The children in the mountain village may not have much else to offer, but they are exceptionally good at climbing trees. The two hid the bag containing the rabbit in the bushes and quickly scrambled up the big catalpa tree.
The catalpa tree is a tree that rarely grows branches. Its trunk is tall and straight, and it is generally impossible for wild animals other than felines to climb it.
Just as the two climbed onto the tree branch, they heard a piercing meow and an animal darted out from the woods behind them.
At first glance, it looked like a cat, but a bit bigger than a regular cat, with dark spots all over its body. After it came out, it simply leaped up and scurried up the trunk of the catalpa tree.
"My God, this guy's up here!" Wang Tiancheng exclaimed in surprise.
Wang Tianxiao also did not expect that it would be such a coincidence that out of so many trees nearby, it just happened to run to the tree where the two were hiding.
He gripped the gun tightly in his hand, ready to fire at it at any moment.
The two brothers were nervous. When the guy who came up saw that there were two people hiding behind the leaves, he was so shocked that he fell off the tree and barely managed to grab a branch and hang in mid-air.
It bared its teeth and kicked wildly with its little paws. With great effort, it managed to grab the branch and climb up to lie on it, growling at the two of them warily.
Under the moonlight, the two realized that this guy looked exactly like a little tabby cat.
Despite its fierce appearance, the two brothers see it as cute and fierce, and instead of being afraid, they want to pet it.
“This is a leopard cat.” Wang Tianxiao finally remembered the little guy’s name.
It is a wild cat species with a wide distribution. In those days, their numbers were very large, and people hunted them extensively for their fur. Later, their numbers decreased, and the number of wild species also declined significantly.
Leopard cats were not included in the list of protected animals in later generations, but captive leopard cats appeared and could be used as pets or to participate in competitions. A good one could fetch tens of thousands of yuan.
"It seems to be injured," Wang Tiancheng said.
Wang Tianxiao also noticed that the leopard cat had a tear in its body, and blood stained half of its body, making it look very pitiful.
It was probably injured by the jackal earlier.
Now it was hiding in the tree, watching down warily while also keeping an eye on the Wang Tianxiao brothers. Its big eyes were filled with anger and tension, and all its fur stood on end.
"Look down."
A jackal slowly emerged from behind the bushes. It wasn't because it was old, but because one of its hind legs had been bitten off by something, leaving only half of it, which was why it had been abandoned by the pack.
Wang Tianxiao secretly wondered why the jackal was chasing the leopard cat. They belonged to the same food chain, one was fierce and the other was agile, so they shouldn't easily fight.
After the jackal came out, it first sniffed the ground and soon spotted the leopard cat in the tree.
The leopard cat was injured, and blood kept dripping onto the fallen leaves. The jackal's sense of smell was extremely keen, so it naturally couldn't miss it.
When the jackal spotted the leopard cat, it naturally noticed the two brothers in the tree. Instead of panicking, it circled the tree a few times before crouching down and licking the wound on its leg.
"This beast is trying to wait for a rabbit to run into a tree stump. Just like in the novels, they are clever," Wang Tiancheng said in surprise.
Wang Tianxiao remained silent, pondering why this jackal was so fearless. Even if it was ferocious, it was alone, while he had two people on his side.
Moreover, it is crippled, so its combat power is definitely greatly reduced.
They're no match for us at all.
Does it have other companions down there, and is it just fishing?
It's not impossible; these guys can be incredibly clever when it comes to food.
"Let's wait and see." Wang Tianxiao looked eastward through the gaps in the trees; it was still early before dawn.
But while they were willing to wait, the leopard cat couldn't.
Seeing the jackal licking its paws below, it quietly climbed behind the tree trunk, slipped down gently, and then leaped into the woods.
The jackal was caught off guard and its prey escaped, so it hurriedly gave chase.
They ignored the two people in the tree.
The two brothers waited a while longer, and as dawn broke, they slid down from the tree, carrying their bags, and groped their way out of the forest.
It was too dark to see clearly before, but after it got light, we realized they were actually less than a hundred meters from the edge of the forest, so we headed out. But after walking a short distance, we heard two soft meows.
Following the sound, the two slowly parted the bushes and soon found two kittens whose eyes had just opened in a thicket. They were soaked with dew and looked pitiful.
"It's probably the leopard cat's cub."
Wang Tianxiao could roughly guess why the leopard cat and the jackal were going around in circles; they must be hoping that their cubs wouldn't be eaten by the old jackal.
"Brother, look over there!"
Wang Tiancheng suddenly screamed.
Following his brother's gaze, Wang Tianxiao saw the leopard cat they had encountered that night lying in the fallen leaves dozens of meters away from the child, covered in blood and convulsing violently.
The two rushed over and saw that the leopard cat's neck had been completely torn open, its trachea had been bitten through, and a piece of flesh had been torn from its back. Although it was still alive, it would not last much longer.
Behind it was a long trail of blood, indicating that it had endured great pain and hardship to reach this point.
Wang Tianxiao felt a pang of sadness.
They weren't real hunters, and they weren't particularly ruthless, especially knowing that the leopard cat had been bitten like this because of its cubs, which made them even more reluctant to do it.
Given its speed and ability, the jackal couldn't have harmed it if it wanted to escape. But it couldn't bear to leave its cubs, so it kept lingering nearby, ultimately losing its life.
When the leopard cat saw the two brothers approaching, its pupils immediately turned vertical, as if it wanted to warn them. However, because it was too weak, its pupils began to droop again in an instant.
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