Chapter 6.1

Mu Ling was jolted awake by Wei Li’s push, only to find her arms empty. The long-tailed civet that had been nestled there was gone, though she couldn’t pinpoint when it had left. A lingering warmth in the crook of her arm was all that remained.

Noticing the medical kit, Mu Ling scanned the area but couldn’t spot Xiang Bie anywhere.

“Brother Xiang went to move the car,” Wei Li explained. “He probably parked it far away to avoid startling Qilin.”

Mu Ling responded with a couple of “Oh”s and opened the medical kit.

Wei Li held a flashlight for her. Under the dim light, Mu Ling examined all the medicines in the kit and remarked, “It’s quite comprehensive.”

To her surprise, it even contained specialized animal medications. Mu Ling had assumed that with the zoo closed for over six months, supplies might be scarce. Yet, upon checking the expiration dates, she found they were all new stock.

Wei Li chuckled, “Our medical supplies are sponsored. Just relying on me and Brother Xiang, two broke guys, we couldn’t afford these expensive medicines.”

Indeed, animal medications can sometimes be pricier than human ones.

However, when Wei Li mentioned “just relying on him and Xiang Bie, two broke guys,” Mu Ling’s heart skipped a beat.

Was he hinting at her? Was he subtly reminding her about her debt?

Mu Ling admitted to herself that she was particularly sensitive to such topics lately.

She dared not respond and hurriedly started injecting the tiger instead.

The medication would take about a minute to take effect. Soon, the sound of a vehicle approached, and shortly after, Xiang Bie arrived with a stretcher.

After Mu Ling confirmed the tiger could be moved, she watched as Xiang Bie and Wei Li lifted Qilin onto the stretcher and then into the vehicle.

The vehicle Xiang Bie brought was a mountain rescue car, though it was essentially just a larger off-road vehicle with the back modified into a cage.

As they descended the mountain, Xiang Bie drove, Mu Ling sat in the passenger seat, and Wei Li sat in the cage at the back, watching over Qilin.

The downhill road was still bumpy. From the back, Wei Li asked, “Brother Xiang, did you remember the location of the broken protective fence? If not, I can check it out tomorrow.”

Mu Ling had heard earlier from Wei Li that there was a damaged protective fence, and Qilin had been injured by a python that had come out of the deep forest. Although Qilin had killed the python, it had been thrown and injured its back, and its hind leg had been bitten.

Xiang Bie, gripping the steering wheel, replied, “I fixed it, but it won’t last long.”

Hearing this, Mu Ling quickly spoke up, “The protective fence company’s people will arrive tomorrow. I’ve already arranged for a comprehensive upgrade and maintenance package. It costs 99,999!”

Xiang Bie glanced at the nervous new zoo director, who seemed afraid of being misunderstood as unprofessional. After a moment of silence, he nodded and said, “Thank you.”

Mu Ling sighed in relief and quickly waved her hand, “No need for thanks, it’s what I should do.”

Wei Li in the back hurriedly added, “The director is really amazing. We have her to thank for saving Qilin today.”

Mu Ling felt a bit embarrassed being praised again, but she soon puffed out her chest a little, secretly proud.

Xiang Bie noticed and gave her another look.

“But Qilin has always lived in the inner area and doesn’t even come to the outer streams to drink. It’s strange that it encountered that python in the outer area,” Wei Li mused.

Xiang Bie’s fingers paused on the wheel, and he looked at Wei Li through the rearview mirror.

Wei Li noticed Brother Xiang’s gaze and met his eyes through the mirror, then froze.

Brother Xiang had shaken his head slightly at him.

What did that mean? Was he telling him not to ask?

Mu Ling curiously followed up, “Yeah, why did Qilin come to the outer area?”

Mu Ling had heard Wei Li explain earlier that the wild beasts all lived in the inner area.

Xiang Bie turned the steering wheel slightly and said in a flat tone, “Qilin isn’t in good spirits and sometimes doesn’t recognize its way.”

“It got lost and wandered to the outer area?” Mu Ling immediately felt heartbroken. “Our Qilin is only eight years old and already has dementia? That’s so pitiful…”

Mu Ling immediately decided to take extra good care of Qilin in the future, but she didn’t notice Wei Li in the back seat and Xiang Bie in the driver’s seat exchange a glance, both falling silent.

Even if Qilin was mentally unstable, its sensitivity to danger should still be intact. It wouldn’t voluntarily go to the outer area. There was only one possibility for it to come out – instinct.

Before retirement, Qilin was a war beast, and a top-tier S-class one at that. Even with its mind not in good shape, some habits were ingrained in its bones. If Xiang Bie wasn’t mistaken, that python must have carried the scent of an Mutant beast. Qilin must have smelled the Mutant beast’s aura from the inner area and chased the python out.

However, Xiang Bie had examined the python’s corpse, and it wasn’t an Mutant beast. This meant it might have come into contact with one. In other words, in the deeper parts of the forest, separated from Bi Ke Zoo by just a protective fence, Mutant beasts had appeared.

Brother Xiang didn’t want Wei Li to ask further to avoid frightening the inexperienced new zoo director. He had already notified the local garrison of Shenwang Star while coming down the mountain.

The matter of Mutant beasts wasn’t something ordinary people like them needed to worry about; the military would handle it.

When they returned to the service area, it was already past 9 PM.

Although Mu Ling was exhausted, she still followed Qilin into the veterinary station and gave it another full-body examination.

The veterinary station had equipment, so Mu Ling took several X-rays of Qilin and drew blood. While waiting for the results, Mu Ling turned on the bright lights and carefully inspected Qilin’s entire body again, indeed finding a few small wounds that hadn’t been noticed before.

“Knock knock.” There was a knocking sound from outside.

Mu Ling looked up and saw Xiang Bie standing at the door.

Xiang Bie said, “Dinner is ready.”

This seemed to be the first time today that Mu Ling had a good look at Xiang Bie’s face in proper lighting.

She had to admit, he was quite handsome.

Mu Ling wasn’t unfamiliar with handsome men; there were plenty on the star network. She was just curious – with looks like that, Xiang Bie could make a decent living as an internet celebrity. Why choose to stay in a poor, closed-down zoo as a zookeeper?