Chapter 648 - 3: Struggle for Survival
The Cave Hyena pack is closing in step by step.
The darkness of the savanna does not hinder Chen Zhou’s gaze. The hyenas’ short, stout muzzles, large heads, eyes gleaming in the night, and ears with rounded arcs are clearly visible.
Their bodies are exceptionally robust, with shoulders higher than their haunches, giving an overall appearance of being top-heavy. Although somewhat lean, their developed muscles can be seen under their fur, making them appear powerful as they advance in small steps.
At the forefront is a female Cave Hyena. Despite the night not being hot on the savanna, her mouth is slightly open, revealing sharp teeth, with a string of saliva hanging from the edge of her dark lips.
Not far away, Chen Zhou can even smell the stench of rotting meat from her mouth, indicating that they are very hungry.
...
Paul hurriedly broke several large branches from the tree beside the campfire. After adding them to the fire, despite the rising heavy smoke, the flames grew more vigorous due to the burning resin.
"How much further?"
Paul asked as he untied his shoelaces and opened the folding Military Saber, tying it to the top of a long stick.
Chen Zhou did not answer, as the Cave Hyena pack was already close enough. At a distance of over twenty meters, they stopped, silently dispersing as they watched the bright campfire and the two humans beside it from afar.
Whoosh~
The Wooden Spear in Chen Zhou’s hand swung in a sharp arc as he slightly bent down, staring straight at the "Queen" of the hyena pack, gripping the Wooden Spear tightly, and taking a deliberate step forward.
Roar!
A low growl erupted from the thick throat of the Cave Hyena, clearly unable to tolerate such provocation from a human.
With a command from the "Queen," the hyenas lingering on the edge of the forest and grassland began advancing in unison, and if not for their fear of the flames, they would have pounced long ago.
...
As the hyenas drew closer, Chen Zhou remained calm—
Extreme sports had endowed him with a strong nervous system and a big heart. In life-and-death situations, panic not only fails to help one escape danger but brings even greater trouble and risk.
The journey to Africa gave him some understanding of the African Spotted Hyena.
The "language" within the hyena pack is very rich. During hunts, the Hyena Queen usually does not engage in combat but commands from the rear.
Their bite force is astonishing, but their explosive power is not as great as that of felines.
Unlike big cats, who seek a quick battle, hyenas prefer to rely on their endurance advantage to chase prey, applying enough pressure and a sense of crisis to make the old, weak, sick, and wounded fall behind before encircling and intercepting the prey to kill it.
Hyenas have robust bodies, but insufficient shoulder height, and short hind legs limit their jumping ability.
Their canines are different from those of felines. To enhance their bite force and bone-processing ability, they have evolved larger teeth and conical premolars, at the cost of losing the ability to kill prey by piercing the throat with canines.
Therefore, hyenas prefer to bite at the thighs, haunches, and abdomen during hunts, draining the prey’s stamina and inflicting more wounds.
In this process, continuous attacks drive the prey to keep fleeing, increasing blood loss. Once the prey is too exhausted to resist, the hyenas can easily finish it off.
Based on the hunting patterns of the African Spotted Hyena, Chen Zhou judged that the Cave Hyena pack was currently in the stage of intimidating their prey.
Prehistoric humans competed fiercely with Cave Hyenas. While hyenas often killed humans, the ferocious upright apes were no pushovers either. In the millennia-long cave territorial wars, prehistoric humans eventually triumphed, leading to the Cave Hyena’s extinction on the northern continent.
As long-standing adversaries of hyenas, humans have often taught them a lesson.
Even though they now faced only two humans, the campfire burning brightly around them and their tall bodies posed a sufficient threat to the Cave Hyena pack.
The Cave Hyena Queen would not recklessly command a charge. Out of respect for humans and innate cunning, she preferred to test first, then skillfully use tactics to kill her prey—
The savanna grows colder, and smaller prey are gradually migrating south.
To secure enough food, they must confront the ferocious Cave Bear and Cave Lion, or take the risk of hunting the strong, large Hairy Rhinoceros.
With the harsh winter approaching, she must preserve the remaining strength of the hyena pack, avoiding the loss of hunters in the hunt to ensure the continuation of the pack.
...
As he continued forward, Chen Zhou carefully observed the Cave Hyenas’ physiques and postures, capturing the sound of their heartbeat and breathing rhythm.
Due to the Cave Hyenas being larger than the African Spotted Hyenas, using the latter’s attack methods inappropriately for Cave Hyenas is not suitable.
The higher front shoulders bestowed the Cave Hyenas with a throat-locking ability. Once they attack, he must not only watch his lower body but also constantly guard against attacks to his throat and shoulders.
With the hyena pack evidently in a probing stage, he must attempt to take the initiative and inflict casualties on the hyenas, possibly forcing the Hyena Queen to abandon their hunt—
Animals have their own calculations. If the risk far outweighs the benefits, they will wisely choose to give up if they have other options.
Cave Hyenas, being social hunting animals, particularly understand this concept of balance; otherwise, they would have been eliminated by nature long ago.
With his acute senses, Chen Zhou was granted extraordinary observation skills. He surveyed his surroundings and quickly selected the "chicken" for killing to warn the pack.