On the rainforest highway, as dark clouds gathered in the sky, a sudden downpour arrived without warning.
Yang Lin, who had just finished tending to the injured, was drenched before he even had time to prepare.
"What kind of awful weather is this? How can it start raining so suddenly?"
Inside the SUV, Yang Lin grumbled as he wiped water from his body with a tissue.
"It's quite normal. This is a typical tropical monsoon climate. If you go further, you'll see snow-capped glaciers, alpine deserts, alpine meadows. In short, Metok is a truly magical place, truly deserving of being called the 'Lotus of the Secret Realm'."
In the back seat, Teacher Xiao Liang, far from being discouraged by the sudden downpour, seemed almost excited.
"Alright, alright, let's not encounter any more strange weather. This is already more than enough for us."
"We don't even know when this rain will stop," Yang Lin said, looking at the dense curtain of rain with a troubled heart.
They were close to the Metok Nature Reserve, and at this pace, they would definitely miss their encounter with the little white tiger.
More importantly, he wondered if the injured people in the minivan ahead would be able to wait for the rescue team.
"I hope the rain stops soon."
Perhaps the heavens heard Yang Lin's plea, as the sudden downpour ceased just twenty minutes later.
The previously overcast sky was once again filled with sunlight.
"That's great, it's finally stopped! Let's quickly ask where the rescue team is. If they're close, we should set off too, and try to reach Metok county town before dark."
Hearing Yang Lin's words, Teacher Xiao Liang immediately dialed the rescue number he had called earlier.
However, as the call connected, his brow furrowed gradually.
"Okay, I understand."
"How long will it take to clear the road, roughly?"
"Five hours? Okay, thank you. We'll think of our own way then."
...
Hearing Teacher Xiao Liang's conversation with the other party, Yang Lin immediately had a bad feeling.
"What's wrong? Did something else happen?"
"Uh, something has indeed happened. The road ahead is blocked by a landslide, and the rescue team won't be able to get here anytime soon. What's more troublesome is that it seems we can't move either."
After saying this with a heavy expression, Teacher Xiao Liang gestured for Yang Lin to look at the road ahead.
Following his gaze, Yang Lin realized that the already dilapidated mountain road had completely turned into a mud path after being washed by the heavy rain.
He had no doubt that if he tried to drive his car over it now, it would get stuck immediately.
"This is really troublesome now," Yang Lin said, taking a deep breath and casually pulling open the car door.
After walking a few dozen meters ahead on the road, he returned with his boots full of mud.
"It's no use. Forget about the car, even people can't get through."
"Then what should we do? Should we ask your wild ox friend for help again?" Teacher Xiao Liang tentatively asked.
Hearing this, Yang Lin immediately glared at him.
"What do you mean 'my wild ox friend'? They're not my relatives. Just because I ask for help doesn't mean they have to help."
"Besides, the key issue this time isn't us, it's them," Yang Lin said, pointing to the injured people waiting in the minivan and scratching his head.
"By the way, before there was a road here, how did people get in and out?" the accompanying cameraman asked with confusion.
"That's a good question. The road to Metok was only completed in 2013. Before that, people entered and exited either on foot or by driving pack animals like horses, yaks, and donkeys."
"It's precisely because of the difficulty of access that the ecological environment here has been so well protected..."
Before Teacher Xiao Liang could finish speaking, Yang Lin suddenly interrupted him.
"Wait, you said there are horses and donkeys here?"
"Yes, this is also one of the habitats for Tibetan wild asses. If we're lucky, we might even encounter them this time."
"As long as there are donkeys, they can definitely travel on the mountain paths that we can't," Yang Lin said, his eyes lighting up.
"You all wait here. I'm going to find some Tibetan wild asses to carry us into Metok."
As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Lin, ignoring the dissuasion of the others, resolutely headed northeast of the road.
In that direction, a majestic snow-capped mountain was clearly visible, and below the mountain lay a lush alpine meadow.
Seeing that they couldn't stop Yang Lin, Teacher Xiao Liang and the other two could only wait in place. Although they were worried, out of trust in Yang Lin, they firmly believed that Yang Lin would find the Tibetan wild asses.
"Director Yang has gone to find the Tibetan wild asses. We can't just do nothing. Let's report the current situation to our viewers first, otherwise, they'll think we've gotten stuck halfway."
"Liu Ming, turn on the live broadcast equipment."
As he spoke, Teacher Xiao Liang's personal live broadcast room was opened on Xihong Live.
Within a minute of the live stream going online, tens of thousands of viewers had already flocked in.
"They're finally live streaming! If you didn't show up soon, we were going to call the police."
"The missing person has returned. How many days has it been? Have you reached Metok yet?"
"Where's Director Yang? Why is only Director Hu in the live stream?"
"Has something happened to Director Yang?"
...
Facing the viewers' concern, Teacher Xiao Liang quickly responded to each of them.
"Dear viewers, it's like this. We've just arrived on the Zhamo Highway today, but our luck hasn't been very good..."
In front of the viewers in the live broadcast room, Teacher Xiao Liang recounted the situation they encountered on the road.
He particularly described in detail how Yang Lin had stepped in to help the injured victims of the car accident.
When the viewers learned that Yang Lin had rescued the minivan by driving a white-legged wild ox and had treated the injured with his superb medical skills, they all expressed their admiration.
"Director Yang is truly a good person. How many lives has he saved this time?"
"I didn't expect Director Yang to be so skilled at treating humans, not just animals."
"A role model, let's learn from Director Yang."
"It seems like Xihong Zoo will be receiving a few more banners of commendation."
"But speaking of which, where is Director Yang? Where has he gone now?"
"Yeah, could he have gotten himself into trouble while saving people?"
"No, no, that's unlikely."
...
"The road is currently blocked by a landslide, and it's impossible to pass through normally. Director Yang is now looking for Tibetan wild asses."
"If he can find them, then we can ride the wild asses into Metok. Let's wait for Director Yang's good news."
As he spoke, Teacher Xiao Liang and the others turned the camera towards the nearby meadow.
Faintly, some black dots could be seen.