dmims Chapter 56 Strange Things
Chapter 56 Strange Things
Meimei followed him the whole afternoon. She didn't ask him why he took that detour, but she chose to walk in the direction he went.
Everything happened naturally.
A place to settle down.
Sel was with the little rascal in the bushes. Today, the cub tried to catch a dung beetle but failed. She chased it for a long time and finally chased it into the bushes. The cub crawled in herself and came out with a twig stuck to her head. She walked very proudly, completely unaware that she had something on her head. Sel watched her for a while but did not help her remove the twig. She just followed along.
As instructed by Chen Fei, Da Tou followed the wandering soldier on a patrol of the northeast corner.
When they returned, the homeless man was in front, and the big man was behind. The latter walked more uprightly than before he set off, unlike his usual swaying gait. He seemed to be trying hard to appear serious.
Chen Fei glanced at Da Tou's direction when they returned.
Big Head met his gaze, immediately raised his head slightly, took a larger step, maintained that position for about three steps, and then returned to his original gait.
Chen Fei raised his head in appreciation.
Night fell.
On the north side, the night watch lamp was lit.
Chen Fei did not look in that direction.
He has figured out how they will proceed tomorrow, and that information is enough. He will fill in the remaining details tomorrow.
He lay down on the west side of the spot, turned his body to the side, and closed his eyes.
The wind came from the east, the night on the grassland was deep, the wildebeest herd moved quietly two kilometers away, and occasionally the calls of hyenas could be heard from the south, distant and without any sign of approaching.
He identified each of the sounds one by one.
Behind him, Da Tou slowly squeezed in, silently squeezing himself into the gap between Chen Fei and a clump of short grass. Soon, the even breathing sound, once every four seconds, resumed.
In the distance, the survey team's lights were still on.
A tiny dot, orange-yellow, like a match borrowed from the grassland.
They will continue their southward advance tomorrow.
Chen Fei settled down to sleep, wanting to replenish his energy points first.
The following morning, the main hunting ground on the east side.
The indicator light on the thermal imaging camera is green.
Marcus crouched behind the camera, adjusted the lens angle two degrees to the left, confirmed that the remaining skeletal remains were in the center of the frame, stood up, took three steps back, and wrote down the current time and coordinates in his notebook.
"Okay, this one's activated." He said into the walkie-talkie, "Trigger-activated, it automatically records when a large animal enters the coverage area, and the memory card has enough for eight hours."
"Where's the pressure gauge?"
"Both units on the south side are online, and the signal is stable." Marcus tucked his notebook under his arm and walked towards the off-road vehicle. "The wind is blowing from the northeast today. If the target comes from the west, we can smell it first, and the equipment can respond in sync."
Ella's voice came through the walkie-talkie: "Kaller said the visibility is very good today and suggested moving the observation point 200 meters south. There's a slightly higher rocky platform there with a wider field of view."
“I saw that spot yesterday.” Marcus paused. “Ella, that platform is the area where that young lion was active yesterday. I saw fresh paw prints on the edge of the platform.”
There was a moment of silence on the walkie-talkie.
"How fresh?"
"The dew hasn't dried completely this morning, and the edges of the claw marks haven't collapsed yet. It's been at most two or three hours."
"Then let's go to that platform," Ella said.
Marcus frowned. "What if it's still there—"
“It walked away on its own yesterday and did not exhibit any aggressive behavior,” Ella said. “Marcus, the young male lion’s range overlapped with that of our target individual yesterday, so it may be a valid reference variable.”
"Referencing variable." Marcus repeated the word to himself, his tone slightly ambiguous. "Okay, I'll go to that platform."
Chen Fei had a clear view of all of this from the low grass 200 meters west of the sandstone platform.
Marcus left the camera's position, walked towards the off-road vehicle, then circled around before heading back towards the sandstone platform.
Chen Fei shifted his gaze from Marcus and glanced at the camera.
The camera lens was pointed at the area where the wildebeest skeleton remained, covering a fan-shaped area with a radius of about forty meters centered on the skeleton.
When he was planning his route this morning, he had already marked this sector in his mind. The boundaries were very clear. He was currently about fifty meters outside the western boundary of this sector.
It's safe.
The problem lies with the major part.
This morning, Da Tou went into the taller grass at the northern end of the hunting grounds, supposedly to practice stealth. But Chen Fei had estimated that a gazelle had been active on the edge of that grass last night, and its scent lingered until this morning. Da Tou was most likely looking for the source of the scent.
He had been squatting in that grassy area for almost an hour.
The probability of getting nothing is very high.
Chen Fei glanced at the patch of grass.
Then, the grass rustled.
A large head emerged from the edge of the meadow, a withered grass stem dangling from its mouth, a grass seed hanging from the end of the stem, swaying gently in the air as it walked.
He looked around, couldn't find the gazelle, made a resigned expression, and then started strolling in Chen Fei's direction.
The route it took was a diagonal line, natural and casual, occasionally lowering its head to sniff the ground, its tail swaying slowly.
The direction of the diagonal line.
Chen Fei quickly did the calculations.
If Big Head continues walking in this direction and at this speed, after about ninety more steps, he will cross the eastern boundary of the camera's trigger range.
Chen Fei's ears twitched slightly.
He used a low, short growl to signal Big Head to adjust his direction, not too much, just a slight westward shift would be enough.
Big Head raised his head.
Both eyes glanced in Chen Fei's direction.
Then we continued walking forward, without changing direction.
Chen Fei gestured again, this time with more force.
Big Head stopped, glanced at him, and looked at him with a puzzled expression, as if to say, "What strange thing is my brother doing today?" He tilted his head to the west, but didn't follow. His attention was drawn to something on the ground. He lowered his head, sniffed it, and then started digging.
There is a cricket in the grass.
Big Head stared at the newly dug crack in the soil for a while. A cricket jumped out and landed on the tip of his nose. Big Head was startled and took half a step back. The cricket jumped away.
He paused for a second, then started chasing.
The crickets jumped in the direction of east.
Chen Fei closed his eyes, then opened them again, and continued watching.
Big Head chased the cricket for about four jumps before stopping. The cricket was gone. He looked down and searched the ground, but couldn't find it. He stood up, twitched his ears, and started wandering back towards Chen Fei.
A new direction.
Chen Fei quickly did the calculation.
It's about 15 degrees east of here now.
He silently made an estimate—at this direction and pace, Big Head would pass through the very center of the camera's trigger range in about seventy steps.
...
Right in the center.
The indicator light on the thermal imaging camera changed from green to red.
Recording begins.
Marcus was walking toward the sandstone platform when the monitoring device on his waist vibrated. He glanced down at the screen and stopped.
"It's triggered," he said into the walkie-talkie.
"What individual?"
"Thermal imaging is being transmitted, wait a moment." Marcus zoomed in on the monitor screen, and the image gradually became clearer from its grainy state—