Live Cat Appraisal: Starting with a Beast That's Got a Long Prison Record

Chapter 93 Tracks of Wild Leopard Cats

(The answer is leopard cat~)

The high-altitude camp was filled with a biting chill in the early morning, and the breath exhaled turned into puffs of white mist.

Everyone got up early to pack their belongings and prepare for today's in-depth exploration.

at this time.

Gu Ying's excited shout pierced the chilly air:
"Teacher Chen! Everyone come quick! An infrared camera has been detected!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Nian almost reflexively dropped the backpack she had just picked up and rushed over in three steps.

Gu Ying was holding up a tablet computer connected to a card reader, the cold light from the screen reflecting on her excited face: "Teacher Chen! Please help me see what this is! Is it a cat? It's too blurry, I can't tell!"

The shouts attracted everyone like a magnet.

The other members also put down their work and gathered around, curiously peering inside.

Everyone tacitly gave up the seat closest to Gu Ying to Chen Nian.

If the photo really shows a cat, then he is undoubtedly the most qualified to speak on this matter.

"Let me see!"

Chen Nian suppressed her racing heartbeat and moved closer to the tablet.

The screen is playing a nighttime video automatically recorded by an infrared camera.

The scene is a monotonous black and white, with the main subject being a clump of bushes swaying slightly in the night breeze, surrounded by deathly silence.

Gu Ying lowered her voice and said, "I personally set up this camera a few hundred meters outside the camp in that bush. When I retrieved it this morning, I found that the camera was a little crooked, as if it had been bumped by something. I quickly checked the recording and sure enough, I found something!"

As she finished speaking, the bushes in the lower right corner of the screen, which had been still, suddenly began to shake violently!

A shadow as nimble as a black lightning bolt flashed past the camera in a flash!
Then came a soft sound, as if something had struck the camera lens, causing the image to veer sharply, and the mysterious figure disappeared into the darkness.

The whole process was incredibly fast, lasting only about two seconds!

"Wow!" came a low gasp from the crowd.

"What was that? So fast!"

"I couldn't see it at all!" Even Chen Nian frowned; the speed was too fast and the shape was too blurry.

"Teacher Gu, could you play it in slow motion?" Chen Nian asked.

"no problem!"

Gu Ying skillfully operated the tablet, dragging the progress bar back to the key frame where the shadow appeared, and then switched to 0.5x speed playback.

This time, in slow motion, the outline of the dark figure could finally be vaguely discerned.

With its long, slender body and a proportionally long tail that maintains balance while running at high speed, its all-around running posture is full of the explosive power and lightness unique to felines.

"It's a cat."

One zoology expert stated this definitively.

“Judging by its size and movements, it’s definitely a feline!” another expert agreed.

Chen Nian nodded: "It is indeed a feline."

Whether it's a slender physique or a fleeting, agile silhouette, only wild cats meet this standard.

Gu Ying looked at Chen Nian expectantly: "Teacher Chen, can you tell what kind of cat it is?"

"If it's a rare species, this video and the subsequent discoveries would be fantastic material for a documentary!"

All eyes instantly focused on Chen Nian, filled with eager anticipation.

Chen Nian was immediately at a loss for words, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

He spread his hands and said, "You don't expect me to be able to identify its true identity just from this blurry shadow at 0.5x speed, do you? Even a god couldn't do that!"

"Uh"

Everyone then realized that their expectations were too high and laughed awkwardly.

Indeed, the shadowy figure in the video was fleeting, with no clear frontal view, no discernible markings, and even its size was difficult to determine accurately.

Being able to recognize it as a cat is already the limit.

It's really too difficult to determine the product category!

Lin Sen chuckled: "Wasn't it because your performance was too 'superhuman', Teacher Chen? It's a misunderstanding, purely a misunderstanding!"

"I understand, I understand." Chen Nian waved her hand with a smile: "Although the video may not show anything, we can go to the crime scene! Maybe we can find more direct evidence, or even, if we're lucky, clues to the original?"

"Then what are you waiting for? Let's go!"

"Yes, yes, yes! Let's go conduct an on-site investigation!"

The chill of the early morning air was dispelled by the crowd's high spirits.

One by one, they walked out of the camp with bright and energetic expressions.

Led by Gu Ying, the group quickly arrived at the infrared camera setup point.

Ahead lies the dense thicket of bushes that appeared in the video.

“I set up a total of five infrared cameras in the vicinity.” Gu Ying pointed to the edge of the bushes: “Only this one captured the movement, and the camera was knocked askew. I estimate that we should be able to find relatively clear traces nearby.”

In order not to destroy any possible clues, the group stopped at the edge of the bushes.

The space was left to Chen Nian.

Alone, Chen Nian, like an experienced detective, crouched low and carefully slipped inside.

His eyes were sharp as he carefully scanned the ground, the grass, and the low branches.

Soon, on a patch of soft mud, his gaze settled on a series of clear marks:

Footprints shaped like plum blossoms!

Small and exquisite, with clearly visible paw pads and claw marks!
Chen Nian's spirits lifted, and she immediately followed this precious trail forward.

He would sometimes bend down to examine the bushes closely, and sometimes push aside the branches and leaves blocking his way, walking through the thicket for several hundred meters.

Along the way, they also found some golden hairs hanging on the branches.

The footprints, appearing and disappearing intermittently, pointed to an area covered with weathered rocks. However, upon reaching the hard rock, all traces vanished completely, as if erased by an eraser.

Chen Nian stood at the edge of the rocky area.

Looking at the rugged mountains and dense vegetation in front of him, he sighed helplessly.

The tracking was forced to stop.

When he stood up and looked back, he realized that he had walked quite far. Looking back, his teammates were standing outside the bushes, looking at him from a distance.

This pursuit of several hundred meters was not in vain.

Chen Nian stood there, recalling all the clues she had collected.

Including the size, depth, and stride distance of the footprints, combined with the bushy environment of the discovery site and the fleeting glimpse of the agile figure, all the clues quickly gathered, filtered, and compared in his mind.

Finally, the image settled on the two golden hairs in my hand.

This is the most crucial clue.

The answer was already obvious in Chen Nian's mind!
Chen Nian's face instantly lit up with a smile of surprise and delight: "So it was you, little one! I really didn't expect that!"

He quickly returned to the edge of the bushes.

Seeing the smile on Chen Nian's face, everyone knew that something must have been discovered, and their gazes became even more eager.

"How is it, Teacher Chen? Is there any result yet?" Lin Sen asked impatiently.

Chen Nian smiled and held up two fingers.

"One good news and one bad news, which one do you want to hear first?"

"Of course it's good news!" Lin Sen answered quickly.

"The good news is," Chen Nian's gaze swept over everyone, her voice tinged with excitement, "I've confirmed the identity of this 'Night Rider'! He's one of the targets on our 'New Dragon Seven Cats' target list!"

"Wow!" The crowd erupted in delighted cheers!
No one expected that they would be able to spot a real wild cat on the outskirts of the camp!
This is completely different from what I saw in the shelter.

It's a pure, wild surprise!

"What is it? Tell me quickly!" Xia Qiyue couldn't help but ask, and even Gu Ying curiously leaned closer.

Chen Nian calmly took out her phone.

Quickly find an image, then turn the screen to everyone: "Look, that's it!"

"A magnificent hunter clad in leopard print, the leopard cat!"

On the screen, an elegant feline covered in dark rose-colored spots and stripes is looking back warily, its golden pupils gleaming in the sunlight, exuding a wild charm.

"A leopard cat?!"

Everyone was deeply attracted by the noble and mysterious figure in the picture.

Chen Nian then added a timely piece of scientific information: "Yes, it's a leopard cat, a Class II protected animal in China."

"Its size is similar to that of a domestic cat, but it is more slender and has longer limbs. In Sichuan, it belongs to the southern subspecies, and its coat color is usually light brown or light yellow."

"And this one should be light yellow."

He took out the clues he had collected and waved them around.

Then he pointed to the bushes behind him: "In this environment, the most likely candidate for leaving these footprints is a leopard cat."

Everyone was captivated by the leopard cat's beauty and the joy of discovering it.

Lin Sen snapped out of his reverie and asked, "What's the bad news?"

Chen Nian shrugged helplessly and pointed towards the rocky area: "The bad news is that the trail has completely died out there. The existing traces are not enough to support our continued tracking. Given the leopard cat's alertness and mobility, it's probably already several kilometers away deep in the mountains."

"Unfortunately, we have missed out on it for now."

Infinitesimal stepped forward at the opportune moment, patting Chen Nian on the shoulder with a beaming smile: "That's enough! Teacher Chen, this is already a huge surprise and a great start!"

He looked around at everyone, his voice full of encouragement: "The fact that infrared cameras were able to capture traces of leopard cats even in such an outer area shows that the ecology of the place we chose is excellent! This gives us great confidence in our exploration of the core area to come! I believe that even greater rewards await us ahead!"

"That's right!"

"Brother Liang is right!"

"A good omen!" everyone responded with smiles.

Then, everyone dispersed, still feeling quite exhilarated, and returned to the camp to pack their belongings.

At the request of Wuxian Xiaoliang, Chen Nian, along with Gu Ying and Xia Qiyue, returned to the place where the footprints and traces of leopard cat activity were found, and recorded the footage in detail.

The infinitesimal told Chen Nian.

The significance of documentaries lies in presenting, in the most intuitive and vivid way, the wonderful stories and shocking scenes that ordinary people are unlikely to experience or feel in their long lives, clearly and completely to the audience.

Chen Nianshen agreed.

The entire recording process was short; with Xia Qiyue's help, it only took less than ten minutes to complete.

After finishing their business, the three returned to their base and began packing their belongings.

Chen Nian seemed very excited.

Even the slightest trace left by the leopard cat was enough for him to gain a lot, gradually turning the knowledge he had learned into practical experience.

This made Chen Nian truly feel her own progress.

He couldn't help but imagine how shocking and exciting it would be to see a live leopard cat in the wild, or even observe it up close!
This thought filled him with energy, and he couldn't wait to sprout wings and fly deep into the mountains!

Sleeping side-by-side with wild cats!

With this surge of excitement, as the team set off again, Chen Nian opened her live stream and immediately shared this thrilling news with her long-waiting cat lovers:
"Fellow cat lovers! We have a major discovery to report! The infrared cameras outside our camp captured images of a mysterious visitor last night! After examining the traces at the scene, we have confirmed that it was a rare wild cat—a leopard cat!"

The live broadcast room exploded instantly:

"A wild leopard cat! Teacher Chen, you're not kidding me, are you?!"

"Holy crap?! Where was this filmed?! Let me see it! Let me see it!"

"Is it a leopard cat like Little Pi?!"

(Bengal snow leopard!)
　Thanks to the following users for their monthly tickets: 狂说剑, 提灯书仙, v云中月v, 书友6462, and 过客!
　　Thank you to all the cat lovers for sending your votes!

　　Love you guys!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)