4: Arrive at the Dali Mountains

“Even though the Silver Python just awakened, its flesh and blood still contain considerable energy.”

Xia Fan stood majestically beside a mutilated long body, his expression content. He occasionally licked the blood from the corners of his mouth and smoothed his fur.

He was full, even feeling a bit bloated.

Once he digested the energy from the Silver Python’s flesh and blood, it would make him even stronger.

“It’s time to go. There’s no need to stay in this place any longer.”

Subsequently, Xia Fan brazenly walked through the shattered tempered glass. Under the bloody heavy rain and before dawn, he lightly leaped and jumped over the Jianghai Zoo’s three-meter-high wall.

This height was child’s play for him now.

“Target—Dali Mountains!”

After leaving the Jianghai Zoo, Xia Fan ran openly on the streets.

Fortunately, it was pouring rain, the Jianghai Zoo was relatively secluded, and no pedestrians or vehicles were passing by at that time. Otherwise, people would have been greatly startled.

His goal was to go to the Dali Mountains to obtain the thunder essence fruit.

As long as he successfully consumed the thunder essence fruit, he would be able to absorb the ability to control lightning from it, thereby greatly increasing his strength.

Although the blood rain had fallen, initiating the path of evolution, there were many wild beasts in the Dali Mountains.

But because their intelligence had not yet awakened, they were probably still relying on instinct, constantly slaughtering, and might not notice treasures like the thunder essence fruit... The next morning, a global blood rain finally stopped.

Aside from the faint smell of blood in the air and the blood rain that had not yet soaked into the soil, everything seemed to be as usual, as if nothing had happened.

However, the energy brought by the blood rain was silently transforming all living beings.

A great change was coming soon!

At Jianghai Zoo, Huang Cang held a walkie-talkie and began his work for the day, “I’m about to arrive at the Tiger Enclosure to begin the day’s routine patrol and inspection tasks.”

“Static... Static... Old Huang, do you really need to be so serious?”

A despondent male voice came from the walkie-talkie: “We’re just small security guards, and the park’s maintenance workers also regularly check all facilities. Just go through the motions.”

“Finish the first patrol quickly, then come drink with me.”

Huang Cang ignored him and was currently walking along the familiar route towards the Tiger Enclosure.

Suddenly, he saw shattered glass scattered all over the ground. His expression immediately changed, and he stepped forward to check the source of these glass shards.

Following the fragments with his gaze, he saw that the tempered glass of the Tiger Enclosure was already broken, and there were exceptionally clear footprints all around, seemingly... leading out of the Tiger Enclosure.

“This is bad!”

Huang Cang’s face instantly changed dramatically, and he rushed into the Tiger Enclosure in a hurry to further investigate the situation.

But what he saw was astonishing!

The black tiger, once highly treasured by the park, was now lying lifelessly on the ground, covered in blood. Especially near its neck, there were gruesome wounds, as if torn by immense force, having bled to death.

Huang Cang knelt down in a panic, his face anxious, and tremblingly reached out to the black tiger. After touching it, he indeed found that this treasure of the park was dead, and its carcass had already begun to stiffen and grow cold!

“Report, report! Emergency situation!”

Without a word, he quickly opened his walkie-talkie and reported the situation directly to the director: “Reporting, Director, the black tiger in the Tiger Enclosure appears to have died due to a fight with a fellow tiger. Its body is at the entrance of the Tiger Enclosure.”

“Also, the tempered glass of the Tiger Enclosure is broken, and the Siberian Tiger that recently arrived is missing. I suspect that Siberian Tiger has escaped the Jianghai Zoo and is now wandering around the city.”

“What?!”

In an office filled with various animal dolls, the bald director instantly showed an incredulous expression: “The black tiger is dead? The Siberian Tiger ran away?”

“...”

Within a few minutes, the bald director, accompanied by several staff members and security guards, rushed to the Tiger Enclosure. They indeed saw the mess everywhere, especially the black tiger’s carcass, which was particularly striking.

Rumble—

He was instantly struck by lightning, standing stunned in place for a long while before roaring like a madman: “What are you all still standing around for?!”

“Quickly go and track down that Siberian Tiger!”

The group of people scattered in a hurry, and Jianghai Zoo instantly became a flurry of activity.

The bald director tremblingly walked towards the black tiger, finally confirming its death, and was overcome with grief, weeping bitterly, “My big black... 嗚嗚嗚...”

After venting for a while, he finally felt a little better, but seeing Huang Cang still beside him, he couldn’t help but angrily say: “Why are you still here?”

“Director, there’s more than one tiger in the Tiger Enclosure, and the Tiger Enclosure is broken. I’m worried that other tigers might take the opportunity to come out, and I want to protect you.”

“I don’t need your protection!”

The bald director waved his hand, saying urgently: “Go quickly and find that Siberian Tiger. Be fast, and no matter the cost, you must control it immediately!”

As he spoke, he seemed to have thought of a terrifying possibility and emphasized his tone again, “If this Siberian Tiger injures anyone, not only will I be held accountable, but you, all of you, will not escape responsibility!”

The two only stayed there for a short while before leaving in a hurry.

Shortly after, Jianghai Zoo issued a notice, announcing the temporary closure of the Jianghai Zoo, publicly stating that it needed to undergo repairs and security work.

In reality, all the staff in the Jianghai Zoo were mobilized, with only one goal—to capture that Siberian Tiger at all costs!

...“Don’t you all feel it? Yesterday’s rain was very strange.”

“Really? But now that you mention it, I feel the same way. When I went out just now, I felt a faint smell of blood everywhere, and I thought my sense of smell was acting up.”

“When I went out today, I stepped into a puddle, and guess what? It was a pool of blood!”

“My goodness, when did such strange things start happening?”

While the Jianghai Zoo’s capture operation was in full swing, the internet was also abuzz. More and more people began to join the discussion about the bizarre blood rain from last night, and it quickly became a trending topic.

“Everyone, it’s not just the blood rain; even my pet suddenly underwent a huge change.”

At this point, a netizen posted a thread, with a video attached below.

Countless curious netizens clicked on the video, but were quickly surprised, even scared, by the scenes within.

Because in the video, a large yellow dog in that netizen’s home seemed to have gone mad, daring to eat people. Fortunately, it was eventually shot dead by the police who arrived, but it still caused five or six casualties.

There were many such situations, and they emerged overnight. Netizens discussed nervously, not knowing what was happening, and some speculated whether it was related to last night’s blood rain.

But for now, no one knew the answer to the problem... As netizens discussed, after a day and night of trekking, Xia Fan finally arrived at the Dali Mountains on the outskirts of Jianghai City.

At this moment, he raised his tiger head, staring at the lush mountain range ahead, revealing a human-like smile.

“Dali Mountains, I’m here...”