60: Leave? It's probably too late.

"Alright, alright, everyone stop arguing. What Old Three said must be true. Look, what's that?" One of them stopped the quarrel and pointed out his discovery to the others.

Following the direction he pointed, the group saw a pungent pile of animal droppings.

"That's right, there's definitely a tiger! I used to work at a zoo; I've seen tiger droppings before, and they look just like this. It looks like it was dropped a day ago," one man said happily after squatting down for a closer look.

Inside the cave, Ai Yue heard their conversation and couldn't help but pat Da Wang's head, whispering fiercely, "Da Wang, couldn't you poop somewhere further away? You did it right at the entrance? You're really something..."

Da Wang shook its head gently and tilted it up proudly, as if to say its droppings were very useful—leaving them at the cave entrance was a warning to nearby animals that this was its territory and they weren't allowed here.

If Ai Yue understood its meaning, she would have rolled her eyes and mocked it for overthinking. There were no animals left on the entire mountain; even if there were, they wouldn't dare wander around. Not like you, who goes into every nook and cranny and ends up attracting people who want to eat your meat.

"Since there really is a tiger, let's split up and search. We'll meet back at this cave entrance in an hour. Once you find it, don't act recklessly; we'll kill it together."

After agreeing on a strategy, the group prepared to scatter. Ai Yue had no interest in waiting an hour for them, so she walked out of the cave.

The group was startled to see a person and a tiger suddenly emerge from the cave behind them. They immediately huddled together, looking at Ai Yue warily—or rather, at the tiger behind her.

For a moment, neither side moved, staring at each other. Finally, Ai Yue spoke first: "Are you gentlemen after my tiger?"

Liu The Third immediately replied with a beaming smile, "You've misunderstood, young lady. Since it has an owner, we naturally won't harm it. Do you live in the mountains all by yourself?"

"Yes," Ai Yue replied with a playful smile.

"Oh, you're just a Little Girl living here all by yourself; how frightening. How about this: come with us to Wujing Base, and we'll look after you," Liu The Third continued with a smile.

"Thank you for your kindness, but I'm used to living alone. I won't trouble you."

"Hey, don't say that. It's inconvenient to live alone here after all. It's better to come to the base with us than to wander out here by yourself."

A glint flashed in Liu The Third's eyes as he continued to persuade her.

"No need," Ai Yue interrupted, her voice cold as frost, having seen through their ill intentions.

"You damn bitch, don't be ungrateful! We're kindly offering to take you to the base, and you refuse again and again. Do you really think we're pushovers?" another man stepped forward and said angrily.

"Are you really being kind? Don't think I can't see through your little scheme. You just want to keep me calm so you can take out my tiger and then deal with me. Do you really take me for a fool?"

Ai Yue exposed them disdainfully, her voice full of contempt.

Seeing that Ai Yue had seen through his plot, the other party stopped pretending.

Liu The Third chuckled. "It seems our acting was too poor, allowing you to see through my plan so easily. But it doesn't matter if you know. With so many of us men here, can't we take you down?"

Then he barked out an order, "Cast the net!"

The three men behind him quickly unfurled a net made of what looked like thick hemp rope and threw it over Ai Yue and the tiger. Their movements were extremely practiced, as if they had done this a thousand times.

Ai Yue and Da Wang quickly dodged. Da Wang was completely enraged and lunged forward, but this pounce fell right into their trap. With a flip of their hands, Da Wang was somehow caught in the net.

The net seemed to have been specially made for capturing animals before the Apocalypse; no matter how Da Wang tore at it, it was to no avail.

While the group was rejoicing over capturing the tiger, Ai Yue, holding her military knife, lunged toward one of the men holding the net and flashed past.

A thin line appeared on his neck, and blood slowly began to seep out. As soon as he moved slightly, blood surged out. He clutched his throat, making "he-he" sounds of terror, before falling dead a second later.

Ai Yue didn't stop. She rushed toward another man, who dropped the net and drew an axe from his back to face her.

It was useless. Ai Yue dodged his attack and finished him with a single stroke.

Ai Yue's cold gaze turned to the last man holding the rope. Terrified by her murderous eyes, the man stumbled backward and fell to the ground, losing all courage to face her.

Seizing the opportunity, Da Wang crawled out of the net and let out a deafening roar, as if venting its anger. In the next moment, it bit through the neck of the man on the ground.

In just a short time, only two of the five men remained. Liu The Third's face turned ashen as he slowly backed away, saying, "Little Girl, this is all a misunderstanding. Calm down. We won't dare go after that tiger again. We're leaving now."

"Leaving? It's likely too late." Ai Yue stepped forward with her knife, but unexpectedly, Da Wang rushed toward the two men before she could.

Just as Da Wang was about to pounce on Liu The Third, he violently pushed the man next to him toward the tiger. He then turned and ran, but unfortunately, he stepped into a deep puddle, soaking his pant leg.

Seeing this, Ai Yue stopped chasing him, knowing he was doomed after coming into contact with the toxic rain.

Liu The Third fled desperately, scrambling and quickly disappearing into the distance.

The man Liu The Third had pushed toward Da Wang died with immense resentment under the tiger's jaws.

Half a month passed slowly. People didn't see the water evaporate; instead, they waited for another rainfall.

It was the Virus Rain again.

Ai Yue looked at the sky gloomily. If this continued, the Safety Tower would likely be unable to hold on.

In this environment, resources were only being consumed with nothing coming in. No matter how well-prepared the Safety Tower was, it wouldn't last long. Once the food ran out, there would definitely be a riot.

The Safety Tower would no longer be a safe place.

The toxic rain continued to drizzle. However, Ai Yue received uninvited guests again. From afar, she saw a group of people walking toward her through the Virus Rain.

There was a large crowd, at least a hundred people. Ai Yue quickly put Da Wang into her space and stowed away everything else in the cave. Suddenly, the cave was empty.

As the group drew closer, Ai Yue was shocked to find that the leader was none other than Liu The Third, who had stepped in the toxic rain and escaped.

She had seen him step into the deep puddle with her own eyes, soaking his pant leg. He must have been contaminated by the toxic rain, yet he was still alive after half a month. How was this possible?