"Since Xiaolan's friend is here, of course, they can join us. We're planning a big lunch anyway!"
Ah Qing laughed heartily, patting the little fox's head in agreement.
The lunch table was laden with a roasted whole lamb and other local delicacies, far more than could be consumed in one meal. The amount could easily cover dinner and a midnight snack too.
Sometimes, having too much delicious food is a delightful dilemma.
Xiaolan mentioned bringing a good friend over for a meal, and Ah Qing was naturally welcoming. It's just a matter of adding an extra plate and set of chopsticks; the more, the merrier.
"Don't worry! Da Ju has a huge appetite. With Da Ju here, there won't be any leftovers on the table..."
The little fox, looking confident, tugged on Ah Qing's sleeve, indicating for her to follow.
"Momo, I'll go with Xiaolan to greet a friend. Just order me a plain tea drink!"
As Ah Qing stood up to leave, she looked over at Momo and spoke.
"Okay!" Momo nodded in agreement.
The little fox led Ah Qing out of the stable and headed quickly towards the parking lot of the scenic area, covering a distance of two to three kilometers on foot. Ansheng, feeling slightly puzzled, let out a soft coo towards the direction of the grassland:
"Da Ju, where are you hiding? I brought Ah Qing to get you into the park."
The vast parking lot didn't reveal the massive 3.5-meter-long Mountain Lord tiger.
Just as Ansheng was starting to doubt, a strange noise emerged from the top of a two-story RV, and the Medicine Spring Mountain Lord poked its head out from the roof.
"Purr—" the low purring sound responded to the call of Master Fuli.
"Huh?"
The RV stood about 2.3 meters, plus an additional 1.45 meters for the second floor, making a total height of around 3.7 meters. Ansheng had to look upward, but couldn't see the RV's roof and had to stand up.
"How did you end up on top of someone else's vehicle?" Ansheng looked at the Medicine Spring Mountain Lord in amazement.
"This spot is higher, downwind, hidden where no creature can find me,"
The Medicine Spring Mountain Lord shared its insights on hiding and how it had mastered staying in the blind spots.
"Tiger... big tiger!"
Upon hearing the low growl, Ah Qing instinctively looked at the top of the vehicle. Seeing the creature on the roof, her face immediately froze in shock and awe.
A giant tiger head slowly lowered from the top of the RV. The tiger's two forearms stretched out along the roof's edge, and its broad back muscles and shoulder blades resembled the wings of a mighty eagle, full of definition.
The biceps and deltoid muscles on its arms were more defined, exuding a sense of violent beauty.
From Ah Qing's point of view, the tiger leaning downward seemed as imposing as a mountain about to collapse upon her.
"Xiaolan..."
"You mentioned Da Ju's friend; it wouldn't happen to be this, right?"
Ah Qing stood rigid in shock, looking sideways at the little fox, who was now standing upright, almost with hands on hips.
This... isn't quite right, is it? You didn't mention Da Ju was this large!
The whole roasted lamb we ordered won't be enough for it...
"But it is indeed orange and very big!" Ansheng looked at Ah Qing with certainty and whimpered, "Big orange cat!"
"Bang—"
The 500-600 kilogram big cat jumped down from the more than three-meter-high RV, causing the ground to tremble slightly.
"Roar—"
The Medicine Spring Mountain Lord stood tall, greeting Ah Qing, whom Master Fuli had brought along.
"Hello to you too..."
Returning from her shock, Ah Qing scratched her head awkwardly and said, "I just heard Xiaolan say there would be a big orange cat friend coming for dinner..."
"We should have started eating by now, but it seems we'll need to wait a little while longer."
The Medicine Spring Mountain Lord was indeed very large, and Ah Qing was a bit startled earlier.
But she wasn't afraid. The first thought in her mind was whether the dishes might not be enough later.
Xiaolan said it was a big orange cat.
But Ah Qing never imagined the 'cat' would be this big.
'Hello there, Mountain Lord sister, you're so beautiful. Can I snuggle with you later and invite you for a meal?'
'I'll grill a large lamb for you!'
Ah Qing's greeting was in human language, but beside the Medicine Spring Mountain Lord, it suddenly caused a strange change, making the Mountain Lord's eyes widen as it looked at Ah Qing in disbelief.
"You... you're not afraid of me?"
"And you want to snuggle with me?"
The Medicine Spring Mountain Lord had greeted humans before and knew how they typically reacted after seeing it.
At first sight, people would freeze, then quickly turn into panicked groundhogs, screaming, flailing, climbing, and rolling away with all their might.
Only the mountain villagers weren't afraid of it; all other humans would flee so fast it was like they were flying away.
Faced with Ah Qing's warm greeting and her request to snuggle, the Medicine Spring Mountain Lord's fondness for her instantly shot up to over 60%.
"You want to snuggle too? Sure! But let me make a call to Momo and the others first to let them know we'll be having more food and to prepare themselves mentally..."
Ah Qing squatted down to take out her phone from her hoodie pocket and, while snuggling with the Medicine Spring Mountain Lord, called Momo on her phone.
"Hello? Where have you gone?" Momo asked with a puzzled expression upon receiving Ah Qing's call. "It's almost our turn to go strolling in the stable..."
"Uh... plans have changed,"
Ah Qing's tone held a touch of subtlety as she explained to Momo, "The big orange that Xiaolan brought is larger than I thought. I might not make it back in time; let's dine outside the park later, shall we?"
"How big can a chubby orange get? Twenty-three to twenty-four pounds is probably the limit, right?" Momo teased.
"Xiaolan's friend is a bit bigger, about 300 to 400 pounds..."
Momo was taken aback, and hesitated, "The size you're describing... can that really be a cat?"
"Northeastern Gold Gradient," Ah Qing replied.
"......"
Upon hearing that, Momo fell into a long silence, glanced at the short-legged horses in the stable, then looked at the streaming room Ah Qing had muted. She raised her hand and activated the microphone:
"I've just received word, we're not riding the little horses anymore. The little fox has brought back a tiger buddy. Let's go see something mind-blowing later."
After speaking, Momo grabbed the bewildered Tang You and Lingren and ran outside the park together.
On the way, following Ah Qing's instructions, Momo phoned the park restaurant to order an extra two whole roasted lambs and have the dining table moved outside.
As Momo sprinted, the stream's audience got to see what Momo meant by something mind-blowing.
A tiger.
The little fox was sitting on its back, patting the tiger's wide back muscles, while letting out some unknown coos.
Ah Qing stood by the tiger's head, cheerfully reaching out her arms to stroke the enormous tiger's head.
"Ah Qing, can we go over?" Momo shouted over.
"Yes, come on over! It's very well-behaved, just a little hungry now." Ah Qing waved invitingly.
With Ah Qing's words, the stream's audience fell into a brief silence.
Suddenly, the audience, both long-time fans and newcomers, had a refreshed understanding of the titles 'Beast Taming Sect Saintess' or 'Farmland Witch' touted by various marketing accounts.
It's fine, it's well-behaved, just a bit hungry.
These words... used to describe a wild tiger, besides Ah Qing, who else would dare?
"I slide up, ding dong, Master Tiger, your delivery has arrived."
"This tiger... if Wu Song came, he'd probably only feed it to one-third full, right?"
"One-third? Wu Song would have to take a cab and run. Look at that, doesn't that look like an ordinary tiger to you? Didn't you see the mid-size SUV beside it? That tiger, with its tail, is four meters long!"