"It's very possible. After all, talk of tickets and permission to enter Paradise Island to meet the gods sounds too fantastical. Besides, since the village chief of Yimu Village is the most favored by those gods, why wouldn't he take the opportunity to go to this so-called paradise and become the personal attendant of those gods while he still can catch his breath? I don't believe that the village chief is a noble-minded person who would leave such a good opportunity to other chosen ones," Dream Jia expressed her opinion.

"Exactly. Perhaps it's all just the chief's fabrication. Maybe this Paradise Island doesn't exist, or it exists but there are no gods on the island. These could all be lies made up by the chief to make the villagers serve him devotedly, ensuring his survival," Dao Lao agreed with Dream Jia's view.

"So, they probably intentionally caused an accident while searching for herbs to cover up the fact that they killed Little Tiger's family. As for the steward's disappointed look when he saw Little Tiger, it's probably because he didn't expect Little Tiger to survive the massacre," Haoyun inferred based on their speculation, once again receiving agreement from Dao Lao and Dream Jia.

"Ah! If only I had left a few mushrooms earlier, maybe they could have been useful in critical moments," Haoyun sighed regretfully. Dao Lao, in addition to expressing regret, carefully took out the mushroom he found in Little Tiger's parents' room from his pocket, hoping that although this mushroom was small, it might still come in handy when needed.

Afterwards, while discussing the tasks they would undertake the next day, they delved into the various hardships they had encountered after falling into the clutches of the Countess. Through these painful experiences, the three of them reaffirmed that the Countess was definitely not to be underestimated; she was someone who knew very well how to derive her own pleasure from the suffering of others.

Therefore, in this so-called game, she would definitely not let them pass easily. Consequently, Haoyun and his companions had to conduct another round of psychological counseling for themselves so that they could face the unpredictable and bizarre encounters in the upcoming task with a more stable mindset.

However, before Haoyun and his companions could fortify themselves mentally, the sound of Little Tiger speaking suddenly came from the next room. Little Tiger's voice sounded very excited, and Haoyun and his companions thought it might be because Little Tiger was still in high spirits after participating in the festive party after the worship ceremony.

But in the next moment, the sound of a woman's hearty laughter came from the next room. Obviously, the woman had cheered loudly in response to the jokes Little Tiger had just told. Then, just as Haoyun and his companions were trying to maintain a serious atmosphere, the mood suddenly changed without warning. The cheerful laughter between Little Tiger and the woman gradually escalated into a fierce confrontation.

The room next door echoed with the roars of what seemed like a ferocious battle, causing Haoyun and his companions to blush with embarrassment. Unable to stay indoors any longer, they had to sneak out of the thatched hut as if they were thieves. While the rest of the village fell into slumber after the festivities, Haoyun and his companions sat awkwardly in a corner outside the hut, admiring the peculiar night of Yimu Village and watching the thatched hut sway rhythmically. Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, they gradually fell asleep to the hypnotic sound of the hut swaying.

The next morning, or more accurately, as the villagers began to rise one after another, starting a new day of work, Haoyun and his companions also yawned and woke up from their slumber. Haoyun stretched lazily, feeling disappointed that the thatched hut still stood strong. At the same time, he expressed sincere admiration and envy for the stamina of the two tigers who had fought so vigorously for so long.

After Little Tiger and the female tiger spent some more time together, he tiredly pulled up his pants, hugged the female tiger, and left the hut. With their minds filled with the passionate interaction between the two tigers, Haoyun and his companions were momentarily at a loss for words when they saw Little Tiger and the female tiger. Seeing their reaction, Little Tiger and the female tiger didn't explain much, but instead publicly exchanged some embarrassing words of affection before reluctantly parting ways.

After the female tiger left, Little Tiger, seemingly oblivious to the situation, once again revealed his innocent side and, with a tired expression but still unwilling to leave, took Haoyun and his companions to the village chief's house to meet the other rescue personnel who would assist them in the rescue mission. After meeting the three rescue personnel who had been waiting for a long time, and enjoying a fairly rich meal at the village chief's house, the group of seven finally left the village chief's house. They first went to Boss Hu's shop at the request of Haoyun and his companions to pick up the flavored dried fish exchanged yesterday, and then officially set off on their journey to the Flashing Forest.

In the following days, everyone traveled non-stop, occasionally chatting casually. Because one of the important tasks of this trip was to find herbs for the village chief and refine the elixir, Haoyun and his companions actually wanted to take the opportunity to get more information about the village chief from the three rescue personnel. Unfortunately, these rescue personnel looked like faithful followers of the village chief, constantly praising him with words of praise. Moreover, the words of these three people were so consistent that it was evident they had been brainwashed for a long time. As a result, Haoyun and his companions had to temporarily give up the idea of extracting information from the rescue personnel.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The group of seven returned to the tent where they had encountered Little Tiger before, very smoothly. Everything there seemed to have been frozen, with no difference from when they left. Even the bonfire seemed to have just been extinguished, emitting occasional smoke while still continuously radiating heat.

Little Tiger expertly reignited the bonfire, then took out a few carrots and pointed to the winding path leading into the distant mountains. "Phew! We're almost there! Once we cross that small mountain ahead and pass through the small forest behind it, we'll reach the campsite where my family settled at the foot of the Flashing Forest."

"Alright, that's good. In that case, let's take a short break here and then continue forward," one of the rescue personnel suggested upon hearing this, and the other six expressed no objections.

Because after reaching the Flashing Forest the day after tomorrow, they would begin the tense rescue work and the task of searching for herbs and refining the Tiger Elixir. This made Haoyun and his team especially cherish their rest time today, so that they could face the upcoming intense work with full spirits.

Finally, after another day of trekking through mountains and rivers, Haoyun's group of seven successfully crossed the mountain forest described by Little Tiger. After crossing two small hills in succession, they finally arrived at the foot of the lush Flashing Forest. Soon, on the grassy land near the Flashing Forest, they saw two red tents.

Seeing Little Tiger's excited expression, Haoyun knew without thinking that those two tents must be the campsite left by Little Tiger and his family. And on the ground near the Flashing Forest side of the camp, the original lawn was almost buried by the rubble and broken wood that had slid down from the forest above. At this point, everyone no longer thought that Little Tiger's previous description was exaggerated, but rather felt that he had actually been somewhat conservative.

"Mom! Dad!" Upon seeing the tents, Little Tiger immediately shouted and ran over quickly. He agilely moved among the rubble and broken wood and soon rushed to the two tents in the distance, immediately beginning to inspect them inside and out.

"Little Tiger? Little Tiger! What did you find?" Dream Jia, seeing Little Tiger enter one of the tents and not come out, hurriedly shouted. At the same time, the six people also immediately realized that there might be something strange in that tent. So, without hesitation, they also rushed towards the tent as quickly as possible.

"Little Tiger? Little Tiger! What's happening inside?" Before Haoyun could finish shouting as they approached the tent, he saw Little Tiger run out of the tent with a mournful face, crying and crawling.

"Sob, sob, sob! Help, help! He, he's dead! Sob, sob, sob!" Upon seeing Haoyun and the others after running out of the tent, Little Tiger immediately cried and pointed at the tent, screaming.

Without hesitation, Haoyun and the others all rushed towards the tent pointed out by Little Tiger when they heard that there was someone inside. Then, in that tent, they saw a tiger dressed as a clown. This tiger was dressed in a tiger costume with brown and light yellow stripes, and was lying motionless in the tent with an exaggeratedly wide-open mouth and blood-red eyes staring straight at the top of the tent. There were many wounds on this tiger's body, with the most severe one being a through-and-through wound in his abdomen.

Seeing this tiger, one of the accompanying rescue personnel immediately rushed forward with a changed expression to check, shouting repeatedly, "Brother Tiger! Brother Tiger!"

This deceased Brother Tiger naturally had already passed away. Therefore, another rescue personnel did not attempt to awaken Brother Tiger but rather calmly conducted a rough examination of his body, then said, "Ah! We arrived too late! Many of Brother Tiger's bones are broken, it seems that he had indeed suffered a lot of serious injuries before!"

"The injuries on his body should have been caused by the rubble and broken wood that rolled down from the mountain landslide. Sob, sob, sob! It's really terrifying! I want to find my mom! Sob, sob, sob." Little Tiger, hiding behind Dream Jia, added timidly.

Hearing Little Tiger's words, the rescue personnel responsible for examining Brother Tiger's injuries suddenly questioned him sternly, "Brother Tiger should have just died recently. So when you entered just now, was he still alive?"

Upon hearing the rescue personnel's stern questioning, Little Tiger couldn't help but shiver with fear. He took two steps back in fright and then replied in a smaller voice, "Y-yes, sir. When I entered just now, I found him lying there, barely alive——"

"Then did he say anything to you?" This rescue personnel didn't wait for Little Tiger to finish speaking before immediately interrupting him sternly.

"He, he recognized me when I entered, of course. Then, he pointed laboriously towards the direction of the forest and said there was a mountain landslide, and to hurry and save them. After that, he, he stopped moving. Sob, sob, sob!" Little Tiger answered with fear.

Then, he shook Dream Jia's arm and pleaded, "It's so scary here! I want to find my mom and dad. Let's find them quickly and leave here, okay? Sob, sob, sob!"

For some reason, the rescue personnel who had just shouted loudly upon entering the tent were dissatisfied with Little Tiger's answer. So, he strode over to Little Tiger and prepared to reprimand him sternly. Dream Jia found this rescue personnel's sudden display of excitement very strange, so with the aim of building a good relationship with Little Tiger, she raised her eyebrows and raised her hand to stop him, pretending to be displeased as she said, "Hey! Are you out of your mind? Look how scared Little Tiger is. He's only two years old, and he's already been frightened by seeing someone dead. Can't you speak a little more politely at this time? Moreover, the deceased is probably one of Little Tiger's uncles, right? This child's family members have just died, and you treat him with this attitude, which doesn't seem appropriate, does it?"

Seeing the increasingly hostile expression on the rescue personnel's face, and daring to speak rudely to Dream Jia, Haoyun's temper flared up instantly. So, he immediately stepped forward to stand in front of Dream Jia, forcefully pushing back the rescue personnel who was about to step forward again, and also said unceremoniously, "Hey, what's going on? Since your good buddy is gone, why don't you hurry up and find the murderer? What's the point of venting your anger on women and children?"