Chapter 966 Hadza (1/2)
The African grasslands were as wide as the sea. In Li Du's eyes, the grasslands in this
season of the year appeared the same no matter where he looked. If he were alone, he
would have lost his way.
Fortunately, it was not necessary for him to know the terrain. Abdo was leading the way.
He was a human GPS of the prairie and remembered every path.
However, no man is perfect, and sometimes Abdo would lead them astray. Then they
would have to stop for a while to wait, while Abdo wandered around looking for the way
back.
After walking for some time, Li Du saw a lush forest of a kind rarely seen on the
grasslands, and asked the lion hunter, ”Are we going the wrong way again?”
The lion hunter took a puff on his cigar and went to talk to Abdo. When he returned, he
shook his head and said, ”We are not lost. Abdo wants to find something here.”
The forest covered quite a large area, hundreds of hectares from the look of it. Li Du
and the others failed to recognize most of the trees growing in the area. They were very
tall, and still had green and yellow leaves despite the season.
There were fallen leaves on the ground. They had just gone into the forest when Ah
Meow jumped sideways suddenly. It waved its claws in the air, catching a snake and
throwing it down.
At this, the lion hunter hastened to say, ”Be careful!”
As soon as he spoke, a black man appeared from behind a tree, watching them warily
with his hands folded over his chest.
It was nearly evening now. The light was not so strong anymore, and the branches and
leaves obscured the view in the forest.
Startled by the sudden appearance of the stranger, Li Du's first impulse was to pull out
the gun.
However, the man did not show aggression. He stood and looked at them without
speaking a word, arms crossed on his chest. From behind his back, another man
appeared, assumed the same pose and stared at them.
”What's going on here?” asked Li Du.
The lion hunter said lazily, ”Don't you recognize them? We had just met today.”
Li Du responded at once, ”People from the Hadza tribe?”
The lion hunter nodded.
The two men were unmarked, unpainted, and Li Du could not tell them apart from the
Zulu.
Abdo looked back and said something. The lion hunter said, ”They must have come for
honey, too. We're competitors now. Be careful, fellows.”
Li Du said, ”For honey?”
”This is a big leaf-tree forest. Honeybees like to build their nests in such a place. There
will be several hives around here, with very good honey,” said the lion hunter.
The Hadza had a different approach to looking for honey. Every day when hunting, they
would pay attention to the location of the hives and collect honey later.
Looking across at the Hadza, who was showing neither aggression nor friendliness, he
asked, ”Now what? We are not getting into a fight because of honey, are we?”
The lion hunter said contemptuously, ”Are these cowards going to fight us? With their
javelins and bows? Ha, we have guns.”
The bodyguard who had been frightened by the leopard took this opportunity to show
off. He loaded his rifle and boasted, ”I can handle twenty of them by myself!”
Li Du waved his hand and said, ”Don't always go the way of armed conflict. How can
you resolve this? Can you communicate?”
The lion hunter said disdainfully ”Who knows the language of these primitive men? Ha,
they might not even have one.”
”Dear friends, we have language,” someone said in decent English, and another black