Chapter 45: Mutated Goblin Individual? A Prepared Trap

Proceeding along the usual route, there was little movement from ordinary wild beasts in the forest, save for the normal chirping of birds.

"It’s a bit quiet."

Tang Zheng took the water skin from his hand, hung it back on his waist, and listened to the surrounding movements.

His expression remained unchanged as he continued forward.

Since he was certain he was being watched, he naturally needed to be more vigilant about changes in his surroundings.

Hm?

Tang Zheng’s ears suddenly twitched; there was movement!

That direction—is it the northwest?

Tang Zheng looked thoughtful, but his feet did not stop; he turned and moved toward the source of the sound.

As the distance closed, the sounds became clearer: the roars of a wild beast, mixed with the shrieks of goblins.

Quickly!

A large number of goblins appeared in Tang Zheng’s field of vision.

A single glance.

The number of goblins reached over twenty!

At this moment, these twenty-plus goblins were surrounding and attacking a massive black bear.

"Roar!"

The black bear opened its blood-stained maw, roaring as it tore into a goblin.

The bloody scene did not scare off the numerous surrounding goblins; instead, it seemed to incite their ferocity.

They shrieked and hollered, continuously throwing their crude weapons and even stones at the black bear.

After suffering nearly fifty percent casualties, the blood-drenched black bear finally collapsed to the ground!

The remaining goblins excitedly shrieked as they hoisted the black bear up and headed toward the depths of the jungle.

The corpses of the goblins left on the ground were casually grabbed and dragged along by other goblins, following them back.

The companions who had just been hunting the black bear together were now, in the eyes of the living, nothing more than food.

Tang Zheng stood behind a large tree, arms crossed over his chest, watching the direction the goblins were leaving in, a cold sneer suddenly appearing at the corner of his mouth.

There was clearly a goblin settlement in the direction the group was heading.

"So this is the trap they’ve been preparing for days."

"And it’s the same trap method?" Tang Zheng’s eye twitched.

How could he not understand now? The previous ambush by six ogres was clearly a situation where he had been inadvertently led into a trap.

And now, they were using the same method again.

Tang Zheng felt he might have overestimated the intelligence of that mutated goblin individual.

However!

The fact that it could influence ogres made this special goblin individual very interesting to Tang Zheng.

"I haven't found the bottom of it yet; it's truly cautious."

"If I don't let the opponent feel completely at ease, I'm afraid they won't reveal any flaws." Tang Zheng lifted his head slightly and followed the group of goblins.

As he went deeper.

Sure enough, a somewhat dilapidated goblin settlement appeared ahead.

But Tang Zheng’s focus was not on the settlement, but on the terrain of this area.

The terrain on both sides was significantly higher, which also caused the trees on the left and right to be noticeably taller than those in other areas.

The two raised hills made the route the goblins were taking form a narrow path like a sunken gourd, and the goblin settlement was located right inside.

"They picked a good spot."

"If I let these goblins lure me into this kind of terrain, once surrounded, it would be hard to escape as easily as last time."

"No... that's not entirely correct either."

Tang Zheng pretended to be completely unaware, continuing forward with an expressionless face. "With the intelligence of ordinary goblins, they clearly cannot coordinate to perform such complex 'acting'."

"Are they planning to sacrifice this goblin settlement? How ruthless."

Tang Zheng’s gaze turned cold, and he let out a low, mocking laugh. "Come to think of it, I still haven't fully adapted to this world; it’s not just humans who possess intelligence."

"The intelligence of some demi-human species is no less than that of humans; treating the opponent as a creature without much intelligence makes suffering a loss inevitable."

"My mindset needs to change; I’ve been subconsciously ignoring that humans are considered a vulnerable group in this world."

Tang Zheng shook his head slightly and muttered to himself.

Since entering the Tob Forest, his route had actually been consistently heading toward the east.

Once his general direction was figured out, it was easy to set things up on the road behind him; this was something he hadn't considered at the start.

Of course, the bigger reason was that the jungle environment was too complex, and it was best to keep a fixed direction to avoid getting lost.

Behind!

The figure that had been trailing far behind Tang Zheng carefully poked its head out from the bushes.

Watching Tang Zheng walk into that narrow jungle path, its green cheeks, tense and somewhat timid, slowly relaxed.

=9+Shu_Ba

That human is too strong.

A powerful ogre was cleaved in two by a single strike from him; it had never seen such strength before.

It wasn't that it hadn't seen humans fighting ogres, but usually, it took several humans working together to kill a powerful ogre.

"Damn human!"

"To kill so many children and dare to enter the great forest alone, I will definitely... definitely make you pay with your life."

The green figure crouched on the ground, its voice slightly sharp, filled with anger and resentment, muttering to itself while clenching its fists.

If Tang Zheng heard this goblin speaking right now, he would surely be incredibly surprised.

Under the goblin's gaze, Tang Zheng had completely entered the narrow jungle path; excitement and a bloodthirsty glint immediately appeared in its tiny black pupils.

The timid emotions faded away.

The goblin completely set its mind at ease, rose from the ground, and followed.

It had to watch this human die at the hands of the many ogres.

The opponent's meat must be very fragrant.

Thinking of the food with the unique, sweet aroma that the human ate every morning, the goblin couldn't help but lick the drool from the corner of its mouth.

On the other side.

Tang Zheng walked at a steady pace, and when he reached about halfway through the narrow jungle path, he suddenly stopped.

Since it had been secretly following him, now that it saw him enter the prepared trap, the opponent must have let its guard down.

Then—

Without a moment's hesitation!

Tang Zheng turned abruptly and moved his legs.

This time, he didn't care about making a big commotion; he sprinted toward the rear with all his might, his eyes locked firmly on the jungle behind him.

At the same time!

"I see you!" Tang Zheng suddenly roared.

Hum—

[First-tier magic "Camouflage" discovered. Requirement: Caster level 1–7. Current conditions met.]

[Do you wish to consume 1 skill point to learn?]

Found you!

Tang Zheng saw the information refreshing on his attribute panel and curled his lips.

(End of chapter)