Chapter 54: True or False Jungle Hunt

“Gua?”

Yu Xueqing stepped out from the grass, placing two large and small Chinese alligators onto the fake lawn’s green cloth, then turned back into the grass and pulled out three even smaller Chinese alligators, setting them before An Sheng.

“Gua?”

The one large and four small Chinese alligators stared at each other, their wide, dopey eyes filled entirely with confusion and unease.

For social Chinese alligators, they typically live in groups of three to five, with the larger ones leading the smaller ones to rivers to hunt fish, shrimp, and crabs.

But recently, two massive creatures came to the river, treating Chinese alligators like sunflower seeds—so they were forced onto land to dig for insects.

Now, the Chinese alligators were all anxious.

Because Yu Xueqing had picked them all up, one by one, from the grass.

If they were separate, it’d be fine—but if anything went wrong, it would be a massacre for them.

“Gua—”

The Chinese alligators stared blankly, unsure what would happen next. The four juveniles looked at the adult; the adult looked back at the four juveniles and let out a pig-like grunt.

“Looks like lifting a gas cylinder with one hand isn’t even Qing’s limit.”

An Sheng leapt onto the back shell of the 1.7-meter-tall, nearly 1.8-meter-long Chinese alligator, eyes wide with awe, staring at Yu Xueqing as she adjusted her clothes and plucked leaves from her hair.

Outside the Xiabei region, where wild Chinese alligators occasionally appear, all Chinese alligators seen anywhere else in Xia Country are captive-bred.

The true wild population numbers barely over a hundred, and every single wild Chinese alligator carries a GPS tracker.

The adult Chinese alligator Qing brought back, An Sheng estimated, weighed around eighty jin.

A household gas cylinder, fully filled, weighs roughly sixty jin.

Qing’s single-arm strength has already been proven capable of lifting eighty jin—no one knows how much force she could unleash in a full-power punch.

An Sheng stared at Yu Xueqing with stars in his eyes.

“Ying ying ying~ Master is so amazing! You caught so much food at once—I can’t possibly eat it all, I’m just one fox!”

As Yu Xueqing was tidying her clothes, she heard her little fox’s awed exclamation and saw his starry-eyed expression—she couldn’t help smiling, then bent her arm, revealing her ordinary-looking muscles:

“Of course I’m amazing—otherwise, how would I have hunted food for you every single day?”

“Even though I’ve had to pay a heavy price on my phone during hunting, overall, the situation isn’t too bad.”

Spending ten or so yuan daily on groceries was a noticeable expense for Yu Xueqing, who still received family welfare.

It was only because she was currently on summer break, back in her hometown of Jiule City—otherwise, the costs would’ve been terrifying.

“Come on! Let’s go eat lunch!”

Yu Xueqing called out to the Chinese alligators. The adult alligator, dazed and confused, followed her toward the crescent-shaped building.

“What the hell!?”

The reception girl at the crescent building’s front desk screamed upon seeing Yu Xueqing arrive.

She’d seen people keep giant lizards, turtles, even venomous snakes with their glands removed as pets.

But keeping a whole group of crocodiles as pets? In two years on the job, she’d never encountered such a vicious, brutal pet owner.

She wasn’t keeping pets—she was ruling over a crocodile pack like a queen!

After screaming, the receptionist scrambled up the metal backdrop wall in three quick steps.

“???”

The receptionist’s terrified shriek froze everyone else—staff, Yu Xueqing, and An Sheng—in place.

An Sheng and Yu Xueqing, human and fox, simply stared as the receptionist in her professional skirt-pants sprinted up the metal backdrop wall.

The receptionist, in her frantic climb, had moved so wildly that her Bearbrick-patterned underwear was fully exposed as she reached the top.

Yu Xueqing’s expression slowly merged with that of the Chinese alligators—her face clouded with confusion, her gaze shifting between the receptionist and the crocodile group as she slowly spoke: “Huh???”

“Gua?”

The Chinese alligators pulled their necks back, stepping two paces away—they were clearly stunned by the receptionist’s scream.

“There are crocodiles on land attacking people! Security! Security!”

Amid the chaotic screams, Yu Xueqing finally understood what was happening.

“Huh? Aren’t you all supposed to be boarded pets at the Pet Paradise?”

Yu Xueqing looked in surprise at the group of dazed Chinese alligators.

“Gua?”

The Chinese alligators seemed to understand what Yu Xueqing said—the adult alligator opened its mouth and sighed helplessly.

“So that’s how it is.”

After a mental machine translation, Yu Xueqing fully understood what the Chinese alligators were saying.

The alligators said they’d always lived in the river, but recently two speedboats had raced across it, scaring away all the small fish and shrimp.

With nothing left to eat, they’d been forced onto land to dig up insects for survival.

“So… what exactly did they say?” An Sheng, squatting atop the adult alligator, gave Yu Xueqing a peculiar look as she suddenly understood.

As a canine fox, An Sheng could understand the meaning behind canine and feline vocalizations.

But with these dumb alligators, who only grunted like frogs or pigs, he understood not a single word.

【Why are there crocodiles during the day? Shouldn’t they only come out at night? Damn it! I’ve already reported this to the police—there are crocodiles in Changle River!—Chen Zhiyu, hearing the commotion downstairs, suddenly clenched her pupils, recalling how, during overtime, she’d seen a dragon-like terrifying shadow lurking in the Jianghe under moonlight.】

【Wish fulfilled: Revival of prehistoric creatures (the Green-to-Forest Plan has been underway for over a decade—now, at this very moment, its first signs are emerging. With vegetation flourishing, some creatures long vanished from human sight may have quietly recovered.)】

Suddenly, a new wish filled with panic flashed into An Sheng’s wish list.

The woman named Chen Zhiyu had apparently witnessed the monster in Changle River.

It was an enormous crocodile—and Chen Zhiyu had seen it appear, shortly before news broke of a fisherman drowning in the hills of Changping Mountain.

An Sheng turned his head slightly, fixing his gaze on the person who had sincerely wished to him.

She was a woman in her mid-twenties, with sun-kissed skin, dressed in a professional skirt suit—but the hem was torn, revealing a pair of black, shapely legs clad in non-slip boots, holding a compound bow.

The bow’s shaft was short, but at both ends were massive pulley systems, and it carried a built-in concealed infrared sight.

The moment An Sheng saw that compound bow, his pupils shrank sharply in shock.

Holy shit! A bear-hunting compound bow!

Qing! Changping Mountain Pet Hospital has a hunter!

A hunter who can pierce a giant black bear with one arrow!

(End of chapter)