"Whine whine whine~"
A fox's whimper sounded, and under Master Fuli's stunned gaze, foxes began popping their heads out from the pasture on the grassland, with large red foxes leading their young kits out for a stroll.
Closely following were the poker-faced Tibetan foxes and the similarly-sized desert camouflaged sand foxes.
From his perch atop the car, Master Fuli could just make out the silhouettes of some wolves, lurking stealthily in the dark, their eyes fixed on the metal basin atop the car, seemingly waiting to sneak a bite.
"Meow?"
From the direction of the scenic area, seven to eight cats cautiously crept over, peeking around.
They were slightly larger than house cats, remarkably round, with fur that was neither long nor short but much like fluff, and tails ending in a uniform black with some stripes.
These were desert cats.
A type of cat only found in the Xia Country, classified as a national first-class protected animal of Xia Country.
They emerged from the scenic area's farmhouses, with some still holding pieces of jerky in their mouths, appearing curious as if they had come to join the fun in groups.
"Baa..."
The three major tribes of the grassland Fox Race converged, with some weasels mixed within the fox crowd, their fur all puffed up like bristled chestnuts of the Mustelidae family.
The Daolang sheep, upon seeing the congregating stoats, was instantly terrified, jumping on the spot and climbing onto Tang Lian's shoulder, the cigarette clamped in its mouth trembling.
Mustelids can spray odorous liquid, a defensive mechanism of the weasel family.
The stoat is particularly skilled in this, having even once caused wildlife rescue officers at the forestry bureau to faint from its stench.
Once it releases its foul liquid, even if it doesn't spray directly on living beings, the smell radiating around will invariably make anyone who catches a whiff exclaim "Ugh" in disgust.
This is the origin of the stoat's name.
Once touched by the foul liquid, the stink lingers for at least three days, with no known way to eliminate that rotten egg smell.
The fluffy Daolang sheep had evidently suffered at its hands before, leaping onto Tang Lian's shoulder upon seeing the stoats in groups.
With winter approaching, the Daolang sheep didn't want to shear all its wool meant for warmth, exposing its sheep rump.
"Good heavens! Good heavens!"
Witnessing the grand spectacle of everyone gathered, Tang Hongyu, the young master of the Spring Mountain Grassland, was scared out of his wits and immediately turned to flee into the car, letting out strange cries.
The national first-class desert cats, national second-class red foxes, national second-class grassland wolves, and although stoats aren't key protected animals, this weasel cousin also belongs to the three-include category, with a bit of a mystical aura about them.
This wasn't setting up a biological intelligence network.
It was clearly a wild animal spell-casting assembly.
Humans walking here, just by spraining an ankle and falling on one of these little darlings, would face at least three years in prison, with no upper limit.
Tang Hongyu even spotted Pallas's cats and lynxes, the former infamous for being sluggish and national first-class, the latter also belonging to the national second-class category among felines, both highly sentenced animals.
If anything happened to even one of them right here, Tang Hongyu feared the forestry bureau would come knocking for a reckoning.
"Whine whine whine~"
The red foxes leaned against the pickup truck's bumper, their fluffy tails swaying back and forth, their faces filled with blissful whimpers, looking toward Master Fuli, almost like they were coquettishly inquiring.
"What's that about egg yolk pies wrapped in yak jerky? So, you guys are having Western cuisine on the grassland, huh?"
Master Fuli snapped out of his daze, pushing away the little fox about to crawl under his belly, and turned to the local red fox in front of him, exasperatedly voicing his gripe.
"Whimper whimper~ whim!" The red foxes nodded confidently, speaking to Master Fuli.
Although we live on the grasslands, sometimes when we can't catch mice, we would visit herders' houses, take some jerky and cheese, and gobble it up.
We belong to the Red Fox Selects gang, while over there are the Desert Cats, Pallas's cats, and lynxes forming the Feline Selects gang.
We specifically help herders choose trustable products.
"It really does seem to be so, now that you mention it, all these little guys do have mice as their staple food here…," Master Fuli glanced around, unable to resist his sarcastic observation.
Everyone present, regardless of being national first-class or second-class, are all longtime friends with the rodent population on this grassland.
The rate at which the mice reproduce can't keep up with how these pals gobble them down, let alone when compared to the golden eagle or other grassland raptors known as exterminators of mice.
So.
The red fox claiming that they and their fox friends would go to herders' homes to take jerky and cheese, turning original forms into original sustenance, seems to indeed be quite normal.
If there's no jerky, getting some egg yolk pies, cat food, or dog kibble to fill the stomach works too.
"Howl—"
Among the small wolf pack lingering at the end, the lead wolf howled towards Master Fuli.
It expressed not wanting any jerky or cattle, it wanted the egg yolk pie and hot dogs the red fox mentioned.
It reminisced how the two-legged beasts that got off the steel beast previously gave it egg yolk pies. High in sugar and oil, it was simply a gourmet delight in a wolf's life, much more satisfying than mice or beef and lamb.
When it comes to food, all animals began sharing what goodies they managed to snag from herders' homes.
There were fox whines, wolf howls, cat meows, and stoat chirps.
"......"
Master Fuli's lips twitched, turning to Lin Bingyun and sarcastically remarking, "Now I understand, these guys aren't here to challenge me one-on-one, they're forming alliances."
"Help me find Xiao Yu and ask him what they have in the scenic area supermarket that would work, like egg yolk pies, hot dogs, and various jerky to bring over. I'm going to issue a great amnesty."
"Alright." Lin Bingyun nodded gently, clambered onto the car roof, navigating around the little cuties surrounding them, and looked toward Tang Hongyu in the vehicle behind, beginning negotiations.
"Everyone halt, everyone stop—"
"Delivery, I've ordered it for you all. I can ensure all friends present will eat well and drink well. If there isn't enough, we'll roast the scenic area owner later!"
Master Fuli stood upright, facing the grassland, let out a loud whimpering whine, "Follow me, I won't guarantee you bells or salaries, but I promise you five pounds of meat a day, central heating for the winter, air conditioning in thirty degrees of summer, and opportunities to earn some grub!"
"Right now!"
"I have a question, has any of you ever seen someone as audacious as me?"
"Whoever shows me the way, I'll promote them!"
Master Fuli spoke, trying to use a language that the small creatures could understand, to ask them about the trail of the Spirit Beast.
Since…
If the Spirit Beast isn't coming to me, can't I follow the scent to find it?
With Master Fuli's question, the beast crowd went momentarily silent, all the animals looking at each other as if pondering over Master Fuli's words.
And just as the beasts were silent, a pup-like whimpering wolf howl broke the silence.
"Howl whimper—"
A mature gray wolf picked up a wolf cub from its pack, moving forward to place the obviously only a few months old pup in front of Master Fuli. The big gray wolf watched the little gray pup's whimpering howl with slight confusion.
"Whimper!"
The young gray wolf faced Master Fuli, barking out a dog language.
Master Fuli! I report! I've seen a terrifying overlord as audacious as you.
That thing, pinkish with tentacles.
"Snap," it caught my mom—crack!
Swoosh—the large meadow windmill, I ran quickly hiding under mother's belly.
The wolf cub hopped and opened its mouth, reporting to Master Fuli about a very vicious and terrifying creature.