Chapter 36: Tracking, Discovering a Small Goblin Tribe

"Guji, gu."

"Wah!"

"Wah, wah."

"......!"

Deep in the jungle, faint sounds drifted over.

Tang Zheng’s eyes flashed; he stopped, pricked up his ears to listen, and the vague sounds gradually became clear.

Something was coming this way, and there were quite a few of them!

Tang Zheng narrowed his eyes, scanned his surroundings, quickly locked onto a relatively thick tree, walked lightly behind it, and waited silently, pressed against the trunk.

Time ticked away bit by bit!

The familiar "wah-wah" sounds rang out from time to time, making Tang Zheng’s eyes light up.

He had dealt with goblins many times; these were clearly goblin cries!

Sure enough.

This place was already close to the territory of trolls!

Tang Zheng remained pressed against the thick trunk, his head tilted slightly forward as he peered toward the direction the sounds were coming from.

Very soon!

A group of thirteen goblins appeared in Tang Zheng’s field of vision.

These goblins were wearing tattered clothes that fit them quite poorly; some even had a severed pant leg pulled over their heads, worn like a hat.

Such an outfit made them look just like refugees.

But Tang Zheng’s gaze tightened, because among all the goblins he had ever seen, this was the only group where every single one was wearing clothes, even if those clothes were incredibly ragged.

The goblins he had seen before were basically as good as naked!

And what surprised Tang Zheng the most was that the two goblins walking in the lead were actually holding iron weapons, even if they were just two forks.

Following the lead goblins, he looked toward the back.

For the first time, a clear change appeared on Tang Zheng’s face.

The few goblins in the back were struggling to carry some mangled, bloody corpses, following closely behind the ones in front.

Humans!

Tang Zheng’s expression was silent.

There were five corpses in total; judging by their shapes and clothing, they appeared to be three men and two women, their dark, rough arms dangling and dragging on the ground.

This made Tang Zheng realize that these people were likely farmers from a nearby village.

Although he was currently in the Tob Forest, he was actually still on the outermost edge of the forest; to the north was the interior of the forest, while to the south, one could leave the Tob Forest and enter an area similar to the wilderness.

Continuing further south, one would be able to see a dirt road extending from E-Rantel.

And in this region, there were quite a few villages.

Compared to Carne Village, which was located in the territory of the Forest Sage Hamsuke, neither the villages around the troll territory nor those around the naga territory were very safe.

That was why the Adventurer’s Guild in E-Rantel had year-round quests for clearing out monsters, goblins, and the like.

"Wah, wah."

The goblin in front seemed to feel they were walking too slowly; it yelled "wah-wah" at those behind, its fangs bared with a hint of irritability.

The goblins in the back carrying the corpses heard this howl, panic appearing on their green cheeks, and they continued to carry the corpses forward with some difficulty.

Throughout the whole process, this group of goblins did not discover Tang Zheng hiding behind the large tree.

He watched this goblin group pass in front of him with an expressionless face.

Tang Zheng lightly twisted the hilt of his sword, lifted his feet, and followed with light steps, trailing behind the goblin group.

Although there were many of these goblins, they didn't count as much trouble!

In this other world, the level of an ordinary civilian farmer was about level 1; if they underwent training, there was a chance they could reach the level of a level 2.

Ordinary goblins were at about this level; after all, they were a demi-human race and possessed some racial advantages. Therefore, dealing with these goblins was not difficult.

However.

Based on the behavior of these goblins, Tang Zheng guessed that they were likely returning to their own tribe.

Realizing this.

Tang Zheng was naturally in no hurry to deal with these goblins immediately.

As he followed this goblin group deeper into the Tob Forest, Tang Zheng could clearly feel the surrounding trees and bushes becoming increasingly lush.

The atmosphere of the forest began to change; most noticeably, the light suddenly began to dim, and an invisible sense of oppression subtly permeated the woods.

Tang Zheng flipped his palm and took a pocket watch from his item box; seeing the time was only around 3:00 PM, the light around him felt as if it were already dusk.

"They shouldn't be going too deep."

Tang Zheng looked at the few goblins in the back carrying the corpses, his gaze flickering, while he raised his iron sword to lightly carve two marks on a large tree beside him as a sign.

In such a vast primeval forest, once you lose your way, it is a rather troublesome and dangerous thing.

=9+Shu_ba

Therefore, Tang Zheng was naturally prepared.

Besides making fixed marks on the trees he passed, his item box was also stocked with a large bag of lime powder he had specifically purchased.

Since he was still in the outer area of the forest and could clearly see his orientation, he did not need to use the lime powder for now.

Next!

Tang Zheng followed this group of goblins for about another ten minutes, and he was certain he was about to reach their tribe.

Because Tang Zheng had already smelled the stench of rot and an indescribable foul odor, like a mixture of smelly socks and rotten eggs, permeating the air.

Soon.

A place that suddenly opened up appeared within the dense jungle, where there were thick, tall trees everywhere.

The area was not large, only about the size of one and a half basketball courts; the entire area had clearly been cleared, with no large, tall trees.

As soon as the group of goblins entered, they became active, especially the few goblins in the back carrying the corpses, who became much more spirited.

Tang Zheng scanned the area.

He saw quite a few animal skeletons, among which were mixed some human leg bones and arms, discarded casually to the side.

On the ground near the center, several thick animal hides of unknown origin were spread out.

Among them, on a patch covered with withered yellow weeds, some rotten meat was laid out, and a large swarm of insects had gathered there.

The foul stench permeating the air was coming from exactly that spot.

What drew Tang Zheng’s attention the most was a grass hut located in the center of this area, which clearly looked like it had been constructed from weeds and branches.

Tang Zheng took a careful look, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes.

The size of this grass hut was clearly much larger than necessary for the small-statured goblins, and most importantly, it was the only grass hut in the entire area, which was quite abrupt.

Additionally.

The number of goblins was also a bit abnormal.

It wasn't that there were many; it was that there were too few!

This was clearly a small goblin tribe; besides the 13 goblins that had just returned, Tang Zheng could only see five goblins left behind to guard the tribe!

He was unsure if there were any remaining goblins inside that grass hut.

But the number of goblins left to guard the tribe was truly too small; although Tang Zheng could not distinguish the goblins' ages by appearance, he could see that the ones left behind were clearly also young and strong.

In other words.

This small goblin tribe before him actually had no old or young members.

(End of chapter)