Chapter 771: The Hunting God Who Hunts Gods

At this moment, Kuaitui Maomao seemed to finally recall the injury on its tail; it was also incredibly surprised, because the Maomaos often used their tails to whip various things and to help support their bodies for rapid movement, so the sense of pain and touch there was not very keen. Only now, when Yongqi Maomao grabbed its tail, did Kuaitui Maomao seem to remember its thrilling experience just a moment ago.

"Wah! Wah! Woo-woo..."

Kuaitui Maomao let out a series of meows and whimpers that Jier could not understand, which made him scratch his chin in confusion and forced him to gently put down the Maomao in his hands.

After landing, the four Maomaos gathered together, heads leaning against heads, ears touching ears, discussing the things Kuaitui Maomao had just experienced while regretfully stroking and wiping the injured area on its tail.

Seeing them treasure their tails like this, Jier asked how much this thing actually meant to the Maomaos.

"Woo, tail, hurt, female, Maomao, will, not, like. Lonely, alone, every, spring, will, be, lonely!"

Yongqi Maomao explained it to Jier this way, which left Jier completely bewildered: "Just this? That's it?"

The four Maomaos nodded heavily: "Spring, time, no, partner, very, pitiful! Better, to die."

"You guys are really something!" Jier muttered to himself.

Afterwards, he asked what had happened to Kuaitui Maomao just now, and how it had managed to get the tail that their race cherished so much into such a state.

As soon as this was mentioned, Kuaitui Maomao's fur stood on end, and it let out a flurry of chirps and whimpers; it wasn't until Yongqi Maomao translated it for Jier that he barely understood.

"Like this... like that... thus... and so..."

"I didn't expect it, so that's how it is!"

Jier frowned; it seemed the situation was even more serious than he had imagined. Not only were a small number of bandits—who seemed like mere small fry to him—targeting their group again, but highly skilled hunters were also lurking in the surroundings, monitoring them.

Jier knew at once that the latter were likely elite hunters sent by the Hunting God Church, but he didn't know why those people had been following them all this way. After all, the other party seemed to be only monitoring them, with no intention of offending or attacking.

Jier was not entirely sure; the main reason was that the Great Bird God had not told him about it. Those controlled birds that the deity had developed after regaining freedom, or the few intelligent believers who worshipped the deity, had all disappeared inexplicably under unclear circumstances.

The Great Bird God estimated that it was the Hunting God's people searching for various traces of the deity, and trying their best to reduce the deity's influence and abilities. But even this primitive and ancient deity did not know that from beginning to end, including the final boarding statue of the deity seeing the light of day again, it was all just a small part of the Hunting God's various hunting plans.

The elite hunters who worshipped the Hunting God always had to hunt some unusual prey.

And in this world, among the controlled prey with high hunting value, what could be more thrilling and exciting than hunting a god's familiar?

This game of confrontation was exactly what every excellent hunter craved.

Jier had realized earlier that someone was following them in secret during their journey, but he had been in the Kendall Army's ranks, and those people had almost only followed from afar, never making close contact, until Jier left the Kendall Army for a reason in Montoka City, at which point those people approached Jier's observation range from time to time.

The first few times he used the long-distance vision ability granted to him by the Great Bird God, Jier had discovered some things that were not quite right; there was always a feeling of being watched from afar, but he didn't care at the time. After all, the Great Bird God was the Great Bird God, and he was himself.

Whenever he felt the situation was bad, he could completely return the Black Bird-Shaped Wood Carving containing the Great Bird God's final power to the Hunting God's people.

But that wouldn't work now; not only because he had done many things for the Great Bird God, but also because Jier needed the Great Bird God to help him remove the souls of the dead under his sword that entangled him every day.

Even though Jier had done many things for this, he still didn't know when this ancient deity would fulfill the promise to help him get rid of the trouble and have a good night's sleep.

However, considering that the Great Bird God had always had limited power, Jier did not urge the deity often. Before being completely disappointed, Jier intended to hold onto a bit of trust, hoping that this Great Bird God would not let down his trust.

Returning to the present, Jier was surprised after hearing Kuaitui Maomao's thrilling experience. He didn't expect the hunters monitoring him to be so capable. One had to know that the Maomaos were light and agile, and if they were forced into such a difficult situation to escape with their lives, most ordinary people would likely have lost their lives without even a sound.

Some people probably arrived in the Underworld of another world after death as a wandering soul without even knowing how they got down there.

They just died in a muddle.

With a light chuckle, Jier tapped the Black Bird-Shaped Wood Carving under his Hard Cowhide Armor with his finger; he didn't say anything, but his meaning was self-evident.

Sure enough, the next moment, the voice of this deity sounded in Jier's ears: "It's those people, those people have chased after you. Be careful, rude Human! They are always hard to defeat in small-scale battles. Why don't you retreat back into your team? Wait a day or two, and I will send over some of the birds I control to help you scout and find their location and intelligence, and then you can try to fight them again?"

Jier snorted and lowered his head, whispering to his chest: "Who knows whose skills are higher without a direct clash? It just so happens that my hands have been itching lately; it's been some days since I've had a good fight."

"Tonight, I want to fight to my heart's content."

"You are truly mad! A crazy act! This is a path to death! Facing elite hunters who are skilled in hunting techniques without wisdom, you will only be like a beast without intelligence, stupidly falling into a hunting trap. By then, they can easily take your life with a single wooden branch. A stupid bird entering a cage, turning into a pet."

When this Great Bird God became serious, even the usual speech habits were gone; this guy was indeed very nervous right now.

"You're afraid, I can hear it."

As Jier said this, he signaled for the Maomaos to follow him: "We are going to clash with those people who hurt Kuaitui Maomao tonight. Let's go back and prepare for a bit, then come back to kill them!"

"Oh! Oh! Revenge! Revenge! Powerful Human, give, Maomao, revenge!"

Yongqi Maomao shouted excitedly, wagging its tail, and the other two were just as happy to wag their tails, except for the injured Maomao, which held its tail with a sad face, feeling sorrowful for not being able to wag its tail freely with its companions.

After it held its tail in its arms, it couldn't even walk steadily; without the tail to maintain the balance of its body movement at any time, it was very unaccustomed.

Jier hadn't attracted anyone's attention when he left the Yingdi, and of course, no one noticed when he returned.

It wasn't that his stealth and hiding techniques were high-level, but that the Armed Civilians responsible for patrolling around the Yingdi were simply too amateurish. They often arranged twenty-some people into two shifts for the first and second half of the night, with eleven or twelve people in a group, but they always lined up in a long column of ten or more, patrolling outside the Yingdi in a way that looked imposing but was completely useless.

This way, as long as Jier walked into the Yingdi slightly from behind them, not a single person realized he had entered or left the Yingdi.

Of course, this also had to do with the excessive false sense of security brought by the large number of people in the Yingdi. The villagers naturally felt that their team of hundreds of people was very safe, and that no small number of irrational guys would dare to force their way in.

Of course, this feeling couldn't be said to be wrong. After all, along the way, Bandit groups with fewer than a hundred people simply didn't have the confidence to take down Jier's team. Therefore, although there were always many people spying and scouting, and some daring guys came up to rob them, ever since they had a fierce fight with the people gathered by Shanlang Bani when they first set out, there had been no second large-scale battle until now.

Bandit groups that felt their strength was insufficient would naturally retreat consciously.

However, Jier had a premonition that the bandits on the western Shanglu of Duoen Town had previously relied on robbing caravans for a living, and their scale was not very large. Although the profits were rich, there were no other Villages on the road from Duoen Town to the Baishi Chengqiang Guanka in the past, except for some inns along the way.

So the bandits there were fierce, but their scale would certainly not be very large.

But the place under their feet now was different. Not only did the population gradually become dense after officially entering the Southern Province, but after the Noble Lords from various places led their troops to support the border war, some rural areas lost the protection of the Lord's army and had long since become objects of bullying and exploitation for the Bandit groups that had previously survived here.

Just as analyzed before, bandits, scattered soldiers who retreated in defeat, deserters, as well as village hooligans who lost their constraints in various places, and young Villagers who lost their livelihood due to the above-mentioned scum attacking their Villages, these people would inevitably gather together and, through various methods, turn back into a chaotic violent group that only aimed at their own desires and interests.

It was difficult for Jier to judge the number of people in these violent groups, but he felt it probably wouldn't be small.

After all, the old debt had not been cleared, and he didn't want to add countless new souls of the dead to his hands.

"Jier, why are you back? Is the scouting finished? What's the situation around us tonight?"

Xueya Site was lying comfortably by the campfire in the center of the Yingdi, holding a Dagger and carving a simple Wooden Carving. Of course, this thing was not the same as the kind Jier had ordered someone to make before; this was just a Wooden Carving Xueya Site made casually, missing his family.

"As for the situation around, I can only say it's okay. But I came back to change equipment. Also, one Maomao was injured just now."

Xueya Site glanced at the four Maomaos, his eyes fixed on the one holding its tail: "What a pity, do you want to let Bata'er Jiaoshi take a look at it? But I'm not sure if the Priest's healing ability can be used on other races."

Hearing this, Jier also looked back at the injured Maomao, but the Maomaos just shook their round, furry faces, rejecting the suggestion.

At this time, Jier had taken off the hood of his Cloak, and ever since the hood was taken off, the way the Cloak imitated the flower bushes on his body was also directly canceled.

The Maomaos that went out soon merged with the Maomaos that stayed in the Yingdi, and then they let out a series of thin cries. Excluding the injured melee Maomao, the remaining seven Maomaos that could fight all walked out together, preparing to have a big fight later, and it would be best to obtain some metal as spoils of war while taking revenge.

Otherwise, Kuaitui Maomao would have been injured in vain.

Jier returned to his own tent; he did not put on his Metal Armor, but instead equipped his Long Sword and Shield.

As for the Hunting Bow, he would not bring it; he still possessed that much self-awareness. Jier had no desire to seek abuse by competing in archery against a Hunter of the God of Hunting in the woods at night.

Utilizing his current Knight Training, holding his Shield to quickly close in on the enemy, and then resolving it with melee combat—this was the battle plan he had chosen.

While the cover provided by the trees in the forest was certainly advantageous for a Hunter's concealment and evasion, it was also very advantageous for Jier himself. As for the open wilderness without cover, Jier felt that it was actually a highly favorable situation for him.

Because his own mobility completely surpassed that of a Hunter, the opponent would have nowhere to hide in an open environment; as long as he closed the distance, he could quickly resolve the battle.

Having calculated everything, Jier prepared himself and walked out of the tent.

He clapped his hands and called over a subordinate guarding his tent: "Bring a quiver of Crossbow Bolts over."

"Yes, Sir Knight."

After receiving the order, the guard rummaged through Jier's own supplies and found a quiver of Crossbow Bolts used for a crossbow.

Jier poured out the Crossbow Bolts, grabbed four at once, and handed them to the seven Mao Mao who would be fighting later: "Come, all of you come and take them. Four crossbow bolts for each Mao Mao; this thing can significantly strengthen your attack capabilities. Keep them well, don't lose them; I don't have any place to replenish them here."

These crossbow bolts were all brought by Jier from the Kendall Army, and there was no place to replenish them at this time. Duoen Town certainly had crossbow bolts, but it was unlikely they would sell them to outsiders.

After all, not letting bandits possess a sufficient quantity of ranged weapons was the most basic concept of public security. As for the full set of bows and arrows possessed by the bandits under the King of White Wall, that was another matter entirely.

The Mao Mao happily hugged the human crossbow bolts that the powerful Human had placed in their hands; the reflective metal arrowheads of these things satisfied them immensely.

Yongqi Maomao even tried to compare the tail of a Crossbow Bolt with its own tail, estimating the angle and force of the release. This thing was far more powerful than the clods of dirt they picked up everywhere.

Subsequently, Jier led the seven Mao Mao back into the shadows, quickly bypassed the patrolling Armed Civilians, and walked out of the group's overnight Yingdi.

Walking along the previous route for a while, Jier roughly found the gloomy Shulin where the sounds of birds were rising and falling in the distance.

This Shulin was not in the direction where his group's Lumberjacks had been logging in the evening, so the birds living here had not been savagely frightened by humans; at this time, they were still as usual, either singing beautiful serenades or straining their throats to emit terrifying "woo-woo-woo" cries.

The buzzing of mosquitoes and insects was also very loud, and there were insects rubbing their elytra together, singing loud mating calls.

"It should be roughly in this direction."

Jier had found this place by working backward from the direction Kuaitui Maomao had run from.

Just as he was about to carefully enter the Shulin with the other Mao Mao, Jier heard the voice of the Great Bird God: "Rear left, in the grass is the weapon used by that Hunter."

Jier was stunned, then turned around to rummage through the nearby grass.

In the pitch-black night, looking for things in the grass was truly extremely troublesome. Fortunately, he had many people, and the Mao Mao had very keen noses; they quickly followed the human scent in the weeds and found two long Bow and Arrows that were heavy for them.

Although he could not see clearly, Jier could barely sense that these two arrows were extraordinary: one had a metal diamond-shaped arrowhead, the slender shaft was very heavy, and the entire arrow was made of a deep, dim material that was almost hidden in the night.

When the leather Glove on his hand rubbed against this arrow, it did not emit any sound at all.

He guessed that this arrow was the first one that had attacked Kuaitui Maomao. If it hadn't been for its keen senses and quick wit, it probably would have died here without knowing why.

"Human, offer it to me, this is very important!"

Jier pondered for a moment: "What about the benefits?"

"Helping me is helping yourself, haven't you figured it out yet? Those cunning lackeys don't care whether you have a connection with me or not; they really wouldn't mind hunting one more human. Besides, offer the other one to me as well!"

Jier snorted coldly: "That's not necessarily true. I could very well try handing over the Wooden Carving that houses your power to them; perhaps they might even reward me with something?"

"Oh, you can try that, but do you dare to try? Ga-ga-ga-ga!"

This Great Bird God seemed to have Jier figured out, and in the end, it actually started laughing.

Jier's face turned cold: "I will decide my own actions; I'm not looking for you, so keep your mouth shut yourself."

The other party stopped speaking, but faintly, Jier could still hear a mocking, cackling sound echoing repeatedly in his ears.

Jier checked the other arrow he had picked up; this thing was very special. After being caught by Jier, it was still vibrating slightly and struggling, as if this arrow also had a Spirit.

After fumbling with it, Jier discovered that the arrowhead of this arrow was shaped like two metal fangs, and the shaft was ice-cold and slippery, just like holding a snake in hibernation!

And the fletching at the tail of the arrow also felt very subtle.

It did not look like it was made from the feathers of any bird, but rather from some other kind of special material.

The arrow in Jier's hand was still trembling and trying to escape, but Jier threateningly bent the shaft by force, and the arrow immediately became obedient and stopped moving.

Tying these two things together with a blade of wild grass he pulled up, Jier tucked them into his waist, and then said to the surrounding Mao Mao: "Get ready, we're entering the Shulin."

"Mm!"

The seven Mao Mao responded in unison and then scattered; Jier held the Elven Metal Shield in front of him and stepped lightly, using the large trees one by one to sneak toward the place where the arrows had likely been fired to attack the Mao Mao earlier.