Sister Hua, whom everyone present had seen before, was no stranger. As Xihong Zoo gained popularity, everyone knew there was a tiger king inside larger than ordinary Siberian tigers.
In fact, some of the people present had personally visited Xihong Zoo to see her.
But seeing her was one thing; observing her at such close proximity, without the protection of wire mesh or tempered glass, was an entirely different experience.
The visual impact that struck them head-on left them speechless. Every step Sister Hua took felt like it was landing on their hearts.
It was at this moment that Sister Hua, who had been on the large truck, suddenly leaped.
Her body, weighing several tons, landed silently on the cement ground at the entrance of Xiong Hu Mountain Villa.
Then, with an elegant stride, she walked step by step to Yang Lin's side.
Seeing their mother approach, the two little ones Yang Lin held in his arms immediately became excited, desperately trying to break free from his embrace.
Witnessing this, Yang Lin simply let go of the Haier Brothers he was holding.
As soon as their feet touched the ground, the Haier Brothers ran to Sister Hua.
The two brothers, born not long ago, were already the size of adult cats. However, in front of Sister Hua, they appeared so minuscule, barely reaching her paws in height.
The stark visual contrast once again sent a tremor through the crowd.
After a full minute, Nie Feng finally swallowed and said,
"Is the food at your Xihong Zoo that good? Sister Hua is already this big, and she's still growing?"
"That's too exaggerated. She could probably take down an elephant in one bite."
Hearing Nie Feng's exclamation, Yang Lin didn't engage in much conversation, merely replying perfunctorily,
"We feed her normally. Sister Hua is exceptionally gifted; it has little to do with our zoo."
"Is that so?"
"Otherwise, what could it be? Sister Hua couldn't possibly have become a spirit, could she?"
"Alright, let's not dwell on this. Tell me first, where are those escaped tigers now? I'll take Sister Hua to find them."
Upon hearing Yang Lin's words, Nie Feng remembered the main objective and immediately turned serious.
"It's like this, behind Xiong Hu Mountain Villa is a forest area. When the villa staff discovered it, the fences and wire mesh near the forest were already flattened. So, those escaped tigers must have entered the forest area."
"It's right behind the villa. I'll take you there."
After saying this, Nie Feng led the way, with Yang Lin and Sister Hua's family of three following closely behind.
As they passed by the armed police soldiers, Yang Lin could clearly feel them becoming more tense.
Dealing with ordinary tigers, they would have no problem relying on their modern weaponry.
After all, no matter how formidable a tiger is, it can't withstand two bursts from an assault rifle.
But Sister Hua was different. Such a colossal creature, once it charged, they might only manage to fire one burst before Sister Hua was upon them.
Once she got close, they might not even have the courage to fire.
Moreover, they had reason to suspect that Sister Hua's fur and muscles, like marble, could withstand bullets.
Of course, it wasn't just them who were tense; Yang Lin was also nervous.
Facing the armed police officers and soldiers on site, he was afraid they might accidentally discharge their weapons.
Sister Hua might be able to withstand a few shots, but he himself couldn't withstand even one.
Fortunately, this worry was unfounded. Until he led Sister Hua into Xiong Hu Mountain Villa, nothing unexpected happened.
The moment Sister Hua's massive body disappeared through the gate, everyone let out a long sigh of relief.
"My goodness, the pressure is immense. Is this the aura of the most powerful creature on Earth?"
"Fortunately, it was Xiong Hu Mountain Villa that had the incident. If it were Xihong Zoo, they might have had to deploy armored units to subdue it."
"When Sister Hua passed by me, my hands were trembling. I'm not even as tall as her leg. It's terrifying."
"If those escaped tigers are caught by her, won't it be like beating up babies?"
"Let me tell you, Sister Hua is an adult female Siberian tiger, fully buffed."
"I'm definitely going to visit Xihong Zoo during the holiday this month."
"I wonder what the situation is inside now. The matter should be resolved soon, right?"
...
While the armed police and soldiers were still recovering from their shock, Yang Lin had already ventured deep into Xiong Hu Mountain Villa.
As soon as he entered, he was astonished by the sight within the villa.
The last time he visited was over a decade ago. At that time, Xiong Hu Mountain Villa had only recently been established, with a combined total of only a few hundred large beasts like lions, tigers, and black bears.
But now, as far as the eye could see, both sides of the enclosures were filled with piles and piles of tigers and black bears.
South China tigers, Siberian tigers, Bengal tigers, white tigers – as far as the eye could see.
Asian black bears, Tibetan brown bears, brown bears – all common bear species could be seen.
There were even over a hundred lions.
All together, the number far exceeded one thousand.
"Good heavens, as expected of a breeding center built with 300 million yuan in 1993. Xihong Zoo can't even compare to this scale."
Hearing Yang Lin's remark, Nie Feng, who was accompanying him, wore a wry smile.
"This is still far from its peak. If a batch of female animals hadn't undergone sterilization a few years ago, the number would likely be much larger than it is now."
"Sterilization? Why sterilize?" Yang Lin asked, puzzled.
"What else could it be? They couldn't afford to raise them. In the early days, besides bearing breeding responsibilities, they also provided medicinal materials, processing normally deceased tigers and bears into medicinal raw materials."
"But due to policy changes, animals can no longer be used in medicine, and this business stopped. Without this major source of income, relying solely on tourism, it's impossible to sustain such a large industry."
Speaking of which, Nie Feng looked at Yang Lin with envy.
"If the tourism revenue here could even be half of Xihong Zoo's, this problem wouldn't exist."
"You're making it sound like Xihong Zoo stole your business."
Yang Lin teased.
"That's not it. The development and operational model here has issues. It doesn't have the diversified development of ordinary zoos, so operational problems were bound to occur sooner or later."
Just as Yang Lin was chatting idly with Nie Feng about Xiong Hu Mountain Villa, the animals in the enclosures on both sides of the main road suddenly became restless.
Especially the tigers in the tiger enclosure, as if they had encountered some terrifying threat, some were already frantically scratching at the enclosure's wire mesh.
Seeing this scene, the staff within the enclosures immediately panicked. If the tigers in the enclosures escaped, they would be torn to shreds in an instant.
Before they could figure out what was happening to these animals, Sister Hua, who was following Yang Lin, suddenly opened her mouth wide.
The next second, a thunderous roar erupted from her gaping maw.
Instantly, the leaves on the roadside trees rustled as if blown by a fierce wind.
And the beasts, which had been restlessly agitated, seemed like mice seeing a cat; they immediately lowered their heads.
At this moment, Yang Lin faintly heard Sister Hua muttering behind him,
"A bunch of brats, so noisy. If you keep making noise, I'll bite you all to death!"