Hunting

The campsites in the wild were not quite the same as the campsites Lin Qi had imagined. He had been to some campsites in the wild, and even some campsites on the grasslands, but those places did not give the feeling of protecting humans, but rather preventing humans from harming nature.

A form of reverse protection, where people are confined to camps where only human behavior can be controlled, and the low walls are no match for the leap of a large feline.

However, there's no need to worry about any animals attacking human camps. In nature, animals understand better than humans the value of following rules and not trespassing on other animals' territories.

Here, on this vast grassland, the outermost chevaux-de-frise consist of logs that are almost as thick as a person's embrace or even thicker.

They might not call it that here, but the craftsmanship is the same: the sharpened wood faces outwards, and many of the barricades are covered with a layer of black blood scabs. When we arrived, there was a faint, strange smell.

The inner perimeter is also surrounded by sturdy wooden walls, making the entire camp stand like a small fortress on this vast grassland.

Seeing Lin Qi's apparent curiosity about everything, Hassana became interested and introduced the area with a touch of pride, "Our location isn't ideal. Every year during the Great Migration, animals pass through this area, and sometimes they get curious and want to see what's behind this grassland."

"The blood on those logs outside the camp was left by wild beasts attacking the camp..." he said, as if he had thought of something, "If you're not in a hurry, you'll see a scene that's rarely seen before. I bet you've never seen anything like it!"

He praised it to the extreme, exaggerating, calling it "a stunning sight!"

Lin Qi nodded noncommittally, and got out of the car after it came to a complete stop.

Inside the camp, there were already some vehicles under maintenance. These vehicles were taller and larger, as were their tires. Calling them vehicles was a bit of an exaggeration; they were more like modified agricultural machinery. They were safe, reliable, and durable, and their only drawback might be that they weren't fast enough.

When people are sitting in the carriage, their line of sight is about two meters high, which is significantly higher than the lush wild grass on the grassland, so their vision is not affected.

At this moment, a young man who looked somewhat like Hassana walked over, called out "Uncle," and then glanced at Lin Qi.

Hassana introduced him to Lin Qi, and the young man, who was a bit older than Lin Qi, immediately became respectful. In just one night, he had heard the name more than once.

He was here today because of Lin Qi, whom he addressed respectfully as "Mr. Lin Qi," and then began to say what he had been wanting to say earlier, "Uncle, our sentries have spotted their vanguard, which is about eighty kilometers from here. Should we send them out?"

Hassana thought for a moment, nodded, and turned to Lin Qi to explain the things they exchanged.

"Mr. Lin Qi, do you think this place is full of life?" Hassana asked. Lin Qi naturally gave an affirmative answer, but Hassana smiled and said, "It is indeed full of life, but it is also full of unimaginable dangers."

"There is a real shortage of water here, I mean rivers and lakes, the kind of water that can directly provide water for the animals."

"The animals can only fill their stomachs and replenish some water by eating these wild grasses, but there are too many animals, and they can easily eat up all the wild grass in an area. So they have to migrate constantly in order to find food and replenish water."

"They will only migrate again after circling the grasslands during the rainy season and returning to places with fixed water sources. Once the water sources dry up, they will begin to migrate again."

"These herbivores are migrating, and there are other animals migrating because of them, including some carnivores."

"These carnivores are our targets!"

After saying this, Hassana patted his nephew's arm, "Get the Young Men ready, I'm going to get the most magnificent Leopard Lion as a gift for my friend Mr. Lin Qi!"

They began preparing the things needed for the hunt. The Sergeant found Lin Qi and handed him a pistol. "Do you know how to use this?"

Lin Qi weighed the pistol in his hand; its cool metallic texture gave him a great sense of security. He nodded. "Disengage the safety, pull the trigger, and leave the rest to God!"

The Sergeant paused for a moment, then laughed. "God doesn't concern himself with these things. I hope we don't get too close. If it really is a species migration, we..." He glanced back at the various large vehicles undergoing final maintenance, "... wouldn't be able to withstand the animals' hooves at all!"

The Federal doesn't have such spectacular animal migrations to watch. If they had that many animals, they wouldn't have created protected areas to safeguard those endangered species.

Some powerful and wealthy people don't even need to spend money to hunt in neighboring countries every year. It is said that some rich people spend as much as the annual profit of a small business when they go hunting abroad every year. They are happy to do so and even spend a lot of money to send their prey back to China.

Although the Federal does not have animal migrations, Federal does have television, and they have seen similar scenes on television, where entire animal herds are like an unstoppable, raging torrent, tearing apart everything in their path.

Lin Qi hesitated for a moment, then pulled the Sergeant a couple of steps to the side. "Go tell that young man to leave two cars for you. If things get complicated, we'll leave immediately."

After a short rest and lunch, the group set off from the camp.

Lin Qi had assumed everyone would drive the large wagons, but he was wrong. Only he, Hassana, and a few others with rifles were allowed to ride in the wagons; everyone else rode in smaller vehicles, and some even rode on horseback! The riders moved quickly, scouting ahead, while the wagons were packed with people. Lin Qi found their behavior rather strange.

They were indifferent, neither excited nor nervous, calmly checking their equipment—mostly thick cowhide and metal plates for body protection, along with some ropes and nets.

As for the large vehicle, it contained Lin Qi, Hassana, and their group.

The scenery of the grassland is extraordinary. The tall grass, over a meter high, hides too many dangers, leaving only a deceptive beauty.

As he chatted casually with Hassana about some interesting anecdotes from the Federal, a knight some distance from the caravan suddenly swayed to the side. A yellowish-brown object flashed past Lin Qi's eyes, and the knight and his horse disappeared into the grass.

About half a minute later, a horse that had lost its owner stood up again and ran towards the caravan in a panic, instantly making the atmosphere in the caravan tense.

Hassana's nephew frowned, whispered a few words to the man beside him, and a local hunter on the second wagon raised his rifle. With a shot, a strong horse galloping toward the convoy fell to the ground.

Around the fallen, strong horse, some tall weeds began to sway, like boiling water, but quickly calmed down.

Hassana looked at Lin Qi with a half-smile. "The migrating herd is about to arrive, because these predators have already arrived!" He, along with everyone else, seemed to care nothing about what the missing knight was going through. No one cared about the knight; everyone had become accustomed to it.

More than forty minutes ahead of schedule, the knights who were running the furthest distance sent out a message that they had made contact with the very front of the migrating herd.

These animals are not numerous; they are only the ones scouting ahead. To humans and laymen, the situation on the grassland may seem the same every year, but in reality, there are some differences.

This group of explorers consists mostly of the youngest and strongest animals, who are most sensitive to changes in the grasslands. Their task is to lead the herd to find a "route home" with plenty of food.

About ten minutes later, Lin Qi saw the animal. It was very robust, about two to three meters long and at least 1.7 or 1.8 meters tall, with gray skin, brown fur, and a short neck. It looked like a cow, but it had no horns. Instead, it had a bony structure that looked like an upside-down bowl on a cow's head.

That's their headbutt, very hard. When something that looks like it weighs at least several tons runs and slams its headbutt into something, it's probably not much easier than a car accident.

"Foreigners call them Agutasiya Cow and say they're not cows, but to us, they are cows!" Hassana said with a hint of disdain, seemingly disapproving of foreigners coming to his country to name animals that have nothing to do with them and demanding that they do the same.

"These forwards need to scout out the distribution of moisture and vegetation. They are slow, which gives predators an opportunity."

"If it is a group of Hammerhead Cow, predators will not dare to make a move. They will always stay at the forefront and the rear of the migrating herd to hunt continuously."

"Among them, the youngest and strongest predators will choose to be at the forefront, while only the old and weak predators will pick up the scraps at the back of the group."

Hassana looked at Lin Qi and said sincerely, "You are my friend, and I want to give my friend the best things, so we must hunt the strongest Leopard Lion!"

With a wave of his hand, some knights cracked their whips and began to approach the slowly walking Hammerhead Cow. They did not capture these beasts, but instead kept passing by them.

As they passed by, they would use sharp knives to cut incisions into the bodies of these Hammerhead Cow.

The injured Hammerhead Cow will run, and blood will drip from its wounds, falling onto the stems of the weeds and onto the ground.

More and more Hammerhead Cow, injured and frightened, began to run around. After running for a while and finding that they had not suffered any further damage, they would stop, and the knights would chase after them again.

In less than twenty minutes, even Lin Qi, who was far away, could smell a faint odor of blood!

The stench of blood was overwhelming!