Chapter 53 Wronging the Wild Dog

Chapter 53: Wronging the Wild Dogs

Chu Ye thought to himself as he ran behind a large tree, hoping to catch the jumping hare in one swift move.

However, when Chu Ye reached the back of the tree, he was shocked to find that there was no trace of the hare behind it. Not only was the hare gone, but there were no other small animals either.

"Hey! What is going on? Where did that jumping hare go?" Chu Ye stood there, observing carefully, trying to figure out where the creature had vanished.

After looking around for a moment, he suddenly spotted a circular opening on a small mound not far away, roughly the same size as the hare's body.

Chu Ye hurried over to the opening and poked his nose inside to sniff. Immediately, he caught the scent of the hare.

"Damn it, it actually ran back into its burrow! No wonder I couldn't see you."

Now Chu Ye knew where the hare had gone. As it turned out, it had retreated into its own underground home.

"The hare has returned to its den; what can a lion do to me?"

Seeing that the hare had burrowed inside, Chu Ye had no choice but to give up on the chase. After all, his body was somewhat larger than the hare's, making it impossible for him to squeeze into the hole to catch it.

"Fine, I'll let you off today. Just don't let me see you again. If I ever lay eyes on you again, I'll definitely eat you." Since the rabbit had gone home, Chu Ye had no option but to let the matter drop.

"Everyone goes back to their own home, everyone looks for their own mother. I guess I'll go home and find my mother too!"

Since the rabbit had returned to its dwelling, Chu Ye felt the urge to head back home as well.

Just then, however, he suddenly heard a strange cry.

"Awoo—!"

Chu Ye abruptly heard the call of a lion cub.

"What's going on? Why is there a lion cub here? Could it be that another cub from our pride also slipped out to play?"

Chu Ye wondered if a cub from his own pride had ventured out for some fun. After all, all lion cubs loved playing outside.

However, when Chu Ye looked around in all directions, he saw no sign of any other lion cub. He was the only cub present.

"Huh? There are no other cubs here! Why did I hear a cub crying?" Chu Ye gazed about, spotting no one.

"Maybe I'm hallucinating, mistaking the cry of some other animal for a lion cub's call." With that thought, Chu Ye prepared to leave.

Yet, no sooner had he taken a few steps than he heard the cub's cry once more.

"Awoo—!"

This time, Chu Ye heard it very clearly; it was undoubtedly the cry of a lion cub. Moreover, he could now sense that the sound was coming from directly above him.

Chu Ye raised his head and was so startled that his eyes widened instantly.

"What the hell? Why is there a lion cub up this big tree?"

To his astonishment, standing on the lowest branch of the large tree was a lion cub, crying out directly at him!

"How can this cub climb trees? Around here, I'm supposed to be the only cub who can climb trees. How come another tree-climbing cub has appeared now?"

At first, Chu Ye found it hard to comprehend. Up until now, he had believed that he was the only special cub capable of climbing, while all other cubs were completely helpless in that regard.

Yet today, Chu Ye was witnessing another cub that could climb. How could he not feel utterly bewildered?

"Could there be another lion pride around here?"

The thought made Chu Ye feel somewhat tense. After all, this location was very close to his own pride's territory—only a few hundred meters away. If another pride had established itself nearby, a territorial conflict would be inevitable.

Thinking this, Chu Ye looked around once more. Still, he could only see this single cub, with no other cubs or adult lions in sight.

"That's strange. Is this cub the only member of its pride?" Chu Ye pondered the question back and forth.

"Awoo—!"

Just as he was pondering, the cub in the tree let out another cry. Afterward, it seemed as though it wanted to climb down from the tree.

However, it merely stood on the lowest branch, poking its head outward, seemingly too frightened to actually descend.

Earlier, Chu Ye had only managed to spot a cub on the lowest branch without seeing its full appearance, knowing only that something was up there.

Because the cub had been standing right on the lowest fork of the tree, and Chu Ye was down on the ground, his view of the animal had inevitably been blocked by the thick branches, preventing him from seeing the cub's overall appearance.

Now that the cub wanted to come down, it leaned its body forward, allowing Chu Ye to finally see its features clearly.

The moment he looked, Chu Ye felt the fur on his head stand on end.

"What the hell, what the hell, what the hell..."

Chu Ye simply could not believe his eyes. The cub standing in the tree was none other than Maomao, the very cub their pride had lost a few days ago!

"How—how is this possible? Didn't Maomao get eaten by wild dogs long ago?! How—how can it be up this tree?"

Chu Ye was utterly astonished, for he was looking right at Maomao, who had been missing for a full week. It was truly unbelievable.

As it turned out, the entire Jike pride had assumed that Maomao had been snatched and devoured by wild dogs. After all, during the dry season, losing a few cubs was the most normal thing in the world for a lion pride. When such things happened, not to mention male lions, even the lionesses themselves wouldn't pay it too much mind.

When Lisa lost Maomao previously, she hadn't shown any extreme distress. She had merely searched the bushes for a bit, and upon realizing she couldn't find him, she stopped looking and simply went back to nursing the other cubs.

Aisha was the same; even though she had lost two cubs, she continued living her life as usual, refusing to let the loss weigh her down to the point of neglecting everything else.

"Damn, so Maomao was right here all along! He wasn't snatched by wild dogs at all!"

"Oh holy crap, wild dog brothers, I am so sorry. I wronged you and even killed one of your little pups."

Now Chu Ye realized that the badass deed he had committed earlier was actually a wrongful killing of the innocent. Those wild dogs hadn't been the culprits who hunted the lion cub after all, yet he had mistaken them for the killers and slaughtered one of their pups.

Chu Ye felt a twinge of regret for what he had done previously, but the deed was already done—what more could he do? Besides, those wild dogs had ambushed their pride before anyway!