Infinite Hunter

Cheng Yijiu was moving in the direction the men were heading out of the mountain. The scent could guide his route—he was intent on seeing where they had entered. Walking along the valley to its end, Cheng Yijiu realized he still had to climb over mountains and ridges, or else he would have to dive. The pool of water, several hundred square meters in size, must have led to an underground river. Following the scent, Cheng Yijiu found a mountain path that had clearly been cleared by humans and began to climb. After crossing two ridges, he discovered the point where the men had entered.

It was also a wide valley. In the distance was what should be a highway, and parked at the foot of the mountain were four camouflaged off-road vehicles. Judging by the markings, they were likely Toyotas. Cheng Yijiu jumped onto the roof of one of the vehicles. He could smell the bloody odor inside—these vehicles must have been used to transport the spoils. It was a pity that the owners of these four vehicles would never return. After jumping on the vehicle for a while, Cheng Yijiu turned around and headed back into the mountains.

The bodies of the five men should just be left there to rot. Maybe they can even feed wild boars or something, which can be considered as atonement.

Chapter 12 Incident

This could only be considered a small redemption. Just look at the residual odor Cheng Yijiu smelled in the carriage—even if they cleaned it every time. These people had hunted a lot of wild animals, most likely several species of National Second or even National First Class animals and birds. As for the hikers they might have killed? It's unknown how many there were, but Cheng Yijiu estimated at least six or seven.

Only five had died, and Cheng Yijiu decided it would be best to collect all the stolen goods, whether sold or used, and send them to the mountains to die. The leopard didn't return the same way it had been chased, but chose another route into the mountains. He wouldn't gnaw on the corpses—leopards have that habit, but he didn't.

The incident unfolded about a week later. Some of the five poachers had families, though their activities might not be known. As mentioned earlier, their families were quite wealthy, so it wasn't surprising that they owned several properties, and it was not unusual for them to have a separate house dedicated to weapons and other items. Their families hadn't heard from them for a week, so they finally called the police.

During their search, the police discovered several properties belonging to these individuals, along with some unidentified sources of income. When they opened some of the properties, they discovered a serious problem. They found gun racks, repair tools, and a large amount of ammunition. Furthermore, they discovered some residual biological tissue in the freezer in the room.

The gun case was a major one, and of course, their vehicle was also found. Security cameras even captured the time they left, along with their license plate numbers. They were tracked to a certain intersection, where the detectives in charge found their targets. They were four Toyota SUVs parked in a valley, camouflaged with camouflage netting.

All four vehicles were searched, and some rather unconventional items were found, especially the smell in the trunk and the residue in the cracks, which all proved that poaching had occurred. These people had undoubtedly entered the mountains from here, so if they hadn't emerged yet, something must have happened. Although they were completely different from the suspects, they still had to be found.

The local police, armed forest police, and militia were dispatched, along with dogs. These men, armed with weapons, entered the mountains and within half an hour had already found the body of the first poacher. The body was severely decomposed and in disarray, with severed limbs and arms and legs, and had been dragged several meters by some animal.

Take photos, and call the Public Security Bureau's medical examiner and forensic doctor. A second, mutilated poacher's body has just been discovered, also in a state of advanced decomposition. This is a serious case, and a significant police presence has been mobilized. Others continue the search deeper. While the cause of death for both individuals remains unknown, the guns and the scattered bullets have been found. This is a serious problem.

The on-site autopsy by the medical examiner ruled out the possibility of a gunshot wound. The cause of death would only be determined after a detailed autopsy at the funeral home. At night, the group gathered and set up two large tents. There was no need to be so nervous, as Cheng Yijiu wasn't there at all; he was about fifty kilometers away from the hunting site.

The next day during the day they found the first shack and searched for some remaining items in it. Of course, they also found the third poacher who was in a highly decomposed state. This person was more intact. Apart from being eaten by birds and a large number of maggots, he had not been eaten by wild beasts. Therefore, the forensic doctor who came with them determined at a glance that he had been killed by wild beasts.

"A large carnivore." The forensic doctor looked at the severely decomposed corpse. Even with the decay, the throat wound was still visible. "If it was a throat bite... it must have been a cat, right?" He took out a ruler and measured the width of the wound. "A large cat, at least a leopard."

Of course, it could have been a black bear, but bears generally don't bite directly at the throat; in a sense, they're pretty poor hunters. A helicopter was also borrowed from the nearby garrison, and the situation was truly dire. Shortly after the third poacher's body was discovered, search dogs discovered two shallow, buried graves not far from each other, containing two skeletons...

Then let's move on. In the afternoon, we reported that a new burial pit was found, with two more skeletons. At the first burial pit, on-site investigators had already sifted out bullets from the soil... There is no doubt that these poachers have probably lost their humanity - we are not fools, and of course we can imagine that the poachers shot and killed the hikers who accidentally saw their behavior in order to conceal the facts of the crime. This is the most reasonable explanation.

That night, replacement searchers found the cabin and, of course, the fourth poacher, who was buried in a pit not far away. Because the body was in the pit, it hadn't been disturbed. The fifth poacher was found two days later, his body the most mutilated. Fortunately, all five guns were recovered, especially the fifth poacher's pistol, which raised eyebrows among the investigating detectives—it was a Glock, a relatively rare original model in China.

There's a good chance this gun will be used as a weapon in multiple murders...

The search in the mountains lasted for half a month. Although the five poachers had been found, the police really wanted to know how many more crimes had been committed here. As a result, they found seven corpses in the possible hunting areas of these people, who were probably the hikers they had killed.

Autopsies on the poachers' bodies have been completed, and the cause of death has been determined to be large cats. Analysis of tooth marks indicates the same animal, while hair found on clothing suggests an adult Amur leopard was responsible. A single leopard killed five poachers in just two days—indeed, based on the decomposition of the bodies and insects found on them, the interval between their deaths was approximately forty-eight hours.

Even more horrifying is that tooth mark analysis suggests the leopard consumed portions of the meat and possibly even the internal organs of the three poachers, including their livers and hearts, as some individuals were missing. This man-eating beast, then, is it necessary to capture or kill it? South China tigers are certainly captured, as are Siberian tigers. However, with hundreds of Amur leopards still in the wild, the cost of killing one of these man-eating leopards should be affordable.

But it was too dangerous. The poachers were well-armed and experienced enough to not even bring hounds. Five people were killed by a leopard one after another. So who was going to catch or kill this Amur leopard? It wasn't like you could just shoot any leopard you saw.

Chapter 13 Hunting

Officially organizing hunting teams is unlikely, as no one wants to be held responsible for potential casualties—what if? Relocating the population in the mountainous areas is simpler. There aren't many people here to begin with, and economic development has already driven most of the young people to the city. The remaining middle-aged and elderly rely on their small plots of land and herbal medicine in the mountains for a living, and they're incredibly poor. It would be better to move to the city and receive the minimum living allowance. Even if they refuse to move, they'll have to move farther away and live together. Herbal medicine in the mountains is definitely out of the question.

The mountain must be closed. This also serves as an excuse for conservation efforts throughout the entire mountain area. It doesn't have to be for too long, just twenty years. The ecosystem within will recover remarkably well—no matter how powerful a leopard is, it can't live more than twenty years. Both options must be discussed and agreed upon. A search in the mountains would require a large team, and going in alone would be a dead end.

Cheng Yijiu didn't care about that. After becoming a leopard, his memory was limited, as was his thinking ability, especially his associative ability and logical reasoning. Killing those five poachers was already a remarkable feat. Continuing to hunt humans wasn't an option for Cheng Yijiu right now, but he could try stealing farmers' pigs and sheep.

The villages in the mountainous area had already received news of the appearance of a man-eating leopard, and each village had begun to use the barbed wire sent from above to block the leopard as much as possible. The nearby households were surrounded by barbed wire, and the main roads of the village were equipped with movable wooden barbed wire barriers, so that the leopard could not jump in. In fact, Cheng Yijiu retreated immediately after seeing this situation, and he also correctly realized that his previous actions must have been discovered.

"Then..." He thought, thinking he might not be able to drag away the pigs and sheep here at will. It was a pity, but it wasn't a big deal. Cheng Yijiu, who had come to the village to observe, had actually been discovered. The mobilized government force was very powerful. In addition to setting up barbed wire to protect the residents, they also installed high-definition cameras with night vision capabilities from multiple angles.

Therefore, Cheng Yijiu was already photographed when he appeared in the village. The next day, someone analyzed the photographed leopard and said, "It's very large, very large, comparable to a typical South China tiger. A very strong adult leopard." Could it be the man-eating leopard? The poacher's teeth marks could serve as a possible basis for comparison, but first, the leopard had to be captured.

Of course, computer images could be compared from multiple angles to determine if they were actually leopard-like teeth marks, but this is merely speculation and not proof. This powerful leopard peered for a moment before ultimately departing. If we were to capture this potential killer, we would have needed to organize a team to track it down. However, no hunting team followed.

The professional hunters working with the Forestry Bureau refused the mission, believing it was too dangerous for the hunting team to go. After all, their previous cooperation with the Forestry Bureau had only been to hunt the infested wild boar population; this was their first time capturing a leopard. They could try traps—similar to mousetraps, though their effectiveness was unknown. Finally, after persuasion from the Forestry Bureau, the hunters accepted the trapping mission.

First, they had to build a large iron cage, which had to be carefully camouflaged—at least, it had to be painted with plant juice to remove the smell of iron. Then, they placed it in a suitable location and placed a live sheep inside as bait. When the leopard entered, a mechanism would be triggered, delaying the cage's iron door for a few seconds before it fell, thus capturing the leopard. This was almost the safest method, so after building the cage, the men began to set up the trap.

The leopard had been seen in the village, so its range must include this area. Based on their experience, the hunters selected several suitable locations for the cage. Finally, they settled on one with good access. After lowering the cage, they actually cleaned it with herbal sap. They placed a sheep and some grass inside, tied it to an iron stake, and then simply waited and prayed for good luck.

This goat is not small in size. A goat that is too small may attract other small and medium-sized carnivores. If you want to trap large carnivores such as leopards, it is better to use a larger goat.

Cheng Yijiu certainly spotted the cage and the sheep inside. A leopard might not recognize the cage because of its limited intelligence and lack of imagination, but how could Cheng Yijiu not recognize it as a trap? The leopard stared at the cage, circling outside but refusing to enter. The sheep certainly looked delicious, and they seemed too frightened to move. Cheng Yijiu circled the cage twice before leaving.

"Alas, that's really underestimating me." Cheng Yijiu's thoughts flitted through his mind as he decided to look for wild goats. They did exist. Wild goats are quite widespread in China, and a significant portion are escaped domestic goats that have become feral. Wild animals were plentiful in this mountainous area, so Cheng Yijiu had no shortage of prey.

The next day, professionals who came to inspect the situation found everything normal. They retrieved data from several cameras. "This leopard is truly cunning." Watching the leopard in the video circling the cage before disappearing into the darkness, it was clear that this leopard was truly difficult to catch. The trapping plan continued, as it was likely the leopard was simply suspicious and testing the waters. Wild animals have brains, too; they will test the waters repeatedly, and of course, they will likely be caught in the end.

But Cheng Yijiu would not show up again after his second visit.

The hunters' trap plan had failed miserably. Another solution was to mobilize the militia and forest police. Groups of a dozen or so would lead dogs into the mountains, most armed with forks and shields, with only a few experienced veterans carrying guns—this was necessary; otherwise, if everyone carried guns, the casualties would be high. So, let's do it once. Cheng Yijiu had already seen the group entering the mountains, and from his perch on the ridge, he had been observing the situation nearby.

There were a lot of people, several hundred in total, and they brought with them over forty hunting dogs, with each team receiving five or six. These dogs could track and warn, and as "expendables," they could also slow down the movement of predators—it sounded cruel, but wasn't that the whole purpose of hunting dogs? And these dogs weren't necessarily any better than leopards—a third of them were Dogo Argentinos.

Chapter Fourteen

The Dogo Argentino is a renowned beast-hunting dog, originally bred to hunt mountain lions and wild boars. It's a specialized breed for large game hunting—it's definitely prohibited in Chinese cities, and these licensed dogs were collected from several locations. Previously, these dogs were used to deal with the increasing number of wild boars, so they were bred by several hunting teams—and don't say they rely on hunting bounties; it's purely a personal hobby for the wealthy. If you asked them to hunt wild boar with dogs and guns, they'd pay for it themselves.

This time, we were hunting leopards. We knew beforehand that they were man-eating leopards—everyone had heard of those poachers, and knowing that was the case was far more exciting than hunting wild boar according to quotas. The leader's intention was to prioritize capturing them. If that wasn't possible or if there was a threat to human life, then we could kill them—and the crucial issue was that the kill had to be a man-eating leopard.

Cheng Yijiu had returned to the mountains. One day, he noticed something unusual: the faint sound of dogs barking in the distance, the scent of humans, and the constant movement of wild animals into the mountains. Cheng Yijiu had been resting on a rock, but now he had to get moving. He'd been doing just fine before this. After all, there were no tigers here, and leopards were at the top of the food chain. He didn't have to worry about any predators rushing out to kill him.

The only posing a threat was the black bear, but since they didn't prey on each other, it wasn't a big deal. Bears ate mostly fruit and other plants, and leopards didn't prioritize black bears, so there wasn't much conflict. Cheng Yijiu, possessing the observation Haki, quickly stood up and headed deeper into the area while still a good distance away. He didn't mind running a few hundred kilometers, even heading to Shanxi, but those people couldn't keep tracking for hundreds of miles. A week of tracking was already a sign of good local revenue.

If it were an ordinary leopard, it would definitely stay where it is until the situation becomes bad and then move slightly to avoid it. However, as soon as Cheng Yijiu saw that the situation was not right, he immediately moved a long distance.

These Dogo Argentinos were well-trained, so they were held firmly in place, while the native Chinese hunting dogs were all free—Dogo Argentinos couldn't be released, as they would bite wild animals. The Dogo Argentinos were only released after they had nearly tracked their target, leveraging their aggressive, aggressive nature to control the animals. The dispersed mountain hunters soon discovered a black bear. They couldn't fight it, but they could tranquilize it for ecological surveys.

Yes, a team of university researchers has arrived. Man-eating animals haven't been seen in China for years, so research is truly necessary. It would also be helpful to study the local ecology. So, the bear was quickly tranquilized and set aside, and various measurements were taken. Finally, a miniature, self-detaching beacon will be attached to study its range and routes. This area has been closed for reforestation for over a decade, and overall, the ecological recovery is quite good.

The most common sightings were wild boars and various small artiodactyls, including not only deer, muntjacs, and roe deer, but also wild goats. Squirrels and other animals were also plentiful, along with numerous small carnivores like badgers, hog badgers, and martens. Someone with binoculars even spotted a small cat. "Ocelot. Not a baby leopard." The critter had simply climbed a tree, but the searchers ignored it, their focus fixed on the apex of the mountain's food chain: the clouded leopard.

While forest closures have been effective during this era, large carnivore populations haven't recovered as quickly. While wolves have made some comebacks, cats are relatively rare—they're limited to the wild, and zoos are quickly restocking them, making them as easy to raise as domestic cats. Therefore, this large area likely contains only one leopard, and no more than three—a male and two females. This number is estimated by scientists.

Luckily, the barking of a dog led them to discover Cheng Yijiu's feces. Scientists rushed to the scene and analyzed it with a local forest expert, confirming it was indeed the feces of an adult leopard. They collected the feces and prepared to send it to a laboratory for testing—this could reveal the leopard's diet. Of course, using this to confirm whether the leopard was a man-eating leopard is unreliable, as the time between digestion and excretion is too long.

The day passed quickly. The search yielded no large carnivores, much to the delight of the hounds. They camped for the night, but nothing happened. The next day, they continued their search deeper into the mountain—this time, not in a single, steady advance, but in waves. The search lasted no more than three days, after which only a small number of people continued, and after a week, it was over. As long as no more attacks occurred, the incident could be considered over.

The tooth marks indicate the leopard's teeth were normal, indicating it was capable of killing prey. If the perpetrator is the one captured on camera, it's a healthy, large leopard that likely wouldn't prey on humans—leopards are generally known to be afraid of people. As for why this leopard would kill five poachers, and in a continuous pursuit, this remains unexplained—even animal behaviorists offer no plausible explanation. All we can say is that it exists.

The search yielded no results, save for two black bears, relatively large omnivores, but nothing else. There was one significant loss—the loss of three Dogo Argentinos, a truly unfortunate outcome for their owners. Could these dogs survive in the forest? It's hard to say, but perhaps they could. After all, three Dogo Argentinos could handle a common female wild boar individually. If they eventually found each other and formed a pack, they could even take on a common male wild boar.

They are fierce dogs after all.

Cheng Yijiu had already circled back, his body still instinctively focused on staking out his territory. His earlier escape had been a circular arc, leaving him still more than ten kilometers from the search vanguard. He had also spotted the noisy dogs; the three Dogo Argentinos had actually reunited, now gnawing on a dead wild boar. The leopard was closing in silently, and Cheng Yijiu couldn't tolerate these three creatures.

The Dogo Argentino looked smaller than the leopard, and the weight difference was significant, so Cheng Yijiu was absolutely confident he could deliver a fatal blow. Even so, the leopard managed to climb a tree. Then, it leaped from the tree until it was close enough to the Dogo Argentino to leap from six meters, slamming its claws directly onto the dog's back. The weight and momentum crushed the dog, and before it could even whimper, Cheng Yijiu bit its neck.

Chapter 15 Records

Cheng Yijiu killed the Dogo Argentino with unusual speed, biting and twisting it. While the dog twitched on the ground, still breathing heavily, Cheng Yijiu had already pounced on another Dogo Argentino – the weight of his weight was absolute. With his front paws, Cheng Yijiu grabbed and hugged the barking Dogo Argentino, pulling it into his arms, turning it over, and biting its neck again without letting the dog bite him.

The third Dogo Argentino was also quite formidable, refusing to back down and charging straight at Cheng Yijiu, a world-renowned fierce dog indeed. The leopard bit the second dog, yet was still able to leap up. Cheng Yijiu dodged the first bite and, after landing, let go of the second dog—the dog had been bitten in the throat, seriously injured if not dead.

Cheng Yijiu opened his mouth, stretched out his front paws and started fighting with the third Dogo Argentino with his airplane ears. He launched a cat-and-cat punch, hitting the Dogo Argentino's head and making it dazed and bleeding. Then he used the cat-and-cat punch to attract its attention, while he attacked with his head close to the ground, biting the Dogo Argentino from bottom to top again. Then he straightened his body to suppress the dog, and the next step was just to adjust the position of his bite.

He killed three Dogo Argentinos in a flash. After all, they were just hunting dogs for cougars, and they needed several of them to attack. A cougar is a large cat, with a much smaller head than a leopard, and its fangs and strength are nothing compared. Using them to hunt jaguars would be a tragedy, and encountering a leopard in the mountains would be equally tragic.

After killing three Dogo Argentinos, Cheng Yijiu's consciousness was withdrawn again. The leopard should have started eating meat - the withdrawn consciousness was thinking about a question, "Why do both tigers and leopards always prefer to hunt villagers' domestic dogs?" Cheng Yijiu thought about it carefully, maybe this was the instinct to eliminate ecological niche competitors.

With more wolves, wouldn't tigers and leopards have fewer herbivores to eat? So, they kill wolves when they see them. Tigers will also kill leopards in their territory. It's the same principle. When Cheng Yijiu regained consciousness, the three dogs were completely eaten. The leopard was clearly picky about food, only eating part of the meat and internal organs from each dog.

The leopard then habitually cleaned itself and eventually ran away. This punishment was quite easy; if he had been forced to hunt humans in early-century India, it would have been much more difficult. Cheng Yijiu now suspected that the man-eating leopard might have been the unlucky victim of a hunting lodge, receiving punishment. Otherwise, how could a leopard be so cunning?

Long-term monitoring of man-eating leopards in the mountainous areas has been ongoing, and the relocation of villagers in the mountainous areas has been in full swing. Many elderly people simply refuse to leave the mountains, so there is no other way but to strengthen the wire mesh around their houses and install surveillance, or at most repair their houses to prevent leopards from breaking in.

As a result, few people have left the mountainous area—those who can't leave have already left for work in the city. Those who remain are largely the elderly, the weak, and the disabled. It's estimated that after a dozen or so years, when these elderly people pass away, even the village organization will be lost.

Even collecting herbs in the mountains is becoming increasingly uneconomical. With the growing pharmaceutical industry, only active ingredients are needed for herbal medicine, many of which can be synthesized. While cultivated herbs may not be as high quality as natural ones, they can be concentrated in quantity. The closure of mountains for reforestation has made relying on old forests for a living increasingly unprofitable.

No matter what industry it is, it is now more cost-effective to do it on flat land and in places with convenient transportation. The number of mountain people will definitely decrease.

As an adult leopard, and a huge one at that, he is one of the key focuses of the forestry department, universities and the Cat Protection Association. Healthy and reproductive big cats have always attracted a lot of attention, not to mention that this is a man-eating leopard with a considerable probability of killing humans and eating part of them - how many years has it been since a wild man-eating leopard appeared in the mainland?

This animal is very dangerous. Now even going into the mountains to deploy and retrieve monitoring equipment such as infrared cameras is a very dangerous task, especially because it will increase the cost a lot - what could originally be done by six or seven people now requires at least a dozen people, and they must be accompanied by several fully armed forest police, or use helicopters to enter and exit.

This greatly increases the cost, so the only option is to reduce the density, or since the cost has already risen a lot, simply use high-cost equipment - such as solar-powered cameras that can transmit data in real time. Fortunately, the three major telecommunications companies already have signal towers here, so using 4G signals is acceptable.

These costs were acceptable, considering it was a Class I protected species—almost all big cats in China were treated this way. Cheng Yijiu's identification skills weren't that strong yet, and those cameras were incredibly difficult to detect. He simply didn't have the energy to identify and destroy them all—if he did, he'd be arrested and have his intelligence checked.

They could only ignore it when they saw it, and it was not a big deal if they destroyed it occasionally. So the research groups of the association far away in the city began to receive a large amount of video data. Since they did not need to run over to recover the data but transmitted it remotely, the only thing that limited them was the hard disk capacity. Those videos without animals passing by could be completely deleted, leaving only the videos with animals.

There were quite a few animals in the mountains, mostly even-toed ungulates, low on the food chain. Of course, they also had some good results, including several carnivore sightings. The most common sightings were martens, followed by a few wolves, and a few leopards—at least two different ones, both likely females, judging by the video footage.

Only a handful of times have footage of Cheng Yijiu passing by been captured, including one instance of him dragging prey past. These are the images and data the Cat Alliance desires. These are merged images from multiple shots, and can be used to analyze animal movements—invaluable for demarcating the territories of large carnivores in mountainous areas, and providing big data for analyzing their behavior.

After combining multiple angles, the computer can estimate the various data of the organism relatively accurately, and this male leopard has been confirmed to be a rare large-sized Far Eastern leopard, almost comparable in size to a South China tiger, and its weight is definitely over 100 kilograms. Just looking at its body length and weight, it is undoubtedly a world record, and it can be confirmed to be the record for the largest and heaviest leopard in history.

The sight of this guy dragging the wild boar along was quite impressive, but unfortunately, his head and limbs weren't as strong and imposing as a tiger's. "Thank goodness they didn't come after me."

Chapter 16 Stealing

Normally, authorities wouldn't specifically capture large cats unless it was for scientific purposes—such as measuring various body parameters, placing radio beacons to determine their range, and so on. And until now, there's been no definitive evidence proving this enormous leopard was the one that killed and ate the poachers, so there was no reason to specifically capture it.

Catching a large cat is also extremely dangerous. Catching a large cat in complex mountainous terrain is inherently risky, especially one that may have previously eaten humans and therefore has no fear of them. Leopards and tigers that have previously hunted humans typically lose their fear of humans and instead consider them a food source. These surveillance systems are a valuable tool, isolating these dangerous animals from the humans who still inhabit the mountains.

At least when wild animals approach the village, a warning can be provided so that everyone can stay in their houses in time. Renovated houses can keep wild animals like leopards out.

Cheng Yijiu's range is so vast that even another observation project, hundreds of kilometers away, captured him. The area framed here is likely tens of thousands of square kilometers, making him the largest feline territorially. Cheng Yijiu, normally capable of successfully hunting prey, wouldn't specifically go out and hunt humans—unless he was a man-eating tiger and couldn't catch a bison.

Now that he was a good hunter, Cheng Yijiu certainly didn't rule out the idea of ​​taking advantage—perhaps stealing the villagers' livestock, which was the easiest and most labor-saving method. That same day, he had also reached the ridge, gazing down at the farm at the foot of the mountain. It was a flat expanse, where someone raised hundreds of sheep, using modern farming methods, rather than letting them graze freely.

Cheng Yijiu knew, of course, that these were sheep raised for food. He also knew that if he, a protected species, caught and ate a sheep, he would be compensated by the state, essentially treating him to a meal. With that plan in mind, it was all about stepping on the plate, figuring out how to enter the farm and how to take the buffet away. Human wisdom, even an IQ below 80, would have helped this leopard succeed.

The leopard still chose to attack at night; it was a hard habit to change—especially since Cheng Yijiu's control over the leopard's instincts was still a bit weak. Previously, he'd been able to slightly change the man-eating tiger's nature, but this punishment mission proved more difficult. He couldn't rush out in broad daylight to catch sheep, so he had to follow his instincts and attack at night. "But during the day, I can catch wild animals in the mountains..." He pondered this question for a long time.

After all, a leopard's brain is not a human's brain, and Cheng Yijiu finally gave up thinking.

At night, the sheep were kept in the pen inside the house, but Cheng Yijiu, like a leopard, swaggered into the paddock outside, where the sheep were kept during the day. Standing half-upright, he hooked his claws around the latch, lifted and pulled it open, and the next moment, the leopard was facing hundreds of sheep inside. The sheep were restless, making bursts of cries, but they couldn't escape. Cheng Yijiu easily selected a fat sheep, bit it, and dragged it out of the pen.

The sheep died soon after, and Cheng Yijiu dragged it away. A leopard's strength was indeed far inferior to a tiger's; even if they were of equal size, they were still significantly lighter. He simply dragged the sheep to the foot of the mountain before abandoning further efforts and devouring the mutton and its organs. As usual, his mind was detached, a sensation similar to general anesthesia. When he regained consciousness, the sheep had been nearly devoured.

It must be said that the leopard Cheng Yijiu had turned into had an incredibly voracious appetite. He had almost completely devoured the sheep's heart, liver, and a good portion of the meat, leaving only the sheep's skin and bones. Cheng Yijiu happily and slowly returned to the mountain, leaving behind the farmer's warning the next day...

They definitely called the police. Anyone who raises hundreds of sheep and doesn't set up surveillance is absolutely nuts. It's perfectly reasonable that the rancher had already spotted the leopard when Cheng Yijiu entered the enclosure, but who would dare to chase it away? Wouldn't that be a free gift? If a leopard takes away a sheep, you can apply for state compensation. At the very least, the loss of a sheep is affordable. But if someone escapes and gets injured by a leopard, the medical expenses and compensation for lost work...

Forget it, let’s just hide in the house and watch, and by the way, call the police and the Forestry Bureau to tell them.

So they watched the leopard half stand up and lightly open the latch, "Damn it, has this leopard become a spirit?"

Then, I watched another scene where a leopard chose a fat sheep and carried it off, then disappeared from view after it left the fence. Then, I waited for daybreak. When the police and forestry bureau arrived, everyone went out to look for the stolen sheep, while the forestry bureau and research experts began recording the leopard's tracks and copying the video. Cheng Yijiu had left footprints and drag marks in the dirt inside the fence, so everyone took photos and took out rulers to measure.

"It's a really big leopard. It's down the mountain hunting. We need to record it." Police officers warned the rancher to be careful, suggesting he move his sheep elsewhere and that he leave the area and wait until he's sure the leopard won't come back. "Because this leopard may have injured someone before."

Everyone also found some sheep being eaten not far away. Although they ate some of the dead sheep themselves, the rancher and the workers still felt a little nauseous when they saw the miserable state of the dead sheep. Cheng Yijiu saw the group of people arguing below clearly from above. He didn't go far, lying on the hillside above the foot of the mountain where the group was, watching from a straight line distance of about 50 to 60 meters. He was extremely bold - the rebellious nature of the leopard could only go so far.

The group, completely unaware of the leopard's presence diagonally above them, were still discussing the situation. It wasn't until the wind shifted and the rancher's sheepdog barked that anyone realized something was amiss. Cheng Yijiu, having also noticed the shift in wind direction, and relying on his status as a Class I protected species, lazily climbed up the ridge. This allowed the people below to see the leopard at a relatively close distance.

The contact between humans and leopards lasted only about ten seconds, as Cheng Yijiu quickly crossed the ridge and disappeared. The crowd below was in an uproar. After getting close to Cheng Yijiu, people were saying, "What a huge leopard!" "Has it been here the whole time? Damn, that's dangerous!" It was really frustrating that no one remembered to take pictures with their phones. But no one suggested that we give chase.

Volume: Daily

Chapter 1: Ancient Tomb

Cheng Yijiu returned to the hall, his past as a leopard-hunting figure etched in his memory like a veil. When he returned to his normal life, the first thing he did was search online for the latest news about the Amur leopard. "It proved to be completely unrelated to real life. Neither the Cat Alliance nor university departments, not even the news, could find any news about large leopards."

The relevant departments had a contact number with Cheng Yijiu, and Cheng Yijiu could sometimes use his account and password to access the database for general queries—with permission, facial verification was required, and the databases searched were just general databases. Cheng Yijiu diligently searched for unusual wildlife incidents, but found nothing about large leopards in the north.

It simply had nothing to do with the real world. This was just a minor bout of Cheng Yijiu's obsessive-compulsive disorder. He had previously looked up recorded incidents of wild beasts eating people in this world. The incidents of the man-eating tiger in Champawat, the Sanmao brown bear, and even the Gustav crocodile all existed, but the punishment missions he had experienced did not exist.

But the world was still inevitably slipping away—as evidenced by the increasing number of strange sightings and attacks. Cheng Yijiu's black dog continued to frolic happily in the backyard every day. For a week, nothing unusual had happened, and no one from the relevant authorities had called or visited him.

Until this day, "There is such a thing?" Cheng Yijiu had nothing to say. The recent summer heat and drought made the areas that were originally submerged exposed. In a very short period of time, the original underwater areas turned into grassland-like scenery, which attracted a group of selfie enthusiasts to go down and take pictures everywhere, and then they discovered the ancient tombs.

Initially mistaken for a mausoleum, the selfie-taking teenagers who discovered it had some sense and legal awareness and immediately called the police. The police, along with the Cultural Relics Bureau, also investigated and believed it was an ancient tomb, rushing to conduct rescue excavations. Who knew it would be flooded again? Ground-penetrating radar and remote sensing satellites revealed a surprising discovery! The cemetery had been superimposed with an "ancient city."

This isn't surprising. Over China's five thousand years of history, countless urban tombs and other structures have been submerged by shifting rivers or silted lakes. Hasn't Kaifeng, the capital of the country, built at least six towers? And Xi'an itself is a city of Han and Tang dynasty bricks and tiles, and cities like this are plentiful across the land.

The strange thing is that this tomb and the ancient city beneath it are likely completely uninundated, having remained underwater for hundreds or even thousands of years without any water seeping in. This is somewhat unscientific, and the age of the tomb and ancient city has yet to be determined, but strange things have already appeared during the excavation. Therefore, Cheng Yijiu's team and other investigation teams are needed to investigate.

All available domestic response teams were concentrated in this inland area for the time being. Cheng Yijiu first read the reports issued. "I'm not a professional in this field, so I just read them like a novel." He read them but didn't quite understand them. What Cheng Yijiu cared about was what was going on. "Hearing sounds, seeing unidentified 'creatures'? Any videos or samples? No? Hmm... this is interesting."

Cheng Yijiu listened as the leader above first proposed mass hysteria to explain the situation here, and he nodded in agreement. If everything had to be explained as strange, life would be unbearable. In short, it was always better to come up with a reasonable hypothesis first, and then confirm or refute it with evidence.

A shed has been erected over the tomb to provide shade. Given the nation's current financial resources, if the tomb were confirmed to be high enough, it would have been sealed and filled with nitrogen, with archaeologists entering wearing protective suits and oxygen masks. Since it's been determined to be just average, protective sprays are ready, and the tomb door can be opened to inspect.

Besides shielding the murals from direct sunlight and ultraviolet rays, they only needed to do so. Cheng Yijiu and his team remained outside. This time, no archaeologists entered the tomb. After they reported the anomaly, bomb disposal robots and multi-purpose robots borrowed from the military, equipped with high-definition cameras, entered the tomb.