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Chapter 10: Encounter with Hyenas
The campsite Wang Ping was heading to was located on the southeastern edge of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania, about 30 kilometers from the foot of the Mount Loolmalasin, which rose to an elevation of 3,648 meters. To the north lay the vast Serengeti Plain, on the other side of the Great Rift Valley, and to the southeast of the plain stood the Ngorongoro Volcano.
To reach this spot from the Maasai Mara, there was no other route except crossing the plain and taking the Highway 144 that passed near Lake Manyara.
Wang Ping had already roughly planned the route in his mind, calculating the direction and distance based on the basic map on the vehicle’s navigation system. He now had a clear picture of the path in his mind.
The 500 kilometers would have taken less than a day by expressway, but on the plain, the road conditions were much more complicated.
The off-road vehicle moved slowly, stopping intermittently. Wang Ping had to avoid the more intimidating "big fellows" of the plains, and sometimes the road would become impassable due to waterlogged meadows after rain. These hazards weren’t marked on the map, and it was impossible for Wang Ping to know every possible situation on such a vast plain. When such situations arose, Gu Lang would have no choice but to take a detour or even get out to push the vehicle.
By evening, the sun was setting, and Wang Ping realized they had barely covered half the distance across the plain. At the same time, Rosette woke up and was staring at Gu Lang in the backseat, occasionally growling. This made Gu Lang nervous, causing him to mistakenly shift gears and stall the car several times.
Wang Ping knew that Rosette was hungry.
Though Gu Lang had snacks in his backpack, those were just appetizers. It wasn’t practical to try to feed a leopard enough to fill it up. Besides, Wang Ping had to be mindful of food consumption; he couldn't let his newly recruited "minion" go hungry.
He knocked on the dashboard and gestured for Gu Lang to stop.
Gu Lang had been getting uncomfortable with Rosette's stares for a while. As soon as Wang Ping gestured, he quickly slammed the brakes, opened the door, and rushed out.
Wang Ping jumped out of the vehicle with Rosette through the windshield, pointing toward the distant plain and patting Rosette's neck, signaling for it to go hunt on its own.
Since they wouldn’t make it to the camp that night and driving at night could be dangerous, Wang Ping decided to camp out here. After all, Gu Lang had been anxious all day, and Wang Ping was concerned that he might not be able to keep going.
Language barriers were troublesome sometimes, but Gu Lang had figured out by now that this unusual Buzz-Cut Bro seemed to understand what he was saying.
After multiple instances of backing down, Gu Lang had concluded that as long as he approached with sincerity, Wang Ping seemed to be communicative.
Though it was hard to believe that an African animal could understand Chinese, Gu Lang wasn’t that surprised. After all, there were plenty of animals in the human world that were considered "intelligent" or able to "understand human nature." It wasn’t an unheard-of phenomenon. He thought of it as encountering an extraordinary "dog."
So, whenever Wang Ping signaled that he needed something, Gu Lang had learned to ask proactively. Once Wang Ping nodded, he would follow through.
Although it was a bit humiliating, this was the only way to avoid upsetting Wang Ping.
At this point, Gu Lang glanced at Rosette, who was sprinting toward the deep plains, and at Wang Ping outside the vehicle, thinking to himself.
Now seemed like the perfect moment to make a run for it.
But after considering how fast Rosette had been when carrying Wang Ping, Gu Lang hesitated. After much thought, he dismissed the tempting idea, climbed onto the vehicle’s roof, and began setting up the tent.
Though he was fairly confident he could escape, it was already getting dark. Gu Lang wasn’t sure if he could make it to the nearest city in time. Also, both Wang Ping and Rosette clearly had tracking abilities. If Wang Ping caught him again, Gu Lang didn’t even want to imagine the consequences.
After all, from what he had read online, Buzz-Cut Bros were known to hold grudges.
Gu Lang set up the tent, gathered some dry branches, and made a small campfire. There was no lake nearby, and the few puddles of water around were undrinkable. He could only boil some water from the vehicle’s reserves to cook instant noodles, sitting by the fire to eat.
Wang Ping also squatted by the fire, looking enviously at Gu Lang eating his noodles. He glanced at his paws and sighed inwardly. Noodles like that were now a thing of the past for him.
He went back to the car to grab some beef jerky, returning to the fire to eat slowly.
Gu Lang pouted. On this trip, his backpack was filled with compressed food and jerky. Originally meant for himself, but now Gu Lang didn’t dare eat it. Both Wang Ping and Rosette were carnivores, and the jerky might come in handy in a critical situation.
Around 8 o’clock, the sky was completely dark. There was a rustling sound from the grass, and Rosette appeared, dragging a freshly killed antelope. It cautiously approached the campfire, not daring to come too close.
Meanwhile, in China, it was already the middle of the night. The number of viewers in the livestream had dwindled significantly by the afternoon, and only a few night owls remained.
Gu Lang didn’t turn off the livestream, partly because the tablet’s screen was cracked and hard to operate. Additionally, keeping the stream running meant that if he encountered any real danger, at least someone would know.
In the end, Rosette didn’t dare to approach the campfire. About twenty meters away from Wang Ping, she put down the antelope and let out a low growl, calling for him.
Wang Ping walked over, patted Rosette, but didn’t accept the invitation to share the meal. He had beef jerky, which was enough for him. Besides, Wang Ping didn’t want to eat raw meat unless necessary, although he could roast it by the fire. However, in front of Gu Lang, Wang Ping didn’t want to reveal too many animal-like behaviors.
What Wang Ping didn’t realize was that, in Gu Lang’s mind, he and the "monsters" were starting to seem more and more alike.
Returning to the fire, Wang Ping continued munching on beef jerky while Gu Lang dozed off, his head nodding. It was then that sharp, eerie howls echoed from afar, growing louder as they reverberated in the night sky.
Rosette, who had been chewing on the antelope, suddenly stood up, growling toward the distance and assuming an aggressive posture.
Gu Lang woke up, instinctively standing up, looking uncertainly at the dark sky.
“Hyenas!” Wang Ping thought to himself, alarmed.
At first, Wang Ping didn’t recognize the howls, but as they drew nearer, he identified them as the distinctive calls of hyenas. The eerie howling, especially on the dark plain at night, sent chills down his spine.
Hyenas are notorious opportunists in the animal kingdom. Besides hunting their own prey, they often steal kills from other carnivores, such as leopards or even lions. That was probably why Rosette had reacted so strongly. The hyenas had likely spotted it while it was hunting and had followed them all the way to the campsite.
Listening to the increasingly closer howls, Wang Ping knew that the hyenas were calling for reinforcements and would likely be preparing to attack.
Perhaps wary of the campfire, the hyenas hadn’t rushed in yet, but they were getting closer.
Wang Ping could now see more and more glowing eyes in the distance through the grass—the unmistakable green eyes of hyenas, standing out in the night.
Gu Lang’s heart was racing, and he looked at Wang Ping instinctively.
Boss, what are you waiting for? Give the order to run!
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