Chapter 770: Silent Killing Intent on the Treetop

Outside the camp, everything was in a natural, primitive state; except for the occasional man-made objects and trash left by humans near the Shanglu, there was not the slightest trace of humans anywhere else.

No, that cannot be said entirely; the bushes and Shulin near the Shanglu were clearly gathering places for those Bandits who made their living by relying on the Shanglu.

Relying on the moonlight and starlight from above, Jier carefully made his way through the waist-high bushes with four Mao Mao.

These bushes were occasionally hung with large, out-of-season clusters of berries, and rustling sounds also rang out from the surrounding grass and bushes.

The Mao Mao were very at ease here; unlike Jier, who lowered his body to move slowly, they were naturally able to avoid being easily discovered in the wild at night. Therefore, they were currently excited, following Jier as he moved, while digging holes and catching insects.

It seemed to be instinct; the Mao Mao easily brushed aside the cover of the grass to find Jumping Mouse holes and rabbit holes. At such times, they would deliberately knock hard on the entrance. Although most of the small animals in the holes would hide deeper inside after hearing the commotion, there were always some that were bold and highly curious.

Often, before Jier had walked far, the Mao Mao guarding the hole would wait for a foolish little animal, pierce it through with the 'Long Sword' in its hand, tie its tail or ears, sling it over its shoulder, and quickly catch up to Jier.

The four Mao Mao beside Jier all had a harvest before long, chattering in low voices to exchange and show off what they had caught that night. This forced Jier to shush them, but then Jier realized that the meowing speech of these Mao Mao did not need to be disguised or hidden in the wild.

No matter who it was, hearing low meowing in such a natural environment would clearly not take it seriously.

"Forget it, do as you please, just don't make a loud racket. I need to go look at that Shulin not far away; which of you will go ahead and scout for me?" Jier squatted down, hiding himself behind a tall, flourishing flower bush, and whispered to the Mao Mao.

Yongqi Maomao had wanted to go, but it had been too excited just now; at this moment, both its shoulders were covered with Jumping Mice, and it had no hands free.

So it pointed to the one among the four Mao Mao with the smallest harvest, letting it complete the task assigned by the powerful Human.

This melee Mao Mao was not very willing; after grumbling for a while, it threw the long-eared wild rabbit it was holding in its arms onto the ground and ran off toward the Shulin ahead, huffing and puffing.

"Can it do it? What is its name?"

Jier asked Yongqi Maomao.

Yongqi Maomao whispered in reply: "No, problem. Kuaitui, Mao Mao, run, fast!" After saying this, it nodded vigorously.

Jier then activated the Plant Concealment Cloak on his body and crawled out from behind the flower bush. As he crouched in place, the Cloak on his body underwent a change without sound or light, growing branches, leaves, and flower stems, along with several large flowers.

One particularly large flower even grew on the hood of the Cloak Jier was wearing, but Jier himself did not see it.

He lowered his head to look at his current appearance and was quite surprised; if it weren't for his own body, Jier would have truly thought he was a cluster of wild flowers.

A few fluorescent insects buzzed over, hungry, wanting to eat some pollen from the flowers of this cluster to fill their bellies. However, after landing on Jier, no matter how they poked at the flowers before them, they could not find any pollen.

This made the fluorescent insects huff with anger, wanting to tear apart these flowers that were deceiving bugs. But no matter how they used their bodies to ram or their limbs to tear, these flowers, which looked delicate, could not be torn.

Although Kuaitui Maomao was huffing and felt it had lost face in the 'Hunting' activity just now, it still had to do the task that could earn a metal reward well.

It carefully used the cover of the bushes to approach the Shulin, which was exceptionally dark even in the wild at night. Generally speaking, these places were occupied by some formidable Magic Beasts and were the territory of other animal groups. The Mao Mao, who were well-versed in surviving in the mountains and forests, would not carelessly venture alone into an unfamiliar Shulin before completing a long period of observation.

However, this was, after all, the world of Humans, not the natural mountains and forests where their survival conditions were much harsher, so there was no need to be particularly careful.

Of course, this place was mostly occupied by some more formidable Humans, so one still could not be careless.

Arriving outside the Shulin, Kuaitui Maomao secretly pricked up its ears, closed its eyes, and poked its head out to listen for movement in the Shulin.

Although skilled hunters would all hide their own sounds, skilled hunters were, after all, a very small minority; more common were some stupid, mindless animals, and foolish fellows with no real skills.

For example, Goblins who liked to grunt, and rude, barbaric Human Bandits.

Sure enough, after listening intently for a while, Kuaitui Maomao heard yawning and low complaints coming from somewhere in the Shulin ahead.

It could understand Human language, it just couldn't speak it. On a large tree at the edge of the Shulin, two Human Bandits were complaining about why they were the ones performing the surveillance and tracking mission.

"It must be that you offended the vice-leader. I know, last time you were the first to sleep with the woman he had his eye on; that offended him."

One person said in a low voice.

The other voice grunted, clearly acknowledging the accusation, but he still retorted slightly: "It was agreed that whoever snatched her gets her. I used my own ability to trick that woman out of the Cunzi; that's my ability, right? He said he saw her first, well, by that logic, he could apply that to every person we snatch. It's endless. Just because he's a damn vice-leader, we brothers, so many of us, have to let him have his way in everything?"

After retorting, this person also cursed: "It's only because that guy let the leader sleep with his sister, had a kid, and got a family connection that he got up there. Otherwise, if he ordered me around like this, ordered everyone around, I would have secretly stabbed that guy to death long ago."

The companion of this person in the tree heard this complaint and laughed mockingly in a low voice: "Here's the knife, why don't you go back and stab him to death right now?"

This person stopped talking, and the companion's mocking laughter grew even louder.

"Keep your voice down, don't let that group in the distance hear you. I heard there are some very formidable guys in there; if we're discovered, we won't survive."

"Don't worry, how formidable can they be? We're so far away, let alone talking, even if we shouted, those farmers and farmwives in the Yingdi wouldn't hear us. Besides, no matter how formidable one person is, how many can they fight? With so many of us, we could throw stones and smash them into meat paste. If you ask me, our group has been expanding and swelling quite a bit lately. The leader said he wants to select a few raid Captains under the vice-leader; are you interested? How impressive that would be, leading seven or eight people to plunder nearby Cunzi, and when you see a Caravan, you can lead the team to take it directly. At that time, you can give the leader as much of the harvest as you want."

Feeling somewhat tempted, this person asked in detail about the source of the news and the process and method for selecting raid Captains.

The Mao Mao didn't quite understand these words—about currying favor with the leader, currying favor with others in the gang, and performing great deeds to climb the ranks. Because the tribal society of the Mao Mao struggled to survive in the mountains and forests, there were rarely such convoluted, scheming matters.

Survival was not easy for everyone, and they occasionally had to deal with formidable mountain Magic Beasts, so they were very united internally.

Having discovered two bad guys, Kuaitui Maomao decided to circle a bit more along the Shulin to see if there were any other bad guys hiding around these two.

Because Yongqi Maomao had once led them to work for a group of Bandits for a while, attempting to obtain metal supplies from the Bandits through labor. But Bandits were Bandits; although they didn't take direct action because they were no match for these Mao Mao, that group of Bandits kept making various promises and offering benefits, but the metal rewards that should have been given were always delayed. In the end, the Bandits just shook their tails and disappeared, and the Mao Mao's work ended in failure.

But Jier, this powerful Human, was much better; he didn't boast, and once a task was completed, he rewarded them with the corresponding metal as payment. Because of this, the Mao Mao trusted Jier even more.

Kuaitui Maomao snuck away; although it made a rustling sound, the two Bandits on the tree who were discussing things heatedly didn't notice at all.

Circling away from there, the Mao Mao walked along the outer edge of the Shulin for a while, hiding in the Shulin to peek and scout. Of course, it wouldn't go too deep into the Shulin; it was spring now, and the leaves on the trees were lush and thick, so it wouldn't be able to see things outside if it went too deep.

Therefore, every time the Mao Mao walked a distance, it would stop and prick up its ears, carefully paying attention to all kinds of sounds in the Shulin.

Just when it thought there was only one group of people peeking at the powerful Human's team, Kuaitui Maomao suddenly heard a gulping sound of someone drinking water.

This sound was very distinct in the night filled with the chirping of insects and birds, because insects drinking water made no sound, and birds drinking water didn't make much sound either, at most the sound of beaks hitting a pool or the crevices of water accumulated on trees.

It wouldn't be the gulping sound of a Human swallowing in large mouthfuls.

Kuaitui Maomao carefully pricked up its ears, gently brushed aside the tall wild grass with its body, and lowered its body to creep toward where the sound was coming from.

But when it had walked only a few steps straight toward the source of the sound, it felt a chill, and its own tiny heart began to beat violently, *thump-thump, thump-thump*.

Kuaitui Maomao remembered the last time its heart beat this violently was when it was in the tribe with Yongqi Maomao, and all the Mao Mao of the tribe were confronting a giant crocodile Magic Beast that could spray mud.

Although the end result of that so-called confrontation was that the giant crocodile Magic Beast crawled away on its own after eating many Mao Mao of the tribe, their tribe had also gained some experience in confronting Magic Beasts because of it.

Afterward, their tribe lived near the territory of that giant crocodile Magic Beast. As long as the Mao Mao fed the wild beasts and Monsters they caught to the giant crocodile Magic Beast in advance, that particularly formidable Magic Beast would lazily bask in the sun all day and would not eat the Mao Mao living in its territory.

At this moment, Kuaitui Maomao's little heart was beating violently, clearly because its intuition was telling it that life and death hung in the balance in an instant.

What should it do?

After being stunned for a moment, it remembered the instructions Yongqi Maomao had given them before: because they had fur and were very short, many Humans who saw them for the first time would treat them as wild beasts or Monsters.

Those who saw them walking upright, talking, and working would call them Monsters, but if they were seen for the first time, Humans would mostly treat them as a wild beast.

Therefore, Kuaitui Maomao remembered Yongqi Maomao's teaching and tentatively imitated the cat domesticated by the Human in the powerful Human's team, using a sound it felt was disgusting and boring, and obediently let out a call: "Mi, meow—"

At the same time, it placed both hands on the ground, imitating a house cat kept by Humans, walking on all fours for a few steps, and even sniffing a flower beside it, pouncing to bite a fluorescent butterfly on it.

The next moment, the chill that had caused Mao Mao's heartbeat to spike vanished, and a low mutter drifted vaguely from the treetop of a large tree ahead: "Strange wild cat. Big Brother, are the local wild cats all this big?"

"How would I know? I haven't been here either. How about we just hunt this large wild cat while we're at it? Its fur looks grayish-black; it would surely make a nice scarf for your sister-in-law. We came out to participate in the God-Hunting activity this time; if I don't have a gift to bring home, your sister-in-law will definitely give me a hard time."

The person speaking later had a middle-aged voice, clearly someone who had already settled down and started a family.

Kuaitui Maomao heard it clearly; all the fur on its body stood on end, and it could only imitate the way Humans domesticate kittens, pretending to be playful while gradually moving away from there. When it felt the chill again, the whole Maomao leaped from the ground, *whoosh*—a soft sound flew past, dodging a fatal Secret Arrow that had flown in stealthily.

This arrow flew silently, and the bow that launched it had no vibration sound from the Bowstring, perfectly complementing the silent Hunting behavior of the night.

"Hm? It ran?"

The middle-aged voice sounded somewhat puzzled, but immediately became interested: "A bit interesting, Tracking Arrow, go—"

This time, the arrow tore through the air with a whistling sound during its flight, like a Poisonous Snake attacking at high speed; the moment it left the Bowstring, it began to slide rapidly left and right while chasing forward.

Maomao could no longer afford to hide; it immediately abandoned moving on all fours, instead whipping its long tail to strike the ground for a boost, then pushing off the ground with its hind legs, and the whole Maomao fled into the distance like a flash.

It was called Kuaitui, but in reality, its rapid movement during combat did not rely on its pair of short legs shuffling, but rather on the coordinated use of its tail and legs, moving rapidly in a hopping, jumping fashion.

But although it was fast, the strange, sharp arrow chasing from behind was faster, and it emitted a sinister, snake-like hissing sound, the entire arrow body swaying left and right, carving distorted arcs in the air, catching up to Kuaitui Maomao from behind.

But just as the sharp arrow was about to strike Maomao's head for the kill, Kuaitui Maomao displayed the astonishing agility and combat intuition of a melee Maomao. While flying in the air, waiting for the moment the sharp arrow was less than half a meter away, it turned and swung the 'Iron Longsword' it had been keeping tucked on its body!

*Clang*—*Squeak*!

The eerie sharp arrow was knocked aside by this collision; it twisted unwillingly, and while still in the air, it readjusted its direction, using the last of its own flight momentum to turn around in the air and 'bite' down fiercely again.

"Meow-woo!"

Kuaitui Maomao let out a loud cry, not caring about the preciousness of the 'Iron Longsword' in its hand, and swung it directly toward its head, then gathered all its strength to twist its tail, lashing out with one of its long tails with all its might.

The tip of the tail produced a supersonic crack like a whip breaking the air; after a loud "pop" sound, it struck heavily and accurately on the end of the Dagger hilt of the 'Iron Longsword', and the flesh of the tail at the point of contact splattered, causing Kuaitui Maomao to howl in pain and run for its life.

This time it could no longer use its tail to move, so it honestly ran using its pair of short legs.

And the 'Iron Longsword' that had been struck, after receiving a new infusion of force, flew straight toward the eerie sharp arrow that was pouncing down from the sky.

*Bang*! A series of intense, crisp collision sounds rang out in the air.

On the treetop of a large tree in the Shulin not far away, the younger of the brothers was about to raise his bow and nock an arrow to fire another Tracking Arrow to take the life of that strange wild cat. However, he was quickly stopped by his elder brother: "Wait, that thing isn't right! It's not some local wild cat; it's a Monster that uses a sword!"

"Then why not just kill it?"

The young man replied and was about to nock an arrow, but his entire body was grabbed by the neck by his brother, his feet left the ground, and the two of them jumped down from the tree just like that.

His elder brother pulled him and ran quickly toward the depths of the Shulin: "Something's wrong, let's retreat to the depths of the Shulin first."

As the younger of the brothers, the younger brother had no choice but to put away his bow and arrow, complaining in his mouth: "Big Brother, are we not taking our Secret Arrow and Tracking Arrow?"

The elder brother was naturally pained over his precious arrows, but he had a sense of unease; such a strange Monster appearing before them was clearly not right.

"We'll come back to get them later."

He said this unwillingly.

Kuaitui Maomao ran all the way, passing straight through clusters of bushes and flowers, its tail held high, the bloody scent wafting from the mangled tip constantly attracting all kinds of bloodthirsty small flying insects.

"Hulu, hulu, hulu, hulu."

Kuaitui Maomao panted as it ran toward the place where the powerful Human it had calculated was located; the thrilling scene from before still left it in a panic, and it was clear that it had already wandered in and out of life and death several times.

If it hadn't had a premonition that something was wrong, it would have already been skinned by the evil Human Hunter and used as clothing material.

"Woo..." Thinking of this, it even cried out in fear, but the next moment, its abdomen was scooped up by someone, and then, as it struggled wildly with its hands and feet to break free in a panic, a large hand rubbed its head vigorously.

"What's going on? Scared like this?"

Hearing the voice of the powerful Human, along with the puzzled inquiries of the three Maomao who had emerged from the surroundings, Kuaitui Maomao burst into tears: "Maomao, died, Maomao, died!!"

"Hey, you can talk now?"

Jier looked surprised, although his face was completely hidden by the lush flower stems temporarily constructed by the Cloak, making it unclear.

Yongqi Maomao sniffed hard, grabbed the injured tip of its companion's long tail, and exclaimed: "Tail! Tail, injured!"

The other two Maomao gathered around, their faces full of surprise; it seemed that for them, an injured tail was a very surprising thing for a Maomao.