Hao Yun, Dream Jia, and Dao Lao weren't particularly concerned about Little Tiger's ambiguous explanation of how he escaped the danger. Aside from pretending to be a two-year-old child, Little Tiger's voice, appearance, and strong physique were indistinguishable from White Tiger and Hot Temper. Given how effortlessly White Tiger and Hot Temper had climbed from the mountainside to this height, it was not surprising if Little Tiger possessed similar abilities. After all, everything here was quite peculiar.
While Hao Yun was still pondering, Little Tiger wiped his tears and signaled everyone to come down from the rock to his position, saying, "Everyone, come down quickly! From here, we can continue climbing up the mountain. It won't be long before we reach the top!"
As everyone descended one by one from the protruding rock to where Little Tiger stood, Hot Temper impatiently pushed through the group, waving his fist at Little Tiger and cursing angrily, "You little brat! It's your fault the doctor died on this lousy path you led us on! I'll beat you to death!"
No one expected Hot Temper to explode like this, so they quickly restrained him to prevent any chaos on the narrow mountain ledge that could send them all tumbling down.
"Let me go! Let me go! I'll kill this little brat!" Hot Temper roared, eyes red and mouth wide open.
"Hey! Calm down, will you?! We're all upset about the doctor, but it wasn't Little Tiger's fault! He was just trying to lead us on a safer path. Who could have predicted we'd encounter a landslide here?!" Hao Yun pulled Hot Temper back towards White Tiger, who quickly stepped in to lock his arms around Hot Temper's shoulders from behind, preventing him from charging forward.
"You guys are so devious! Why do you keep defending him?! White Tiger! Can't you see? These people are trying to kill us! They don't even want to complete the mission!" Hot Temper, unable to move forward, struggled in place, loudly questioning White Tiger.
"Enough! Stop it already! This is not the time for this! Can you stop causing trouble?! The doctor's death was an accident! We all agreed to let Little Tiger lead the way! If they wanted to kill us, why didn't they kick us off the rock earlier or cut the ropes? If you keep this up, I'll have to deal with you myself!" White Tiger's anger was evident as he spoke to Hot Temper.
Hot Temper seemed to fear the slightly smaller but formidable White Tiger. Hearing White Tiger's angry tone, he calmed down, stopped struggling, and just panted heavily, glaring at Hao Yun and the others.
"Hot Temper, come with me." Seeing Hot Temper calm down, White Tiger released him and led him aside to talk quietly. Though White Tiger's demeanor was calm, his words clearly instilled fear in Hot Temper, who nodded submissively.
Watching Hot Temper obediently listen to White Tiger, Dream Jia couldn't help but comment in the system channel, "Hmph! Don't be fooled by White Tiger's ordinary appearance. He can control Hot Temper with just a change in his tone. He must be a formidable character."
Hao Yun and Dao Lao nodded in agreement with Dream Jia's assessment. Little Tiger, meanwhile, spoke with a remorseful tone, "It's all my fault. My choice of this dangerous path caused the doctor's death. It's my fault for leading everyone astray."
"Alright, Little Tiger. No one blames you. We all chose to follow you up this mountain path, so we each share the risk," Dream Jia quickly reassured him as he began to cry again.
"But—" Little Tiger started to say.
"The doctor's death wasn't your fault; it was just bad luck. If he had reacted as quickly as the rest of us, he would have had a chance to grab the rope and save himself," White Tiger interrupted, bringing a now subdued Hot Temper back to the group.
"I'm sorry for causing trouble earlier! Seeing a long-time colleague die in front of me was a huge shock. I apologize on behalf of Hot Temper," White Tiger said calmly, bowing slightly to Hao Yun and the others in apology.
"We're all saddened by the doctor's death. We understand Hot Temper's reaction. We've experienced similar losses," Dao Lao responded kindly, trying to defuse the situation.
White Tiger, surprised by Dao Lao's words, relaxed and nodded gratefully. The group then turned to face the cliff, holding a brief memorial for the doctor before resuming their climb.
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Without ropes to aid their ascent, they could no longer scale the cliffside as before. They had to follow the rugged mountain path. Fortunately, they had left the landslide area behind and soon reached a more level, verdant area on the mountainside.
As they walked along the cliffside, they spotted a goat, disguised as an audience member with a red-nosed mask, cautiously grazing. A rabbit, also in disguise, hopped out from the woods, munching on a carrot and curiously watching Hao Yun and his team as they carefully continued their climb.
Suddenly, the giant rabbit, startled by a howl echoing through the sky, shivered and dashed into the distant mountain forest without looking back. Following the direction of the howl, Hao Yun looked up and spotted a bulky flying creature soaring through the air. This creature, bellowing loudly, was also disguised as an audience member.
After what seemed like ages, the group finally reached the end of the mountain staircase. It was then that Hao Yun realized they were not at the summit of the forest but rather at the edge of another relatively flat area on the mountainside. This vast expanse of forest made Hao Yun wonder if what he saw was real. The forest here seemed much larger than the shimmering forest he saw from below.
Led by Little Tiger, the group headed towards the depths of the forest. Climbing a small hill, they were astounded by the sight before them. "Wow! What a huge forest!" exclaimed Little Tiger.
Their amazement stemmed from the fact that standing atop the hill, they could see the terrain steeply slope downward ahead, forming a vast basin in the middle of the mountain forest. In this basin grew an incredibly dense forest, shrouded in thick mist that made it appear both mysterious and perilous under the night sky.
"We're finally here! That forest below is the Shining Forest! That's where my parents were gathering herbs before! Mom, Dad, please hold on! We're coming to rescue you now!" Little Tiger exclaimed excitedly, pointing at the forest below. He then eagerly looked at Hao Yun and the others, hoping they would start the rescue operation soon.
"You see, that forest has clearly been damaged. So if Little Tiger's parents were injured in that geological disaster, we should be able to find traces of their activity in that area," Dao Lao analyzed, gesturing for Little Tiger to be patient and pointing at an area of the dense forest where many trees had been destroyed.
"In that case, let's hurry down and search for my parents!" Little Tiger urged with anxiety in his voice, waving at Hao Yun and the others to follow him into the forest basin and begin the search and rescue operation immediately.
However, at this moment, Hot Temper suddenly bellowed in a rude voice, "No! Now that we've reached the Shining Forest, we should quickly find all the herbs needed to make the Yin Pill! The village chief's condition is worsening every day. If we delay too long, the consequences won't be something you few can bear!"
Upon hearing Hot Temper's roar, Little Tiger first staggered to a stop, then looked at Hot Temper with frightened eyes, afraid that his actions would further provoke this terrifying figure.
Dream Jia, seeing Hot Temper suddenly become unruly again, frowned and questioned, "What's this? So, the village chief's life is valuable, but Little Tiger's parents' lives aren't? Moreover, didn't our late colleague, Brother Hu, hope we would arrive here quickly to save someone? Are you prepared to disregard even the heartfelt request of a deeply respected colleague as he lay dying? Huh! Since you don't care about Brother Hu, why were you crying so sorrowfully just now? Hypocrite!"
"You— Hmph! In the face of a greater cause, sacrifices are necessary! If it weren't for the village chief, where could we enjoy our idyllic life in Yinmu Village? Though I highly value brotherly affection, I can't risk the village chief's health for the sake of honoring Brother Hu's dying request, and I won't gamble with the lives of all the villagers of Yinmu Village!" Hot Temper defended himself.
"But what if, as Brother Hu said, Little Tiger's family members are still alive? Are we just going to ignore them? Besides, the reason we came here was not only to help your village chief but also to help Little Tiger. So I can't agree with your statement!" Hao Yun refused sternly after hearing Hot Temper's argument.
Although the task request from the village chief and the reward conditions were seen by Hao Yun and the others as the only way to leave this place, they couldn't be 100% sure that Little Tiger's request to rescue his parents wouldn't have a decisive impact on their ability to leave. So, as Hao Yun said, in the midst of uncertainty, their wisest choice was to find a way to accomplish both tasks simultaneously in this operation.
"You— Are you trying to revolt?!" Seeing Hao Yun about to follow Little Tiger down the mountain, Hot Temper immediately roared in anger.
"Revolt? Haha! We don't belong to Yinmu Village in the first place, so talk of revolt is nonsense! We can perfectly well search for Little Tiger's parents while helping your village chief gather herbs. These two tasks are not mutually exclusive. So why should we abandon one task and focus solely on the other? Besides, we agreed to help your village chief only after agreeing to Little Tiger's request. If we consider the order of events, we should rescue Little Tiger's parents first and then help your village chief find herbs!" Although Dream Jia also agreed with Hao Yun's idea of simultaneously pursuing two tasks, she couldn't help but want to disgust this damn Hot Temper with her words.
Sure enough, Hot Temper, who had always been at odds with Dream Jia, couldn't contain his anger after hearing Dream Jia's provocative words. He immediately raised his huge fist again, intending to stride towards Dream Jia. However, before his fist could rise, White Tiger beside him pressed it down again.