Perhaps they were tired from running, so they lay down to rest. After resting for a while, they stood up again and walked towards the wildebeest that had been eaten and left only as remains.
The wildebeest had been eaten almost completely, and the leader gave his share of the prey to his companion.
He lay down beside the slain saber-toothed tiger and began licking its fur with his barbed tongue, each lick bringing down a large patch of yellowish-brown fur.
I only knew that tigers had a habit of plucking the fur off their prey, but I never expected that this sand monster in front of me, which looks like a canine, would also have a barbed tongue.
Today's harvest was quite good; I've gained a deeper understanding of this region. It seems I'll still need to be more wary of the Sand Beast in the future; intelligent beasts are always the most dangerous.
I've already grilled a batch of those meat strips; they snapped easily with a snap, making a crisp sound like French fries. The dryness this time is also good; they should keep for a month without any problem.
I packed all the grilled meat strips into my basket, then put the second batch on to grill. There's still a lot of meat to process today; it's destined to be another grueling day.
At this moment, the remaining five sand beasts had already plundered all the meat and bones that could be gnawed from the great antelope.
I had already plundered almost everything from this takin, and the saber-toothed tiger had eaten quite a bit more, leaving these sand beasts with very little meat.
They were clearly not full, and they all came to the leader of the sand beasts, watching it eat with longing eyes.
Seemingly not wanting to be disturbed while eating, the Sand Beast leader let out a low roar, and the five still hungry Sand Beasts could only leave dejectedly.
I watched this scene from the tree. It seems that this sand monster also follows the same feeding hierarchy as wolves.
The five sand beasts that hadn't eaten enough looked anxious; they wandered around looking for some other animals to fill their stomachs.
But just as these sand beasts arrived, the entire herd fled the area as if they had encountered a demon. Who would risk their life to stay here and share in the sand beasts' spoils?
Having searched for food in vain, the sand beasts grew even more anxious, occasionally letting out growling sounds. However, the sand beast leader clearly ignored them, continuing to lie on the ground and devour the saber-toothed tiger's carcass.
As I searched, somehow their gaze fell upon me, and they stared at me without even blinking.
Perhaps the only animals around here that can serve as food are Top and me.
My heart skipped a beat when I saw this. Were these guys planning to climb the tree?
However, the body structure of the sand beast is similar to that of a wolf's limbs. Although it also has claws, its claws, like those of canines, are not retractable.
Compared to the saber-toothed tiger, their body structure is clearly less suited to climbing trees. But I'm not sure what ingenious solutions these clever creatures might come up with.
After all, we fought a battle back in our hometown, and to some extent, they have already outwitted all the traps I set.
If it weren't for the treehouse providing shelter, and the fact that everyone was in a hurry to avoid the same natural enemy, the black ants, the outcome would have been uncertain.
Thinking about this still makes me a little nervous. Maybe they're only eyeing the jerky I made, or maybe they want to try both.
After all, I'm still a rare treat for them; how would they know how it tastes if they didn't try it?
I could see that some of them were drooling, and it was obvious that they had taken me and Top in the tree as their prey.
Hunger drove them to the foot of the tree, where they began to figure out how to deal with it and get the food down from the tree.
Seeing them scrutinizing the tree with such seriousness, I felt as if I were facing not a ferocious beast, but a highly intelligent animal comparable to a human.
Yes, they can learn. And they even have rudimentary logical thinking, as evidenced by their ability to bite through the ropes to trigger my bamboo raft trap in advance.
I strung up my crossbow and loaded the arrows into the quiver. If they knew what was good for them, I'd be fine. But if they insisted on messing with me, I wouldn't mind sending them on their way at this close range.
Several sand monsters tried to climb the tree by placing their claws on the tree and pushing off with their hind legs.
But as I thought, this body structure is simply not suitable for climbing trees.
Although they leaped about two meters high, that was less than a fifth of the distance for me, sitting comfortably in the treetop. It was impossible for them to reach me like that.
When two of them saw that their companion couldn't climb the tree, their clever minds immediately realized that this method wouldn't work, and they didn't even bother to try it.
The two sand beasts ran away, but they soon returned. This time, each of them was carrying something like twigs in its mouth.
I was a little confused as to why they were carrying the branches over, but I soon understood.
I saw the two sand monsters spread all the branches under the tree, and then they climbed up the branches to try to reach me.
This behavior might seem ridiculous in civilized society, but I can't laugh at all right now.
This level of logical ability and intelligence is comparable to that of intelligent animals such as chimpanzees and crows.
What's even more deadly is that they possess strong bodies, and every part of them is designed for killing—they are carnivorous animals.
Soon the two sand monsters realized that the branches were not enough. As they turned to leave, the remaining three seemed to understand as well and quickly followed the two away.
A moment later, the five sand beasts reappeared in my sight. This time, each of the five sand beasts was carrying a bundle of branches in its mouth as it walked towards me.
I was secretly surprised that their behavior had become so unified in such a short time. Could it be that they were exchanging and learning from each other in private?
The branches were stacked higher again, and they tried once more, but finding they still couldn't reach me, they left again to continue searching for branches.
Seeing this gave me goosebumps; these were just a few ordinary sand beasts. The leader of the sand beasts seemed to be much smarter than them.
A strong sense of crisis instantly washed over me. I thought their plan was unlikely to succeed at the moment, but what if the sand beast leader finished eating and joined the group in thinking about it?
I was very confident that my traps could kill a large number of sand monsters, after all, they were traps I designed according to war standards.
But as it turned out, my original plan was completely seen through by those clever sand beasts, who then quickly passed through the trap at minimal cost.
Looking at the busy sand beasts below, a murderous glint flashed in my eyes. It seemed I had to do something.
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