957 Notorious

Li Du used to watch TV when he was very young. The central channel had a flagship

program called The Animal World.

The program used to accompany much of post-80s' and post-90s' childhood and

adolescence, and produced a popular joke to relating to the post-90s. The humor is in

the opening words: spring is coming, everything recovers, the prairie is approaching the

mating season of the animals.

The program often focused on Africa as the host country. On TV, it seemed that Africa

was full of animals.

It did not look this way now, however, probably because it was the winter season. They

drove through the grassland for an hour, far away from the tribe, and still did not see

any wild animals.

As they drove, they did meet some rabbits and birds, but the lion hunter scorned

hunting small animals. He wanted to take Li Du to hunt lions and leopards and so on.

After driving for an hour, Lu Guan could not stand it anymore. "How can it be that we

didn't come across any big beast yet? Isn't this unusual?"

The lion hunter said, "No, it's normal. We haven't entered the hunting grounds yet."

There were hunting grounds throughout South Africa, which were actually called game

reserves. This was where rich people could hunt wild animals.

Outside the protected areas, hunters had killed most of the wild animals. After all, South

Africa had a large population, and people drew upon the resources of the wild to

survive.

In the morning, the sun was hanging in the sky, scorching the earth.

Li Du did not feel the breath of winter at all as the sun shone down upon him. Soon his

skin felt very hot and painful.

Because of the season, he didn't put on sunscreen before going out.

After a few more minutes of driving north, a small oasis appeared, which was different

from the places they have seen on the way. There were many green weeds and shrubs

growing there, surrounding the source of a river.

Around the little oasis, there were buildings and soldiers on duty walked around with

guns on their backs.

The lion hunter took off his sunglasses and said, "OK, we are going to enter the hunting

area. I will buy a ticket. Remember, keep a low profile here. Don't get into fights with

anyone!"

Li Du would have known that even without a warning from the lion hunter. There were

many people there waiting to enter the hunting area, and they had guns. It would be a

gunfight if there were any conflict

There were wild animals living throughout the oasis, especially around the river. There

was even a pride of lions.

Ah Meow, Ah Ow and the others became frightened when they saw the lion pride. The

difference in size made them understand the difference in fighting ability between the

two sides. In addition, it was written their genes to fear of facing large beasts, which

could not be reasoned away. However, Ali was an exception. It has been following

Brother Wolf to learn boxing, and entered the growth period. It was now getting bigger

day by day and was full of confidence in its own fighting ability. It was not afraid of

anything.

Ah Ow, Ah Meow and Crispy Noodles leaned over the window to watch the lions, while

Ali jumped down and followed Li Du and the others to the front.

A male lion was resting next to the river with its tail swaying from side to side, and three

or four small cubs were playing with its tail, catching and biting it time after time.

One of the lion cubs must have played too roughly, and its bite might have hurt the adult

lion. The big male hit it with its paw, and the little lion rolled away, whining in pain.

Li Du asked curiously, "Isn't it dangerous that the lions are so close to people?"

Lilikas could understand English but did not speak it fluently. "Domesticated, well,

they're fed, well, they don't attack."

Listening to his halting explanation, Li Du thought he understood what was going on.

The wild animals near the oasis must have been screened and set aside by the reserve.

They would be fed until they were full. As long as no one bothered them, they would not

bother people.

Leaving them behind was a publicity stunt for the reserve. After all, it was a hunting

ground for the rich, and these beasts were for the rich to see.

The river was home to the famous African hippopotamus. The giant animals would

occasionally climb out of the river and frighten the young lions into running.

The hippopotamus was a more terrible beast than lions if disturbed, but most of the time

they were relatively gentle. Li Du knew this, so he did not mind being close to the

hippopotamus.

He was looking around when Sophie suddenly exclaimed, "God, Ali, come back!"

Li Du looked and was shocked to see that Ali had run over and was now near to the

hippopotamus.

Ali jumped up and looked curiously at the hippo.

This was probably the first time for the hippopotamus to encounter a kangaroo. It

seemed very curious as well as it looked down at Ali, and did not show a defensive

posture.

Ali was a troublemaker. One would not know what was on its mind. Maybe because the

hippopotamus looked at it, it suddenly got angry. It jumped to the side of the

hippopotamus and gave it a punch.

This was a lesson learned from boxing training: do not attack from the front but from the

side.

Upon seeing this, the tourists got excited, and someone laughed, "Haha, brave

kangaroo!"

Others wondered, "How can there be kangaroos in Africa?"

"The little fellow is brave, well done," cheered another tourist.

The hippo took the blow but did not seem angered. It looked back at Ali and walked

slowly, its legs as big as pillars.

To the hippo, Ali's little fist was no more than the touch of grass brushing against its

side., Even the touch of the oasis caretaker washing the hippos' skin was more powerful

than the little kangaroo's punch.

However, Li Du was startled and said angrily, "Ali, come back at once!"

If Ali angered the hippopotamus, the consequences could be fatal. The hippopotamus

could gain speed very quickly, and its weight was a few tons. It could finish Ali off in a

moment.

Ali was rebellious. It didn't come back but kept showing off in an ostentatious manner.

When the hippopotamus looked back at it, Ali was actually startled. After all, the

hippo had a huge head and big eyes, each eye almost the size of Ali's head.

Kangaroos could not retreat. They could only move forward, because of their body

structure.

When the hippo turned back, Ali moved neither forward nor back. He was stunned.

When it saw that the hippopotamus did not attack, it became bold and ruthless. It

chased the hippopotamus and gave it a punch on the hip. Ali's internal monolog was,

How dare you scare me. Taste my fist!

Hippos had thick skin on their hips. Their only weakness was their rear. Hyenas would

attack them from the rear position.

Usually, the hippos would use their tail to protect their rear. Ali could not touch that body

part, so the hippopotamus did not care about its attack, and continued walking forward

leisurely.

Ali jumped after the hippo and kept beating it like a drum.

Li Du was mad with anger at this reckless act, but he did not dare to come forward,

afraid that he would make the hippopotamus angry. The hippopotamus might not care

about a kangaroo, because it felt no threat, but they would pay more attention to a

human.

There were signs all over the oasis that said, No unauthorized access to any wild

animals!