At first I only sensed some commotion outside, but soon the giant hyena used by the tribe for guard duty began to bark uneasily.
I've seen this giant hyena before. It's twice the size of the previous one. Its weight is estimated to be around 380 kilograms, four times the size of an African spotted hyena, and even larger than a modern lion.
Although this giant hyena looks very similar to modern hyenas, it does not belong to the canine family and is more closely related to civets.
The indigenous people of the tribe spend so much effort raising such a large beast in the tribe, mainly to deal with other beasts that might pose a threat to the tribe.
This is similar to how humans raise fierce Tibetan mastiffs to drive away wolves and protect human property.
This feliform suborder was a powerful and fearsome carnivore. Its skull was very robust, with thick and extended nasal bones, powerful zygomatic arches, a prominent domed forehead, and huge cheek teeth.
Its powerful bite force allows it to easily crush the bones of most animals and even hunt large prey two-thirds the size of itself, making it more ferocious than modern lions and tigers.
Even a cunning and powerful beast like the Sand Golem would think twice before acting when facing a giant hyena that is the same size as or even larger than itself.
After all, being bitten by a giant hyena is no joke; even if you don't die, it will almost certainly result in permanent disability.
In this perilous rainforest, a crippled wild beast is practically no different from someone sentenced to death.
But even this ferocious beast was now letting out uneasy barks. I was shocked, and a cold sweat jolted me awake from my slumber.
"Top, Top! Wake up, something's happened!"
At this moment, Top seemed unaware of the impending danger and was still sound asleep on his hay mat.
I nudged the sleeping Top. I could now hear a lot of rustling sounds; it must be the tribe members who had heard the giant hyenas barking and gotten up to check the situation.
All the weapons were placed beside me. I then slung the shoulder strap, which was covered with equipment, over my shoulder and joined the natives who had come to check the situation.
At this moment, at least a dozen glow sticks were waved and lit up, and many more glow sticks lit up in the dark night sky.
Giant hyenas generally don't bark like this unless the situation is quite serious.
Previously, there had been incidents of wild animals entering the tribe. That time, it was because we carelessly didn't secure the gate latch properly, which allowed a cave bear to get in.
But even though the cave bear was much larger than the giant hyena, the giant hyena wasn't so uneasy and instead started fighting the cave bear directly.
Later, it was only through the combined efforts of the tribesmen who arrived and used spears and giant hyenas that the cave bear was finally hunted down and killed.
However, they had checked the door bolt before going to bed this time, and there was no problem with the door not being closed properly.
No one heard the sound of the gate being destroyed, and everyone was puzzled. What could possibly make such a powerful beast show fear?
The tribe members gathered quickly; in less than two minutes, all the adult men in the tribe had assembled with weapons such as spears and bows.
Holding glow sticks and using the blue-green light for illumination, our first thought was the direction of the tribe's gate; if there was a place that could be breached, it was most likely the gate.
Because there were no doors elsewhere, all of them were thick walls filled with mud and wire mesh fences and compacted together.
It's almost impossible to break through this wall unless it's a monster from the western region.
But when we arrived at the gate, everyone was dumbfounded.
The gate remained exactly as it had been before it was closed, standing perfectly on the tall wall, without even the position of the bolt having been moved an inch.
What on earth is going on? Have we seen a ghost?
Just as we were wondering about this, the barking of the giant hyenas in the western part of the pass did not stop, but instead became even more urgent.
Just then, accompanied by the frightened barking of dogs, a female native ran towards us from the west, her face filled with terror, shouting something as she ran.
Because of her nervousness and running too fast, the indigenous woman fell several times along the way, but each time she didn't hesitate for a moment and immediately got up and ran towards us again.
Although I couldn't understand what the indigenous woman was saying, the indigenous men around me all changed their expressions drastically after hearing what she said.
One of the indigenous people shouted at the woman, who immediately ran back to call for help.
The local quickly unlatched the bolt holding the gate open, then kicked the gate open and followed the others towards the place where the giant hyenas were kept in the west.
Before long, the entire tribe erupted like a ladle of cold water poured into boiling oil, instantly spreading throughout the houses.
For a moment, the sounds of children crying in terror, women calling out in their chatter, the clattering and rolling of food as it was being moved in panic, and the crashing and knocking of various utensils all mingled together.
Under the guidance of experienced elders in the tribe, everyone evacuated towards the gate, carrying as much food as possible.
At this time, I and these native men also arrived at the place in the west where the giant hyenas were kept. By then, the fence holding the giant hyenas had been knocked down by the giant hyenas.
The giant hyena seemed to see us as its saviors. This enormous beast was now running toward us in terror, seeking our protection.
When we arrived, someone had already lit torches and distributed them to each of the men.
At first, I was puzzled. He was using glow sticks for lighting just fine, so why did he suddenly switch to a torch?
However, I soon realized that these torches were not for lighting at all, but were weapons used to defend against enemies!
At this moment, with the help of the firelight and the glow sticks stuck in the thatched roofs, the entire western region of the tribe was completely illuminated, and the thing that had invaded the tribe revealed its true form from the darkness.
As I watched this scene, a chill ran down my spine. Countless bright red ants had already scaled over the wall and entered.
These ants are somewhat similar to the red imported fire ants I've seen, but they are much larger, each about the size of two red imported fire ants, and some of the soldier ants are even three times the size of red imported fire ants.
I just saw that the giant hyena that escaped had many swollen areas on its skin, which must have been caused by these red ants. The formic acid toxin they release can cause burning pain and swelling.
Normal-sized red imported fire ants are already terrifying, but these larger ants are even more terrifying. If you get bitten by them, the consequences are unimaginable!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com