Chapter 130: Chapter 130: You’re Clueless, It’s Called Shepherd Leopard

The Little Snow Leopard pounced, gripping the other’s back fur in its jaws, dragging it down and then pinning it, letting out a low growl.

Another guard Snow Leopard also came over and lunged at the Little Snow Leopard.

The three Leopards tumbled into one ball.

After rolling around for about five minutes, the three Leopards stood up and shook their fur.

The Little Snow Leopard called out to its two Leopard brothers (or Leopard sisters?), then turned and ran towards the edge of the village.

The two younger Snow Leopards exchanged a glance, then followed, one after the other.

It wasn’t until the trio had left that the owners came out, checking to find the pen gate still intact.

“Uncle, what do we do now?”

“Do nothing, wait until dawn.”

Chen Ying spent the rest of the time wide awake, tossing and turning with the image of the Little Snow Leopard on her mind.

When it was five o’clock and daylight began to break, Chen Ying followed Uncle and another police officer, riding motorcycles to Streamstone beach.

They parked outside the beach and walked in, covering a distance of roughly a hundred to less than two hundred meters. There, Chen Ying saw three Snow Leopards.

Huddled together, they lay on a rock, drowsy and half-asleep.

The one in the center, a bit more alert, heard the noise, focused its gaze, and locked eyes with Chen Ying.

Near them, the remains of a Rock Sheep that had been eaten lay spread out on the rock.

“It looks like the three Snow Leopards collectively hunted a Rock Sheep, enough for a full meal,” she thought.

This Rock Sheep could sustain them for at least three days without needing to eat anything else.

As the humans approached, the two sub-adult Snow Leopards stood up and ran back a bit, then stopped to observe.

The Little Snow Leopard with the collar also stood up, fixing its gaze on Chen Ying and Uncle Hong, as though trying to distinguish their scents.

After a while, the Little Snow Leopard seemed to recognize Chen Ying, trotting over, timidly glanced at the unfamiliar police officer, then snuggled up to Chen Ying’s side, nuzzling her fingers with its head.

“Little guy, you still recognize me, huh?” Chen Ying asked, surprised and delighted as she squatted down, gently stroking the Snow Leopard’s head.

Uncle Hong watched the Snow Leopard with eyes full of longing, wondering if it still remembered him.

After being affectionate with Chen Ying for a moment, the Little Snow Leopard walked over to Uncle Hong, sniffed around him, then stood on its hind legs, pawing at Uncle’s chest and sniffing his face.

The police officer next to them clenched his fists, fearing the Snow Leopard might suddenly become violent and harm someone.

To their surprise, not only did it show no intention of hurting anyone, but after stretching itself vigorously against Uncle Hong, it laid down, pressing on his shoe and playfully hooking its paws onto the edge of his robe.

“It remembers, it still remembers me,” Uncle Hong exclaimed incoherently, his joy leading him to sit down cross-legged, pulling out a piece of dried meat from his wide robe to feed the Little Snow Leopard.

The two Snow Leopards on the opposite rock’s eyeballs bulged out.

Could it really be this easy? Lying down and food gets delivered right to your mouth?

One of the little Leopards was eager to come over and learn this “meal-on-demand” technique but got suppressed by a slap from the other little Leopard.

“Aoow, we sure don’t know what Big Brother knows.”

Uncle Hong didn’t expect the two other Leopards to come close either, but he brought three strips of dried meat just in case.

Seeing the two little Leopards reluctant to approach, he simply tossed the dried meat over to them.

Then the oppressed little leopard leaped into the air and caught the strip of jerky.

Chen Ying was dumbfounded, thinking that didn’t look like a leopard at all, not even a dog.

Knowing that the three little leopards hadn’t gone hungry, they didn’t disturb them further and left after an hour.

Chen Ying had planned to descend the mountain that afternoon, but a snowfall in the afternoon prevented the supply truck from making it up, forcing him to stay another night.

The next morning, as the weather cleared, the uncle set off to pasture the cattle and sheep with three dogs. Not far from home, he spotted three leopards running from a distance.

His heart skipped a beat, fearing they had come to prey on the lambs.

But then, something astonishing happened.

Those three leopards actually started competing with the dogs in the “Sheep Herding Technique”!

What kind of unprecedented spectacle was this?

Not just the uncle, but even Chen Ying, who had been in the profession since learning the trade, had never heard of such a bizarre incident.

Snow leopards are indeed nicknamed “Shepherd Leopards,” but that’s because their main food sources are rock sheep, Beishan goats, and argali, which are adept at climbing. The leopards always follow behind these herds of sheep, thus jokingly earning the moniker “Shepherd Leopard.”

But now, the three snow leopards were truly herding sheep…

Just how great the psychological pressure on the flock might be, one can only guess. O(∩_∩)O haha~

The flock: “For goodness’ sake, for goodness’ sake, don’t sheep have rights anymore? It’s one thing to be herded by dogs, after all, they don’t eat sheep. But what are you leopards up to? Getting a quick meal in after running us ragged?”

Uncle Hong and the surrounding herders were fascinated by the scene, capturing it on video to show off online.

When Chen Ying left, he stuffed a wad of money into Uncle Hong’s hand, asking him to pick out a suitable sheep and kill it to feed the three little ones when food was particularly scarce in the winter.

Uncle Hong refused to take the money, but Chen Ying tossed it to him and ran off, promising to return next spring to enjoy a sheep hotpot and drink heavily at Uncle Hong’s place.

Unable to outrun him, Uncle Hong reluctantly accepted the money.

Chen Ying took the video and, after ensuring Uncle Hong and the others had posted it first, also shared their video.

He included before-and-after surgery photos of the Little Snow Leopard stored in his phone.

The leopard was still thin, having just recovered a bit, and naturally couldn’t have gotten plump and strong in a short time.

But comparing it to the previous emaciated photo, it looked like a completely different leopard.

Luckily, the Little Snow Leopard’s forehead pattern was quite distinctive, and the spots could be compared to confirm it was indeed the same leopard.

The Snow Leopard’s behavior caused quite a stir online, with many netizens finding it hard to believe and some even demanding the address to expose the “fake.”

Chen Ying ignored these online comments and even called Uncle Hong to remind him not to let those netizens bother the herders, and certainly not to approach the snow leopards thinking they were some kind of cute little pets, lest they get bitten and complicate the issue of responsibility.

Nowadays, many internet celebrities are willing to risk their lives for views, and no amount of persuasion can sway them.

Fortunately, the Uncle Hong’s area is in highland, cold, and high-altitude, and the heavy snow starting today meant that regular cars couldn’t make it up.

On reaching Gula Gully Town, Chen Ying stopped by the Veterinary and Herding Station to greet Vet Gao and share the details of the Snow Leopard’s release, then hitched a ride back to Jiamu Gully with the vehicle from the Protection Station.

The moment he got out of the vehicle at the doorstep, he heard Yin Li’s loud voice, apparently arguing with someone.

After inquiring discreetly, he learned it was about a former employee who had expected to step up after the old station chief retired but ended up being demoted by Yin Li and the new deputy chief.

The deputy chief was said to have strong backing, so Yin Li, with his less impressive connections, became the target of the attack.

“Actually, that guy had a good chance of moving up. But who told him to be greedy for money? Not to mention the illegal logging and poaching which, if it ever landed in his hands, could always be resolved with money.”

Everyone knew the score, except the man himself, who thought he had covered his tracks well and took everyone for fools.

“Fine, you want to make a fuss, right? Then let’s air it out. How about your brother-in-law electrofishing in Cuomu River? Don’t be in a rush to deny it; he was caught red-handed, and tourists even filmed a video of it and complained to the department. It’s not going to just go away because you say it’s a misunderstanding.”

Tsk, an employee responsible for protection breaking the law himself, why keep such a liability around?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on Novlove.com