"The Forestry Bureau is already investigating this matter and has also requested similar footprint clues from us."

"Check your phone now; you should have received it too!"

Hearing his uncle's words, Zheng Jituo was startled and hurriedly took out his mobile phone. Indeed, amidst the texts he had ignored, there was such a message.

*Reminder from Yiling City Municipal Bureau: Recently, reports from citizens have come in about the discovery of fierce beast footprints near West Yin Mountain. After expert verification, they have been confirmed as tiger footprints. Professional personnel have been dispatched into the mountains to capture it. Residents near West Yin Mountain, please be extra vigilant in the coming days. Avoid entering the mountains unless necessary. If you spot traces of a wild tiger nearby, please call the Forestry Bureau immediately at XXX. We will arrive as soon as possible to ensure your safety. —July 14th, Yiling City Municipal Bureau.*

"Fuck!"

Seeing that the content of the text was exactly as his uncle had said, Zheng Jituo exclaimed in shock. Even the authorities had sent a text reminder; the authenticity of this matter was undeniable.

Just as he was preparing to leave and inform his classmates, Zheng Jituo suddenly thought of something and froze on the spot.

If I remember correctly, Zhang Beixing is still on West Yin Mountain practicing martial arts right now. Considering how engrossed that guy gets in his martial arts training—he didn't even come down to meet his classmates when they arrived in Xiyin Town today—then this text from Yiling City...

"For fuck's sake!"

Realizing that idiot Zhang Beixing probably had no idea about this, Zheng Jituo exclaimed again.

Then, under his uncle's bewildered gaze, he quickly moved aside and began to send messages to Zhang Beixing.

One message, then another. No response.

Zheng Jituo started calling him directly. But after three or four tries, all he got was a busy tone; no one answered.

Zheng Jituo began to panic.

That asshole probably left his phone charging in the tent, he thought.

"Fuck, Zhang Beixing, you're such a handful! How can you be unreachable at a time like this?"

Zheng Jituo was beside himself with worry, pacing anxiously in the courtyard.

Just as he was racking his brains on how to contact Zhang Beixing, Jin Linyu, Dong Guoning, and the others outside noticed Zheng Jituo had been inside for a long time. Growing impatient, they walked in.

"Jituo, what's taking you so long to grab a tent?" Jin Linyu urged. "Come on, let's go, or it'll be dark soon!"

"Dark? Dark my ass! Something huge has happened!" Zheng Jituo retorted irritably.

Hearing this, the classmates who had followed them in were confused. Jin Linyu looked baffled. "Something huge? What huge thing?"

"There's supposedly a tiger on West Yin Mountain! Check your phones; there should be a text about it!" Zheng Jituo said.

Hearing this, everyone was taken aback. They quickly pulled out their phones to look, and indeed, it was true.

Suddenly, they all felt screwed.

"No way, how could there be a tiger now? This is such bad luck!" one classmate exclaimed.

"Yeah, damn it! What rotten timing!" another chimed in. "We haven't even started camping and this happens. And this isn't like at school; there's a *real* tiger here—they even found footprints! Zheng, is this what you meant by 'no dangerous animals, high safety'?"

"Alright, we can't blame Zheng for this," someone else said. "He didn't expect this to happen either. The question now is, what do we do? Find a place to stay for a couple of days and wait for this to blow over before we go camping?"

"I guess that's all we can do," a student sighed. "Although they haven't found the tiger's exact location, it's an undeniable fact that there's one nearby. Let's wait until the Forestry Bureau in Yiling sorts this out. But... do you guys feel like we're missing something? Or forgot someone?"

"Hmm... now that you mention it, I do feel like something's off," another mused. "But... what exactly did we forget?"

"Could it be," a third person ventured, "that someone's missing from our group? If I remember correctly, Lao Zhang is still on the mountain, right?"

"Holy shit, yeah! Lao Zhang is still on the mountain! What do we do?"

"Zheng, did you call Lao Zhang?"

Looking at the message on her own phone, Lin Siqi immediately thought of Zhang Beixing, who was still up in the mountains practicing his martial arts. She turned to Zheng Jituo and asked the question.

Zheng Jituo's face fell. "That's exactly what I'm worried about! I've tried calling and texting, but Lao Zhang isn't responding to messages or answering his phone. I just can't get through to him. This... *Sigh*! I really don't know what to say!"

Hearing this, panic visibly flickered across Lin Siqi's face. "Then what do we do? If we can't contact Lao Zhang, doesn't that mean he'll be stuck in the mountains, having to face the tiger?"

"Well, currently... that's..."

Zheng Jituo had been about to say, Currently, that's the situation.

But before he could finish, Jin Linyu nudged him.

Zheng Jituo looked over, puzzled, and saw Jin Linyu gesture towards Lin Siqi. He then noticed Lin Siqi had turned pale upon learning Zhang Beixing was unreachable. Ah, right, their ambiguous relationship, Zheng Jituo remembered. Jin Linyu is reminding me not to put it so bluntly. If I upset Lin Siqi and she rushes into the mountains out of worry, that would make things much worse.

So, he quickly changed his tune. "He probably won't have to face the tiger directly. After all, the text message only mentioned tiger footprints and suspected tiger activity; nothing's confirmed yet."

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