Tiger, I rejected the iron rice bowl.

Once Wang Yuyu's figure had completely disappeared into the dark woods, the drone slowly flew to the vicinity of the treetop where Guan Heping was hiding. A searchlight shone on him, and a steady male voice said, "Come down from the tree immediately and check on your accomplice. Is he still alive?"

Guan Heping froze, shaking his head violently. He clung tightly to the tree trunk, his voice trembling with fear and despair, shouting, "I don't want to! I won't go down! There are tigers down there! If I go down, they'll eat me!"

"Didn't you say you'd be there soon? I'll go down after you arrive and confirm it's safe! I absolutely won't go down now!"

Seeing this, the drone immediately softened its tone and patiently reassured, "Don't worry, it's absolutely safe!"

"We've already taken away your secure job; it won't come back to hurt you."

"We'll be watching from above, and we'll alert you immediately if he makes even the slightest move!"

He paused, then his tone became urgent, almost urging: "Your comrade has been bleeding for over an hour, and his condition is unknown. If you don't go check on him soon, he really won't survive!"

"Do you want to just watch him die here?"

"..."

Guan Heping opened his mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed it back.

He was torn between fearing the tiger under the tree and being unable to let go of the unconscious Du Bochao.

After a long silence, and with the drone's repeated persuasion and urging, he finally relented, his voice trembling as he agreed, "Okay...okay, I'll go check...you all must keep an eye on things, and tell me immediately if you see a tiger!"

After saying that, he carefully moved his body, his eyes scanning the ground warily, and he climbed down shakily.

He would pause for a few seconds after each step to make sure there was no unusual movement before daring to continue moving down, as if he was afraid that Wang Yuyu would suddenly appear at any moment.

After finally climbing down the tree, his legs went weak the moment his feet touched the ground, and he almost fell. He quickly grabbed the tree trunk to steady himself.

He looked around nervously, craning his neck as if ready to climb the tree at any moment.

Only after confirming that the surroundings were empty and Wang Yuyu had not appeared did he feel a little relieved and stumble towards the bushes where Du Bochao was lying.

But when he squatted down and reached out to touch Du Bochao's body, he froze instantly.

Du Bochao's body had become ice-cold, devoid of any warmth.

Guan Heping trembled with fear, collapsing to the ground with a thud. He scrambled backward, his eyes filled with terror, and cried out in a trembling voice, "He's dead...he's dead...Bo Chao is dead!"

He was so terrified that his mind went blank until the drone's searchlight shone steadily on him, bringing him back to his senses.

He abruptly looked up at the drone overhead, his voice trembling with sobs, and cried out in anguish, "He's dead! Come quick, he's been killed by a tiger!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he caught a glimpse of a huge figure slowly emerging from the dark woods out of the corner of his eye—it was Wang Yuyu!

Guan Heping was so frightened that he forgot to cry. He screamed and scrambled toward the big tree, climbing up on his hands and feet at a speed several times faster than when he came down.

Wang Yu watched Guan Heping's panicked and scrambling figure, and scoffed disdainfully, her eyes full of contempt.

Such a cowardly fellow dared to trespass into his territory; he was simply overestimating himself.

He didn't chase after him, but instead slowly walked towards where Du Bochao was lying.

He had heard Guan Heping's cries clearly. Hearing that Du Bochao was dead, he was filled with doubt and came over to check the situation and confirm the truth.

He stopped not far from Du Bochao's body, pricked up his ears, and listened carefully to Du Bochao's heartbeat.

A few seconds later, a look of seriousness flashed in his amber eyes. His gaze darkened, and he muttered to himself, "He really is dead. There's no heartbeat at all. It seems I was a bit too rough when I flung him away."

Then, he looked up at the drone in the air and nodded slightly, as if to inform the staff that "the person is indeed dead."

Then, he turned and slowly walked into the dark woods, disappearing again, leaving only the cold corpse on the ground and the terrified Guan Heping in the tree.

Meanwhile, inside the research base, the atmosphere was so oppressive it was hard to breathe.

Ji Yongjun stood in front of the large screen, his brows furrowed and his face solemn. All the researchers looked up at the screen, staring at Du Bochao's cold body on the screen, and remained silent.

After a long silence, a female researcher finally spoke softly, her voice tinged with disbelief and a barely perceptible hint of regret: "The person... just died like that?"

Ji Yongjun was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke, his tone heavy and calm: "If you run into a job with guaranteed employment, you'll either die or be crippled!"

"Don't let his seemingly easygoing nature fool you. He can joke around with Xiao Tang all the time, and no matter how Xiao Tang teases or pranks him, he never gets angry. He'll even cooperate with Xiao Tang!"

"But these are all exceptions!"

"His good relationship with Xiao Tang doesn't mean he has a good relationship with all of us, much less that he would tolerate strangers trespassing on his territory."

Ji Yongjun's tone gradually became serious, "He's a Siberian tiger, a wild Siberian tiger!"

Wild Siberian tigers have an extremely strong sense of territory and will not tolerate any intrusion!

"These people trespassed into his territory without permission; they're practically asking for death!"

"The iron rice bowl (referring to a government job) has already shown mercy. If it were any other wild tiger, it probably wouldn't even leave a whole carcass!"

Seeing that everyone was in a heavy mood, with their heads down and silent.

Ji Yongjun clapped his hands lightly, breaking the oppressive atmosphere: "Alright, stop looking. The dead can't be brought back to life. Now is not the time to be sad!"

"Get to work, everyone. Inform the rescue team of the latest news and tell them to speed up and do a good job in the aftermath and disposal."

The researchers nodded silently, suppressing their complex emotions, and continued their work.

After daybreak, the reserve's rescue team finally arrived at the scene.

As soon as Guan Heping saw the rescue team at the top of the tree, it was as if he had grasped the last straw. His tense nerves completely relaxed, and he no longer cared about being afraid. He climbed down the tree using both his hands and feet.

His legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground. He then scrambled to the rescue team members, grabbed their legs, and cried out in anguish:

"Arrest me! Arrest me! Take me away from here right now!"

"I'll never go into the mountains again, and I'll never dig for ginseng again!"

He was covered in mud, his hair was disheveled, his eyes were red and swollen, and his face was streaked with tears and snot. His voice was full of fear and regret.