Li Du’s education had led him to believe that Africa was just a bunch of dry land with water shortages everywhere.
Of course, this was true for many parts of Africa. After all, the Sahara desert was here. But beyond that, there were plenty of places with plenty of water.
Abdo found a swamp, came back, waved, and the group of people followed him.
This swamp covered a very wide area; it must have been hundreds of hectares. Water became more sparse during winter, and many parts of the swamp still had water. During spring and summer, the swamp probably swelled into a lake.
Li Du spoke his hypothesis, and the lion hunter said, “Yes, it will. In another month, when there is heavy rain, there will be a large reservoir of water here.”
There were many animals living in the swamp; not only crocodiles but pythons, big spiders, and so on lurked in the waters. They needed to be careful.
Abdo walked in front. The lion hunter warned Li Du and the others that they must follow where he stepped. One wrong step and they could get trapped in the swamp.
Brother Wolf took off his belt so that in case someone fell into the swamp, he could come to their rescue.
Li Du turned around and gave a command to Ah Meow and the other little ones. “Follow me, do you understand? Follow me where I go? Follow my footsteps?”
Ah Meow stared at him with big round eyes and nodded his head vigorously.
They didn’t actually understand what Li Du meant, but they did recognize the words “do you understand?”. They would automatically nod whenever they hear them.
Li Du stepped carefully in the marsh. This area was shaped similar to the hilly grassland as small humps of land spread out around the marsh.
After walking for a while, they saw the body of a young antelope floating in the water.
The lion hunter said, “The unfortunate creature fell into the swamp and drowned.”
“Why is the body floating if it drowned?” asked Lu Guan.
Without the lion hunter answering, Li Du said, “Quite simply, at the beginning of death, the temperature inside the body is higher than the marsh environment. The bacteria multiply quickly, and the decay accelerates from the inside to the outside.
“The bacteria produce a lot of gas, and they bring the body up gradually from the depths of the swamp. So, if you fall in, we can eventually bring your body back to the United States.”
Lu Guan carefully stepped on a stone; he glanced back at Li Du and smiled. “Ha! I won’t fall in, but your little babies are about to.”
Li Du looked back and his skull almost burst with anger.
He didn’t know if the four little ones hadn’t understood him or if they had entered a rebellious phase. They were not following Li Du.
Ah Meow walked in front of the pack. The ocelot had big paws and a light body, so the pressure he put on the ground was low.
He picked out some clean places to walk, his tail wagging, and hopped easily over the marsh without sinking.
Ali hopped along behind him. Kangaroos moved on their hind legs without putting pressure on their arms. Its feet were very large and made a large area of contact with the ground, so the pressure it created was also relatively small and it would not fall into the marsh.
Crispy Noodles was smart. He was following Ah Meow, but when Li Du turned around he quickly ran back to the trail, avoiding getting stuck in the swamp.
This left Ah Ow, who was seeking death as she ran about in the swamp. She was running happily even though her hair had become wet with mud.
Li Du growled, “Ah Ow, get back now!”
Ah Ow was startled. Afraid of being beaten, she stopped and looked warily at Li Du.
Abdo looked back and cried out in surprise. The lion hunter translated, “Get her out of there. The marsh is dangerous over there.”
The danger had already appeared. Ah Ow hadn’t been paying attention as she ran. When she stopped, her limbs gradually sank into the mire.
Mexican wolves were naturally alert and had a strong sense of danger.
Sensing that something was wrong, she started to climb quickly.
Li Du was worried and said, “Hurry up and find a way to save Ah Ow.”
He had seen on television that if a man fell into a marsh he would sink in if no one saved him.
Reality and television were not the same. Ah Ow was not so helpless. She struggled hard and pulled her legs from the mud.
The wolf did not start sinking as Li Du had imaged she would. Seeing this, he breathed a sigh of relief.
As Ah Ow struggled, some small fish and worms in the mud surfaced. A few birds were flying overhead and one with a red tail swooped down to catch worms for food.
Just as the bird reached the water, a shadow suddenly appeared under the surface; with lightning speed, it caught the bird.
A big head gradually surfaced. Its opened mouth closed at it swallow the bird—it did not chew but swallowed it whole.
The breath that Li Du had been sighing in relief suddenly got caught in his throat.
It wasn’t a crocodile that had popped its head out. Otherwise, Ah Ow would have been in for it. This creature, however, looked like a predator as well. What had emerged was a big frog!
The frog’s head was the size of a child’s head, and it crept slowly out of the swamp. It was dark brown and not much smaller than the porcupine they had met.
And because frogs are so broad, they looked bigger than porcupines.
In short, Li Du was shocked when he saw the frog. Lu Guan, who was beside him, hissed, “What monster is that? Such a big creature—could it even be called frog?”
“A giant frog!” Brother Wolf said.
Ah Ow was also surprised by the frog’s size. She stared at it. Her mouth opened slowly in shock.
By contrast, the giant frog was much calmer. It glanced at Ah Ow, shook its body calmly, and got ready to drill back down into the mud.
It had splashed a face full of mud on Ah Ow, which had made her very angry, but she did not dare to provoke the giant frog.
The lesson from provoking the porcupine still lingered painfully on her chest—who knew what type of danger this giant frog presented?
Ali’s temper was bad. When its sister Ah Ow was bullied, it felt threatened.
Its hind legs beat vigorously and it quickly approached the giant frog, suddenly smashing it with a fist.
The giant frog was thick with fat, and its flesh was thick as well. Ali’s fist didn’t do any real harm.
Still, the blow hurt, especially because Ali could punch very quickly. The straight punch made the big frog tremble.
The lion hunter was shocked. “F*ck! Your kangaroo has a bad temper!”
The frog’s big mouth was open, and its thick and long tongue suddenly stuck to Ali’s neck. It dragged Ali back and even tried to drag Ali into its mouth.
Ali staggered in the mud, unable to steady itself.
In this way, Li Du and the others were worried, but they could not go over. Animals could run in the mud, but it didn’t mean a man could!
