Chapter 480 - 237: The Overreaching Gale Spirit Leopard

Chapter 480: Chapter 237: The Overreaching Gale Spirit Leopard

Yang Qi went inside empty-handed, a calm expression on his face. He gently pulled the door shut behind him.

The enclosure was warm and quiet, filled only with the sound of two leopards breathing evenly.

Yang Qi’s arrival immediately startled them.

The wild male leopard was the first to lift its head warily. When it saw clearly that it was Yang Qi, the vigilance in its eyes quickly faded, and a low growl rumbled in its throat.

"Two-legged Beast, what are you doing here?"

Hua Hua woke up as well. Seeing Yang Qi, her gaze softened, even holding a trace of gratitude, and she too let out a low growl.

"Thank you, Two-legged Beast."

She clearly understood that this Two-legged Beast was the one who had brought her "High-Rich-Handsome Leopard."

"Don’t mention it."

Yang Qi smiled and replied using the Basic Spirit Communication Technique, his gaze falling on the wild male leopard. "So, a month has passed. I came to see how you’re doing, and also to ask: do you want to continue living here with Hua Hua, or do you want to go back to your old mountain forest as we originally agreed?"

The moment Hua Hua heard this, she looked nervously at the male leopard beside her. Then, facing Yang Qi, she let out a series of urgent growls, her tone pleading.

"Two-legged Beast, he’s not leaving!"

Then she turned her head back to the male leopard, her eyes filled with urgency.

"You’re not leaving, are you?"

"You said it was nice here!"

The wild male leopard looked a little uncomfortable under Hua Hua’s intense gaze.

He hesitated, looking from the beautiful female leopard beside him to Yang Qi standing a short distance away. An unreadable gurgling sound came from his throat, and for a moment, he didn’t answer.

Seeing this, Yang Qi knew the leopard was struggling internally.

So, he began to speak calmly, "Let me help you analyze this. If you stay here, the advantages are: plentiful food, safety, medical care when you’re sick, and a steady partner."

"The disadvantages are: your territory is only this big, your movement is restricted, and you don’t have complete freedom."

"If you go back to the mountains, the advantage is freedom. The world is wide open. The disadvantages are: you have to hunt for your own food and might go hungry, you have to endure injuries and sickness on your own, it’s lonely, and you might not find another partner you like so much."

"Think it over carefully. Which life do you want more? Or, to put it another way, which life is better for you right now?"

The wild male leopard listened to Yang Qi’s analysis, his eyes flickering with thought.

Of course, he understood all of this.

The past month here had been the most comfortable time of his life.

He didn’t have to worry about food, he wasn’t constantly on guard against predators and rivals, and he had a beautiful female leopard for company.

But sometimes, he would gaze through the enclosure’s window at the sky and distant mountains, remembering the days of running free through the forest, sniffing all the different scents, and marking his territory.

He missed that feeling of freedom.

After hesitating for a long while, the leopard finally raised his head and looked at Yang Qi. With a hint of probing in his amber eyes, he growled his response.

"Could I... could I leave for a while, and then come back to live here for a while?"

Huh?

Yang Qi raised an eyebrow, looking at him with some surprise. "You mean, when you get tired of it here, you go out to the mountains to let off some steam and be free for a bit."

"And when you’ve had enough of the mountains, or you miss Hua Hua, or you get hungry, you just come back to live here?"

"Exactly!"

The wild male leopard seemed to think this was a brilliant idea. He nodded vigorously, his tone even taking on a hint of self-righteousness.

"It’s great here! No worries about food or drink, and I have a partner. It’s just that the place is a little small, not enough freedom."

"Going back to the mountains gives me freedom, but I have to find my own food. The feeling of being full one meal and starving the next is no fun, and it’s not easy to find a female leopard either."

"So isn’t living in both places the perfect solution?"

Hua Hua also seemed to think this was a good idea, looking expectantly from Yang Qi to the male leopard.

Yang Qi stared at the leopard before him, whose mind was clearly whirring with calculations and whose face screamed ’I’m so brilliant!’, and was momentarily speechless.

"In your dreams!"

Yang Qi responded irritably.

’What does it mean to give an inch and take a mile?’

’This wild leopard is a prime example.’

’Does he think he owns the Zoo?’

’Come and go as he pleases, treating this place like a free hotel, an all-you-can-eat buffet, and a "Leopard Club" on top of it all?’

"Do you have any idea what’s involved when you come here? You have to go through strict quarantine, adaptation, and observation. It takes manpower and resources to look after you. We have to bear the risk that you might get sick, stressed, or even attack someone."

"For you to just pop in and out, how much time, money, and energy would the Zoo have to spend serving you? Not to mention we’d constantly have to be on guard against you escaping and hurting someone."

"You might get that kind of special treatment if you were a national treasure like a giant panda—a flagship species designated for state-level protection, research, and display."

"On your own merits, you don’t qualify for this VIP-of-VIPs treatment."

The wild male leopard was a bit stunned by Yang Qi’s barrage of thoughts.

He shrank back a little, the smugness in his eyes vanishing, replaced by a sense of being wronged and confused.

He thought his idea was great.

’The best of both worlds!’

’Why is the Two-legged Beast reacting so strongly?’