Chapter 397 - 216: A Stone Spouting Water, How Strange
Chapter 397: Chapter 216: A Stone Spouting Water, How Strange
’Poisoned?’
’An An is poisoned!’
Yang Qi’s gaze sharpened, and he quickly scanned the surrounding area.
In the gap beneath the boardwalk railing, colorful scraps of wrappers were scattered about, along with a few bits of what looked like nuts and puffed snacks.
And on the ground in front of An An, there appeared to be a small, sticky puddle of a suspicious color.
’Someone fed it!’
’And they fed it something they shouldn’t have!’
Red pandas are omnivores, but their digestive systems are relatively fragile. Their diet consists mainly of high-fiber bamboo leaves, fruits, specific insects, and bird eggs.
Human snacks, especially processed foods high in oil, salt, and sugar—or worse, containing ingredients toxic to animals like chocolate, onions, or raisins—are a lethal poison to them!
Yang Qi frowned and keyed his walkie-talkie.
"Dispatch! Panda Hall, below the boardwalk, An An is in distress! Suspected ingestion of inappropriate food from visitors."
"Symptoms: isolation, hunched back, rapid breathing, possible drooling, and lethargy. Requesting immediate backup from a keeper and a Veterinarian!"
"Repeat, suspected poisoning, require immediate support!"
His speech was fast and urgent. His voice, crackling through the microphone to the dispatch center, made the technician on the other end nervous as well.
"Roger! An An in distress at the Panda Hall. Keeper and Veterinarian have been notified. Brother Qi, please proceed with preliminary treatment!"
Yang Qi ended the call, his eyes locked on An An below.
An An seemed to be in even more pain. Its body began to tremble slightly, its front paws, which had been clutching its belly, fell away weakly. It collapsed onto its side, letting out a faint, pained whimper.
’Can’t wait any longer!’
Yang Qi glanced around. There were too many visitors on the boardwalk. He could jump down, no problem, but it would cause a commotion.
He immediately spun around and sprinted along the boardwalk, found the small door to the staff accessway, swiped it open with his keycard, and rushed inside.
The passageway connected the back-of-house area and the inner enclosure.
Navigating the familiar route, Yang Qi passed through the inner enclosure, pushed open a small gate, and entered the red panda’s activity yard directly.
As soon as he entered the yard, a mixed scent hit him—animal musk, earthy vegetation, and the faint, sweet-sickly smell of rotting food.
Yang Qi immediately spotted An An curled up in the shadows.
It was already lying on its side, its limbs twitching slightly. Its eyes were half-closed, more saliva pooled at the corner of its mouth, and its breathing was shallow and erratic.
Yang Qi strode forward, but his movements were very gentle.
As he approached, he used the "Basic Spirit Communication Technique" and spoke softly.
"Don’t be scared, An An. I’m here to help you. Just hang on."
On the verge of unconsciousness, An An seemed to sense something. It forced its half-closed eyes open a crack, its clouded gaze, full of pain, falling on Yang Qi.
Yang Qi knelt beside it, careful not to touch it rashly.
A poisoned animal might lash out in pain.
First, he observed it carefully.
Around An An’s mouth and nose, besides the drool, he saw no obvious vomit or foam.
Yang Qi cautiously brought his fingers close to its nose and took a gentle sniff.
A strange odor, sweet yet with a hint of bitter almond, filled his nostrils.
’Chocolate?’
’Or some kind of preservative used on nuts?’
Both were highly toxic to red pandas.
Decisively, Yang Qi took out a Strengthening Pill from his Hundred Pouches Belt.
To anyone else, it would have looked like he was taking it from his utility pouch.
Although Yang Qi had the "Hundred Beasts Detoxification Powder," which was specifically for counteracting poison...
...An An’s condition was a systemic reaction, not what he considered a true poisoning in the strictest sense.
What it needed was physical fortification!
The Strengthening Pill was perfect for this, as it bolstered the body, enhancing resistance and immunity.
And so, Yang Qi crushed the pill, pouring the powder into his palm. He gently lifted An An’s limp head and brought the powder close to its nose.
"An An, take a sniff. It’ll ease your pain..."
Perhaps driven by its survival instinct, or maybe because Yang Qi’s reassurance was working, An An gave a weak twitch of its nose and inhaled some of the powder.
Soon, its shallow breathing seemed to steady ever so slightly, and its trembling lessened a little.
Seeing this, Yang Qi breathed a sigh of relief.
Still, he had to figure out what it ate as quickly as possible to provide targeted treatment.
Just then, the door to the staff accessway was thrown open, and two figures rushed in.
One was a keeper. The other was the park’s Veterinarian, Dr. Li, a man in his fifties, carrying a medical bag with a solemn expression.
"Brother Qi, how’s An An?" the keeper asked nervously.
"The situation is bad. Suspected poisoning. Its breathing is weak, and it’s having convulsions."
Yang Qi spoke quickly, moving aside. "Dr. Li, take a look."
Without a word, Dr. Li knelt down, opened his medical bag, and began his examination with practiced efficiency.
He pressed a stethoscope to An An’s chest, his brow furrowed. "Tachycardia, coarse breath sounds... pupils are sluggish to react to light..."
He then carefully opened An An’s mouth to look inside, sniffed the air, and his face turned grim.
"It’s highly likely it ingested something containing methylxanthines, like chocolate, or perhaps mycotoxins from certain nuts."
Dr. Li spoke rapidly. "We need to induce vomiting, then start an IV to detoxify and protect its liver and nervous system."
"Can you determine what it was? There’s a residue on the ground," Yang Qi said, pointing to the suspicious, sticky puddle in front of An An.
Dr. Li leaned in, carefully collected a sample with tweezers, and held it under his nose to smell it. He then closely examined the scattered wrapper scraps nearby.
"There’s the sweet smell of chocolate, and the sour scent of raisins?"
Dr. Li’s expression soured further. "Chocolate and raisins? Raisins are also nephrotoxic to canids and some carnivores. Who would do this!"