Chapter 162: Chapter 138: I Want to be Rescued by Master, Too

"So these are the cat and dog Advisor Yang trained? They’re unbelievably fierce!"

"I heard this black cat was the hero of that last drug factory bust, too!"

"No wonder they earned the titles of ’Honorary Police Dog’ and ’Honorary Police Cat.’ They really live up to the name."

"If it had been anyone else with a regular pet in these mountains today, running into that fugitive... they’d probably be dead by now."

...

"Found it! The gun’s over here!"

In the general area Yang Qi had indicated, a special police officer conducted a careful search. He finally found the pistol, which Yang Qi had tossed away with his Small Transport Technique, hidden in a thicket of thorny brambles. The officer carefully sealed it in an evidence bag.

"Found the grenade, too! It’s secure!"

A shout came from another direction. A different team had discovered the grenade Yang Qi had moved, finding it in the tall grass behind a pile of rocks.

A bomb disposal expert stepped forward to secure it before placing it in a specialized blast-proof container.

With the pistol and grenade—the two most dangerous pieces of evidence—safely found and secured, all the police officers on the operation finally felt a weight lift from their shoulders.

The way everyone looked at Yang Qi was now filled with more than just gratitude; it was admiration.

He had not only protected himself in such a sudden and extremely dangerous situation, but he had also commanded his cat and dog to swiftly subdue the criminal and deal with a dangerous explosive.

Such composure, courage, and capability were far beyond that of any ordinary person!

Truly the expert who could tame even brown bears and Northeast Tigers!

After another, more thorough search of the area confirmed there were no other dangerous items or overlooked clues, the team began to withdraw from the forest, escorting Qin Hanming and carrying the confiscated weapons.

Yang Qi and his four Guardian Beasts followed along in the middle of the group.

Xiaojiu’s agility drew astonished looks from the surrounding police officers as it scampered up a tree one moment, then leaped onto Yang Qi’s shoulder to sit perfectly still the next.

...

Escorting their prisoner and carrying the confiscated weapons, the team began the arduous trek back down the mountain path.

Dusk had fallen. The group navigated carefully through the trees, relying on headlamps and high-powered flashlights to light their way.

They were just about to exit the dense forest, with the lights on the outskirts of the Zoo’s back mountain visible in the distance. Suddenly, a distinct RUSTLING sound came from the bushes to their front and side as branches and leaves began to shake.

"Watch out! Something’s there!"

Two special police officers flanking the group reacted instantly. They instinctively swiveled their rifles toward the sound, shouting a low warning.

The other officers immediately went on high alert, and a dozen flashlight beams stabbed through the darkness toward the sound.

Two agile figures, one large and one small, emerged from the undergrowth. Both had magnificent, cloud-like patterns on their coats.

The larger one was slender and elegant. Its golden, vertical pupils glinted with wild light in the flashlight beams. It was the clouded leopard, Caiyun.

The smaller one stuck close to its mother. Though still exuding an air of juvenility, it already had the makings of a great predator. It was Ta Xue.

The two clouded leopards had tracked Yang Qi by his scent.

Suddenly bathed in so many bright lights and implicitly threatened by the gun barrels, Caiyun instantly dropped into a crouch. A low, warning growl rumbled in her throat.

She shielded Ta Xue behind her, her eyes wary and intimidated as she stared at the group of fully-armed "Two-legged Beasts."

Ta Xue also pressed uneasily against its mother’s side.

"Don’t shoot!"

Seeing this, Yang Qi hurried forward, placing himself between the police and the clouded leopards. "This is Caiyun, a clouded leopard from Cangshan, and her cub, Ta Xue," he explained to the group. "They’re both officially documented and protected animals."

"Ta Xue is currently being semi-rewilded and cared for by our Zoo, and I’m the one responsible for its care. They must have come looking for me. They mean no harm."

As he spoke, he turned to face the wary mother and cub and beckoned to Ta Xue.

"Ta Xue, come here."

Upon seeing Yang Qi, Ta Xue immediately flicked its tail and trotted through the path the officers had cleared. With a light leap, it jumped into Yang Qi’s open arms, affectionately nuzzling its head against his chin.

This scene left the surrounding special police, Forest Police, and anti-drug officers, who had been on edge just moments before, completely dumbfounded and astonished.

’A live, untamed clouded leopard cub, just throwing itself so docilely into a human’s arms?’

Yang Qi held Ta Xue, gently stroking its sleek fur. He then waved to Caiyun, who remained on high alert and had not relaxed in the slightest, and used his Basic Spirit Communication Technique.

"Caiyun, it’s all right. These are my companions. We just had some business in the mountains. Don’t worry, you can go back now."

Caiyun let out a low growl. She glanced at Yang Qi, then swept her wary gaze over the surrounding "Two-legged Beasts" and their strange "long sticks" that made her feel so threatened. Slowly, she backed away and disappeared into the dark undergrowth.

In a flash, she was gone without a trace.

Only then did the officers truly breathe a collective sigh of relief, which was immediately followed by a wave of hushed, amazed exclamations. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"So that’s a clouded leopard... Up close, those markings are just beautiful!"

Xiao Jun said with heartfelt admiration, his gaze shifting from the direction Caiyun had vanished to the docile Ta Xue in Yang Qi’s arms.

"That’s Advisor Yang for you!"

Deng Lei walked over and gave Yang Qi a thumbs-up, his face full of admiration. "Anyone else would be terrified just getting close to a clouded leopard cub, let alone holding it. Making a mother leopard trust you enough to care for her cub... for that kind of skill, I, Lao Deng, have to hand it to you!"

The other police officers also looked on with expressions of admiration and curiosity.

They might not have fully understood the difficulty involved, but witnessing such trust and harmony between a human and a predator with their own eyes was enough to leave them in awe.