Become a Cheetah
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Luo Qiao was awakened by the sound of thunder.
Amid the deafening roars, lightning tore through the curtain of night, again and again illuminating the distant sky. The falling lightning ignited the dry grass, and in a dazzling red glow, billowing thick smoke spread out into the night.
Luo Qiao simply watched all this quietly; the thunder and lightning heralded the arrival of rain, but this rain would not last long. The dry season had mostly passed, and the delta would occasionally receive rain, as a prelude to the rainy season, moistening the already dried-up waterholes and streams. However, this was just a drop in the bucket. After dawn, what awaited the inhabitants of the grassland was still heat and scorching sun.
The thunder and lightning continued, but the rain was slow to fall, and the fire began to rage out of control.
"Dad, what is that?"
Without Luo Qiao's body warmth, Luo Sen and Luo Rui immediately woke up. Seeing Luo Qiao standing at the mouth of the cave looking into the distance, they also came over. It was the first time the two little cheetahs had seen fire; the burning flames, accompanied by thick smoke, were very conspicuous in the night.
"That's fire."
Luo Qiao swept his tail over Luo Sen and Luo Rui, squatted down, and drew them close. For several months, not a drop of rain had fallen, and the high temperature had evaporated the last trace of moisture in the air. Even a spark could ignite a disaster. It was not surprising that lightning would start a fire; as long as the rain fell, the fire would be extinguiad.
The rocky hill where Luo Qiao and the two little cheetahs lived was some distance from the fire. Luo Qiao was not worried that the fire would reach here. Instead, he took the opportunity to teach the two little cheetahs a lesson, including the uses of fire and its dangers.
The animals on the grassland were not afraid of fire. Almost every year, during the transition between the dry and rainy seasons, fires would occur. After a fire, the land previously occupied by dry grass would be renewed, and green grass would grow again, attracting migratory herbivores back to this grassland.
In a sense, this also became a boon for predators. However, there were always two sides to every coin. After each major fire, some animals would not have time to escape and would perish in the flames.
Grassland fires would also burn away the tall grasses and bushes used by predators for hiding. If the fire got out of control, it would eventually bring a catastrophe to the animals living here.
Fortunately, rain always fell in time. For thousands of years, this had become an important part of the grassland's ecological cycle.
Nature is merciful and cruel. Only species that know how to follow the rules can survive and reproduce on Planet Losa, generation after generation.
The animals near the starting point of the fire appeared very calm. Experienced antelopes and giraffes would decide the direction of their escape based on the spread of the fire. The young cubs, however, watched the crackling flames burning the dry grass with fear and curiosity.
A young bull elephant was sleeping in the center of the fire's origin. He seemed a little agitated, but he was still lucky enough to find a direction to escape the fire.
When he came out of the bushes, he was surprised to see several hartebeests calmly eating grass at the edge of the fire line, and even some small birds that had been awakened were excitedly flapping their wings up and down, catching insects fleeing for their lives.
A female hartebeest raised her head and, by the light of the fire, clearly saw the somewhat disheveled bull elephant. She kicked another female hartebeest with her front leg, clearly saying: Look, the elephant scared silly!
As a BOSS-level figure who could drive away an entire pride of lions, the young bull elephant felt that being laughed at by hartebeests for being frightened by the fire was really a matter of losing face.
Therefore, the exasperated elephant curled its trunk and let out a loud trumpeting sound. The group of brave hartebeests who dared to laugh at the elephant had to start a strategic retreat in the face of the trumpeting.
In fact, they had no need to hold their ground. The fire was about to reach here; no one would value face over their life.
A black rhinoceros in the territory of the brothers Parson and Jairo was not so lucky. His long rhino horn became the best lightning rod. When the first lightning bolt struck, he unfortunately got hit.
Parson and Jairo witnessed the entire process from the lightning strike to the rhino falling to the ground. The brothers had seen lightning before, but it was the first time they had seen a rhino killed by lightning.
Truly exceptionally unlucky...
Parson cautiously kept a certain distance from the rhino's corpse. Jairo wanted to go over and take a look, thinking it might be a free dinner, but Parson held him back.
"The Hosby lion pride has been nearby these past few days. They won't let this meal go."
Parson shook his head at Jairo, who regretfully flicked his tail. Parson had originally wanted to cross the lion pride's territory to find Luo Qiao, but he didn't expect the pride to suddenly appear nearby and not leave. Parson could only temporarily dismiss the idea and wait and see.
What Parson couldn't understand was that this was almost the most barren part of the Hosby lion pride's territory. There was no water source, prey was scarce, and there were even rhinos living here that could pose a threat to lions. Why would the lions suddenly come here?
The brothers knew that the Hosby lion pride and the Oros lion pride had fought not long ago. Lion fights were almost commonplace, but they didn't know that the Oros lion pride had occupied a large area of the Hosby lion pride's territory. The Hosby lions had almost been driven here and could not leave in the short term.
"Then what do we do now?"
Now that this rhino was dead here, if the brothers didn't want the carcass and didn't want to cause trouble, they had to leave quickly.
Parson understood what Jairo meant. With the lions nearby, they couldn't swagger through the lion's territory, especially since there was a big meal here, and the lions would arrive soon.
"Let's leave here first."
Parson turned around and walked towards the depths of their territory. Jairo followed behind his brother, but Parson suddenly turned his head to look behind him.
"Brother?"
"It's nothing, let's go."
After the cheetah brothers left, Monty climbed down from a tree at the edge of Luo Qiao's territory. Weighing the pros and cons, he finally abandoned the rhino's carcass and walked into the tall grass.
Monty left just in time; not long after, the Hosby lion pride arrived.
Thunder and lightning continued, and finally the rain fell. A torrential downpour wove into a rain curtain, and the raging fire became vulnerable in the face of the heavy rain, extinguishing itself in no time.
Luo Qiao and the two little cheetahs stood at the entrance of the cave for a while before returning to their comfortable hay pile. Luo Qiao couldn't help but recall when he had just picked up Luo Sen and Luo Rui. The three of them had no place to settle down, and the only place to shelter from the rain was an abandoned termite mound, but every time they would get soaked to the bone.
Now, they stayed in the comfortable rock cave, and even if rainwater was blown in by the wind, it would not wet their fur.
Luo Sen and Luo Rui rolled happily on the hay. Rain seeped in from the cracks at the top of the rock cave, dripping down into thin lines of rain, and soon accumulated into a small puddle. Luo Rui curiously walked over and looked up at the place where the rain was dripping, wiggled his ears, and couldn't help but want to lick it, but Luo Qiao grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him back.
"Don't drink that! It's not clean."
Luo Qiao patted Luo Rui's butt with his paw, the meaning was clear: disobey, spank!
Luo Qiao didn't mind drinking rainwater, but not the kind that seeped in from the cracks in the rocks. Luo Qiao had just left his signature "scent" on the rock mountain not long ago, and even if the rainwater was clean, Luo Qiao still had a psychological shadow.
Since Dad said no, the little cheetah naturally obeyed. Luo Rui fawned and rubbed against Luo Qiao's chin.
"Dad, I'm being good."
So, no spanking, right?
Luo Sen couldn't help but bite Luo Rui's tail. He was already eight months old, why was he still acting spoiled like a two or three-month-old cub?!
Luo Rui immediately pounced on Luo Sen and they rolled into a ball. Was he the only one acting spoiled?! Every time his older brother was hungry, didn't he also roll around and act cute?!
Big brother had even summarized the eighteen styles of acting cute; he was just following suit!
The two little cheetahs rolled around happily. Luo Qiao looked up at the sky, then down at the ground, licked his paw, and finally couldn't resist.
"Sons, Dad's here!"
So, a big cat and two little big cats rolled into a joyful ball.
The next morning, Luo Qiao led the two little cheetahs out of the rock cave. The air was no longer full of the smell of dust. The fresh air and newly grown green grass added vitality to the dry season's grassland, but this vitality was only fleeting. Soon after, the grassland would once again be covered in withered yellow. Only the arrival of the rainy season could truly alleviate the dryness and heat of the dry season.
"Dad, where are we going to find prey today?"
"To the Gangsa River."
It had just rained, and new grass had grown on the grassland, which was very likely to attract herbivores from the other side of the Gangsa River. If they were lucky, they might catch unexpected prey.
Just as Luo Qiao had expected, a group of herbivores had gathered on the opposite bank of the river, the most numerous of which were wildebeests migrating with the rain and the seasons. Although most of the wildebeests had already migrated to more distant grasslands, a small part remained on the opposite bank. The new grass after the rain was a great temptation for the wildebeests.
The green grass attracted the wildebeests, and the gathering of wildebeests attracted the predators who had been suffering in the dry season.
Luo Qiao and the two little cheetahs hid in the forest belt along the riverbank. Luo Sen and Luo Rui looked at the wildebeest herd on the opposite bank with shining eyes, but Luo Qiao was considering the right time to hunt.
The crocodiles in the river showed little interest in the wildebeest herd; they seemed to have no intention of hunting.
The leading wildebeest walked to a relatively flat riverbank and began to look for a suitable crossing point. The wildebeests all waited for his decision. When he finally decided to leap and jump into the river, the wildebeest herd behind him began to follow closely, and more and more wildebeests jumped into the river.
The crocodiles finally stopped their meditative state. They opened their bloody mouths, biting the wildebeests' hooves and necks, trying to drag their targets into the water and drown them.
The wildebeests bitten by the crocodiles had almost no chance of breaking free, but a strong female wildebeest miraculously escaped to the shore! She also paid a considerable price; one of her legs was broken.
Luo Qiao instantly locked onto the target. For a cheetah, this female wildebeest was indeed a bit too large, but the wildebeest was injured, and Luo Qiao couldn't let such a good opportunity pass.
But Luo Qiao was clearly not the only predator who saw the opportunity. A lioness suddenly rushed out of the grass before Luo Qiao could make a move and pounced on the injured wildebeest. Luo Qiao froze.
Subsequently, one after another lioness rushed out of their hiding places and pounced on their respective targets. In just an instant, this group of lions had harvested three strong adult wildebeests and a wildebeest calf!
Luo Qiao recognized them; they were the lionesses of the Oros lion pride. Luo Qiao began to feel annoyed. He should have thought of it earlier; how could the lions let such a good hunting opportunity pass, even during the day!
However, his rumbling stomach made Luo Qiao unwilling to give up on this group of wildebeests. He abandoned hunting on the riverbank and chose to continue tracking the wildebeest herd. Following this group of wildebeests would always lead to an opportunity.
The Oros lion pride had definitely had a great harvest today. The prey caught by the six lionesses could allow the pride to not need to hunt for a week.
"Shana, go call Tini and the others over, and then go fetch the cubs."
Tina released the wildebeest's neck and instructed several hunting lionesses to guard the prey, trying to drag the wildebeests to a hidden corner as much as possible. She had caught a male wildebeest. Just this one, plus the cub caught by Rosa, would be enough for all the lions to have a full meal. What's more, they had two others!
The heavy rain last night and the wildebeests crossing the river today were a pleasant surprise for the lion pride. Lions have always been good at seizing opportunities. Of course, this did not only refer to the Oros lion pride.
The Hosby lion pride, as Parson and Jairo had expected, occupied the rhino's carcass. With this rhino, they had no need to hunt wildebeests for the time being. The relationship between Nas and the Felix and Ero brothers suddenly became friendly. Since the fight with Oros, the three male lions suddenly realized that they now had to unite to compete with Oros without falling behind. Of course, this friendship had a time limit.
Felix and Ero set the limit at one year.
Luo Qiao led Luo Sen and Luo Rui behind the wildebeest herd, constantly searching for suitable targets within the herd. Finally, he spotted a small wildebeest. This small wildebeest seemed unable to find its mother. It kept following another female wildebeest, trying to gain the female wildebeest's protection. But the female wildebeest had her own child, and she constantly drove the small wildebeest away from her. In the world of wildebeests, adoption simply did not exist.
This small wildebeest was doomed.
Even if it wasn't Luo Qiao, other predators wouldn't let him go.
Now most of the wildebeests began to graze. Without its mother's protection, this small wildebeest stood alone on the periphery of the wildebeest herd. This was definitely a good opportunity!
"Wait here, don't make a sound."
Luo Qiao told the two little cheetahs to hide in the bushes, and he sneaked to a place about thirty meters away from the target. Before being discovered by the wildebeests, he rushed out like lightning. The small wildebeest born in the rainy season had already grown very strong. Its speed was not as fast as a cheetah's, but its strength was not weak. Luo Qiao grabbed the wildebeest with both front paws and bit its neck, but it was difficult to knock it to the ground.
The other wildebeests were accustomed to this scene. Apart from the small wildebeest's mother, no one would come to save him. And his mother had already died in the lions' mouths.
The small wildebeest was very tenacious, and Luo Qiao's physical strength began to decline. If he couldn't kill his prey quickly, his only choice was to let it go.
Luo Qiao had no choice but to slap the small wildebeest's eyes with his paw. The small wildebeest felt the pain and momentarily relaxed. Luo Qiao seized the opportunity and finally knocked the small wildebeest to the ground.
Luo Qiao bit the small wildebeest's neck tightly, never giving it a chance to stand up again.
After the prey stopped breathing, Luo Qiao laboriously dragged it into the bushes. The two little cheetahs were already very hungry. Perhaps even the vultures had been attracted to the lions' slaughter on the riverbank. Until the father and sons were full, no freeloaders came looking for food.
o0o
❤️
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