Chapter 47: The Embarrassed Father

  Lin Bei made a discovery this time when he went downstream of the small river. First, Lin Bei discovered the tracks of large wild beasts.

  What is referred to as a large wild beast refers to beasts such as tigers and bears. The one discovered by Lin Bei is even bigger than these two, combined with the Asian elephant he saw a few days ago, he has every reason to believe that an elephant herd had passed through here not long ago.

  The activity range of elephants is generally grasslands or wastelands, and in fact they have a very low activity rate in forests. This is because the forest is too dangerous for them. If they encounter hungry wolf packs or dhole packs, they may also be attacked. Moreover, it's easy for them to get lost in the forest, leading to separation from their herd. A lone elephant that has become separated in the forest is still quite dangerous.

  But now the outside has been occupied by humans, and in ancient times there was no saying of protecting animals, so they would kill beasts at sight, so the elephant group had no way out and could only venture into the forest.

  "Judging from these large footprints, the number of elephants is estimated to be over ten. It's unclear whether it's one or two herds, and maybe there's a herd that was seen before in Asia, but because they occupied the upstream area, the elephant herds can only make a long journey to come downstream to drink water. In this case, within a very wide range, it is estimated that there really are no water sources."

  In the forest, only the strongest beasts can occupy the best land, and the rest of the relatively gentle and not-so-powerful beasts will retreat. Elephants, despite their massive size, are not good at fighting and will avoid the north of the forest, which is understandable. Haven't you seen that even wild boars don't dare to wander in the north of the forest now? Because they instinctively feel extreme danger there, although the north doesn't mean to kill all the wild boars.

  "If there's a chance, let these elephants live well, best to allocate an area for them." Lin Bei murmured: "Also, maybe we can make elephants and humans coexist peacefully."

  Later generations of Asian elephants have become quite rare, and the vast majority were killed by humans, all for the elephant's ivory, which is a symbol of the elephant's guilt, and it was precisely because of the ivory that the hunt continued unabated.

  But if the elephant were to integrate into human society, just like a draft ox, then Lin Bei would know that in ancient times there was indeed the concept of "yì xiàng" (役象), as it is well-known that King Zhou of Shang rode an elephant to attack the Dongyi tribe, and Meng Huo's mount was also an elephant, possibly even a mammoth.

  Elephants are actually more formidable than oxen, as they have larger bodies and greater strength, making them a viable replacement for oxen. If they could be integrated into human society, elephants would not only avoid being killed by humans but would also receive strong protection from humans, just like ancient people protected their oxen; in ancient times, killing an ox was often considered a serious crime punishable by death.

  Lin Beixin had already formed a plan in his heart, and he just waited for the people from Xishan Township to come over and trade with him before putting it into action.

  Apart from the elephant's footprints, Lin Bei also brought back over a dozen eggs, which were found in a muddy sandy beach. When Lin Bei arrived there, it was like a car accident scene, with traces of various wild beasts trampling everywhere, and countless broken eggshells scattered on the mud and sand. Seeing this situation, Lin Bei immediately thought that this should be the spawning ground for turtles, but now the spawning ground has been destroyed by wild beasts.

  After a careful search for a long time, Lin Bei finally found the scattered turtle eggs in various corners of the muddy beach. If he had gone later, these eggs would have been destroyed. Of course, Lin Bei wouldn't let that happen, so he collected them and took them back to incubate.

  Lin Bei's plan at this time was to raise a batch of turtles, so that he could make turtle soup later and satisfy his own desires, but he didn't think that these turtle eggs would bring him surprises in the future.

  Lin Beiguo also went to the lower reaches of the small river and took a look, finding that the small river finally flowed into a cave. The cave was not big, and Lin Beiguo did not go in, but he guessed that there must be another entrance inside, and the water of the small river might re-enter the underground and form a spring eye elsewhere, or flow freely at the bottom of the earth from then on.

  After finishing the small river, Lin Bei hurried back. As soon as he returned to Longtan, Lin Bei heard a mournful cry. The cry was very faint, and after listening carefully for a while, his face changed. How did it sound like the cry of a jackal? Could it be that mother jackal?

  He took a glance at Diu Diu, Qi Qi and the snake eggs on the wooden house, they didn't suffer any attack from outsiders. Lin Bei put down the turtle eggs first, then re-entered the forest, heading straight for the mother jackal's den.

  This time, Lin Bei had already smelled the bloody smell in the air from a distance, very strong, and the cries were getting clearer and clearer. This was indeed the cry of a jackal, but it was just a newborn jackal, because its mother, that is, the female jackal, had already died.

  The mother jackal does not know what animal was injured, the body has been torn apart, the blood is dry, and the body is already stiff. The six small jackals feel that their mother has passed away, so they make a cry to mourn. In addition, it is also possible that they are hungry, the mother jackal can no longer provide them with milk.

  Lin Bei had a bit of a temper, but he left his mark around the mother jackal. Which animal dared to invade his territory and kill the mother jackal? But now was not the time to worry about such things, six little jackals were crying out for milk.

  The little foxes have opened their eyes, so it's no longer possible to let them recognize Lin Bei as their mother. However, due to Lin Bei's personality, he still has to raise the little foxes. Who made him have a special love for small things? Lin Bei sighed and came to this world not long ago. He had already become the foster father of many kinds of animals. And according to his personality, the number of adopted animals would only increase in the future, because what the forest lacked the least was these little animals that lost their mothers.

  Lin Bei arrived at the tree hole, and although Xiaochi was only one day old, she still felt fear descending, but they were too small to do anything, and could only cling tightly to their mother's already cold corpse, hoping that their mother could give them warmth.

  "It's lucky for you that I met you." Lin Bei sighed, carefully wrapped the six small jackals in leaves, and then gently tied them with vines. He slowly took them back, being extremely careful not to hurt these little guys. As for the mother jackal, Lin Bei glanced at it but didn't bother with it. Nature has its own laws, the mother jackal would become food for other animals, just like the animals it had eaten when it was alive. This is its fate.

  After bringing the little fox back, Lin Bei used a piece of cloth to make a nest for these little guys. They kept crying non-stop, partly because they were sad and partly because they were too hungry. Since they couldn't express their thoughts in any other way, all they could do was cry. Lin Bei was getting a headache from this. These little guys didn't have teeth yet, so what they needed now was milk. But where would Lin Bei find milk? Lin Bei didn't have breasts...

  Being a single dad is quite tough.