It had been five hours since the eight animals had escaped.
This meant that five hours had also passed since Yang Lin had left the zoo.
He had intended to check the current situation of the zoo through shared vision, but when he switched to the perspective of Li Ziming, the macaw, he immediately sensed that something was amiss.
At this moment, all the animals in the zoo appeared to be in a state of panic, as if they had encountered something extremely terrifying.
Even the usually lively two Pallas's cats were hiding in a wooden house within the leopard enclosure.
Although everything seemed normal from the perspective of the tourists, Yang Lin already had a terrible premonition.
After all, animals and humans perceived danger in fundamentally different ways, and sometimes animals could detect dangers that humans couldn't.
"Could it be that the African lion has escaped into the zoo?"
Once this thought entered his mind, Yang Lin could no longer remain calm.
If that were the case, all the previous doubts would make sense.
Xihong Zoo was located in a remote area with sparse surveillance, and there was no surveillance within the zoo itself.
Furthermore, some of the walls were old and in disrepair. If the African lion had indeed sneaked into the zoo, it likely wouldn't have been discovered.
"But why would it run into my zoo for no reason?"
Suddenly, a spark of inspiration flashed through his mind.
"Could it be going for the old lion inside?"
Realizing this, Yang Lin quickly took out his phone and made a call.
As soon as the call was connected, he said directly:
"Kexin, make an announcement throughout the zoo immediately, telling tourists not to enter the latter half of the park."
"Don't ask why so much, just do as I say."
"Remember, absolutely do not let anyone sneak in, and you yourself stay away. If you feel anything is wrong, lead the tourists out of the park immediately."
Hearing Yang Lin's words, Lin Feng, who was sitting beside him, also sensed something was wrong.
"Director Yang, has something happened at the zoo?"
"Sigh... I hope I'm just overthinking it." Yang Lin let out a long sigh, put his phone back in his pocket, and said to Lin Feng.
"Captain Lin, please take me back to the zoo. I can't explain much to you right now."
Seeing that Yang Lin didn't intend to elaborate, Lin Feng didn't press further. He nodded and instructed the driver to head towards Xihong Zoo.
Ten minutes later, the police car stopped steadily at the entrance of Xihong Zoo. Before Lin Feng could react, Yang Lin rushed into the zoo.
At this moment, the tourists in the park had already gathered at the entrance.
"What's going on? Why are we suddenly being gathered here?"
"Yeah, everything was fine earlier. What's happening inside the park?"
"I don't feel anything wrong, the park is quite safe, isn't it?"
"Of course, it's safe. But the Paw Patrol and Sister Hua haven't been brought back yet. With their scent around, those escaped animals wouldn't be foolish enough to run in here."
"Indeed, I think this is probably one of the safest places in Ningnan City right now."
"Let's wait for Director Yang to come back and explain. Since we have nothing else to do, why not go see Shidifu?"
"I heard that Director Yang has personally recaptured the African elephant and the white rhino."
"So, is only the African lion left now?"
...
As the tourists were chattering, Yang Lin's figure rushed in from outside the zoo.
Upon seeing him, the tourists were about to approach and ask for information, but Yang Lin directly got onto the electric tricycle next to the administrator's office and sped towards the depths of the park.
Seeing this strange scene, the already curious tourists were immediately intrigued.
Led by a few brave tourists, they followed directly behind Yang Lin.
Yang Lin clearly had no time to bother with them now. He twisted the throttle of the electric tricycle to the maximum.
A journey that would normally take over twenty minutes was completed in less than five.
When his electric tricycle came to a stop, a vast open area appeared before him.
This open area was one of the parts of Xihong Zoo that was not yet open to the public. From a distance, it looked like a small grassland.
It was originally planned to be used for breeding large herbivores like elephants and giraffes.
Unfortunately, due to insufficient funds, it had been put on hold.
Only an old male lion that had lived in the zoo for ten years resided here.
However, Yang Lin could not see the old male lion at this moment.
When he had come here before, the old male lion, who was already toothless, had always been listless. Even eating meat required it to be ground up by a meat grinder.
In his father's words, this old lion probably didn't have much time left, it was in its twilight years.
Coupled with its past tragic experiences in the circus, it might pass away at any moment.
As Yang Lin searched for the old male lion, under a large tree about 50 meters away, a pair of light yellow eyes were staring intently at him.
Unbeknownst to him, Yang Lin felt a chill creeping up his back, and goosebumps instantly erupted all over his body.
This deep-seated fear immediately made him realize that something was wrong.
He instinctively turned his head towards the direction of the large tree, and his eyes met those light yellow eyes.
For a moment, the air seemed to freeze.
Even when facing the two jaguars before, Yang Lin had never felt such fear.
It was because the colossal figure standing under the tree was simply too terrifying.
With a shoulder height of over a meter, a body length of nearly four meters, and a head the size of a millstone surrounded by a mane of golden fur, coupled with incredibly solid muscles, just standing there motionless, the terrifying aura of the king of the savanna was suffocating.
Gulp!
Uncontrollably swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Yang Lin tried to retreat his legs.
He didn't even have the courage to approach and communicate with such a terrifying being.
And at this moment, the African male lion, emanating an aura of royalty, began to walk towards him step by heavy step.
When it was less than twenty meters away from Yang Lin, it suddenly increased its speed.
Seeing this, Yang Lin suppressed the fear in his heart and began to run out of the area.
But how could two legs outrun four?
Before long, Yang Lin could already feel the heavy breathing behind him.
Just as he thought he was surely going to die, a small, slender figure suddenly lunged out from the shadows nearby.