Chapter 63: Forget about crocodiles, even whales have to come out

"If you ever fall into my hands, you had better be able to recite the National Animal Protection Law fluently. Otherwise, I'll skin your crocodile hide to make a leather bag and grind your leg bones into beads to fondle in my palms..."

Sitting alone on the rooftop, Chen Zhiyu wore a look of resentment and annoyance. Staring fixedly at the river surface, she took a bite of her bread and let out a cold snort.

Today should have been the day with the weakest defensive forces at the Changpingshan Pet Amusement Park.

Ever since the encounter with the crocodile and the unexplained disappearance of two free-range breeding boars from the mountain, the Changpingshan Pet Amusement Park had been on duty day and night. Usually, there were ten hunters patrolling in the morning, equipped with compound bows and carbon-fiber fishing nets.

At night, there were eight hunters, equipped with compound bows, carbon-fiber fishing nets, and two explosion-proof shotguns manufactured by Northern Industries.

Those who live by the mountains live off the mountains, those who live by the sea live off the sea, and those with neither mountains nor the sea must rely on the welfare lottery.

Some hunters in Changpingshan had registered with the Public Security Bureau and could legally apply for hunting equipment.

Chen Zhiyu belonged to the Chen clan of Changpingshan, one of the very few who had passed the review and could apply for a hunting firearm.

Although the Public Security Bureau had not yet caught the crocodile, they had detected some clues and granted special approval for hunting firearms to Chen Zhiyu and her father to guard against any contingencies.

Because in this stretch of the river in Changpingshan, a large saltwater crocodile that had crossed the strait truly existed.

"Damn crocodile..."

Chen Zhiyu took a bite of her bread, feeling somewhat angry.

Normally, the night patrol hunter squad consisted of nine people including herself. However, because the Changpingshan Chen clan was holding a banquet to entertain the Lin clan of Anthong who had come from afar, basically all the eligible men and women of the Changpingshan Chen clan had run back to attend matchmaking sessions.

Chen Zhiyu was the village chief's daughter and one of the few specially approved armed hunters.

The night watch task fell squarely on her shoulders.

It wasn't that Chen Zhiyu wanted to go back for matchmaking; if she really wanted to get married, she wouldn't still be single at twenty-eight.

What annoyed Chen Zhiyu was that everyone in the village, young and old, was feasting at the ancestral hall, enjoying shark fin and bird's nest at will, while she had to huddle on the rooftop gnawing on bread.

Although her father had said that once the young men in the village finished their matchmaking sessions, they would immediately return to the pet amusement park to rejoin the team and bring her a large red envelope,

she was still annoyed. Everyone in the village was having a banquet at the ancestral hall, and she was the only one chewing on bread, making her feel like a single dog who deserved to be kicked out.

The more she thought about it, the angrier Chen Zhiyu became. She picked up her phone, opened WeChat, and sent a barrage of flowery curses to her old man.

Annoyed as she was, Chen Zhiyu still stuck to her post to carry out the watch duty.

Until that saltwater crocodile was eliminated, the Changpingshan Chen clan would not have a moment of peace before winter arrived.

However, much to Chen Zhiyu's surprise, shortly after she sent the WeChat voice message, her father replied.

It was a voice message lasting a full sixty seconds.

Sixty seconds was not Elder Chen's limit; it was simply the upper limit for a single voice message.

The corners of Chen Zhiyu's eyes twitched slightly as she tapped to play her father's WeChat voice message:

"Barking! Keep barking! If it weren't for you, this unfilial daughter, failing your matchmaking date and even beating up the guy, would the entire village be feasting while you were the only one on night duty? Since you're so capable, why didn't you bring a kid back with you?! Ptooey—"

"Unfilial daughter!" The voice on the other side of WeChat seemed unsatisfied with the scolding and sent another supplementary voice message.

Chen Zhiyu froze, then flew into a rage and called her old man via WeChat voice call.

The other side rejected it.

She called again.

Rejected again.

Chen Zhiyu: ".........."

If you have the guts to scold someone, you should have the guts to answer the phone!

***

Just as Chen Zhiyu was persevering and frantically calling her old man,

a black business sedan drove into the parking lot of the Changpingshan Pet Amusement Park.

And a new WeChat notification arrived on time on the driver Xiao Lin's phone.

Xiao Lin tapped open the message, and even with his battle-hardened beliefs and mental fortitude, he couldn't help but freeze.

Boss Lin: [Take a taxi to the downtown area and buy me a new phone.]

Xiao Lin hesitated, then sent a message to Lin Ying in the back of the car.

Xiao Lin: [Ms. Lin, this place is already considered a remote wilderness. It might not be safe for you alone.]

Boss Lin: [Go ahead, it's fine.]

Seeing Ms. Lin's reply, driver Xiao Lin wore a look of helplessness. After getting out of the car, he looked back every three steps, gazing up at the mountains of Changpingshan as if fearing there were terrifying wolves and leopards lurking inside.

His primary job was security, and driving was just a secondary duty.

It was one thing back in the city where the greatest danger was stray dogs and drunkards, but now they were in the mountains, and it was a desolate wilderness at eight-thirty in the night.

"Bless me, Mazu; bless me, Lord..." Xiao Lin gritted his teeth, took out his phone to hail a ride, and then placed an express delivery order for a phone to be delivered directly to the pet amusement park.

Seeing Xiao Lin depart, Lin Ying—wearing a cap, carrying a shoulder bag, and holding a small fox in her arms—stepped out of the business sedan and walked up the mountain.

Meanwhile, An Sheng's wish list in his mind refreshed with a new wish at this very moment.

[Mazu bless! Lord bless! Ms. Lin better not run into any accidents while she's out having a secret tryst with her lover! If Ms. Lin suffers any accident at all, my thirty-thousand-yuan-a-month job with six insurances and two housing funds will be completely gone! ——Xiao Lin, who got out of the car, hid in the bushes, and crawled back on all fours, wore a worried expression, fretting that something might happen to the young miss, yet equally worried that if he crawled back and saw something he shouldn't, he would still end up unemployed and laid off.]

[Wish fulfilled: Post Defense Battle! (Ms. Lin's existence is extremely important; as long as she is here, they are here. If anything happens to Lin Ying, the tropical continent tribe will explode)]

"Ying?"

An Sheng saw the refreshed wish list and the note in the wish fulfillment prompt, leaving the fox utterly dumbfounded.

Wait, if Lin Ying, who was far away in Xia State, got into trouble, why would the tropical continent explode?

And what did "as long as she is here, they are here" mean?

An Sheng pondered carefully, his eyes widening as a realization seemed to dawn in his little brain.

"Holy cow! Could it be... if Lin Ying gets into trouble, all the security personnel associated with her will be exiled to the tropical continent in the future to catch fleas for the gorillas?"

Believe it or not, the more An Sheng thought about it, the more plausible his guess seemed.

However, why would those security personnel cause the local tribe to explode after going to the tropical continent?

"Ying ying ying?"

An Sheng subconsciously looked toward Lin Ying. However, a shadow suddenly swept across and "slapped" the little fox right in the face.

"Ying?"

With disbelief written all over his face, An Sheng raised a paw and covered his little fox face that had just been "slapped."

"Huh? Sorry, Lord Lucky Fox..."

On the way to Changpingshan, there was a mountain depression. As Lin Ying stepped downward, there was some swaying in front of her.

Lin Ying seemed to feel that the amplitude of her movement was too large and she had bumped into something.

"I just got slapped by the human cub feeder?" An Sheng's dazed gaze gradually returned to focus. He turned his head away, looking awkward and twisting his body uncomfortably.

"Ying ying ying..."

Lin Ying didn't notice anything unusual. After wading through the muddy ground and arriving at the mountain path of Changpingshan—where stone and concrete steps had been built—Lord Lucky Fox would be able to move around freely here.

Lin Ying put Lord Lucky Fox down, apologized to him with a calm expression, and asked:

"Lord Lucky Fox, we have arrived at Changpingshan. How should we proceed next?"

"Ying ying ying... ying ying."

Taking the lead, An Sheng walked in front, guiding Lin Ying to a pavilion halfway up the mountain.

Following Lord Lucky Fox's instructions, Lin Ying sat down in the pavilion halfway up the mountain and looked at Lord Lucky Fox with a puzzled gaze.

[You stay here and don't move. I'll go catch a couple of wild boars right now to use as bait for fishing. Those things are in the river channel.]

An Sheng typed on his phone, looking full of confidence.

Upon arriving at Changpingshan, An Sheng seemed to envision a wonderful prospect of Desire Power +3 and then +1.

His execution power was currently maxed out.

Never mind an eight-meter crocodile in the river channel; even if there was a hundred-meter whale in the river channel right now, he would drag it out of the water.