Chapter 156 Snow Leopard (XIV)
"Meow, meow, meow..."
After climbing to an altitude of over 7,000 meters, Zhumi was already exhausted and out of breath. He had to pause for 30 seconds after each jump before he could continue climbing.
Yu Yiyun originally lived in a relatively flat plateau grazing area. The surrounding mountains were connected together, with an altitude of about 6,000 meters, which is a comfort zone for snow leopards.
Even though Zhumi yearned for mountains, he had never climbed so high before, and at most he just boasted about it in his heart.
Animal version: Ye Gong likes dragons.
In comparison, the former Lord Leopard was born in the Everest Conservation Area.
Also, because they have just become independent and cannot compete with other snow leopards for territory, they often travel between the mountains. Their endurance and climbing ability are much better than those of pigs "raised in a greenhouse."
"Meow, meow!" Leopard, can we take a break?
The leopard above... considering that he was so strong, Yu Yiyun decided to unilaterally call him Qiangqiang... He scratched the rock with his claws and turned his head to look at Yu Yiyun.
"Huh?" Why are you still chasing me? I don't have any emergency syrup!
"Hoohoo!" Where exactly are you going to encircle your territory? The top of the mountain?
If we had known that the alien leopards were so domineering, we would have definitely changed mountains, as there are plenty of mountains in the Himalayas.
After being chased for so long, looking around, there are no rocks to jump over.
Qiangqiang had no way to retreat, so he shook his tail and continued to sprint towards higher places without looking back.
As long as I run fast enough, the syrup can't catch up with me!
He had never climbed the mountain, had no idea how high Mount Everest was, and had no idea what it meant to 'climb to the top'.
But Qiangqiang knows that every mountain has a peak.
As long as you climb to the top, you can go around and reach a wider world to find new territories.
Pigs have extremely poor stamina. They have been running and jumping and have almost exhausted their endurance. They are so tired that they gasp for breath after every step.
He raised his cat-like head and looked at the unfathomable mountain top. Yu Yijun wanted to retreat in a cowardly manner.
As a result, when he looked up, Qiangqiang was in a strong posture and continued to move forward.
Zhu Mi gritted his teeth and roared with full energy:
“Meow!”
Brave Leopard, not afraid of difficulties!
When two snow leopards go mountain climbing, they naturally don't need to follow the route planned by humans.
Qiangqiang is two years older and has 17,520 hours of climbing experience, which is far more than the most experienced human climbers.
The route he chose was steep and dangerous, but it would get him to the top of the mountain the fastest.
In his short life, Qiangqiang has conquered too many mountains and knows the limits between himself and the mountains.
On several occasions, Yu Yijun was terrified watching from below, fearing that the ice surface where he was landing would not be able to bear the weight and would suddenly crack, causing Qiangqiang to roll off the cliff.
Fortunately, Pig's worries were unnecessary.
It is well known that cats' reaction speed is 7 times that of humans, and snow leopards' insight into the environment is unparalleled.
Even if the ice cracks, Qiangqiang can dodge in time and jump to a safe area.
Yu Yiyun followed him, dancing all the way on the cliff, and finally managed to climb to a height of about 8,000 meters.
The 1000-meter gap does not seem to be difficult when placed on a flat surface. The passing line for the physical test for fragile college students is 4 minutes and 30 seconds, and many people can run under four minutes.
However, if you put the 1000 meters vertically, the difference is huge!
The oxygen at an altitude of 8,000 meters is thinner than that at 7,000 meters, which has reached the limit of human climbing without oxygen.
Even though snow leopards have species advantages, their tolerance to low oxygen environments is greater than that of humans.
However, the surrounding low temperature and low pressure environment seriously affects the activity of snow leopards.
Even Qiangqiang, who was agile and more adapted to the environment of the Everest Nature Reserve, began to walk intermittently, breathing heavily after every step.
Before I knew it, the sky turned dark and then bright.
As the sun rose the next day, Yu Yiyun could vaguely see the outline of the peak.
The eternal ice and snow above this road is like clouds, and perhaps has never left any footprints of any land creatures.
They are already here.
As long as you climb the last section, you can witness this beautiful but lonely scenery.
“Hoo, hoo…”
Qiangqiang was so tired that he stood diagonally on the snow slope and turned his head, wanting to discuss with the foreign leopard:
"Leopard, please let me go."
"Can I give you this mountain?"
"Meow?" Qiangqiang, you finally want to have breakfast?
"Meow!" I have eaten the marmot. After we finish climbing the mountain, I will catch a blue sheep for you to eat!
Qiangqiang heard the foreign leopard's excited tone and knew that he would most likely not let him go.
Tired and hungry, Qiangqiang lay down on the spot, with an attitude of "you can kill me or cut me up as you please".
Yu Yiyun gathered strength with her hind legs and leaped to his side in a few steps. She lowered her head and nudged Qiangqiang with the tip of her cold nose.
Then she lay down beside him, leaning against him, snuggling together on the narrow and cold edge of the cliff, praising Qiangqiang crazily.
"Meow." Qiangqiang, you are so awesome!
"Meow." As long as you climb to the top of the mountain, you will be my only brother!
"Meow..." If you can carry me up the mountain...
"Huh!" You talk too much!
"Meow, meow!" Okay, okay, I won't carry you then!
If Qiangqiang really agreed, and Yu Yijun was still worried about rolling down the cliff, she would be his scapegoat and fall like a snow leopard sandwich.
“Meow.”
Zhumi fell on Qiangqiang, rubbing against him affectionately, using their body temperature to keep each other warm.
It has been sunny in recent days, and the average temperature on the top of the mountain is less than minus 20 degrees Celsius. For snow leopards that can withstand temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius, it is not impossible to survive.
But now is midsummer, the snow leopards have just changed out of their winter clothes and are in the period when they are most intolerant to cold.
The leopard's summer coat is twice as thin as its winter coat, especially on the legs and torso, where the fur is almost half as short.
It was so sudden from summer to winter that even with a leopard skin coat, I could still feel the biting cold.
Qiangqiang was very wary of foreign leopards along the way, and even when he was chased to a dead end, he did not dare to get close.
At this moment, he was lying down, and the foreign leopard had already rested its head on his neck, belly to belly, but it had no intention of attacking.
Qiangqiang was confused by the warmth. He slowly closed his eyes and snored comfortably.
Meanwhile, at Everest Base Camp.
People rushed out of their rooms or tents, grabbed the telescopes on the top of the mountain, and watched the two snow leopards climbing the mountain from a distance.
From noon to dusk, until the sky was pitch black and one could not see one's hand in front of one's face, they reluctantly went back to sleep.
The sun rises early in the summer in Tibet. At 4 or 5 o'clock the next day, when it was still dark, the tourists at the base camp were already lining up to grab binoculars.
The two snow leopards near the top of the mountain were still walking and stopping.
Every step they climb concerns countless people, fearing that they might accidentally slip.
Seeing that the two snow leopards were tired from climbing and lay there to rest, everyone was worried, fearing that they had had enough fun and would return the same way and give up climbing.
There are eight hundred versions of speculation about the relationship between the two snow leopards.
Some people think they are mother and son, some think they are brothers, and some think they are a sweet couple.
In the end, it was the experts in the field of animal research who, through repeated analysis of imaging data, came to a more credible conclusion:
The snow leopard at the rear broke into the territory of the snow leopard in front, and the snow leopard in front was fleeing, so they were in a hostile relationship.
"Enemy, Opposition, Relationship~"
"I understand. No wonder the enemy is so easy to deal with!"
"Eating everything will keep my nutrition balanced. He runs away, he chases, he can't escape even if he has wings!"
"Wait, the two leopards are now lying together to keep warm. Will they continue to run and chase after each other after they wake up?"
"Yes, we are only 700 meters away from the top of the mountain. Don't give up now!"
"It's amazing that the snow leopard can climb to this position. Although it's only 700 meters away from the top of the mountain, it is the most difficult 700 meters. Many high-spirited challengers have failed here."
"Even if they didn't climb up, they are already a miracle in the biological world. You know, before them, the life with the highest habitat altitude was the Himalayan jumping spider, which lived on insects blown by the wind at around 7,000 meters."
"Yes! Even if they didn't climb up, they are still the uncrowned kings."
——Yu Yiyun doesn’t want to be the uncrowned king.
After climbing to more than 6,000 meters, he wanted to give up.
After climbing to more than 7,000 meters, he wanted to give up even more.
But now we can see the top of the mountain, and even though the next few hundred meters will be full of difficulties, Zhumi still wants to climb up and take a look.
Data shows that Mount Everest is in its growth stage, growing 7 centimeters every 100 years. Tomorrow's Mount Everest will definitely be higher than today's.
If the pig can't climb up today, it will be even more difficult for a snow leopard to climb to the top of the mountain next time.
"Meow." Qiangqiang.
"Meow~" We are the hope of all snow leopards! Come on~
"Huh..." Qiangqiang waved his paw in disgust, trying to drive away the annoying leopard.
As a wild snow leopard, Qiangqiang has no concept of "reaching the summit". In his eyes, climbing a mountain is just like walking for humans, a normal and basic skill.
Qiangqiang has climbed too many mountain tops, and he has no ambition to climb to the top of this mountain and let humans see who is the absolute ruler of the mountains.
As his body gradually warmed up, Qiangqiang shook off his fur and planned to return to the foot of the mountain along the same route.
Just after jumping half a step, Qiangqiang heard a wronged and pitiful cry.
"Meow?" Leopard, are you leaving?
"Meow?" I've been warming you up for so long, are you going to leave me?
Yu Yiyun blinked her amber animal eyes and stared at Qiangqiang.
"?"
Qiangqiang couldn't understand what the foreign leopard meant and stared at him in confusion.
"Meow!" Trashy leopard!
Seeing that he didn't respond, Yu Yiyun meowed angrily and turned around to challenge the summit herself.
"Huh!" So you wanted to go up! Why didn't you say so earlier?
Through the pig's behavior, Qiangqiang finally got the correct meaning, and he spread his paws and jumped up in two or three steps.
"Huh~" Come up, I'll lead the way for you.
After just one day of knowing each other, Qiangqiang has already realized that alien leopards are not very good at climbing mountains.
On the way up from below, even though Qiangqiang was leading the way, the foreign leopard still gasped for breath and never caught up with him.
Qiangqiang has climbed countless mountains, so he certainly knows that the last few hundred meters to the top of the mountain are particularly difficult to climb.
Especially such high mountains, which are both physically demanding and difficult to find prey, all snow leopards are unwilling to climb.
Qiangqiang climbed up a bit and judged from the temperature he felt and the difficulty of climbing that this mountain was higher than other mountains and was the highest mountain he had ever climbed.
Since Qiangqiang was born, he has been staying in the Mount Everest Nature Reserve and has never seen the mountains outside.
He was a little curious and asked the foreign leopard, "Have you ever seen a higher mountain?"
"Meow!" Go!
"Huh?" Is there any place higher than my house?
"Meow!" The world's highest peak! Go, go, go!
"meow~" Go go go~
Qiangqiang didn't get an answer from Zhumi's fuss, and it was even more impossible for him to travel around the world to confirm whether his house was tall enough.
He looked at the top of the mountain and had the same thought as Yu Yiyun:
As long as I climb up, it will be the highest mountain!
"Hoo, hoo!" Leopard, climb faster!
Qiangqiang suddenly accelerated and jumped very high.
Yu Yiyun was so tired that she was half dead. Poor meow, meow, meow, begging Qiangqiang to wait for her.
People who often climb mountains know that the route to the top of the mountain does not represent the altitude.
Even if the vertical distance is only a few hundred meters, it is at least several kilometers to climb.
Even if Qiangqiang chose the shortest path, he still had to climb a very long mountain road.
With only a few hundred meters left, Qiangqiang’s strength was almost exhausted and he had to cool down for a few minutes after each jump.
Yu Yiyun stuck close to him, rubbing against him, encouraging him that he was the most powerful snow leopard in the world and the first leopard in recorded history to reach the highest point on Earth.
Although Qiangqiang doesn't understand the fancy words, the emotional value is full.
He gathered strength in his hind legs, and with two final big leaps, his paws finally landed on the highest point.
“Meow——”
Yu Yiyun used all his strength to crawl forward and became the second snow leopard in the world to reach the highest point.
The air on the top of the mountain was cold, low-pressure and thin. The two leopards could no longer make any sound and could only stare at the sky and gasp.
At the Everest Base Camp, which was nearly four thousand meters away in vertical distance, people who were closely watching the snow leopards climbing the mountain gave deafening cheers on their behalf.
"ah!!!"
"They really climbed up! Miracle! The tenth wonder of the world!!"
“It only takes two days for a snow leopard to climb up, but it takes us weeks or even months.”
"They climbed up from the side peak, which was an almost vertical slope, while we had to climb from the ridge."
"Now that you mention it, they're even more powerful!"
"So, why did they climb Mount Everest?"
"Only humans need motivation and reasons to do things, but snow leopards don't. What we see as miracles may be because they simply want to see their home from a high place."
Qiangqiang walked along the narrow road on the top of the mountain from left to right, leaving behind plum blossom paw prints.
"Meow?" What are you looking at?
"Huff, huff." Leopard, there are really no blue sheep here.
"Meow." I'm hungry.
"Huh!" Great, let's go catch the mountain goat!
The two leopards were talking at cross purposes, but they successfully reached a consensus and jumped down the steep mountain road.
For the little man who challenges Mount Everest, going down the mountain is as difficult as going up the mountain. He must choose suitable weather, plan the route, and calculate the moment of arriving at the camp.
Leopards don't need to consider the weather and the path. For them, the whole mountain is full of roads.
The two snow leopards that created a miracle followed the wind and quickly descended to the area where the blue sheep were present.
Qiangqiang smelled the scent and was about to pounce on it, grabbing the mountain goat and rolling down the cliff together.
The pig, who was not very good at climbing, was one step faster than him. He jumped left and right and used his fat waist to knock the ibex off the cliff.
Piglet confidently came to the place where the ibex fell off the cliff, wanting to pick up the prey.
Before they got close, the female leopard, the lord of that area, slowly approached and howled loudly.
"Huh..." Qiangqiang immediately became scared.
Thinking back, he was driven to a higher place because he couldn't beat the female leopard.
"Huh?" Your sheep was taken away, what should you do?
Yu Yiyun looked at Qiangqiang, who had his ears pierced with fear, and was angry at him for not fighting back: "Use the spirit you had when climbing a mountain to compete with her!"
Qiangqiang was so timid that he kept hiding behind himself.
Yu Yiyun thought again, there were only two leopards in this area, and they would meet each other sooner or later, so there was no need to fight to the death for a sheep.
By next spring, Qiangqiang will have to shamelessly serve the female leopard as a licker.
For the sake of Qiangqiang's future, Himalayan Cupid endured hunger and looked for a new blue sheep.
This time he calculated the angle carefully and did not fall into the female leopard's territory.
Zhumi picked up the ibex and saw Qiangqiang hiding in a high place, looking at him eagerly. He took the initiative to make a friendly voice to invite him to have... uh, breakfast that was delayed for 48 hours.
"Huh~" Qiangqiang finally confirmed that the foreign leopard had no intention of taking his territory or prey, so he quickly pounced over to eat the sheep together.
After eating the mutton and having a good sleep, Pig got up and prepared to leave.
Qiangqiang suddenly woke up and asked him where he was going.
"Meow!" It's time for me to go home~
"Huh?" Where is your home?
“…”
Yu Yiyun remained silent.
He looked to the left and then to the right, lost in thought.
Yes, where is my home?
Relying on your sense of direction, don't even think about going home to rub your baby.
By the time Yu Yiyun successfully finds the direction of home, her younger brothers and sisters may have reached the age to become grandparents.
"Meow, meow!" It's okay!
Zhumi told Qiangqiang stubbornly: Do you know that the earth is round!
It is about 40,000 kilometers to circle the earth, and a snow leopard walks about 20 kilometers per hour. As long as Yu Yiyun does not eat, drink or sleep, it will only take a few months to swim across the ocean and cross the Antarctic... Woo woo woo, please be kind enough to show me the way!
The pigs don't have the confidence to go around the world, so the cats sneak up on humans and try to get some information from them.
The people gathered near Mount Everest come from all over the world and have complex language systems, so it was thought that it would take a lot of effort to unify them.
Unexpectedly, as soon as Yu Yijun approached a little cat, he screamed in surprise:
"Wow~ Are you the little leopard who came from the north, cosplayed as a mountain god for a few days, and then climbed Mount Everest? Where are you going to adventure next?"
The little snow leopard, who didn't expect that he had such a rich life experience, meowed weakly, trying to communicate with the little human across languages.
Of course the little guy didn't understand and continued talking to himself.
"Do you want to continue forward? Ahead is India and Southeast Asia. It's not safe no matter where you go. If you go to Southeast Asia, you'll lose your kidneys. If you go to India, you'll..." Little Man Mi looked at the little snow leopard worriedly and muttered, "Fortunately, you're a male leopard."
"Meow!" Piglet screamed loudly when he thought about the consequences of being an animal in India: I'm not going to India! I want to go home!
"I suggest you go back, honey~"
Yu Yiyun didn't even finish listening to what the little guy said. She immediately followed the direction pointed by the little guy and walked towards home without looking back.
The Himalayas are an arc-shaped mountain range with no clear east-west or west-north direction.
When pigs walk, they often make mistakes.
Fortunately, everyone who lives nearby or visits here knows that there is a little snow leopard in the mountains who loves to get lost.
In order to prevent Leopard from getting lost abroad, the two-legged beasts would deliberately block one side of the road and persuade him to turn back.
After wandering around for more than half a month, Yu Yiyun arrived at a familiar grazing area.
Before encountering the familiar leopard, I first encountered a familiar beast.
After a few months' absence, the little Tibetan fox in the Tibetan fox family has grown up and is hiding in the grass to practice hunting pikas.
The autumn wind is bleak, and the Tibetan brown bears, who must take advantage of this season to gain weight, are squatting in the distance, looking for an opportunity to pick up something.
Yu Yiyun smiled when she saw this.
History is always full of surprising similarities.
Zhumi did not disturb the Tibetan fox family and chose a thick tree to hang himself on.
Not long after, another musk deer came under the tree to eat grass.
Autumn is the season of harvest. This musk deer is much stronger than the previous one, but its eyes are just as clear and stupid, making it hard not to suspect that it is a deer.
After half a year of experience and growth, the musk deer has learned to be smart and will look up and around after taking a few bites.
The mother told the musk deer that her brother had once come to this grassland to eat grass and never returned home.
The little musk deer shook his ears and thought that his brother was so careless that he only thought about eating grass.
It should be like me, taking a bite of grass and looking to the left, there is no danger.
Look to the right again, there is no danger.
The young forest musk deer thought proudly: I am so vigilant, I will definitely not be caught by hunters!
The Tibetan fox, lying in ambush behind the musk deer, approached silently.
The pig hiding above slowly reveals its cat head.
The Tibetan brown bear, ready to pick up the bargain, dragged its huge body over.
The young Tibetan fox, which had just learned how to hunt, was the first to lose its patience and, imitating its elders, pounced on the musk deer.
"Woof!"
"yoyo!"
The little musk deer’s half-year of eating grass was not in vain. He reacted faster than his brother and successfully escaped before the Tibetan fox pounced on him.
Unfortunately, this little fool had very little experience in the wild and subconsciously wanted to escape home, but ended up running headfirst into the encirclement of Tibetan foxes.
Just at this time, Tibetan brown bears also gathered around.
Normally, brown bears are slow to move and cannot catch deer.
Now the musk deer is restricted in its movements by the Tibetan fox family. The Tibetan brown bear can use its weight advantage to kill the musk deer with one pounce.
The little forest musk deer was surrounded and turned around several times in a hurry. Finally, he seized the opportunity and jumped over the Tibetan fox's head.
The Tibetan fox missed its target and collided with the brown bear that was chasing it from behind, and the dog-eat-dog fight began again.
The musk deer realized that the road ahead was blocked and hurriedly fled under a tree.
To the back are endless mountains where snow leopards often appear. To the right are grazing areas where sheepdogs can be fierce and aggressive, and these are areas that their mothers warn them not to approach.
The musk deer was so anxious that it circled the tree several times, not knowing where to run.
The Tibetan fox and the brown bear fought for a while, but neither could do anything to the other, so they decided to catch the prey first.
“Meow.”
Turning to the fifth circle, a big leopard jumped down from the tree and accurately blocked the musk deer's way.
Little deer, so cute~
Hiss!
The Tibetan fox and the Tibetan brown bear pounced over and looked up to see that the musk deer they coveted had been hung on the tree again at a speed beyond their imagination.
A few little Tibetan foxes came over and saw the pig on the tree. They seemed to have activated some memory and started begging for food without any dignity.
Yu Yiyun licked the prey, poked his head out to look at the little Tibetan fox, and barked fiercely.
“Meow!” How dare you beg for food when you can’t even catch a deer!
"Meow!" You are the worst group of dogs I have ever seen!
Back then, when Yu Gouzi was as big as them, he had already started catching larger elk and moose.
"Yo..." Xiaolin Musk Deer cried out in grievance.
"yoo?" Brother Leopard, do you really want to eat me?
"Yoo." Mom is still waiting for me to come home for dinner.
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