Chapter Three: The Bumblebee

Chapter Three: The Hornet

Jike had so many cubs that it couldn’t be bothered with just one; it figured the little one could run as it pleased. Even if Chu Ye were merely running and climbing trees here, or suddenly disappeared, it probably wouldn’t have cared much.

But one day, while Chu Ye was running, Lisa caught sight of him.

She seemed to sense that what Chu Ye was doing wasn’t quite right.

Because the weather was scorching hot, the daytime temperatures soared, and lions, with their thick fur, struggled to dissipate heat. They had to avoid overexertion; otherwise, their body temperature could rise dangerously high, threatening their lives.

This explained why lions always appeared so lazy during the day, lounging around in a lethargic manner.

It wasn’t that lions had become lazy; it was simply too hot for them to engage in vigorous activity.

So Lisa approached to stop Chu Ye, preventing him from running continuously. Chu Xiaoye understood the mother lion’s concern and behaved more obediently whenever she was around.

Of course, Chu Ye was aware of the dangers of overheating for a lion, so he carefully controlled his training intensity to avoid heatstroke.

He knew how to pace himself and wouldn’t allow his body temperature to rise dangerously.

He usually chose the cooler mornings for training and dutifully rested during the midday heat.

After two weeks of such disciplined training, Chu Ye felt a significant improvement in his stamina. His body was stronger, and his climbing skills had become exceptional.

The other lion cubs, however, had grown a little but showed little change beyond that.

Among Lisa’s cubs was a young male named Xiao Hei. This fellow was larger and taller than Chu Ye, the biggest and strongest among the ten cubs.

Perhaps because of this, he often bullied Lisa’s smaller cubs.

Especially with Chu Ye, he seemed particularly intolerant.

After all, Chu Ye was somewhat different from the others.

Chu Ye had no desire to lower himself to Xiao Hei’s level. After all, he was his cousin and showed him some respect.

But Xiao Hei gave no such courtesy to Chu Ye. He often snarled at him and sometimes even swatted him.

Chu Ye always endured quietly.

Xiao Hei took great pride in this, thinking Chu Ye was afraid of him. He constantly put on a show of dominance whenever Chu Ye was around.

One day, while the cubs were practicing jumping exercises under the watchful eye of their father, the lion king, Xiao Hei—whether intentionally or not—leapt from a height straight at Chu Ye.

Chu Ye reacted swiftly, leaping aside just in time.

Xiao Hei missed him completely and ended up crashing heavily to the ground.

Though Xiao Hei had meant to bully Chu Ye, he was furious at missing and falling so hard.

Enraged, he immediately lunged at Chu Ye, teeth bared.

Chu Ye had no wish to fight this unreasonable cub. While he believed he could probably best Xiao Hei, he wanted to use this as an opportunity to work on his escape skills.

So, when Xiao Hei tried to bite him, Chu Ye simply ran away.

Xiao Hei, displeased, gave chase.

But Chu Ye was too fast; Xiao Hei couldn’t catch him.

Still not satisfied, Xiao Hei pressed on to catch him.

Seeing Xiao Hei in pursuit, Chu Ye ran to a large tree and scampered up it nimbly.

Xiao Hei reached the base of the tree and tried to climb after him, but he had never practiced tree climbing.

Though lions are felines and naturally able to climb, the skill still required practice.

Chu Ye had been training for two weeks and could ascend the tree swiftly, like a cat.

Not only that, he could leap from branch to branch like a monkey.

Xiao Hei lacked this ability, having never climbed a tree before.

Angry that Chu Ye had escaped up the tree, Xiao Hei tried to follow but became frightened after climbing only a couple of meters and dared not go higher.

He began to retreat slowly, but clumsily slipped and fell to the ground.

Chu Ye, watching Xiao Hei fall, happily jumped about in the tree.

Xiao Hei lay on the ground, furious, howling up at Chu Ye.

Chu Ye continued to taunt him from above, leaping playfully.

Xiao Hei could only scream in frustration from below, powerless to do anything.

Just then, Lisa arrived. The night before, she and Lisa had successfully hunted, and the three adult lions were full and satisfied.

Since no more hunting was needed, Lisa came over to nurse the cubs. After all, at two months old, the lion cubs still needed milk.

Seeing their mother approach to feed them, Xiao Hei wagged his tail and went to nurse, no longer bothering Chu Ye.

Chu Ye climbed down from the tree.

After this encounter, Xiao Hei realized Chu Ye wasn’t so easy to deal with.

Yet he still acted arrogantly in front of Chu Ye, confident in his larger size and still dismissive of him.

Though Xiao Hei had failed to catch Chu Ye last time, Chu Ye had only escaped by running up the tree.

Chu Ye knew that running alone wouldn’t be enough to defeat Xiao Hei permanently. He needed to develop some powerful moves to make Xiao Hei truly fear him.

But at the moment, Chu Xiaoye hadn’t yet thought of a better plan to handle Xiao Hei.

One day, while playing in the grassland, Chu Ye suddenly spotted a long-tailed mouse in the bushes.

The mouse immediately fled upon seeing him.

This was a special African rodent—the elephant shrew.

This tiny mouse was peculiar, with a long, pointed snout and strong hind legs, making it an excellent jumper.

Elephant shrews resembled North American jumping mice, likely sharing a common ancestor.

Chu Ye wanted to test his running ability and began chasing after the mouse.

But the mouse darted into a distant thicket.

Chu Ye had initially thought to give up the chase.

Yet then he reconsidered, deciding this was a chance to practice hunting skills.

He ran toward the bushes and, without hesitation, entered the thicket to see if the mouse was still inside.

As he pushed into the foliage, he suddenly saw a huge beehive, covered with yellow-bodied hornets.

At the sight of these hornets, all the fur on Chu Ye’s body stood on end, and his mind boiled down to two words: flee—run!