Chapter 88: Human, Do You Want a Cub?
Heiyue County was the most lush, most densely vegetated place in the entire Western Qiang region.
But it was also a border area—frequent friction with the neighboring country was common, and that was exactly why those cultists chose to flee here.
Dense vegetation gave them the perfect chance to slip into the forest and hide. Once they did, as long as someone on the border was waiting to receive them, they could take hundreds of billions—or even over a trillion—in illicit wealth overseas and keep living their “beautiful lives.”
No one wanted that outcome, so the leadership of the entire autonomous region’s Public Security Bureau was panicking.
Forget the fact that they’d already “screened” the bureau once and still found spies—just the secret accounts they’d uncovered were enough to make everyone’s scalp go numb. All that dirty money was sitting right there.
Hundreds of billions.
That was the people’s blood and sweat.
If they could recover it, then with the evidence they held, at the very least tens of thousands of victims could get their money back.
Sure, it was impossible to recover everything—but getting back even a portion was still something. People deserved an explanation.
“The area we’ve locked down is the southeast of Heiyue County, right where it borders the neighboring country. The search area is thirty square kilometers… so we’ll have to trouble you a lot.”
Thirty square kilometers might not sound enormous—and compared to the county’s total of over thirty thousand square kilometers, it really wasn’t.
But this place was uninhabited wilderness with rugged mountain paths, thick forest cover, and abundant wildlife. A human carpet search inside it was simply impossible.
“I understand. The food is all prepared, right?” Lin Jiangye looked at the dense coniferous forest in front of him, then turned to the high shrub belt on the mountains nearby.
And on one ridgeline, two adult snow leopards were watching him.
Ah—spotted already.
Lin Jiangye wasn’t surprised at all. Instead, he waved toward that direction.
He couldn’t see their expressions, but he figured they’d be full of question marks.
Humans greeting them wasn’t rare. What was rare was that this human had found them so quickly.
The people around him didn’t understand what he was doing.
“Consultant Lin, who are you greeting?” Ciren Sangmu was pushed forward again to ask.
Lin Jiangye pointed at the ridgeline. “On the rocks to the northwest—two snow leopards are lying there.”
Huh?! Snow leopards?!
Ciren Sangmu immediately raised his binoculars. With magnification, he quickly spotted them—two indeed, staring straight at them.
After admiring their beautiful forms to his heart’s content, he turned back, about to talk with Lin Jiangye—
only to discover Lin Jiangye was gone.
“W-Where… where is he?” someone stammered.
A nearby officer pointed at the forest. “He already went in to scout.”
And you’re still standing here?
At this moment, Lin Jiangye had taken Yuheng and Kaiyang with him and was walking into the forest on foot.
He carried some food on him—handy for “bribing” the small animals living inside.
As for Bixi and the others, they’d already been released the moment they arrived.
The search area was larger than he’d expected. It was impossible to rely on only Bixi and the three birds. Still, for the first pass, he didn’t have them seek help from other animals. He had them do a quick sweep themselves first.
Thirty square kilometers—if they flew around the perimeter once, split between three birds, it would take less than half an hour.
Sure enough, twenty minutes later, all three returned.
[Can’t see, can’t see! Crow can’t see any humans nearby!]
[Eagle too! Not a single person found!]
But at that moment, Qi Ming landed in Lin Jiangye’s arms. Unlike the other two, it had found human figures—several of them.
And most importantly, those humans all had long, black “sticks” on their backs.
“Sticks?”
Lin Jiangye froze, then quickly reacted. He pulled out the submachine gun strapped behind him.
“Like this?”
If they were cultists, it wasn’t impossible they’d gotten hold of submachine guns. Handguns were too limiting.
This weapon had been borrowed from SWAT—specifically so Lin Jiangye could move freely and work effectively once inside the forest.
But after carefully observing, Qi Ming shook its head.
[No, no! Longer, longer!]
Longer?
A sniper rifle?
But what use would a sniper rifle be here…?
Wait.
No.
No no no.
Anyone carrying a sniper rifle in a border forest wasn’t going to be a fleeing cultist.
Cultists’ main goal was escape. Even if they carried firearms, it would be for delaying pursuit. Handguns or submachine guns made sense—maximum stopping power to slow police down.
But a sniper rifle meant something else.
A sniper was a hunter—someone attacking proactively, not defending passively.
So who would be “hunting” here?
Either poachers targeting wildlife—
or someone targeting border troops.
But targeting the military was too dangerous. Even if no evidence was found afterward, anyone with a brain could guess who did it.
And provoking the military…
Forget thirty square kilometers. Even three hundred—hell, even the entire thirty-thousand-square-kilometer county—if the military wanted to plow it over once, they absolutely could.
So those people were almost certainly poachers.
Foreign poachers.
After reaching that conclusion, Lin Jiangye wasn’t surprised. Heiyue County had abundant rare wildlife. In this forest alone, even if you ignored everything else, Bengal tigers would already be a poacher’s dream.
The neighboring country wasn’t without Bengal tigers, but worldwide wild Bengal tiger numbers were under two thousand—an extremely rare national treasure.
And if they couldn’t get a tiger, they could still go after other protected animals: long-tailed macaques, clouded leopards, large Indian civets, leopard cats…
In short, they were wildlife’s natural enemies.
And Lin Jiangye’s enemies.
He stopped abruptly. In the dim forest, the young man’s eyes turned deep and dark again.
He pulled out his phone and called Ciren Sangmu, warning him that foreign poachers might be mixed in.
“Who? Poachers?”
“Yes. Foreign. Tell the officers searching inside to be careful—some of them seem to be carrying sniper rifles.”
Ciren Sangmu was stunned. He hadn’t expected foreign people to have slipped into the forest!
What were they trying to do? Was it really just poaching?
He immediately reported this up to the city bureau. The bureau leader was already on the way. After hearing it, he told Ciren Sangmu to pass a message to Lin Jiangye:
Make sure to keep them alive.
After receiving that message, Lin Jiangye immediately racked his weapon and prepared for combat.
“No time. Chang Geng, Qi Ming—go ask other birds if they’re willing to trade.”
He had originally planned to search slowly, but the sudden appearance of poachers tightened every nerve in him.
Next, he sent Bixi to shadow their movements. Once he secured the cultists, he would go straight for the poachers.
If he hadn’t promised the police that today’s primary objective was to find the cultists and stop them from escaping over the border, he would’ve gone for those men first.
But thinking carefully—if he hadn’t agreed to help, he wouldn’t be in this uninhabited region at all, and he wouldn’t have discovered poachers hiding here.
He let out a long breath, then felt a burst of relief for having accepted this mission. If he later found out those poachers had returned home loaded with trophies, he would’ve regretted it to death.
Bixi nodded obediently. Lin Jiangye patted its head and kissed it.
“Be careful. Your life is important!”
Bixi rubbed its beak against his cheek, then spread its wings and flew into the forest following Qi Ming’s direction.
Meanwhile, Chang Geng and Qi Ming rose into the air. Soon, the treetops filled with chattering birdsong.
Before long, several small birds “were forced” to land in front of Lin Jiangye: a rufous-bellied robin, a rufous-headed long-tailed tit, a long-billed babbler, a laughingthrush…
[H-Human… what do you want to do, QAQ…] The little birds trembled the moment they saw Chang Geng and Qi Ming—especially Chang Geng. That one was a real large raptor.
They wanted to flee, but they couldn’t outfly them. So they had no choice but to follow orders and come before this human.
Hearing their tearful voices, Lin Jiangye choked. He covered his face, both helpless and guilty, then explained his intent in a soft voice.
Once they learned he’d gone to all this trouble just to find people, the little birds tilted their heads, tiny black-bean eyes shining with confusion.
Especially since they realized this human was offering a trade—meaning it wasn’t unpaid labor—they were even more baffled.
[Then why did you make them come scare the birds?]
Lin Jiangye: ???
“Chang Geng! Qi Ming! How exactly did you ‘communicate’ with them?!” The two raptors stiffened on their branch—one looked left, one looked right, refusing to look at Lin Jiangye.
They hadn’t really “said” much—just things like, “If you don’t come, I’ll carry you there.”
Seeing their expressions, Lin Jiangye knew their methods were probably… not fit to see daylight.
He fell silent, wiped his face, and apologized sincerely to the birds.
“Sorry. I didn’t teach them properly how to ‘invite’ birds.”
Back when he’d gone to Nanhai, Chang Geng had chased seagulls around like this too. But there were plenty of large birds there, so it hadn’t caused this kind of mess.
Either way, it was his fault as their “owner.”
As he spoke, he pulled out some food as compensation.
While Lin Jiangye apologized and explained, the birds’ anger faded by more than half. They weren’t actually hurt—those two birds looked fierce, but they weren’t truly dangerous.
Mostly they’d just been startled… and also curious what was going on.
And now?
Curious birds got food!
With tasty compensation, the birds perked up immediately, chirping loudly as they asked what kind of humans Lin Jiangye was looking for.
Because if they found people, they’d get more food!
Sure, the forest wasn’t short of food—but who disliked having extra?
Lin Jiangye quickly showed them the cultists’ faces and builds, and marked the approximate area where they might be hiding.
For birds who lived in this forest, thirty square kilometers was nothing—barely “one moon” of distance.
“No… not that slow. I need faster.” Lin Jiangye shook his head. “Call more friends. Anyone who helps gets food. We have to catch those people quickly—because after I catch them, I’m going to catch the poachers.”
He told them his plan honestly.
The birds didn’t understand what “poachers” meant. After Lin Jiangye explained, they all instantly fluffed up.
[P-Poachers?! Will they attack birds too, QAQ?!]
Damn humans, sob sob. Hateful humans, sob sob.
They’d been living just fine in the forest—why did humans have to come harm them?
The small birds grew restless. Even their gaze toward Lin Jiangye turned wary and suspicious.
Seeing them huddled together like trembling little balls, Lin Jiangye felt guilty… mixed with a strange flicker of excitement.
Honestly, these puffed-up little fluffballs were so cute he wanted to knead them.
Ahem. Back to business.
Lin Jiangye sighed, cursed those people along with the birds, and continued.
“That’s why I need your help. Find those men first, and then I can deal with the poachers as fast as possible.”
He paused, then added, “If you see someone with a long black stick on their back, stay far away. Those are poachers. And if you see a very, very big crow near them—that’s the one I sent to watch them.”
His attitude soothed the birds a lot. Whether it was for safety or for food, they needed to set out now.
On the way, they met other birds. After chirping the whole story, those birds also rushed to Lin Jiangye asking to help.
Gradually, the flock assisting grew larger and larger—from a dozen at first, to hundreds later on. Some of them were even mid-sized raptors like the saker falcon.
Sadly, aside from birds, Lin Jiangye hadn’t seen a single cat species yet.
Which made sense. Birds were on a cat’s menu. The birds were probably terrified that before they could even explain a word, a feline would swallow them whole.
But monkeys, antelope, and squirrels also joined in—especially the monkeys. They were smarter than birds and understood even more clearly how vicious and hateful poachers were.
When it came to protected species like long-tailed macaques—Level I and II protected animals—Lin Jiangye warned them especially to be careful.
Not that other animals didn’t deserve caution. It was just that to poachers, protected animals meant higher profit.
In the early stage, those animals would attract the most attention.
The monkeys understood the concern in the human’s words. They gave Lin Jiangye a hug—an action they’d learned humans used to express affection.
Being hugged by wild fluffy creatures nearly melted Lin Jiangye’s heart.
How are they so cute?!
“Good babies—protect yourselves. Once I catch them all, we’re done!” Lin Jiangye couldn’t resist patting them. The fluffy texture of their fur was absolutely top-tier.
“Chi-chi-chi!” [Human! Monkeys will go help you find the bad guys first!]
As more and more helpers joined, Lin Jiangye urgently told Ciren Sangmu to prepare more food.
“How many animals did you recruit?” This time, the speaker wasn’t Ciren Sangmu—it was the city bureau leader.
Lin Jiangye didn’t find it strange. With something this big, it would be strange if they didn’t show up.
“At least two hundred small-to-mid birds, two monkey troops, ten red-bellied squirrels, and three blue-bellied squirrels…”
The leader recorded as he listened, then looked at the food they had prepared. After hanging up, he immediately ordered supplies to be transferred in from the nearest point.
While the people outside were preparing food, Lin Jiangye didn’t just stand around inside. He handed the cultists’ clothes to Yuheng and Kaiyang, having them try to track the men by scent.
But… it failed?
Maybe the distance was too far. Or maybe the fugitives had already changed clothes and even washed up along the way, so their scent had changed. Or maybe the forest was simply too thick with mixed odors. Either way, Yuheng and Kaiyang showed no reaction at all.
“Alright then. Let’s just pick a direction and move.”
If his luck was good, maybe he’d find them even earlier than the wild animals did!
However, after walking for a while, Lin Jiangye began to doubt his luck. Staring at the animal in front of him, he couldn’t tell whether this counted as good luck or bad luck.
Why?
Because he’d run into a wild Bengal tiger.
A male.
And fully grown.
An adult male Bengal tiger usually weighed around 160–270 kilograms. Tiger Mom was just over 200. And the one in front of him was clearly larger than Tiger Mom by more than a full size—conservatively, it had to be around 250 kilograms.
The moment it appeared nearby, Yuheng and Kaiyang caught the scent of a top predator. They immediately stopped and circled protectively around Lin Jiangye.
At the same time, Lin Jiangye felt a scorching gaze land on him.
As the Bengal tiger drew closer step by step, Lin Jiangye’s expression grew heavier. He immediately gripped the submachine gun on his back.
“Is this your territory? I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to trespass. I’m just trying to find a few people…”
He’d only managed one sentence when the tiger let out a low growl.
[I know you’re looking for people. I know where they are.]
That single line froze Lin Jiangye on the spot.
“Huh???” No—if his brain wasn’t malfunctioning, then he remembered very clearly that he… probably… hadn’t asked a tiger for help.
The Bengal tiger seemed to understand his shock. It lazily licked its paw and explained:
[The birds were too noisy, so I heard it.]
Well… fair enough.
“Then what do you want?” Lin Jiangye glanced at the tiger’s massive body. It didn’t feel like it needed his food support.
Sure enough, the tiger shook its head.
Before Lin Jiangye could ask further, it answered directly:
[I have three cubs. Take them away. Raise them. Then bring them back.]
Cubs?
Lin Jiangye blinked and tilted his head, confused. He’d never heard of a male tiger raising cubs on his own. Where was the mother?
The tiger fell silent for a moment.
[She’s gone.]
When it said that, it suddenly lifted its head and looked at Lin Jiangye. In those golden eyes flashed hatred and killing intent so sharp it was almost physical.
Even though Lin Jiangye knew that malice wasn’t aimed at him, he still felt his breathing tighten for an instant.
And if even he felt it, then Yuheng and Kaiyang were worse—both nearly sank to the ground.
They’d seen wild tigers before, but neither Tiger Mom nor the subadult tiger had carried anything like this kind of murderous aura. Only now did they truly understand how terrifying a tiger could be.
“Wh—woo…” They couldn’t even form clear words anymore. Only by pressing close against Lin Jiangye’s legs did they feel even a little safe.
Lin Jiangye stayed steady. If the tiger could make a request, that meant it had no hostility toward him.
“Alright. I’ll do it. Then where are the people?” As he spoke, he took two steps toward the tiger.
The Bengal tiger turned silently and began to lope off in a certain direction.
Lin Jiangye took a deep breath and immediately followed. Yuheng and Kaiyang, seeing him move, instinctively chased after as well.
Very soon, they arrived.
This area was already close to the border—if they’d found them any later, those men might’ve already left the country.
But now, seeing the people resting inside a cave, Lin Jiangye narrowed his eyes.
There were four of them inside. With Lin Jiangye and the two wolves working together, taking them down quickly was absolutely possible.
The only concern was their firearms.
At that moment, the Bengal tiger said it could lure them out:
[I know there’s another opening behind the cave—very small, very small.]
If it lay behind the cave and roared once—just showed its face a little—the people inside would panic and run out.
But Lin Jiangye refused.
“No. There are poachers in this forest. No one can be sure you aren’t their target. If you roar, they might come.”
And those men had guns too—possibly even better than what the cultists carried.
The tiger didn’t yet know about the poachers. It froze briefly—then, astonishingly, a cold sneer spread across its tiger face.
Its claws dug hard into the ground, carving deep grooves. Its breathing suddenly turned rapid.
Not only did it reject Lin Jiangye’s refusal—it became even more determined about its plan.
Even if it drew poachers, so what?
Wasn’t that perfect?
Poachers—and it—had a blood feud.
