Chapter 28 Where is My Grown Son?

As dusk fell, the female leopard was resting in a tree.

Her hind leg had been injured, but after being bandaged by Xu Yang, it had healed very quickly.

By now, she could run normally.

After sleeping for a while in the tree, she opened her eyes and first reached out with her paws to find the little leopard.

She couldn't feel him.

The female leopard instantly opened her eyes and began searching the tree.

Where is my son?

Where is my big son?

The female leopard was somewhat confused; she searched the tree for quite a while but found no trace of the little leopard.

She looked around under the tree for a while, to no avail.

The female leopard was getting anxious.

She followed the scent of the little leopard and started searching outward.

Meanwhile, Xu Yang was still training Little Black in the yard.

He had just dug up wild ginseng in the mountain today, and he planned to rest tomorrow while also saving up uses of the Treasure Compass.

Entering the mountain carried risks, so it was best to accumulate three uses of the Treasure Compass, using one each time he went into the mountains.

This was the most efficient way.

At this moment, Big Yellow seemed to notice something and looked toward the gate.

Xu Yang also heard a noise.

It sounded like something scratching at the door, paws rubbing against the wooden gate.

Xu Yang stood up, walked toward the gate, and opened it.

Upon opening the door, he was stupefied.

It was the little leopard!

The fellow had actually run to his house again!

"Oh man, how did you get here?"

Xu Yang immediately crouched down to pick up the little leopard, then he began looking down the road outside.

Xu Yang was looking for the female leopard.

After all, this was a mountain village with many villagers and various domestic poultry and livestock.

The thought of a leopard entering the village was rather worrisome.

In truth, leopards were very alert and intelligent animals.

They would never venture into areas where humans lived.

On the contrary, medium-sized feline animals like Mongolian wildcats and lynxes sometimes ran into the mountain villages to steal chickens.

So, the little leopard came by himself, without his mother following.

"Where's your mom?"

Xu Yang asked the little leopard while holding it.

The little leopard blinked his small black eyes twice, unable to comprehend what Xu Yang was saying, but he seemed very happy.

"Don't you want your mom anymore?"

"Are you trying to stick to me now?"

Despite what Xu Yang said, he was actually quite pleased inside.

The little leopard was extremely cute and had a sturdy body, feeling satisfyingly fleshy to the touch.

Xu Yang looked outside again. With the little leopard gone, his mother must be anxious, but it was nighttime, and he definitely could not go into the mountain.

Nighttime was fraught with snakes, making it easy to lose one's way, not to mention wild wolves and venomous insects that lurked deep in the mountains and forests.

He could only wait until six o'clock the next morning. Once it was light, he would take the little leopard to find its mother.

However, it was not a good situation with the little leopard always coming over like this.

The village was populous, and there were some dangers.

Xu Yang thought it was time to set up his farm.

The farm was far from the village, where there were relatively fewer people, so even if leopards roamed the farm, they wouldn't affect anyone else.

Xu Yang brought the little leopard into the yard, and Little Black, seeing the little leopard, immediately stood up and curiously sized it up.

The little leopard, too, looked at Little Black with a naive gaze while in Xu Yang's arms.

It was the first meeting between the two little fellows.

Xu Yang placed the little leopard next to Little Black, and after a bit of tentative contact, they immediately began frolicking together.

Little Black was more mischievous, whereas the little leopard was still quite shy.

It wasn't long before Little Black was seen bullying the little leopard.

Xu Yang quickly picked up the little leopard.

After all, the leopard was bona fide national first-level protected animal.

A Pasture Dog bullying a first-level protected animal was quite preposterous when you think about it.

"Little Black, you have to understand, the world is unfair."

"It was born with the highest level of protection, and I have to pamper it."

"And you're just a Pasture Dog."

Xu Yang patted Little Black Dog on the head, telling it about the cruel realities of society.

Little Black Dog's tail wagged furiously, its face wearing a smile, still looking overjoyed.

Seeing this, Xu Yang smiled too.

"But it's okay, I will take care of you."

"It's late, time to sleep."

Xu Yang had Little Black Dog go back to its kennel to sleep.

He then carried the little leopard back to the house to rest.

The next day.

Xu Yang got up early, taking the little leopard with him and heading into the mountains.

He needed to hurry and return the child to the female leopard.

The female leopard was probably getting anxious.

Xu Yang hadn't expected the little leopard to become so attached to him.

Now, going to his own backyard had become routine, a situation that would be hard to explain if discovered.

Keeping a First Level protected animal privately in the yard was illegal, considered confinement, unless one could prove the First Level protected animal had come on its own accord.

After walking in the mountains for a while, Xu Yang saw the female leopard.

It had been hiding in the trees, but as soon as it noticed Xu Yang, it ran towards him immediately.

Upon seeing the Little Leopard in Xu Yang's arms, the female leopard first roared at it, expressing its dissatisfaction, then licked it.

Children grow up and leave their parents.

The little leopard seemingly had its own plans.

Generally, a little leopard would leave its mother to live independently at the age of one.

The female leopard was also fulfilling her responsibilities as a mother.

The little leopard looked innocent, unaware that there was anything inappropriate about its behavior.

At that age, a leopard's mind is still pure.

It was just fond of Xu Yang, so it went to find him.

Xu Yang led them deeper into the forest and then checked the female leopard's wounds.

Finding that the injuries had healed completely, Xu Yang removed the bandages from the female leopard.

Free from its restraints, the female leopard ran several laps back and forth.

It was very satisfied with Xu Yang's handiwork.

"Alright, I've brought you back to your mom, which is good. I was worried I wouldn't find her."

"You little rascal, don't run off willy-nilly or you might get caught by the villagers."

Xu Yang placed the little leopard next to the female leopard and cautioned the little one.

At this point, he had no plans to keep the little leopard, as it was a national First Level protected animal, after all.

However, the little leopard had already grown attached to him, and no matter where he hid, he couldn't escape.

Everything still had to do with a bottle of milk.

After spending some time with them, the female leopard carried the little leopard away, slowly disappearing into the depths of the forest.

Xu Yang stood behind watching, feeling a bit reluctant to part.

He had no idea when he would see them again.

And he wasn't sure if the two leopards would still be in the same spot if he went to look for them again.

Xu Yang had his own matters to attend to.

Having earned some money the other day, Xu Yang planned to lease a farm for himself, just 5 kilometers along the road leading out of the village, right beside the mountain.

His ultimate dream was to lease an entire mountain, given that in the Northeast, renting out mountaintops wasn't anything unusual.

But previously, without money, that was just a dream—plainly put, he lacked the capital to start a business, forcing him to either work for someone else or pass exams for public service jobs.

Now, things were different.

After selling the ginseng and making some money, Xu Yang could start preparing his own venture.

Open a small farm, raise some pigs, cattle, and sheep, occasionally head into the mountains to dig up some valuable mountain produce.

Even thinking about it was comforting.

Leasing land here was easy.

Given the vast expanse and scarce population, there was plenty of land available.

The local villagers owned their own courtyard space and the land allocated by the village.

The rest of the land belonged to the Beidahuang Group—that is, state-owned land, which could only be leased.

For people from outside the area to rent land, the price was relatively high: at least a thousand yuan per mu for a year's lease, meaning a hundred mu would cost a hundred thousand yuan.

Local people with rural household registration could get it cheaper, however.

Moreover, there were many ready-made farms in the area, with complete frameworks, water and electricity, land that was already plowed, and greenhouses set up, so one could move in with a suitcase and get started.

It's just that the facilities were a bit outdated.

The farm Xu Yang was planning to lease was one such farm.

He had plans and ideas for his own farm already.