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Chapter 3: The Escape in Progress
In the small animal enclosure where Wang Ping was kept, there were some stones and concrete blocks that seemed to serve either as bedding for the two honey badgers or simply as decorations. Judging by their size, a normal honey badger wouldn't be able to move these stones.
Wang Ping noticed that his strength seemed a bit abnormal.
In fact, he had already realized this when he was fighting with the “veteran” honey badger earlier. Given his current size, there was no way he could move such large concrete blocks.
His “veteran cellmate” appeared quite clever, choosing to roll and push round stones toward the corner.
In comparison, Wang Ping felt rather out of place, even a bit foolish.
Not only could he move these stones, but he could also jog with them.
After all, he wasn’t a “genuine” honey badger. Wang Ping thought that this strange ability came not from an increase in his strength as a honey badger but rather from retaining the strength he had as a human. In a human body, he could lift stones even twice the size of these without any trouble.
Lifting a concrete block heavier than himself, Wang Ping stood upright and strolled over to the corner, leaving his “cellmate” in astonishment. Perhaps he was wondering why this fellow had such great strength but couldn’t win a fight.
Thus, under the moonlight, the two busy figures—no, two badgers—scurried about, with one piling stones and the other assisting. Soon, they had stacked a pile of stones about a meter high in the corner. Most of the stones were piled there by Wang Ping, since he was faster and stronger. He even took the time to arrange the stones for better stability.
Then, the “veteran” seemed to realize something. This strange fellow wasn’t losing fights due to lack of strength but rather because of a lack of brains.
Everything was ready. The “veteran” looked up at the concrete wall, climbed the stone pile, and attempted to scale the wall. However, an adult honey badger stands only about half a meter tall, and even when standing upright, it wouldn’t exceed a meter in length. The honey badger scratched at the wall for a while but could only manage to place its paws on the top; unfortunately, the concrete wall was too smooth, and its hind legs couldn’t find any grip.
Wang Ping thought for a moment, then approached it from below and pushed against its rear end with his paw, lifting it up.
After several kicks to Wang Ping's face, the honey badger finally climbed up. However, it didn’t even glance at Wang Ping before darting away, disappearing behind the wall.
Wang Ping: “…”
At this moment, if Wang Ping had a close-up shot, one would see a bewildered honey badger staring blankly at the wall’s top. The background would be a cold breeze rustling a few leaves.
What happened to the promise of sticking together through thick and thin?
What about me?
After waiting for a while, it was clear that the other badger was not returning. If this creature wasn’t a habitual offender, Wang Ping would not believe it.
After all that effort, his stomach grumbling, Wang Ping sighed and slumped his shoulders. Guess it was back to moving stones.
After working hard for a while, almost all the scattered stones in the enclosure had been piled in the corner by Wang Ping. Finally managing to lift the last concrete block, Wang Ping turned around and found himself level with the top of the wall.
Damn it, his obsessive-compulsive tendencies had kicked in! He had moved all the stones when it wasn’t even necessary to pile them so high. Wang Ping slapped his forehead and decided to climb up onto the wall under the cover of darkness.
At this point, he had the opportunity to observe the layout of the zoo. It seemed chaotic; he could even see a closed iron cage nearby containing an African lion. It was strange that large and small animals were kept so close together—did the staff worry that the smaller animals might sleep too soundly?
But none of that mattered to Wang Ping, who had no intention of helping these animals escape collectively. “Better you than me,” he thought, uncertain whether, if he opened that lion's cage, the lion would first escape or eat him to regain its strength before making a run for it.
He looked around, still unable to find where the honey badger had gone; not even a shadow in sight. Wang Ping observed for a long time and noticed that the zoo seemed to have an outer wall, which was quite tall. Climbing over it clearly wasn’t realistic, so he had to find a way to slip out the front or back door.
Jumping down from the wall and ignoring the curious or wary gazes around him, Wang Ping slipped along the edge of the wall.
As he passed a storage room that appeared to be a cleaning shed, he grabbed a dirty, torn cloth to wrap around himself. After all, his white fur stood out too much in the night, comparable to the gleaming teeth of a black man. If he ran into someone, he wouldn’t have anywhere to hide. Now, however, by wrapping the cloth around himself and lying low, Wang Ping's current size made him almost invisible.
He ran in a winding manner toward the direction he had just observed. Wang Ping dared not take the main path, sticking to the grassy edges to avoid startling the animals in their enclosures and making any noise.
After wandering for over half an hour, Wang Ping finally spotted something resembling a main gate. Next to it was a security office with lights on, but he wasn’t sure if anyone was on duty inside.
Wang Ping carefully crept into the shadows where the light didn’t reach, peering through the gaps in the ragged cloth.
He had originally thought this was the zoo’s main entrance, but it didn’t seem so. There was no ticket booth, the road layout was illogical, and there were even two rows of garbage bins piled by the roadside. One path seemed to lead directly into the zoo’s animal-rearing area, but due to the lack of cover, Wang Ping hadn’t taken that route earlier.
The gate wasn’t locked, just slightly ajar. Perhaps it was because he had become an animal that he was more sensitive to his surroundings; Wang Ping felt the presence of human breathing not far away.
He slowly moved toward the gate, managing to hide beside one of the gateposts.
Through the crack in the gate, he could see a delivery truck parked outside, with two white men standing by the vehicle smoking, occasionally glancing at the gate.
“What’s going on?” Wang Ping was a bit confused.
“￥#%#￥……”
From behind him came a low conversation, followed by the sound of a dolly being dragged.
Wang Ping turned to look and saw several black men pulling a dolly covered with a tarp, carrying an iron cage toward the gate. Their outfits resembled those of the zookeepers he had seen during the day, so they were likely zoo staff.
A security guard emerged from the booth to help push open the gate.
“Yo!” The leading black man greeted the two waiting outside. The men shrugged and got up to open the back of the delivery truck.
Seizing the opportunity while everyone was distracted, Wang Ping quickly slipped through the gap by the gate and pressed against the wall, getting outside the zoo.
As expected, this wasn’t the main entrance. Outside was a secluded alley, dark without any streetlights, with the main road visible several hundred meters away.
Now Wang Ping began to doubt the identities of these individuals. Animals generally possess night vision capabilities that humans lack. Just as the group worked together to lift the cage onto the truck, Wang Ping caught sight of familiar spotted patterns through the gap in the tarp.
Inside the cage was a leopard!
From what Wang Ping knew, many wildlife parks often engaged in wildlife smuggling under the pretense of animal deaths. He hadn’t expected to stumble upon such a situation.
He didn’t know whether the employees were complicit or if there were other forces at play.
Those bastards!
With no time to think too much, as the two white men exchanged a stack of cash with several black men, Wang Ping dashed underneath the truck and jumped into the open back door.
“Bye bye!” After receiving the money, the black men grinned widely and waved goodbye. The two white men closed the back of the truck and drove away.
Meanwhile, Wang Ping stood inside the truck, looking up at the cage covered by the tarp, on the verge of tears.
Why did I come in here?
What was I even doing here?
“Huff…” A faint sound of breathing came from the cage in front of him; it turned out the leopard was still alive.
Feeling the breathing and the unique pressure that a beast exudes, Wang Ping froze.
Please, don't let the anesthetic wear off too quickly!
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