Chapter 70: What Are You Doing?

The video of "pulling a ’tooth’ from a tiger’s mouth" finally crawled onto the bottom of the trending charts sometime after 7 PM.

Although its rank wasn’t high, it was enough to make Ye Haibing and Gao Zhenyue, who had been following the matter, whoop and holler with excitement in the "Liudong Study Group" chat, as if they were the ones trending.

Colleagues from the zoo who were on good terms with him, like Chen Ze and Hu Haodong, were also calling him "badass" in their private group chats and spamming all sorts of reaction memes.

Yang Qi took a moment to check the comments and shares for the video on several major platforms.

Aside from the flood of praise, amazed comments of "666," and a small group of skeptics insisting it was "staged" or used "special effects," there were also plenty of netizens who were just there for the spectacle, simply thinking it was intense.

In addition, mentions of "Donghua Wildlife Park" had also seen a significant increase.

The park’s marketing department had clearly seized the opportunity, actively engaging in the comments section to drive traffic and promote the zoo.

Yang Qi watched for a little while before turning off his phone.

To him, the online commotion was like watching scenery through a pane of glass—nothing to get attached to.

He got up and went out.

Flashlight in hand, Yang Qi headed up the mountain behind the zoo to pick up Ta Xue.

Ta Xue had spent the entire day in the mountains, and there was no telling what kind of "special wilderness survival training" he had gone through.

When Yang Qi found him, the little guy wasn’t injured, but he was clearly dejected. His fur was a mess, and upon seeing Yang Qi, he only let out a listless "mew."

Back home, Ta Xue’s behavior was even more unusual.

Usually, the first thing he did upon returning was dash to his food bowl and devour the fragrant Spirit Rice Porridge, then pester Yang Qi to turn on the TV to watch *Tom and Jerry*.

But today, he only took a few slow bites of his favorite Spirit Rice Porridge and didn’t even glance at the television. After eating, he quietly walked over to his bed, curled into a ball, and his tail barely twitched.

"Mrow?"

Xiaojiu, who was lounging on the sofa, tilted its head, a look of confusion in its eyes as it glanced at Yang Qi.

[What’s wrong with him?]

"He’s sulking," Yang Qi said with a smile.

’The little guy was probably trained too harshly by his mother in the mountains, or maybe he witnessed the "cruelty" of forest survival. He feels wronged and is bottling up his frustration.’

’Since I only went to get him after dark, he’s taking it out on me too and doesn’t want to be bothered.’

Looking at Ta Xue’s little "I’m melancholy, don’t bother me" expression, Yang Qi felt a bit helpless.

’Educating a child is a major challenge, especially a special "child" like this.’

’I’m just a young man in my early twenties myself; my knowledge is limited.’

’Still, solving Ta Xue’s problem wouldn’t be too difficult.’

...

Early the next morning, Yang Qi got up and made a point of taking the still-somewhat-dejected Ta Xue with him.

He first went to the supply warehouse to pick up the various meats, fruits, and vegetables needed for the day’s feedings, then headed straight for the Leopard House.

The leopards, Big Flower and Er Hua, had been separated into different enclosures again.

Big Flower was lying down quietly, her abdomen showing no obvious changes yet.

But the effects of the Creation Pill were undeniable; a new life was already gestating within her.

However, Yang Qi wasn’t in a hurry to reveal this. He would wait a few more days before reporting it.

While feeding Er Hua, Yang Qi stroked Ta Xue’s fluffy little head. He pointed at Er Hua, who was pacing slowly inside the enclosure and occasionally looking outside, and asked...

"Ta Xue, do you want to be like him?"

Ta Xue, confused, followed Yang Qi’s finger to look at Er Hua, not understanding what he meant.

Yang Qi continued, "You’re a clouded leopard. When you grow up, you’ll either live in the vast mountain forests, free like your mother—hunting, running, with your own territory. Or, you’ll be like him, living in a cage."

As he spoke, Yang Qi pointed to Er Hua and the enclosure he was in, which, despite its enrichment features, had clearly defined boundaries.

"Life in a cage means your world is only this big. Every day, you wait to be fed, and all you ever see are these bars and the same unchaning scenery."

"You can’t go wherever you want, you can’t run and leap to your heart’s content, and you certainly can’t patrol your own mountain kingdom under the moonlight like a real clouded leopard."

...

Ta Xue looked at Er Hua pacing in his enclosure, then turned his head to look at the vast sky and the silhouette of the lush, green mountains in the distance.

He fell silent.

"GRRR~"

Er Hua, in his enclosure, seemed to sense the ill intentions in Yang Qi’s words and the belittling of his "current situation." Annoyed, he approached and let out a low growl at Yang Qi.

[What do you think you’re doing?]

Then, he looked curiously at Ta Xue in Yang Qi’s arms, his eyes filled with confusion.

[Where’d this cub come from?]

...

Yang Qi ignored Er Hua’s protest, continuing to stroke Ta Xue’s small head as he spoke earnestly.

"So, Ta Xue, if you don’t want to be trapped in a cage, if you don’t want to lose your freedom, you have to work hard and learn the skills to survive in the forest."

"The great mountains are your true hunting grounds, the home where you are meant to roam free!"

"Mew mew~"

Ta Xue’s eyes lit up, and he let out two soft mews.

[I understand.]

Hearing this, Yang Qi smiled.

He ruffled the fur on its little head. ’It feels so nice.’

...

Afterward, Yang Qi took Ta Xue and continued on his rounds, feeding the lynx, the wolf pack, and the raccoon family, while also doing some light cleaning of their enclosures.

Just as Yang Qi was cleaning the raccoon family’s food bowls and adding fresh fruits and vegetables...

[WARNING! WARNING! COVERT SURVEILLANCE FROM AN OUTER SECT ELDER DETECTED! HOST, PLEASE BE MINDFUL OF YOUR WORDS AND ACTIONS. REGULATE YOUR BEHAVIOR AND REFRAIN FROM USING ANY OBVIOUS SUPERNATURAL ABILITIES TO AVOID LEAKING SECT SECRETS!]

’Again?’

Yang Qi’s movements paused almost imperceptibly. He continued his cleaning motion as he slowly straightened up, turned around as if casually, and scanned the area outside the enclosure.

On the visitor path outside the enclosure stood two people.

A slender, middle-aged woman of about fifty.

Beside her was a fashionably dressed young woman in her early twenties with delicate features.

The young woman with delicate features was crouching on the ground outside the enclosure, looking at Ta Xue with a delighted expression, her eyes shining. "Wow~ so cute! Is this a clouded leopard? It’s so tiny!"

As she spoke, she reached out a hand, wanting to pet Ta Xue’s fluffy head.

"MROW MROW!"

Startled by the stranger’s scent and the approaching hand, Ta Xue immediately recoiled, lowering his body and letting out a warning growl from his throat.

Although it was high-pitched and kittenish, it already carried a hint of the alertness and ferocity of a wild beast’s cub.

"Oh, he’s a feisty one!"

Zhou Jing quickly pulled her hand back. She wasn’t scared; instead, she laughed.

She found the little guy even more interesting.

"Jingjing."

Tong Xiaoyue called out softly, checking Zhou Jing’s overly casual actions.

Then, she raised her head, her calm gaze falling on Yang Qi as he walked out of the enclosure, and spoke with a smile.

"Hello, Yang Qi. I apologize for the intrusion. I’m Tong Xiaoyue from the Provincial Capital Red Star Zoo. It’s a pleasure to meet you."

"I’ve long heard of the great ’Druid.’ I happen to be in Donghua on business for the past couple of days, so I thought I’d stop by to have a look."

"Your reputation is truly well-deserved. You can even take such good care of a clouded leopard cub."

She glanced at Ta Xue, who was still in a guarded posture, her smile unwavering. "You’re welcome to visit us at our Red Star Zoo anytime to look around and exchange some experiences."

"Uh..."

Yang Qi put on a perfect expression of surprise and astonishment, but inwardly, everything suddenly clicked into place.

’The Provincial Capital Red Star Zoo?’

’So that’s what this is about.’

’The "Outer Sect Elder" the system mentioned... it’s her!’