Chapter 32: Run!
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One hallmark of a foodie is that life can be dispensable, but food is not!
The bear family was a clear overlord among foodies. After the little bear tasted the dripping honey, its entire being... oh, the entire bear acted as if it had hysteria, making whimpering noises with its mouth and wiggling its plump buttocks, desperately shaking the tree trunk.
The trunk wasn't very thick to begin with, and it began to tremble as it was vigorously shaken.
A bear child having a fit is one thing, after all, it's still young and its strength is not great, but once Papa Bear and Mama Bear joined in, the situation immediately changed!
The three black bears seemed to have coordinated, encircling the trunk and fiercely shaking it together. The trunk emitted a creaking sound as if it couldn't bear the weight anymore, and leaves and twigs flew everywhere.
Black Bear Dad took two steps back and actually struck a charging pose, and then, bang, he rammed his shoulder into the tree!
The trunk shook violently, and all the beehives hanging on it fell down!
Buzz!
Even at a great distance, a buzz could be heard. The beehives hadn't hit the ground yet when a 'black cloud' emerged— a large group of bees buzzed out of the hives, swarming around the falling beehives!
Below, the gluttonous family looked up foolishly, stretching out their chubby bear paws to catch the descending hives. Don't be fooled by their pudgy appearance, reminiscent of meat mountains; their movements were surprisingly agile and accurate.
Three bears, the two adults catching one each, and little Hei cradling with both arms, caught all five hives without missing a single one.
Having secured the food, the bear family was ecstatic, opening their mouths to bite into the hives they were holding. Mid-air, the buzzing swarm of bees went into a frenzy, and in formation dove towards the bear family!
"Aoaoaoao..."
"Aoao..."
"Aoaoao..."
Ghostly bear shrieks suddenly filled Xiongshan, as the bears managed to knock down the hives but before they could even taste a drop of honey, they were chaotically stung by countless bees.
The bears initially tried to swat away the bees with their big paws, but there were just too many. Instead, they caused quite a few friendly fires. Papa Hei, trying to save his cub, accidentally sent little Hei tumbling away like a rolling meatball.
Soon, the three bears gave up their futile resistance and ran amok in Xiongshan.
Only creatures with thick skins like bears could endure such an attack. Any other animal would likely have been half-dead after such a stinging spree.
Li was extremely worried as if these three bears really got into trouble, his job would definitely be at stake!
He frantically banged on the iron bars, trying to get the bears to take refuge in the resting room, but at this moment, the bears were somewhat crazed and did not notice him at all.
"Quick, jump into the lake!" Suming urgently communicated with his spiritual power to the bears. There was a shallow lake in Xiongshan for the bears to play in usually.
Although the youngest, little Hei was the smartest. It immediately understood Suming's intention and without hesitation dived into the lake with a splash, sending water flying in all directions!
The water covered little Hei, and the pursuing bees buzzed around for a few circles. Seeing nowhere to sting, they reluctantly changed targets and went to attack Papa Bear and Mama Bear.
Seeing the bad situation, Papa Bear and Mama Bear let out a few roars and fought their way through the bee swarm— of course, shedding their own blood. With a leap like a fish, they followed and jumped into the lake.
Now they were in deep trouble. The lake was neither large nor deep, frankly, it was just a small pool. Little Hei was small in size, and most of its body could hide underwater. But Papa Bear and Mama Bear were too big; the water in the pool barely reached their bellies, offering no defense against the bee attack!
Little Hei had managed to hide in the pool, but as soon as Papa Bear and Mama Bear jumped in, the water level significantly dropped as they displaced most of it. Even little Hei couldn't hide anymore!
Suming grabbed the iron rod from Li's hand and banged hard on the cage, shouting with all his spiritual power, "Come back here!"
Li had been banging on the bars for a while, but the bears, as if they were deaf, paid him no attention. Suming only struck once, and the bears obediently scrambled out of the pool and rushed into the resting room's cage, not even bothering to shake the water droplets off their fur.
"Eh? How did you do that..." Before Li could express his amazement, he suddenly screamed, "Oh my gosh!"
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Behind them, a large swarm of bees chased after them.
Whether it was on the zookeeper's side or near the bear's rest enclosure, there were only iron cages which couldn't block the bees at all. Once the bears ran over, they brought the bees with them!
Now it was trouble, not only for the bears but humans were about to suffer too!
Suming had no time to explain, he hastily took out a lighter to ignite it, while Mr. Peng immediately understood Suming's intention, quickly handing over the bamboo pole soaked in gasoline.
With a whoosh, flames shot up, turning the bamboo pole into a small torch. Mr. Peng extended the torch towards the swarm of bees, waving it chaotically while shouting, "Light the fire, quickly light the fire, bees are afraid of fire and smoke!"
The rest of the zookeepers, as if waking from a dream, fumbled for lighters to ignite their torches.
A few torches were lit, and they finally managed to keep the swarm of bees outside the iron cages. Even so, a few fast-flying bees penetrated the cage, and Li's hands were immediately bitten, swelling into several large bumps.
Most animals are afraid of fire, and bears are no exception. The bear couple was locked in the rest enclosure, the torches dangerously close to them. This carefree food-loving pair, whether scared by the flames or stung by the bees, started wailing, huddling in a corner of the cage, their black eyes filled with terror as they looked out.
The swarm of bees gathered outside the cage, blocked by the torches, not daring to enter, but they showed no signs of dispersing as the torches began to burn out.
"What's going on?" Mr. Peng asked in confusion. Normally, when disturbed, a swarm of bees would attack en masse as an instinctive response, without holding grudges, especially when encountering fire and water, they would usually disperse.
But this group of bees acted as though they had an irreconcilable vendetta against the bears, preferring to be smoked to death rather than retreat!
Suming instinctively turned to look at the bear family in the adjacent cage and suddenly realized the truth! These three gluttons still clutched the beehive, unwilling to part with their food even in their escape!
One of the beehives had been bitten in half, revealing a Queen Bee with a big belly!
No wonder the bees refused to leave; the Queen Bee was 'held hostage' by the bears. They weren't out for revenge or anything, they were trying to rescue the Queen Bee!
Suming was Furious with these two; how greedy could they be?
"Throw the beehive out!" Suming glared fiercely, unleashing all his spiritual power towards the bear couple.
"Wuu wuu..."
Suming had been drinking Monkey Wine for a while, and his spiritual power had increased rapidly. Now, at full force, it was not to be underestimated. The two bears, cowed by the force of the power, obediently and forcefully threw the beehive away!
But the problem was, they had been too obedient. Instead of throwing the beehive outside the cage, they hurled it in Suming's direction, over the fence!
Suming's eyes widened instantly, as a million alpacas galloped through his mind!
"Damn it! I said throw it out, not throw it to me!" Suming roared inwardly.
A bear's strength is no joke, and the beehive, never strong to begin with, split into several pieces when they threw it, falling to the ground with a splat.
Because of inertia, the unfortunate Queen Bee shot out of the beehive, tracing a splendid parabola, and smashed against the wall on Suming's side, 'bia' turning into mush!
All around instantly grew quiet, everyone stood stunned, staring at the wall where the Queen Bee was now just a smear of flesh.
Crackle, crackle... the sound of the flames whispered, as the last torch… finally went out…
"Run!"
Nobody knew who screamed first, their voice almost breaking into a sob.
A few people, tumbling and crawling, ran for their lives towards the exit of Xiongshan.
A large swarm of furious bees squeezed through the cages, following them closely.