Before setting off, Fang Ye, Qi Yuan, the old professor who had co from afar to perform a physical checkup on the snow leopard, and all the rescue personnel ca together for a group photo as a nto.
Looking at the photo, Qi Yuan laughed and said, "Looking like a real stud here, I feel like a crane standing among chickens!"
Fang Ye retorted, "Oh co on! So shaless!"
The old professor smiled without saying a word, thinking how full of energy the young people were.
The journey to nyuan where they had coordinated with the conservation officer went smoothly, and they parked their vehicle in the officer’s garage before taking a rest.
Around 5 AM, nearly everyone was up, yawning as they woke!
Fang Ye greeted the old professor who was sitting outside looking exhausted, "Yo, Professor, you’re up even earlier than us?"
The old professor sighed, "I couldn’t sleep!"
He didn’t adapt to high altitudes as well as these young people, and he also had a pneumothorax, so he brought along a breathing machine which unfortunately ran out of power in the middle of the night, and he ended up sleeping for only two hours.
"You’ve got it tough," Fang Ye thought with admiration. Despite his poor health, the professor had made the effort to co along.
To successfully release the snow leopard, indeed a lot of people were making silent sacrifices.
Around 5:40 AM, everyone got ready to set out and went to check on the snow leopard.
The snow leopard in the transport cage, noticing them approaching, emitted a continuous, low, engine-like growl to scare them, signaling it was completely awake.
Hearing the sound, Qi Yuan remarked, "Seems in good shape!"
The old professor judged, "The anesthesia must have completely worn off."
Carrying the snow leopard, they went to inspect several potential release sites they had determined earlier.
The sun gradually rose, its faint light sprinkling across the snow-covered highland wilderness, and several dusty vehicles traveled onward.
They arrived at the first potential site, where there was a stream!
It was an appealing environnt with water, which could attract many animals to co.
The team stopped there to check the surroundings.
However, they were not quite satisfied; although they saw pika activities in a distant adow, they didn’t find any traces of bharal.
Compared to water, food was even more important.
For wild snow leopards, most of their hydration might co from the blood in their prey.
They continued on to the next potential site.
Suddenly, Fang Ye and Qi Yuan caught sight of a range of undulating mountains ahead and both uttered an "Oh?"
In the distance, the high mountains presented a typical alpine rock environnt!
Nothing but boulders, such a setting was very likely to have bharal present.
Below was a spacious area of high mountain adows dotted grey and yellow, with grass about a dozen centiters tall spread across the ground.
Looking down at the map, Qi Yuan said, "This place feels pretty good!"
The altitude here must be around 3,800 ters, with the mountains reaching about 4,000 ters high.
For snow leopards, this was the perfect high altitude habitat!
Moreover, the slope behind them faced away from the sun and was dotted with many blocks of ice and snow, all potential water sources for the snow leopard.
Fang Ye agreed, "This looks like a place where snow leopards would roam!"
Qi Yuan quickly said, "Stop the car!"
He also asked a conservation officer, "Are there any bharal nearby?"
The conservation officer thought for a mont and replied, "There should be! I’ve seen bharal active around here."
In the transport cage behind them, the snow leopard growled lowly, as if sensing sothing.
It seed to imply, "This place will do, let out!"
The vehicle carrying the old professor’s team also stopped!
The old professor got out of the car and upon seeing them, he said cheerfully, "This environnt is nice; it feels quite suitable for a release!"
Everyone wanted to go together!
They took a stroll nearby and saw yak dung, bharal dung, and pika burrows.
The group gathered around the map again to evaluate the surrounding environnt. There were no residential areas nearby. The closest was a forest farm, an hour’s drive away, so it was unlikely that ordinary people would co here.
Behind the two distant mountains, there used to be a large coal mine, which had now been completely shut down, thus providing a considerably large safe space for activities.
Moreover, there was an advantage in this area: it was a gentle slope in a valley, convenient for strategic arrangent.
They discussed and decided to align the four vehicles that had co, along with the rescue personnel, in a line; this way, they would block the way back.
Snow leopards wouldn’t confront people head-on. If they saw the way behind them blocked by people, they would certainly run towards the mountains ahead.
They arrived here at around 8 o’clock!
Fang Ye and the other five people carried the transport cage towards the middle of the valley.
The snow leopard kept growling in the cage, unsure of what was happening and utterly panicked.
Once the strategic arrangent was complete, and they were ready to officially release the leopard, it was already 8:40.
Before the release, Qi Yuan took another picture of the snow leopard.
It was staring with its eyes wide, nose wrinkled, lips fiercely pulled back to reveal its sharp canines, ears tightly pressed against its scalp: "Hah~"
Qi Yuan joked, "Rejected by the school, this student still seems a bit reluctant."
They opened the door to the transport cage!
The snow leopard hadn’t realized what was happening yet. Its eyes were still fixed on them through the sh window at the back of the cage as it continued to roar nacingly, appearing very vigilant.
Fang Ye said, "Hey, turn around and look, you’re free now!"
The snow leopard kept staring at them: "Hah~~~"
Don’t ss with , I’m fierce!
So people couldn’t help but laugh; this kid really wasn’t the brightest—one’s cage was opened, and yet it didn’t leave.
The old professor thought for a mont, "How about we cover the back of the cage with a piece of clothing to block its view of us?"
After covering it with a piece of clothing, it took a while for the snow leopard to slowly co out of the transport cage.
It crouched on the ground, shrinking its body, turning its head left and right, observing its surroundings.
Looking at the wilderness outside, it had a completely baffled expression!
What’s going on, these bipedal beasts kidnapped , and now they’ve released ?
It looked back at them, still sowhat wary: was this so kind of conspiracy or trick?
Its eyes seed to say, I’m leaving! I’m really leaving! Are you sure you’re letting go? You’re not going to do sothing to ?
With the snow leopard’s simple mind, it couldn’t understand what they were doing or comprehend what it had been through these past few days.
Anyway, these people were terrifying, they had inexplicably knocked it out.
At that mont, the sun was just rising, crossing over the high mountain on the right, and glorious Sunshine filled the valley!
The light shone on the snow leopard’s body, giving it an aura of being reborn.
The snow leopard walked leisurely ahead, while Fang Ye and the others followed at a distance, observing to see if it was behaving normally or if there were any ergencies.
They had walked almost a kiloter like this!
Suddenly, the snow leopard turned its head and stared at them for a few seconds.
Bright eyes seed silently to speak sothing, sending a shiver through everyone’s hearts. Continue your adventure with .Côm
A strange enlightennt arose within them: it was going to leave!
Indeed, its grey-white figure like a sprite, ran towards the nearby mountains, getting farther and farther away.
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