"........"
Master Fuli was speechless, rubbed his forehead, and nudged Ah Qing's waist with his snout.
"Though I don't want to waste the leisurely time galloping across the grassland with you, Ah Qing, there's trouble at the source of my Northern connections. Got scratched by a cat; I need to leave for a bit to attend a gang fight."
"Oh? Your good friend got into trouble?" Ah Qing withdrew her gaze from the two tough-guy mice facing off and looked at the little fox with a hint of confusion, "Do you need my help?"
"Technically, no. How can I, a canine predator, not handle that wildcat? Don't be ridiculous." Ansheng spoke confidently, "It's just a Siberia-bound giant hamster; I can take down two in three minutes."
"Well... alright then! I won't go with you to avoid embarrassing you in front of your friends."
"But make sure you're back on time; we are preparing roasted lamb for lunch," Ah Qing thought for a moment, patted the little fox's head, and reminded him.
When the Pup Patrol holds a conference, they typically don't want family watching. Just like the Labrador next door, at home, it's just Lai Foo.
But when attending meetings, it's called Super Strength King, everyone has their fierce nickname.
Perhaps... when Xiaolan is out shopping, there's also some very fierce nickname.
Ah Qing speculated but didn't ask because the little fox might feel so embarrassed he'd roll on the ground, just like when she called Lai Foo 'Super Strength King,' and Lai Foo, awkward, didn't talk to her for days.
"I'll be back before lunch. Remember to buy me two more bottles of iced cola. Roasted lamb is heaty; I'm counting on the iced cola to cool down and relieve the greasiness!"
Ansheng let out a few gentle sounds to Ah Qing, then jumped off the horse and ran toward the restaurant in the area.
"Hmm..."
Watching the little fox's figure grow distant, Ah Qing couldn't help but mumble, "Still very curious..."
A small creature like the little fox—what nickname would he have when the Pup Patrol holds its conference on the street?
Celestial Fox Life Master?
A fox-born treasure, understanding fortune and mahjong mastery supreme? Ah Qing couldn't help but let her imagination run wild as she chatted with the livestream audience.
......
"Master Fuli, the Gravity Hammer has been delivered. Is there anything else you need to prepare?"
The Forest Ranger, who poked the fox's butt earlier, unobtrusively weaved through the crowd, following Master Fuli to the alley by the back kitchen and spoke up.
"Do we still need the hammer? Is it that fierce?" Master Fuli was taken aback and asked in surprise.
"Yes, since Tang Lian lost contact, a team of woodcutters was dispatched for rescue but also lost contact, and five minutes after the signal disappeared and came back online, the message was that the Siberian Tiger wants to meet you...."
The Forest Ranger picked up Master Fuli and ran toward the outside of the area while recounting the encountered situation.
"Currently, all Northern manpower has been redeployed into the forest, and cannot deal with such unexpected situations. In such a bind, we have no choice but to ask Master Fuli to go."
By usual protocol, the tiger saying it wants to see Master Fuli.
The Security Bureau would typically say no, then deploy the forest's chief engineer to crush their pride.
But portions of Northern woodcutters are already deployed to camps for tasks, leaving only border troops and all Forest Rangers to maintain routine patrols in Northern.
Conventional combat forces cannot cope, but dispatching the army for suppression is obviously inappropriate.
Reluctantly, they had to honestly ask Master Fuli.
"Since it wants to see me and dares to be so rude and arrogant..."
"Then don't blame me for being ruthless." Master Fuli snorted coldly and told the Forest Ranger to quickly lead the way.
Leaving from the Spring Mountain Grassland Area, there was already an emergency rescue helicopter with medical facilities parked on the grassland. Master Fuli boarded the helicopter and flew directly toward the border.
After half an hour of flight, they arrived at the previous location where the woodcutters lost contact.
At their lost contact marked location, a total of five vehicles were left on site, but the people had disappeared.
Master Fuli pushed open the helicopter door, jumped straight from nearly two hundred meters high, spread his arms, glided down over the grassland, and looked out, vaguely seeing the vast barren land beyond.
"Yip yap yip!"
With no one in sight, Master Fuli opened his mouth and emitted a high-frequency sound into the wilderness, letting his voice echo across the grassland to inform the tiger of his arrival.
"Baaah—"
On the open grassland, suddenly, the sound of bleating resounded, "This way! We're in the woods!"
"In the small woods?"
Hearing the bleating of the Dolang sheep, Master Fuli's ears twitched slightly, immediately locking onto the sound's location, looking to his left two miles away, at that patch of small woods.
Master Fuli looked back at the helicopter, raised his hand to gesture toward the woods, and quickly set off.
When Master Fuli arrived, he immediately saw the missing Tang Lian, along with two other woodcutters and the Forest Ranger participating in the rescue task.
The five of them were stripped bare, clothes shredded into strips woven into crude ropes tying them to trees.
The Dolang sheep was hung on a tree, holding a twig in its mouth.
"Master Fuli! Finally, you're here!"
The Dolang sheep hanging on the tree, seeing the white shadow approaching rapidly, couldn't help but become overjoyed, loudly bleating to alert Master Fuli:
"That thing is behind the big tree, be careful! That tiger chick with the last name Mao, oh my, has an AK!"
The Dolang sheep strained to straighten its hooves, pointing out the Siberian Tiger's location, signifying to Master Fuli to be wary of the tiger chick's machine gun firing.
"Holding an AK?"
Master Fuli was taken aback by the words, looked in the direction pointed out by the Dolang sheep's hooves, where there was a large tree surrounded by lush undergrowth.
Amongst the lush green grass, there was an orange tiger with black stripes, standing in a humanoid posture, quietly hiding behind the large tree, peering out to look at Master Fuli standing outside the woods.
The Siberian Tiger made no deliberate attempt to hide; it merely had a habit of crouching in the blind spot of view.
At the moment Master Fuli saw the tiger, his expression momentarily froze.
The Siberian Tiger wasn't perfectly concealed, with half its body exposed outside the tree. That half of the tiger's body clearly showed human female features, and its paws revealed the contours of human fingers.
"Brother Knife… you encountered this thing and dared to nonchalantly shout for help; I admire that...."
Upon seeing the tiger's form, even Master Fuli couldn't help but take a sharp inhale.
Before, perhaps he wrongly blamed the Dolang sheep, even encountering such a creature himself, he'd have to pick up his big hammer!
"I... saw the fox fairy last night....."
The tiger behind the large tree opened its mouth, looked at Master Fuli, and spoke human words:
"Teach me how to become a fairy, want to learn...."
The Siberian Tiger's few words revealed that it was also on Haner Mountain last night, and secretly observed Master Fuli beating up Miyel.
"...…"
Hearing the Siberian Tiger speak human words, and with a distinct rolling tongue, the alert on Master Fuli's face turned into a sense of helplessness.
"Why are you so greedy? Want to learn everything!"