Working in a Zoo with Beast Taming System

Chapter 291: Chapter 181: Now It’s Fair (Part 2)

"Incredible!"

The guide, Lao Jiang, couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration, "With this big bird helping from the sky, finding people will be much faster."

"We’ll walk and wait for news from Qi Zai," Yang Qi replied.

"Alright."

The team set off again, their morale clearly boosted by Qi Zai’s appearance.

Regardless of the final outcome, Yang Qi’s unique skill of "eagle-taming" and his miraculous ability to communicate with animals had already won everyone’s admiration.

About ten minutes later, a familiar, clear cry echoed from high above.

Everyone looked up to see Qi Zai’s silhouette circling repeatedly over an area to their front-left, letting out a series of short cries.

"He found something! Everyone, follow me!"

Yang Qi called out, leading the team to advance quickly in the direction Qi Zai indicated.

Qiao Fei and the others, their spirits lifted, quickly kept pace with Yang Qi.

Guided by Qi Zai from the air, the team passed through a dense forest and soon heard faint moans and cries for help from up ahead.

"Down there!"

A rescue team member shouted.

The group sped up, arriving at the edge of a deep ravine thick with vegetation.

Looking down, they saw a figure curled up at the bottom of the ravine, with a backpack and other belongings scattered nearby.

It was one of the four missing people.

"Help... I’m here... Save me..."

Hearing the movement and barking dogs from above, the young man at the bottom of the ravine cried out with all his might, his voice choked with tears.

"We’ve found someone! Lower the ropes! Medics, get ready!" Qiao Fei immediately commanded.

Team members lowered the ropes, and two medics were the first to rappel to the bottom of the ravine to begin an emergency examination and treatment of the injured man.

The man’s left leg was clearly broken and he had multiple scrapes, but he was still relatively conscious.

Qiao Fei also went down into the ravine. While helping to secure the injured leg, she began questioning him rapidly.

"What’s your name? What happened? Where are the other three?"

The injured man, gritting his teeth against the pain, cursed out, his words a mixture of lingering fear and fury.

"My name is Liu Hao..."

"Yesterday morning, near a grove of old cedar trees, we ran into a pack of wild boars. It was Wang Chenglong!"

"That lunatic! He had to show off and provoke the biggest boar, throwing rocks and shouting, pissing off the whole pack!"

"The boars chased us all over the mountain, and the four of us got separated."

"I panicked and ran blindly, then I fell into this damned place... My leg’s broken, and my communicator is smashed..."

"That son of a bitch, Wang Chenglong!"

...

Qiao Fei’s expression darkened. She asked a few more questions about the general location of the attack and the directions they had scattered.

But Liu Hao had been focused only on escaping for his life. His memory was a jumble, and he couldn’t give a clear account.

Qiao Fei picked up the satellite phone and quickly reported to the other search teams and the command center that they had found one of the injured and relayed his statement.

Afterward, she assigned four of the stronger team members to carry a stretcher and necessary supplies, escorting Liu Hao out of the mountains for medical treatment first.

Throughout the entire process, Yang Qi remained silent.

...

With a smaller team, the search continued.

Half an hour later, Qi Zai returned with another discovery.

The team followed Yang Qi, rushing to a rugged, rocky area where they found the second man in the corner of a crevice.

This man had been bitten on the calf by a venomous snake. Although he had applied a simple bandage, the wound was severely swollen and had turned black. He had fallen into a semi-conscious state, and his condition was critical.

The medics immediately administered an antivenom injection and treated the wound.

Seeing this, Qiao Fei didn’t dare to delay. She decisively split off another four team members to escort this injured man out of the mountains.

As noon approached, the team continued searching under Qi Zai’s guidance.

A little after twelve noon, Qi Zai discovered the third missing person by a clear but remote mountain stream.

This man, suffering from a high fever due to being lost, hungry, and terrified, had collapsed weakly by the stream. Fortunately, he was found just in time.

After an examination, Qiao Fei once again sent four team members with medicine and food to escort the feverish man out of the mountains, simultaneously reporting the latest situation to the command center.

...

Having found three of the missing people in a row—all injured, but at least not in mortal danger—the atmosphere among the search team had lightened considerably.

However, it seemed their good luck had run out.

It was nearly one in the afternoon, the most unbearably hot time of day in July and August.

The scorching sun beat down on the mountain forest, and the air itself seemed to shimmer and distort with heat.

Although Qi Zai the Beaked Eagle was a king of the skies, even he struggled to maintain a high-intensity aerial search for long in such high temperatures.

Yang Qi decisively blew his whistle, calling Qi Zai back.

He had it rest in the canopy of a large, leafy tree, where the foliage was so dense it blocked out almost all sunlight.

The team also paused, resting in the shade to rehydrate and escape the most vicious heat of the day.

It wasn’t until after three in the afternoon, when the sun’s intensity had lessened slightly and a light breeze stirred through the forest, that Yang Qi had Qi Zai set off again.

This time, it didn’t keep them waiting long.

About half an hour later, Qi Zai circled back, letting out an indicative cry.

"Everyone, keep up!"

Yang Qi called to the team, and they moved quickly in the direction Qi Zai indicated, with Hu Zi and Leopard running at the very front.

After passing through a relatively flat secondary forest, they faintly heard barking and human voices up ahead.

Everyone tensed up, thinking they had found Wang Chenglong, but the barking didn’t sound like it was just Hu Zi and Leopard.

They quickened their pace and pushed aside the last of the bushes. The scene before them made everyone freeze in surprise.

Standing in a small clearing in the woods was not the expected Wang Chenglong, but a short, dark-skinned old man who looked to be around sixty.

He wore a faded old set of camouflage, a straw hat, and had a water canteen and an old woodcutting knife hanging from his waist—the typical attire of an old mountaineer.