In the western part of Sichuan Province, bordering Gansu and Qinghai Provinces to the north, adjacent to Zang Province to the west, and bordering Yunnan Province to the south, it is all mountains, with treacherous terrain and sparse population.
The wild Giant Pandas live comfortably in these mountains.
After all, humans dare not provoke them, and being fierce beasts themselves, in today’s world where bears and tigers are rare, it’s not an exaggeration to say that the panda is the king of beasts.
There, in a part of the Qionglai Mountain in the Hengduan Mountain Range, Lu Zheng and Lin Wan first found a patch of bamboo forest, and then they found a panda.
Its black and white skin, a bit of yellowish white fur, round body, large black eye circles, and an adorable expression, were all slumped in a bamboo grove, continuously stuffing bamboo into its mouth.
It’s said that pandas spend half of their day eating and the other half sleeping.
Only a tiny bit of ti each day is for playing and dazing off.
"Oh my! So cute!"
Lin Wan’s eyes lit up. She always liked furry animals, but she had been busy with work, so she always went to the cat house to pet cats.
Recently, she hadn’t been busy, so she was searching online, preparing to buy a cat, but how could petting a cat compare to petting a panda?
If it weren’t for the policies not allowing it, she would have wanted to get a tiger or a leopard.
The two descended from the clouds and appeared not far from the panda.
Panda: ???
The panda blinked, bared its teeth, and made a motion as if to threaten, but after looking at the two, and the bamboo in its hand, decided otherwise.
Forget it, eating is more important.
The panda lay back down after attempting to get up halfway, then took a big bite of the bamboo in its hand.
Such sharp teeth. Don’t be fooled by the panda’s cute appearance—once it opens its mouth, the sight of those sharp teeth is quite frightening.
But Lu Zheng and Lin Wan were no ordinary people and naturally approached the panda.
Just as the panda felt a threat and was about to get up to show them what’s what, two tender green bamboos were extended to it from either side.
Sighing, the panda lay down, stretched out its hand, took the bamboo, and shoved it in its mouth.
Didn’t expect there to be two people serving !
It seems like I’ve t these kinds of people before? Let think... think...
Thinking about it, the panda put down the bamboo in its hand and rolled over, falling asleep.
Lu Zheng was speechless, "It sure trusts the two of us."
In the next mont, Lin Wan decisively reached out her hand.
The fur was smooth, warm, and soft to the touch, like a big plush cushion.
"So comfortable!" Lin Wan exclaid.
"Really?" Lu Zheng asked, then instantly reached out to touch the panda as well.
"It is quite comfortable."
As Lu Zheng spoke, he casually cast a spell to summon rainwater, giving the sleeping panda a bath, making it feel refreshingly clean, with its black and white parts distinct.
"Co on, let’s take a picture!"
Lu Zheng took out his phone, and with Lin Wan, they sat side by side, with the background being a panda sleeping soundly on a pile of bamboo.
"Click!"
"Bang!"
Lu Zheng’s eyes flashed, and Lin Wan imdiately looked toward the Southwest.
"Gunfire?"
"Gunfire!"
"Shall we check it out?"
"Let’s go!"
Without disturbing the already sleeping panda, Lu Zheng and Lin Wan flew rapidly just above the treetops of the forest.
"Poachers?" Lu Zheng asked Lin Wan.
"Probably not," Lin Wan hesitated, "it’s not like before, it’s been a long ti since I’ve heard about poachers."
"Unless it’s..."
"Giant Panda?"
But Lin Wan was still skeptical, "They have so serious guts, poaching rare animals dostically, the penalty can be over ten years!"
However, when the two arrived above their destination, Lin Wan had nothing left to say.
In front of seven people dressed as hunters lay a wild boar on the ground.
And in one person’s hand was a tal cage containing a 40-centiter-long juvenile Giant Panda.
Lin Wan took a deep breath, "This is insane!"
In recent years, due to social stability and economic developnt in Hua Country, incidents of poaching have indeed decreased, but that doesn’t an it’s extinct.
Poachers are heavily polarized, with low-level ones only poaching animals that aren’t few in number and not too well protected, to serve as delicacies for so carnivorous diners.
The average ones might be deer at, while the advanced ones are pangolins.
Then there are high-end poachers targeting top-level protected animals, either for dicinal value or ornantal value, both fetching high prices.
The most typical of these, of course, is the Giant Panda.
And it’s evident that these people were here for the Giant Panda.
Watching the adorable Giant Panda howling pitifully in the cage, Lin Wan’s heart was breaking.
"Leader, do you think the gunshots will be heard by any nearby rangers?"
"Don’t worry, this is deep within the mountains; few humans co here. We risked our lives to get this far; would any salaried rangers dare co in?"
"Exactly, exactly!"
The others laughed loudly.
"Alright, keep it down. We ca at the risk of our lives. We still need to catch another juvenile panda to make a pair, and the employer also wants an adult Giant Panda."
"We’ve always dabbled in small tasks, and it’s been hard to get a big job this ti. If we succeed once, we can retire directly."
"We’ve already got the young one; the adult shouldn’t be far. Let’s search around."
"Damn, it’d be bad if it got scared away by the gunshots just now."
"I wonder if this little one’s cries can attract the adults?"
Just as the person finished speaking, the bushes not far from them rustled, followed by a deep growl.
"Here it cos!"
The next mont, a massive adult Giant Panda erged from the woods, charging towards them.
"Tranquilizer gun!"
One young man raised a strangely shaped gun and fired three shots at the charging panda.
However, the three brightly marked tranquilizer darts suddenly paused mid-air and then turned downwards, shooting into the ground.
"What!?"
The man was shocked, seeing the panda already within ten ters of them, he raised his hand, ready to fire all the remaining tranquilizer darts.
Except...
As he lifted his gun, he felt it loosen in his hand, and the tranquilizer gun suddenly broke into two pieces.
"Damn!"
The leader imdiately raised his hunting rifle.
Then...
"Click," the rifle in his hand also broke into two pieces.
"Roar!"
The next mont, the fierce panda charged into their midst, standing upright, lunging at the man holding the panda cub.
"Help!"
The man threw the cage containing the panda cub and rolled away, while the other four hunting rifles were aid at the panda simultaneously.
However...
All four hunting rifles simultaneously broke into pieces.
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