To better search for food in the mountains, the survivors had organized two separate hunting teams.

Ten days ago, the first hunting team set out into the mountains to search for food, but after they left, there was no news from them at all.

After waiting anxiously for an entire week, the rest of the survivors couldn’t stand it anymore and sent the second hunting team into the mountains to search. Unexpectedly, they too disappeared without a trace.

“At first, it was a tiger in the mountains that trapped all the hunting team members inside a Daoist temple up ahead.

Everyone was already worried about what to do when, two days ago, a pack of more than ten wolves entered the electromechanical plant. The remaining people at the plant, in order to escape the wolves, were also forced to flee into the mountains.

We hadn’t gone far before we encountered a swarm of rats. The rats crawled over people… in the end, a lot of people died.”

Recalling the scenes from the past couple of days, the woman was trembling with terror, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face.

The scene was so horrifying that even when she was exhausted to the point of collapse, she didn’t dare to close her eyes.

After hearing this, Eagle finally gathered the courage to look at them. “Are our family members still alive?”

“Your sister-in-law and little nephew… they…” The man hesitated but the meaning behind his words was obvious to everyone.

Eagle felt his whole body freeze. His little nephew was only six years old this year.

And his sister-in-law, such a gentle and elegant person, was now… gone.

Knowing Eagle was heartbroken, Si Ye placed a hand on his shoulder and said in a deep voice, “Now is not the time for grief.”

“Are the remaining survivors all at the Daoist temple ahead?” Nan Muran asked the man who was recounting the events, her voice cold.

Seeing Nan Muran speaking, the man froze for a moment before hastily shaking his head. “Some are at the Daoist temple, but others have been taken to the wolves’ den.”

“Taken to the wolves’ den? Who captured them?” Eagle asked in surprise. Were there actually people living in the mountains?

“It was the wolves. They deliberately scared everyone into fleeing into the mountains, then herded them into the wolves’ den. They’re treating the people as winter food stores,” the man sighed.

Si Ye’s gaze sharpened as he stared at the four people, especially the man. “Then why weren’t you four captured?”

“We only went deeper into the mountains this morning,” the man said helplessly. “Before that, we stayed at the observation deck at the foot of the mountain to keep watch on the residential compound, planning to report back once the wolves left.”

Nan Muran frowned when she heard this explanation, feeling that something didn’t quite add up.

Si Ye withdrew his gaze and thought for a moment. “Who told you to stay behind to report? And why four people?”

The man faltered, and the three women beside him all showed guilty, evasive expressions.

“Tell the truth,” Nan Muran said coldly, “or we’ll throw you four down the mountain.”

The man stayed silent, clearly unwilling to speak. One of the women, however, broke down first. “It was us. We lured the wolves to the residential compound. We panicked and wanted to find help… we didn’t expect the wolves to be so terrifying.”

“You lured the wolves into the residential compound and then hid in the mountains yourselves?” Jiawu said sternly.

“No, no, it wasn’t like that. At first, it was just a single white wolf. Everyone working together could have killed it, but later…”

There was no need to finish the sentence—by the time they realized it was an entire wolf pack, it was too late. The other survivors had no choice but to flee.

“Stay here and keep quiet,” Eagle growled, barely suppressing the urge to kill these troublemakers.

“You’re leaving…?” The man noticed they were preparing to leave and went pale.

“We have to rescue the others,” Eagle replied coldly.

The man quickly blocked their way. “There’s a red-eyed tiger inside the Daoist temple ahead. It can spit fireballs. It’s too dangerous to just go charging in.”

“If you’re so familiar with the situation,” Nan Muran said bluntly, “come with us.”

The man pointed to himself in shock. “Me…? No, no, what I mean is, you shouldn’t go at all!”

A woman standing at the back, looking regretful and furious, stood up and glared at him. “What do you mean by that?”

“I’m just stating the facts,” the man insisted.

“Say what you really want to say,” Nan Muran ordered, her voice calm and unreadable.

The man hurriedly said, “Going up ahead is suicide! It’s better to take us down the mountain with you instead.”

“Has your conscience been eaten by dogs? What kind of stupid thing are you saying?” the woman snapped.

Eagle stared coldly at the man, his heart burning with anger, feeling as if he might be consumed by it.

At that moment, a strange gust of wind blew through, and the man standing near the mountain railing was swept off the path and into the valley below. His terrified scream echoed through the gorge, and given the steepness, it was obvious there was no chance of survival.

“The rat swarm halfway up the mountain has already been dealt with. We’re going ahead to rescue the others. You can either wait here or go down the mountain,” Eagle said, his voice icy.

The three women, still in shock after seeing the man fall, could only nod blankly at Eagle’s words.

Nan Muran and the others didn’t care what decision they made. They headed straight toward the Daoist temple.

After about half an hour of walking, they again heard suppressed, fearful crying from afar. This time, the cries were more complex—there were the sounds of children, women, and faint shouts from men.

This was a bit different from what those four people had described earlier. Were there really children in the electromechanical plant’s hunting team?

“Let me check the situation first,” Nan Muran said, pulling back Eagle and beginning to probe the area ahead with her psychic abilities.

Not far away, there was indeed a Daoist temple with three large courtyards. After enduring the apocalypse, it had become dilapidated, with the wooden structures in ruins—this was to be expected.

But deeper inside, in the temple’s rear courtyard, dozens of people of various ages were huddled together. Nearby, a tiger was crouched, watching them intently.

The tiger’s eyes, which should have been yellow, now glowed an ominous red. It was a Level 4 mutated tiger.

It lay elegantly on the opposite side of the people, in front of it several skeletons of different sizes, freshly picked clean.

The survivors were so terrified that their faces were pale and they dared not make a sound, shrinking into each other as much as they could.

Clearly, these people were being kept as the tiger’s food reserves for winter.

Suddenly, Nan Muran froze.

She had just noticed that on the mountain behind the Daoist temple, a wolf pack was also lying in wait, staring at the temple.

The lead wolf was entirely snow-white, its deep blue eyes flashing with a hint of red.

Behind it, eleven other wolves prowled back and forth restlessly.

“This is going to be tricky,” Nan Muran said helplessly. “There’s a Level 4 mutated tiger inside, and a pack of wolves on the mountain behind.

From the looks of it, they might end up fighting each other first.”