Chapter 295: Gelumiti River

Seeing Dahuang start eating, Qin Yun began building a fire.

“This is the gluteus maximus of the blackbuck—the fattest cut, with even fat distribution, ideal for preservation; I plan to store it as emergency rations. Today we’ll eat the rib and chest meat and the loin, which are the most tender and best for immediate consumption, not suited for long storage.”

As he spoke, he sliced another piece of shoulder meat from the front leg and placed it before Dahuang.

“Master Qin, how much does a lion eat in one meal?”

“With a lion’s size, this one blackbuck isn’t enough to feed it.”

“Even if I tried to raise one, I couldn’t afford it—I can’t even feed myself properly.”

Seeing the comments, Qin Yun, while roasting the loin, said: “An adult male lion needs about eight kilograms of fresh meat daily, but it can consume over twenty kilograms in one meal, then go three to five days without hunting again.”

After speaking, he pointed at the blackbuck meat and shook his head: “A sixty-kilogram blackbuck yields only about half its weight in net meat. After accounting for my share and the next two days’ rations, there’s barely enough left for Dahuang’s single meal.”

“Dahuang did a great job this time—I won’t be stingy. I’ll make sure it eats its fill. Besides, it’s still injured and needs proper nutrition.”

The loin meat roasted quickly, soon filling the air with aroma.

Qin Yun didn’t care about the heat—he swallowed it in a few bites. In this vast, endless grassland, a human and a lion shared the blackbuck, the scene remarkably harmonious.

“Damn, even a lion raised from birth isn’t as docile as Dahuang, right?”

“Impossible. Lions are inherently wild.”

“Then what’s going on with Master Qin? Dahuang was only encountered a few days ago.”

“Could Dahuang see Qin Yun as the alpha? Wait, no—the lion king.”

“Possible.”

“The grassland follows survival of the fittest. Master Qin is strong enough—Dahuang has seen it, and knows its place.”

Not only were netizens puzzled; Qin Yun himself felt surprised.

Mainly because Dahuang behaved too intelligently. Even if Qin Yun had intimidated it with force, the creature’s demeanor didn’t resemble that of a submissive wild animal. The ability to interact, to understand his commands—that wasn’t something an ordinary lion could achieve.

Still, he could only attribute it to a genetic mutation in Dahuang.

Isn’t that a good thing?

One devoured the bloody meat with primal ferocity; the other gorged greedily, like a glutton. From the moment Qin Yun began butchering the blackbuck, gifts in the livestream never stopped. Roughly estimated, in just one hour, Qin Yun earned over a million from gift splits.

This ability to draw money made every self-media blogger’s eyes turn green.

Everyone wanted to be Master Qin, but there was only one Qin Yun. To reach his level seemed nearly impossible.

“Since I started following Master Qin last year, I did a quick count of his skills—it’s terrifyingly extensive.”

“No need to count—I can list them off easily. This isn’t something an ordinary person could do.”

“Maybe he’s just a genius. As Professor Qian said, there are fifteen-year-olds who still don’t know calculus. I’m twenty-three, about to graduate college, and I still don’t.”

“Hahaha, sometimes the gap between people is wider than the gap between a person and a dog.”

“True, but Master Qin is just insane. Most people use all their energy just learning one language, yet he masters at least five, plus plays multiple instruments. I asked around—his musical skill is top-tier. And that’s not even counting his body—he’s inhuman, damn...”

“Stop. If you keep going, it’ll sound like Master Qin isn’t even human anymore.”

Qin Yun stared at the comment section, a vein throbbing on his temple.

“Come on, you guys are ridiculous. I’ve lived thirty years, read books daily, do push-ups, know a few languages and instruments, and happen to be in decent shape—what’s so special? I know a friend who’s even better than me.”

Hearing this, netizens perked up—someone better than Master Qin? They had to know.

“Who? Tell us!”

“Curious—is there someone even stronger than you?”

“I know there’s always someone greater, but you’re not even human.”

Qin Yun swallowed the meat in his mouth and said seriously: “Three years ago, my friend was just a cubicle drone. Then he decided to change—he did 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and ran ten kilometers every single day, ate regular meals, never used air conditioning in summer or winter, trained his willpower. Now, after three years, he can punch me to death with one hit.”

“Pfft… damn, I was actually listening.”

“Wait, that sounds familiar.”

“Master Qin, is your friend named Goku?”

“I thought so—he doesn’t just kill you with one punch, he could blow up the moon.”

“Damn, that’s insane.”

Qin Yun burst into laughter, his spirits soaring.

As they chatted and joked, night fell. With Dahuang around, he didn’t worry about wild animals attacking at night. The only real threat was hyenas—natural enemies—but after the afternoon’s slaughter, the scent of their corpses nearby would surely scare off the pack.

Beyond that, Qin Yun had no reason to fear any other animal daring to attack them.

Still, to be safe, he lit several fires around the rocks. Though fires could attract predators at night—like leopards, who weren’t afraid of fire at all.

After finishing all preparations, Qin Yun leaned against the rock, with Dahuang lying beside him, chatting idly with his livestream fans.

…

After climbing the final slope, Qin Yun stopped.

The man and the lion now stood on a river terrace several meters above the water’s surface, the entire Gelumiti River valley laid bare before them.

In August’s dry season, this was the life-or-death chokepoint of the Serengeti’s western corridor.

The once monotonous, withered yellow grassland here transformed completely.

Murky water wound across, narrow but impossibly deep; every so often, a Nile crocodile surfaced like a black reef, its eyes chilling to behold.

The acacias and shrubs along both banks were lush and green, a stark contrast to the scorched grassland they’d left behind—here, life pulsed everywhere.

But all that was minor. What truly stunned Qin Yun was the overwhelming ‘herd tide.’

Along the way, he’d seen migrating wildebeest, zebra, and gazelle herds—but this sight stretched from the riverbank to the distant horizon, countless wildebeest, zebra, gazelle, and blackbuck packed so tightly they formed an unbroken sea, stretching beyond sight.

Roars, trampling, churning water—all merged into a thunderous roar, as if the heavens and earth trembled.

“Damn, if Gelumiti River is like this, what’s Malahe like?”

“Life. This is life.”

“Amazing!”

“Overwhelming. Absolutely overwhelming.”

Herd after herd of wildebeest charged into the water. On the banks, hyenas prowled in small groups, hunting the injured, the lone, the weak; jackals huddled in thickets, waiting for scraps; a lion pride lay lazily, their manes stirring in the wind; high above, flocks of vultures circled in dark clouds, waiting for death to appear on the ground.

“Truly overwhelming,” Qin Yun exhaled, “No gentle scenery here—only the most primal, brutal, grandest cycle of the wild. The path to life lies here, the path to death lies here—it’s a meat grinder.”

In just that short while, countless wildebeest, zebra, and gazelle had perished—dragged under by crocodiles, torn apart by hyenas—but none of it halted the migration’s relentless advance across the river.

“Master Qin, since this is a river, will they stay here?”

Qin Yun shook his head: “No. Only a few will remain; the rest will head north without fail, straight toward Malahe, eventually reaching Kenya’s Maasai Mara grassland, because this place can’t sustain so many. Gelumiti River is the first life-or-death checkpoint of the migration; Malahe is the second—and the deadliest—hence called the ‘Passage to Heaven.’”

As he spoke, his gaze fell on the lion pride by the riverbank. The male lion’s eyes had already swept over them, noticing Qin Yun and Dahuang—but since they weren’t on the same bank, there was no immediate threat.

“Friends, after five days of trekking, I’ve finally reached the western corridor. From here, I’ll head toward the Malahe border. The distance won’t differ much from the previous two legs—I estimate another four or five days.”

“Don’t be fooled by the lush greenery here—just twenty kilometers northeast, you’ll hit another hundred kilometers of barren, dry savanna.”

………………

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