82 Supporting the Family
◎ They can’t even get enough to eat. If a stray male lion from outside invades, these sub-adults will be wiped out...◎
The mother lioness looked very sad and angry, but she had no choice but to return empty-handed to find her cubs.
The cubs had already revealed their furry heads from the grass early on, and had been looking at their mother from afar, making "woooo" sounds from their mouths, which was the sound of calling their mother.
Fortunately, it was the rainy season. Although the mother lioness was very hungry, she still had milk, so she lay down and fed her cubs.
However, misfortunes never come singly. Just as the lioness lay down, a poisonous snake suddenly appeared from nowhere.
In an instant, all three cubs were poisoned. They made terrified "Ah Wu" sounds and were obviously in great pain.
The mother lioness sat up in shock, but it was too late. The cubs were too small, and the toxin quickly killed them on the spot.
Qiao Jinnian was watching very nervously. At this moment, she was lying on a tree, observing the surrounding environment. The tree was higher and she could see farther.
But it was difficult for her to take her eyes off the lioness and her cubs because of her wandering mind.
The poisonous snake must have been lurking in the grass for a long time, waiting for the mother lioness to come home to feed the babies, and then it poisoned all four members of the family in one breath.
The three cubs died instantly. The mother lioness was extremely sad and angry. She stood there and began to feel numbness in her hands and feet. It was the feeling of the poisonous snake venom invading her body.
The mother lioness could only lie there and began to roar softly, a howl for the loss of her cubs and also a grief for her own impending death.
Originally, the venomous snake was going to swallow the cubs in one gulp, but the group of hyenas who had just stolen the lioness's food noticed the situation here and took the lead and snatched the cubs' bodies in advance.
The lioness mother, lying there motionless, had a clear mind and watched clearly as her cubs were quickly devoured by the hyena pack. There were so many hyenas in the pack that in just a few minutes, only bones were left of the cubs.
Because the lioness was not dead yet, the hyenas just gathered around, waiting for the lioness to die on her own so that they could pick up a lion for free to eat.
The instinct of survival prompted the lioness to stare at the hyenas and keep issuing warning roars "Roar——"
The lioness's body is large enough that the toxin takes some time to work its way through her entire body.
The hyenas did not dare to act rashly and could only wait until dark. Because they were very full today, they decided to go home first. After all, they had eaten a zebra and three lion cubs today, so this lion was not a big deal.
Maybe, when they come again tomorrow, the lion will have just died, and they will have food to eat tomorrow.
As the hyena pack left, the lioness lay alone in the grass, looking at the sky with empty eyes, and sometimes she would fix her gaze on the corpses of her cubs.
There was no expression on the lion's face, but Qiao Jinnian felt very uncomfortable watching it. What kind of despair was that!
It was dark, and Qiao Jinnian tied a hemp rope to the edge of a tree branch to make a relatively safe bed for herself. It is always safer on a tree than on the ground.
Sometimes she would deliberately live on the ground and light a small fire, but now with the giant Allen, their sense of security as a group has increased, and Stripe is no longer afraid of being suddenly eaten by carnivores.
Qiao Jinnian lay under the tree, smiling bitterly and shaking her head. So, she was actually still under Allen's protection and was not completely independent.
While grieving for the lioness mother, she even thought that it would be terrible if she died in despair in the same way in the future.
After a restless night's sleep, Qiao Jinnian opened his eyes, pushed aside the branches, and looked towards the place where the mother lioness had been lying yesterday, wanting to see if she had been poisoned to death.
As a result, there was nothing there, only an indentation that had sunk in due to lying there for too long, indicating that a lion had once been lying there.
The mother lioness is not dead?!
She must have left here. If she died, there would only be a skeleton left there, not an indentation.
This was the best news she had heard today. Qiao Jinnian swept away the low mood of yesterday and was in a good mood.
As long as the mother lioness is still alive, there is hope. As long as she survives, everything is possible!
Patting her face, Qiao Jinnian regrouped and prepared to continue heading towards the southern grassland. She missed her lion father so much that she had to hurry!
Along the way, Qiao Jinnian followed the cloak, relying on the cloak to identify the smell, and actively avoided lion groups from all directions, reducing a lot of unnecessary trouble.
On the way, she basically relied on her own chasing and hunting abilities to capture prey with her own hands. Moreover, she did not need to hunt every day. She could hunt once every five or six days. She could roast a lot of dried meat, eggs, meat, fruits and tubers at one time, which was very balanced in nutrition.
On the way, she went to the Black Mud Pool again and boiled a year's supply of salt for herself, put it in a jar, and prepared to take it back.
After several months, when she reappeared at her home in the southern grasslands, her height had grown a lot. Now she was probably almost 1.2 meters tall, the same height as a normal human cub. Of course, she had no reference, so she just compared it roughly with the shoulder height of a male lion, because the shoulder height of a male lion was more than 1 meter.
From a distance, Qiao Jinnian yelled at the top of his lungs: "Roar--Roar--"
She found a high rock, stood on top of it, and shouted loudly to her lion group: "Roar--"
This is the voice announcing that I am back, this is the voice asking my father to come and take me home.
For some reason, Qiao Jinnian felt a sense of homesickness. She was afraid that she would be expelled by her lion father. Would he think that she had grown up and needed to be independent?
Now that Dad Lion and Sister Sa have a new brother or sister, does that mean they love me less?
Will the lion father feel that I don’t want him anymore and drive me out of the lion group just like he drove away Lina and Liya?
If that happens, she will be very sad because she doesn't want to leave her lion father. This is her home.
After thinking about a lot of random things, Qiao Jinnian didn't dare to walk back to the lion group alone. She wanted to tell her father that she was back, and she was not here to invade the lion group, but to go home!
After waiting for a long, long time, as if it were a century, the roar of the lion father came from afar.
"Roar——" That was the low voice of the lion father.
Qiao Jinnian was very familiar with her father's voice; it was a welcoming voice.
After a while, the lion father ran quickly and appeared in front of Qiao Jinnian.
Dad held his tail high, opened his mouth wide, and his nose made the whirring sound of a car engine as he ran, but he was happy.
Yes, Qiao Jinnian was very sure that her father was very happy to see her.
Running towards her father, Qiao Jinnian threw herself into his long mane and rubbed it hard, while roaring: "Awoo, awoo——"
Ryan didn't expect that the cub had grown so big. It should have been an adult lion long ago. Why was it still making such a coquettish sound like a cub?
But this seemed to remind him of the strange two-legged beast in front of him, the cub of his own family who had left the lion group for more than a year.
The lion father also rubbed Qiao Jinnian's head, stretched out his long, barbed tongue, and licked the cub's cheeks and hair just like when he was a child.
Qiao Jinnian's hair was already very long, and she had tied it into a high ponytail. But now the lion father had bitten the twine apart, and her hair was once again draped behind her in a mess, and she instantly turned into a little crazy girl.
Qiao Jinnian no longer cared about her hair. She jumped onto her father's back and let her father carry her towards the tribe.
Ryan opened his mouth wide and did not refuse to carry her. He walked towards the core area of the lion group with majestic and vigorous steps.
The home I had missed for more than a year appeared before me, with the familiar breadfruit tree, the familiar river, and my father’s favorite acacia tree.
Nothing changed until Qiao Jinnian saw a group of cubs lying under the tree.
As expected, Sister Sa gave birth to a litter of cubs with the lion father. This time she gave birth to five cubs, and all five grew up and became sub-adults.
Qiao Jinnian was somewhat stunned. She couldn't help but sigh. The lion group's reproductive capacity was too strong. She had only been gone for more than a year, and Sister Sa not only gave birth, but the cubs had grown Mohawk hair...
It's a pity that she missed the cubs' cutest moment.
It is easy to distinguish the males and females of these five cubs, after all, the males have grown manes. There are three males and two females.
Qiao Jinnian was just trying to bond with the cubs when she was knocked over by her brother from behind...
Looking back, Reiner was also very excited to see her, and just wanted to go up to her and get close to her, but he used too much force and knocked her to the ground.
This action angered the lion father.
Ryan roared at his son: "Roar--"
The brother's ears shrank back when he was yelled at, and he knew that he was a bit reckless. He didn't expect that his sister, who had grown taller, would still fall so easily.
Reiner is also a lion in his prime. His mane is thicker than a year and a half ago. He has perfectly inherited the excellent genes of his lion father.
Moreover, there were several cubs following behind Reiner.
Reiner, Sa Xiaomei, and Sa Zhua Zhua all gave birth to cubs, which should be arranged by Ryan for the tribe.
Sisters in a lion pride will raise their cubs together. Reiner's cubs are roughly half male and half female, so the ratio is pretty balanced.
When the males grow up to three years old, they will be driven out again by Ryan and Reiner. In this way, there will be no males with the same genes in the group except for their sisters and aunts, which will ensure the stability of the lion group.
All of a sudden, there were so many sub-adult lions in the lion group that they couldn't be counted. Qiao Jinnian was a little panicked. How come his lion group suddenly became a super large lion group?
As the cubs' aunt or sister, Qiao Jinnian also has to start cooking for the cubs every day. Eating is the top priority for a lion group.
They can't even get enough to eat. If a stray male lion comes to invade, these sub-adults will be wiped out...
Qiao Jinnian immediately gave up the idea of cultivating relationships with the cubs and having some fun. She had been thinking of taking a few days off, but it seemed like there was no chance anymore.
After arranging for her friends, Qiao Jinnian took Xingxing and Freckles and set out on the road to hunting and supporting her family...
【Author’s words】
Starting tomorrow, I'll add another chapter at 12:00 noon, and three chapters a day.
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