Chapter 211 - Chapter 211: Chapter 211: Tracking in the Woods (Part 2) (1/2)

Chapter 211: Chapter 211: Tracking in the Woods (Part 2)

Translator: 549690339

Xiang Kun lay at the bottom of the hillside, in the bushes, clutching his knee and moaning from time to time. After more than three hours, there was still no sign of that mutant creature.

Close to Xiang Kun was a twig that emitted an unusual odour, so he wasn’t worried about the mutant creature not be able to find him.

It seems, the mutant creature either has high intelligence, or it is just extremely cautious.

However, considering the past encounters with Host Xue’s group, if they were harmed by the mutant, this creature must be extremely brutal – it was unlikely that it killed three people purely for blood-drinking.

Xiang Kun got up and brushed off the grass and dirt from his body. He flipped his middle finger at the twig that looked like common grass, regardless whether the mutant creature could see this gesture through the twig or understand its meaning.

He picked up the Compound Bow, quiver and shoes, then yanked the twig and crushed it under his foot.

If the mutant creature decided to avoid him, then Xiang Kun was likely to return empty-handed. He could not stay in this uninhabited forest for too long, as drinking blood and sleeping here would be like a suicide given the presence of other mutants.

Apparently, this creature was different from the Giant Owl and Guo Tianxiang, since the latter two were in desperate need of other mutants’ blood prior to their encounters with Xiang Kun. Therefore, it was Xiang Kun who took the opportunity to fight back, rather than being the hunter.

However, this mutant creature wasn’t in such a state just like Xiang Kun and could act more rationally and cautiously.

Xiang Kun presumed that the creature was a product of plant mutation, which would follow basic instincts and not have high intelligence. But based on its behaviour, its intelligence might not be low and possibly superior to that of the Giant Owl.

Xiang Kun planned to search for another day. If he still couldn’t find the mutant or its nest, he was prepared to leave.

Unexpectedly, before night fell, he – following a scent of blood – found the leopard that had tried to attack him under the influence of the red fruit.

The leopard lay dead in the grass with a small wound on its body, similar to the one on the boar in Host Xue’s video.

While touching the leopard’s fur, Xiang Kun lamented softly, “This is a protected animal…”

It was clear that the leopard was hunted by the mutant – Xiang Kun confirmed this from the special smell on the leopard’s corpse and its surroundings. This smell was much stronger than that from the twigs grafted onto other plants, indicating that the mutant creature itself had attacked.

Has it drunk blood?

So, the appearance of the red fruit that attracted the leopard wasn’t necessarily targeting Xiang Kun but aimed at attracting prey for the mutant creature’s blood-drinking period?

So following the regular pattern, wasn’t it supposed to be slumbering?

After all, feeling drowsy after drinking blood seems like a common characteristic for these mutants. This was certainly the case for Xiang Kun, Owl and Guo Tianxiang.

The Giant Owl would swallow a stone after drinking blood to suppress drowsiness, and then flew back to the cliff’s nest.

Although this mutant had shown an ability to fly before, Xiang Kun suspected that its flying was somewhat restricted. Unlike birds who could freely roam the sky, it should have its nest not too far from here which he might be able to track.

Of course, if it meticulously separated the smell by a cliff or other discontinuities, then he wouldn’t be able to proceed.

Following the smell left on the leopard’s corpse, it didn’t take Xiang Kun too long to find the potential “nest” of the mutant.

It was a towering tree. Looking up, it would be difficult for an average person to spot a “large ball” that seemed to be wrapped in various vines amongst the branches and leaves, if not for Xiang Kun’s exceptional vision.

The special smell was robust on the “large ball,” which was obviously different from the twigs grafted onto other plants. Therefore, there was a high chance that the mutant was hibernating inside it.

However, Xiang Kun had some doubts as after inspecting the leopard’s corpse, fresh blood was still oozing from the wound with a significant amount of blood stains around. Compared to the boar in Host Xue’s video, this leopard had lost less blood.

If the mutant had previously drunk the blood from a wild boar weighing over a hundred kilograms, there’s no reason why it couldn’t finish the blood of a thirty-kilogram leopard.

Xiang Kun even estimated from the volume of blood left on the leopard’s corpse that the mutant might not have drunk blood at all and simply killed the leopard.

Therefore, his ability to track the smell to this place in less than twenty minutes might not have been luck, but a deliberate lure by the mutant.

Could it have thought that Xiang Kun would suppose it would go into hibernation after hunting, and therefore, follow the smell to the “large ball” in the tree?

If it really could set a trap through this line of thought, then Xiang Kun had to raise his estimation of its intelligence.

However, judging from the smell, the mutant should be inside the vine-woven “large ball” in the tree that was like its nest. Was it waiting for Xiang Kun to climb the tree, then suddenly strike? Or was there some sort of trap in the tree itself?

Since Xiang Kun knew it could very likely be a trap set by the mutant, he wasn’t going to be careless. He didn’t climb up the tree trunk directly but strapped his bow on his back and climbed a tree next to it.

Midway up that tree, Xiang Kun switched to infrared imagery mode in an attempt to see whether the “blue spot” was inside the “large ball.” However, because of the multiple layers of vines covering it, the source of heat was blocked, and he couldn’t see inside.

Finding a position on the tree, Xiang Kun secured his body by clamping the trunk with his legs, took off the Compound Bow, took out two arrows – one in his mouth and one in his hand – slowly put the arrow on the bow, pushed it, pulled it, and then aimed.

The arrow left the bow and instantly penetrated the green “large ball.”

Xiang Kun, with his keen hearing, even heard a crisp “pop.” Almost three-quarters of the arrow had buried itself.

Then, to Xiang Kun’s surprise, the whole of the “large ball” erupted in a blast of green liquid after being pierced by the arrow. Like a sudden sun birth, a large area of red appeared under Xiang Kun’s infrared image vision.

White smoke was rising. The liquid inside the vines seemed to mix with another liquid, rapidly reaching boiling point. It sprayed and burst like a water-filled balloon on the tree. However, the “water” inside was all highly corrosive liquid.