Future Pet Shop

"Captain, I think I hear someone shouting for help!" They hadn't descended much farther when a sharp-eared team member confirmed Carmen and Cheeky's discovery. After an arduous journey, the entire rescue team finally saw a glimmer of hope, their spirits instantly lifting.

"Is anyone there? We're from the Yunzhong City Rescue Team, and we're here to rescue you!" Qi Jian immediately rushed to the front, shouting in the direction of the voices. His voice echoed through the valley and soon reached the trapped college student hikers below. Shen Yibin could also faintly hear crying from below; it sounded like they had suffered a great deal.

'Sigh, if Carmen hadn't led the way, I'm not sure I would have dared to come to a place like this. After all, I'm a trained semi-professional with experience exploring the African savanna, the Qinling Forest, and the Northeast Snow Forest, and even I don't tread lightly in dangerous places. These kids were way too reckless. They're lucky they ran into Carmen; otherwise, they would've been stuck here until morning at the earliest.

Out here in the wilderness, the weather is cold, and a long night is hard to get through. If they'd had to wait that long, someone might not have made it.' Thinking of this, Shen Yibin couldn't help but shake his head. He hoped this would be a lesson for them and for other tourists visiting Yunzhong City, to prevent such incidents from happening again.

"WOOF! WOOF!" Carmen, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped at the edge of a cliff. It turned, barked twice at Shen Yibin, and then lifted a paw, pointing first down the cliff, then to the side, leaving the rescue team members completely baffled.

"Bin, what does that mean?" Captain Qi also turned around. He had a vague guess as to Carmen's intentions but wasn't confident, so he looked to Shen Yibin for a translation.

"Oh, it's saying the group is right below us. Going down this cliff is more direct and will save a lot of time, but it's somewhat dangerous. We could also take a long detour around the side, but that would waste more time. The choice is up to you." Shen Yibin and Carmen had been together for so long that they were perfectly in sync, so he immediately understood its intentions.

"The rescue is the priority. Let's go down the cliff. We'll take this safe road on the way back," Captain Qi decided without hesitation. The college hikers had been trapped below for a long time; every minute was an ordeal for them, so the team had to get down there as soon as possible to set their minds at ease.

"Here, give me the rope. I'll go down first to scout the path. You can follow once I've confirmed it's safe." Captain Qi beckoned to the person behind him, taking the climbing rope from a team member. He tied one end securely to a large tree at the top of the cliff and clipped the other to the harness at his waist, preparing to be the first to descend and scout the route.

"Wait, Captain Qi! The fog is so thick down there, and we don't know what the situation is. It's too dangerous for you to just go down like that," Shen Yibin hurriedly stopped him. The cliff looked treacherous, and he was worried.

"We can't worry about that now. Saving them is the priority. Bin, you don't have to come down with us. Just stay up here and look after Carmen and the others." Having made the arrangements, Captain Qi flicked the rope and prepared to go down again.

"No, what I mean is, we have a better option. There's no need for you to take the risk." Shen Yibin waved toward the treetops, and Xiaoliu scampered down from the top of the tree, limping over to his side. Shen Yibin pulled Xiaoliu in front of him. "Your rock-climbing skills can't compare to a monkey's, can they? I'll let Xiaoliu go down first to scout the path for you. Once he's found a safe route, it won't be too late for you to follow."

Back in his day on Emei Mountain, Xiaoliu could practically fly across the cliffs, so this little ledge was nothing to him. Hearing Shen Yibin's command, he let out two squeaks, grabbed the rope, and leaped off the cliff, drawing gasps from the crowd. Captain Qi quickly peered over the edge, only to see Xiaoliu already landed securely on a pine tree growing diagonally from the cliff face, grinning toothily up at them.

"That nearly gave me a heart attack!" The rescue team members finally breathed a sigh of relief, watching as Xiaoliu deftly scrambled down the cliff. He reached the bottom in no time, dragged the climbing rope two or three meters to the side, then returned to the top and pointed at the rope, signaling that they could go down.

Only when he was halfway down did Captain Qi realize that descending from their original spot would have led them straight into a thick patch of thorny bushes suspended mid-air. They would have surely gotten snagged, unable to move up or down. This new path, by contrast, was relatively free of difficult obstacles; there were even rock crevices and trees they could use for footholds to rest and conserve energy.

"Thank goodness for Xiaoliu, or we would've wasted even more time!" Captain Qi said to Shen Yibin at the bottom of the cliff, still a bit shaken by the close call.

Before long, the rest of the rescue team members were down as well. Carmen was also lowered by rope, as they still needed it to lead the way. Only Hah'Er and Egg remained at the top of the cliff.

From here, they could clearly see the figures of the trapped hikers. They were huddled on a narrow ledge halfway down another cliff face below, and it was a mystery how they had gotten there in the first place.

"Everyone, don't panic! We'll be over to rescue you right away! Stay right where you are and don't move!" At this distance, the hikers could hear Captain Qi's words loud and clear.

"*SOB*... Someone's finally here! Please, hurry up and get us out of here!" Having finally laid eyes on the rescue team, the terrified youngsters, who had been frightened for so long, couldn't help but burst into tears.

"Captain, this is tricky. The ledge is completely full, so our people will have nowhere to land if they go down. Plus, there's that whole web of thorns above the ledge. If we throw a rope down, it's bound to get caught in them and never reach the hikers," a team member said, pointing to the ledge below.

"We have to try! What else can we do? There's a gap right in the middle of the thorns. We'll drop the rope through there, have them tie it around their waists, and pull them up. As long as we get one or two of them up, there will be room for us to land," Captain Qi said. He didn't have any better ideas, so he decided to give it a shot.

However, they threw the rope three times in a row, and each time the end landed among the thorns, failing to reach the trapped hikers.

"Cheeky, come give us a hand. Take the end of this rope to that person," Shen Yibin said. It looked like it was time for his Divine-level Rescue Team to perform. He placed the end of the climbing rope into Cheeky's claws.

"Bin... compared to you, we're the real amateurs here!" Captain Qi was at a loss for words.