41: Chapter 41: For fifty years of lifespan, he went wildly dancing on the minefield of national law.

The golden "Divine Beast-Catching Rope" was like a greedy viper, its sound cutting through the air with a shrill, piercing whistle.

The little beast, sleeping soundly on the obsidian, woke up with a start.

It was a sense of crisis originating from the depths of its Bloodline.

It was only the size of a puppy, its limbs still very tender, and those large eyes, pure as amber, were filled with confusion and terror. It subconsciously arched its back, its crimson scales bristling one by one, trying to make itself look fiercer.

"Awooo—!"

A childish roar squeezed out from its throat, sounding milky and soft; not only did it lack the majesty of a King of Beasts, but it sounded exactly like a newly weaned puppy acting spoiled.

It opened its mouth, trying hard to mobilize the Origin power within its body, wanting to spew out raging fire to force back the ill-intentioned human before it.

"Hoo..."

There was no raging inferno as expected.

Only a small cluster of orange-red flame wobbled out from its mouth, about the size of a standard one-yuan windproof lighter.

The flame held on stubbornly in the wind for a second, then went out with a "pfft" sound.

Leaving behind only a wisp of awkward black smoke.

The air froze for an instant.

"Hahahaha!"

Manager Zhang let out a peal of wild, bell-like laughter, shaking the large iron pot in his hands.

"Did you see that, folks? This is what they call a Divine Beast? This is a Fire Qilin? Too funny!"

While laughing, he didn't forget to narrate to the camera: "This little flame aim is pretty accurate, it just saves me from having to light the charcoal. It seems this little thing is not only delicious but also quite sensible, knowing it's about to go on the grill, it did the fire-starting work in advance."

The little Qilin seemed to understand his mockery, the terror in its eyes deepening, and it turned to scramble into the lava cave behind it.

Too late.

The golden rope descended instantly.

"Retract!"

Manager Zhang shouted, flicking his wrist.

The Divine Beast-Catching Rope tightened instantly, trussing up the little Qilin like a Zongzi.

"Woo—! Woo-woo!"

The little Qilin fell heavily to the ground, emitting a shrill, mournful cry.

It struggled desperately, its tender scales rubbing against the tough rope, producing a teeth-gritting "creak" sound. The rope tightened further, digging into its soft flesh, causing its whole body to twitch in pain.

Manager Zhang didn't care at all about the prey's pain.

He strode forward, grabbed the little Qilin by the fur on the back of its neck, lifted it into mid-air like a chick, and thrust the camera into its face.

"Got it! Family! Live capture of a wild Fire Qilin!"

Manager Zhang's large face, distorted by excitement, occupied half the screen, spittle flying everywhere.

"See these scales? See these little horns? Genuine and authentic!"

He stuck out his tongue to lick his lips, his eyes wandering greedily over the little Qilin, as if he were appraising a piece of prime pork belly.

"According to the System's recipe, this kind of cub has the most tender meat, especially the ribs, with the perfect fat-to-meat ratio. No marinating needed, just charcoal grill it, sprinkle some salt, and it's a delicacy on earth!"

"Eating it can increase your lifespan by fifty years! This isn't just eating meat, brothers, this is eating fate!"

The popularity of the live stream exploded, and the comments densely covered the entire screen.

"Awesome! The streamer actually caught it!"

"Can you really eat this thing? Won't you face divine retribution?"

"It looks so pitiful, it's still crying..."

"The bleeding hearts above, get lost! Don't you understand survival of the fittest? This is a food stream, not Animal Planet!"

"Already called the police. This is definitely a nationally protected animal, streamer, just wait to go to jail."

Manager Zhang glanced at the comments and sneered.

"Call the police? This is a Secret Realm! It's a lawless land! Besides, who says Qilins can't be eaten? Every page of the Classic of Mountains and Seas writes about how to eat them!"

He directly ignored those voices of doubt.

In his eyes, this little thing represented experience points, attribute points, and the hope of immortality.

For these, let alone killing a Qilin, even if he had to burn down this Phoenix Mountain, he wouldn't care.

"Come on, let's get the fire started first."

Manager Zhang hummed a little tune, skillfully set up the barbecue grill, and poured a bag of high-quality smokeless fruit wood charcoal into the trough.

Then, he drew a cold, gleaming skinning knife from his waist.

"This Qilin has thick skin, you have to make the cut here at the neck, and the bleeding must be fast, otherwise the blood will coagulate in the meat and it will be gamey."

He gestured at the little Qilin's neck, the cold blade sliding against the warm scales.

The little Qilin seemed to feel the approach of death.

It stopped struggling.

In those large, originally clear eyes, crystalline tears welled up. A hot tear rolled down from the corner of its eye, dripped onto the obsidian, and instantly evaporated into a puff of white steam.

It was just born less than a month ago.

It hadn't seen the outside world yet, hadn't learned to run, and hadn't even learned how to control its own flames.

It looked at the sky in despair, emitting an extremely weak, mournful cry.

"Woo..."

"Crying? Crying is useless, try to be reborn as a human in your next life."

Manager Zhang grinned hideously, raised his knife, and was about to stab into the little Qilin's throat.

Just at this moment.

"Rumble—!"

A low rumbling sound suddenly came from the sky, like an ancient giant beast roaring in the clouds.

Following that, a violent current of air descended from the sky!

"Whoosh—!"

The gale wind swept up the sand, gravel, and fallen leaves on the ground, and even the charcoal that had just been poured out, smashing directly into Manager Zhang's face.

The barbecue grill was blown over directly, the newly lit flame extinguished instantly, and various seasoning bottles shattered all over the ground.

"Damn it! What's going on? Where did this demon wind come from?"

Manager Zhang was blown about, swaying unsteadily, and almost lost his grip on the knife. He had to raise his arm to shield his eyes, squinting, and struggled to look up at the sky.

At this moment, the audience in the live stream was also dumbfounded.

The screen shook violently, the wind howled, as if the apocalypse had arrived.

The originally clear sky suddenly darkened.

A massive, jet-black, sci-fi-looking steel fighter jet had, at some unknown point, come to a hover directly above this valley.

Its massive fuselage blocked the sunlight, and its huge turbine engines spewed blue exhaust flames, tearing the surrounding clouds to shreds.

Underneath the fuselage, a line of white spray-painted characters was particularly glaring in the sunlight—

[National Bureau of Abnormal Affairs]

"That is... a plane?"

Manager Zhang was stunned.

He had played many games and seen the world, but how could this type of heavy armed transport plane, which he had only seen in sci-fi movies, appear in such a deep mountain forest?

Before he could react.

"Zzz—"

After a burst of harsh static, a voice amplified by a loudspeaker, cold, majestic, and carrying an unquestionable tone, exploded in the valley like a thunderclap.

"Illegal poacher below, stop all your actions immediately!"

"I am Gu Changan, Deputy Director of the National Bureau of Abnormal Affairs."

"Drop the weapon in your hand, put your hands on your head, and kneel on the ground!"

The voice echoed in the valley, shaking Manager Zhang's eardrums painfully.

The aircraft cabin door slowly opened.

Two figures appeared at the cabin door.

Gu Changan was wearing a black combat uniform, covered by a dark trench coat, the wild wind whipping his coat tails. He wore tactical goggles, looking down at Manager Zhang below from a high vantage point, as if looking at an insignificant ant.

And beside him, Chen Beixuan, his hands and feet locked in shackles, was poking his head out, staring fixedly at the scene below.

When Chen Beixuan saw the overturned cumin powder, chili powder on the ground, and that skinning knife that had almost cut the Qilin's throat, his eyes instantly turned red.

That redness was not because of murderous intent, but because, as a Cultivator, he felt extreme heartache and anger at this act of squandering a heavenly treasure.

"Cumin?! Chili powder?!"

Although Chen Beixuan's voice didn't have a loudspeaker, relying on his Cultivator's internal energy, it still clearly carried downwards.

He pointed at Manager Zhang below, his fingers trembling, that was from being angry.

"That is a Fire Qilin! It is an Auspicious Beast of heaven and earth with a fire attribute! What it contains within its body is the Pure Yang Fire!"

"You actually want to sprinkle chili powder? Adding oil to the fire will cause the Spiritual Qi structure to collapse, the meat to become tough, and the texture to be completely ruined!"

"And cumin? How can that kind of mundane spice be worthy of a Divine Beast's Physical Body? That is a profanation of the ingredients! It is an insult to the Heavenly Dao!"

"It should be sealed with ten-thousand-year cold ice, then steamed with Tianshan snow lotus, only then can its spiritual essence be locked in!"

Chen Beixuan was heartbroken, wishing he could jump down and strangle that idiot who didn't understand cooking.

Manager Zhang below was completely bewildered.

He was still holding the knife, head tilted back, staring blankly at these two "lunatics" in the sky.

What is all this?

Aren't they here to arrest someone? Why are they discussing cooking techniques?

"Shut up."

Gu Changan glanced indifferently at Chen Beixuan beside him.

Chen Beixuan immediately stopped making a sound like a duck with its neck choked. He glanced at the collar on his neck, shrank back resentfully, still muttering "squandering a heavenly treasure" and "unreasonable."

Gu Changan withdrew his gaze and looked back at the ground.

He raised his hand and pressed his palm downward.

The transport plane began to descend slowly, the huge airflow crushing the surrounding trees until they snapped one after another.

"I don't want to repeat myself a second time."

Gu Changan's voice was a few degrees colder than before, without a hint of emotion.

"According to Article 341 of the Criminal Law, and Article 1 of the newly promulgated Law on the Protection of Anomalous Creatures."

"You are suspected of illegally hunting and killing a National First-Class Protected Divine Beast, and the circumstances are particularly egregious, and the methods are extremely cruel."

"Now, you have two choices."

"First, put down the knife yourself and cooperate with the investigation."

Gu Changan's fingers tapped lightly on the cabin door's armrest, making a rhythmic sound.

"Second, I will help you put down the knife, and then let you experience what is called 'physical enforcement of the law'."

As his voice fell, in the cabin behind him, an entire row of fully armed special personnel uniformly pulled back their gun bolts.