Chapter 707: Chapter 564: The Pitiful Child Born with Innate Defects

In the village, after a day of fun, eating and drinking to their hearts’ content, the group returned to the camp outside the village and slept soundly until the next day.

The villagers’ enthusiasm was overwhelming. The girls handled it well, but the boys mostly ended up being carried back to the camp directly.

Once they knew the group was here to conduct an ecological study in search of the Fishing Cat, several elders in the village provided a lot of clues.

However, since the elders couldn’t be sure whether it was the Fishing Cat or the Leopard Cat that catches fish, the team needed to unravel the mystery themselves.

After sending the gathered information back to their base, the entire team had a discussion and decided to divide the six potential Fishing Cat locations into three areas. Chen Ying’s team would be responsible for the largest area formed by three of those spots, while two other teams would be sent to search the remaining zones.

The area under Chen Ying’s team’s responsibility was around the Mengla side of the Nanmuha River, while the other two key areas, with two spots within the country’s Nanla River segment, eventually converge into the Mekong River, serving as a vital ecological corridor and a seasonal migration path for fish. The third place was a bit further, in the Nanman River Basin, with pristine rainforest on both banks.

The three zones seemed most promising at the Nanla River area, due to its rich food resources. However, the Nanmuha River side is linked to the Nanha River Reserve, potentially drawing in cats crossing the borders.

After tasks were allocated, everything became simpler. The team connected each night at a scheduled time to exchange updates.

Chen Ying’s team had more members, including Uncle Yan Wenyan and his brother from the village who volunteered to join and help in the search, along with a local guide, making it feasible to travel in three groups.

Chen Ying, Dao Meihua, a guide, and a student, four in total, set forth with two tents to the farthest marked point.

Yan Han’s grandfather mentioned how during the year Yan Han’s father got married and was fishing here, he saw a cat catching fish.

About fifteen years ago, after fishing and hunting restrictions were implemented, he rarely visited, and even when he did, he didn’t see the fishing Big Cat anymore.

This area lacks mangroves but has a sizeable wetland with intersecting rivers where water flows slowly. Besides fish, many water birds also inhabit this place.

Apart from fish, Fishing Cats will occasionally prey on birds and amphibious animals. In this regard, some of their food sources overlap with the Leopard Cat and the Asian Golden Cat.

As their habitat shrinks and food sources reduce while facing stronger competitors, life for the Fishing Cats is hardly easy.

After two days of fruitless search in this area, Chen Ying decided to set up cameras at several ideal hunting locations and waterproof cameras for monitoring nocturnal wildlife activities remotely.

Their stay was slightly away from the wetland marsh to avoid making too much noise and scaring off the elusive animals.

On the third night of their stay, Chen Ying sensed something amiss in the surroundings—it seemed quieter than usual.

Having been around wildlife long enough, Chen Ying’s sensitivity to the environment surpassed that of ordinary people. He signaled the guide and the student via phone to stay inside the tent and not come out, and instructed Dao Meihua to be on guard before carefully crawling out of the tent.

Squatting in front of the tent, he subtly turned his head and looked around, shortly locking eyes with a Leopard clutching a tree branch and wagging its tail on a tree across from him.

Perhaps realizing it was spotted by Chen Ying, the Leopard seemed delighted, wagging its tail faster until it straightforwardly jumped down and trotted over to Chen Ying, approaching near his neck and sniffing for quite a while.

Most cats love cleanliness, but that doesn’t mean they have no odor at all.

After all, eating raw meat and crawling through forest and thicket inevitably leaves a scent.

Upon sensing the Leopard’s intention to mark its scent on him, Chen Ying decisively refused.

Dislodging the Leopard’s head, Chen Ying cradled it and sat down, effortlessly conducting an exterior examination.

It’s the occupational habit!

The Leopard, not angered by the refusal, lay down using Chen Ying’s lap as a pillow, wagging its big tail joyfully.

“Why are you so overly acquainted?” Chen Ying was speechless as this creature was stickier than a pet cat.

“Roar, roar, roar!” It didn’t have any particular meaning, just some excited calls.

Had it not been for the absence of catnip around, they would suspect it sniffed too much.

With the alarm over, others also peeked out to take a look.

This Leopard became arrogant; watching was allowed, but anyone trying to touch would get bitten!

Dao Meihua also tried to pet it but wasn’t bitten. Instead, his wrist bore a striking red mark from the Leopard’s tail whip.

Chen Ying gave the naughty animal a hefty rub, not allowing it to harm people.

Seemingly thinking Chen Ying was playing with it, it clung to him like a personal maniac, refusing to let go of his arm.

Dao Meihua, feeling envious, ignored Chen Ying and turned to check the camera setup.

Everything was normal, with none of the elusive small cats appearing.

Half an hour later, during a video call with other teams, it turned out only at the Nanman River location did they capture a glimpse of a Clouded Leopard, while the others got nothing, same as their site.

However, upon seeing the video of the obedient Leopard behaving like a Big Cat around Chen Ying, others were too envious to speak. Especially Dao Meihua’s cousin, who quietly shut off the video with red eyes after a silent gesture.