25 Black Water

◎The whole grassland was in chaos.

The bees really came to take revenge, because Qiao Jinnian heard a "buzzing" sound coming from far away and getting closer.

Dense swarms of bees followed Silverback and ran towards this side. Qiao Jinnian felt numb all over, but now was not the time to feel numb.

She yelled at all the animals: "Roar--"

As she roared like a lion, the animals also saw the swarm of bees approaching and all began to run for their lives.

Honey badgers are not afraid of bee stings, but Qiao Jinnian is afraid of them because they can be fatal!

Ryan followed her closely and yelled at her: "Roar, roar—"

Qiao Jinnian ran too slowly, so without hesitation, she jumped onto Ryan's back.

After sitting down, Ryan ran towards the south at a pace of 50 kilometers per hour.

The ostriches had nothing to fear, as they could easily reach a speed of 70 kilometers per hour. In fact, they didn't know what they were running for, they all ran, so the six parents and a group of baby ostriches all started to run for their lives.

The baboons followed closely behind, and the jackal was also very fast, following closely behind Ryan.

Everyone ran away. It was just a temporary residence anyway. Everyone was heading south anyway. If the territory was lost, it was lost. The most important thing was to save their lives!

The flat-headed silverback was stunned. Why did everyone start running away frantically after seeing him? What happened? Why did everyone run?

Flathead Brother: Hey, wait for me!

So, the honey badger, who was not afraid of bees at all, had to run away with everyone.

These bee colonies had their homes destroyed and their entire hive taken away. They were so angry that they came in large numbers and followed the honey badger all the way, wanting to take revenge. However, after they finally found their target and followed the scent of the hive to this grassland, they watched a bunch of speed monsters running away in unison.

Wait, why is their target gone again?

All the animals did not dare to stop and ran and roared all the way. The herbivores next to them saw this scene and scattered in fear, thinking that carnivores were coming to hunt them.

As a result, the whole grassland was in chaos.

I don't know how long they ran until Ryan was so tired that he gasped for breath and found a place to rest under the shade of a tree. Then the animals stopped. Everyone was very tired. After resting for a while, they all came to the river, lined up in a row, and started to drink water.

Herbivorous and carnivorous animals were huddled together, heads touching each other, because the river was so small. This scene shocked the herds of zebras grazing on the opposite side of the river.

Yes, they ran so fast that they actually met the first group of migrating zebras again. It can be seen that they had traveled many days this time.

After drinking some water, Qiao Jinnian went to the shade of a tree with Ryan and lay on him to rest.

Ryan was so tired that he fell asleep soon after.

Suddenly, the culprit, the Silverback, took the piece of honeycomb in his hand and held it up as if offering a treasure, as if to say, "Here you go, eat it. I found it. It's so sweet."

Qiao Jinnian: "..."

This guy is really not afraid of death. No matter what kind of poison it is, it has no effect on him. No wonder he is not afraid of anything.

Qiao Jinnian originally wanted to criticize him, but gave up. They couldn't speak the same language. Besides, honey badgers are called honey badgers because they eat bees and honey. They even eat poisonous snakes as snacks. So, it's not that honey badgers love to cause trouble, but that Qiao Jinnian and the others are too weak, right?

Qiao Jinnian was not polite either. If he didn't eat it, it would be a waste. Otherwise, wouldn't he have escaped in vain?

So, Qiao Jinnian broke off a piece of honeycomb and put it into his mouth without hesitation, then gave the rest back to him: "Roar——"

The honey badger took the rest and ate it happily.

She rarely saw animals that would share delicious food with others. The silverback was a really good friend, so she let him cause trouble. So, while he lowered his head to eat the honeycomb, she held him in her arms and rubbed him.

You know what, this guy is quite cute when he's not causing trouble. Unfortunately, the meat is solid and very heavy, and she is still a baby, so she can't hold him at all, so she had to put him down again.

Originally, all the animals followed Ryan south, but because of this escape, everyone was a little panicked and lost their way, so the route deviated a little and no one knew where they ran to.

After Ryan regained some strength, he stood up and sniffed around to see if this was the territory of a lion group and whether it was safe here.

Then, Ryan followed the river and brought everyone to a more suitable residence. It was close to the river, where there were more prey, and there was a small hill with even a small cave in it. It was unknown what animal had left there before.

However, this cave has been abandoned because there is no smell left in it. After Ryan has rested, he is going to go hunting. When he sees this cave, the first thing he does is to hide her in it, so that he will feel more at ease.

Qiao Jinnian also knew that it was best for her to stay here and not run around. When she and Cape went to lure the wildebeests before, she relied on Ryan to lie down not far away. If Ryan was not by her side, she would be eaten by a passing leopard or lion in a minute.

Silverback was very happy to see the cave. He ran around everywhere and found a place. He lay down and started digging a hole for himself. Cloak also picked a place for himself and started digging.

After a while, the animal cave was covered with a pile of dirt, and Qiao Jinnian sat pitifully beside the pile of dirt, feeling a little depressed.

So, when Ryan caught a zebra and came back, he clearly smelled Qiao Jinnian's scent, but couldn't find her, and he growled in anxiety.

"Ouch--" Qiao Jinnian responded quickly, saying that he was at home, but was blocked by the pile of dirt.

Originally, she was thinking of waiting for Ryan to come back to clean up the pile of dirt, but now she went out backwards, carrying the pile of dirt out bit by bit, and simply raised the exit a little to prevent wild animals from invading. In this way, when Ryan went hunting, she could sleep here peacefully.

It was a big project and she was busy for several hours.

Seeing that she was safe, Ryan ignored her and lay down under the shade of the tree to sleep, leaving her with a zebra leg.

After finishing this, Qiao Jinnian began to deal with the zebra's legs.

However, just like eating fruit, she ate meat without salt every day and felt that her sense of taste had deteriorated. She couldn't go on like this.

After eating the dry meat, Qiao Jinnian took the honey badger for a walk around the area. As long as Ryan was there, she could go anywhere within a few kilometers.

As they walked, they unexpectedly found a quagmire. The water here was black, and the surrounding area was bare without even a weed.

This looked unsafe, so Qiao Jinnian didn't get close, but the honey badger was not afraid and ran forward directly.

There were almost no animals here. Qiao Jinnian thought for a moment, then picked up a stone and threw it far into the mud.

"Boom——" A dull sound came from the mud.

After waiting for a long time, no living creature appeared. Qiao Jinnian felt that this situation was a bit strange. The black water seemed sticky and he didn't know what was inside.

But there were absolutely no carnivores like crocodiles. This was the only thing she could be sure of.

Unexpectedly, when the honey badger saw that she was interested in the mud puddle, he jumped directly into it and came out again. Even the silver hair on his body turned black.

But he looked fine and didn't react at all.

So, Qiao Jinnian also approached the edge of the mud and tried to touch the black water.

She always felt that she had seen a similar situation somewhere, as if there was usually no grass growing next to a lake with a lot of salt because the salt content was too high.

For some unknown reason, Qiao Jinnian dipped some of the black water and put it in her mouth to taste.

Unexpectedly, she actually tasted a light salty taste!

If it tastes salty, it means there is salt in the mud, or at least the salt content is very high. Then, she can try to extract salt from it.

Suddenly, Qiao Jinnian became alert. This is salt. How can people survive without salt?

But if the salt content here is very high, will it damage the skin?

Qiao Jinnian didn't want to damage her skin, especially since she was only one year old and there was no doctor to see her.

So, the first thing she thought of was to make a tool, a big pot that could hold water.

She didn't have any metal materials, so the only ready-made material she could think of was stone.

So, she took her honey badger and searched the woods for stones that could be used to make pots. After all, stones were too difficult to dig.

Fortunately, after walking around a few times and almost going through the entire forest, I finally found an irregularly shaped thing with a concave part inside and a not-so-thick bottom, uh, a pot.

In short, her requirements are very low. As long as it can be used, she will replace it if she finds a suitable one in the future.

After using the stone pot to scoop up some black water from the mud, Qiao Jinnian was about to carry it back when she suddenly realized that she was a little too arrogant. With her small body, it was difficult for her to lift the empty stone pot, so how could she dream of carrying back a stone pot full of water?

But, apart from her, a two-legged creature who can move the pot with her hands, who else can she rely on to move it?

Even primates like baboons cannot walk upright.

Qiao Jinnian fell silent again. He held his chin, sat by the mud pit, and stared at the black water in a daze.

When Ryan came over, he saw that she was unhappy.

He moved closer to her, lying beside her and licking her face as if to comfort her.

Qiao Jinnian paused her thoughts and leaned over to hug his head, rolling around in his long mane. As she rolled, she muttered, "Oh my, this is so annoying! Why do I have to be so small? Can't I just be 18? This pot is too heavy, and the water is too heavy!"

"Huff, huff, huff—" Ryan had no idea what she was saying and could only make this guttural sound, letting her mess up his mane.

Wait, if water can't be transported, there must be solid matter in the mud, right? The solid matter can be transported alone, and there's no need to worry about the water spilling!