Tiger, I rejected the iron rice bowl.

After slowly munching for an hour, my stomach finally felt warm and my hunger was relieved.

He looked up at the remaining half of the roe deer carcass, shook his head, and decided to save it for breakfast the next morning.

Then, he raised his head and looked around at the dark mountains and forests.

Night had fallen, and the only sound in the forest was the rustling of leaves in the wind. There wasn't a single star, and it was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

Wang Yu hesitated for a few seconds, thinking to herself, "Forget it, I'll just stay here and rest instead of going back to the camp."

"It's so dark outside. What if we step into a poacher's trap on the way back? That would be terrible!"

Once he made up his mind, he immediately took action.

It used its front paws to dig up the snow around it, layering it over the remaining roe deer carcass and carefully pressing it down to seal it tightly.

This method allows for both low-temperature preservation and masking the smell of blood, thus preventing other predators from competing for the food.

After finishing with the food, Wang Yuyu followed the footprints she had left behind, carefully retracing her steps, and found the tracking ball she had thrown away halfway, which she then put in her mouth.

After wandering around the area for a while, I chose a dense, sheltered grove of trees, curled up and lay down inside, placing the small ball beside me, but keeping my ears perked up, alertly watching for any movement around me.

At the other temporary camp, Tang Li had already finished preparing dinner with a team member.

The aroma of hot food quickly filled the camp. She called out to the surrounding area, summoning Niu Zhihua and the others back to prepare for dinner and the night.

Eight people sat around a roaring campfire, holding bowls full of food, with steam rising from them.

The firelight illuminated everyone's cheeks, dispelling the chill of the mountain forest night. Everyone ate their hot meals in small bites while chatting casually, relieving the fatigue of the day.

Tang Li ate a couple of mouthfuls of rice, looked at Niu Zhihua beside her, and couldn't help but ask, "Uncle Niu, how many traps did you remove today? How much longer do we have to stay here before we can leave?"

Niu Zhihua swallowed the food in his mouth, glanced at Tang Li, and said in a calm tone, "Today, we'll dismantle that high-voltage power grid first, and we've also found 23 traps in the surrounding area, including animal traps, wire snares, and nylon rope snares—all sorts of things."

"There are so many?!"

Tang Li's voice suddenly rose, her worry instantly replaced by anger, "These poachers are truly insane! To hunt, they've set up so many deadly traps in the forest!"

"How much is that?"

Niu Zhihua remained calm, as if he were talking about something completely ordinary, and slowly recounted his past experiences: "When I was young, my teammates and I caught a habitual poacher."

"There are more than two hundred traps that we have just extracted from him, not to mention those that he deliberately concealed and did not reveal."

"Today's quantity isn't even a fraction of what others get."

These words stunned everyone sitting around the campfire.

No one expected that poachers would lay so many traps in the mountains, turning the forest into a deadly maze.

Tang Li was just as shocked as everyone else when the image of a "secure job" suddenly flashed through her mind. He had gone out hunting when it was getting dark and hadn't returned yet!

Her heart sank, and she nearly dropped the bowl in her hand. She quickly stood up and exclaimed, "Oh no! Iron Rice Bowl went hunting before dark and hasn't returned yet!"

"With so many hidden traps here, could he have accidentally stepped on one and gotten stuck?"

Seeing this, Niu Zhihua reached out and pressed down on Tang Li's arm, calmly reassuring her: "Don't panic, that's a wild Siberian tiger, it's very vigilant, it's not that easy to fall for it."

"Isn't he wearing a tracking device? Why don't you call the research base now and check if there's anything unusual about the tracking information? That way you'll know what's going on."

"Yes, yes, yes! Make the call! I'll call right now!"

After being reminded, Tang Li's panicked emotions calmed down a bit. She rushed into the pink tent next to her, rummaged through her backpack for a long time, and finally took out the satellite phone. Her fingers were trembling as she dialed the research base's number.

The others in the camp also stopped chatting and looked towards the tent, straining their ears so as not to miss any sounds from inside, their faces showing a hint of worry.

The call was quickly answered, and a staff member from the research base spoke through the receiver: "Hello! This is the Linhai City Wild Siberian Tiger Research Base. How can I help you?"

Upon hearing the other party's voice, Tang Li took a deep breath, trying to keep her tone calm, and hurriedly said, "Hello, I'm Tang Li. Are you still monitoring 'iron rice bowl' jobs?"

"Oh, it's Miss Tang!" The researcher on the other end of the phone smiled immediately upon hearing her name, glanced instinctively at the location tracking on the computer screen, and said in a light tone, "Yes, yes, we've been monitoring it 24/7!"

"Iron Rice Bowl just successfully shot a roe deer. The location data shows he's still near his prey and eating it right now!"

"We caught our prey! Thank goodness nothing happened!"

Upon hearing this, Tang Li's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, instantly settled down. She let out a long sigh of relief, and her tense shoulders finally relaxed.

The researcher noticed the urgency in her voice and couldn't help but ask anxiously, "Ms. Tang, is something wrong? Is there something amiss with your job?"

"No, no, it's the situation on our side."

Tang Li quickly explained, "Today, near the electric fence we found, we discovered 23 poacher traps."

"He went out hunting before dark and hasn't come back yet. I was worried that he might have accidentally stepped into a trap and gotten stuck, so I called to check on him."

The researcher breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said, "Ms. Tang, please rest assured, we are monitoring the location and movements of 'Iron Rice Bowl' the entire time. If his location remains unchanged for an extended period or any abnormal situation occurs, we will notify you immediately!"

"Okay, thank you so much!"

Tang Li finally smiled. "Then please keep a close eye on things. If anything happens, be sure to contact me immediately!"

"No problem! Don't worry!" the researcher replied confidently, then hung up the phone.

Tang Li put down the satellite phone, breathed a sigh of relief, patted her chest, straightened her clothes, and then stepped out of the tent.

Upon seeing her emerge, everyone in the camp immediately turned to look at her, their eyes filled with concern.

Tang Li's anxiety completely vanished, and she smiled as she said to everyone, "It's alright, it's alright! The research base said that the 'iron rice bowl' has caught a roe deer, and it's eating right now. Everything's normal!"

Upon hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, looked away, picked up their bowls and chopsticks again, and continued eating and chatting. The atmosphere in the camp returned to its previous relaxed state.