The Panda Enclosure was allocated with one of the biggest plots of land by the Shenzhen Provincial Zoo of Cultivation Arts since it housed one of the national treasures of the country. Yet the amount of viewing space was still not sufficient for the sea of cultivators and tourists that just wanted to take a look at the cute… fat and lazy pandas.
Although the name stated that this was the Panda Enclosure, the physical barriers were only there for decoration as the enclosure was protected by a series of high grade barrier defence inscriptions and there was even a Grade 10 guard protecting the Pandas. This guard was the highest grade cultivator out of all the guards stationed in this Zoo since the rest of the enclosures were monitored by Grade 3 to Grade 5 Zoo Guards depending on the value of the animals.
“Argh, I can not see anything!” Peppers wanted to blow the entire place up just so that she could have a good view of the pandas. Jin tried to dissolve her explosive thoughts by picking her up and placed her on his shoulders.
“Ah!” Peppers grabbed on to Jin’s head tightly and it nearly made him fall. Zeru and Milk immediately supported Jin while Yun secretly took a few photos with her brand new phone, which she happened to create when they were at the main entrance. She needed to use Jin’s phone as a base to allow the system to duplicate all the functions and abilities of the phone since Jin’s phone was uniquely coded just for him.
“Wow! The scenery is really beautiful!” Peppers managed to balance herself and took in the view. As the physical barrier did not extend that high up and the defence barrier inscriptions were hidden, Peppers was able to have a good view of the entire area.
There was a miniature hill in the enclosure and on it, there was a small patch of bamboo. Right at the base of the hill was a playground for the younger pandas to have fun.
“Oh look! Is that Jie Jie and Lee Lee?” Peppers squinted her eyes a little to try and get a better look and they saw two pandas taking care of their little baby panda.
“Ah, it seems too far away to take a proper selfie with the baby panda.” Jin felt troubled. In his mind, he thought of taking a picture of just the pandas and then using technology to crop and fuse his face into the picture.
“Erm no Jin, that will not work.” Yun placed her hand on Jin’s shoulder and shook her head. She did not know that Jin was that desperate.
“Hear Ye Hear Ye! It’s the last week of the event to take photos with the baby panda!!” A crier rang his bell as he shouted with a large signage on his chest. Jin walked towards the man shouting with Peppers on his shoulders.
“You’re saying that I can take photos with the baby panda?” Jin questioned.
“Yes, mister! It’s the last week of the photo taking with the baby panda! Join the fight arena down at the amphitheatre, which will start in half an hour. All participants who can last at least five minutes against our cultivation masters will have the right to take a photo with the baby panda as well as a photo of their cultivation animal as a memento.” The annoyingly loud man showed the signage he was holding to Jin.
“Where do I sign up?” Jin asked and the loud man just asked Jin to register via his phone with the QR code provided at the bottom of the signage. Jin put Peppers down and took his phone out to scan the QR code.
“Heh! Uncle, you should just quit now and not waste our time waiting for the fight arena.” A group of young brats surrounded Jin and Peppers as they lifted their heads in arrogance.
“None of your business!” Peppers retorted at the brats and one of them stared fiercely at Peppers. “Do you not know who we are?!”
“I am sorry we are in your way. Peppers let’s go.” Jin immediately held Peppers back and walked in the other direction away from them. Jin knew that there were always these kinds of irritating cultivators that wanted to flaunt their strength onto others. That was also the reason why he did not wish to go to the Zoo earlier.
Fortunately, he decided to come today. If not, he would have failed the baby panda mission or perhaps he would have had to take a harder route just to complete the mission.
“Hey Hey Hey! Who said that you are allowed to go just because you apologised. Bow down to us now! And say that you are sorry for bumping into the members of the Three Eyed Tiger!” A few of the Three Eyed tiger members ran quickly to surround Jin and Peppers as their leader spoke loudly.
“Poor soul, to encounter the Three Eyed Tiger.” Some of the onlookers were whispering what bad luck the man must have to meet that group.
“Yea, he should just kowtow and get away from them.” Another onlooker gave his views.
“What’s the Three Eyed Tiger?” Milk asked one of the onlookers.
“Oh, foreigner? Anyways, they are a well known notorious Triad group in Shenzhen. Offend them and like the Third Eye in their name, they will never forget their hostility towards you. ” The onlooker spoke.
“Is it that normal for this triad group and their members to make a ruckus here?” Milk continued to ask.
“If they are outside the zoo? No, the police will stop them at all cost. However, the Zoo’s rules make it a playground for these triads to play punk at times. Of course, if it gets too outrageous, the Zoo Guards will stop them” Another onlooker commented.
“If they are notorious, why would they even allow them to lurk around?” Milk could not understand. Shouldn’t the guards do something about it?
“Dirty Politics and Money, my dear.” An old lady smirked as she gave her comments to Milk and smiled at Yun.
“Grandma Yuan?” Yun realised that the district guardian just so happened to be in the same zoo as Jin. “How bad can Jin’s luck get?” Yun could only sigh at his double whammy.
Meanwhile, the Grade 10 Zoo Guard rolled his eyes. “Just my luck that a duel happens near my enclosure.” He reported the situation to his higher ups and continued to monitor the situation. “Understood, Panda-10, we will send a guard and medic over to clean up after them.” The Zoo Headquarters replied as if it was a normal occurrence.
Yes, it was indeed a normal occurrence in the Zoo of Cultivation Arts since cultivators were allowed to duel anytime in the Zoo. While it technically also a public area, there were sufficient guards and CCTVs around to oversee any duels from afar. The Zoo even had a field hospital to treat any immediate injuries if required until the ambulance from the main hospital arrived.
“So what will it be Uncle? Are you going to bow down to me, Zhen Kao Peng” The leader of these goons, Kao Peng sneered.
“No.” Jin yawned a little as he scratched his head. Peppers sniggered when she saw Jin yawn as she took out her staff and pointed it at them. “Nope, you guys are going to be the ones doing the kowtowing instead.”
