The Evolutionary Path of the Lion

Chapter 121 Dominating the Grasslands

As luck would have it, Old Scar was patrolling deep inside from the outside, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the whole process of Big Head sneaking away, chasing his prey, and now pretending to walk back!

She paused for a moment, glanced at Big Head, and continued walking without saying a word.

But Big Head saw that Old Scar had seen him! And Old Scar didn't say anything, he just left!

This was even more upsetting to him than being scolded. He felt like he had a rabbit in his heart, constantly on edge and unable to sit still.

"Is the old scar going to report me?"

He grew increasingly panicked, his tail drooping. "If my older brother finds out I've abandoned my post, he'll definitely punish me by making me go hungry!"

Just as I was pondering this, Meimei ran over from the middle communication line and called out in a low voice from afar, "Datou! What are you doing here? The markers are all past the checkpoints. What are you going to say if Chen Fei checks up on us?"

Big Head quickly waved his hand, lowering his voice even further: "Don't shout! I just saw a lame wildebeest and wanted to try my hand on it, but it ran away. I'm heading back now!"

Meimei ran up to him, pouted, and looked disgusted: "Test your skills? Chen Fei said patrols can't abandon their posts! Have you forgotten what he said to you last time you broke a tree branch? 'Training in stealth isn't for catching prey, it's for saving your life in critical moments!'"

"I know, I know!" Big Head scratched his head, a little embarrassed. "I just couldn't help myself! Old Scar saw it all, and she didn't say anything."

"Just because Old Scar doesn't say anything doesn't mean she won't tell Chen Fei!" Mei Mei rolled her eyes and glanced in the direction Old Scar had walked. "She might seem quiet, but she's very perceptive and remembers everything. Good luck to you, I need to hurry and contact her, Chen Fei is going to check up on me later!"

After Meimei finished speaking, she turned and ran away with light steps, leaving Datou standing there in a daze.

"It's over, it's really over." Big Head slumped over his shoulders, inching towards the marker, his anxiety growing with each passing thought. "If Big Brother asks, I'll just say... I'll say I noticed an unusual smell, went to investigate, and it turned out to be wildebeest. Is that alright?"

He himself felt that the reason was untenable, sighed, and kicked the grass on the ground with his paw.

"I should have known better than to be greedy for that little bit of food. Now look what's happened, I'm so anxious, I can't even concentrate on patrol."

On the other side, Old Scar was walking along the outer edge, still thinking about how cowardly Big Head had looked earlier.

"That idiot, he always messes up." She muttered to herself, her paws leaving a faint scent trail as they trod across the grass. "He's never followed any of Chen Fei's rules properly."

She had actually noticed that Da Tou was acting strangely a long time ago. He was walking steadily at first, but as soon as he smelled the wildebeest, he immediately changed direction. Her little scheme was completely transparent to her.

"Only Chen Fei can tolerate him. Anyone else would have kicked him out of the alliance long ago," Old Scar sneered inwardly. "Hopefully this idiot won't mess things up at the crucial moment, otherwise, when the Slit Mouth comes, he'll be the first to die."

She looked up to the south and saw that the sunlight was already very bright, and the grass had turned yellowish from the sun.

The dry season is tough; the alliance has to guard the waterholes and watch out for hyenas, so they have to be careful with every step they take.

"Those bastards with the split mouth will come sooner or later." Old Scar narrowed his eyes, his claws tightening involuntarily. "When that happens, it won't be a small-scale brawl."

Chen Fei was still lying on the rock by the pool, seemingly sunbathing, but in reality, his ears were always perked up. Almost no movement within the Alliance territory could escape his ears.

He heard the commotion from Da Tou's side, as well as the conversation between Mei Mei and Da Tou. He also vaguely sensed the footsteps of Jiu Ba and her inner turmoil.

"That idiot, he's up to his old tricks again," Chen Fei thought helplessly, lightly brushing the tip of his tail against the stone. "After patrol, I'll give him a good beating and teach him a lesson he can't break!"

He looked up at the sun, which was already quite high in the sky. The dew had long since dried, the air was starting to get hot, and the grass in the distance looked somewhat distorted.

"It gets hot really fast." He licked his lips, feeling a little thirsty. He lowered his head and drank some water from the pool. The cool water slid down his throat, making him feel much better.

The energy points are still slowly increasing, albeit slowly, but they are steadily rising.

"Seventy-six points, I estimate it will take ten days to half a month, which will be quick." He thought to himself, "The arrival of the 'Splitter' is just in time. We'll fight a tough battle then, and my energy points will definitely increase significantly. Maybe I can even accumulate enough points ahead of schedule."

Chen Fei was looking forward to the new abilities he would acquire next.

"I hope I can transform into human form soon, so I can go to human society and build a big estate. That way, Big Head and the others will have a reason to go and wander around human society."

Chen Fei thought about it a lot.

If he can truly take human form, he must establish his own human power.

With his abilities, ruling the underground forces should be no problem for him.

Only in this way can we acquire large tracts of land and obtain the qualifications to raise wild animals.

"First, dominate the grasslands."

Chen Fei grinned and looked south again. Seven kilometers away, it was still quiet, but Chen Fei could feel a murderous aura slowly gathering there.

"Splitting mouth, you motherfucker."

He narrowed his eyes, his claws digging into the stone until his knuckles turned white. "This time, you won't leave alive!"

Big Head finally dawdled back to the marker, quickly lowered his head to sniff, pretending nothing had happened. But the panic in his heart hadn't subsided, and his nose was a bit unresponsive; after sniffing for a long time, he couldn't detect anything unusual.

"Forget it, let's finish our patrol quickly, go back and apologize to Chen Fei, maybe he'll be lenient with us."

He quickened his pace, hurrying along the inner corridor, his ears constantly perked up, fearing Chen Fei might suddenly appear. But what he feared most was exactly what happened; just as he reached the third marker, he heard familiar footsteps behind him, steady and powerful, approaching step by step.

Big Head stiffened, slowly turned around, and sure enough, saw Chen Fei walking towards him from a distance, his expression indifferent, revealing neither joy nor anger.

"B-Big Brother," Big Head stammered, his ears drooping, not daring to look Chen Fei in the eye, "I...I'm almost done with my patrol, and I didn't find anything unusual."

Chen Fei walked up to him, stopped, and looked down at him without saying a word. The sunlight shone on him, giving him a golden halo, but his eyes were chillingly cold.

Big Head panicked even more, lowering his head even further and tucking his tail tightly between his legs, like a child who had done something wrong.

"I...I just saw a lame wildebeest and wanted to try my hand at it, but I couldn't catch it, and...and I even went out of the corridor area. I was wrong."

He dared not lie; his elder brother's eyes were too sharp, and he couldn't fool him with a lie.

Chen Fei remained silent for a few seconds before speaking, his voice not loud, but carrying an air of authority: "What did you do wrong?"

"I shouldn't have abandoned my post, I shouldn't have forgotten the patrol rules, I shouldn't... I shouldn't have been tempted by the prey." Big Head quickly admitted his mistake, his attitude sincere. "I promise, it won't happen again!"

"Next time?" Chen Fei sneered, lightly patting the ground with his paw. "Last time you broke a branch, you said you wouldn't do it again. And what happened? This time you went even further, running off to chase prey and completely forgetting your patrol duties."

He took a step forward, closing in on Big Head, his tone even colder: "Do you know what time it is? Those snarlings could attack at any moment. Every one of us has to hold our posts; not a single mistake can be made! And you, for the sake of a wildebeest, have thrown the safety of the entire alliance to the back of your mind. How can you face the brothers of the alliance?"

Big Head was thoroughly scolded, burying his head even deeper, tears welling up in his eyes: "I know I was wrong, big brother, please don't send me away. I promise I'll patrol properly from now on and never do anything reckless again!"

"Kick you out?" Chen Fei glanced at him. "You can't just kick out any member of the alliance like that, but if you make a mistake, you have to be punished."

He thought for a moment and said, "You're not getting dinner tonight. Reflect on your actions. For the next week, you'll patrol one more time each day. You can return to normal when you've memorized the rules."

"Thank you, big brother! Thank you, big brother!" Big Head quickly thanked him, feeling relieved. As long as he wasn't kicked out, being punished with hunger or extra patrols didn't matter. "I'll definitely reflect on my mistakes and never make them again!"

He was sweating profusely.

The older brother's aura of oppression is fucking too strong.

And it's getting stronger every day.

"Don't just talk the talk," Chen Fei said coldly. "Go, finish the rest of the patrol, be careful, and don't get distracted."

"Okay! Okay!" Big Head nodded hurriedly, turned around and ran towards the remaining route. His steps were much faster and more serious than before. He listened attentively and stared ahead, no longer daring to slack off in the slightest.

Chen Fei watched his retreating figure and sighed inwardly.

"This simpleton, though a bit slow, is at least obedient," he muttered to himself. "Hopefully he'll learn his lesson this time, otherwise how will he ever survive in human society?"

He looked up to the south; the sunlight was even more dazzling, the air was getting hotter, and the grass in the distance was starting to steam.

"Splitter, hurry up and come here," Chen Fei thought to himself. "I'm all ready, just waiting for you to deliver yourself to my door so I can collect your corpse!"

The reeds by the pool were still rustling, as if warming up for the upcoming battle.

Chen Fei pushed off with his feet, darted back into the corridor, and headed straight for the third marker.

His steps were firm, as if he were nailed to the ground. His ears were perked up like radar, not missing a single sound. His face was taut without a single wrinkle, completely unrelated to the little incident just now... To put it bluntly, he was faking it, but he did it flawlessly.

Old Scar followed behind, continuing on its way as usual without making any unnecessary movements. But Big Head had missed that section of the corridor earlier, so she took the opportunity to kick it again, scanning each spot she hadn't sniffed before, her claws moving quickly and lightly, doing it so stealthily, as if she had planned it all along.

Chen Fei glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, thinking to himself: This lioness is really useful. She fills in the gaps more accurately than an alarm clock. Could it be that she knew the big head was going to go astray? Does she have the ability to predict the future?

Investigate the camp, inside the tents.

A dry wind was blowing outside the tent, making the canvas flap loudly, and a pungent, earthy smell crept in... a unique smell of the dry season. If you smelled it for too long, your head would feel heavy and dizzy, as if you were wrapped in a layer of damp cotton.

Ella stayed in the tent for almost an hour, her butt was numb from sitting, but she didn't touch her work.

She had her legs crossed, clutching a thermos that was already empty and ice-cold, but she held onto it like it was a precious treasure, her fingers unconsciously rubbing the inside of the cup, her eyes wandering aimlessly, clearly distracted.

Outside the tent, Lao Luo, the logistics guy, was tidying up the stove with a clanging sound. The iron spoon clattered against the iron pot, and the iron spatula scraped the bottom of the pot. The noise was so loud, it sounded like a house being demolished.

Ella frowned, thinking to herself: Old Luo is efficient at his work, but he makes too much noise. Couldn't he be a little quieter? But it wasn't worth going out and saying anything, so she simply let it go in one ear and out the other, out of sight, out of mind, and too lazy to bother with him.

The guards didn't get back until midnight last night, and they were all exhausted.

The two injured people were taken to the hospital for treatment long ago; the wounds were enough to make anyone's scalp crawl...

It was covered in bite marks and blood.

The atmosphere in the camp was much heavier than a few days ago, as if covered by a soaked blanket, making it hard to breathe, and no one dared to speak loudly.

Morris didn't wander around today; he stayed in his tent and made two phone calls.

Ella, with her sharp ears, vaguely heard a few words.