Chapter 385: Tracking the South China Tigers!

At this moment.

News of the accident involving the vehicle escorting the South China tigers from Qinshan Village had already surfaced online.

This wasn't leaked through Ning Fei's Live-stream Room. Instead, the moment the crash happened, reporters immediately rushed to the Wildlife Protection Agency. Several other journalists, dragging their cameramen along, hurried straight to the accident site, covered in travel dust.

Everyone had their own way of making a living. For many reporters, rushing to trending locations to grab firsthand scoops was simply their job.

Ning Fei's Live-stream Room was equally booming. While Ning Fei hurried toward the depths of Nanshan, some reporters had long since arrived there.

When Yong Tao notified Ning Fei, it was already several hours late.

Ning Fei accelerated all the way, his body weaving through the forest. No one knew these woods better than he did.

While others took the long way around on the main roads, Ning Fei took the shortest hidden trails. It didn't take long for him to reach the site of the accident.

The moment he arrived, Ning Fei's expression turned grave.

Ning Fei called this place Guaishi Mountain because it was piled high with bizarre rocks, boasting a steep and incredibly complex terrain.

The people from the Wildlife Protection Agency likely drove this way because the sparser trees made the path easier to navigate, intending to cross this mountain to enter Qinshan Mountain. But they couldn't have expected that rocks sliding down from the summit would throw off their judgment, causing the vehicle to plunge off the cliff.

Flanking this mountain road was a sheer drop.

Right now, search and rescue personnel had already cordoned off the edge of the cliff. They were lowering people down on ropes, conducting an intense and urgent search.

Several reporters stood outside the police tape, reporting to their cameras while pointing at the rescue team.

Just then, someone among the reporters shouted, "It's Temple Master Ning! Temple Master Ning is here!"

Hearing this, the flock of journalists immediately swarmed over, terrified of missing out on such a massive trending figure.

Ning Fei remained quite calm, walking straight toward the cordoned area.

He thought the rescue team members at the perimeter would stop him, but something unexpected happened.

When Ning Fei reached the edge, the rescue worker simply lifted the tape for him, acting incredibly polite.

Normally, only a subordinate would do this for a superior; it was a privilege reserved for leaders.

Who would have thought Ning Fei would enjoy such treatment the moment he arrived? Without saying a word, Ning Fei stepped straight through.

When the other reporters tried to follow him inside for a closer look, the rescue workers stepped in front of the tape and held up their hands, barring entry.

The journalists couldn't really argue, left to watch in frustration from behind the line.

Ning Fei had crossed paths with the rescue team back when they were catching the golden snub-nosed monkey poachers. He also knew the people from the Forestry Bureau, so nobody found it odd that he was here.

To prevent broadcasting sensitive information, Ning Fei promptly turned off his stream.

"Yong Tao, what's the situation?" Ning Fei asked urgently the moment he approached.

"The rescue team just went down," Yong Tao said. "They found the van. Fortunately, the cliff isn't too high, only a dozen meters or so. Both the driver and the escort are out of mortal danger for now."

"And the South China tigers?" Ning Fei pressed.

Yong Tao sighed. "When the van crashed, the back doors broke open. The South China tigers got out."

"They have trackers inside them, but the violent impact messed up the signals. Right now, the Wildlife Protection Agency can't detect where they are."

"You know how it is. They're tigers, after all; nobody dares to actually go looking for them. Besides, the rescue team's orders are strictly to save the humans."

Hearing Yong Tao's explanation, Ning Fei didn't say anything more. He turned and walked straight to the edge of the cliff.

Though called a cliff, it was more like a high terrace, dropping about eighteen or nineteen meters down.

Below, a mangled black van sat crushed against the ground. The rescue team was currently strapping the driver and the escort onto stretchers to hoist them up.

Eighteen or nineteen meters wasn't exceptionally high. Seeing Ning Fei standing right on the edge, one of the rescuers wanted to warn him to be careful lest he fall.

After all, the rescue team members were fully geared up, only daring to descend with ropes tied around their waists.

But the next second, the entire rescue team froze. Because Ning Fei jumped straight off the cliff!

"Holy shit!" someone exclaimed as the rest hurriedly swarmed to the edge.

They were terrified that another accident here would only worsen the disaster. But when they looked down, they witnessed a jaw-dropping scene.

The sheer rock face was dotted with jutting stones. As Ning Fei plummeted, his hands clamped onto a protruding rock on either side, easily arresting his momentum.

He was already a master rock climber, and his physical fitness was now far beyond ordinary. A precipice of this height was absolutely nothing to him.

Thus, instead of inching his way down slowly, he simply bounded. Gripping the rocks, he linked together several massive leaps, touching down at the bottom of the valley with effortless grace.

Watching this, the rescue team members exchanged blank looks. They had no idea what to say.

What was that? He just went down?

Never mind tying a safety rope, even free-climbing shouldn't be this absurdly easy!

The group was still reeling in shock, but the victims' stretchers were already secured below. They quickly busied themselves hauling the stretchers up, pulling their attention away from Ning Fei.

Now at the bottom, Ning Fei took stock of the sunken valley. Under normal circumstances, you couldn't hike here from the mountains; the only way in was down the cliff face.

Ning Fei first checked on the transport van. The vehicle had dropped straight down, and the airbags had deployed, which was why the driver and the escort had survived.

The doors to the rear iron cage were flung wide open. The two South China tigers must have escaped from here.

The valley was only so big. Where could they have gone? Ning Fei gazed toward the depths of the gorge.

The South China tigers could only be deeper inside. Realizing this, Ning Fei strode forward and turned his live stream back on.

The moment the broadcast went live, countless netizens erupted in excitement. Everyone was deeply invested in the van crash, and the internet was already flooded with news about it.

"This is the cliff the transport vehicle fell from," Ning Fei said.

"Currently, the driver and the escort are out of danger. They've just been evacuated by the rescue team."

"However, the two South China tigers they were transporting have disappeared. I came down here to find them."

Hearing his explanation, the viewers finally breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the people were safe, that was what mattered.

Up above, the reporters also witnessed the rescue team loading the two stretchers into ambulances, which quickly sped off.

All that was left were the two South China tigers. As some of the very few South China tigers remaining in the Qinshan Mountain range, their importance couldn't be overstated.

Yet, who dared to search for South China tigers in the wild? The rescue team's mission was to save human lives; tracking down apex predators required a specialized unit.

If a tiger lunged and mauled someone, the rescue team leaders would likely see their careers ended on the spot. Nobody dared to take that risk.

Only Ning Fei couldn't care less about such things.

The grass in this valley grew incredibly tall, surrounded by a myriad of bizarrely shaped trees. Suddenly, Ning Fei crouched down.

He gently brushed his fingers over an exposed patch of soil. Pressed into the dirt were the trampled remains of several leaves.

"These are Da Qun's footprints. The soil here is quite hard, yet prints were left behind. This means they were running."

"They fell eighteen or nineteen meters in that van and started sprinting the moment they crashed." Ning Fei remained in a half-crouch, looking out toward the far end of the valley, his expression turning solemn.

"Why are they in such a rush?"

"Could it be because of Little Qun?"

"They were injured before and taken to the conservation area for treatment. That took about half a month, but Little Qun never went with them."

"Those two big guys probably missed their son."

"And thinking about it that way makes me even more worried."

Ning Fei muttered grimly. Then, he abruptly shot into the air, landing on the thick branch of a nearby tree to scan the distance.

He was trying to map out the escape route the two South China tigers had taken. Right then, Little falcon descended from the sky, fluttering down to land firmly on Ning Fei's shoulder.

"You didn't spot them?" Listening to Little falcon's cries, Ning Fei nodded and asked.

"Looks like I'll have to search the hard way."

"I refuse to believe two massive tigers can just vanish into thin air!"