"Listen, do you hear a purring sound?"
Tilt your ear and listen, sure enough, amidst the buzz of insects, the purring sound faintly comes through. Chen Ying was too familiar with this noise, characteristic of feline animals.
The sound came closer and closer, and everyone's hearts were in their throats.
As Chen Ying listened to the sound getting nearer, an absurd feeling rose from the bottom of his heart.
Isn't this purring sound a bit too familiar?
Before he could utter the two words on the tip of his tongue, a huge dark shadow leaped through the air towards them.
Guide Brother Li and another logistics teammate wanted to intercept, but Chen Ying slipped between them and greeted the shadow.
"Little Baby, from the sound, I knew it was you!"
Under the shocked gazes of everyone, Chen Ying embraced the big fellow.
Little Baby, just like before, loved rubbing its head against Chen Ying, but now it was no longer the little leopard it once was.
It was already grown up, its build more solid than Brother Leopard's, its fur rougher, but its clinginess was the same as when it was young.
After some affectionate moments, Little Baby seemed to remember something, turned its head, and called out into the forest behind.
Soon, amidst rustling sounds, a female leopard emerged with a little cub.
Seeing the female leopard, Chen Ying unhesitatingly opened his arms.
"Beibei, it's been so long, you've become a mom."
The female leopard hesitated a bit, then with Little Baby's brief call, she trotted over and gently rested her head on Chen Ying's shoulder.
Chen Ying wrapped his arms around Beibei's body, stroked for a long while, eyes slightly moist.
"It's so good, seeing you all is really good."
The little leopard hadn't weaned yet and was incredibly adorable, with a chubby head and spirited expression just like Beibei.
Out of love for everything belonging to Beibei, Chen Ying picked up the little leopard and gave it a thorough petting.
"Such a strong little one, it will definitely be just as formidable as Little Baby, able to protect mom and the younger ones in the future."
Little Baby and Beibei's feelings were like those of Leopard Sister and Brother Leopard, Chen Ying felt the two would be hard to separate in the future.
The two big leopards sat together, Little Baby frequently stuck out its tongue to lick Beibei's cheeks and ears, while the little leopard, tempted by jerky, purred as the humans fondled it.
"Used to eat Brother Leopard and Leopard Sister's dog food in the emergency station, now we have to add Little Baby and Beibei's. It's really a lot, aren't you afraid of choking me to death?"
Although Old Gao complained with his mouth, the smile on his face and in his eyes was genuine.
Dao Meihua seized the chance to check Beibei's fake eye, which was still in good condition.
"Beibei, remember my scent, and my sister-in-law's scent, come find us in case of trouble in the future."
Dao Meihua took out a custom necklace from her bag, originally customized for Er Niu but hadn't had the chance to give it over yet, now it fit Beibei perfectly.
The pendant on the necklace is a locator chip, with the Dao family's special information; if someone else finds this necklace, they could use this chip to redeem rewards from the Dao family. Don't think about obtaining this through harm to animals, after all, since they can custom-make such a thing, who knows what content might be recorded inside the chip.
Chen Ying wasn't too knowledgeable about high-tech stuff, he only needed to know that Dao Meihua meant no harm to Little Baby and Beibei.
The leopards' territory wasn't small, especially since the two were always together, whether solo or in a gang fight, they'd face it as a pair, perfectly inheriting Brother Leopard and Leopard Sister's excellent style.
Upon learning that Chen Ying and the group would travel northward along the mountain range, Little Baby agreed, it would definitely take on the role of bodyguard.
Back when it separated from its brother, its brother went north, while it took Beibei southward.
Fighting all the way here, it wasn't certain about the actual size of its territory.
Taking advantage of this trip to accompany its mom's two-legged beast up the mountain, it could also take the chance to patrol the territory.
If the two-legged beasts needed it for escort, it wasn't impossible, just worried the Baby might not manage such a long journey.
Having accompanied Chen Ying and the others for a day, the little leopard hadn't walked by itself, being carried by people in turns, taking rest time to sip milk and eat specially shredded meat strips.
Guide Brother Li crafted skillful toys directly stripping vines and branches to make a branch ball for the little leopard to play with.
It might be a common trait in feline animals, being so curious about rolling things.
A branch ball made the little leopard unable to part with it, even when sleeping it had to carry the ball in its mouth to sleep.
Arriving within Tengchong's area, Little Baby said there were traces of other leopards here, a female leopard.
It went off with Beibei to investigate, returning only after spending half-day there.
Upon returning, Beibei immediately started licking her son fervently,
"Why are you alone? Where's Little Baby?"
"Little Baby went to help the female leopard hunt. She had two cubs, and during the last hunt was injured by a wild boar, making it difficult for her to move. Little Baby and I caught a wild boar for her, then Little Baby patrolled the surroundings to intimidate other predators."
Beibei turned over, rubbed her head against Chen Ying's hand, letting the little leopard nurse while sighing.
"Thankfully Little Baby always stayed with me, otherwise I might have struggled too."
Mothers with cubs always face difficulties. When the child is small, they must brave wind and rain to hunt just to fill their belly and nurse their child. As they grow larger, they must teach them survival skills.
After painstakingly raising the young to independence, there comes the next litter.
Though life is tough, these mothers never complained.
Perhaps there are irresponsible mothers, but for a species to continue surviving, the efforts and dedication of mother beasts are truly the root cause.