Forest Guardian: I Really Don’t Want to Be a Beast Tamer

The dense forest was deep and serene.

Patches of sunlight filtered through the thick canopy, dappling the ground covered in grass and leaves, casting fragmented shadows of a person and their two pets.

This time, Chen Yuan's mindset was more relaxed as he entered the mountains, but he had made more thorough preparations compared to the last time.

He had specifically brought his heavy-duty hiking backpack, purchased during his college days, with a sleeping pad strapped to the outside. Inside were warm clothes. His attire didn't resemble that of a forest ranger but rather a hiker.

Although it was midsummer, the average temperature in the Qinling Mountains was only 22 degrees Celsius, thanks to its geographical and ecological environment.

Therefore, before the Rebirth of Qi, the biggest concern when traversing the Qinling Mountains wasn't encountering wild animals but hypothermia.

However, Chen Yuan had prepared thoroughly. Furthermore, after becoming a Beastmaster, his physical fitness had improved significantly, allowing him to face harsh environments with ease.

Nevertheless, Song Guohao, considering Chen Yuan was entering the mountains alone, intended to have Zhang Hao accompany him, so they could look after each other.

Chen Yuan thought about it and chose to decline.

Entering the mountains alone, Chen Yuan only needed to take care of himself.

Following the same path as his previous mountain entry, Chen Yuan felt increasingly strange as he walked.

He could understand the trees becoming taller and more lush after the Rebirth of Qi, but why did he feel that the mountains and landforms had subtly changed?

He was clearly walking in the same direction, but the surrounding environment was slightly different. Where there had been a path, a rock wall now blocked the way, and areas that had been devoid of paths now had grass and trees.

Chen Yuan stopped, took out his phone, and opened the previously downloaded satellite map, carefully comparing it to the surrounding environment.

Soon,

He expressionlessly put his phone back in his pocket, squinted at the sun, then surveyed the surroundings and said in a deep voice, "Fortunately, the mountains and landforms haven't changed much, only slightly."

"However, I still need to report this situation to the association after returning to the village."

Chen Yuan continued forward, comparing the offline satellite map and marking the locations where discrepancies occurred, so his progress was somewhat slow.

It wasn't until around three in the afternoon that Chen Yuan finally arrived at the location of the Flame Fruit tree.

"Sang Biao."

"Sang Biao."

Chen Yuan walked around the Flame Fruit tree several times, calling out the Flame-Tailed Fox's name.

His voice echoed in the area, startling a flock of birds, provoking a burst of beast roars, and revealing pairs of red, glowing eyes in the dark corners.

"Woof woof woof!"

Cola bared its teeth, its fur standing on end, fiercely barking with a highly oppressive aura. A gust of wind suddenly arose around it, swirling up dead branches and fallen leaves, fluttering Chen Yuan's clothes.

Instantly, the beast roars ceased, and the pairs of red eyes disappeared.

Cola's intimidation was immediately effective.

Chen Yuan couldn't help but sigh, "It's really difficult to move an inch in the wild without a pet beast accompanying you now."

"Woof woof ~"

Cola affectionately nudged his trouser leg, its tail wagging wildly like a blooming dandelion, as if its previous ferocity had never existed.

"Cola, can you smell Sang Biao's scent?" Chen Yuan suddenly asked.

Upon hearing this, Cola put its head to the ground, circling the Flame Fruit tree several times, its nose constantly twitching—it smelled all sorts of scents, some sweet and delicious, making it unable to help swallowing saliva;

some were fishy and foul-smelling, making Cola's face scrunch up in a grimace;

some had a foxy odor, making Cola involuntarily frown and turn to look at Chen Yuan: "Woof woof woof."

"Did you smell it?" Chen Yuan asked.

"Woof." Cola nodded.

Seeing that it was still early, Chen Yuan said, "Then lead the way."

Letting Cola lead the way, it wagged its tail while sniffing the ground to track Sang Biao's scent. Chen Yuan also called Spark, who was circling in the air, to his side to act as a personal bodyguard.

This way, he felt completely safe.

A cold wind occasionally swept through the deep forest, but as long as Spark stayed by his side, he could feel a gentle aura blowing over his body at all times, feeling no chill at all.

Chen Yuan turned his head to look at Spark and smiled, "Winter must be very happy with you around."

Spark was stunned at first, then turned away, avoiding Chen Yuan's gaze, her cheeks slightly red, whispering: "Chirp."

"You're basically a mobile warm baby with infinite energy and super power."

Spark: "?"

No mistake, one head, one hair, one inside, one appearance, one in, one look!

An hour later,

The originally dense and deep forest gradually became sparse, and more and more sunlight shone in from all directions, and the field of vision became wider and wider.

In front of a thicket, Cola suddenly stopped. It frowned and moved closer to the ground, trying hard to find the Flame-Tailed Fox's scent, but all kinds of messy scents suddenly intertwined here, like streams flowing into a river, and even it couldn't tell which scent belonged to the Flame-Tailed Fox for a while.

"Woof"

Helpless, Cola lowered its head and walked to Chen Yuan dejectedly. Its originally swaying fluffy tail had now become a wilted foxtail grass.

It waited for Chen Yuan's punishment.

Chen Yuan smiled slightly: "Cola, you have successfully completed the mission."

"Woof?"

Cola suddenly raised its head and looked at Chen Yuan in confusion.

"Look ahead."

Chen Yuan reached out and pointed straight ahead—pushing aside the leaves blocking his view, a deep, serene, sapphire-blue alpine lake unexpectedly burst into view.

This lake was backed by a steep rock wall, and the mountain behind it pierced straight into the clouds like a sharp arrow. The other three directions were all dense forests. A breeze blew, and the patches of trees swayed like a green ocean.

For a time,

the green of the forest, the blue of the lake, and the gray of the mountains seemed to be close to each other in three different layers, yet they were clearly distinct.

Chen Yuan had seen this alpine lake on the satellite map and remembered its name—Crescent Lake.

And on the shore of Crescent Lake, a large group of figures gathered, and Chen Yuan saw the Flame-Tailed Fox he had been searching for among them.

"Woof woof."

Seeing the Flame-Tailed Fox, Cola was particularly excited, calling out repeatedly, about to rush out in the next moment.

Chen Yuan grabbed the excited Cola: "Don't rush, let's see what's going on first."

The person and their two pets hid themselves with the help of trees and branches, observing what was happening by the lake from the shadows.

They saw the group of figures form a circle, leaving a space in the middle, and two huge figures slowly stepped out.

Looking closely, the appearances of these two figures were almost identical, only slightly different in size—their shapes were similar to deer, their bodies covered with thick, dark brown fur, their bodies covered with star patterns, and a clear moon pattern printed on their chests, and a pair of dark brown horns extended from their heads.

From the appearance characteristics of this pet beast, Chen Yuan quickly recognized its identity—a dark-type extraordinary creature, the Star-Moon Deer.