Chapter 87: Who Is the Prey
The sun shone high, and the morning mist had already vanished into the jungle.
A lone figure was moving swiftly through the forest—it was Zhou Ming, traveling on foot.
This path had already been cleared by others, and with the ferocious beast auras emitted by Inkband and Vermilion Jade, no mutated creatures dared to disturb him.
With Zhou Ming’s body far surpassing that of an ordinary human, the rugged mountain trails barely slowed his pace.
On the third day after leaving the safety zone of Qinshan Base, he had reached less than ten kilometers from the Northern Wasteland.
“If that group from the night before last intended to attack me, then Windback Gorge would’ve been the most suitable place to do it.”
Standing atop a cliff, Zhou Ming gazed at the distant valley through the mountain breeze, speculating where his potential assailants might strike.
From Qinshan Base’s safety zone stretching a hundred kilometers northward lay the buffer zone between the base and the Northern Wasteland.
Crossing Windback Gorge meant stepping into the boundless expanse of the wasteland.
If his enemies didn’t make a move there, it would be difficult to find him once he entered the Northern Wasteland—an endless prairie with countless paths.
“Click, click.”
Before setting out, Zhou Ming inspected his firearms—magazines easily reachable at his waist, specialized bullets for his Thunder Type-2 Revolver, grenades and smoke bombs hanging from his chest.
“Let’s hope I’m just overthinking.”
After confirming everything was in order, Zhou Ming muttered softly toward Windback Gorge, then turned and began descending the slope toward it.
The Qin Family, the Hunter Guild, the upper echelons of Qinshan Base, and Hunting Corps with professional-rank Beast Tamers—Zhou Ming couldn’t afford to provoke any of them. But he certainly wasn’t someone a few apprentice-level hunters could toy with.
Though his face remained calm, Zhou Ming had long been holding back a suppressed anger. If those people truly came to cause him trouble, he could finally vent it and clear his mind.
“Boss, are you sure Zhou Ming will take this path? There’s more than one way to the Northern Wasteland, you know.”
In a dense forest within a mountain hollow, Da Yong—who knew Zhou Ming’s minimum bounty was worth a hundred million Alliance Coins—asked anxiously.
“Relax,” Hu Peng replied. “The other routes may lead to the Northern Wasteland too, but they’re crawling with low-tier Ferocious Beasts. With bad luck, he might even run into a high-tier one. This road, though, has been cleaned by hunters repeatedly—it’s the safest.”
“Besides, that guy’s beast can’t be ridden. He can only travel on foot. It’s normal that he’s slower. I expect he’ll reach Windback Gorge today.”
Hearing Hu Peng’s reasoning, Da Yong finally relaxed, though he still grumbled about Zhou Ming’s sluggishness.
“That brat has no real strength, no mountable beast, yet he dares to dream of scavenging from that ruin base in the Northern Wasteland? He’ll end up eating dirt, not soup.”
“Enough. Stick to the plan—ambush positions as discussed. My gunshot will be the signal.”
Hu Peng cut him off sharply, ordering his men to get into position.
Da Yong, along with Shi Lei and Zhu Ming, immediately shut up and began moving.
All three were experienced hunters—once real work began, they turned serious.
Meanwhile, less than a kilometer away, Zhou Ming crouched high in a tree, watching Hu Peng’s group through a high-powered scope.
“So it really is Hu Peng and his men.”
Lowering the binoculars, Zhou Ming whispered toward the distant figures, his tone betraying no surprise—only confirmation.
As he neared Windback Gorge earlier, Zhou Ming had sent out his Ironthread Snakes to form a Radar Sensory Domain for advance scouting. To his expectations, he detected four bright white spots hiding near the gorge.
The Ironthread Snakes were tiny and, as mutated animals rather than Ferocious Beasts, could easily hide among fallen leaves and rock crevices without drawing attention.
Mutated creatures were far too common in the wilderness, and under Zhou Ming’s control, the snakes deliberately concealed both movement and aura. It was no wonder Hu Peng’s group failed to notice them.
Having gained the upper hand, Zhou Ming immediately used his high-powered binoculars to observe from the cover of a lush tree, spotting the group gathered together in apparent discussion.
“Hu Peng and Shi Lei’s beasts were destroyed in our last arena battle—they must’ve tamed new ones since. I don’t know their current beasts, so I’ll deal with Zhu Ming and Da Yong first.”
Better to cripple one than injure all—Zhou Ming understood that clearly. Now that Hu Peng’s group was spreading out to encircle him, he had the chance to eliminate them one by one.
But he would only get one opportunity. Zhou Ming needed to pick his target carefully to ensure success, for once he struck, the other three would react immediately.
If he failed to kill instantly and got entangled, he could easily end up surrounded.
After a brief thought, Zhou Ming decided to target Da Yong first.
He had seen Da Yong’s beast during the previous arena match—a Violent Lion.
Among low-tier Ferocious Beasts, the Violent Lion’s power was fairly average, its abilities balanced across the board. Its only advantage was its berserk ability—when enraged, its strength doubled for a short time, followed by a period of weakness.
In the wilderness, only a few Violent Lions could enter a berserk state at will; most could only trigger it near death.
However, Beast Tamers usually trained their Violent Lions specifically to control this berserk ability, allowing them to double their combat power temporarily. This made the Violent Lion a popular choice among tamers.
Zhou Ming had to deal with the most dangerous opponent first—the Violent Lion. As for Zhu Ming’s Diamond Ape, he would deal with it afterward.
Decision made, Zhou Ming swiftly descended from the tree, hid his backpack, and kept only his weapons and ammunition. Then he gathered nearby vines and branches and, using the knowledge he had studied at the Qinshan Library, fashioned a makeshift camouflage suit.
Though Qinshan Library lacked high-level texts, it held countless foundational works. Zhou Ming had spent an entire year there reading everything related to Beast Tamers, so crafting a temporary disguise was no challenge.
The makeshift outfit looked crude but worked surprisingly well.
After putting it on and spraying his body with scent-masking agent, Zhou Ming began creeping toward Da Yong’s position.
Using trees, grass, and rocks for cover, he crawled low, moving with the special power technique of the Mad Python Martial Way—his body slithering forward like a giant python approaching its prey.
Da Yong and Zhu Ming were stationed on either side of Windback Gorge’s entrance, while Shi Lei and Hu Peng hid inside the gorge itself.
Together, their formation resembled open arms, ready to trap Zhou Ming once he entered.
And the place Zhou Ming now advanced toward—was the dense forest to the left of the gorge where Da Yong lay hidden.