The panda, overjoyed that Jiang Fan and the others were willing to follow, dashed ahead.
This, however, put Zhou Niannian and Dai Xiaomei in a predicament.
Pandas usually ambled along at a pace comparable to walking.
But when a panda truly ran, it was a creature capable of fifty kilometers per hour, almost as fast as a car.
Jiang Fan and Yao had no trouble keeping up with the panda.
Zhou Niannian and Dai Xiaomei, who at most practiced yoga to maintain their figures, could by no means match the panda's speed.
"Oh my god, Gun Gun, slow down!"
"You're going to kill us!"
The panda seemed annoyed.
It cocked its rear end and swayed in place, as if mocking them.
Hmph, mere demon girls wanting it to slow down?
As it paused, Jiang Fan caught up. He surveyed their surroundings, casually grabbing the panda by its ear.
"Slow down!"
His tone was light, yet it sent a tremor through the panda's massive frame.
With its ear firmly in someone else's grasp, the panda became a perfectly obedient image, waiting in place for the others to catch up.
Even so, Zhou Niannian and Dai Xiaomei had to exert themselves to the utmost to barely keep pace.
Once all four were gathered, the panda led them into a dense thicket of bushes.
There was not a trace of human passage in this thicket, nor even any animal tracks.
The bushes were covered in sharp thorns, and some branches bore green burrs, themselves covered in bristly barbs.
The panda, with its thick hide, was naturally fearless, swatting its way forward.
Yao and Jiang Fan, one wielding a shovel and the other a stone axe, were unstoppable, clearing a path through the undergrowth as if they were gods of war.
Zhou Niannian and Dai Xiaomei, however, had a much tougher time.
Even though Jiang Fan and Yao had cleared a sufficiently wide path, the flying burrs still managed to scratch them.
After finally hacking their way through the thicket, they emerged to face a cliff.
Jiang Fan frowned, wondering where this panda was leading them.
They were already a considerable distance from their original camp.
The viewers in the live stream were ecstatic.
"What do you guys think the panda is leading them to?"
"I bet it's some martial arts manual, like the Sunflower Manual. 'To master the divine art, one must first castrate oneself.'"
"Or maybe some peerless elixir, like 'I Love a Stick of Chai.'"
"Pah, you guys watch too many wuxia novels. I think it's definitely an alien base."
"It'll have some black technology, like Vibranium armor, spider serum, or a time machine."
After the first person started their wild speculation, others joined in, their imaginations running wild.
The answers became increasingly outlandish, bordering on the absurd.
The panda let out a cry, clasped its head with its paws, and rolled down the cliff.
Leaving the four figures on the high cliff, silently enduring the cold wind.
However, since they had followed it this far, it would be impolite not to continue.
Jiang Fan hesitated for only a moment, glancing at the cliff face and estimating its height.
"About... a hundred meters. We have enough rope."
He muttered to himself, then retrieved his climbing rope and began setting it up on the cliff.
He used the same method he'd employed when entering the Golden Overlapping Waterfall.
In three minutes, he had secured all the ropes and was ready to descend.
He pulled on the climbing rope, tautening it.
Yao was the first to go down, scouting the terrain below.
He gestured for Zhou Niannian and Dai Xiaomei to follow him down the rope.
"Is... is this safe?"
Zhou Niannian sounded worried.
In terms of skill, Jiang Fan was exceptional.
But she and Dai Xiaomei were not such experts.
Without extreme care, rock climbing could be very dangerous.
Dai Xiaomei also hesitated, standing uncertainly.
Seeing their delay, Jiang Fan couldn't help but frown.
"Watch your footing, and be careful. You can't expect a full set of climbing gear in a place like this, can you?"
His words made Zhou Niannian blush. She retorted,
"Of course, I don't expect it."
With that, she stepped forward, grabbed the rope, and prepared to descend.
"Be careful,"
Zhou Niannian said to Dai Xiaomei with concern, then began her descent down the rope.
After Zhou Niannian, Dai Xiaomei followed.
Once all three were at the bottom, he then grabbed the rope and began to climb down.
Zhou Niannian was wondering when he would come down.
The next moment, a figure rappelled down the cliff face.
It was like a deity descending from the heavens.
Zhou Niannian watched, her heart in her mouth, peeking through her fingers.
Beside them, jagged rocks lay scattered like fangs. If they slipped even slightly and fell onto these rocks, they would be crushed to smithereens.
But Jiang Fan's movements were incredibly skilled, and he quickly reached the ground.
After Jiang Fan finally landed, Zhou Niannian let out a gasp and rushed to help him.
However, due to the residual momentum from his landing, he inadvertently sent Zhou Niannian flying.
They tumbled together into the nearby grass.
Zhou Niannian scrambled up, disregarding the slight pain in her knee, and exclaimed,
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
Jiang Fan shook his head. For him, this was merely simple rappelling.
The viewers in the live stream had a complex expression on their faces, with something they wanted to say but weren't sure if they should.
"Ah, they're openly shipping again."
"Are you uncomfortable watching? If you think you can do better, go ahead!"
"Give it a rest. I'd fall down with the rope before I even got to jump. This isn't a skill, it's brute strength."
"As if you have any skill."
The group chattered amongst themselves, watching as the others continued their exploration.
Those viewers who enjoyed adventure shows were in for a treat.
Seeing that all four had descended, the panda immediately darted forward.
After crossing the cliff, the group waded through a swiftly flowing river.
The river didn't look deep, but the water was filled with powerful currents. Zhou Niannian, not paying attention, was almost swept away, but Jiang Fan quickly grabbed her.
"Stand steady."
"...Okay."
The panda, running swiftly, disappeared after swimming across the river.
The path ahead was relatively flat, and the group followed the animal's tracks, eventually finding the panda.
The panda sat beneath a tree, vigorously scratching at the trunk with a look of extreme annoyance.
The tree was lush and green, bearing clusters of green fruits and emitting a peculiar fragrance.
Zhou Niannian and Dai Xiaomei couldn't help but stifle their laughter at the panda's agitated state.
The live stream audience also buzzed with activity. Some guessed the panda's claws were itchy and it was sharpening them, while others thought it wanted to eat tree bark.
Jiang Fan, however, recognized the tree and soon understood the panda's intentions.
He murmured,
"Lingnan welcomes spring early, fragrant blossoms fill the land."
"What?"
"This is a *shan cang shu*, described in poetry. It emits a fragrance, and bees often build their hives in the trunk to make honey."
Jiang Fan stared at the panda, finding it hard to believe.
Could it be that this creature had led them all this way just to help it get some honey?
Jiang Fan fell silent for a moment.
He then asked,
"You want honey?"
The panda's eyes lit up, and it nodded frantically.
In its small eyes, a longing for the sweet taste within the tree trunk was evident.
Jiang Fan nodded and, with feigned innocence, said,
"Then keep dreaming. Think hard. Dream big."
The panda instantly froze, its expression suggesting it was about to shatter into a thousand pieces.
The viewers in the live stream burst into laughter.
"Haha, Brother Jiang even tricks pandas."
"Maybe the panda is tricking him too, leading him all this way just for the honey in this tree."
"This is called mutual deception."
"Aw, Gun Gun is so cute, they should help it out."
"Gun Gun: I'm not really human, but you're a real dog!"