Chapter 32.2

Xiang Bie now understood what Mu Ling meant. He gave her a deep look before stepping aside to contact Colonel Song.

After a moment, he returned and said, “The word ‘return’ is a command.”

Mu Ling quickly repeated to Lightning several times, “Lightning, once you find Moonlight, return, return, understand? Return.”

As she spoke, she let Lightning sniff the white fur.

The black panther’s nose twitched several times. It seemed to understand, and in the next instant, like an arrow released from a bow, it leaped from Mu Ling’s arms and shot toward the distant forest.

A regular leopard can run 100 kilometers per hour, while a Swift Fire Leopard can reach speeds of 150 kilometers per hour. Watching Lightning’s retreating figure, Mu Ling was confident that even if Moonlight caught their scent, it couldn’t outrun Lightning. Once Lightning found Moonlight, Mu Ling would know both its location and current condition.

The waiting was torturous. Mu Ling feared both that Lightning wouldn’t find Moonlight and that it might lose its way back.

Half an hour later, the Dark Snow Wolf that had been lying beside Mu Ling suddenly lifted its head and slowly stood up, taking a few steps toward a certain direction in the forest.

Mu Ling and Xiang Bie both turned to look where the wolf was facing.

Soon, accompanied by rustling sounds from the bushes, a sleek black figure appeared in their line of sight.

“Lightning!” Mu Ling instantly jumped up, spreading her arms wide.

The black panther shot over like a bolt of lightning, leaping directly into Mu Ling’s arms.

However, it was far too big and heavy for Mu Ling’s slender arms and legs to support, and she nearly fell backward.

Fortunately, Xiang Bie reacted quickly and caught her back just in time.

Instead of falling, Mu Ling sat down on the ground, hugging the massive panther tightly while patting it all over. “Lightning, you’re amazing! You really came back! Did you see Moonlight? Did you two fight? Let sister check if you’re hurt anywhere.”

The panther’s long tail swayed flexibly behind it as it opened its mouth, panting. It gave Mu Ling’s face a quick lick before wriggling around in her arms.

Mu Ling couldn’t stop laughing. Once she confirmed Lightning wasn’t injured, she quickly pulled out a bottle of mineral water and fed it to the panther sip by sip.

Lightning drank nearly half the bottle in one go before licking its lips and stopping.

It flopped onto the ground, panting with its tongue out to cool off, and leaned lazily against Mu Ling’s knees.

Mu Ling gently stroked its fur, then removed the light brain bracelet from its front paw. She stopped the recording and played back the video.

Soon, a half-hour-long video began playing on the hovering holographic screen.

The beginning showed Lightning racing through the forest at incredible speed. Mu Ling felt it was moving even faster than a car.

She fast-forwarded through the middle until around the 12-minute mark, where Lightning’s speed suddenly decreased.

The footage showed a dense forest ahead, with fallen trees and broken trunks scattered across the ground.

The black panther stepped onto a fallen trunk, lowered its head to sniff for a moment, then continued forward. After walking slowly for about a minute, a massive snow-white creature appeared in the frame.

Mu Ling’s eyes widened instantly, and Xiang Bie’s expression darkened.

They stared intently at the screen, watching the giant white bear lying motionless on the ground, as if in deep sleep.

Lightning seemed to recognize the scent and moved closer, stopping about seven or eight paces away from the bear, pacing around warily

The white bear remained completely still, as if truly sound asleep. Lightning moved closer, and as it approached, the camera captured a clearer view.

The bear had a pointed snout, black nose, and two short, small semicircular ears buried in its dirty fur. Looking at its features alone, this Silver Snow Bear was undoubtedly beautiful. But with a foreign creature so close, how could its vigilance allow it to sleep so soundly?

The more Mu Ling watched, the deeper her frown became. Lightning also seemed to sense something was wrong. It moved even closer, sniffing the bear’s fur, then continued from its front paws to its head and neck.

The bear still didn’t move. Lightning hesitated, then tried to bite the bear’s fur, but with the bear weighing nearly a ton, there was no way it could drag it.

Unable to move it, Lightning accidentally tore off a large clump of fur.

Unexpectedly, beneath the fallen fur, there were faint traces of black, and blood began to seep out.

Even with blood oozing from its body, the white bear still didn’t open its eyes.

Lightning paced around a few more times before finally jumping onto a tree trunk and running back.

“It’s over,” Mu Ling suddenly spoke, her face turning pale as she looked at Xiang Bie. “Could Moonlight be dead?”

Xiang Bie’s expression was equally grim. He gathered their things from the ground and said, “Let’s go.”

Mu Ling quickly stood up, following with Lightning and the Dark Snow Wolf.

The place that took Lightning only half an hour round-trip wasn’t far from them. Though part of it was due to Lightning’s speed, they could reach it in about forty minutes if they walked quickly.

As they approached their destination, Xiang Bie turned back to remind Mu Ling, “Put on your protective suit properly.”

Mu Ling looked down at her unfastened suit and quickly zipped it up, holding her helmet ready to wear at any moment.

By the time they reached Moonlight’s resting place, it was past five in the evening.

From a distance, Moonlight still lay there, in the exact same position and place as in the video. Clearly, it hadn’t woken up during the hour since Lightning had left.

Despite this, Mu Ling still put on her helmet and fully armed herself before approaching to examine the white bear.

As soon as she got close, she wrinkled her nose. It smelled terrible.

She crouched down and first felt the bear’s chest, pressing on the left side where its heart was located.

After pressing firmly and feeling for a moment, Mu Ling sighed in relief and turned to Xiang Bie, saying, “It still has a heartbeat.”

Xiang Bie’s face remained tense, though his eyes softened slightly.

Mu Ling then examined the bear’s tough fur, focusing on the hair follicles underneath.

The follicles were black and sticky. Mu Ling touched a bit and sniffed – it carried the smell of pus.

She then examined where Lightning had bitten off the fur. The bleeding had stopped, but the surrounding fur was still stained red. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that the bear’s skin had become extremely fragile – a gentle tug could pull out its fur, damaging the follicles in that area.

Mu Ling wanted to check the bear’s back, as that was where it had been scratching most intensely.

When she shared this thought, Xiang Bie silently walked over to lift the bear’s body. Mu Ling hurried to help.

But when they turned the white bear over, both fell silent.

Blood…

Moonlight’s back was covered in black-red blood.

Parting the fur revealed that the hair follicles had largely died. The black skin was filled with muddy pus, emanating a foul, rotting stench.

Mu Ling’s face darkened as she explained, “It’s a pathogenic fungal infection, already in stage two of malignancy. If left untreated, within a week, the fur will fall out in large patches, the skin will die, and the infection will spread from the fat layer to the bone. It will rot while itching – an excruciating torture.”

As she spoke, she checked the bear’s eyelids. “It’s experiencing sudden shock. Its breathing must have stopped for at least one to two seconds. The unbearable itching tortured its entire body, which worsened its neurasthenia(nerve damage). Its heart couldn’t handle the sudden neural stimulation, causing it to collapse.”

Xiang Bie pressed his lips together, his eyes on Mu Ling. “What do you plan to do?”

Mu Ling answered directly, “Take it back, isolate it, and treat it properly for half a month. Once it’s cured, we can release it again.”

Xiang Bie pondered for a moment before saying, “Wait here. I’ll get the car.”

Mu Ling nodded and said, “Then I’ll give Moonlight two injections first – one for immediate effect and one for anesthesia – to prevent it from waking up midway. Then I’ll clear the obstacles here so your car can drive through.”

Xiang Bie gave her another look and grunted in agreement.

After Xiang Bie left, Mu Ling got to work. She first administered the injections, then started moving rocks and branches out of the way. Some of the rocks were too hard for her bare hands, so she used her protective suit to wrap her hands – the suit was tough enough to resist even a wild beast’s bite, making it perfect for this task.

Three hours later, drenched in sweat, Mu Ling finally heard the sound of the shuttle car arriving.

By now, it was pitch dark. The faint light from her light brain could barely illuminate the path ahead. It wasn’t until the shuttle’s headlights shone that Mu Ling belatedly raised her hand to shield her eyes, squinting forward.

Through the bright lights, a tall man stepped out of the car and walked towards her. He stopped in front of Mu Ling, his brow furrowed as he took in her disheveled appearance.

Mu Ling had adjusted to the light by now. She lowered her hand, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and pointed behind her. “Brother Xiang, can you see if it’s passable inside?”

Xiang Bie glanced in the direction Mu Ling indicated, remained silent for a moment, then softly grunted in agreement.

Mu Ling sighed in relief. “Then let’s hurry. I’m so hungry, you know. I couldn’t resist earlier – when I saw Lightning and Qingjiao eating their beast feed, I was actually drooling.”

Xiang Bie simply pressed his lips together and reached out to support Mu Ling’s arm. “Get in the car first.”

As soon as Mu Ling sat in the car, she collapsed. Her waist was aching from all the bending and lifting she’d done.

She sat motionless, with Lightning nuzzling up to her side, resting its chin on her knee and looking at her with emerald green eyes.

Mu Ling gently stroked the panther’s head.

The Dark Snow Wolf lay in the car’s aisle, also seeming a bit worn out from roaming outside all day.

The car quickly drove to where Moonlight was lying. Mu Ling had to get out again to help Xiang Bie lift the massive white bear onto the car.

Once they managed to get the bear loaded, Mu Ling crouched down to check if they had scratched or injured it anywhere. After all, this was now truly a “princess on the pea” – its skin would break at the slightest touch.

Confirming the bear’s wounds were unharmed, Mu Ling also breathed a sigh of relief and returned to her seat to rest.

The car drove all the way back down the mountain, reaching the service area close to 11 PM.

Wei Li and Zhao Fang had been waiting for them. Seeing them arrive, Wei Li quickly approached, but before he could say anything, he was met with a cold glare from Xiang Bie in the driver’s seat.

Wei Li was taken aback. Looking further into the car, he first noticed the white bear in the back, then Qingjiao sitting in the aisle, Lightning leaning against the director’s knee, and finally the director herself, who had fallen asleep at some point, her head tilted against the car window.

Seeing the director’s exhausted, disheveled state, Wei Li fell silent. Xiang Bie then spoke in a low voice, “Don’t wake her. She’s very tired.”