Being a Dad in the Animal World
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When they were alive, Bai Yi had always thought the four of them were burdens, hindering his peaceful and orderly life as a lion.
But now that they had suddenly disappeared without reason, he instead felt a sense of unease and loss.
That shameless little male lion, Jason, would often try to take advantage of him.
He probably wanted to take advantage of him. Otherwise, why would he be so obsessed with his private parts without Bai Yi's permission, sniffing and sniffing?
Jason was so young and yet already so misguided, making Bai Yi feel like there was something wrong with the little lion's mentality.
What kind of lion would be so attentive to a strange male lion?
None.
But now, they might all have already become the prey of other ferocious beasts, which made Bai Yi feel a little sadness rising in his heart.
They were unable to escape the fate of being hunted, so it’s true that children are safer with their parents around.
For the past three days, he had been looking for Jason and the three little ones and he hadn’t eaten anything and was starving.
He simply had no hunting experience. Even though he saw those adorable herbivores, he couldn’t help but want to pounce on them, but every time, their astonishing speed in escaping took the upper hand.
Bai Yi had no choice but to continue starving.
He also wouldn't eat carrion. When he saw other animals gnawing on leftover scraps, which were already swarming with flies and maggots, Bai Yi had absolutely no appetite.
If it were Jason, he would definitely bring the three little ones to eat carrion, since maggots are also meat.
Bai Yi wandered around the vast grassland in confusion. On the fourth day, he couldn’t resist going to find food.
But his goal wasn’t hunting, it was to find wild fruits to eat.
His effort didn’t go in vain. He finally found some edible wild fruits in the baboon’s territory.
Looking at the fruits he couldn’t name, Bai Yi felt a bit of joy in his heart.
He drove the baboons away and stole their fruits.
Normally, lions that came here were hunting, but Bai Yi was different—he came for fruits.
He pressed his two front paws against the not-so-thick fruit tree and shook it fiercely. Green fruits fell from the tree.
Using his agile tongue, he rolled the green fruit into his mouth and chewed it, almost being overwhelmed by the sourness.
Bai Yi shuddered violently, gritting his teeth at the sourness, but he still finished eating all the fruits.
After eating the fruit, which didn’t fill him up, he went to find grass to eat.
As expected, he was the first lion anyone had ever seen compete with herbivores for grass.
The scene in the live broadcast changed drastically, and the viewers were shocked by the “Xiao Bai”’s strange behavior.
They couldn’t understand why a lion would like to eat grass.
“Where did the dignity of the king of the grasslands go? He actually stooped to eating grass?”
“Ahhh! The host said Xiao Bai was unusual, I thought they were just joking, but now I realize he really is different from the other lions!”
“I don’t know why, but I feel like he’s kind of cute. Would people pet such a silly lion?”
“Hey, the one who wants to pet the lion, your courage is huge, can you take me along?”
A group of people wanting to pet 'Xiao Bai' quickly flooded the public screen. They thought that the lion was too calm.
“Why isn’t he hunting? Is he still looking for Jason? Please find them quickly, I’m so worried about those kids.”
The audience was actually more worried about the children than Bai Yi.
Bai Yi was full. He found a patch of wild vegetables, which was the territory of bison and deer. As a lion, he was fighting with a group of herbivores over the grass from a distance.
While eating, he also sniffed around, checking if there were any strong predators nearby.
Fortunately, there were no predators.
He had eaten and drunk enough and was ready to find a place to take a nap.
The midday sun was especially hot, and mosquitoes and flies were buzzing around him. He couldn’t stop these pests from sticking to his thick fur.
He found a shaded area, sniffed around again, and finding no scent of other animals, he squatted down to start cleaning his fur.
The mosquitoes and flies were incredibly annoying. He badly needed some insect repellent, as everything around him was disturbing his peaceful sleep.
The buzzing kept irritating him in his ears.
In frustration, Bai Yi gave up on sleeping, stood up, and started using his two front paws to swat the mosquitoes on his body.
Just as he was getting frantic from the annoyance of the insects, he suddenly lifted his head, catching a familiar scent!
Bai Yi was overjoyed and immediately stood up, placing all four paws on the ground, and looked around.
The scent was coming with the wind, faint but mixed with some kind of bloody odor.
Bai Yi’s heart tensed, and he wondered if it was Jason and the others.
He followed the direction of the scent, wanting to check it out.
After running about a kilometer, the scent became faint, but he tried to raise his head and sniff again, hoping to capture that familiar smell.
However, the scent was growing weaker and even changed direction.
Bai Yi thought for a moment. He could smell Jason’s scent, and if he could smell him, then Jason must be able to smell his scent too.
Since Jason had smelled him but didn’t come to find him, and instead walked in another direction, there could only be one conclusion: they were in danger.
Bai Yi started running, heading toward the source of the scent.
He had just eaten grass, so he had enough strength.
The closer he got, the stronger the scent became, indicating that he was nearing Jason and the others.
He quickened his pace.
After running about two kilometers, he finally heard the roar of a lion.
It was Jason!
Bai Yi felt a tightness in his chest and couldn’t care less about anything else. He rushed forward in a hurry!
He saw Jason surrounded by a group of spotted hyenas!
The spotted hyenas, like hyenas, have a strong hunting ability when in a group. They are unusually united and often attack in packs of dozens.
The smell of blood grew stronger, and Bai Yi deduced that Jason had been injured!
Joy was quickly overshadowed by concern.
He let out a roar and charged forward, scattering the outermost group of spotted hyenas. These guys were obviously bullies who feared the strong.
When they saw a mighty and powerful lion appear, they were so scared that they retreated while howling.
Bai Yi rushed forward and bit down. This wasn’t the time to be particular. If he didn’t show his true abilities, these wolves would think he was useless!
He viciously bit down on a spotted hyena that had tried to attack him. Perhaps out of instinct to protect its cubs, he bit too hard, sinking his teeth into the hyena’s spine, and immediately sent it crashing to the ground.
He snapped the hyena’s spine.
Now, the rest of the spotted hyenas were scared away. The one that didn’t die was still trying to escape, but Bai Yi didn’t care about it. He first went to check on Jason.
Well, Jason had a large wound on his hind leg, with the fur completely missing, revealing the scarlet flesh beneath.
Bai Yi shuddered.
Jason looked at him, stood up, walked over to his side, and affectionately rubbed against him.
Bai Yi’s concern slowly faded, but he didn’t see the three little ones.
He saw Jason walk over and deliver a final bite to the spotted hyena, killing it.
Jason didn’t do anything extra. He directly ripped open the prey’s abdomen and began eating.
Maybe he was starving.
Bai Yi walked over to his side. Jason lay there eating seriously. Bai Yi let out a low growl: "Roar~"
'Where are the cubs?'
Jason glanced at him, clearly unaware of his intention.
Bai Yi circled around in place.
"Roar?"
'Had they all died?'
The prey’s blood stained the fur around Jason’s mouth. He was eating quickly, and in a moment, the prey was reduced to nothing but its spine and bones.
Jason stood up, looked at the remaining spotted hyenas watching from a distance, and let out a low growl to Bai Yi.
"Roar~" 'Follow me'
Bai Yi stood there,
Jason walked while looking back at him. Bai Yi hurriedly followed.
Jason led him for about a kilometer. Then, Bai Yi heard the familiar sound of cubs calling.
Bai Yi’s heart warmed, feeling a bit moved.
The three little ones were still alive. They hadn’t died.
The joy of their reunion made Bai Yi’s eyes sting. It was the first time he licked the three cubs.
It was as if he was saying to them, thank you for staying alive.
It had to be said, Jason was very smart. He knew how to divert the enemies and hide the cubs.
This place was very safe. They could rest here.
Jason seemed to be severely injured. He lay down and started licking his wound.
Bai Yi approached, sniffed at his wound, trying to help, but then stopped.
Jason licked his mane and showed affection.
Bai Yi sighed.
Jason was so badly injured that he definitely couldn’t go hunting for food with the cubs in the short term.
So, what should they do? The tough task now fell on Bai Yi.
The three cubs were clearly very hungry. They crawled under Bai Yi’s belly, trying to find milk.
He used his paws to push them away, thinking, how old are they to still be nursing?
However, when he pushed one away, the other two came up.
Bai Yi felt a chill on his belly. He was being treated like the mother.
A male mother.
The phrase flashed through Bai Yi’s mind.
Wasn’t he, at this moment, a legitimate male mother?
The three little ones nestled under his belly and started suckling.
Bai Yi's lion face showed a bit of confusion. The little ones were quite forceful, and the sucking actually hurt a little.
Even so, he didn’t push them away. He figured that after soothing them for a bit, he would go find food for them.
Having just experienced hunting the mottled wolves, he realized that hunting wasn’t as complicated as he had thought.
All it took was a bold and aggressive move.
Seeing the three little ones nursing from a male lion, the lion himself simply exposed his fluffy belly and lay there contentedly.
Jason stared at Bai Yi in confusion. He crouched there for a moment, then, to Bai Yi’s disbelief, slowly got up and walked toward him.
Bai Yi squinted his eyes, feeling a bit of pain.
But as Jason approached, an ominous premonition welled up inside him. He lifted his noble lion head and gave Jason a glance.
Jason lay down beside him and, unbelievably, began fumbling under Bai Yi’s belly just like the three little ones.
Bai Yi: “……”
What the hell? The little ones are still young and need their mother’s comfort, but you, what the hell are you doing at your size?
Jason nudged Bai Yi’s fluffy belly with his mouth.
Bai Yi swatted him with a paw, leaving Jason dazed.
Jason: “??”
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