I became incredibly cute after dressing up as an animal!

……

That afternoon, Lan Xiaoxiao and Chu Yi lingered by the tree again.

This time, the rubbing was very forceful, making the whole tree shake.

They'll start drawing a line from these trees; this area is their territory!

Let that giant panda outside do whatever it wants!

I wonder if that giant panda will wander off to find its territory, or if it will stay nearby?

If they live nearby, they'll become neighbors and will likely run into each other from time to time. Hopefully, they won't fight.

Giant pandas generally don't fight as long as they don't invade each other's territory.

……

……

"Meow, meow meow meow."

"I've seen a few hares, but why haven't I seen any larger animals?"

"Isn't this a protected area? There are so few wild animals here."

"Such a healthy ecosystem shouldn't exist."

After staying for another half month, Lan Xiaoxiao lay in the cave and muttered to herself.

Although I couldn't understand what she was saying in the first year of junior high, I listened very attentively!

When the little bear bleated, Chu Yi's ears twitched, and his eyes looked at her tenderly.

Lan Xiaoxiao yawned and said she was sleepy. This bear was living too comfortably, eating and sleeping, sleeping and eating.

Lan Xiaoxiao was getting ready to sleep when a gust of wind blew in, and a strange smell suddenly entered her nose.

It doesn't smell like animals, it smells like humans!

But unlike Professor Xu and his colleagues, Professor Xu had mosquito repellent and the smell of soil on him. This smell was stronger and more foul, a mixture of smoke, sweat, and a slightly indescribable metallic odor.

Lan Xiaoxiao hesitated for a moment.

Perhaps they are staff members of the nature reserve? Or perhaps they discovered them and came to install infrared cameras?

But something felt off.

She stood up, stretched, and walked towards the direction from which the smell was coming.

Chu Yi didn't understand. Wasn't the little bear sleepy? Why was it still going outside? So it got up and followed.

After walking for more than ten minutes, the smell became stronger and stronger.

A small path, worn into the bamboo forest, appeared. There were cigarette butts, plastic bags, and a metal clamp on the ground!

This is an animal trap!!!

She recognized this kind of thing; she had seen it on her phone in her past life. It was a trap set by hunters to catch an animal's leg, making it impossible for it to escape.

Little Blue bristled.

She quickened her pace and ran along the path.

Chu Yi caught up, his nose sniffing the rusty animal trap, his dark eyes deep and unfocused.

A sound came from ahead.

It was the voice of a middle-aged man.

"Hurry, while he's still breathing, get the musk out first."

"The skin is quite good; it can fetch a good price after peeling."

Lan Xiaoxiao parted the bamboo leaves and saw it.

Two middle-aged men squatted on the ground, holding knives in their hands. In front of them lay a musk deer with brown fur, slender legs, and its belly rising and falling as it panted.

Its left hind leg was caught in a metal clamp, the teeth of which were digging into its flesh, and blood was flowing down its leg, turning the ground red.

Lan Xiaoxiao's blood rushed to her head!

One man held down Lin She's head, while another raised a knife, ready to kill him.

"Woof!!!"

Lan Xiaoxiao rushed out of the bamboo forest!

The two men were startled.

"Holy crap! What is this...?"

Before he could finish speaking, Chu Yi rushed out from the other side.

No one called out on the first day of the lunar new year.

It pounced on him, biting the man's trouser leg and yanking him, sending him sprawling face-first into the mud, the knife flying a great distance.

Lan Xiaoxiao rushed towards another man, letting out a threatening roar.

The man dropped the knife in his hand, took a few steps back, stepped on his own foot, and sat down hard on his backside.

"Bear!! There's a panda!!"

Pandas are cute, but these two pandas are baring their teeth and roaring, clearly indicating that they are two bears with aggressive tendencies.

He was terrified and scrambled backward as fast as he could!

The other one got up too, and the two of them stumbled and ran down the mountain without looking back.

Lan Xiaoxiao chased after them for a few steps, but seeing them run far away, she stopped following.

Chu Yi watched the two figures disappear into the bushes, then turned around, walked back to Lan Xiaoxiao's side, and nudged her with his head.

Lan Xiaoxiao ran to Lin She's side.

The musk deer was still alive, its eyes half-open, its belly heaving violently, its hind legs tightly trapped in the clamps, its bones seemingly unbroken, but its flesh already rotted.

Lan Xiaoxiao looked down at the clip.

It was made of iron, very heavy, and had very sharp teeth. She had only seen this kind of thing in short videos. Villagers who went up the mountain to collect firewood stepped on the animal trap, got injured and couldn't move, so they had to call the police for help. The video also explained how to open this kind of animal trap.

Lan Xiaoxiao recalled the method. She pressed one side of the clamp with her paw, then stepped hard on a switch and pried it open with her paw!

The musk deer's leg slipped out of the trap, and blood gushed out again, but it struggled to stand up, supporting itself with three legs, while its injured leg dangled in the air, too afraid to touch the ground.

It looked at Lan Xiaoxiao, then at Chu Yi, its eyes filled with terror.

Lan Xiaoxiao bleated, "Poor little thing."

Lin She stood there for two seconds, then limped into the forest.

The wound was still dripping blood, drop by drop falling onto the withered leaves, but it moved quickly and soon disappeared from sight.

Lan Xiaoxiao looked at the bloodstains, her chest tight with a heavy feeling.

I wonder if this musk deer will survive. The trap is rusty; it probably needs a tetanus shot.

She looked down at the clip, then at the pool of blood on the ground.

If humans are present here, then there must be more than just this one animal trap.

No wonder there are so few animals in this area; it turns out there are poachers!

This entire area is a panda reserve. These two people are incredibly audacious to dare to come in and poach. The musk deer is a nationally protected animal; aren't they afraid of going to jail?

Lan Xiaoxiao turned around and began looking for traps in the forest.

I didn't find any of these things when I was patrolling the territory! How infuriating!

Lan Xiaoxiao followed the direction the musk deer had come from and found the second trap.

She pushed a rock up with her paw, and the clamp closed instantly, rendering it ineffective.

Following behind and observing, I immediately understood what the little bear was up to.

Actually, it had seen these kinds of traps when it was patrolling its territory, but it just ignored them.

With Chu Yi leading the way, they quickly found four. Chu Yi then imitated Lan Xiaoxiao and destroyed the clips.

They also pulled out the wooden stakes at the other end of the chains that secured the clamps.

After a busy day, Lan Xiaoxiao was panting, her breath tingling with the taste of rust. "Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!"

Chu Yi walked over and licked her head.

Lan Xiaoxiao buried her head in Chu Yi's neck, "Waaah!" The poachers are so awful!

Chu Yi raised his paw and placed it on her back, babbling to comfort the little bear.

Lan Xiaoxiao took a deep breath, raised her head, and rubbed her face against Chu Yi's.

Let's go home.

……

Lan Xiaoxiao thought the matter was over.

But a week later, she smelled that scent again at the edge of the territory, though it wasn't strong, just like passing by.

A few days later, while inspecting the territory, he found cigarette butts on the ground!

Lan Xiaoxiao squatted next to the cigarette butt and finally understood: these people had not given up poaching and even frequently visited this area.

This place should not be far from the exit of the protected area, and there are even hidden mountain paths that can be taken. Poachers frequently sneak in, avoiding patrol teams.