“Is that a wolf howl!?”
Inside the tent, Taozi picked up her small knife and listened with her ears perked up.
Lu Hao furrowed his brows and said softly, “Judging by the sound, it shouldn’t be a wolf howl. It could be a sand fox or a spotted hyena. If it’s the former, then we don’t need to worry.”
Although sand foxes are carnivorous wild animals, they only attack small to medium-sized animals, such as hares and gerbils, and generally pose no threat to humans.
But spotted hyenas are different. As the African “second brother,” they even dare to provoke lions, often going for the “rear end attack,” and they hunt in packs, posing a significant threat to humans.
“Shhh, don’t make a sound. I’ll go out and take a look.”
“I’ll go with you.”
The two of them stealthily emerged from the tent and crouched behind a sand dune.
The two camels tied to the palm tree seemed to sense some danger, and they kept neighing, digging with their hooves, and pulling on the rope, as if they wanted to escape from there.
Lu Hao took out his loaded pistol, ready to enter hunting mode at any moment.
Only one-quarter of the Sahara Desert is sand. The rest of the area is covered with a vast array of flora and fauna. They had just entered the desert, and there were still many bushes and weeds around them, so it wasn’t surprising to see wild animals.
“Lu Hao, the wild animal seems to have gone.”
Time slowly passed, and no more roars were heard. Under the night sky, everything seemed to return to its original tranquility.
But Lu Hao knew this was just the calm before the storm. As a top desert expert, he knew what the previous roar meant. He whispered, “Taozi, don’t let your guard down. The animal is probably still lurking nearby.”
He explained, “In the natural world, wild animals usually howl to transmit signals. For example, carnivores will howl loudly to summon their companions after they discover prey, and they will jointly hunt the prey.”
“So, don’t think that just because the sounds have stopped it means it’s safe. They may be gathering from all directions.”
“We must be careful at this time, lest we be ambushed by wild animals and become their feast.”
After Lu Hao’s explanation, Taozi immediately became nervous. She clutched her small knife tightly and scanned the area with wide eyes.
Under the night sky, the entire Sahara Desert turned a deep blue, like an ocean on the desert, full of mystery and eerily quiet.
You couldn’t imagine what might suddenly emerge from the bushes, from behind the sand dunes, the next second.
Awoooo!
At that moment, another beast roar sounded, exactly like the previous roar.
The difference was that this roar was closer to them.
“Taozi, you stay behind me later.”
Lu Hao sensed the animal approaching. His face turned cold, and he held his gun in one hand and his military knife in the other, his eyes searching for information about the beast.
Awoooo! Awoooo!
Only a moment later, several more hoarse roars rang out in succession, echoing each other, as if a team was communicating.
Lu Hao’s eyes narrowed, and he quickly judged in his heart that this was a pack of animals, and they were in front of their camp. Judging by the sound of the roars, there were at least eight beasts or more.
And…
“Taozi, it’s a pack of spotted hyenas on the hunt. They will cooperate as a group. You need to be careful later.”
The roar was too far away before, and he couldn’t hear it clearly. Now that it was closer, he recognized the roar of a spotted hyena with just one listen.
He explained to Taozi, “On the African continent, spotted hyenas are the carnivores with the most vocalizations in the animal kingdom. They love to communicate with their teams, and they have as many as twenty different vocalizations.”
“Each of their vocalizations represents a different meaning. And these hyenas are brave. As long as there are more than three of them, they even dare to face off against a lone lion. In other words, four spotted hyenas have the attacking power of one African lion.”
Taozi was amazed. “Lu Hao, you really know a lot.” Compared to Lu Hao’s knowledge about the Sahara Desert, she suddenly realized that she, an explorer who had been deep into the desert many times, was like a novice.
As the roars continued to sound, the two camels tied to the palm tree lay directly on the ground, too scared to move.
“Lu Hao, look.”
Taozi suddenly pointed ahead. Lu Hao narrowed his eyes and saw a blurry figure appear suddenly about thirty meters ahead.
Most importantly, this figure was getting bigger and bigger in their eyes, indicating that this black shadow was rapidly rushing towards them.
Lu Hao tightened his grip on the gun, loaded it, and aimed.
Two seconds later, he finally saw the appearance of the shadow. It wasn’t a spotted hyena, but a Dorcas gazelle, running towards their camp limping like a frightened wild animal.
Obviously, this gazelle was the real target of the hyena pack.
“Taozi, we can have an extra meal this time.”
Seeing the injured gazelle running towards them, Lu Hao chuckled. This gazelle charging at them was like a sheep entering a tiger’s mouth.
“Lu Hao, the hyena pack is here.”
Behind the gazelle, a group of snarling hyenas appeared. They surrounded the gazelle in a crescent formation, charging from all directions. Their team kept moving towards the center, wanting to block this poor gazelle.
Only the hyena pack in the entire African continent could have such a scientific siege method.
The gazelle staggered into their camp. Lu Hao, how could he miss this food delivered to his doorstep? He flipped over, pinned the gazelle down, and with a flick of his wrist, he plunged the knife into the gazelle’s neck. Immediately, a large amount of blood splattered out.
Awoooo!
While Lu Hao was dealing with the gazelle, the hyena pack had already rushed over.
Lu Hao pulled the military knife out of the gazelle’s body, tossed the gazelle’s carcass aside, then stood up and raised his hand to fire.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Thanks to the Grandmaster-level marksmanship granted by the system, Lu Hao, like a marksman, transformed into a desert butcher. The bullets shot from his pistol were like the Grim Reaper’s scythe, reaping the lives of the spotted hyenas.
Watching the spotted hyenas fall one after another on their charge path, Taozi was dumbfounded. Lu Hao’s shots were all accurate. His marksmanship was like something out of a movie.
Click! Click!
Lu Hao emptied his magazine, then quickly reloaded it.
The hyena pack, intimidated by the massive deaths and the strong smell emanating from around the camp, feared to advance. They were unwilling to give up the prey that was almost within their grasp.
So, they could only circle around the camp, constantly probing.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lu Hao reloaded, drew his gun, and started a new round of killing.
Awoooo!
In just two minutes, the hyena pack left more than ten corpses on the spot. Seeing this situation, the hyena queen quickly used a roar to inform the remaining members to retreat.
If they stayed any longer, she would be left as a bare commander.