CH 19.3

Bai Xia Xia was sure that she did not see wrong, cats had poor static vision, but their dynamic vision was extremely incredible.

It was also what cats relied on to catch prey in the darkness.

Even when it was nestled in the forest, blocked by dense foliage, Bai Xia Xia was still very sure.

That blob of big fluffiness that seemed to be doing something suspicious was Da Hua.

But how could the driver understand a cat’s meaning.

He continued driving to the front; Bai Xia Xia hurriedly jumped on top of Guo Chao Ming’s legs, her hind paws stepped on Guo Chao Ming’s thighs and climbed towards the window, standing up like a human, sometimes tilting her head to look outside of the window, and sometimes looking a Guo Chao Ming.

“Stop the car!”

The driver was surprised, but his reaction was very fast. The car’s tires rolled crazily; the screeching sound of a car braking traveled through the jungle.

The snow-white Persian cat swooped out of the window like a phantom, after landing on the ground lightly, it directly drilled into the dense jungle, disappearing.

Guo Chao Ming’s gaze was a bit dim, he stared at the direction where the cat disappeared, looking at it for some time: “Such a heartless one, you didn’t even turn back your head to look at your dad!”

The kitty is smart, maybe I’ll be able to see it in the future. As for when, I don’t know ah…

He turned back his head to care a bit for Professor Wen: “Professor, we still have to go on for a bit more than half an hour, will you be able to bear it?”

Guo Chao Ming respected educated people very much. This Professor Wen is skinny and frail looking, like a bamboo pole. I’m very worried that if we charge over at high speeds, Professor Wen will faint before we reach the place.

His head spinning[1], the Professor Wen that was feeling dizzy waved his hand dispiritedly[2], the windows in the back of the car had all been lowered.

The mountain breeze blew by his cheeks, cool and refreshing, with fresh air going into his lungs, he somewhat felt a bit better.

In this moment, Professor Wen had long forgotten the cat that he had been interested in just now.

He weakly, but with a very firm gaze, said: “I’m okay, you can drive without hesitation.”

“…if we get there earlier, the hope of finding the cultural relics will be a bit bigger.” Even though he was someone who studied and researched about animals, however, the things that were passed on to future generations by their ancestors were all treasures, they could not be lost.

I have the fortune to participate in this and can do a part in it. No matter what, Wen Dong would not become a burden to others. How could I do that? To drag the itinerary because of me, then wouldn’t it have been better if I hadn’t come!

Professor Wen’s face looked extremely terrible, ghastly. But he insisted on going on, consecutively expressing that he was okay.

Guo Chao Ming also did not feel okay betraying Wen Dong’s heartfelt intentions; sometimes, educated people were the most stubborn.

He also understood these professors’ expectations and insistence on getting back the cultural relics.

He secretly gave the driver a look, the driver understood at once.

In the last half of the road, the speed was inconspicuously slowed down, Professor Wen naturally felt it, the bumping had decreased a lot.

Even with that, when they arrived at their destination, he still had to be supported down from the car. Immediately after going down, while leaning on the trunk of a tree, he vomited severely[3].

When Guo Chao Ming arrived, a small team of about 20 people were guarding the road. Once they saw that the car came, the platoon leader went over with small quick steps to report the situation.

Guo Chao Ming told Professor Wen to rest a moment and went over himself to see what was happening. He was sternly refused by Professor Wen, Wen Dong pushed up his glasses, after vomiting, his spirit was a bit better: “I’m okay, comrade, I’m truly okay! I’ll go with you guys!”

“I came here to work. If I leave in the middle, what’s the use?” Professor Wen used a handkerchief to wipe the sweat on his forehead without stop, Xiao Fang and the trainer hugged the police dog and comforted it for a long time, it was being led by them, and its spirit was not that good either.

A group of people walked in the forest, going deep into Cuilian Mountain, “Ah, right! Where’s the cat from just now?” When Professor Wen saw the police dog, he suddenly remembered Bai Xia Xia.

“Oh, it returned to the mountain, it was originally a cat from the mountains, loves being free, and its personality is also wild. The reason why it followed us on the road, was also because it was getting a ride.”

Wild, wild cat?

Professional, young, and promising zoologist Professor Wen was dumbfounded, he worked hard to remember the cat from just now. appearance, distinctive look characteristics, he pushed his glasses, asking with doubt: “Uh, what I saw just now… it seemed to have been a Persian cat?”

The group of people followed the small path to walk into the mountain, Wen Dong was protected in the innermost circle. On his four sides he had soldier geges holding guns and in a state of alert, they had already gone past the safe boundary demarcated by the base. When going into unknown territories, danger could occur at any moment, so they had to be careful.

“That’s right!” Guo Chao Ming was flabbergasted, Isn’t that obvious? That cat’s appearance is very easy to recognize! Even normal people can recognize it. Turning his head to look at Professor Wen, distracted, and with blank eyes, with a stupid and foolish appearance, he muttered in his heart: This professor has the appearance of someone who’s not very intelligent, it can’t be that the colonel found the wrong specialist, right…

Could it be that he was shaken into becoming a fool?

Wen Dong was really distracted, according to his knowledge, the food chain in Cuilian Mountain was intact, the ecological environment was rich, and it was filled with wild animals.

Some years ago, to protect the animals in Cuilian Mountain. They had organized several operations, to delineate the Cuilian Mountain Protection Area, not allowing people to enter freely. It was to protect humans, but it was also to protect the rare animals inside the mountain.

There are many wild Felidae[4] animals, sand cat, jungle cat, Pallas’ cat, Chinese mountain cat, leopard cat, flat-headed cat… but among them there’s definitely not the delicate and noble Persian cat that is quiet and doesn’t like to move ah!

Sand cat

Jungle cat

Pallas’ cat

Chinese mountain cat

Leopard cat

Flat-headed cat

Persian cats are docile by nature, they’re a typical representative of pet cat breeds. Even with people raising them, there’re constantly those that die from not being raised well, and if it’s put out in the wild?

Professor Wen felt that it was impossible, that the other party had gotten it wrong for sure. He wanted to ask things about the Persian cat, so he chased after Guo Chao Ming to ask him in detail. Guo Chao Ming replied smilingly on the surface, but in his heart, he felt apprehensive: Why’s this professor so interested in this cat?

He was a bit on guard. In just two short days, the intelligence shown by Bai Xia Xia was far higher than that of ordinary cats. It can’t be that this professor discovered something, and wants to experiment on that cat, right? That’s not okay.

“…I’m not very clear about the details, I only know that that cat brought our comrade and found the seriously wounded Captain Qin by chance, so it’s considered to have done a meritorious service. Our colonel brought it down from the mountains in passing and fed her some good things. That cat is originally from Cuilian Mountain, don’t worry blindly Professor Wen, let’s hurry to find the monkeys.”

Professor Wen’s rich and sturdy knowledge base was on the verge of collapse, having received such a big shock, he started doubting himself: In recent years, I’ve focused on the study of monkeys, and it’s been a long time since I flipped through the Felidae family and have done research on them. Uh, could it be that I’m falling behind and that Persian cats can survive in the wild?

The absentminded Professor Wen entered a daze.

Translator’s comments:

So many types of cats out there. Don’t worry Professor Wen, Bai Xia Xia is just a special case…

Translator’s notes:

[1] Idiomatic expression ‘天旋地转 (tiān xuán dì zhuàn)’: lit. translation: ‘the sky spinning and the earth revolving’. It means ‘one’s head spinning’ or ‘huge change happening’.

[2] Idiomatic expression ‘有气无力 (yǒu qì wú lì)’: lit. translation: ‘having breath but not strength’. It means ‘dispiritedly’ or ‘weak and without strength’.

[3] Idiomatic expression ‘天昏地暗 (tiān hūn dì àn)’: lit. translation: ‘gloomy sky and dark ground’. It means ‘a murky sky over a dark earth’, or it can be used to imply that something is very serious and as a metaphor for political corruption and social darkness.

[4] According to Wikipedia, Felidae is the family of mammals in the order of Carnivora colloquially referred as cats.