Chapter 108: Come Home With Me?
The moment Tiger Mom stepped off the helicopter, Lin Jiangye threw himself into her arms.
This time it wasn’t him being clingy—he was genuinely, deeply wronged. Tiger Mom felt the fur at her neck grow slightly damp.
The human cub… was crying.
Tiger Mom was startled. She lowered her head and looked at the young man kneeling there, holding her tight. He wasn’t sobbing loudly, but the spirit on him was no longer as bright and forceful as before.
Tiger Mom noticed the change immediately—and so did the other “kids.”
Animals sense far more sharply than humans. Humans could see Lin Jiangye’s pale face and tell he’d taken a heavy blow, but to the animals, it was even clearer: the light around him had dimmed. It wasn’t just that he’d been hurt—he looked like someone had deliberately backed him into a corner, forced him to do something he didn’t want to do, something that tore him apart.
The German Shepherd walked up and nudged him gently with its muzzle, letting out a low whine.
[What happened?]
The feeling was familiar—like the scent its comrades carried when they’d been forced to abandon it.
Had this human been told to give up something precious, too?
Tiger Mom lifted her gaze to the white-tailed eagle and the goshawk. That stern, imposing look made both birds instantly puff up in alarm.
[W-we… we don’t really know either, QAQ…]
They’d been on Lin Jiangye, and they did know something had happened next door—but their brains weren’t sharp enough to understand why he was so devastated.
But—
[That bad guy… kidnapped a lot of cubs. He was trying to force the human to go over!] Qiming landed by Tiger Mom, making soft cooing sounds like a pigeon.
That bad guy? Which bad guy?
[The bad guy who used to lock us up!]
At that, Tianheng and Kaiyang immediately thought of those miserable memories.
[The Zhang family!]
The Zhang family?!
Tiger Mom had arrived the latest and didn’t fully understand what had happened. Just as she was about to ask the German Shepherd, Lin Jiangye—still clinging to her—quietly explained the two major incidents that had erupted here.
“I asked you all to come because I need those harmed animals found—knock them out if you have to, restrain them so they can’t move. And the smaller ones too—monkeys, snakes, anything—find them all.”
He didn’t explain the mastermind’s true intent. Following Shang Fuyan’s advice, the other side’s plan had already failed halfway.
Once his “kids” safely rounded up every animal, the remaining madman wouldn’t actually be that hard to deal with.
The special police had snipers in place. As long as attention was diverted at the right moment, that lunatic wouldn’t be able to press the remote in the instant before he died.
Jiang Xin had already told the “kids” the mission requirements, but he didn’t fully understand the details himself—and since he couldn’t understand animal speech, he couldn’t answer their questions properly.
Only now did they truly understand what they needed to do.
At this moment, the local police and forestry bureau arrived.
They cut straight to the point, marking several locked-down zones on the map.
“Next, we’ll be relying on you a lot.”
They looked at the pack of dogs, the flock of birds, and the majestic Northeast tiger. Remembering the legends of how clever these animals were, they felt real hope.
They weren’t only hoping to round up the circus animals—that was the bare minimum. What they were really hoping for was speed.
The faster the crisis ended, the sooner the danger to civilians would vanish, and the less public anger would build into social unrest.
“I understand. We’ll move now.” Seeing Tiger Mom steadied Lin Jiangye’s heart.
Aside from slightly reddened eyes, nothing showed on his face. He was calm again—like the cold, composed Advisor Lin.
Tiger Mom looked at him with pity in her eyes.
If only her cub weren’t human… If he weren’t human, he wouldn’t have to suffer things like this.
Lin Jiangye studied the map of escaped animals and quickly assigned tasks.
Three were the most dangerous: a tiger, a lion, and a black bear.
Lin Jiangye would handle the lion.
Tiger Mom would take the elderly tiger alone.
As for the black bear—though it had many old injuries and a lame leg, it wasn’t that old. Once it went berserk, its fighting power was still formidable. Lin Jiangye sent Tianheng and Kaiyang, the two brothers, to it.
North American gray wolves could already hold their own against bears, and there were two of them. And their target was a half-crippled bear.
“Your main job is to pin it down—make sure it can’t move—so the forestry bureau can inject it with tranquilizers.”
After that, he warned the forestry bureau team working alongside the animals:
“If anything goes wrong, if you can’t handle something, or if the kids’ behavior looks off—contact me immediately.”
The forestry staff stared at the animals with bright, starry eyes. They’d never imagined they’d one day run an operation with protected wildlife.
It looked unreal. And… very pettable.
Their leader immediately smacked them on the head.
“Did you hear what Advisor Lin said?”
They snapped back to reality, nodding furiously, eyes shining as they looked at Lin Jiangye.
The rest—mid- and small-sized animals like monkeys and goats—would be handled by the German Shepherd and the birds.
These animals were easier for humans to subdue, but because they were small, even after locking down an area the forestry teams still struggled to find where they were hiding.
The German Shepherd and Bixi’s group had rich experience tracking people and objects. With their help, the teams could locate the animals quickly.
Once all assignments were set, the “kids” boarded vehicles with their respective handlers.
The person escorting Tiger Mom away had been shaky-kneed at first, but after seeing Lin Jiangye kiss Tiger Mom all over without getting smacked, the fear faded a lot.
This huge tiger was overflowing with motherly beauty.
Truly worthy of the Mountain God of Taibai Mountain.
On the way to his own target area, Lin Jiangye couldn’t help going online to check on the Zhang-family lunatic.
Of course, he wasn’t stupid—he didn’t use his own phone to watch the livestream. Otherwise, the moment he entered, he’d expose himself.
The lunatic still clutched the remote, but he didn’t look as hysterical as before.
Lin Jiangye also noticed the livestream comments seemed to be under police control—everything was urging him to calm down.
Still, a few slipped through: some mocked the police as useless after two hours; others demanded why Lin Jiangye hadn’t arrived yet.
Fortunately, those comments were quickly buried. The lunatic, lost in his own frenzy, didn’t see them.
“We’ve positioned snipers in nearby buildings,” a police officer said firmly. “If he truly loses control, we won’t just watch him drag those children to death.”
They had the bureau’s best marksman. If it came down to it, they could kill him before he pressed the button.
But unless absolutely necessary, they wouldn’t use that final option.
Lin Jiangye nodded. Right now, he just hoped the circus animals hadn’t reached the point of hurting people—otherwise it would be brutal to resolve.
That circus had a male and female lion. They were old, injured, and most importantly, the male seemed mentally unstable.
“According to the circus people, the male had already been irritable before,” the officer said, worried. “During training, he even accidentally injured several people.”
Lin Jiangye asked about their current situation. The police and forestry staff paused and sighed together.
“The lioness is trying to stop him, but… we don’t think she can hold him much longer. We’ve considered tranquilizers, but that male is extremely sensitive to our scent. They’re hiding inside a factory—using the building to block our line of sight.”
That was why it was so hard—not because they refused to use tranquilizers, but because they couldn’t approach or even pinpoint them.
The mastermind had clearly planned and analyzed in detail, otherwise it wouldn’t be this difficult.
When Lin Jiangye arrived, plenty of civilians were gathered outside, some even holding phones up, trying to capture footage from inside.
Thankfully, the police had already sealed the area and kept them outside the factory.
Otherwise, even without face-to-face contact, the sheer noise would have deeply provoked the lions.
Still in the car, Lin Jiangye changed into a forestry bureau uniform, put on a mask and glasses, and disguised himself as an ordinary forestry worker.
Once inside, he went in alone.
“Are you sure you don’t want an escort?” the local police asked uneasily. To them, Lin Jiangye was both someone to protect and a vital teammate.
Lin Jiangye waved them off.
“Keep watching outside. Don’t let anyone realize I’m here.”
If his presence was discovered and posted online, it might provoke the lunatic, and that would be disastrous.
He moved forward the way a big cat would—walking on the balls of his feet, light and silent.
As he drew closer, roars erupted from within, followed by heavy thump-thump-thump impacts—like the lions were fighting.
[Calm down!]
[Human… stink! Human! Stink!!!]
Two voices came through the wall. From the tone, the first was likely the lioness; the second the male.
The lioness sounded pained but still relatively calm.
The male, though… Lin Jiangye suspected he’d been deeply harmed by humans before. Otherwise, he wouldn’t react this violently the moment Lin Jiangye got close.
But… what did he mean by “stink”?
He rounded the wall and stood face-to-face with the two lions. Once he saw what they looked like with his own eyes, a flicker of pity crossed Lin Jiangye’s expression.
No wonder the local police and the forestry bureau had agreed to his request so readily—maybe because even they couldn’t help feeling sorry for these animals when they faced them.
Both lions were covered in wounds. Their fur was patchy, clumped in tufts here and there, making them look both ugly and pitiful.
And on closer look… the lioness was blind in one eye.
What a sin.
When he appeared, the male lion—who had been making a huge commotion—suddenly went quiet. Lin Jiangye took one step forward, and as he drew nearer, the “human” scent on him seemed to fade instead, while the scents of Tiger Mom, Tianheng, the German Shepherd, and the others grew stronger.
The strangeness of it left both lions confused.
Human? Not human? Human? Not human?!
Relying on that layered scent, Lin Jiangye approached them without trouble.
“Your injuries are serious. Can I take a look at them?” he asked. He didn’t use a tranquilizer right away. The lions were practically drenched in blood—an alarming sight.
The lioness stared at him warily for a long time. Then she finally lowered her head and sniffed him lightly.
The moment that scene was transmitted through the camera feed to the forestry bureau, everyone watching outside felt their hearts seize.
The distance was far too close. If the lioness suddenly snapped, she could bite the young man’s head clean off.
Lin Jiangye wasn’t afraid. From the lioness’s voice earlier, it was clear she still had her reason—and she was smart.
Now he suspected the male lion was hiding in here because the lioness had forced him inside, to make sure that even if he went mad, he wouldn’t harm humans.
An animal injuring someone and an animal killing someone were two completely different outcomes. If the male lion killed a person by accident, his fate would be only one word:
Death.
Lin Jiangye waited quietly as the lioness learned his scent. After she circled him once, he asked softly, “Can I apply medicine now? Your wounds… must hurt, right?”
Only then did the lioness confirm: he was human—just a human saturated with the scents of other animals, something she’d never encountered before.
And those scents carried protection, tenderness, and care—like the way a lioness treated her own cubs.
[Who are you? What are you doing here?]
Lin Jiangye didn’t hide anything. He answered honestly: “I’m going to treat your wounds first. They’re too severe. After that, if you agree, I’ll inject a sedative and have a vet examine what drug is affecting you. Once the drug’s effects wear off, we’ll arrange for someone to take over your care.”
So he was sent by humans?
The lioness didn’t attack. She simply stared at him without moving, so intensely that the people watching through the camera felt sweat break out for him.
Then something happened that made both the lioness—and everyone waiting outside—gape in disbelief.
The once-irritable male lion walked up to Lin Jiangye on his own, then plopped—collapsed straight into his arms and even rubbed against him.
[It hurts… I’m tired… wuu wuu wuu!]
“Huh???” The police all froze, totally unprepared for a scene like that.
As for the forestry bureau staff, they narrowed their eyes and looked at Lin Jiangye the way a weasel looks at a chicken.
“Someone like him belongs in our department,” one of them muttered. “That level of affinity… putting him anywhere else is a waste!”
Feeling the warm, fluffy weight in his arms, Lin Jiangye’s heart softened instantly.
He sat down slowly, cradling the male lion, carefully rubbing the big head. Before long, he actually heard the lion start to purr.
The lioness, startled, suddenly understood.
The male lion was running on instinct now. Instinctively he hated humans, but instinctively he was drawn to the strange aura on this human—and in the end, he was soothed by it.
[Save us. None of this was what we wanted.]
Leaving the circus, rampaging through the streets, frightening people, hurting people—none of it was their choice.
“I know,” Lin Jiangye said quietly. “That’s why we haven’t used high-lethality weapons.”
He parted the male lion’s fur and found a wound still bleeding.
Some injuries looked like they were caused by scraping against sharp objects; others… were probably inflicted by the lioness.
[I had to stop him. I didn’t have a choice…] the lioness faltered.
Lin Jiangye glanced at her, then reached out and rubbed her head too. “You’ve done so much. Thank you.”
The lioness had been drugged as well, but her powerful rationality forced the effects down—and she managed to stop a full-grown male lion from going berserk.
It hadn’t been easy.
Feeling the warmth of the human’s palm, the lioness couldn’t help leaning in. She even flicked her tongue out and lightly licked his hand.
Lin Jiangye pulled out the medicine he’d prepared and cautiously poured it over the male lion’s wound.
The sting of it triggered an immediate roar.
But when the male lion tried to lift his head, Lin Jiangye hugged the big head tight, kissed him near the eyes, and soothed him like a child:
“A kiss and it won’t hurt. Another kiss. Good boy—how about you sleep for a while? When you wake up, we’ll go to a new home, okay?”
Lin Jiangye didn’t know what the circus had done to them, but the wounds told him enough: their life there had been miserable.
When this was over, whoever the mastermind was, the circus would also have to pay a heavy price.
Compensation—maybe even prison. And once the circus collapsed, they definitely wouldn’t care about these lions anymore.
By custom, the forestry bureau would hand the animals off to different zoos.
Lin Jiangye felt that familiar pull in his chest again.
He wanted to take them home and let them recover.
They weren’t young, and their bodies were already failing. Honestly, they might not even have a year left.
“When the drug wears off… will you come to my home?” Lin Jiangye spoke plainly to the lioness. “I have other rescued animals there, too.”
The lioness stared at the male lion—now like a giant house cat in the young man’s arms, being kissed and petted—and fell silent.
Up close, Lin Jiangye carried a scent that was strangely comforting, safe. It didn’t do much for her, but for a male lion whose mind was barely holding together, it was a killing blow—in the best way.
And there was also that unfamiliar, terrifying scent on him, something that made them not dare to strike him at all.
With his unusual affinity and Tiger Mom’s intimidation backing him, Lin Jiangye finished treating the male lion’s wounds smoothly.
When the bleeding gradually stopped, the lioness finally exhaled, her trust in him rising.
[Everything you said—is it true?]
Lin Jiangye rubbed her head again and nodded hard. “Yes. All of it. I also have a rescued Asian lion at home. I can introduce you.”
The lioness didn’t hesitate long. She made the decision for them both.
[Fine. We believe you.]
As the sedative was slowly injected into both of them, the lioness kept staring at Lin Jiangye, as if afraid he’d change his mind at the last second.
Lin Jiangye’s chest tightened painfully. He leaned down and kissed her face too.
“I promise I’ll bring you home. And when we get there, I’ll give you beautiful names.”
Last time it had been the Big Dipper Seven. This time—what would it be?
As the lions’ eyes gradually closed, Lin Jiangye waved at the camera on his shoulder.
“Alright. You can come in now.”
There wasn’t enough time—he’d only managed basic treatment for the male lion. The lioness’s wounds weren’t treated yet.
Soon, the police and forestry bureau rushed in with carts and safely transported both lions to the rescue station.
Before leaving, Lin Jiangye submitted a request to the forestry bureau.
They didn’t look surprised at all. Instead, they smiled like they’d expected it.
“I knew you’d feel sorry for them,” the official said. Then he sighed. “Handing them to you isn’t impossible. Honestly, we’d feel more at ease that way.”
Everyone in the circle knew Lin Jiangye truly cared about animals. Protected wildlife, strays, rescued animals—once they were in his hands, they recovered and thrived.
“But don’t say anything about this request yet,” the man added. “After we… ahem… after we negotiate compensation from the circus, then you can submit it formally.”
He was lucky he caught himself before saying “shake them down.”
Watching the lions being taken away, Lin Jiangye felt some of the heaviness lift from his eyes.
Not long after, more good news came in.
The moment Tiger Mom appeared, the tiger didn’t even need to be fought—it went limp on the ground, belly exposed, completely subdued.
Tianheng and Kaiyang worked together and restrained the black bear in just five minutes. The bear roared nonstop, but never managed to injure them.
As for the smaller animals, under the dogs’ and crows’ search, every last one was found and recovered.
Finally, once the forestry bureau compared the retrieved animals against the circus’s list, it confirmed: every escaped animal had been brought back.
Good. Wenyang City’s crisis was halfway resolved.
The remaining half…
Lin Jiangye stared at a tall building in the distance. His gaze darkened.
“Let’s go. I’m going to meet that lunatic.”
Even with psychiatrists, psychologists, and negotiators present, the lunatic kept chanting Lin Jiangye’s name. It seemed clear: unless he saw Lin Jiangye, he wouldn’t stop.
As Lin Jiangye walked toward the building, Tiger Mom felt a faint unease stir in her chest.
At the same time, Shang Fuyan—on leave—was rushing over.
And by sheer coincidence, an unease rose in his heart too.
