Honey Badger's Streaming Life C13

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Chapter 13: Were You Trained by Humans?

The now-quiet screen in the livestream was completely filled with comments.

It wasn’t that the fight had stirred up some intense discussion. Instead, someone suddenly announced that they had recorded the fight scene using screen capture software, causing a flurry of requests for the footage. The Douyu staff monitoring the stream saw this and thought, Are they seriously trying to poach our content right at our doorstep? Unbelievable! 

Although the stream replay wasn’t available, they had the footage on their server, and no recording software could match the quality of their source files.

Abandoning his watch over Gu Lang, a staff member at Douyu’s headquarters hurried over to the tech department to request for the clip.

Meanwhile, Wang Ping was seething.

Not only had he fought a pointless battle, but Rosette’s meal hadn’t even been saved. Whatever satisfaction he had gotten from the fight was now completely gone.  

That’s how it is with hyenas. Food comes first, even before fighting. They’d risk their lives and their dignity for it. While Wang Ping and Rosette had been engaged in the fight, a hyena from another direction had quietly dragged the antelope carcass away. For most wild animals, food is the root cause of all fights; this included Rosette. Only creatures like honey badgers would pick a fight over a mere glance.

The plains returned to silence under the night sky, the air heavy with the lingering scent of blood. Wang Ping knew this silence wouldn’t last; the intense smell of blood would soon attract other predators. If another group showed up, Rosette would be the first to collapse.

Covered in bloodstained grime, Wang Ping returned to the campfire, fixing Gu Lang with a pointed stare, clearly looking for trouble. Gu Lang had barely started to calm down when he noticed Wang Ping’s piercing gaze, making his heart race all over again.

He had been scared of Wang Ping before, though mostly because of how dangerous honey badgers could be. But after the carnage he’d just witnessed, he could practically feel the hostility radiating from Wang Ping’s gaze. It reminded him of when, as a child, he’d pestered his mom to buy a bean paste pastry sold by a vendor while waiting for the train to leave. The vendor had given an entire five pounds of pastries to his mother, pocketed fifty yuan, and taken off. The fury in his mom’s eyes back then was just like Wang Ping’s right now—a look that screamed the need to vent.

The last thing Gu Lang wanted was to relive that kind of situation.

In reality, Wang Ping’s stare wasn’t one of hostility. He just thought Gu Lang was incredibly oblivious. Couldn’t he see that he was covered in filth? Couldn’t he grab some water to clean him up? And Rosette was hurt in several places—there was a first aid kit in the car, which Gu Lang had used on himself earlier.

As Gu Lang was practically squirming under Wang Ping’s intense stare, Wang Ping turned, bypassed him, and jumped into the off-road vehicle, rummaging around without caring if his bloody mess dirtied the seats—it wasn’t his car anyway. He pulled out the first aid kit, bottled water, and a military knife, tossing them all out of the car.

Gu Lang was more than a little freaked out now. A sentient animal was understandable, but a fastidious one? One that could communicate and even recognize a first aid kit? This was beyond bizarre.

“I knew it! You’re some kind of demon!” Gu Lang shouted internally.

Just as his emotions were wildly swinging, the first aid kit hit his face with a heavy thud.

“Ow! Son of a…” Lost in thought, Gu Lang was caught off guard, the corner of a medicine bottle smacking him on the nose.

Still jittery from the earlier tension, Gu Lang jumped to his feet, but his legs gave out from holding the same stiff posture for too long. He tripped and collapsed, practically bowing to Wang Ping.

This guy’s really terrified, thought Wang Ping, giving Gu Lang a scornful look. With nerves like that, how had he managed to come to the remote African plains by himself? Wang Ping couldn’t decide if Gu Lang was simply ignorant or just not all there.

When Gu Lang finally came to his senses, massaging his leg, Wang Ping raised a paw, gesturing first to Rosette, then to the first aid kit that Gu Lang instinctively held against his chest.

The message was clear: Wang Ping wanted Gu Lang to treat Rosette’s injuries.

Luckily, the livestream screen was filled with comments, and nobody seemed too interested in the post-battle cleanup. Besides, the quality at night wasn’t great, and Wang Ping’s gestures weren’t very visible. Otherwise, the idea of him being a “demon” might have been taken seriously.

Gu Lang looked over at Rosette, who was still dragging herself, limping while gnawing at a hyena corpse. He swallowed hard. Rosette’s current appearance was terrifying. She was drenched in dark red blood, looking incredibly fierce in the firelight. She was chewing on a mess of flesh, growling and jerking her head like a giant cat feasting on a mouse.

Except a cat this size wasn’t cute at all. Blood dripped from her fangs, splattering onto the grass.

Wang Ping wasn’t sure if leopards usually ate hyenas, but there wasn’t much else around for Rosette to eat. After such a fierce battle, her physical wounds were secondary—what she needed most was energy. For leopards, stamina was key to survival and fighting strength.

Though reluctant, Gu Lang slowly approached Rosette, inwardly cursing Wang Ping, but he didn’t have a choice. Wang Ping’s gaze was a powerful motivator, bearing the weight of his battle with the hyenas.

If his fingers were nimble enough, Wang Ping wouldn’t have needed to rely on Gu Lang for this task. But when it came to treating injuries, Gu Lang was more skilled than he was.

And besides, they were all in the same vehicle now, which made them companions. He might not have contributed during the fight, but he could at least handle the post-battle care.

Wang Ping, meanwhile, had punched a hole in a water bottle and was using it to rinse his paws. Precious drinking water couldn’t be wasted on a full bath, so he’d have to wait until morning or until they found a lake.

Wang Ping had forgotten one thing: it’s best not to approach a leopard while it’s eating. By the time he heard Gu Lang’s scream and Rosette’s angry growl, Rosette had already pinned Gu Lang to the ground, nearly putting him into a countdown to death.

“Raaaargh!” Not wasting a second, Wang Ping let out a loud howl, jumped over, and slapped Rosette off Gu Lang.

“Hssss…” Gu Lang sat up, clutching his shoulder, his heart pounding so hard he thought it might burst from his chest. His shoulder burned where Rosette’s paw had hit, feeling swollen and sore, and he worried that his bones might be hurt.

Rosette lowered her head and rubbed against Wang Ping’s back, clearly sulking in that familiar feline way. It was as if she were telling Wang Ping, He tried to steal my food!

“Are you kidding me?!” Gu Lang muttered, nearly in tears.

Wang Ping felt a bit embarrassed. As a professional—or rather, as a professional badger—he had forgotten the basic rule about not disturbing a predator during mealtime. Fortunately, Gu Lang didn’t seem too badly hurt, or he might have gone down as the most unfortunate human in history.

After soothing Rosette for a while and bringing her closer to the firelight, Wang Ping signalled to Gu Lang to start bandaging her.

The military knife was pushed toward Gu Lang’s feet. Many of Rosette’s wounds were dirty, caked with blood and fur, with some of her skin peeling away from the muscle. The knife would be necessary to clean up these areas.

Wang Ping perched by Rosette’s neck, watching as Gu Lang nervously opened the first aid kit, grabbing gauze and disinfectant, then picked up the knife with a sad face, reaching toward the worst wound on Rosette’s hind leg.

Wang Ping thought for a moment, then clapped his forepaws to get Gu Lang’s attention. When Gu Lang looked over, Wang Ping pointed at the campfire, then at the knife in his hand.

“What?” Gu Lang looked utterly confused.

Frustrated, Wang Ping wondered how clueless this guy could be. Didn’t he even know to sterilize the blade?

Wang Ping took the knife from Gu Lang, held it near the fire to heat it, and then handed it back, looking at Gu Lang like he was an idiot.

“Uh…” Gu Lang took the knife back. Maybe to ease his own nerves, he finally spoke to Wang Ping, breaking the silence.

“Um, were you… trained by humans?”

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