Chapter 44: Suspicion! Hunter? Prey?

The number of beasts active at night during this period seems quite high.

As long as they didn't provoke him, Tang Zheng couldn't be bothered to care.

Having gained quite a bit of experience, he was in a pretty good mood today. Besides, there should be a goblin colony in this area.

Tang Zheng planned to search it thoroughly tomorrow.

For some reason.

Deep down, Tang Zheng felt he had overlooked something, but upon closer inspection, it seemed there was nothing he had missed.

The only thing that weighed on his mind was being besieged by ogres a while back, but since shaking off that group, no similar situation had occurred.

The night wind blew past.

The cool breeze caused the lush, abundant leaves in the jungle to sway slightly.

Tang Zheng’s nose twitched; along with the breeze came a faintly familiar scent.

At first, Tang Zheng didn't pay much attention, but just as he was about to continue sleeping, he suddenly opened his eyes.

This scent—

Goblin!

That’s right, it was the scent of a goblin, that rotten smell like socks that hadn't been washed in decades.

The gaze that had been a bit hazy suddenly cleared up.

He had felt all along that he had overlooked something, and only now, smelling this scent in the air, did he suddenly realize it.

It was this scent emanating from the goblins!

During his "friendly exchanges" with goblins over the past half-month, Tang Zheng had long since grown accustomed to the smell, which was why he had subconsciously ignored it all this time!

And for the past few days, this scent had been faintly drifting over every night where he camped!

In the dead of night.

Tang Zheng didn't know what his expression looked like at this moment, but it certainly couldn't be good.

The things that had been passing under his tree during this time weren't beasts at all, but goblins!

Although the goblin race possesses night vision, they actually share the same nocturnal habits as humans.

Unless necessary, even goblins wouldn't hunt at night in an environment like this jungle.

He was being watched!

Damn it!

To think he only realized it now.

Tang Zheng couldn't help but curse under his breath; the feeling that something had been slightly off all this time finally became crystal clear.

After leveling "Sword Saint" to the max, perhaps it was because there were no longer any monsters in these outer regions that posed a threat to Tang Zheng.

Even ogres, unless they reached a certain number, posed no danger to him.

This caused Tang Zheng to lose his initial caution, to the point where he hadn't discovered the goblin watching him from the shadows throughout the entire process.

No!

Under his black cloak, Tang Zheng’s eyes flashed.

With the intelligence of an ordinary goblin, it would be impossible to perform such meticulous stalking.

"I couldn't be that lucky, could I? Actually running into some kind of goblin variant?" This thought surfaced in Tang Zheng's mind, and he couldn't help but lick the corner of his mouth.

Even if he let his guard down,

it shouldn't be to the point where he couldn't detect a single ordinary goblin secretly following him.

Ranger? Forest Priest? Druid? Thief? Tracker?

These professions were all adept at tracking, especially in complex environments like a forest; without detection-type magic, one wouldn't be easily noticed.

Tang Zheng calmed down again; the goblin that had set its sights on him likely possessed one of these professions.

Then, what was the other party's goal?

Tang Zheng frowned. The goblin wasn't just following him; it confirmed his location every night, which clearly indicated some sort of motive.

The reason he was certain it was likely a goblin variant and not an ogre,

was naturally because an ogre's size was too massive, and the noise caused by moving would be significant, making it impossible for them to be suited for tracking.

"Is it a trap?"

Tang Zheng recalled the events of the past few days, and a guess had already formed in his mind.

The number of goblins he had encountered during this time was pitifully small; it was only today that the number of goblins had suddenly increased.

If he hadn't suddenly discovered the suspected variant goblin hiding in the shadows, he really would have suspected his luck had turned bad. Now that he thought about it, it was clearly the other party's doing!

Having figured this out.

Tang Zheng continued to pretend he was completely unaware, leaning against the tree to sleep as usual.

Since he had discovered the other party, the roles of "hunter" and "prey" between them were about to change!

The moonlight and stars gradually faded away.

The chirping of birds at dawn echoed through the jungle, accompanied by sunlight spilling through the gaps in the leaves.

Tang Zheng stretched, leaped down from the tree, and appeared full of energy.

=9+Book_Bar

Not only did he sleep soundly last night, but his sleep quality had actually improved significantly.

Since that suspected goblin variant hadn't made a move on him, it meant the other party's strength was far inferior to his own; otherwise, they wouldn't have just been tracking and monitoring him until now.

Tang Zheng continued as usual, taking out rye bread with cooked pork, eating it in large bites while carrying his iron sword to continue forward.

At the same time, he used his peripheral vision to observe the surroundings; as expected, he discovered nothing.

Seeing this.

Tang Zheng was at least certain of one thing: the other party was definitely not too close to his position.

This also made Tang Zheng abandon the idea of finding them immediately. If the other party truly possessed any of the professions he had guessed, it would be quite difficult to flush them out in the jungle.

"Then let me see the trap specifically laid for me; it’ll be a good chance to flush you out." Tang Zheng’s eyes flashed, and he thought to himself.

About ten minutes after leaving the spot.

A figure with green pointed ears, looking similar to a goblin but twice the size of a normal one, appeared at the spot where Tang Zheng had just been standing.

It wasn't just the difference in size; even the eyes were clearly different.

A goblin's eyes are narrow and long, like a beast's, while this figure's eyes were about the size of human eye sockets, with a large area of pure white and only tiny black pupils in the center.

The gaze was filled with caution and care.

This figure used its slightly sunken green nose to sniff the air, then looked at the crushed leaves and broken twigs ahead.

Those were the traces left behind after Tang Zheng had walked by.

After a brief pause.

The figure followed the trail once more.

What was incredible was that wherever this figure passed, the grass, bushes, and even the densely intertwined branches blocking the way would automatically part to make a path.

And throughout the entire process, not a single sound was made!

Unknowingly.

It was already noon.

Tang Zheng took out his water skin and took a few gulps, his eyes squinting slightly at the vertical pillars of sunlight spilling through the gaps in the leaves.

He didn't just have one water skin; in his preparations, he had purchased over 60 water skins with a capacity of about 5 kilograms each.

Averaging two a day, that was a full month's supply!

As far as drinking water went, there was absolutely no need to worry.

(End of chapter)