Chapter 83
Chapter 83
[Aaaah whose baby Pallas’s cat is this, it's way too amazing!]
“So awesome!” Lin Qianyu held the Pallas’s cat’s paw and gave it a shake, “I knew you’d definitely be able to learn.”
“Awo!” The Pallas’s cat threw both its paws onto Lin Qianyu, like it was standing up to snuggle into her arms.
Lin Qianyu crouched down a little, put her straw hat over its head, bundled its fluffy tail, and lifted the Pallas’s cat into her arms.
“Awoo!” The Pallas’s cat was still extremely excited, possibly not even realizing it had been picked up. It flicked its tail, and when it couldn’t move it, it gave a little shake of the tip.
【Aaaah whose baby Pallas’s cat is this, it's way too amazing!】
【Master Pallas has raised the species’ combat rating all by itself—one stone didn’t work? Then ten, a hundred! It straight up buried that vulture.】
【Wuwu that excited expression is so cute too. Its eyes are sparkling like stars, what a good fluff.】
If Nie Lingyang had been confused at first, now seeing how close the Pallas’s cat was with Lin Qianyu, and remembering the time during the livestream when she used stones to knock down a jungle fowl, he instantly understood what had happened. “Lin-jie taught it, huh?”
He couldn’t help but laugh, “That’s incredible. I’m going to learn this when I get back.”
Hang Sisi had already been stunned the moment she saw the Pallas’s cat pelting the vulture with stones. She was starting to wonder if this was survival in the wild, or if she was watching a cartoon.
A bit absurd… no, beyond absurd!
Vultures are birds of prey. For them, dealing with small animals on the grassland is child’s play. When they can’t find carrion, they’ll hunt small prey too.
But this one… just got hunted by a Pallas’s cat?
Granted, the weather was rainy and not great for flying animals, but it wasn’t raining hard enough to soak feathers quickly. If the vulture really tried, it could still stay airborne for a while.
Hang Sisi figured maybe the vulture got overconfident? It’s like worrying a fish will kill you while you’re making fish soup.
It bullied small animals so much, and now it got smacked by one instead.
Hang Sisi clicked her tongue, “Serves it right!” She had been robbed of food by a vulture before. These bastards always picked on the weak—stole her meat and even chased her down afterward.
Watching the vulture get beat up like this was just so satisfying!
Nie Lingyang laughed, “Kung Fu Pallas?”
Lin Qianyu held the Pallas’s cat’s paw and waved it toward them, “I’m going to take a look up front.”
Saying the vulture got buried under rocks wasn’t even an exaggeration—a wooden board could literally serve as its gravestone.
Given the local area, these stones were probably all the sharper ones within a five-mile radius.
The Pallas’s cat jumped down from her arms, patted the pile of rocks, “Awo!”
“Yes, you did that,” Lin Qianyu smiled, “You’re honestly the smartest Pallas’s cat I’ve ever seen. Amazing.”
Not only did it learn, it adapted and innovated—taking strengths and compensating for weaknesses. Truly smart.
That vulture probably never imagined it would one day be defeated by a Pallas’s cat.
Lin Qianyu pulled the stones apart, revealing a thick pile. “So, do you want to take this vulture back to eat?”
“Wuu…” The Pallas’s cat hesitated. It helped her move the stones aside, then shook its head.
Lin Qianyu thought for a moment. “Yeah… I don’t think there are any animals on the grassland that actually eat vulture meat.”She had seen news before about hyenas hunting vultures, but those were rare cases.
Some speculated that, because vultures are scavengers, their meat is sour and foul-smelling, so lions and hyenas are reluctant to eat them. Even when vultures stir up trouble during meals, predators can’t be bothered to hunt them.
But this theory doesn’t seem to have ever been confirmed.
Lin Qianyu ruffled the Pallas’s cat’s fluffy head. When she pressed down, the fur flattened—little bristled fur like this felt incredibly satisfying to touch. “Then just leave it here.”
The Pallas’s cat had its paws wrapped around a pile of stones. The pressed-down fur covered its eyes, and it paused, “? Hah—!”
Feeling a fuzzy, stiff little body under her hand, Lin Qianyu looked down, but instead of meeting the Pallas’s cat’s eyes, she saw a furball whose face was completely covered in fluff. “Pfft, haha…”
She laughed so hard her hands trembled but still helped smooth the fur upward, stroking it flat.
The Pallas’s cat gave a shake, stood up, and placed its paw on her knee.
“Want to come back with me? I’ll teach you something new,” Lin Qianyu gently rubbed its ears. “Once you learn, you can use rope to make a net and catch them.”
【Hahaha damn, she’s addicted to teaching now.】
【Damn, if it really learns to weave nets, who can even tell the difference between this Pallas’s cat and a top student?】
【If it doesn’t learn, will Master Pallas start whipping vultures with palm leaves?】
Hang Sisi, who hadn’t walked far, heard that and froze: “…”
She had followed Lin Qianyu’s livestream and tried to learn to make rope with palm leaves—and still hadn’t gotten the hang of it!
Not… not as good as a Pallas’s cat.
The Pallas’s cat stomped on the vulture with its paw. “Awo!”
“You’ll come find me next time?” Lin Qianyu softly translated and nodded, “Okay.”
Pallas’s cats are solitary by nature. It probably preferred to stay in its own burrow.
“Awo… wuu?” The Pallas’s cat suddenly asked while pawing through the rocks.
Lin Qianyu was stunned. “No,” she said, then covered her face and sighed, both exasperated and amused. “Who told you there’s a human-speaking, balding white lion on the grassland?”
“Awo!”
A lark.
The lark told it.
Lin Qianyu: “…”
Great.
How did even the little gossip reporter of the grassland find out?
That means… the whole grassland probably knows now?
Lin Qianyu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Those lions misunderstood—it’s not true.”
Maybe because white lions rarely live with other lions, when they saw Lin Qianyu—an unfamiliar being beside the white lion who could talk to them without barriers—they naturally assumed she was part of the white lion group.Zebras are zebras, grassland wolves are grassland wolves, cheetahs are cheetahs—and Lin Qianyu is a white lion.
Makes perfect sense.
Lin Qianyu looked back; that group of lions had already disappeared. Next time she saw them, she had to grab them by the scruff, clear up the misunderstanding, and then let them go!
The livestream chat was flooded with “hahaha” and “Lin-jie’s reputation got ruined.” Among the flood of teasing comments, one message from a rescue center staff member popped up.
Bai Zhao: 【The discharge paperwork for the little cheetah is done! Should I bring it over to you now?】
Lin Qianyu’s eyes widened instantly. “Yes, I’m heading back now.”
She turned to head home. The timing would line up well with Bai Zhao driving over.
As she said this, she gave the Pallas’s cat—still focused on organizing its rocks—a quick ruffle. “I’m leaving!”
“Awo!” The Pallas’s cat flicked its tail, having already gathered the rocks into a pile.
That little cheetah had been in the rescue center for quite some time.
The familiar scent of Dou Dou on its body had probably faded by now.
Cheetahs don’t help raise other cheetahs’ cubs. In the wild, if a cheetah cub has been touched by humans, adult cheetahs will never return for it. If they can’t detect the familiar scent, they’ll abandon the cub entirely.
Lin Qianyu thought aloud, “Should I wrap the little cheetah in a pelt Dou Dou has lain on?”
At least that would give it some familiar scent. If Dou Dou accepted the little one, then they could interact further.
With that thought in mind, she picked up her pace heading home.
Many people had been worried about that little cheetah in the rescue center.
Its injuries had been serious, and it had been kept in a sterile ward. Even though Bai Zhao said it was mostly fine, everyone still couldn’t help but worry.
Now that it was finally coming back, the audience in the livestream also breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’m back!”
Lin Qianyu pressed down her grass hat and ran back. The rescue center’s car hadn’t arrived yet.
The wooden board covering the yard was being pushed from underneath, rattling noisily.
“It’s still raining out,” Lin Qianyu adjusted the board. Getting wet could easily lead to illness, and wild animals rarely go out hunting in the rain unless they’re truly starving.
Rainy days were practically rest days in the animal kingdom.
But the cubs in the yard were still bursting with energy, running all over the place.
“Looks like I really do need to build a bigger shelter,” she mused. That way, the cubs would have more space to move around and wouldn’t have to play under a rickety wooden board.
The grassland wolf pushed the door open. “Woo…”
“Mm, woo ah.” Lin Qianyu opened the door. The space between the door and yard gave the cubs a little track to run through.
The two little cheetahs ran off to play with the wolf cub. The adult cheetah stood up and shook out its fur. Just as it peeked its head out from beneath the board and was about to jump up, Lin Qianyu raised her hand first and rested it on its head. “Dou Dou, no hunting today. Wait until the rain stops.”
“And… the little cheetah is coming back,” Lin Qianyu said, sitting by the door. When she built the shelter, she hadn’t installed a threshold, so she just stacked some pelts and sat there. “You remember it, right? The injured little cheetah you handed to me when we first met.”
When cheetahs try to recognize whether a cub is their own, they rely on the scent they're familiar with.But that was only because no one had told it yet. Lin Qianyu tried recounting what had happened before to Dou Dou—maybe the clever cheetah would still remember.
Sure enough, after she finished speaking, Dou Dou let out a soft "awo."
The faint little breathy sound even sounded more like a “miao-awo.”
Lin Qianyu chuckled softly. “Good, you still remember. Even if the scent isn’t familiar later, don’t bare your teeth, okay?”
She cupped the cheetah’s head in both hands, pushed her index fingers upward to reveal both of its fangs, “Like this!”
The cheetah blinked. “Haa—”
“Yes,” Lin Qianyu covered its mouth with her hand. “You mustn't do that.”
After Bai Zhao arrived, he parked in the same spot where they’d previously picked up the thylacine, then sent a message via livestream.
New messages from rescue staff accounts automatically popped up and were pinned, much more convenient than checking messages one by one.
“I’ll go get it.” Lin Qianyu patted the cheetah, then got up to receive the little cheetah.
The rain seemed a bit lighter than earlier.
Bai Zhao was wearing a raincoat as he opened the back door of the vehicle. “Here, you can carry it back directly.”
Inside the carrier, the little cheetah curiously looked around. Its paws reached out, making a rattling sound against the lock.
When it noticed the door opening, it quickly retracted its paws, curled up, and cautiously watched the human outside.
During its time at the rescue center, the little cheetah had probably met a lot of people.
“Do you still remember me?” Lin Qianyu crouched down, aligning her gaze with the little cheetah’s—or even lower.
Back then, the little cheetah had been critically injured. Whether it still remembered her, even Lin Qianyu wasn’t sure.
After spending time recovering at the rescue center, the once severely injured and near-death cub was now plump and healthy, its little head all chubby and perfect for petting.
The little cheetah stared at Lin Qianyu for a while, its brown pupils shifting as if carefully distinguishing something.
“I handed you over to them last time.” Lin Qianyu pointed to Bai Zhao to help jog its memory.
It tilted its head, as if remembering something, then took a few steps forward and resumed pawing at the carrier lock.
Watching from the side, Bai Zhao figured that counted as recognition. “We didn’t do scent simulation—just brought it straight over after it left the sterile ward.”
Normally, when rescuing wild animals—especially cubs—before sending them back to their mothers, one must try to add familiar scents to them.
Otherwise, if their siblings or the mother can’t recognize the scent, they’ll reject the cub, and even if it’s healthy, it’ll be left to die.
In such cases, the team would monitor the reintegration, and if it failed, they’d retrieve the cub again and raise it until it could survive in the wild on its own, then release it again.
Strictly implemented, it was a very complicated process, requiring many staff to stay on standby around the clock.
But this time… they had Lin Qianyu.
They didn’t need to search for the cheetah or go through the trouble of scent simulation. What happened next would be up to her.
“It’s fine. I’ve got a mat at home—if Dou Dou doesn’t recognize the little one, it can just roll around on the mat a bit,” Lin Qianyu said, unlocking the carrier.
The little cheetah instantly sprang out. “Ah-awo!”
It tried to sound fierce, but it still came out like a kitten. It charged forward, only to get tripped up by Lin Qianyu’s wrist and went sliding straight onto her arm with a flop.Click.
Not a trace of ferocity—more like it bumped its tooth.
Lin Qianyu took the chance to bend her arm and scoop up the little cheetah. “Alright, thanks for the trouble.”
Bai Zhao was already used to Lin Qianyu’s politeness, but he still couldn’t help but smile and shake his head. “If you can return the rescued cubs we take in just by communicating with animals, you’ve no idea how much help that is to us.”
Lin Qianyu had looked into the rescue center’s workflows. When she was learning the process, she also read plenty of reports written by other staff and didn’t comment on how tedious it all was. “Drive safe.”
Bai Zhao waved. “Goodbye, little one.”
The little cheetah perched on Lin Qianyu’s shoulder, curiously scanning its surroundings. When it heard that, it glanced over briefly, then just went back to sightseeing.
Bai Zhao: “…”
Alright, guess the bond wasn’t deep enough. Favorability score not high enough yet.
Most of the time, the little cheetah had been in the hospital. Bai Zhao had other duties and couldn’t visit much. After the cub was admitted, he’d gone to see it, but couldn’t enter the sterile ward.
Compared to humans it had only seen a few times, the little cheetah was far more interested in its environment.
While Lin Qianyu chatted with the little cheetah, the rain had stopped.
The straw hat she’d brought to shield it from the rain was no longer needed. Carrying the little cheetah back, Lin Qianyu paused and decided not to go in right away.
The grass was still wet. Lin Qianyu lifted the wooden board and set it aside, then sat on the edge of a low ditch. “Hi there, new member of our family.”
She placed the little cheetah on her lap and raised its paw high, speaking in a playful tone on its behalf: “Hello, everyone~”
The little wolf cubs, who had been dazed after bumping their heads on the board for so long, looked around in confusion.
Adult grassland wolves piled up and slept leaning against each other, nowhere near as energetic as the cubs. They conserved energy in preparation for their next hunt.
But the other two little cheetahs had come over, craning their necks to look.
“Get acquainted. You should be quite familiar with each other.” Lin Qianyu held the little cheetah’s paw and pressed it lightly on the noses of the other two.
The little cheetah in the ditch tilted its head, licked its nose, then stepped back a few paces. Its front half lowered to the ground, two paws smacking down—“Awo!”
“Awoo!” The scent of alcohol had mostly faded from the injured cheetah’s body.
Lin Qianyu held it like that to let them get familiar with each other at a bit of a distance.
The adult cheetah came over to sniff Lin Qianyu, and the little cheetah brightened up upon seeing Dou Dou—even happier than seeing its siblings.
It reached out a paw, “Mew!”
Though it didn’t detect the familiar scent, Dou Dou sniffed Lin Qianyu, then leaned in to smell the little cheetah again.
It seemed to hesitate and weigh things for a moment… and then gently licked the little cheetah.
“Ah-woo~!” The little cheetah lifted its head high in excitement.
【!!! Is it really that easy to return a separated cub to its family?】
【Rather than easy, it’s more that Dou Dou really trusts Lin-jie. Plus, when the little cheetah was taken away, Dou Dou was aware—it wasn’t taken without warning by rescue workers, so this case is different from most.】
【Yay! There are more and more fluffballs in Linlin’s house now—no way they all fit!】【Just one fall in Lin-jie’s house and you could crush over a dozen fluffballs, hahaha.】
…
Usually, when rescuing cubs, it's done while the parent isn’t around.
Otherwise, even if the humans mean well and are helping injured young animals, other animals will still be extremely resistant to their approach, fiercely guarding the cubs in their nest.
Who else would actually announce it when picking up a cub?
Lin Qianyu had been holding the little cheetah the whole time. Seeing the moment was right, she placed it on Dou Dou’s back. “Alright—family reunited.”
Dou Dou turned her head and nuzzled Lin Qianyu’s wrist, then picked the little cheetah up by the scruff and walked off to a corner.
The other two little cheetahs quickly followed, squeezing in alongside.
The grassland wolf pups didn’t understand what was going on. They were still trying to crawl onto Lin Qianyu’s leg, likely having noticed the cheetah cubs now numbered one more and were curious.
Lin Qianyu picked one up by the scruff. “Not yet. Wait until you’re familiar with each other, then you can play together.”
Before this, the little cheetah and the grassland wolf pups had also been separated by a wooden board, which was only removed after they got used to each other’s presence.
“Woo?” The little wolf pup looked up in confusion.
She placed the pup on her lap and gave it a couple affectionate rubs. “Good boy.”
“Why are you lying on Xiao Huang again?” Lin Qianyu caught sight of a pup rolling around on the thylacine and smiled faintly.
“Woo…” The yellow thylacine lifted its head slightly.
The pup looked at the sky, then hopped into the low ditch and turned to rest its chin on Lin Qianyu’s shoulder, nuzzling her cheek.
“Ready to go hunting?” Lin Qianyu wrapped her arms around the furry head. “Go ahead.”
“Awoo!”
As the pup turned around, the grassland wolves in the shelter also stood up one after another. The thylacine followed without hesitation.
The cheetah was still grooming the little one and just about to get up when Lin Qianyu preempted it, saying, “You stay home today and take care of the cubs.”
One grassland wolf would also stay behind to protect them.
Having the cheetah at home too would be even safer.
Lin Qianyu stroked the soft fur of a wolf pup. “I’ve got to go over to the white lion later, and then chop some trees.”
She decided to go back to the forest they’d been in the night before to cut wood.
The tree trunks there were thick and perfect for building a cabin.
This time, Lin Qianyu planned to use a mortise-and-tenon structure. There was no rush—carving bit by bit with a kitchen knife, she’d get it done eventually.
“The white lion should still be asleep by now.”
In this kind of constant drizzle, the best thing for a water-averse, cleanliness-obsessed white lion to do was stay inside the rainproof wooden shelter and not come out.
After giving one last stroke to the brushed-out pup, Lin Qianyu turned to the furs, rolled them up, and wrung them out again.
Although she forgot to salt the meat last night, she had remembered to dry the animal hides.The hides had just been washed. If she put the wet hides inside, the dampness might make things worse, so she left them outside to let the rain rinse them off again—consider it a second wash.
The red-footed falcon wasn’t on the Jiagu fruit tree.
Lin Qianyu checked the nest. Although the rain wasn’t heavy, the wind before the rain had been very real. Many unstable branches around the edges had been blown off.
At least the nest hadn’t fallen.
Lin Qianyu placed a good amount of fallen Jiagu fruit twigs and leaves next to the nest so that when the red-footed falcon returned, it could reinforce its nest.
Once done, she picked two Jiagu fruits. Rainwater still clung to them, and she gave them a shake before taking a bite. “Chasing Wind, let’s go chop some trees.”
The zebra, lying belly-up in the palm-leaf shelter, heard her and slowly poked its head out. “Neigh!”
“You remember the place we went to yesterday, right?” she said, tossing the Jiagu fruit over.
Chasing Wind was still bleary-eyed, not fully awake, but instinctively opened its mouth and caught the fruit. After a crisp crunch, it seemed to realize it was eating something.
It tilted its head upward, adjusted position, and held the Jiagu fruit properly in its mouth.
Lin Qianyu turned to pack her bag.
After finishing the wild fruit, Chasing Wind was more or less awake. It stood up and shook its head.
To chop trees, all she needed to bring was a kitchen knife.
But the trees in that forest were thick—far from something one or two chops could handle.
Besides that, she also needed to bring some rope, for Chasing Wind to carry supplies to the white lion.
“Where did I put the soap pods…” Lin Qianyu opened her bag. There were still more than half left, and the boxes at home were full.
She had to free up a basket.
As she pulled out the soap pods, Lin Qianyu muttered, “The baskets still aren’t enough. I need to weave a few more when I have time.”
She paused and turned her head toward the livestream camera. “Director Su, it’s been days since the last treasure hunt activity. Got any new ones coming?”
Su Yuxing: “…”
He said nothing, pretending he wasn’t in the chat.
However...
【@Su Yuxing, Director Su, say something!】
【Stop pretending—you’re watching the stream without stealth mode. You’ve spent quite a bit in Lin-jie’s livestream. You’re already level 17 fan badge.】
【Hahaha I’m dying—Director Su: I’m gonna ban you all! You’re all getting banned!】
Lin Qianyu was just making small talk—she didn’t really expect a reply. After packing everything up, she headed out.
Chasing Wind was already waiting outside.
To be safe, before leaving, she covered half of the courtyard and left the door open.
Lin Qianyu said, “If it rains, you guys go back inside.”
The wooden boards in the courtyard were purely because the cubs couldn’t stay cooped up indoors—they could come out to run around if they got restless.After settling the fluffballs at home, Lin Qianyu finally left with Chasing Wind.
—The path they made last night was pitch dark, and nothing around them was visible.
Walking it again during the day, though, it was a completely different scene.
It was a bit far, but the trees here were growing really well.
And since the area was remote, the further they went into the woods, the fewer animals they saw.
Not a single large predator in sight.
Maybe they had all found shelter from the rain and still hadn’t come out even though it had stopped.
Chasing Wind sped up along the way and dropped her off at the location. Lin Qianyu pulled a kitchen knife from her hiking bag and said, “Let’s chop more today—I want to lay a wooden floor in the white lion’s cabin too.”
Back then, it was because there wasn’t much wood. Those trees were small and sparse.
Chopping more would’ve felt like they’d run out completely, so when building the cabin, Lin Qianyu saved every bit she could.
But now that this place had more trees, building a better cabin wasn’t a problem.
With an unhandy tool and thicker trunks, Lin Qianyu chopped slowly.
Chasing Wind grazed nearby.
It wasn’t hungry, but just liked having something in its mouth to chew on. Since it was idle anyway, it figured it’d try the taste of the local grass.
While chopping trees, Lin Qianyu noticed a honeyguide flying by. “Looks like there’s a lot of honey around here.”
Just yesterday, she saw a greater honeyguide leading a honey badger over, and now she spotted one again.
But… unlike honey badgers and black bears who could just grab honeycombs and eat them…
If a human wanted to take on a beehive, full gear was a must, or they’d be chased and stung by the bees.
Lin Qianyu struck both sides of the tree, carving marks bit by bit, checking the kitchen knife carefully for any nicks as she worked. “Knives aren’t considered consumables on the show. If it breaks, the production team won’t replace it.”
Right now, the only knife she had for cutting meat and butchering was this one, so she had to use it sparingly.
That said… this kitchen knife was indeed high quality. From day one of the show until now, it had been cutting meat, chopping trees, shaving wood bark and animal skins—basically nonstop.
She’d only sharpened it once with a rock, and it was still nice and sharp.
But when it came to chopping trees, an axe really would be a better tool.
Among the supplies prepared by the show, if axes were available, they were pretty much a must-pick.
After chopping two trees, Lin Qianyu leaned against one and took a breather. “Chasing Wind, go ahead and drag these two over to the white lion.”
Dragging too many at once would be too heavy. Better to make a few trips than get stuck hauling too much at once.
Chasing Wind, bored out of its mind chewing grass, perked up at her voice and trotted over. “Neigh!”
Lin Qianyu pulled a rope from her bag and tied one end around the logs. “Run slowly, don’t rush. These are heavier than the ones you dragged last time, so be careful.”
Chasing Wind kept turning its head back, showing no concern at all for how heavy the logs might be.
Lin Qianyu pulled out the ostrich egg cup hanging from the side pouch of her backpack and took a sip of water. It was water she’d boiled when preparing milk for the fluffballs. The extra water had been used to soak fruit, and now it was the perfect temperature to drink.Chasing Wind wouldn’t be back for a while, so Lin Qianyu wasn’t in a hurry to keep chopping trees.
She slung on her hiking bag, planning to wander around the area. “I’ve been walking the grasslands for so long—suddenly being surrounded by trees feels a bit unfamiliar.”
On the vast, boundless plains, you could see forever. But in the forest, with trees blocking the view, the space felt visually much smaller.
The trees here grew well, though they were still quite different from rainforest trees.
【A backpack, one person, and a stretch of wild forest… tsk, now that’s a vibe.】
【Missing the days when you could build a shelter just by laying some wood between two trees.】
With naturally growing big trees as support, building a shelter was indeed simple.
Building a cabin on open ground, though, was a lot more work just in the prep alone. By the time you’ve gathered your materials, a tree-backed shelter could already be fully built.
Lin Qianyu whittled a wooden stick and poked at the ground ahead. “If only Little Black Snake were still around.”
With Little Black Snake, she wouldn’t have to cautiously take each step, checking for safety. The snake would have cleared the path ahead, biting anything that jumped out before it even got close.
Viewers in the livestream gave suggestions: Next time bring more fluffballs to lead the way.
Just imagining a whole squad of fluffballs clearing a path ahead sounded awesome.
As she walked, Lin Qianyu unknowingly finished the last sip of water from her cup. She hooked the cup back onto her bag. When she turned her head, something in her peripheral vision caught her attention. She froze and then squinted to get a better look. “Is that… a beehive under that rock?”
At first glance, she thought it was just the shadow cast by the protruding stone. But on closer inspection—what kind of shadow has that much dimension?
It was clearly a beehive partially shaded by the rock. The shadow only covered the upper half.
And it was a pretty big hive, too.
Lin Qianyu absentmindedly tapped the ground with the stick in her hand. “Up next, I’ll be demonstrating how to eat honey in the wild without any professional tools or equipment, completely unscathed. This method is non-professional and meant for entertainment. Very dangerous—do not imitate.”
【Set it on fire!】
【You’re supposed to use water, obviously. But Linlin seems to have just finished hers, and an ostrich egg cup of water probably isn’t enough anyway.】
【Wait, hold on… is Lin-jie hinting there’s a new segment of the show?】
Lin Qianyu kept a close eye on the hive and didn’t act rashly. Meanwhile, the livestream chat had exploded into a heated debate.
Many viewers guessed she must be about to use some ingenious, never-before-seen technique.
Methods used by firefighters to handle wasp nests started circulating through the chat—very detailed and serious.
Just as everyone anxiously waited…
Lin Qianyu raised the stick and with a loud smack, whacked the hive straight off the rock.
Comments: 【???】
Wait, what?
We were out here trying to guess the technique and you just… smacked it with a stick?
【…I think I overcomplicated it.】
The hive hit the ground.
Lin Qianyu turned around and bolted.
The bees buzzed angrily and took off after her.They couldn’t hurt black bears or honey badgers—in fact, they might even get accidentally chewed up by them as a side dish when the bear’s digging into honey.
But if they couldn’t deal with a black bear, surely they could handle a human.
The bees from the hive launched a full-scale attack.
Lin Qianyu sprinted away, looped around to higher ground, jumped down from a rock without a second thought, stuffed the hive into her backpack, and bolted back the way she came.
By the time the bees rounded the corner to chase, she had already put quite a bit of distance between them.
“If you come across a beehive in the wild, absolutely do not touch it. Even if you manage to take the hive like I did, if someone else passes through here later, they’ll still be attacked,” Lin Qianyu explained to the livestream while running.
“The reason I did this is because…” She paused mid-sentence, her eyes scanning the surroundings before locking onto a gray-black animal. “Pingtou-ge!”
The honey badger, out foraging, heard her voice. It understood but didn’t quite get the context.
Lin Qianyu ran over and split the hive, handing most of it to the honey badger. Then she pointed to the bees still chasing behind her. “Please take care of this for me.”
Just woken up and suddenly handed a big chunk of beehive, with honey dripping from the broken edges—
The honey badger clamped onto the hive, lowered itself to the ground, and walked steadily toward the approaching bees.
With the honey badger now in the mix—and holding a chunk of hive—the bees hovered around it instead.
Lin Qianyu clapped her hands. “I just saw it foraging earlier. Good chance to collaborate.”
Of course, cooperating with Pingtou-ge required more than just words.
Greater honeyguides peck honey badgers on the head to lure them toward a hive, and the badger chases them all the way there—thus forming a kind of “partnership.”
When Lin Qianyu first saw the honey badger, if she’d had honey or a piece of hive in hand, she could’ve “talked” about teaming up. But at the time, she didn’t even have a sweet-smelling snack.
So, she had to grab the hive first and then negotiate cooperation.
Clearly, Pingtou-ge had a strong sense of loyalty.
Lin Qianyu hung what was left of the hive off her ostrich egg cup. The hive was damaged—she didn’t plan on bringing it back.
The last time she brought one back, she drained the honey and gave it to the little bear. But this time, since the fluffballs at home wouldn’t eat the hive, she’d just take some honey and leave the rest.
【No wonder she told us not to imitate this.】
【Hahaha! So you grab the hive, anger the bees, get beat up by the honey badger for stealing it, and still end up chased by the bees? Is that what you meant?】
【Did Pingtou-ge think Lin-jie was one of its own?】
Lin Qianyu braced the hive on a nearby tree and slowly loosened her grip to test if it would stay in place. “Not one of its own... Honey badgers often fight their own kind. If it thought I was the same species, it would’ve reacted with hostility and attacked first.”
After setting the hive down, Lin Qianyu smiled with squinted eyes. “This honey badger is the same one from last night—did you notice?”
Maybe to most people, all honey badgers looked alike. Unless their back colors were dramatically different—or someone was very familiar with them—it’d be hard to tell.
And this one had only shown up briefly before, on night vision mode no less, so nearly no one recognized it.
…
The honey badger strolled back from the swarm solo. By then, Lin Qianyu had already collected more than half a bottle of honey.
“You can have this too,” she said, picking up the remaining hive and handing it to the honey badger. “Thanks for the help.”There were still a few bees clinging to the honey badger. It gave a shake; the hive in its mouth was already mostly eaten, and now Lin Qianyu had stuffed another piece into its arms.
This was definitely not something a fellow of its kind would do.
When honey badgers meet, they either brush past each other or stop to fight.
Lin Qianyu’s polite behavior left the honey badger completely baffled.
“Let’s team up again next time,” she said with a smile before standing up and circling back to where she’d been chopping trees to wait for Zhuifeng.
Knowing Zhuifeng’s personality, he’d probably go sniffing around out of curiosity and end up getting beaten up by Pingtou-ge.
Even if Zhuifeng could outrun the honey badger, that one would remember. Next time they met—still a fight.
There were so many trees here that Lin Qianyu figured she’d be back frequently in the coming days. If the honey badger remembered Zhuifeng and picked a fight, it could interfere with her shelter-building plans.
Seeing Lin Qianyu leave, the honey badger followed her for a few steps before pausing mid-chew, sitting down, and continuing to eat its honey on the spot.
When Zhuifeng returned after delivering the wood and didn’t see her, he panicked a little. The grassland wolves weren’t around, but… the zebra cast a cautious sidelong glance at the nearby white lion.
The white lion narrowed its eyes. “Roar!”
Zhuifeng shivered on the spot. “Whinny!”
She was just here a moment ago!
“White Lion? Why are you here too?” From a distance, Lin Qianyu caught sight of the white fur and thought she was seeing things. The type of wood here wasn’t the same as what was used at White Lion’s place, and the terrain was more remote—it didn’t seem like a place the white lion would come to.
Apparently, it had come with Zhuifeng.
Lin Qianyu walked over and crouched in front of the white lion, rubbing its thick, furry mane. “Did you check out the wood Zhuifeng delivered? I’m planning to build a new shelter next to your place with it. What do you think?”
“Wuuu…”
“Later I’ll prepare more wood and reinforce your wooden house too,” Lin Qianyu said. When she built it, she had already accounted for every detail, but more reinforcement never hurt.
“I’ll cut down a few more trees, then we can head back.”
“Roar!”
—Building a wooden shelter always consumes a lot of lumber, even more so with wooden flooring and reinforcement.
Adding up all the losses and needs, they’d need a lot of wood.
There was already a lot of timber in the white lion’s yard, used for doors and frames, but she still needed to collect more thick logs.
She said she’d just cut a few more…
But once she got busy, she unknowingly chopped down way too much.
It took both Zhuifeng and the white lion two trips to transport everything.
Lin Qianyu followed them back and looked at the pile laid out neatly on the ground where the previous wood had been stored, with a few more logs stacked on top. It looked like quite a bit. “Should be enough. I’ll come build the shelter tomorrow.”
She’d been working all day, and her arms were sore from chopping; her fingers were trembling, and she couldn’t even hold the kitchen knife anymore, let alone carve out mortise and tenon joints from the wood.
Whether the joints would work would take some trial and error. It wasn’t something she could finish in a day.
The white lion had gone out hunting as soon as Lin Qianyu delivered the wood. It hadn’t left all day because of the rain.Zhuifeng had been running around all day, but he didn’t show the slightest sign of fatigue. On the contrary, he was still circling the pile of wood excitedly, giving off the illusion that he wanted to keep hauling more.
“Zhuifeng? Ready to go?”
“Whinny!”
Zhuifeng took two steps back, then sprinted forward, leaping over the pile of logs.
Lin Qianyu sat on the zebra’s back, holding the honey in her hand that had originally been hanging from her backpack.
Just earlier, when Zhuifeng took off, he nearly kicked the ostrich egg water cup that was hanging there. To be safe, she figured it was better to carry it by hand.
【Feels like everyone’s working together to build the shelter.】
【Some guests on the show are busy foraging, some diving for fish, and Sister Lin is busy building houses.】
【Haha, isn’t this clearly the future real estate tycoon of Wilderness? I’d like to see anyone dare disrespect Sister Lin!】
【Honestly, Linlin should just build a row of cabins and rent them out to the other guests for meat, supplies, whatever—and just chill at home petting her fluffballs without having to go anywhere.】
...
Lin Qianyu saw this comment and nodded seriously. “Makes sense, but based on how fast I build shelters, by the time I finish the row houses, the guests for Wilderness Season 2 will already be on their return flights.”
She wasn’t sure what kind of contract the director had signed with Feng Jingye—whether Wilderness would be recorded on this same island for three seasons, or if the show would continue in multiple cycles, swapping in new guests for island survival each time.
It was possible that after the third season, Wilderness's second cycle would still choose Rainforest Island or Grassland Island as filming locations, and new rookie guests would come to experience the wild.
In that case, her row of wooden cabins might really come in handy.
By then, though, Lin Qianyu would likely no longer be a guest—but a crew member on the island.
She chuckled and said, “And if I had that much wood, I’d probably choose to expand the size of the shelter even more.”
Many animals on the grassland live in groups, and the ones she brings home aren’t just individuals—they’re whole fluffy crews.
With more space, she could take in more fluffballs.
Her current shelter was already a bit cramped. A new one would be much better.
While chatting with the livestream audience, the sky gradually darkened around her.
She’d lost track of time in the forest; the little wolf and the others who went out hunting should be on their way back by now.
As she was thinking about the little wolf, Lin Qianyu noticed something odd on the grassland today. “What’s going on—why are there so many vultures over there?”
She speculated, “Could there be carrion?”
But… no, there wasn’t…
Most of the vultures were clustered to the left. Lin Qianyu wasn’t far from them and didn’t smell anything strange.
She’d seen vultures a few times before—usually no more than five or six landing. Only black-and-white vultures were social. Why were there suddenly so many now?
Lin Qianyu was truly puzzled.
She gently patted Zhuifeng’s neck. “Zhuifeng, let’s go check it out.”
Zhuifeng changed direction and ran toward the vultures.【So that dark mass was vultures? I thought it was scorched ground from a fire.】
【Just looking at it is creepy. Are the vultures holding some kind of team-building event?】
As the zebra approached, it didn’t seem to alarm the nearby vultures.
Observing their positions, Lin Qianyu noticed that although they appeared scattered, they were actually arranged in a semi-circle, all oriented toward a central point.
She dismounted. “Stay here and don’t run around. Be careful of the vultures.”
Though vultures don’t hunt zebras, it was safer not to let Zhuifeng get too close.
The white lion was enjoying its prey on a nearby rock. Despite the number of vultures in the area, not a single one dared disturb the lion while it was eating.
Spotting the distant figure, the white lion narrowed its eyes slightly as it tore into its prey.
Lin Qianyu walked over on her own, circling around to the back of the semi-circle formed by the vultures. That’s when she noticed what they were facing—it seemed to be the entrance to a burrow.
The vultures were keeping some distance from the burrow, as if standing guard.
Lin Qianyu glanced back—it wasn’t far from the manul’s (Pallas’s cat's) den.
Were they guarding a rabbit? But that wasn’t vulture behavior at all.
When have you ever seen vultures chasing rabbits across the grassland on their spindly legs?
That would just be absurd.
Besides, the vultures were only standing guard and not even peeking inside. The more she thought about it, the less sense it made.
Just as Lin Qianyu was confused, another vulture flew in from somewhere above. After landing, it seemed to communicate something with the others.
Its hoarse voice wasn’t clear to Lin Qianyu.
In the next moment, the newly arrived vulture lowered its head to look into the burrow.
Whoosh—Smack! Something flew out of the burrow and hit the peeking vulture square on the head.
Lin Qianyu: “???”
Barrage comments: 【?!!】
Wha—what?
It just whooshed right out!?
The livestream audience was dumbfounded, and the vulture that got hit was even more stunned, wobbling unsteadily, unable to stand properly.
Sensing danger, it instinctively tried to flap its wings to fly to safety.
But it had taken a heavy hit—its wings trembled like an old man in his eighties, barely able to spread, let alone lift off.
However, the creature inside didn’t follow up. From beginning to end, it had only thrown out a single stone.
There wasn’t even the slightest intention to come out.
The downed vulture eventually gathered itself and joined the others standing in the semi-circle.Lin Qianyu: “...No wonder none of them dared to peek in.”
Even without any vultures looking inside, stones kept flying out of the burrow from time to time.
Whoever got hit, got hit. If no one did, then it would just throw another—truly a lively scene.
【Well then... If the other little animals on the grassland saw this, they’d be clapping their paws in excitement.】
【So satisfying. Lord Manul is badass!】
【This manul is seriously smart, even knows tactics. It's got food and drink inside, and when it’s bored, it throws stones at its enemies. What a god-tier life. Even gets to train itself.】
No surprise—the one in the burrow was most likely the manul.
Judging by the distance between the two burrow entrances, this one could really be considered a mansion.
The manul could have left but chose not to, just holding its ground—attacking any intruder that came close with precise strikes.
Author’s note: Woke up late and just finished writing. Total updates today exceed 20,000 characters. Next chapter will be at 00:00, muah~