuxing thought for a moment. He decided he had to go with them, just in case.
…
Out at sea, to navigate, all you could do was look up at the sun.
Figure out the cardinal directions.
Lin Qianyu bent over slightly, half-lying on the orca's back, arms wrapped around its dorsal fin. “Dabai, how much farther?”
After a pause, she suddenly asked, “You're not taking me to the city shore, are you?”
That wasn’t a place she could just casually land on.
She was overseas, hadn’t gone through customs—never mind how many security checkpoints there’d be. Even if by some miracle she landed safely, it would still count as illegal entry.
“Eee?”
Hearing the orca’s confused sound, Lin Qianyu let out a breath of relief. Okay, guess not.
【Hahaha, someone give Dabai a GPS—send Lin-jie straight to Jungle Island now!】
【Damn! You can do that?! Why didn’t I think of it?!】
【Heck yes! Does that mean we’ll see Big Orange today?! I miss Huahua, the little eagle, the bear cub! And the little snake and the tiny chevrotain—I keep replaying the streams when you’re offline.】The livestream chat was getting rowdy.
Most of it was people just joking and joining in the fun—there was no way she could actually switch islands.
Lin Qianyu sat steadily on the orca’s back, arms outstretched, her hair lifted by the sea breeze blowing in her face.
She had tied up her hair when she first entered the sea, but now, enjoying the wind, she untied it and hung the hair tie on her wrist, casually running a hand through her hair. The breeze helped dry the sea-damp ends even faster.
She had no idea how long they’d been swimming through the vast, endless sea when a dorsal fin suddenly appeared on the water’s surface not far away—heading in her direction.
“Ee!”
Without hesitation, Dabai turned sharply and, as they passed, gave the approaching orca a slap with its tail.
The orca that had rushed over couldn’t stop in time and got flipped by Dabai’s tail.
Lin Qianyu felt a sudden jolt of acceleration and instinctively grabbed the dorsal fin to steady herself. Then she saw a strange orca getting smacked.
“That’s…” Lin Qianyu heard the unfamiliar orca speak—it was from the same pod as Dabai. “Hey.”
More orcas began surfacing in the distance; it looked like the whole pod was nearby.
Lin Qianyu greeted them, “Nice to see you again!”
The orcas sprayed water from their blowholes and responded enthusiastically with high-pitched calls.
For a moment, their calls seemed to drown out even the sea breeze.
But despite their excitement, none of them approached, especially after witnessing the earlier smack.
Dabai, who had originally been swimming forward, made a wide detour around its own pod and then circled back to take Lin Qianyu to that strange object.
【Dabai: Don’t even think about approaching my human. Touch her and you’re dead.】
【So possessive, Dabai! I love it!!!】
【Dabai’s combat power is no joke. Taking on an entire pod solo isn’t just a bluff.】
…
After Dabai came to a stop, Lin Qianyu noticed the object floating on the water’s surface.
It didn’t look like ocean trash—its shape was intact, its construction refined, and it looked like a high-tech electronic device. A red light on it was still blinking as it drifted with the current.
Not knowing what it was, Lin Qianyu didn’t touch it recklessly. She first contacted Bai Zhao and asked him to check the livestream.
A moment later, Bai Zhao messaged:
【It’s probably something from a poaching group. I’ll teach you how to disarm it. Don’t touch the chain hanging in the water or try to pull it out. If the device comes out of the water before it’s shut off, it’ll trigger an alarm. Just remove the top part and bring that back.】
“Got it.” Lin Qianyu patted the orca beneath her. “Dabai, go a bit closer.”
The orca responded with a flap of its side fin.
“This is good, just stay here.” Lin Qianyu reached out and took the object, then sat cross-legged with the metal lump on her lap. “Let’s begin.”
To explain more easily, Bai Zhao called directly. “Crap—you might not be able to disarm it.”
Lin Qianyu asked, “Why not? Is it dangerous?”
“No, it’s not that. We’ve found this kind of device before near islands—it’s made by poachers. You have to pry open the protrusion on the right side. The material is special. You don’t have any tools, and you can’t pry it open barehanded. Hold tight, I’ll have someone lock onto your location. I’m coming right now.”Lin Qianyu followed the location Bai Zhao described and found the object. “Is it this one?”
Bai Zhao, speaking on the phone while watching the livestream, saw the metal piece in Lin Qianyu’s hand and nodded. “Yes, that’s it.”
Then he turned and continued typing a message to the marine patrol team at the rescue station.
Halfway through typing, he froze.
Uh…
Was that just—?
Huh???
Bai Zhao finally registered what had happened. “You—you—you, how did you pry it off?! You actually tore it off with your bare hands?!”
Lin Qianyu remained calm and only asked, “What’s the next step?”
Bai Zhao clutched his hair and forced himself to push aside the horrifying thought for now. “Then take out the silver battery chip inside.”
“Okay.”
Following his instructions step by step, Lin Qianyu dismantled the device. Eventually, the red light blinked twice rapidly and then went out. The chain hanging below clicked open and began sinking into the water.
Lin Qianyu held the remaining piece in her hands, unable to spare one to grab the chain, and could only watch it sink. “What was that? Are we just leaving it in the ocean? That doesn’t seem right…”
Bai Zhao explained, “That part controls the floating position—it avoids detection. I’ve locked in your location. The patrol team will be there soon and retrieve it. It sinks slowly, don’t worry, they’ll make it in time.”
He hadn’t dared ask Lin Qianyu to dive down. Her face was already pale as paper. Deep waters were far more dangerous than the shallows.
It was best to leave such work to professionals.
Speaking of which, Bai Zhao couldn’t help but click his tongue. “If that thing stays underwater too long, it causes pollution. And every time we find one, it’s always near the auto-unlock time. Last time, the entire team searched day and night for three months underwater. We expanded the range so many times before we finally found it.”
“Good thing you discovered it early this time, Lin-jie. Otherwise, if we’d waited for it to disassemble on its own, it would’ve been a real headache.”
“No need for the patrol team.” Lin Qianyu secured the device on Dabai’s back. “Dabai, don’t move—just stay like this until I’m back up, okay?”
“Ee…”
As she spoke, Lin Qianyu slowly slid into the water from the side. One hand still rested on Dabai for support as she swam around to the front and gave him a kiss. “Seriously, don’t move.”
“Ee!”
His response was especially clear and crisp.
After soothing Dabai, Lin Qianyu dove underwater. The object had indeed sunk slowly. When she opened her eyes beneath the surface, she could see it not far away, still dangling from the chain.
She swam over, grabbed the chain, and turned to swim back up.
Just then, the sound of a speedboat cutting through the water came from nearby.
Lin Qianyu frowned. “Dabai, get rid of th—”
“It’s me!” Su Yuxing’s voice rang out as he leaned over the edge of the speedboat. “Don’t attack! It’s one of us!”
Although the orca wouldn’t normally attack passing boats or jet skis, with Lin Qianyu there, if she gave the order, every orca around would charge straight at them.
So Su Yuxing had every reason to be in a panic."Director Su? Why are you here?" Seeing who it was, Lin Qianyu was momentarily stunned—she had thought it might be a poacher.
"Because I was worried," Su Yuxing sighed helplessly. He might be the director, but he was worrying like a mother. "Come, let me help you up first."
"Ee!"
The orca, who had been calm ever since the speedboat showed up, suddenly became upset.
That sound was completely different from the playful ones it made earlier with Lin Qianyu.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Su Yuxing immediately pulled his hand back.
Lin Qianyu removed the device from the orca’s back and placed it along with the one in her hand into the speedboat. “Hold this for me. It’s hard to carry while I’m on the orca.”
Su Yuxing moved the items further inside. “You really don’t want to ride the boat back?”
“No need. Dabai can take me.” Lin Qianyu patted Dabai. The orca obediently turned around and surfaced under her, lifting her back up.
"Ee!"
As if agreeing with her, Dabai chirped again.
“We’re off. You guys should head back soon too.” Lin Qianyu’s hand rested on Dabai’s dorsal fin.
With a flick of its tail, the orca swam off.
Without the slightest hesitation.
Clearly, it didn’t want to give anyone else a chance to take Lin Qianyu away.
Noticing they were headed the wrong direction, Lin Qianyu leaned down and said, “Dabai, I need to go back. I still have things to do today. I’ll come play with you again next time, okay?”
"Ee..." Dabai’s little ploy had been discovered. It whimpered a bit before turning around and swimming back toward the beach where it had picked her up.
Lin Qianyu smiled and leaned down to kiss him. “Good boy.”
Dabai lifted his head as if trying to kiss Lin Qianyu as she sat back.
She couldn’t help but laugh. Seeing that Dabai clearly wouldn’t leave until he got his kiss, she leaned forward and hugged him. “Alright, alright. Now watch the road—don’t crash into any reefs.”
"Ee!"
Easily soothed, Dabai responded happily and swished his tail, leaving a trail of fine bubbles in the water.
When Lin Qianyu returned to the shelter, the rescue center’s vehicle hadn’t arrived yet.
Perfect. She had time to freshen up. She took out some aloe juice to wash her hair, wrapped it casually with a compressed towel, and tucked in the ends to secure it.
Looking at the little bit of wild aloe left in her hand, she weighed it thoughtfully and said, “Maybe… I should use some wood ash instead.”
Compared to wild aloe and soapberry trees, wood ash was easier to make and could also be used for washing clothes and hair. In ancient times, people even used it to brush their teeth or make noodles.
Making wood ash was simple: just burn grass and branches long enough, then douse the fire with water. The resulting pile of gray-black residue was wood ash.
And she had plenty of that.
Every time she grilled meat at home, she used the same firepit. Lin Qianyu took a stick and stirred through the ashes, pushing aside the outer layer of partially burnt material, and scooped the fine wood ash onto a large leaf.
“This can actually be used just like this.” Lin Qianyu blew gently on it. The surface ash shifted lightly. She picked up a fresh leaf. “But to be safe, I’d better filter out the little stones and wood chips.”After shaking it out for a while, only a small amount of clean wood ash was left on the leaf.
Lin Qianyu wrapped it up in the leaf, and threw the sifted-out bits back into the firepit.
The young steppe wolf cub, seeing her poking around in the extinguished firepit for so long, tilted its head, sniffed curiously—and suddenly sneezed. It paused, then sneezed twice more in a row.
After a few sneezes, the wolf cub looked a bit dazed.
Lin Qianyu raised her hand and patted the cub's head, intending to carry it a bit farther away. But when she looked down, she saw a large, dark smudge on the wolf cub’s forehead.
Its fur was a grayish-brown, so the black patch stood out starkly.
The wolf cub, dangling obediently in her hands, kept its head bowed, the smudge on top of its head becoming even more visible.
"Pfft..."
Hearing the laugh, the cub looked up blankly. “Awooo?”
“It’s okay, I’ll clean you up.” She called it a bath, but cubs at this age really shouldn’t be exposed to water.
Lin Qianyu picked it up, tore open a disposable towel, soaked it in river water, wrung it out till just damp, then began wiping the top of the cub’s head.
Thankfully, it was just surface ash. She pinched the fur gently and wiped the ash away bit by bit. The white compressed towel quickly turned black in one patch.
She wiped several times until the fur on its head was the same shade as the rest of its body before stopping.
Still, the fur on top of its head was inevitably wet—some tufts clumped together, swaying with the cub’s head movements.
“All done. Just sun-dry it, and it’ll be dry soon.”
Lin Qianyu put the cub down. Once on the ground, the cub tilted its head, clearly uncomfortable with the wet patch. It raised a paw to rub it, then stuck out its tongue trying to lick it—but no matter how many times it craned its neck, it couldn’t reach the top of its own head.
The cub paused in confusion, then made another attempt, exerting so much effort that its belly moved with each breath—until it flopped right over onto the ground with a thud.
【Wolf cub: There’s dirt on me!】
【Hahaha, that haircut—zero points for Tony.】
【Why not braid it? Give the little wolf a hairstyle too.】
【If the cub saw this comment section, it’d sneak out at night to assassinate you all.】
The adult steppe wolf, watching over the cub, walked over and gently lifted it by the scruff, bringing it back to its side to lick its fur clean.
Lin Qianyu washed her hands, and when she turned around and saw the rescue center’s vehicle arriving, she wiped her hands and returned to the house. She poked the yellow bandicoot-like creature. “Let’s go. Time for the rescue center.”
It had probably just been basking in the sun, because its fur still felt pleasantly warm.
Lin Qianyu stepped aside to open the door: “Come on out. The car picking us up is here.”
“Mmrr...” The gray bandicoot-like animal visibly looked much better. It stood up and gave its fur a shake. Though its steps were unsteady and it moved slowly, it was still a clear improvement from when it couldn’t move at all.
The rescue center’s vehicle had stopped near the courtyard.
Bo Zhao rolled down the window but didn’t get out—there were wolves on the ground watching him, and he didn’t dare make any sudden moves.
Seeing Lin Qianyu approach, he leaned on the window and greeted her. “Sister Lin.”
Lin Qianyu walked over with the bandicoot-like animal. “Why are you here too?”Bo Zhao wasn’t the one driving, but he still came along with the driver to pick them up. He chuckled and said, “Here to pick you up, Sister Lin. How could I miss out on this field run? Can that bandicoot-like one get in? Want me to help carry it?”
He saw the gray bandicoot-like animal trying to climb in at the edge, but after two failed jumps, it still hadn’t managed to get into the car.
If it were any other animal, he would’ve already gotten out to help, but since this was a species that tended to reject human contact, Bo Zhao was worried that helping without asking might backfire.
Lin Qianyu said, “No need, it can get in by itself.”
As soon as she said that, the gray bandicoot-like animal gave a powerful leap and jumped straight into the back seat, then took a few more steps inward. It turned around, eyes bright, and looked at Lin Qianyu. “Mrr!”
“Mm, good job.” Lin Qianyu patted its head.
Staying still for long periods like that could cause irritability, and many animals would develop signs of depression or withdrawal in such conditions.
Letting the bandicoot-like animal walk or run around at appropriate times and complete small tasks it could manage—ones that helped it feel “capable”—was beneficial for its physical and mental well-being.
The yellow bandicoot-like one followed right behind and jumped in as well.
Lin Qianyu let the steppe wolf go first and got in last herself, closing the car door behind her.
The steppe wolf sprawled across her lap. Lin Qianyu casually ran her hand over it a few times and said, “Let’s go.”
Bo Zhao rolled up the window and said, “Alright. Let’s move.”
The car drove across the open grasslands.
Lin Qianyu cradled the little wolf on her lap, looking out the window. As the temperature dropped, animals that had hidden away from the earlier heat began emerging one after another.
They passed quite a few animals out strolling or foraging.
Some small creatures that looked like cats wandered nearby.
Compared to cats, their bodies were stubbier and stockier. Their fur was visibly thicker, their facial markings resembled a simplified version of a tabby, their ears were short and wide, and their rounded tips and the greater space between the ears made them distinct from domestic cats.
“Pallas’s cat?” Lin Qianyu cupped her hands into a circle and looked through the car window, spotting a Pallas’s cat leisurely walking along.
Pallas’s cats were extremely adaptable and not sensitive to temperature changes. They could inhabit a wide range of environments, from mountains and grasslands to semi-arid zones.
They could even survive in some desert regions.
Although Pallas’s cats today were mostly found from Central Asia across to western Iran and eastward into Siberia, they had lost much of their historical range over time.
They weren’t considered endangered now, but sightings in the wild were still relatively rare.
And compared to those that lived in extremely cold regions, this Pallas’s cat’s fur was clearly not as dense—likely due to the local climate.
Lin Qianyu gently stroked the little wolf while watching with interest as the Pallas’s cat slowly and methodically picked its prey.
Such a cute, round, furry creature—even when its face was bloodied from hunting and tearing into prey—could lick its lips and still look like it was trying to be cute.
She was watching intently when the car suddenly came to a stop.
Lin Qianyu reached out to steady the two bandicoot-like animals beside her and asked, “What happened?”
“Nothing,” Bo Zhao pointed toward the distance, “a herd of wild elephants is passing through. We’ll wait for them to pass before moving on.”The elephants, massive in size, moved slowly and deliberately, occasionally raising their trunks to call to the lagging calves.
Because of this, as the herd walked, the group gradually stretched out over a large distance.
But that was only how it looked visually—those in the front and those at the back seemed far apart. In reality, if a predator were to suddenly attack, the herd could quickly close ranks around the calves and mount a counterattack.
However… under normal circumstances, especially during the rainy season when food was plentiful, no predator with any sense would try to challenge the authority of an elephant herd.
Though their size made them cumbersome, when it came to fighting, their tusks and trunks were no joke. If an elephant got angry, it could scoop you up high into the air and slam you down hard—getting up again might take a while, if you could at all.
And if the elephant was truly enraged, it usually wouldn’t give you the chance to get up again. One stomp, and even the fiercest predator would be done for.
Only in the dry season, when food was scarce, would predators take the desperate risk of trying to drive a lone elephant away from the herd and then gang up to take it down—only then would they have a sliver of hope.
【Watching elephants pass by from this distance is really awe-inspiring.】
【Especially compared to the car—one stomp from an elephant and it could flatten this thing.】
【I didn’t quite get it before, but no wonder the elephant last time could pull up a tree. Now that I see it… forget uprooting trees, I’m scared they could move mountains together.】
As the elephant herd passed, no other animals came close to disturb them.
Bo Zhao, seated in the front with a wider view, didn’t think much at first when he spotted a lion pride in the distance. But as the lions, after glancing at the elephant herd, turned and began heading toward their vehicle, he froze for a second. “What the—why are the lions coming over?”
The lions wouldn’t dare take on the elephants right now, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t show interest in a suspicious metal box parked nearby.
The steppe wolf seemed to sense something unusual too. It rose from Lin Qianyu’s lap and moved closer to the window.
The experienced driver immediately started the engine, instinctively preparing to reverse.
The lions had already begun forming an arc ahead of them. If they drove forward, it would be easy for the lions to close in. Backing up to escape the encirclement was the wiser move.
However, a lion had somehow appeared in the rearview mirror.
The driver froze for a moment—he’d been so mesmerized by watching the elephants that he forgot to keep an eye on the surroundings.
Bo Zhao reassured everyone, “It’s alright. The lions can’t get in. They’ll just watch for a while and leave.”
This wasn’t the first time lions had surrounded a car. They couldn’t break into what was, to them, a steel fortress. After waiting for a while and realizing no one was coming out, they’d usually get bored and move on.
One lion arrived ahead of the pride. It circled the vehicle once, then jumped onto the hood, digging its claws into the windshield and scratching furiously, like it was digging at dirt.
The whole car shook along with the force of its attack.
Thankfully, the windshield wasn’t just ordinary glass—it was even tougher than reinforced glass. The lion couldn’t break it at all.
As expected, the lion gave up after a while, leaping down from the hood and circling the vehicle as if searching for another way in.
【My goodness, this is straight-up home delivery! Come on, delivery guy, open the door.】
【Exactly! Brought itself right to the door, and you're not even giving the lion any chopsticks? That’s just mean!】
【LOL… stirring up trouble, are we? The little wolf would be at a serious disadvantage if it fought the whole pride alone. Best not to get out.】
【Wait a minute—this situation is actually tense! Surrounded by lions! Why isn’t anyone panicking or worried about Sister Lin’s safety?! Fake fans, all of you!】
...
The lion pride up front seemed to pause their approach after seeing the lion already by the vehicle.Bo Zhao gripped the handle by the door. Each time the lion rammed the car, he shook with it.
Lin Qianyu, holding the little wolf in her arms, was simultaneously comforting the two timid marsupial wolves.
She had no time to deal with the lion outside.
“It should be leaving soon,” Bo Zhao estimated. “A lion’s patience usually—”
Before he could finish his sentence, a click—the sound of the rear car door being opened—cut him off. Bo Zhao froze at the sound.
He suddenly turned around and saw the lion standing motionless at the partially opened rear door.
Somehow, while fumbling around, it had opened the back door by itself!?
Bo Zhao: “???”
“You—” He raised his voice sharply in alarm, but quickly lowered it, afraid of startling the lion. “Why didn’t you lock the car?”
The lion had opened the door, and it might’ve been just as stunned as they were.
Its paw had randomly hooked the handle—and it just popped open.
It didn’t even seem to understand what it had just done.
The steppe wolf immediately stepped in front and tried to leap out.
Lin Qianyu quickly grabbed it, half-leaning forward to pin the little wolf down on the seat. Then she looked up and earnestly said to the lion, “That is very rude behavior.”
“?!” The lion, already dazed, suddenly widened its eyes upon realizing it understood what the human was saying. Its overly intelligent brain now flooded with thoughts—too many thoughts—none of which made any sense in that moment.
So it simply stepped back and bang—kicked the car door shut.
Then it squatted outside the vehicle, still dazed and unresponsive for a long moment.
【???】
【Hahaha—she scared the lion away with one sentence.】
【Lion: I require some context, please.】
【You can tell it’s a very polite lion. It even closed the door behind itself.】
【Sis in the front... are you sure the lion wasn’t just scared stupid?】
Whether the lion was stunned or not was unclear, but Bo Zhao was definitely stunned.
He stared at the lion sitting outside for a long time without snapping out of it.
Luckily, the driver reacted fast and, just as the lion closed the door, quickly locked it—too late to prevent it from opening, but just in time to keep it from happening again.
Otherwise, if the whole lion pride started copying it and opening car doors… they’d be done for.
However, the lion outside seemed increasingly puzzled. It backed away a few more steps… then a few more. Seeing the door didn’t reopen, and that no one inside was coming out, the lion suddenly bolted, running away without so much as a glance back.
Bo Zhao: “…”
It seemed like a potentially dangerous situation had just quietly dissolved into nothing.He didn’t even have time to panic or feel helpless over the rear door being opened by a lion—during that brief moment of mental blankness, the lion had already run off on its own.
It all felt a bit unbelievable, a little absurd and unreal.
As that lion left, the pride gradually dispersed and followed it.
The steppe wolf remained alert the whole time, only gradually relaxing once the lion had left the perimeter it was guarding.
“It... it just ran off like that?” Bo Zhao was a little incredulous. “I was already getting ready to open the trunk.”
In the trunk was a stash of fresh meat they had prepared in advance.
It was meant for situations like this—when encountering something dangerous, they’d open the trunk, the smell of blood would draw the lion away, and Bo Zhao would stand guard with tranquilizers in hand.
If the lion ate and left, great. If not, they’d hit it with a few darts while it was distracted.
But now... the meat hadn’t been used, and the tranquilizers just sat uselessly in his hand.
Bo Zhao looked completely baffled. “What just happened?”
“Maybe it got scared,” Lin Qianyu guessed.
After all... to a lion, that must’ve seemed like a human speaking lion language—how could it not be terrifying?
It’d be like a flower-faced rodent suddenly saying hello to you. Your first thought would be that you haven’t woken up yet.
Still, dealing with that pride of lions really did bring Bo Zhao a huge sigh of relief. Some overly intelligent lions, when they find car doors locked, will even try to flip the whole vehicle over.
Though that rarely results in people being thrown out, it’s no fun being stuck inside a car that’s being rolled. Even with seatbelts, if the car lands at the wrong angle, it could compress your windpipe and leave you unable to even speak.
Being tossed around in a giant container like that—absolutely miserable.
Seeing the wild elephant herd had now passed, Bo Zhao let out a long breath, pinched the bridge of his nose to calm himself, and said, “Drive. Let’s get out of here.”
Just in case the lion realized something was wrong and came back—having a lion guarding the car would be an even bigger headache.
The driver understood immediately and hit the gas.
Rescue station vehicles were speed-limited, so even flooring it wouldn’t damage the grassland terrain.
Bo Zhao looked out the window, his mind still replaying what had just happened. He couldn’t help but pull out his phone and start messaging his coworkers: “Do you know what just happened to me...?” He typed furiously, slammed out a long paragraph, copied it, and sent it to multiple group chats.
Then he paused and revised a few key phrases before sending the updated version specifically to Pei Feng.
After scrolling through his contact list and not finding Pei Feng, Bo Zhao suddenly remembered—he’d blocked him. So he unblocked Pei Feng, sent the message, and immediately blocked him again.
The car stopped at the rescue station entrance.
Lin Qianyu got out with the steppe wolf and the two marsupial wolves. “Should I take it straight up for the IV drip?”
Bo Zhao said, “Wait a bit. You can sit in the lounge first. The doctor said they still need to do a blood test to see if the meds need to be adjusted.”
“Alright.” Lin Qianyu sat down in a chair, reached out and pinched the steppe wolf’s ears with both hands, then lowered her forehead to nuzzle the little wolf’s head.
“Su Yuxing, what the hell do you mean by this?!”
A loud and powerful shout came from outside.
Lin Qianyu froze for a second—the voice sounded a bit familiar.Then came Su Yuxing’s helpless voice: “What do you mean what do I mean? You got hurt, not because of me—what do you want compensation from me for? You’d better hurry up and pay me the breach penalty, or I’ll sue you for violating the contract.”
“How is it my fault?! There were so many people there, multiple pairs of eyes saw it was the orca that hit me. Why shouldn’t you take responsibility?” Shi Jingyuan was burning with rage. Just thinking about being injured and hospitalized these past few days made him furious.
Originally, the agent was supposed to negotiate with the director alone today, but Shi Jingyuan didn’t feel assured and insisted on coming himself to demand justice.
Su Yuxing was speechless. “You just said it was the orca—then go ask the orca for compensation. I’ll ask Lin-jie to drop you off, and you can go to the orca’s house to negotiate.”
【Hahaha Director Su’s tongue is savage too.】
【What’s up with Shi Jingyuan? Why is he being so unreasonable, even demanding compensation? A grown man shamelessly doing this.】
【Exactly. Weren’t you the one known for being morally noble and above money and fame? Turns out this is who you really are. No wonder there’s been so many disgraceful scandals—your private life must’ve been rotten for ages.】
【Someone please tell Lin Qianyu to tone it down. Teacher Shi already quit the show, there’s no need to fake audios just to ruin his name. As if someone of Shi’s stature would care about some compensation from the production crew.】
...
Lin Qianyu had already recognized who the two arguing outside were. When she saw those comments in the barrage, she raised her eyebrows, stood up, and walked out with the little wolf.
So they’re talking about audio? She’d show them a video then. Some people just won’t admit anything until they see the coffin—lying to themselves like that.
The argument outside was still going strong. Shi Jingyuan, fuming, said, “Cut the crap. This whole thing is your responsibility. The show’s management failed. You absolutely must compensate me for emotional damages, lost work time, and all medical expenses. Considering I’m friends with your dad, I’ll waive the small change. Here’s the bill—get it paid to my account ASAP.”
Su Yuxing originally hadn’t planned to entertain him, but seeing him actually pull out a bill sparked his curiosity. He took it and glanced at the contents—right at the top: “2,300 bottles of penicillin, 3,500 bottles of clindamycin...”
“You—you wouldn’t be able to drink this much even if you tried, would you? Can’t scam the insurance company so now you’re trying to scam me? Hoping to strike it rich?”
Even if some of those were just small ampoules, it’d take a whole team breaking bottles around the clock just to keep up with the dosage.
That amount of money was beyond ridiculous.
“You really gonna inject all that? What are you trying to do, turn into a Titan?” Su Yuxing was utterly speechless. Actually, scratch that—you’d probably drown in the medication before becoming a Titan.
How is this anything but extortion?
No... this was outright daylight robbery.
Shi Jingyuan clearly hadn’t expected Su Yuxing to actually read it. He hadn’t even bothered to hide the exaggerated dosages—just blatantly laid it all out.
“You—”
“Also, there’s no stamp on this.” Su Yuxing flipped through several pages—no official seal from any top-tier hospital in sight. Even a back-alley clinic wouldn’t dare submit an unstamped bill.
Su Yuxing laughed out loud. Did this guy think he was some idiot who’d just fork over money without checking?
“You say you’re friends with my dad and you try to scam his son with this garbage?” Su Yuxing rolled his eyes. “Even if you’re scamming someone you know, this is too much. What, you think I’m some fat little piglet waiting to be slaughtered?”
Shi Jingyuan hesitated. “Maybe I grabbed the wrong hospital bill. My agent usually handles this stuff—I don’t know what happened. I’ll have my agent give you the stamped version later. But besides that, there’s still emotional damages and lost wages.”
He tried to brush off what just happened and insisted with righteous indignation: “You know how valuable my time is. Just a few days off work, do you even understand how much I’ve lost?”
Su Yuxing curled his lip. “Losses? Who even hired you? Since your comeback, how much have you actually earned? No wonder you were so desperate to be on my show—even a loss is better than nothing, right?”
Either you survive till the end and take prize money, or something bad happens and you demand compensation.
The more Su Yuxing thought about it, the more it made sense. He planted one hand on his hip and said impatiently, “You’re clearly just here to scam me. You gone broke or what?”
The supposedly noble and principled veteran artist who never associated himself with money—choked red in the face from that one comment by Su Yuxing.
“N-nonsense!” Shi Jingyuan sputtered for a moment before blurting out, “You saying stuff like this—you're totally unreasonable!”
【Ah… so Shi Jingyuan was trying to scam him?】【It’s obvious he was counting on Director Su not checking the details and just paying based on the total amount. Honestly, if it wasn’t such a large sum, I probably wouldn’t read the fine print either—usually I’d just pay or try to haggle.】
【Come on, fans, come take a walk. Look at what your so-called morally righteous and artistically virtuous Shi-laoshi is up to.】
【Exactly. And those who claimed Lin-jie faked the audio clips—come out and apologize to your jie.】
...
The people in the livestream deliberately picking fights and opposing Lin Qianyu weren’t necessarily Shi Jingyuan’s fans.
Some of them might’ve been haters who were previously banned, holding a grudge, and came back under new accounts just to stir up trouble.
Now that things had turned against them, they all fell silent.
Leaving Lin Qianyu’s fans to mock freely.
Su Yuxing, facing this man, had completely run out of patience and respect. “All your success came from your wife’s connections, and now this? What about all those scandals in the past? Have you even finished paying off those compensation fees?”
“No wonder... so you really were trying to cash in on my show. Did you even take out insurance?” Su Yuxing seriously suspected Shi Jingyuan intended to get himself hurt on purpose during the show, then demand compensation.
After all, with Shi Jingyuan’s reputation, even if he suppressed the negative press and tried to make a high-profile comeback, no major production would touch him. He just clung to his “veteran artist” title, pretending he was still at the top of his game.
And now he was bending over for money.
Not that he had a choice—those compensation fees had deadlines. Shi Jingyuan probably didn’t want to end up in jail.
With debt collectors breathing down his neck, he’d come to this show hoping for an “accident,” even willing to spend his own money to curry favor. Emotional appeals, favors—he was clearly treating Su Yuxing like some gullible fool.
As everything clicked into place, Su Yuxing: “…”
Thank goodness it was the orca that injured Shi Jingyuan. Otherwise, if he’d chosen his own time and gotten hurt off-camera, Su Yuxing might really have had to swallow that loss without recourse.
Su Yuxing rubbed his nose. He hadn’t even told Shi Jingyuan about the later incident where the car got surrounded by prairie wolves. If Shi Jingyuan found out, he’d definitely keep trying to milk the situation.
But so what… There was a liability waiver, clearly stating to keep a safe distance from wild animals. If you got hurt, that was outside the show’s responsibility.
Thinking of that, Su Yuxing couldn’t help but let out a long sigh. Realizing just how close he’d come to falling into that trap—and how Lin Qianyu had unknowingly saved him—he felt a wave of relieved exhaustion.
Just a bit more, and he’d have been the one stuck with the bill.
Looking up, he spotted Lin Qianyu standing not far away, and his eyes lit up. “Qianyu! You’re here too?”
Lin Qianyu leaned against the doorframe and nodded slightly. “Mm.”
“What are you doing here?”
Su Yuxing said, “I came to drop off that thing you asked me to give to Haishang.”
He didn’t really know what it was, just happened to be nearby and offered to deliver it in person.
The moment Shi Jingyuan saw Lin Qianyu, his face changed—instantly darkening. Glancing at the livestream equipment behind him, he hesitated, and the words he was about to say got swallowed back.
Even so, despite knowing he was being filmed, Shi Jingyuan’s expression was still nasty. It was clear he was trying to hold himself back, but he wasn’t managing his facial expressions well and didn’t even bother with pleasantries. He asked bluntly and stiffly, “How long have you been here?”
His voice was laced with suppressed anger, as if he were gritting his teeth. Everything about his expression screamed hostility.
Lin Qianyu pointed to the livestream setup above. “Since the moment you asked Director Su why he wasn’t taking responsibility.”
Shi Jingyuan: “…”So she’d heard everything.
“Lin Qianyu!” Shi Jingyuan shouted, completely losing his temper and dropping the act.
“Growl—!” The prairie wolf let out a low snarl at his outburst and lunged forward.
Shi Jingyuan flailed in panic, unable to react in time to dodge. He instinctively reached out to grab Su Yuxing to shield himself—only to grab at thin air, as Su Yuxing was far away. By the time he turned back, the prairie wolf had already leapt in front of him.
“Ah!”
Shi Jingyuan was tackled to the ground, the back of his head hitting the floor hard. Even though he had thick gauze wrapped around his head, he still let out a miserable cry.
Lin Qianyu made no move to stop it. She simply walked over and said coolly, “Remember to mind your words and actions in the future.”
Her light and slightly lifted tone was full of mockery. In the next moment, she curled her lips into a smile and added, “Oh, I forgot—you don’t have a future.”
【——!!!】
【Holy—! That was satisfying.】
【Tried to extort and ended up getting served justice by Lin-jie. If this isn’t tomorrow’s top headline, all you marketing accounts can shut down.】
【So cool, I can’t take it! That look in her eyes—my heart’s gone!】
After watching Shi Jingyuan’s solo performance for a while, Lin Qianyu got a message from Bo Zhao: the nurse had finished preparing the meds.
Lin Qianyu didn’t linger. She waved her hand casually and said, “I’ve got things to do, I’ll be off.”
Su Yuxing nodded, his gaze toward Lin Qianyu subtly different now. “Take care.”
How could it not be different? Before, he looked at Lin Qianyu as a money-making charm. Now he looked at her as the guardian angel who just saved his wallet.
If the occasion were more appropriate, he would’ve gotten down on his knees to thank her.
Who would’ve thought Shi Jingyuan would come up with something so low as injuring himself for money? At his age, he was still this desperate.
If it had worked, people would’ve likely sympathized with an elderly artist struggling in the industry, giving Shi Jingyuan a wave of goodwill while roasting Su Yuxing alive.
There’d be no choice but to pay up.
His previous attempt to provoke Lin Qianyu probably had the same motive—trying to plant the idea that their relationship was bad. Later, if anything happened, he could imply someone had it in for him, dragging Lin Qianyu into the mess.
Whether or not Lin Qianyu suffered, Shi Jingyuan would profit.
He’d get attention, insurance money, compensation from the show—and if he stayed till the end, possibly a finalist payout too.
Just one stint on the show and he’d make back his buy-in fee plus profit. It paid better than robbing a bank.
And with zero risk!
The plan was perfect—until it got smacked out of existence by an orca’s tail.
Shi Jingyuan never imagined that someone had already been injured by the orca previously and had personal accident insurance.
He probably didn’t know the insurance company even covered that.
Thinking this far, Su Yuxing felt completely relieved. “Enough nonsense. You provoked deliberately—deal with the consequences yourself. And don’t forget to pay that breach-of-contract fine.”
Shi Jingyuan opened his mouth to argue again, but Su Yuxing didn’t give him a chance—he turned and bolted.No way—stay longer and that bloodsucker would’ve sunk his teeth in for sure.
Upstairs.
The grey marsupial wolf lay on the hospital bed, the IV drip ticking steadily.
Maybe it didn’t feel comfortable with the cold medicine entering its veins—ever since the needle was inserted, the grey marsupial wolf had seemed listless and low in spirit.
Lin Qianyu deliberately called the yellow marsupial wolf onto the bed so they could snuggle up together, hoping it would help lift the other’s mood.
“How about you get some rest for now?” Lin Qianyu folded up the edge of the blanket so they’d have something to rest their chin on while lying down. “Once you wake up, the drip should be done.”
“Whine…” the grey marsupial wolf responded weakly.
After settling them in, Lin Qianyu picked up the little wolf and placed it on the chair next to the bed. “Little wolf, help me keep an eye on them, okay? I’m going to ask Bo Zhao something.”
“Awooo!”
“Good little wolf.” Lin Qianyu held its face with both hands, fluffing up the fur around its neck until it formed a soft collar under its chin, then gave it a hearty rub. “I’ll be right back.”
Bo Zhao’s office was on the same floor as the animal inpatient ward.
Even though Lin Qianyu had never been there, she knew where it was.
Every time she visited, Bo Zhao would always point it out again and again, telling her to come find him there if anything came up.
Knock knock.
“Come in.”
Lin Qianyu pushed the door open slightly. “Bo Zhao?”
“Oh? Lin-jie.” Bo Zhao was wearing glasses, staring at the computer screen. When he saw her come in, he immediately stood up. “Looking for me?”
“Are you busy?”
“No, not at all. Just editing today’s work log.” Bo Zhao stood up, grabbed a disposable cup from next to the water dispenser, and handed her a glass of water. “What did you want to ask me?”
Lin Qianyu took the cup in her hand. “Nothing major, I just wanted to ask how that little cheetah cub bitten by the hyena is doing. Still in the ICU?”
Bo Zhao shook his head. “No, it was transferred out after I told you last time.”
“The cub was seriously injured. It’s in the observation phase for now and has been kept in a sterile room ever since to minimize the risk of infection. The cub is still really small—serious injuries combined with an infection could be fatal, so we’re not recommending visits.”
He paused, then added, “If you really want to see it, Lin-jie, you’ll have to watch from behind the glass, from a distance.”
It was all for the cub’s safety.
Lin Qianyu nodded. “I’ll go have a look then.”
“Okay, I’ll go get the keys.” Bo Zhao patted his pockets and, not finding them, got up and headed to a nearby cabinet.
With the keys in hand, they took the elevator up.
All the sterile wards were on the top floor. The elevator would stop one floor below first.
“Here you go, Lin-jie.” Bo Zhao reached out to open the door to the decontamination room. “We have to disinfect here for five minutes before going up.”
Lin Qianyu glanced at the disinfection room ahead. “You sure have a lot of these here.”
Bo Zhao chuckled. “Can’t be helped—this floor’s a special one.”The light in the disinfection room turned from red to green. After going up one floor, they reached another level separated by glass doors.
After one more round of disinfection, they finally arrived at a glass wall covered by curtains.
The little cheetah cub was already awake. Its bandages hadn’t been removed yet, and it was lying on the translucent hospital bed swatting at its own tail.
It looked to be in pretty good spirits.
Bo Zhao said, “We’ll observe for a few more days. Once we’re sure there are no issues, I’ll bring it over to you.”
The little cheetah was deeply focused on playing. It seemed to sense something and lifted its head toward the glass. When it saw Lin Qianyu, it paused for a moment, then flopped back down and resumed playing with its tail. It hooked the tip with its paw, swatted at it randomly, and then bit it.
Lin Qianyu watched for a while, until the little cheetah tired itself out, its movements slowing down. It lowered its head and began licking the tail, one stroke at a time.
Bo Zhao glanced at the time. “Let’s head back.”
“Mm.” Lin Qianyu helped him close the curtains and waved at the cheetah cub.
The little cheetah tilted its head and smacked a paw on the cushion beneath it. “Awoo!”
They returned the same way, exiting through the disinfection room.
While waiting for the elevator, Lin Qianyu leaned against the window, looking down through a narrow window on the right side of the hallway.
The woods around here were much denser than those out in the grasslands.
Even from this distance, Lin Qianyu thought she vaguely saw a honey locust tree.
Just as she was about to open the window to get a better look, she saw a piece of wood moving horizontally on the ground.
Her fingertip froze midair. “What is that?”
The livestream equipment had been left outside the disinfection area, so naturally it hadn’t followed her upstairs.
Only when Lin Qianyu came out again did the stream lock onto her position.
【Huh? A piece of wood that can walk sideways?】
【I thought I was seeing things. Is it ants? I know ants can carry big branches.】
【No way it’s ants. That height would need dozens of ants stacked on top of each other.】
Lin Qianyu raised her hand and opened the window halfway. Bo Zhao also came over when he heard the sound. He rubbed his eyes when he saw the tree moving through the air. “Eh… it really is walking.”
Just as Bo Zhao was about to take out his phone to contact security, the horizontally carried tree emerged from the woods.
The animal carrying it in its mouth slowly came into full view.
It was a lion—walking with steady steps, holding the log in its mouth with a serious expression and eyes fixed resolutely ahead.
Lin Qianyu: “...?”
A white lion… carrying wood?
Author’s Note:
[All information regarding the Pallas’s cat’s distribution and adaptability comes from internet sources.]
Bonus update~ please send nutrient fluid 🧃✨