Chapter 102: Why Is It You Again?!
After notifying the forestry bureau, they also planned to go looking for the poachers themselves.
The drone only came out at night, and each time it appeared, it would take just one piece of “prey” back with it.
At first, when it showed up, no animal dared to follow—everyone was terrified that the strange thing would attack them next.
But one time, when the drone was heading back, a small bird accidentally tailed it… and discovered the drone didn’t care about it at all.
Wild animals were generally smarter than domesticated ones. So the quick-witted little bird began to suspect the drone could only attack one target at a time—and that when it was leaving with its “prey,” that was actually the safest moment for everyone else.
The wild animals didn’t know it was a machine made by humans, but in order to survive, they wanted to try. Maybe they could drive it out!
Among them, the golden snub-nosed monkeys—who had been attacked for several days in a row—were the first to lose patience. The day before yesterday, when the drone left, an elder from their troop quietly followed it.
“Chitter-chitter!” [Here! I saw it come to this place, and then it went inside and disappeared.]
The elder led Lin Jiangye and the others to a narrow cave. A reeking, predator-like stench wafted out from inside. After tracking it this far, the elder didn’t dare go in.
They’d originally thought they were up against only one drone. It didn’t look that big, and it didn’t fly especially fast, so they’d believed they could chase it away.
But what if there was more than one? What if these things came in groups?
“Chitter…” [So we had to stop first and planned to find the rest before deciding what to do.]
And after that… there was no “after that.” The tawny owl successfully found Lin Jiangye and brought him back.
Lin Jiangye lowered his gaze to Tiger Mom. Judging by the cave entrance, Tiger Mom and Tianheng and the others could all fit inside. Which meant the cave’s owner was likely built more like Tianheng—about a size smaller than Tiger Mom.
So… a snow leopard or something similar?
But if it were a snow leopard or another wild predator, would it really allow a drone to fly into its territory?
Tiger Mom paced slowly around the entrance. At first, the golden snub-nosed monkeys were still scared of her—her presence was far more ferocious than Tianheng and the others.
But after a short distance, a few bold monkeys crept up beside Tiger Mom. They walked alongside her for a few steps, and when she didn’t react, they started reaching out in secret.
Lin Jiangye watched their cautious curiosity and couldn’t help grinning. Tiger Mom felt a touch, turned her head, and glanced at them.
That single look sent the monkeys scurrying away instantly.
But after a little while, they came back again, edged close again, and reached out to touch Tiger Mom’s fur again.
This time, Tiger Mom couldn’t even be bothered to respond.
Seeing she didn’t react at all, the monkeys grew bolder. One mother even carried her baby over and let the little one press up and rub against Tiger Mom on its own.
Not just Lin Jiangye—everyone else stared in shock, too.
Especially the reserve staff. They had never seen monkeys and a top predator coexist this peacefully.
Not even clouded leopards—who were closer in size—ever had moments this harmonious with golden snub-nosed monkeys.
Tiger Mom paused slightly. Faced with the baby’s closeness, she felt a little helpless. But when she looked at those babies—only a bit larger than her paw—and saw their round, wet, shining eyes, she sighed and let them roll around on her back once.
After his initial surprise, Bai Zhengwen remembered the mountain god’s identity and how she’d gotten that name, and he steadied himself.
“Mountain God” was a title given by humans—but that status had been recognized by every animal on Taibai Mountain.
When he’d gone to Taibai Mountain with Lin Jiangye, he’d seen deer resting right beside the northeastern tiger.
He’d even personally watched a lynx sleeping sprawled on the mountain god, purring so loudly it sounded like a tractor.
The mountain god’s affinity with animals was on par with Lin Jiangye’s.
So golden snub-nosed monkeys approaching her like this… suddenly didn’t feel impossible.
But Lin Jiangye saw even more than Bai Zhengwen did. If the monkeys weren’t scared because of Tiger Mom’s calm, steady aura, then the mother letting her baby touch Tiger Mom might be for another reason.
She was borrowing Tiger Mom’s scent—so the babies could grow up safely.
Lin Jiangye clearly saw the tiger fur clutched tight in the babies’ hands.
For a long time, even if they ran into a snow leopard, the scent of tiger fur would keep predators from lunging at the babies immediately.
As long as the monkeys didn’t freeze in terror, they could use that brief hesitation—while the predator was “held” by the tiger scent—to retreat quickly.
It was like giving those mischievous, always-wandering babies a protective talisman.
The thought made a faint smile appear in Lin Jiangye’s eyes. If the timing and situation weren’t so wrong, he would’ve wanted to throw himself onto Tiger Mom and rub against her like crazy.
Truly worthy of being called the mountain god.
Truly worthy of being his Tiger Mom.
Just as Tiger Mom was about to enter the cave to investigate, she suddenly stopped and looked back—quietly—at the human baby grinning like an idiot.
Tianheng sniffed toward the cave. Besides the scent of a large, unfamiliar animal, he also caught a whiff of… one scent, or several—strange, layered, and complicated.
The two gray wolves couldn’t identify it, until Cangao leapt down from Lin Jiangye’s arms and bounced into the cave to sniff.
The next second, Cangao sneezed repeatedly—then backed out while sneezing, pitifully climbed back onto Lin Jiangye, and clung to him.
[I smelled something really weird! Stinky! It smells like humans, but those humans also have other smells covering them! Achoo, achoo—my nose hurts!]
Lin Jiangye tucked Cangao inside his clothes. The familiar scent immediately masked the sharp, irritating odor.
Back in his “safe zone,” Cangao immediately started sniffing all over Lin Jiangye’s neck like a puppy, its soft fur tickling him like crazy.
Lin Jiangye felt blissed out inside, but kept his face calm as he translated Cangao’s words for the two reserve staff.
Hearing there were humans inside didn’t surprise them. If the drone flew in there, then the person controlling it had to be in there.
If there were no humans, that would be the truly strange part.
But what they couldn’t wrap their heads around was this: the cave clearly smelled like a big predator’s den—how were humans hiding in there?
Lin Jiangye surveyed the terrain. This place wasn’t far from the monkeys’ area, though the mountain paths were rough. He didn’t know whether the staff would even be able to climb up when Qiming led them over.
At the same time, when the reserve staff learned Lin Jiangye had really arrived—and had taken two staff members deep inside to search—everyone fell into a strange, tense atmosphere.
They stared at the GPS location. Then they looked at the staff member on camera waving. Then they turned their blank, stunned eyes toward the director.
After Lin Jiangye’s warning, they had immediately contacted the director and reported the cameras had been moved.
Then they began comparing the environment in front of the camera feed, searching bit by bit for the matching camera in real space.
After a lot of work, they finally found the camera that had been relocated.
That camera was pointed not far from a snow leopard cave. And whoever placed it was clever: to avoid being exposed, they deliberately adjusted the camera angle so it wouldn’t capture the snow leopard.
And since it was so close to a snow leopard’s den, naturally not many animals dared approach.
In other words, they perfectly manufactured the illusion of a “wasteland” where no wild animals lived.
“That person did it on purpose. And there must be someone cooperating with them.” The director felt numb.
First, he’d heard from the reserve lead that their entire night of searching had been wasted. Then he’d learned there truly were poachers in the reserve. Now he’d discovered the poachers had internal help…
Ha. He felt like he was finished.
Based on what the staff said, the original “wasteland” camera feed hadn’t changed for a very long time—meaning the camera hadn’t been moved recently.
Which meant the poachers might have been operating here for quite some time.
“….”
Once that sank in, everyone fell silent.
They didn’t even dare imagine how many rare animals the poachers had already taken from the reserve.
Even if the poachers were caught in the end, the reserve would still be guilty of negligence.
Some people with questionable intentions immediately started blaming Lin Jiangye—thinking that if he hadn’t shown up, no one would’ve discovered the reserve’s massive failure.
But others—those who genuinely loved animals—felt the opposite. Even if exposure meant they’d be scolded, punished, or fired, it didn’t matter. Letting poachers continue was the same as enabling crime. Other people could choose not to care about protected wildlife, but as reserve staff, protecting rare animals was literally their duty.
And honestly, they had failed. Otherwise, how could two tawny owls have flown a thousand kilometers just to find Lin Jiangye and file a “complaint”?
The director swept his eyes over the room, and finally landed on the person in charge.
Cold sweat poured down the man’s face. If it came out that poachers had been steadily stealing rare animals from the reserve, maybe others would survive—but he would definitely lose his job.
If… if they could cover it up a little…
But the moment he looked up, he met the director’s icy gaze, and that chill snapped him awake.
“Director…”
“Call the police. This is no longer something we can handle ourselves.” If poachers had really been continually taking rare animals, the money involved would be enormous.
The moment that decision landed, the ones with bad intentions instantly wilted.
Just as the police call connected, a white bird and a gray bird flew in through the doorway. The white gyrfalcon dropped a bag from its talons onto the table.
“It’s the tawny owl and the gyrfalcon! It’s Advisor Lin’s bird!” The reserve staff remembered clearly—this gyrfalcon wasn’t local. Lin Jiangye had brought it.
The director looked at the white plastic bag and saw a phone inside.
A phone? Why would there be a phone?
Tap-tap-tap—Qiming tapped the tabletop with its claw, as if urging them to take it out.
The director studied the bird with interest. Why is it so… spiritual? So intelligent?
He was surprised—and also a little regretful. When Lin Jiangye arrived at the reserve, the director had just come down from the mountain and missed meeting him.
He powered the phone on. There was no password. The wallpaper showed it belonged to a reserve employee.
The director frowned quietly. If they’d sent a phone back, it meant the group had gone deep inside the reserve—where signal would be weak, or nonexistent.
He opened the photo album. Sure enough, there was a newly recorded video.
And sure enough, what the video showed didn’t match the camera feed at all—proving even more that the camera had indeed been moved by someone.
And in the video, they also saw a troop of golden snub-nosed monkeys in the distance—at least thirty-something of them.
“A new troop!” The manager gasped.
A whole new troop had appeared in a place they didn’t even know about!
Seeing they’d watched the video, Qiming felt satisfied and was about to leave—when someone called out urgently behind it:
“Wait!”
Qiming paused and turned back, meeting a man’s excited face.
“Y-you… can you understand what we’re saying?”
What nonsense was he babbling? If it couldn’t understand humans, how would it communicate with its owner?
The gray-white gyrfalcon tilted its head, eyes full of impatience. These humans were dragging their feet—so it let out a sharp, displeased screech.
The director immediately realized something and hurriedly said what he wanted.
“Can you take us to where Advisor Lin is?”
Take them to its owner? Of course. It was heading back anyway.
When they saw the gyrfalcon nod, a wave of astonished gasps swept through the room. It was already incredible that it stopped when the director told it to stop—something you could still explain as “trained.”
But now… this was clearly beyond mere training.
The director and the others quickly prepared vehicles and drove deeper in, guided by the gyrfalcon.
But when they reached the destination, Qiming panicked.
Lin Jiangye was gone!!!
[Human! Where are you?!]
Qiming freaked out—until a massive silhouette appeared overhead.
[Here, here, here!]
The gyrfalcon looked up and was immediately covered by a white-tailed eagle’s wing.
[Hehe! I just went to find something to eat! You eat too!]
A small fish was shoved toward Qiming’s beak. The gyrfalcon didn’t even think—instinctively, it ate it.
Only after swallowing did Qiming’s brain finally catch up.
[Where’s the human?!]
Chang Geng used its beak to gently preen Qiming’s feathers, then tipped its beak toward a direction.
[The golden monkeys are leading the way. They told the eagle to come back here and wait for you!]
Who would’ve thought—Qiming just went to the lake for a little snack, and Qiming arrived.
Hehe! Good thing it got back in time!
Qiming was annoyed—its neck feathers puffed slightly—but after remembering the fish it had just eaten, its anger slowly faded.
While the birds played around up above, the director stared from below, completely dumbfounded.
It was one thing that Lin Jiangye could “tame” a gyrfalcon. But he could even “tame” a white-tailed eagle?
And even more unbelievable—these two raptors of different species were actually getting along!
So amazing. Too amazing.
The director’s regret of not meeting Lin Jiangye earlier only grew stronger. If he’d gone to pick Lin Jiangye up at the airport, then the person standing beside Lin Jiangye right now would’ve been him.
The white-tailed eagle nuzzled the gyrfalcon and was just about to lead their group toward the cave when several gunshots suddenly cracked through the air.
Chang Geng and Qiming froze for a split second—then shot toward the direction of the gunfire.
The tawny owl that had been guiding them stood stunned in place. It had never heard human gunshots before, so it had no idea what was happening. But seeing how frantic Chang Geng and Qiming were, it immediately realized this was definitely not good news.
When the director and the others heard the shots, their faces went pale.
Whether the gunfire came from Lin Jiangye’s side or the poachers’ side, it was a terrible sign either way.
Before they could even figure out what was going on, in the blink of an eye, every bird was gone.
“Wait—where are the birds? If there’s no bird to guide us, how are we supposed to get up there?” The director was completely dumbfounded. What kind of mess was this?!
Meanwhile, Lin Jiangye and Tiger Mom were in a full sprint, chasing several poachers who were fleeing for their lives.
Bixi had slipped through the cave ahead of them and discovered the people living inside. Judging from their gear, it was unmistakable—they were poachers.
But the cave’s original owner had vanished without a trace. No one knew whether it had been driven off… or killed.
After scanning the area and confirming the tools in their hands, Lin Jiangye and Bai Zhengwen were about to move in.
But right then, a figure came sprinting from the other side of the cave, shouting at the top of his lungs, “Run! Lin Jiangye’s up the mountain!”
Oh? They’d spotted him?
But honestly, he’d been in the mountains for hours already. For them to only be warning each other now—wasn’t that a little late?
Either way, the moment Lin Jiangye realized someone had tipped them off, he and Bai Zhengwen surged into the cave.
“Don’t move!”
The people inside hadn’t even processed what was happening. They turned their heads—and a fist the size of a sandbag filled their vision.
The next second: darkness. System shutdown.
Only the two poachers sitting deepest inside the cave—and the newcomer who’d just arrived—reacted in time. They bolted for another exit.
Lin Jiangye handed the people inside over to Bai Zhengwen, Cangao, and the reserve staff. Then he took Tiger Mom and the two gray wolves and chased the three runners.
Bixi followed too, beating its wings hard to surge ahead. It swooped down on the frontmost man and raked out with sharp talons, trying to stop him.
Bixi tore a bloody gash across the man’s face. Driven insane by the pain, he yanked out a gun and sprayed bullets up at Bixi.
The instant Lin Jiangye saw the gun, his pupils contracted sharply. Reflexively, he drew his own weapon and fired.
Bixi was alert—smart, and very much a raven. It remembered what had happened to Opal, burned into its mind.
The moment it sensed the human was about to counterattack, Bixi immediately broke away, vanishing into the surrounding leaves.
So every shot the man fired went wide.
He missed—but Lin Jiangye didn’t. His bullet hit the man cleanly in the wrist.
The pain made his fingers loosen. The gun fell. And he didn’t even dare stop to pick it up—he just clamped his other hand over his wounded wrist and charged forward blindly.
But Lin Jiangye still had his gun. This time, his bullet punched into the man’s calf.
The impact slammed him into the ground. Before he could scramble up, he felt his hair grabbed and yanked—hard enough that it felt like his scalp was about to be torn off.
“Help—help! I was wrong, I was wrong, I really was wrong!” Lin Jiangye’s sheer strength made the man misunderstand; he thought the young man was about to kill him on the spot.
To be honest… Lin Jiangye really did want to.
He yanked the man up roughly. Seeing him curled up and trembling, Lin Jiangye let out a cold laugh.
“Wrong? Heh.”
The man he’d caught wasn’t the one who’d been shouting the warning—he was one of the two who’d been seated deepest in the cave, positioned closest to an escape route. Anyone sitting there wasn’t some ordinary lackey.
“How many animals have you killed?” Lin Jiangye’s voice and gaze were both icy enough to freeze.
The man shook even harder. He thought of the other poachers Lin Jiangye had sent to prison. According to them, once Lin Jiangye got you, you never escaped again.
That punch of his really could kill someone.
Now, faced with Lin Jiangye’s question, he didn’t dare answer—and didn’t dare refuse to answer either.
He stammered, trying to buy time, hoping his companions might come back and save him.
But the moment he met those pitch-black eyes—bottomless and cold—his body jerked with a shiver.
“N-not… not many…”
“Not many? You think I’d believe that?”
As the force on his scalp increased bit by bit, he felt like Lin Jiangye could peel him open and twist his neck off at any second.
“Really—not many! We… we didn’t dare hunt too much at once! It would draw your attention!”
Everyone knew by now: when animals were in danger, or even just wronged, they could go to Lin Jiangye.
At most, he did one a day—always from different groups—just so he wouldn’t attract Lin Jiangye’s attention.
So why… why was he still here?
“Oh? It would draw my attention?” The voice in his ear sank into something like a devil’s whisper. “So you know me?”
The man didn’t dare lie. He spilled everything he knew.
When Lin Jiangye heard that the mastermind behind them had repeatedly had his poaching “business” ruined by Lin Jiangye, he immediately thought of the two poaching rings he’d busted in Taibai Mountain and the Black Moon wilderness.
He hadn’t expected it—different places, different crews… but the same hidden boss behind all of them.
Thinking of that person striking wildlife again and again, thinking of a mastermind buried deep in the shadows, Lin Jiangye’s face slowly spread into a chilling smile.
He jerked his grip backward. The poacher had no choice but to arch his head up, exposing his throat.
That posture made terror explode through him. It felt like Lin Jiangye could keep smiling and smiling… and then, the next second, open his mouth like a beast and rip his throat out.
“From the look of you,” Lin Jiangye said, baring teeth that flashed bone-white in the dim light, “you’ve met that person, haven’t you? Tell me—who is he?”
Mid-year’s here.
Time to slaughter one big beast to celebrate.
