Mountain Looting: Targeted by a Leopard at the Start
Chapter 277 - 276: Unexpected Events, the Lion that Ran into the Mountains!

Chapter 277: Chapter 276: Unexpected Events, the Lion that Ran into the Mountains!

The farm was quite busy these past few days.

Xu Yang had called a construction team to start improving the living areas on the farm.

Buying an apartment in the city costs a lot of money, but in the village, as long as there is land to build on, a two-story western-style house doesn’t cost much.

About two hundred thousand yuan would suffice for quite a spacious one.

Typically, villagers renovating their houses would consider spending 100,000 yuan a lot.

But now, only the elderly remain in the village; they lack the inclination, while the younger people have all moved to the cities.

Xu Yang’s plans were simple.

He kept one courtyard for himself and renovated it entirely, transforming it into the style of a Chinese courtyard, with the main building having two stories, and the rest being bungalows.

The employees lived in a dormitory building, also two-storied, with large rooms, each a one-bedroom-one-hall with a private bathroom.

Because of the construction, everyone temporarily moved into two storerooms.

It was estimated that the construction would take two months to complete.

However, the employees were very happy.

After all, they were all on three-year contracts; as long as they worked hard, they could enjoy these benefits eventually.

Cleaning up the house was also a hassle, as Xu Yang had many valuables.

He had to haul many items to the village.

Seeing Xu Yang packing, Little Black and Maquan came running over, wagging their tails incessantly.

They thought Xu Yang was leaving without them, so they became a bit anxious.

Especially this time, when the house was almost being emptied.

Xu Yang didn’t have time to pay attention to them, and by the afternoon, the two dogs seemed somewhat constrained.

"No, what are you two feeling sad about? Don’t you know where my home is?"

"You used to run to the village every day; haven’t you been back?"

"Put it there."

Xu Yang said aloud.

Xu Yang’s luggage was all packed back to the village.

Moving was a bit of a hassle.

That afternoon, the village chief came to find him, along with a leader from the town, asking him to participate in a town event.

Official events had to be attended, so Xu Yang found some time to go.

In fact, the government also needed popularity, like inviting internet celebrities who have gone viral for tourism promotions, and even having a popular livestreamer who had become a committee member of an association.

Of course, if the popular livestreamer ran into trouble, their position would be immediately revoked.

Xu Yang always knew where to draw the line; he only participated in main events and never accepted governmental positions or promises and avoided extra activities.

Life was quite stable.

One day, while eating with the employees, Xu Yang unexpectedly heard some news.

Ma Wen said:

"The Dragon Boat Festival is coming, and the city is getting a circus, which is said to be quite impressive."

Wang Wu responded, "A circus? Haven’t seen one in a long time. Do they still exist?"

Ma Wen nodded, "Definitely, they tour around. If not in the major cities, then they perform in smaller fourth-tier cities or towns where you can’t see them in the cities."

"After all, setting up their venue requires a lot of space."

Hearing the two’s conversation, Xu Yang was somewhat interested.

Not so much in the circus performances, but in the news itself.

Because nowadays, many people reject animal performances, of course, unless the animals really demand to perform. Some animals enjoy performing, and people like watching them.

The animals in the circus are not like that.

Many of them are kept in cages, constantly on the move.

Xu Yang was somewhat concerned and asked:

"What kind of circus is it, the stunt type or the animal performance type?"

"Stunt-type would be fine, but if it’s animal performances, can they manage the paperwork?"

Stunt-type refers to acrobatics, such as swinging on ropes high in the air or riding motorcycles inside a sphere, spinning around, etc.

Animal performances are things like lions jumping through fire hoops.

"I’ve seen the promotional poster; it seems to have both."

"The poster shows a black bear, monkeys, lions."

"This circus is rather big, and with the influx of tourists during the Dragon Boat Festival, it’s definitely going to be a hit."

Ma Wen continued.

Xu Yang nodded, still planning to check it out.

Just out of pure curiosity to see the lions.

After all, they were also feline animals, which he had never encountered before.

Soon, as the Dragon Boat Festival approached,

the farm prepared glutinous rice and red dates, honey dates, and bamboo leaves for making zongzi.

The division between sweet and savory zongzi isn’t so clear nowadays, with many places offering both types.

Of course, there are still many people who only eat one type, considering the other heretical.

Xu Yang loved sweet zongzi.

He felt glutinous rice should have that flavor.

During the holidays, the city and town were particularly crowded.

The farm chose these two days to set up a stall, selling zongzi and handmade ice cream.

These items were convenient for tourists to eat, and also a chance to earn some quick cash.

At this moment, the circus’s truck was driving along a mountain road.

The mountain road here wasn’t very good.

Moreover, the circus’s trucks were large vehicles, loaded with many heavy items, and two trucks even had iron cages, containing various animals.

These animals appeared somewhat listless.

They all disliked being transported.

The vehicles sped along quickly.

Just then, the circus driver noticed that bits of small rocks mixed with mud were continuously sliding down the mountain road ahead.

He was a bit startled and quickly told the convoy to slow down.

But still, some were too late.

Soon after, even more pebbles began to fall.

Then came several huge boulders.

These massive rocks fell precisely on the convoy; several vehicles, caught off-guard, braked while turning the steering wheel.

"Crack crack!"

Two loud noises were heard as the vehicles carrying animals overturned.

The violent impact caused the rear doors to swing open directly.

The animals, initially lethargic, were jolted into alertness by the impact.

At that moment, a few animals noticed that their chains seemed broken, and they crawled out of the vehicles.

Once they saw the surrounding mountains, several animals didn’t look back but slid down the mountain slope beside the road and quickly disappeared into the forest.

The drivers noticed the wild animals but dared not open their doors or windows.

Even the beast tamers stayed inside the vehicles without coming out.

The boss was terribly anxious, "Liu Wei, Zhang Xu, the lion and black bear have escaped; go catch them!"

Liu Wei and Zhang Xu, both beast tamers, glanced at each other at that moment but did not move.

What a joke.

It used to be safe in the circus cages with safety officers watching; taming was safe.

Now, in the wilderness, up in the mountains, who would dare to catch a lion.

The scene immediately became chaotic.

Shortly after, both the town’s police station and the village’s received emergency calls.

Once the news was confirmed, even the firefighters and armed police were dispatched.

This was classified as a major incident.

Shortly thereafter, Xu Yang’s phone rang.

The caller was Officer Liu Ming.

Liu Ming didn’t hide anything, and directly reported the situation to Xu Yang.

"What? The circus had an accident?"

"Lion, bear both escaped? Right near here?"

Xu Yang stood up instantly.

This was dangerous.

Though the lion is a savannah animal, its fighting prowess is akin to that of a tiger, more formidable than a leopard.

What if they encountered Xiao Hua’s family?

Who knew the condition of the zoo’s lion.

"Have the escaped animals been confirmed?"

Xu Yang asked again

"The circus staff are checking. So far, two lions and one black bear are known to have escaped; the rest of the large animals are accounted for," reported Chen Ming. Then he asked,

"We plan to search the mountain. Since it’s the mountain, we’re asking if you’d like to come over."

"After all, you are more familiar with the mountain terrain."

At this, Xu Yang immediately agreed:

"Yes, I’m fine. I’ll head over now."

In response to this incident, a joint rescue team had been formed.

Searching was organized by teams and areas.

The local police officers belonged to one team.

Compared to the city’s firefighters and armed police, they seemed less significant, with poorer equipment and physique.

After all, firefighters and armed police were mostly fit, while the local police officers were often pot-bellied, average middle-aged men.

But Liu Ming thought of the external aid, Xu Yang,

With Xu Yang, things really were different.

The deputy chief in command, upon hearing Liu Ming’s words, urged him to call Xu Yang immediately.

The tone, the demeanor, somewhat resembled a scene from a TV show where the Jade Emperor, after experiencing the havoc wreaked by Monkey King in heaven, shouted, "Quickly invite The Buddha!"

Thus, Xu Yang was summoned.

The police team trusted him quite a bit.

"How long has it been?" When Xu Yang arrived by car at the scene and saw the circus convoy, he asked.

"It’s been over two hours,"

replied Liu Ming urgently.

"Did they run down from here?"

Xu Yang, looking at the downhill slope, further inquired.

"Yes, right here."

Then, Xu Yang looked down the slope; the mountain beside and below was connected, suggesting that the lion and black bear might have already dashed into the mountains.

Actually, the black bear was not a big deal, since the mountains already had black bears.

But the lion had to be found, both to protect the lion and the mountain’s wildlife.

The mountains became very cold in winter, and a lion wouldn’t survive in the snowy conditions.

"In that case, they might have gone into that mountain."

"Xiao Hua and Luna are there."

"Let’s search there."

Xu Yang gave the general direction.

The others nodded, as their directions were the same.

The group totalling eight people was quite large, mainly because besides Xu Yang and the police officers, there was also a cameraman carrying a camera.

Organizational work for large events never forgets publicity,

sometimes publicity work is even more important than the actual task.

The cameraman understood well, almost constantly filming Xu Yang.

He could see that finding the lost lions still very much depended on Xu Yang.