The lion goes wandering

Chapter 26 The Destruction of Hope (1)
There was light rain pattering from the sky.The dark night is bleak and long.

A young male lion with a red ribbon trembled out of the bushes deep in the Sischa swamp, with one foot high and the other low, and walked towards the Batia desert in the rain and darkness.

It can no longer stay on the edge of the Sischa swamp.One-ear Kaka regards it as a sworn enemy. As soon as he finds its trace or smells its scent, no matter how far away it is, he will immediately lead his crowd to chase and bite him.

Once, it was curled up under a piece of fern and just fell asleep when it was suddenly surrounded by several lionesses of the one-eared Tikka pride. Several locks of mane and buttocks were bitten off. Only then escaped the siege.

Another time, when it was chasing a hare, it was accidentally discovered by the one-eared Kaka and the half-tailed old male lion. It had no choice but to jump onto a low big green tree.The half-tailed old male lion was waiting under the big green tree. One-eared Kaka caught up with the tree, and it fled to the top of the tree. The delicate branches broke with a snap, and it fell to the ground from the top of the two-foot-high tree. It fell into the thick grass nest, startling a pair of flamingos that were hatching in the grass nest.The dizzy flamingo flew towards the half-tailed old male lion waiting under the tree, frightened the half-tailed old lion, and it was able to escape by taking the opportunity.

Several times, it really couldn't bear to live like a bandit, and wanted to leave the edge of the Sischa swamp. It couldn't afford to hide, and fled to a distant place, but the one-eared Kaka stopped every intersection and wouldn't let it go. It seems that we have to cut the weeds to get rid of the roots to relieve the hatred in our hearts.It was frightened all day long, couldn't eat enough, couldn't sleep, and in just a few days, it was skinny and skinny.It understands that if it goes on like this, it won't take long before it will follow in the footsteps of its elder brother Peach Blossom Eyes, fall into the bottomless quagmire, and disappear without a trace.

Thank God, just when it almost lost its will to survive, it began to rain.Although the rain is not heavy, the rain will wet the body hair of the lion. Lions do not like water, so lions usually stay under big trees or in tree holes on rainy days, and do not move around; dark clouds cover the stars and the moon. , the sky is like a layer of black mud, and you can't see your own tail when you turn your head. It is not easy to be found when walking on the road; the sound of wind and rain will cover up the sound of it walking.This is really a good opportunity to escape.

Going out from the depths of the Sischa swamp, you have to pass through a large swamp, the road is muddy, and if you are not careful, you will slip into the bottomless pond.What is especially dangerous is that there is a section tens of meters wide, where only a few grass mounds can be stepped on, and it is surrounded by quagmire.Because I can see during the day, I can jump from one grass mound to another grass mound, and I can cross that dangerous area in a few long jumps.With the sky so dark and the road so slippery, the dangerous area tens of meters wide has really become a veritable death zone.

Soon, Hong Piao came to a dangerous place.It is familiar with the terrain in this area, groping to the edge of a grass mound.The memory tells it that there is a grass mound about four meters ahead that you can step on.It was too dark, its eyes widened, but it still couldn't see anything.Based entirely on a feeling, it chose the direction to jump, held its breath, bounced vigorously, and with a pop, God bless, it just landed on the strong grass mound.It jumped in the dark several times, successfully flew over the quagmire, and landed safely.

The fishy smell of the water was getting stronger and stronger, and the quagmire also gave off the smell of animal corpses.The red streamer knew that ahead was the place where her brother Tao Huayan was martyred a few days ago.It was a large grass mound with waist-high wormwood.I don't know if it was a taboo in my heart when I thought of my brother's peach blossom eyes, or it was exhausting my energy by jumping up and down several times in a row. The red streamer's jumping, the front paws stepped on the strong grass mound, but the back paws were empty, and they were inserted into the cold mud. .Its heart sank, it was over, it didn't jump far enough, it only landed on the edge of the grass mound.By coincidence, this posture is exactly the same as that of his elder brother Taohuayan when he was killed. His lower body was sunk in the quagmire and his upper body was out of the water. With his two front paws grabbing the grass roots and soil layer, he managed to hang his body on the edge of the grass mound.

The red streamer struggled several times, but couldn't climb onto the grass mound.It rested its face on the blade of grass, panting heavily.Suddenly, through the rotten smell of the soil, it faintly smelled a familiar smell, oh, it was the smell left by the brother's peach blossom eye.Its heart throbbed for a while, this is where the peach blossom eyes sank.I don't know if it's a coincidence, or if the peach blossom eyes are haunting, and you want to drag it to another world to be a companion?

It can't scream, in fact, even if it screams, no one will come to rescue it.Its condition was worse than Peach Blossom Eye. Its body was hanging vertically on the edge of the grass mound, with its face facing the sky, and the dripping raindrops made it unable to open its eyes.The soil layer was soaked loose by the rain, and the grass roots were slippery with the rain, as if coated with oil, which made its claws unable to grasp firmly no matter how hard it tried. Coupled with the hunger and cold, the limbs were weak and weak, and it didn't take long. Its body sank little by little, and soon the mud covered its neck, leaving only one head exposed.

It's over, it's over, the red streamer thinks desperately, at most it will last for a few seconds, and it will be swallowed up by the ruthless swamp and disappear from this world without a sound.

Three years ago, five of their young males were expelled from their homes together, and each of them was killed. In the end, he was the only one left, and soon he, too, would be buried alive.It is said that male lions are powerful, and they regard male lions as a symbol of strength, synonymous with might and bravery, but in fact, the survival rate of male lions is pitifully low, and they are in danger of being eliminated at any time.Life is too cruel, life is too fragile.It is a helpless young lion, powerless to fight against fate.

The soil and grass roots loosened by the rain could not bear the weight of a lion, and collapsed, and the soil fell down one after another.The body of the red streamer sank a few more inches, and the mud poured into its mouth.At this moment, suddenly, it felt that the paws of its hind limbs stepped on something solid, like a drowning person swimming in the sea suddenly touched the land, and its body stopped sliding down.

This is impossible, the red streamer suspects that she is dreaming.It is impossible for this quagmire to be so shallow that it can be stepped on to the bottom at once.If it was really that shallow, brother Taohuayan wouldn't have drowned alive.But its hind paws did step on something hard, solid, and stabilized its sliding body.what on earth is it?

One hind paw of the red streamer supported the hard object, and the other hind paw was probing in the depths of the mud. The strange thing was that there was thin mud all around, and there was nothing to step on.Could it be that it was stepping on... the red streamer thumped in his heart, not daring to think about it any further.Its hind paws rubbed against the hard object for a while, the round head and ridged shoulder blades were indeed the body of the elder brother with peach blossom eyes.It was Peach Blossom Eye who used his own body to support it in the dark and saved it!
The red streamer quickly grabbed the grass mound with its front paws, stepped on the peach-eyed shoulder blades with its hind legs, kicked hard, pulled its forelegs violently, retracted its abdomen and raised its chest, with a whoosh sound, its body jumped straight up, and finally climbed onto the grass mound. out of danger.

The rain was still falling, and the raindrops hit the bushes with a rustling sound.With gratitude, the red streamer kissed on the edge of the big grass mound, and continued her difficult journey.

When crossing the boundary line set by the scent of the one-eared cats, in the thick night, there were one or two long cries of lions, and the lions were hiding from the rain in the woods not far away.It walked lightly, lowered its body, and carefully walked around from the left.

The Red Ribbon lived on the edge of the Batia Desert.It has no place to go. In this world, all that is left to it is the desert except for the swamp, and all the good places are taken by other lions. It can only struggle to survive in the harsh environment.

Although the edge of the desert does not fall into unfathomable quagmire like a swamp, the living conditions are much more difficult than the swamp.

There are several groups of lions along the edge of the desert, all of which set their boundaries on the red willows bordering the Lolian grassland and the Bardia desert, so that it does not enjoy a single shade.During the day, I was completely exposed to the sun like poisonous flames, and my hair was scorched and my skin was scorched. I was really worried that I would be cooked.Several times it was dizzy under the sand dunes by the scorching sun, only to be woken up by the cool evening wind after the sun went down.

Later, it remembered that when it crossed the Batia Desert with the big lion, the scar face, and the peach blossom eyes, in order to avoid being sunstroke and dying, the big lion came up with an idea and planed behind the shady rocks. A bunker to keep out the heat.It borrowed from the practice of its late brother, the giant lion, and found a rock that was almost submerged in quicksand. It dug a sand pit, which was like a nest in the ground. It was a fixed nest. When the sun was hot, it jumped into the sand pit to hide, like A mole used to living underground.Anyway, there is finally a way to survive in the hot desert.

Drinking water is also a big problem.The desert has a large amount of evaporation and needs a lot of water to sustain life, but the grasslands near the edge of the desert have scarce water sources.Those lions all regard the water source as the source of life, foraging, sleeping, and playing are all near the water source, and they are rarely far away from the water source.

In order to survive, the red streamer had to wait until midnight every day, when the lions were sleeping soundly, to steal water from the water source.It can only drink water once a day at most, and it has to deal with the scorching sun during the whole day, so when it drinks, it drinks as hard as it can. It's all turned into a big water bag.

Under the pressure of life, the red streamer has developed a set of nocturnal knacks: walk slowly against the wind, drill less grass nests, and circle more in the shade of trees, and try to move after the moon sinks west; change the lion's drinking habit of smacking with its big tongue, Rolling the tip of the tongue into a tube, fishing for water like an anteater...and so on.However, there is still no guarantee that every midnight water stealing will be successful.

Sometimes, just when it was near the water source, the head of a certain group of lions suddenly woke up from sleep, found it, and led the group of lions to chase it away.Once, it was particularly unlucky. It was found stealing water for three consecutive nights. It didn't drink a sip of water. It was so thirsty that its throat was smoking, and it couldn't even urinate a drop.Just when it was about to collapse from thirst, it rained lightly, and finally it didn't die of thirst.Naturally, food is also extremely scarce. There are few opportunities to catch wildebeest and wild boars, and they mainly rely on catching mice to satisfy their hunger.

All male lions can't stop thinking about gaining their own territory and commanding a lion group.After spending some time on the edge of the Batia desert, the red streamer looked for lions who might seize the throne in the future.It is of course based on the age of the lion leader, the older the better.It is a pity that among the three lion groups in this area, the dominant male lions are still in their prime. The oldest one is the big male lion with messy body hair and gray mane and gray mane in the Patilu group. He is only seventeen or eighteen years old, and he has just reached middle age, and he is in full swing, and he is still far away from old age.Alas, I have no choice but to choose the old miscellaneous hair, wait slowly, let's take it easy, the daughter-in-law of 20 years will become a mother-in-law, and the stray lion of [-] years will become a king.

Although the red streamer regards the old miscellaneous hair as his preselected target to seize the throne in the future, it tactfully buries this idea in the bottom of its heart, and dare not show it in its actions.

On the contrary, it tries to avoid the sight of the old miscellaneous hair as much as possible. As long as there are other water sources to find water to drink, it will not easily steal water from the water source occupied by the Patilu lions, and it will not break into the Patilu lions unless it is a last resort. flock territory to catch prey.The most fundamental reason why its elder brother Peach Blossom Eye suffered such misfortune was that he was too sharp, and he couldn't wait to seize power when One Ear Kaka was still very strong.It must firmly learn this lesson and never act rashly.

Yes, everyone wants to be young and handsome, with status, enjoy the joy of youth, taste the joy of success, and taste the sweetness of power. Of course, this is the ideal state that all life longs for.

In the past, the red streamer strongly hoped that he could achieve success at a young age, but now he knows that success at a young age is actually a difficult dream to realize, and for a male lion, it is a dream that will inevitably be broken.

There may also be happy events in the world where a teenager achieves success, but that is an extremely accidental exception.For the vast majority of lions, juvenile means weak and weak, and youth means suffering. Only after a long wait and painful suffering can it be possible to get out of it.

Day after day, year after year, time is like running water, quietly flowing forward.

Three years passed in a flash.The red streamer is not only used to living on the edge of the desert, but also learned patience and restraint.It never provokes any big male lion that owns a lion group, whether it drinks water or hunts for food. Once it encounters a lion group, it turns around and runs away, trying to avoid conflicts.

In the past three years, the red streamer has grown into a veritable lion, with a majestic body and smooth hair. The mane on the neck and shoulder blades is more than half a meter long. It is bright red in color and fluffy, like a cloud of fire.But it never shows its mane in front of other lions, never shows its strong body to other male lions, and never makes a majestic roar.

It knew that its real advantage was not in the incomparable red mane, nor in its well-developed muscles and sharp claws, nor in its increasingly proficient hunting skills, but in its age.

Compared with the old miscellaneous hair, age is its real advantage.It is a full ten years younger than Old Miscellaneous Mao, although judging from the current situation, it may not be Lao Za Mao's competitor, but it is growing stronger day by day, while Old Miscellaneous Mao is declining and aging day by day.It won't take long for the quantitative change to change qualitatively, and it will be able to drive out the old miscellaneous hair from the Patilu lion group like the autumn wind sweeping away the fallen leaves, and replace it by itself.In this sense, as long as it can survive, it is the greatest victory.

It is encouraged by the fact that the old miscellaneous hair has shown the signs and signs of aging, the time of sleeping in is getting longer and longer, the loud and thunderous roar has become hoarse and dull, the color of the mane is getting whiter, and the corners of the eyes are cloudy and yellow. Blurred eyes.All signs indicate that in two or three years at most, the old miscellaneous hair will become a coffin that makes vultures salivate.

Early that morning, the morning star was still twinkling in the pale gray sky, the jungle fowl had just crowed for the dawn, and the red streamer stole water from a colony of gray-nosed lions before returning to the Batia desert. Passing through the territory of the Patilu lion pride.It was walking through the dark woods, when suddenly, a capybara jumped out of the grass 20 meters ahead and passed in front of it.Originally, it didn't want to hunt in the territory of the Patilu lion group, for fear of causing trouble.But at this moment, it has nothing in its stomach except water, and its hunger is unbearable, and it really wants to have a full meal of fresh meat.

Look at the sky, it’s still dark, and there’s no movement around. Judging from the time, the lions of the Patilu pride are still roaming in their dreams.It thought that the capybara is a large rodent. It is fat and stout. Its movements are not agile and its screams are not too loud. Under the circumstances, subdue the capybara.Although the Patilu lions are roosting in the woods 100 meters away, it may be able to solve the problem before waking the Patilu lions.

The opportunity is not lost, the time never comes, the red streamer no longer hesitates, and catches up.Sure enough, as it expected, the fat capybara squeaked and squeaked, and couldn't escape quickly, and was soon thrown down by it and bit its neck vertebrae off, what a pity.The dawn was still quiet, and no one except the early birds on the branches noticed this little carnage.The red streamer was secretly proud, picked up the capybara, which weighed more than 30 kilograms, and happily ran out of the forest.This capybara can't finish a meal, and it will bury the rest in the sandpit and make it into dehydrated dolphin jerky, which will be eaten when it is hungry.

When it was about to walk out of the forest, suddenly, a lioness came out from behind a bread tree that was entangled and strangled by vines.

This is a young lioness about six years old. Its gray-brown fur is shiny and shiny, so smooth that even flies cannot bite it; The zebra crossing looks like the waist of a bumblebee, and its famous name is the lioness with the waist of a hornet.

The red streamer knows it, it is the most beloved lioness among the Patilu lions.God knows why this lion girl didn't sleep in and got up so early?Maybe, it likes to get up early in the morning and take a walk in the woods to breathe fresh air; maybe, it ate unclean food last night, and at dawn, it had a stomachache, looking for a place to defecate; maybe, it had a problem with someone in the lion pride , can't sleep, roaming in the woods.Anyway, it happened to come across the red streamer poaching food in the Patilu pride's territory.

The red streamer was so angry that she almost fainted.Unlucky, I met the broom star early in the morning, and the food that arrived was about to fly away again!
The moment it met the wasp-waisted lioness, it thought of two coping strategies. One was to forcefully run away with the capybara in its mouth amid the roar of the wasp-waisted lioness, and the other lions in Patilu's pride woke up from their sleep In the end, maybe it may not be able to catch up with it, it will be able to keep the hard-won food, and it will not be hungry for two or three days.But after thinking about it, it doesn't seem appropriate to do so.It is impossible to run fast with a capybara weighing more than 30 kilograms in its mouth, and it will soon be overtaken by lions.The big male lion Laozamao is stepping into the ranks of old age, which is equivalent to the menopause of human beings, and his temperament is irritable and suspicious. If he is determined to be the most dangerous competitor, if he keeps his eyes on him and can't get along with him, he will go bad. its big deal.It cannot affect its own future just for a mere capybara.If you can't bear it a little, you will make a big mess.

(End of this chapter)