The Evolutionary Path of the Lion

Chapter 14 The Eyes of the First Cow

The bison herd is not on the west side today.

Chen Fei stood on the mound and glanced in the usual direction. The grassland to the west was empty, with only a patch of stubble that had been chewed and broken. Even the smell of cow dung was much fainter than yesterday.

He turned his nose to the east.

The smell is over there.

The mixed scents of seventeen bison—the smell of hay, the sourness of rumination, and the distinctive aroma of mammary gland secretions from cows—was wafting from the east, much closer than he had anticipated.

Chen Fei took two steps on the eastern slope of the mound and looked down.

The bison herd had moved to the eastern grasslands, with the lead bison at the head, slowly advancing the entire group towards the meadow under the acacia tree—the place where the mother and her two children had slept the previous night.

The distance was less than thirty meters.

Chen Fei shifted his gaze towards the ground beneath the tree.

Sel was already awake, sitting by the tree roots grooming himself, his ears turned toward the bison herd, his expression alert.

Big Head is still asleep.

With its four legs up in the air, belly turned up, and head tilted to one side, its snoring could be clearly heard in the morning breeze.

They sleep without any warning, unaware that the sky is falling.

Chen Fei glanced at the speed of the bison herd's advance, then at the position of the head of the herd, and quickly calculated it in his mind.

At the current pace of the bison herd, the lead bison will be within ten meters of the main bison in about two minutes.

He came down from the mound and walked towards the acacia tree without making a sound, his footsteps very light.

When Sel saw him coming, he raised his chin towards the big head, his eyes conveying a clear message—you handle this.

Chen Fei walked over to Big Head and nudged his hind leg with his paw.

Big Head snorted, pulled his leg back, turned over, and continued sleeping.

Chen Fei increased the pressure and pushed him in the ribs.

Big Head opened one eye this time, gave him a resentful look that seemed to ask, "What do you want?" for a second, and then closed it again.

The bison herd had moved another five meters closer.

Chen Fei gave up on waking up Da Tou and turned to walk between the bison herd and Da Tou, intending to use scent to create a barrier so that the lead bison would detect the presence of a predator in advance and take a detour.

This plan failed when the cow had walked twenty meters away.

The cow was the largest old cow, with a broad forehead, thick horns, and a gait that exuded a worldly-wise composure. It smelled Chen Fei's scent, stopped, raised its head, and scanned Chen Fei from head to toe.

Then, it didn't take a detour.

It simply stood there, staring at him with an "I've seen more predators than you" look, its feet firmly planted.

The herd of cattle behind them stopped, and the seventeen bison formed a loose arc, protecting the lead bull in the middle and slightly forward position. Several larger cows on the outer circle lowered their heads and extended their horns forward.

Confrontation.

Chen Fei stood still and reassessed the situation before him.

Charging head-on won't work. Seventeen bison—his current energy points can't withstand a collective charge. Even with his Heat Claws fully activated, being hit by a bison horn would be a serious injury.

Retreating is also not an option. If the predator retreats first, the bull will interpret it as a sign of weakness and may trigger its pursuit instinct.

He needs to let the bull make the decision to retreat on its own.

Chen Fei mentally went through the logic behind the bison herd's behavior.

The collective action of a bison herd is essentially a decision made by the head bison alone.

Other members do not independently assess the threat level; they only observe what the lead cow does and follow its lead.

When the first cow stops, the others stop as well.

This mechanism is extremely efficient in defense, but it also means that the entire herd has a single point of contact – once the lead cow determines that the threat has been eliminated, the whole herd will calm down.

The key is not to win, but to get the bull to change its mind.

Chen Fei slowly shifted his body weight half a step back, not retreating, but adjusting his stance to make his outline look more relaxed. At the same time, he subtly suppressed the heat in his right forepaw, neither activating it nor building up momentum.

When a predator is preparing to attack, it leans forward, its muscles tense, and it emits a sour, adrenaline-like odor.

He turned off all those signals.

The cow's ear twitched.

It scanned Chen Fei from head to toe again, this time more slowly, and paused for two seconds on his standing posture.

Chen Fei remained still, even slowing his breathing.

The cow lowered its head, sniffed the ground, then raised its head and turned half a body length to the right.

They're not rushing in; they're replanning their route.

Chen Fei did not move.

The lead cow took the first step, turning right, and the herd followed suit, adjusting their direction. The entire arc-shaped formation slowly shifted to the side, like a river gradually turning, bypassing Chen Fei and the acacia tree, and continuing to advance into the depths of the eastern grassland.

When the last cow walked past, it was less than four meters away from Chen Fei. It glanced at him sideways, then looked away and followed the group.

Chen Fei waited until the bison herd was completely gone before slowly exhaling.

Just then, a confused hum came from behind.

Big Head had sat up at some point, tilting his head to watch the bison herd disappear into the distance. He then turned to look at Chen Fei, and then at Sair, his expression one of genuine bewilderment—he clearly had no idea what had just happened, but felt as if he had missed something important, and was trying to piece together the clues with his limited knowledge.

Finally, he came to a conclusion, let out a hum, and lay back down on the grass.

The gist of it is: Never mind, it's not important.

Sel watched from beside the tree roots, his tail gently brushing the ground.

Chen Fei withdrew his gaze, pressed his right front paw on the grass, and felt the lingering warmth on his paw tip.

Just now, he had actually considered activating the heat claws to directly intimidate the bull—the heat from the claw strikes was an unexpected and unfamiliar stimulus for herbivores, more direct and faster than ordinary imposing force.

But it is not necessary.

If you can solve a problem without having to do it yourself, then don't.

The bison herds on the isolated island are their most stable food source. Stimulating the entire herd will make subsequent hunting much more difficult.

Besides, he doesn't have enough energy points to squander right now.

[Host: Chen Fei]

[Identity: Sub-adult male lion]

[Energy Points: 453↑]

There are still 47 points away from the threshold of heat flow coverage in the limbs.

He mentally went over the number again.

At 47 o'clock, based on the current eating rhythm, I still need about three more large meals.

almost.

Chen Fei turned around and walked towards the mound, intending to go up and conduct a routine inspection.

Halfway there, a roar came from the direction of the old territory.

Deep, lingering, with a deliberately assertive force, it rolled far across the grassland before dissipating.

Chen Fei stopped and compared the voiceprint with his memory.

It's the one with the dark brown mane in the movie "The Twins".

He recognized the voice.

The old territory appears to still be in the hands of the two powers.

Chen Fei stood there and listened for two seconds, then continued walking towards the mound.

He has no right to respond to that roar.

But this won't last forever.