Chapter 701: Chapter 561: Waiting for the Cat by Guarding the Fish

After Brother Leopard had separated from Sister Leopard and the others, he headed straight for the other side of the landslide.

He carefully searched up the mountain from the lower edge, not missing any suspicious traces along the way.

Finally, he found a very faint response at one place. He immediately called out, trying to summon his companions to help dig out this spot.

Under Sister Leopard’s guidance, Chen Ying and the others quickly arrived. With three strong helpers, the speed of moving the rocks was swift, aided by two robotic dogs for positioning. Within a dozen minutes, they found the entrance buried by rocks and logs.

Fortunately, the tree propped against the entrance was only as wide as a bowl, with its middle crushed by a huge rock. The top part of the tree was wedged against another rock, blocking most of the stones, and only smaller stones and soil blocked the entrance.

Chen Ying put on gloves to dig into the hole, feeling something was off as soon as he touched it.

The entrance had indeed been affected, with part of it collapsed, and the stones and soil pressed against the mother animal inside.

Chen Ying touched the mother animal’s body, finding it completely still.

Turning the flashlight inside, he saw a typical fox den, with a Red Fox Mother lying there whose life or death was unknown.

Luckily, a fox den isn’t too small; there are two nursery rooms inside, and the collapsed entrance didn’t physically harm the little foxes hiding inside.

Little Jin, taking advantage of his small size, squeezed in, nudging away the mother fox’s body, and found several starving cubs underneath her.

Fortunately, the entrance hadn’t been blocked for too long. The little ones were small, and the den was spacious enough inside, so they hadn’t run out of air yet.

We took quite some effort to bring out the mother fox and a few little foxes.

The mother fox must have been injured before she returned to the den. At that time, she wasn’t in a condition to move the cubs elsewhere, so she could only return and hold them, resigning to fate.

“The wound on her back is quite severe, and her right hind leg is an open fracture, with an infection in the wound. Amputation might be the only way to save her.”

Chen Ying communicated with the operator via drone, requesting them to bring equipment to help take the mother fox and the five cubs away together.

Usually, both fox parents raise the young, but they only found the injured mother fox. Either the father fox was already dead, or he abandoned his mate and cubs when the accident happened.

Judging by the size of the five little fox cubs, they must be less than a month old and unable to leave the den yet.

They spent the next day searching along both sides but didn’t find any more live animals. Early the next morning, Chen Ying and another team member withdrew from the site.

Since the mother fox’s fracture couldn’t be treated conservatively, she was taken directly to surgery for amputation to save her life. Her five pups were sent to the rescue station’s animal kindergarten for artificial care.

When Chen Ying came out of the mountains, he immediately saw Dao Meihua, whose face was full of worry.

“I’m fine, don’t worry.” He stepped forward for a hug, then stepped back, “I’ll go shower and change clothes; I’m covered in mud and feel uncomfortable.”

By the time he finished washing up, the table was already set with food.

“Meihua and Xia Senmeng went to feed some animals; go ahead and eat—are you starving?”

“No, I brought some dry food, but I’m a bit tired.”

Chen Ying chatted with the teacher’s wife for a while, and only after the busy folks finished up did they gather around the table.

“Brother Ou took his assistant down to help, while Little Chen went to the Bird Research Institute to help with surgery on the birds. He should be back by the afternoon.” The young nurse explained the situation briefly.

Aside from the wild animals they rescued from the mountains, Baisha’s Lower Village and an adjacent village also suffered significant damage. No casualties were reported, but there was a considerable loss of livestock and poultry.

People there kept their livestock and poultry in old houses, which collapsed during the earthquake, killing and injuring thirty to forty animals, with pens also damaged, letting some escape. They’re still counting the losses.

The local veterinarians from the village and town were overwhelmed, so Dr. Ou and his team voluntarily went to support the efforts in town.

“The test results for the panda cub showed primarily a concussion, with no significant bruising. However, it was likely traumatized by the incident, and its temperature is elevated. It’s currently receiving IV treatment in the center’s medical room. The mother is settled in the adjacent animal shed, sedated. I’ve heard she’s much calmer now but refuses to leave the cub, staying close while it feeds.”

The elder cub of the mother panda and another young panda didn’t leave with the center. Instead, swayed by the Crazy Gun Gun, they’re still searching the mountains for the “missing” mother panda.

Sister Leopard and Brother Leopard haven’t returned either. They’re equipped with cameras, planning to patrol the forest to see if there were other incidents aside from the landslide at the epicenter.

Jinya and Little Jin, Big Gold, and the others accompanied the street rat back to see the young female bear, whose activity range these past one or two years had been small due to already poor health. It wouldn’t even bother to come near the Rescue station when Chen Ying wasn’t there.

Bai Bingyang, left to act as a nanny and playmate, spent so much time with the two little cubs that it resembled more of a soft big cat, with even less authority than Little Taobao; it practically embarrassed the entire tiger species.

Chen Ying wanted to send it back to the Wildlife Park, but it simply refused, even going as far as not eating, curling up in a corner with a forlorn, abandoned look on its face.

Chen Ying wasn’t adamant about sending it back; he and Dao Meihua would soon depart for Dian Province for a scientific survey, which was expected to last two or three months, perhaps longer. He was worried that after his departure, others wouldn’t be able to manage Bai Bingyang, and an oversight could accidentally harm people, with disastrous consequences.