The Pallas's cat or manul (Otocolobus manul), a small wild cat occurring from western Iran to eastern Mongolia in regions of montane grassland and shrub steppe.
At first glance, this might seem like a mother snow leopard (Panthera uncia) playing with her kitten, but a closer look reveals a lack of distinct spots on the cloudy fur of the smaller cat. The smaller, fully grown feline is actually a Pallas’s cat a small wildcat whose range across Central Asia overlaps with its better-known cousin.When Donglin Zhou saw a snow leopard stealthily approaching a mother Pallas’ cat on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, she was astonished. ‘Both species are hard to see at any time,’ she said, ‘let alone together.’
[ID: a photo of a Pallas's cat and a photo of a leopard cat. the Pallas's cat is a small cat with a very dense coat. its face is very square and it looks "grumpy." the leopard cat is a small cat with a light yellow coat with brown spots. end ID]
Shen Jiu, sitting elegantly, angrily, and beautifully, surrounded by pallas's cats, and his fan hiding half of his face. One of the cats was sitting on his lap carrying the same expression as the Peak Lord's.