Following the path into the forest was a real eye-opener.

Everyone knows that Sai Shang Jiangnan has dense vegetation, but he didn't expect to see tropical rainforest here on the highlands.

The spot where Little Jin's signal was lingering was four kilometers northeast of the research facility, a place rarely visited by humans aside from researchers; the locals wouldn't easily go there.

"Mr. Chen, slow down. The path here is really difficult, there's a lot of moss and the rocks are slippery. When I first came here, I'd fall on this route every time, never leaving clean."

The three researchers led Chen Ying inside, introducing the surrounding area to him as they walked.

"The year before last, I rescued a jungle cat here. Initially, I thought it was a stray cat and planned to take it back home. The more I looked at it, the more something seemed off. Finally, I sent photos to my friend who studies animals, and he said if I kept it, I'd probably be set for years of free meals."

The young man speaking was researching plants. When they first arrived, the young researchers weren't familiar with each other. He had come alone to collect plant samples; if he had even one companion, he wouldn't have nearly ended up with a silver bracelet.

"Did you enter the jungle alone?"

"No, usually we go in groups of two or three. That time, I wanted to collect some soil samples, so I went out alone. In any case, I didn't go far, probably only about a kilometer."

"That jungle cat was just lying near a small puddle, completely exhausted, its fur all wet, looking very pitiful. Later, I took it back to a veterinarian, got it healed, and after releasing it, I never saw it again. Alas, it was quite a cold-hearted little kitty."

They're not short on cats here. Tigers, leopards, snow leopards, clouded leopards are all present, and there are also plenty of golden cats, cloud leopards, jungle cats, and leopard cats. You could say that the Grand Canyon here is a paradise for flora and fauna, a natural treasure trove of biological genes.

When they chatted and laughed, the road didn't feel as difficult.

After a tough trek, they soon arrived at the place where the signal was.

"It's right up ahead. The signal hasn't moved at all up to now."

The student responsible for finding the signal gestured with the instrument, confirming they had reached their destination, but after searching around they couldn't find the collar anywhere.

Chen Ying suddenly sensed something, looked up, and saw a collar hanging on a tree branch, seemingly mocking them.

They laboriously poked the collar down, inspected it carefully, and found it intact; Little Jin must have removed it entirely. But why hang it on a tree? Was it planning not to return?

Feeling a bit concerned, Chen Ying discussed with a few partners and decided to search around the area to see if there were other discoveries.

"The terrain in this area isn't complicated, it's a typical jungle area. Moving east leads to the river valley region, where the altitude drops significantly, and the climate and geography are very complex. There's also a wetland in the river valley; without local guides, we wouldn't dare to enter easily."

The group spread out to search for traces of Little Jin but didn't venture far, staying within a 500-meter radius. They brought walkie-talkies and would retreat immediately if encountering danger, never acting recklessly.

Four people, four directions. Chen Ying was heading southwest, seemingly returning, but with a different angle, he continued the search near where they came from.

After walking for a while, passing by a felled tree in the forest, Chen Ying found many creatures here, especially birds and insects.

Birds were okay; one could barely communicate a bit. But could you expect insects to know what a golden cat was?

Under a big tree, looking up, Chen Ying saw a little squirrel holding its face, giving him a soulful gaze.

Chen Ying thought for a moment, took out pre-prepared dried fruits from his bag, put them in his palm, signaling to the little squirrel to come and take them.

Sure enough, the little squirrel happily came down, grabbed the dried fruit from Chen Ying's hand, stuffing them into its mouth. Its cheeks swiftly puffed up.

"Squeak squeak, there's a bad thing up ahead wanting to eat us, don't go there."

Seeing Chen Ying intending to move forward, the little squirrel anxiously held his finger, squeaking non-stop.

"It's alright, I'm really strong." Chen Ying waved his fist as big as a sandbag in front of the little squirrel, and the little guy darted up the tree.

"Squeak squeak, be careful, I'll leave first."

Heh, this little thing really knows how to steer clear of danger.

After it scurried into the tree hole, Chen Ying took a photo and continued forward.

To the squirrel, the bad animal must be one that preys on them, like golden cats among the bunch.

Walking another fifty meters or so, he heard water sounds.

After arriving, he found a small spring was spurting water, flowing downhill, already forming a nascent creek.

This area showed lots of signs of animal activity. Chen Ying couldn't discern from these markings whether Little Jin's tracks were present.

Initially hoping to encounter some animals to gather information, it seemed his luck was too good. The path was smooth and quiet, with only the little squirrel as the sole communicative critter he encountered.

A voice came through the walkie-talkie. One partner found bear marks in a tree stump hole, reminding everyone to be careful.

Judging from the fur, it seemed a black bear had stayed in the tree hole.

He was now collecting nearby infrared cameras, hoping to capture photos of the black bear.

Chen Ying paused, continuing forward. After walking twenty meters or so along the creek, he heard a slight movement. He stepped back, cautiously looking up, but saw nothing unusual.

Yet his intuition told him there must be the animal he wanted to see here.

He tentatively called out Little Jin's name a few times. Apart from the chirping insects and birds, he heard no other noise.

He let out a gentle sigh and took out his phone loaded with the forest patrol app for a quick glance. They were almost at the agreed search radius.

Feeling a bit unwilling, but for safety's sake, he decided to head back first.

Just as he was about to turn around, a few familiar cries reached his ears.

He stopped and listened closely—it was Little Jin's voice.

"Little Jin, where are you?"

He called out while vigilantly scanning the surroundings.

Three minutes later, Little Jin jumped down from a tree, its heaving belly indicating it had run quite a distance.

"Where have you been running to? Why don't you come home? And your collar fell off, you didn't even come back to tell me."

He gently patted Little Jin's head, and in the next moment, Little Jin bit his hand.

"Meow, hurry, hurry and come with me."

Little Jin was panting heavily, feeling a bit anxious.

"I have to watch over the kittens, so many kitten babies!"

Chen Ying's expression changed, and he picked up the walkie-talkie to notify the others, sending his location to the backend through the app.

"There seems to be a situation here with Little Jin. I'm going over to check it out. If you're done with your tasks, either head back first and wait for me or come find me to meet up."

He was out here looking for Little Jin, while the others still had to complete their respective duties.

After following Little Jin for about a hundred meters, Chen Ying saw a litter of up to seven golden cat cubs under a hollow tree.

"Did the Goddess of Fertility miscount?"

Normally, a golden cat only has a maximum of three cubs in one litter. This is double, with an extra one thrown in?

Little Jin tugged at Chen Ying's pant leg, "These are cubs from two golden cats."

What's going on? If he remembered correctly, golden cats were solitary animals, right?

Little Jin said that when it came here, it happened to witness two golden cats giving birth simultaneously.

Upon noticing its arrival, one of the golden cats tried to drive it away but was in too much pain. When it saw that Little Jin meant no harm to itself or the cubs, it only issued a few threatening cries.

Little Jin hurriedly left, deciding to explore in another direction.

On the way, it encountered a leopard cat. Fighting broke out over prey, and that's when its collar fell off. As for how it came off without damage, Little Jin said it didn't know either.

Little Jin was quite strong, and it seemed the leopard cat's mind was elsewhere. After a brief scuffle, it ran off, and the direction it fled was exactly this way.

Little Jin hesitated for a moment but followed, and sure enough, it was right. The leopard cat was coming for the two golden cats that had just given birth.

This won't do! Little Jin got angry at the time, pouncing directly at the leopard cat. Meanwhile, another gold cat with a deep reddish-brown fur also arrived at the scene to join Little Jin in biting the leopard cat, wounding it and driving it away.

"The one we fought with left injured, but I was worried that malicious creature might return, so I stayed around to guard."

Because of this, Little Jin had no way to notify him, fearing that leaving would allow the leopard cat to come over and do harm.

Chen Ying understood after hearing Little Jin's explanation and could guess why the leopard cat wanted to kill the golden cats and their cubs.

The food in this part of the forest probably wasn't enough to support such a high density of feline animals; for survival and for its offspring to live, it had to figure out a way to eliminate other competitors.

It was unexpected that Little Jin was so fierce, willing to fight for two strange golden cats and the cubs, which had nothing to do with it.

"Where are the two mother cats now?"

"They went hunting. With so many cubs to feed, how can they not eat a lot? I wanted to catch prey and feed them, but they insisted on catching food themselves."

Little Jin lay on the tree trunk, watching the pile of fluffy kittens within the tree hole, itching to reach with its paws.

Such a sweet scene with so many little cuties huddled together, no wonder Jinya wanted to raise little ones.

The Little Golden Cat they had rescued with Jinya before was even bigger than these cubs, and these ones hadn't even opened their eyes yet. The way they wriggled on their sibling's bodies was no different than caterpillars.

Both the man and the cat squatted a few meters away, peeking at the kitten babies. Before long, two similarly sized and colored golden cats returned with prey.

Upon discovering Chen Ying, the two mother cats seemed startled and puffed up for a moment, then slowly calmed down.

One of the mother cats cautiously approached him, maintaining eye contact from about a meter away, before happily flicking its tail and returning to nurse the cubs.

The other cat sat crouched outside the tree hole, tilting its head slightly, curiously glancing at Chen Ying, then taking another look around, glancing again, then turning its head...

"Isn't that tiring?" Little Jin smacked its lips, issuing a soulful question.