pertwk Chapter 77 The area was cleared.
Chapter 77 The area was cleared.
Ella didn't respond immediately, her fingertips unconsciously stroking the camera handle.
“It’s not because we scared them away,” Kaller continued, his eyes fixed on the hunting grounds below. “It takes time to scare away a group of animals. They’ll break grass and screech as they run away, leaving a mess of noise as they disperse. But in these two hours, I haven’t heard anything except the sound of the wind. They weren’t here in the first place.”
Ella lowered the camera, her gaze sweeping across the empty meadow, the only sound the rustling of the grass in the wind: "You mean,"
"Something cleared this area before we arrived." Kaller turned and looked her straight in the eye. "Something that made all the animals in the hunting grounds leave on their own before we got there."
The wind swept across the hilltop again, carrying the dry scent unique to the grasslands, pressing Ella's short hair and Kaler's wisps of hair on their foreheads to the east, sticking to their temples.
Ella raised the camera again and slowly recorded the view from the top of the hill. Finally, she focused the lens on the empty hunting ground below. The grass swayed in the wind, and there wasn't a single animal in sight. She pressed the stop button, and the screen went dark.
"Go back and write a report," she said.
Kaller glanced at her, said nothing more, and turned to follow Morris down the slope.
Ella stood at the top of the slope for two seconds, her gaze fixed on the bend, before pressing the record button again. She aimed the camera at the inconspicuous ditch, recorded for a while, then put away the camera and turned to go down the slope.
In the hollow of the bushes, Chen Fei's gaze was fixed on Ella's movements. She was filming the bend, and the direction the camera was pointed at was exactly where he had left his scent mark three days ago.
She knew there was something wrong with the bend.
Kaller was right; she felt it too.
Chen Fei mentally marked the locations of the two people, then turned his attention away from the receding footsteps.
The footsteps on the hilltop gradually faded into the northwest, and the smell of cooking smoke, mixed with the aroma of burning charcoal and the scent of food, wafted back on the wind, growing stronger as they headed towards the camp.
The advance on the east side has ended.
Failed.
Chen Fei slowly stood up from the hollow, stretched, and his bones made a slight clicking sound. He stood in the bushes for a moment, looked down at his front paws, and felt the coolness of the soil on his palms.
The heat that had been sealed within him flowed smoothly through his body, circulating along his limbs and bones. The energy expenditure was much less than he had anticipated, and the golden threads on the side of his neck remained unchanged.
He slowly tightened his abdominal muscles, drawing the heat back to his dantian little by little. The moment the aura blockade was lifted, the unique scent of a sub-adult male lion slowly emanated from his fur, carrying a faint savory smell of prairie beasts.
The wind from the grassland immediately rushed over, carrying away the scent and dispersing it into the boundless meadow, as if the confrontation and lurking had never happened.
[Host: Chen Fei]
[Identity: Sub-adult male lion]
[Energy Points: 901↑]
Nine hundred, and they've finally gained a firm foothold.
He turned and strode towards where he had landed, his feet landing silently on the grass.
Big Head had been crouching in the pile of dry grass outside the bushes for a while, its fluffy mane covered in grass clippings. It was unclear how long it had been waiting. As soon as Chen Fei came out, it jumped up from the ground and trotted over on its four short legs, gently nudging Chen Fei's side with its head in a spoiled and affectionate manner.
Chen Fei stepped aside, and Da's head hit nothing. He stumbled and fell half a step, but quickly regained his balance and caught up with Chen Fei. He walked close to Chen Fei, trying to get his head close to Chen Fei's neck, and sniffed repeatedly with his nose twitching.
It paused, then sniffed again.
It tilted its head, its little eyes filled with confusion, as if to say, "I'm not sure what I smelled." The scent was faint, carrying the smell of earth and withered grass, completely unlike Chen Fei's usual smell. It rolled its little eyes around twice, unable to come up with an answer, so it put the question out of its mind, its lips slightly parted, and began to ponder the bone it hadn't finished gnawing on last night.
Chen Fei walked ahead without looking back.
The destination is still three kilometers away.
The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, the grassland was still slightly cool with the night dew. Chen Fei stood at the edge of his landing spot for a moment, raised his head, pointed his nose to the east, and felt the direction of the wind. It was north-northeast, exactly the same as yesterday, with the fresh scent of grass and trees in the wind.
He turned and looked at Big Head.
Big Head was lying on the earthen slope next to Sail, his front paws pressing on a piece of bone left over from last night, gnawing with great concentration. His jaws were clenched tightly, and the bone crunched crisply between his teeth. His fluffy tail swished contentedly from side to side behind him, sweeping up the fine sand on the ground.
Chen Fei walked over with steady steps, raised his right paw, and gently patted the boy's furry head. The force was light, but enough to get his attention.
Big Head immediately raised his head, still holding the piece of bone in his mouth, making muffled whimpering sounds, his small eyes full of confusion as he looked at Chen Fei.
Chen Fei didn't speak, but simply shook his head slightly in the direction of the east, his ear tip twitching towards the hunting grounds.
Big Head tilted his head to the left, and half of the bone in his mouth slipped out. He quickly used his tongue to push the bone back into his mouth, then tilted his head to the right. His small eyes rolled around Chen Fei's face twice, as if repeatedly confirming that he had not misunderstood the command.
Chen Fei didn't repeat himself. He turned around and went back to the center of his landing spot. He lay down, buried his head in his front paws, and only left his eyes to warily scan his surroundings.
Big Head stood there for almost half a minute, his little tail drooping behind him, looking somewhat hesitant. He carefully placed the bone on the ground, pressed it down with his front paws, and glanced back at Chen Fei. Seeing that the other was still lying in the same spot and had no intention of following, he lowered his head, put the bone back in his mouth, and took small steps, slowly walking towards the east.
After walking a dozen steps, he stopped, turned his neck back, and glanced at the direction where he had landed. Chen Fei was lying on the embankment, not even raising his head.
Big Head moved the bone to a more stable position in his mouth and continued walking forward.
The morning sun shone on the eastern hunting grounds, and the grass blades were pressed into smooth arcs by the wind, swaying up and down, as if countless unseen hands were gently breathing beneath the grass, carrying the rhythm of life.
Big Head walked to the edge of the hunting ground, stopped, and looked around warily. Then he tightened his grip on the bone in his mouth, gently biting it with his canines to prevent it from falling.
This wasn't his first time visiting the eastern hunting grounds, but each time, either Chen Fei would lead the way or Wanderer Jia would stand guard on the flanks. Never before had he been alone like this. He couldn't help feeling a little flustered, his ears pressed to his head, not daring to let his guard down.
The wind swept in from the north, carrying a dry scent that mingled the aromas of various animals in the hunting grounds, vying to fill his nostrils.
There was the scent of Thomson's gazelles, about three or four of them, on the north side of the hunting grounds, about four or five hundred meters away, carrying the fresh scent of grass; there was also the scent of a warthog, very fresh, as if it had just passed by the bushes on the east side, carrying the smell of soil and decaying leaves; only the pungent, fishy smell of hyenas was absent, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.
Da Tou quickly processed the scent information in his mind, then immediately slowed down, lowered his body, bent his limbs, and walked eastward along the edge of the shallow ditch. His old injury on his left shoulder still ached slightly when he moved in a low posture, making his movements a little awkward, but it was much better than last month and no longer affected his normal gait.
We've reached the bend in the shallow ditch.