Super Zoo

Having just spoken, Suming himself felt it was somewhat inappropriate, thinking that his words had sounded odd—it wasn't like he was running a harem. What was this about "sisters" and what did "Family prosperity depends on harmonious relations" even mean...

"Anyway, that's the gist of it. Just get the spirit of it! To make things clear, I'll give you both names."

Suming scratched his head and pointed at the Queen Bee, "Right, you're a honeybee, so from now on you'll be known as Mi Hou, and for you..." he then pointed at the Asian Giant Hornet Queen Bee, "You're an Asian Giant Hornet, so you'll be called... Chest Hou... no, that name is too risqué, better to call you Hu Hou."

Mi Hou and Hu Hou lifted their heads, their four large compound eyes simultaneously looking at Suming. They both waved their small emergent wings to indicate they understood.

Due to the bee swarm incident, Suming had already spent four full days in the mountain. He had only requested three days of leave, and together with the weekend, that totaled only five days. Counting the days, it was time to head back to the zoo.

After the loss of their Queen Bee, the combined bee forces were no longer a significant threat. Within just a day, over a thousand honeybees had defected to join him, and the remaining allied forces no longer launched attacks, wandering aimlessly in the valley like headless flies.

As one side weakened and the other gained strength, especially with the addition of another Queen Bee in Su Army, the bird squad could temporarily stay to help strengthen the divisions. With the situation well in hand, Suming didn't need to personally oversee it; the responsibilities could be left to the two Queen Bees to slowly usurp the original allied territory and forces, and taking over the entire valley was just a matter of time.

Before the sun had set, Suming, with three birds and one wolf in tow, followed the original path out of the canyon, leaving the valley behind.

"Don't wanna go home! Don't wanna go home!" The two parrots kept squawking all the way.

It wasn't just them; both Haidong Qing and Huiya also dragged their feet on the way back, showing a very reluctant demeanor.

After being cooped up in cages for so long, the rare chance to run wild felt like having holidays, and time always seemed to fly exceptionally fast.

"Quit it, there will be plenty of chances to come out in the future."

With Suming leading the way, they didn't encounter any other incidents. And when night fell, they continued to camp out. Haidong Qing caught a wild rabbit for Huiya to practice on, and with the previous experience dealing with the mountain rat, Huiya killed the little bunny quickly and efficiently.

Watching the little rabbit getting its neck bitten through by Huiya, Suming felt somewhat distressed, but soon after the fragrance of roasted rabbit meat started drifting through the air, any pretense of concern promptly dissipated with the breeze.

With Huiya experiencing bloodshed for the second time, it hadn't grown much in size, but there was a noticeable change in its demeanor, or perhaps in its mentality. Beside Suming, it still behaved like a little pet, but when acting on its own, its eyes betrayed a fierce and cold vibe.

At night, Huiya also joined the night watch, lying beside Suming's tent and squinting as if napping.

With the group of animals keeping watch, Suming had nothing to worry about and quickly fell into a peaceful sleep.

In the middle of the night, while Suming was half-asleep, he suddenly felt something wet on his face. He opened his eyes and saw Huiya licking his face.

From the distant woods came the rustle of footsteps.

"Someone there?"

Suming immediately snapped awake, grasping his dagger and crawled out of the tent. He concealed himself in the nearby bushes and watched the direction of the sound with caution.

He wondered who would be walking in these deep, old woods at night. The night was the realm of animals, and even experienced hunters wouldn't wander the mountains after dark; it was very dangerous.

Could it be a wild man? There were legends that someone once spotted traces of wildmen in Qinling, and the nation had even sent teams to search for them, but they came back empty-handed, and the matter was dropped.

If it really was a wild man, that would be a rare sight—Suming wouldn't be content until he saw it with his own eyes. Being a bold adventurer, he sucked in a deep breath and began to crawl slowly forward.

Meanwhile, after briefly communicating with the three birds using his spiritual power, Haidong Qing was perched motionless on a tree overhead, and the two Diamond Parrots were huddled together just a few dozen meters away, apparently having spotted the other party.

However, a few flashlight beams flickered on the edge of a stream ahead, shattering Suming's wishful thinking of finding the "wild man"—wild men wouldn't use flashlights.

"Catch the thief! Catch the thief!"

"Let go of me! Let go of me!"

The parrots' odd cries suddenly pierced the night's tranquility in the mountains; the sounds were coming from exactly where the flashlights were.

"What's going on?" Suming mustered his courage and moved closer while also sending Er Gouzi to fly over and observe from a closer range.

By the dim moonlight, he saw a line of people walking up the stream towards the mountains.

From their attire, these people were clearly not ordinary hikers. Each was dressed in uniform climbing gear, laden with both large and small packs, and some even carried long 'sticks' on their back, which were unmistakably guns!

In the middle of the group was a tall, burly man with a cage the size of half a person strapped to his back, containing the two Diamond Parrots.

"Keep squawking, and I'll blow you two away!" a man drew a pistol and fiercely jabbed it twice against the cage housing the Diamond Parrots.

In his other hand, he also held a cage. Feedback from Er Gouzi indicated that a monkey with light golden fur and a white face was confined within—it was the nationally protected Qinling Golden Monkey.

Suming realized it was poachers he had stumbled upon!

Among the poaching team, the one leading turned back and chuckled eerily at those behind him, saying, "Mr. Qian, if you blow them away, don't blame me for docking your share."

"How much could these two parrots be worth? At most 50 to 60 thousand, right? We have bigger deals coming up, no need to burden ourselves with these two nuisances," Mr. Qian retorted with some dissatisfaction.

"Nuisance! Nuisance!" the parrots squawked back at Mr. Qian.

Before the leader could respond, the burly man carrying the parrots turned his head and sneered, "50 to 60 thousand? Mr. Qian, looks like you've been wasting your time; you don't have any eye for value. These two parrots are cunningly clever. With a bit of training, they could sell for 100 to 200 thousand!"

"So what!" Mr. Qian argued, unimpressed, "We're here for a major trade. If we find what we're looking for, the buyer is willing to pay 1.5 million US dollars. What's 100 to 200 thousand Huaxia currency compared to that?"

"Whether that thing even exists is still up for debate, and if we don't find it, this whole trip will be a loss. Catching other animals, at least we can make back the investment," said someone else from the team.

The group continued talking among themselves, but their leader, clearly losing patience, barked, "Enough chatter, keep moving!"

The group fell silent once more and continued their journey deeper into the mountains along the stream.

From the conversation of the others, Suming deduced they were not disorganized poachers but a coordinated group, and this foray into the mountains was aimed at a particularly rare, specific target.

His father had been killed by poachers, and Suming harbored a deep hatred for poachers. Besides, the two Diamond Parrots being captured by the poachers meant he had to attempt a rescue. Suming lay on the dry leaves and issued instructions to Haidong Qing and Huiya, "Follow them, but don't get spotted!"