Forest Ranger, starting from Picking Up a Lynx Girl

While drinking butter tea at Uncle Tashi's house, Chen Ying and the others just couldn't stop chatting.

"That Blue haired was finally prosecuted, but I'm not clear on the details. However, both victims' families refused to sign the letter of forgiveness, so it looks like Blue haired is going to be behind bars for a while."

"The girl wasn't charged, but the school issued her a warning. She's narrowed her own path for the future."

In fact, Dan Cong and Wei Ting were also disciplined with warnings at school.

Dan Cong was originally recommended for a postgraduate position, but that qualification was revoked.

He accepted the outcome calmly and decided, like Wei Ting, whatever industry he entered in the future, he wouldn't abandon his determination to be an animal rights activist.

Chen Ying also saw that the Shan Family and Wei Family, along with media reporters, had visited the Protection Station. He stayed silent, as if he knew nothing and muted the notifications.

Aunt Zhaxi's milk tea is truly exceptional, and her milk tofu also made Chen Ying unable to stop eating.

"Aunt Zhaxi, how did your yaks fare with birthing calves this year?"

"Not bad, we have ten little cubs, each one strong and sturdy."

Aunt Zhaxi's accent is a bit lighter than Uncle Tashi's; she's from closer to the city. If it hadn't been for her attachment to Uncle Tashi, she probably would have gone to live in Ri City.

Besides excelling at making milk tea and milk tofu, Aunt Zhaxi also cooks a mean meal. Her yak soup pot is considered a comfort dish at the Protection Station.

Learning that Chen Ying was coming over with Er Niu, Aunt Zhaxi had prepared early in the morning, ensuring that the meat and bones for Er Niu were the best.

Er Niu ate with a face brimming with happiness, and after the meal, she ran out to the grasslands to digest.

Twenty-plus kilometers west of here was the foot of Snow Mountain and one of the sources of Mother River.

Er Niu really liked the environment here, lying on the rocks, rubbing from side to side, rolling around with her belly facing up, revealing a smile.

When the herders from the other two families, who had moved their camps, heard the Snow Leopard who saved a life was visiting, they brought food over to Uncle Tashi's house to see the Snow Leopard.

Just as it happened, Er Niu had finished eating and went out to play, perfectly missing them.

But no matter, the herders happily started a bonfire and the three families gathered for a prairie BBQ.

"Caidan, is there something wrong with the hind leg of that yak of yours?"

Zhaxi and two other men had come back from fetching water from the river and mentioned this to the lady from next door.

"That yak's leg seems injured, but from what I saw, it should be okay."

Chen Ying, having nothing else to do, heard this and said he could take a look.

He had treated quite a few wild animals before, including yaks, but this would be his first time handling a yak's orthopedic issue.

Reaching the pasture and finding the yak, Chen Ying circled around it.

After the yak grew accustomed to his scent, he tentatively approached and touched its big head; the yak didn't shy away or get temperamental. Instead, it let out a low "moo."

Chen Ying heard from its voice that it was uncomfortable and a bit irritable.

"Big guy, bear with me, I'll have a look. Does your foot hurt?"

As he spoke, he carefully approached and touched the yak's right hind leg.

It was only upon closer inspection that he noticed the yak seemed reluctant to put weight on that foot.

While there was still daylight, Chen Ying took out a powerful flashlight to get a better look and noticed something seemed off with the yak's hoof.

"Uncle Tashi, do you trim your yaks' hooves regularly?"

"No, we don't. Yaks don't need their hooves trimmed; they move around on grass every day, which wears away the excess."

"This yak's hoof seems to have a problem; it might have been injured by stepping on a sharp stone. I need it to lie down to take a look. Uncle, could you please call two brothers over to control it."

Guided by Uncle Tashi, Chen Ying tied the yak to a wooden stake, making it lie down, and then two young men came over to help hold the yak down, fearing it might struggle due to pain or fear.

When everyone heard that there was a problem with Aunt Caidan's yak's hoof, they all ran over to watch the excitement.

Yaks are different from other animals; there's generally no hoof trimming for yaks. Chen Ying didn't intend to trim the hoof, just wanted to see if it had been injured by stepping on something.

After the yak was laid down, he picked up its hoof. Wow, a piece of sharp rock had just pierced into the hoof, and the area around it had already started to become inflamed and purulent.

Luckily the injury didn't seem too old, and it was also fortunate that Chen Ying happened to come by and notice the issue. Otherwise, in a short while, this yak's hoof would have been beyond repair.

He fetched some tools to hook out the stone fragment. Black, dirty blood sprayed out, and then he squeezed out the pus. After cleaning the decayed and softened area around it, he applied some medication and that was that.

After all, it's a yak; it couldn't be bandaged up like smaller animals.

And since the wound wasn't large, after stuffing it with medicinal powder, it just needed some dietary attention. If it was kept inside and moved less, it would heal on its own in a few days.

After Chen Ying finished cleaning the yak's hoof, Aunt Caidan ran back to the tent, carried over a bag of dried meat and cheese.

Chen Ying refused, but Aunt Caidan got angry, asking if he looked down on her.

With no choice, under Uncle Tashi's persuasion, Chen Ying accepted Aunt Caidan's gratitude.

Originally, he came to Zhaxi's house for a meal because he wanted to see Snow Mountain Elf. Instead, he also managed to resolve an issue for Caidan's family, which made everyone even more enthusiastic. They sang and danced and feasted until the night's festivities ended.

The next morning, Chen Ying woke up groggy. It wasn't until he went outside and breathed in the cold grassland air that he finally sobered up.

Er Niu had already returned, bringing back her own prey.

A young argali.

It was feeding not far from Uncle Tashi's tent, eating very seriously and focused.

Chen Ying didn't go over to disturb it. He packed up his things, and after Uncle Tashi let out the yak herd, they would be ready to leave.

Er Niu would also follow them back, and tomorrow morning they would go deep into the uninhabited area to release her.

A snow leopard's territory can cover forty to fifty square kilometers, and there are only two documented snow leopards in the Budong River area. The vast space is enough for Er Niu to claim her own territory.

Choosing the release site was also important, sixty kilometers deep into the region. But in reality, to get near Uncle Tashi's house, one only needed to travel around fifty kilometers on a short route.

And according to research data, a snow leopard's hunting range can reach up to eighty kilometers.

This means that after releasing Er Niu, most of her activity area would still be within the human-monitored zone.

To protect Er Niu and also for data collection, they put a collar on her before the release.

This collar would stay on her for a year, long enough for humans to collect the desired data.

During the release, journalists from the media who followed the Shan Family and Wei Family to the Protection Station had also applied to go along, recording the entire process of Er Niu's release.

As Chen Ying had instructed, after Er Niu left the transshipment cage, she ran straight up the mountain. When the first snow fell, she returned to the meadow outside of the Protection Station.

This was to better protect her.

After all, once the news broke, there would inevitably be many people or media personnel who would try by all means to interview and attempt to contact this life-saving snow leopard.

Er Niu was a wild animal; saving people was her own choice, and it was also because Wei Ting and the others carried a bit of Chen Ying's scent. This did not mean the snow leopard should become close to humans.

Staying away was the best measure to protect both sides.

What Chen Ying and the others didn't expect was that apart from the journalists recording the process, another pair of eyes also witnessed everything.

(Insert a diagram showing Snow Leopard Ling Zhe's post-release activity)