Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl

They parked the car and stayed nearby for a day, camping overnight just outside the protected area.

Kelas wanted to photograph a snow leopard hunting, but after waiting a day and a night, they didn't even see a leopard hair.

Chen Ying didn't have high expectations for the snow leopards in this reserve. After all, his Er Niu is a snow leopard, and there are various snow leopards among its friends and buddies, even super snow leopards he has seen; other snow leopards hold no value to him anymore.

A little after seven in the morning, stepping out of the car brought a shiver.

Even Meidi, the long-haired cat, felt its paws freezing. It ran out to use the toilet and then pawed at Kelas, demanding to leave immediately.

After breakfast and replenishing the water supply, Chen Ying drove and continued along the road.

A few kilometers out, they saw three or four cars parked by the roadside, with all the passengers down and peering through the fence.

Chen Ying hurriedly parked the car in order by the roadside and asked a guy nearby what they were watching.

"Snow leopards hunting, over there, can you see them? Two snow leopards are hunting."

Chen Ying looked closely but just couldn't see any snow leopards. A kind man handed over his binoculars to him.

Sure enough, on a distant hillside, a group of argali was running across the meadow, and behind and beside them, each had a snow leopard chasing it.

Suddenly, a cheer erupted from the crowd, as seen through the lens, a strong argali was grabbed by a snow leopard from the back, its teeth deeply sunk into the argali's neck.

A few seconds later, the argali collapsed, and the snow leopard still didn't let go until it confirmed the argali had no breath left. It released its grip, lifting a bloodied face, its eyes still filled with a predatory gaze warning the humans not to covet its prey.

Minutes later, the other snow leopard also managed to hunt a young argali, dragging its prey slightly away from the stronger snow leopard to feast in peace.

The way it wolfed down its meal made it seem like it hadn't had a full stomach in ages.

This area is a buffer zone for the reserve, and being able to see snow leopards hunt here is extraordinarily lucky.

Visitors familiar with the local conditions speculated that recent snowfall in the mountains reduced the snow leopards' prey, forcing them to come down to the meadows to hunt.

The argali they hunted were rather rare, with more herds usually active around the Kunlun Mountains.

The crowd was still immersed in the majestic hunting scene of the snow leopards, excitedly discussing it with fellow strangers, when suddenly, a child let out a piercing scream.

Looking toward the sound, it turned out Meidi had also gotten out of the car and caught a highland rabbit at the edge of the protected area's fence.

The highland rabbit appeared small in size, probably just an adult, but it was unusually bold, venturing close to a crowd of people.

Though Meidi caught the rabbit, it had never eaten this kind of animal before and was unsure how to kill it, holding the rabbit with an innocent and pleading look towards Chen Ying and Kelas.

To Kelas, the fact that his darling cat managed to capture a rabbit was certainly worthy of loud praise, whether it ate it or not, it was fine; if Meidi didn't eat it, he could, after all.

But Chen Ying stopped him.

In our country, if your cat catches a rabbit and eats it, so be it; however, if your cat doesn't eat it, and you do, well, that's not okay.

A group of aimless tourists noticed this adorable pet cat caught prey, and instead of leaving, they all took out their phones to take pictures. Someone even teased Meidi, asking it to learn from the snow leopards and bite the rabbit to death.

Meidi was about to explode.

Fuming, it released its mouth, and the rabbit fell to the ground. Three seconds later, like returning from the dead, it began to hop towards the fence.

At this moment, a strange wind blew through, and when everyone fixed their gaze, sure enough, a grayish-white sand fox had grabbed the rabbit that could have escaped death. It glanced back before taking off, vanishing in an instant.

"Tsk, in the end, wild is different from domesticated. Look at how decisive that fox was."

Having enjoyed the show, the crowd dispersed, leaving only a car with out-of-town plates behind.

"Bro, your cat is an extraordinary breed; interested in selling it?"

Chen Ying shook his head, "This is my friend's cat. He's a foreigner, and the cat is his precious baby."

Kelas hugged Meidi around the neck soothing it, but since dropping the rabbit, Meidi had been meowing loudly and profanely.

The two looked on with regret, then handed Chen Ying a business card.

"We're from the south, specialized in breeding pedigree pets. The purer the bloodline, the better. If you have needs, feel free to contact us."

Chen Ying took the card and watched them drive away.

"Chen, do you think those two were a bit suspicious?"

"I'm not sure. I felt they were a bit off, but it seemed like they didn't mean any harm."

This minor episode was soon set aside, and Chen Ying comforted Meidi, giving it a large piece of chicken freeze-dry, then continued driving towards Kashgar.

Kashgar, in recent years, has become very popular in the travel scene, including another route to Kashgar, the "Duku Highway," which has become a must-visit checkpoint for tourists from north and south.

They weren't riding this trend; mainly, the Duku Highway was still closed, so even if they wanted to, they couldn't go.

This time they chose somewhere a bit out of the way, especially with a big cat that likes spacious activity areas. Inns in the old city typically do not accommodate pets.

Neither was particularly enthusiastic about cultural sights, aside from an interest in the local cuisine; popular check-in spots didn't attract them at all.

Someone once said that in Kashgar, it's absolutely impossible for a pigeon to fly away, just like in a certain city in Sichuan Province, you'd never let a rabbit escape.

Usually fed cat food and freeze-dried food, Meidi relished the pigeon meat for two days.

The fresh pigeon meat, once prepared, had thin skin and tender meat, cut into small pieces to feed Meidi, and it could finish an entire one each time.

(Kashgar breakfast, pigeon meat soup)

Besides meal times, the two of them would roam about in the car, seeking sweet encounters with wildlife.

Due to their proximity to human settlements, they didn't encounter any animals they wanted to photograph for two days, only the alpine vultures appearing many times and the carcasses already half-eaten lying before them.

The journey from here to Hu'er Guosi requires passage through the Yili River Valley, a vast valley region renowned as the "Outer Jiangnan," featuring a mix of grasslands, forests, and wetlands, with high vegetation coverage.

Theoretically, there are rare animals like snow leopards here, but in reality, they're hard to spot. The most abundant and famous species should be the Black-necked Crane.

Upon reaching the lakeside wetland, flocks of Black-necked Cranes appeared before them, so close that they could even hear their calls.

Meidi opened its eyes wide, staring unblinkingly at those large birds outside the window, with a suspicious gleam of moisture at the corner of its mouth.

Following the two-legged beast these days has blessed Meidi with a taste for fresh meat.

As they left Kashgar, Kelas packed over ten pigeons, each vacuum-sealed and stored in the car's refridgerator.

Apart from serving Meidi, they used pigeons to make soup for themselves.

On this trip to China, Kelas' greatest gain had been learning to drink various health soups. He even downloaded a bunch of formulas on a certain app, stocking up all necessary ingredients and herbs from the city's pharmacies and markets.

No wonder Meidi drooled over the large birds; even Kelas' initial reaction to the Black-necked Crane was "This bird's so big, wouldn't a meal last a whole day?"

Chen Ying silently rolled his eyes at him, not replying to his comment.

They still planned to stay in Yining for a few days before exiting through the Hu'er Guosi Port.

Instead of staying in hotels, they turned to Old Gao's alumnus in Yining. His home was near the Yili River National Wetland Park, a well-known birdwatching sanctuary. Probably having grown up alongside these birds, Old Gao's classmate later became an ornithologist.

When they arrived, Old Gao's classmate was assisting colleagues in rescuing a wounded White-tailed Sea Eagle.

This White-tailed Sea Eagle had been injured from a collision with another bird of prey while catching fish. Even upon rescue, it was fierce, trying to peck at people, truly a "Young Bully."