“Fight first? What’s going on with that tiger and the wolf pack?” Eagle felt he was starting to lose track of the situation.

“Behind the Taoist temple, among the people guarded by that Level-4 mutated tiger, besides some young adult males, there are also many elderly people, women, and children,” Nan Muran said calmly.

As soon as she spoke, Si Ye, Eagle, and Jiawu instantly understood.

According to what that man had said earlier, there shouldn’t have been any elderly, women, or children with the tiger’s group.

It was obvious now: the tiger had used some method to snatch away the workers from the mech-electronics factory that the wolf pack had previously herded back to their den.

Having lost their winter food stores, the wolves naturally came looking for the culprit, aiming to fight the tiger for the food. It was hard not to think that, before the apocalypse, humans stood at the top of the food chain — but now, they had become prey for beasts.

Because of this information, Eagle felt even more uneasy. His sister-in-law and little nephew were already gone — he couldn’t afford to lose his parents and older brother too.

“I want to keep an eye on their situation at all times,” Eagle instinctively looked at Nan Muran.

“Let’s find a spot where we can observe what’s happening inside and keep watch,” Nan Muran said directly.

If the tiger and the wolf pack really started fighting, it would only complicate matters if the five of them rushed in right now. It was better to be like fishermen — observe first, then make a move.

“Over there, that spot looks good,” Jiawu said, scanning the surroundings and pointing to a small raised platform not far up a cliff.

The platform was about ten meters high on the cliffside, with a large tree growing nearby to provide cover. Since the temple grounds weren’t very elevated, that platform gave a clear view of the entire Taoist temple.

“Let’s go there,” Si Ye said after glancing at the spot.

With the help of Xiaoliu and Xiaobai, the five of them climbed up the cliff to the small platform.

The platform wasn’t very big — less than five square meters — and right next to it was a dangerous drop. It was just enough space for them to lie down side by side.

To prevent anyone from accidentally falling off, Nan Muran summoned her Treant and instructed it to enclose the platform.

The Treant extended its body, sending out countless dry vines from the cliffside to weave a fifty-centimeter-high fence around the dangerous edges.

“Nice work,” Nan Muran praised without hesitation.

Feeling praised, the Treant became extremely pleased.

Treant: Ranan, there are a lot of mutated trees in this back mountain. Even the crooked-neck tree beside us has mutated.

Crooked-neck tree: You’re the crooked one…

It had just started to retort but, sensing the Treant’s overwhelming strength, it immediately fell silent. It realized it was no match and had no choice but to back down.

Nan Muran noticed this as well and turned to tell Si Ye.

“Maybe it’s not just plants — animals too,” Si Ye said while looking through binoculars at the tiger and wolf pack below.

The rat horde they had encountered earlier when they entered Lingshan seemed to have also come from the back mountain. It seemed this back mountain was hiding a lot of secrets.

Meanwhile, Eagle and Jiawu quickly set up a protective net and immediately pulled out binoculars to observe the group behind the Taoist temple. About thirty people huddled together, instinctively shrinking into each other out of fear.

Eagle immediately recognized several of them — his father’s friends and some of his older brother’s childhood companions.

Sweeping the binoculars across the crowd, he finally spotted his parents and older brother in a corner at the very back. His brother and father seemed okay, but his mother was clearly pale and weak, leaning heavily on his father’s shoulder in pain.

“See them?” Jiawu asked Eagle, his tone unusually laced with concern — a feeling he knew all too well.

“I see them. They’re all there,” Eagle said, finally letting out a sigh of relief. “But my mom looks pretty unwell.”

“Point out your family to me. I’ll have Xiaoliu go over first,” Nan Muran said, turning toward Eagle.

Eagle froze for a second. “Send Xiaoliu over?”

“Did you forget how I saved you guys on University City’s commercial street?” Nan Muran said with a smile.

Back then, Nan Muran had left Xiaobai with Si Ye, giving them vital protection at a critical moment. Now, sending Xiaoliu over meant wrapping Eagle’s family in a strong protective shield.

“Thank you, Sister Nan,” Eagle said, choking up with emotion.

Si Ye patted Eagle on the shoulder. “Find something your parents and brother can recognize — a token — or else you might scare them and blow our cover.”

Level-4 mutated beasts were already intelligent — frighteningly smart. If they noticed something strange, it could cause huge trouble.

Eagle thought for a moment, then took the key hanging around his neck — it was strung on a red thread hand-woven by his mother. They would definitely recognize it.

Xiaoliu sprang from Nan Muran’s wrist, shrank down, and carried Eagle’s house key toward the back of the Taoist temple.

Inside the back of the temple, the surviving captives stared at the dozing tiger nearby, filled only with fear and numbness.

Since capturing them, the tiger and the wolves had already eaten three adults and one child. Fresh skeletons still lay near the tiger.

At first, they hadn’t understood why the tiger kept them alive, but now they realized — they were meant to be food for the winter.

That meant they wouldn’t all die at once, but be eaten one after another. Thinking of the last person eaten alive, everyone felt as if they had fallen into an icy pit — their bodies numb with horror.

“Dad, we can’t just sit here waiting to die. We have to find a way to escape,” Fu Chao whispered to his father.

“Yeah, Uncle Fu. We can’t just wait around for the tiger to eat us,” said a man around Eagle’s age, lowering his voice too.

They huddled at the back corner of the room, pressed against the rear wall, speaking quietly so as not to alert the nearby tiger.

Eagle’s father sighed and hugged his weak wife tightly. “Your mother and I can’t run anymore. We’ll only slow you two down. If you see a chance, go.”

“Dad, what are you saying?” Fu Chao’s eyes turned red.

“Uncle Fu, don’t say stuff like that. If something happens to you, Eagle will kill me when he comes back,” the young man joked, trying to lighten the mood.

“Yeah, our second boy… We don’t even know if he’s alive or dead now. If… if something’s happened to him, then our family is as good as broken,” Eagle’s mother said, shedding tears.

Watching through the binoculars, Eagle saw how much his parents and brother had aged and grown thinner. His nose stung, and he had to blink back tears.

Suddenly, Eagle’s father stiffly patted his son beside him, unable to speak from excitement. Finally, he pointed behind Fu Chao — at a red-threaded key that had quietly crept along the wall toward them.

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Lhaozi’s Note: Please if there is an error, typo or anything that doesnt make sense or whatever that is please do not hesitate to comment it, I will fixed it asap. Thankyou!