Chapter 9.1

“Ring, ring, ring.”

The sudden alarm startled Mu Ling awake.

Emerging from deep sleep, she was momentarily disoriented before lazily glancing at the time, turning off the alarm, and crawling out of bed. Like a sleepwalker, she went through her bathroom routine, then headed to the temperature-controlled storage unit to grab a bag of dehydrated pork. Only after that did she make her way to the veterinary station.

Inside, Qilin, the golden tiger, was also catching up on sleep. Clearly, its rest had been poor due to Mu Ling’s disturbances the previous night.

“Qilin,” Mu Ling called out cheerfully.

The tiger had already caught her scent but pretended to continue sleeping, not moving a muscle.

“Big sister’s here to change your bandages.” She placed the dehydrated pork by the door, picked up the medical kit, opened the cage, and stepped inside.

Sensing the human’s approach, Qilin could no longer keep up the act. It reluctantly opened its eyes, its cold, beast-like gaze regarding her disdainfully.

Mu Ling, however, was unfazed by Qilin’s world-weary expression. She sat cross-legged beside the tiger with no regard for personal space, reaching out to pat its rear.

Qilin’s face fell into despair, and its tail began swishing frantically, trying to swat away her hand like an annoying fly.

Seeing the tail’s constant movement, Mu Ling simply grabbed it and tucked it under her leg, pinning it down.

Qilin: …

Feeling uncomfortable, the tiger glanced back at its trapped tail, attempting to wriggle free.

As soon as it moved, Mu Ling pressed its back down with one hand, warning, “Don’t move.”

The bandage change took about fifteen minutes. Afterwards, Mu Ling went outside to prepare food.

Qilin’s breakfast was specially prepared. Mu Ling had learned by watching Xiang Bie earlier. Now preparing it herself, she used dehydrated pork as the main ingredient, mixed with various nutritional agents, powders, and capsules. On a whim, Mu Ling secretly added a can of treats to the mix. She then carried the stainless steel bowl, about the size of a washbasin, into the ward.

Qilin had a good appetite and finished its breakfast. Watching it eat, Mu Ling smiled fondly, and decided to open her light brain to record a video of the little tiger eating.

Just as she unlocked it, a communication came through.

It was an unknown number with no caller ID. Puzzled, Mu Ling answered, “Hello?”

A woman’s voice came from the other end: “Is this Ms. Mu Ling, the property owner of Bi Ke Zoo at 7 Bi Ke Avenue, Wind Sea District, Shenwang Star?”

Mu Ling: …

Confused, Mu Ling replied, “Yes, it is. May I ask who’s calling?”

“We’re calling from the Forestry Bureau of Shenwang Star.”

Forestry Bureau?

Startled, Mu Ling quickly said, “Oh, hello! How can I help you?”

“Please hold for a moment. Our director would like to speak with you.”

The line went quiet briefly, but Mu Ling’s mind was already racing. What was going on? She had just arrived on Shenwang Star, and already the Forestry Bureau was contacting her? She remembered the grand promises her great-aunt had made to the Shenwang Star authorities and suddenly felt nervous. Surely they weren’t coming to collect on those promises now?

After about a minute, a middle-aged man’s voice came through, “Hello, is this Ms. Mu?”

Mu Ling quickly replied, “Yes, yes it is. Hello.”

The man got straight to the point: “Here’s the situation. We’ve found that you only took over ownership of Bi Ke Zoo a week ago. Now, your zoo has been reported. Many people have accused your zoo of illegally confining and abusing wild beasts. Are you aware of this?”

Mu Ling: …

Mu Ling was dumbfounded.

“I… I had no idea. How could this happen?”

Her first thought went to Wei Li and Xiang Bie.

Could they be responsible?

But that seemed impossible. They both looked so honest and upright, and they had even invested a lot of money in the zoo. They couldn’t possibly be the type to abuse animals.

“There must be some misunderstanding. Before I came, there were only two long-time employees looking after the zoo. They both love animals and would never abuse them.”

The man latched onto this clue and immediately asked, “Please provide the information for these two employees. We need to register them.”

Mu Ling quickly gave the basic information for Xiang Bie and Wei Li, but the director said it wasn’t enough. He needed their exact ID numbers. Mu Ling couldn’t remember these, so she said, “Let me go to the office and check.”

She was about to leave when she realized she couldn’t move. Looking down, she saw that Qilin was stepping on her pant leg.

Mu Ling was wearing the zookeeper’s uniform, which was practical and dirt-resistant, but it was a temporary outfit Wei Li had found for her and didn’t fit well. The pant legs were too long, dragging on the ground, and Qilin was now standing on this excess fabric.

Helpless, Mu Ling patted Qilin’s big head and said, “Qilin, lift your paw.”

The Forestry Bureau director on the other end of the line: …

Hm? What did he just hear?

“Qilin.” The big tiger, focused on eating, ignored her. Mu Ling had no choice but to call out again.

The director was shocked. He hadn’t misheard; she really did call it “Qilin.” He had seen the video reported by netizens, which showed a tiger maliciously imitating a retired meritorious war beast, also named Qilin.

Earlier, seeing that the property owner had only taken over the zoo a week ago, the director had assumed she knew nothing about the zoo’s affairs. He hadn’t connected the female voice in the video to her. But now, it turned out to be the same person after all.

This property owner was no longer just the person in charge of the zoo; she could very well be an accomplice in animal abuse, or even the main culprit!

The director immediately became serious. He gestured to his subordinate, instructing them to contact the police station near Bi Ke Avenue and send officers to detain Ms. Mu at the zoo. Meanwhile, he tried to keep Mu Ling on the line: “The ‘Qilin’ you just called out to…”