Chapter 542
What Is It
They could not find any other clues, and this was where Shao Xuan’s dream ended.
However, these traces were already huge progress for them. It was far more reliable than searching aimlessly in the forest.
Shao Xuan’s group of five searched around and found a few spots with the grass that the green-faced fanged beasts. They were all chewed to the point that only tiny torn leaves were left close to the surface.
After he marked the location on his map, Shao Xuan took off the penetrated bone plate from the carcass of the beast, and then walked back where they came from with Duo Kang and the others.
On their way back to where they rested, Shao Xuan felt the presence of someone watching them from not far away, and the person left quickly after he noticed Shao Xuan looking. His speed was not at all slower than Robber Seven. In fact, his observation skills were much keener. He felt Shao Xuan watching and left at full speed before Shao Xuan even finished turning his head.
Seeing Shao Xuan’s reaction, Duo Kang already guessed that someone was nearby and kept his guard up, “Who is it?”
“It probably one of the robbers. He’s not weaker than Robber Seven. He might even be at a higher rank than him.” Shao Xuan said as he continued to walk away with the bone plate in his hands. He didn’t bother to chase after the opponent.
After Shao Xuan’s group of five left, the person who escaped came back and retraced the footsteps they left behind. He searched wherever they searched and noticed the remains of the beast that was left there. He didn’t notice what Shao Xuan and the others did here. When he arrived, he only saw the group of five leave with a bone plate in their hands. He was surprised to see the Flaming Horns here.
He looked closely at the carcass and searched all around. The grass that had been stepped on was rising back to their original height, but there were still tracks where the Flaming Horns walked. He followed those traces and found the short grass that the beast chewed on. It was the grass that was bitten to the surface of the ground.
Seeing that, the man’s interlaced his fingers into the shape of a conch and sounded the horn.
A series of sounds that sounded like a beast snoring sounded, but it wasn’t sharp. In fact, it was a very low signal that travelled very far.
A while later, two figures came over. They were like intelligent monkeys that hopped around freely in the woods.
“Found it?” asked the person who had just arrived.
“No, but I discovered something,” The person who just sent the signal told the others about what he just saw.
“That should be it! The Flaming Horns are indeed good at searching!”
“Should we tell Shi Shi about this?” one of them asked.
“Don’t tell him for the time being. I’m worried that he will bring people over and search the area, and that will affect the other tribes. Let’s wait till the tribesmen find it.” Compared to the group of slaves, they felt that the tribesmen would find it first.
“It’s better for the tribesmen to find the green-faced fanged beast first. Then we will steal it from them.” one of them said mischievously. They liked to find treasures, but they enjoyed stealing treasures from other people even more. That would just make them happier.
While these people were discussing their plans, Shao Xuan’s group of five already arrived at their resting place.
It was already dark outside, and the other people who went out to search for it all returned early, but they didn’t see the five members of the Flaming Horn tribe. Gu La was worried, so he flew out to search for them on the back of his eagle, and he saw those five figures walking back.
“What is this?” Gu La asked when he saw the penetrated bone plate in Shao Xuan’s hands.
“This is something we discovered today. I suspect that the hole was pierced by the green-faced fanged beast.” Shao Xuan didn’t say anything about his dream. He only mentioned the results of their search.
Even though the others were not hunters before they entered the forest, they knew enough about the hardness of beast bones, not to mention all the experiences they gained after they entered the forest. They killed enough beasts and could give an accurate explanation for this.
The bone plate was hard enough and its quality was good enough to be made into a shield. If someone wanted to drill a hole through it, it wouldn’t have been an easy task. But even so, there weren’t any marks showing a halt during the attack. It was penetrated with a simple ‘swish’ and didn’t even leave a crack or other small holes in the bone plate.
“There is only one hole? It’s definitely not the horns of the green-faced fanged beast. The green-faced fangs had hooves and no horns.
If it was the green-faced fanged beast that made this hole, it must’ve been its teeth.” Huang Ye analyzed.
“But even if it was the green-faced fanged beast, there was only one hole. Didn’t Shao Xuan say that the green-faced fanged beast had two upward fangs?” Qu Ce asked.
“Maybe it only has one fang,” Huang Ye guessed. To them, the purpose of this search was to understand what the slave masters wanted to do with this beast. Now, all they wanted was to catch one of these beasts and take it back to study.
Regardless of what the truth was, and regardless of whether it was really the green-faced fanged beast, they had to be vigilant. Any creature that could pierce a hole right through a bone plate could easily pierce through any human.
At night, it was the same as before. Some of them slept on the trees outside the cave while the rest stayed inside. A few people took turns to keep watch around the area.
As the night grew late, the forest began to quiet down, and even the insects shut their mouth. It was extremely quiet.
Shhhh Shhhh—- Shhhh Shhh—
It sounded like a breeze blowing across the waves of grass, bringing with it a consistent rhythm. In the dark night, there was a strange sense of serenity. Such nights made everyone sleepy.
Swaying grass and colliding branches made their sounds, but in the meantime, a subtle sound was approaching them.
The warrior who was keeping watch looked over but didn’t see anything. Only the thick grass swayed in the wind. He stared in that direction for a few seconds before he turned away and left.
Just after he turned around, a pair of bright eyes lit up amidst the grass.
The soldier who had just taken two steps away felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. The feeling of being targeted by a predator was like being in an ice cellar. He took a courageous turn and threw a spear in that direction.
The spear pierced and stuck into the grass. The warrior who was keeping watch could only see a figure flash through. It disappeared in the blink of an eye.
“What was it?!” one of them asked.
“I don’t know, could it be the green-faced fanged beast?” another soldier asked apprehensively.
“No way? The green-faced fanged beast came to us?” found it by themselves?”
“I couldn’t see it clearly. It might’ve just been some common beast in the forest.”
“Let’s set up a fence tomorrow,” someone suggested.
“I agree.”
…
The warriors who were keeping watch at the time were whispering softly. The figure that had just left shuttled through the forest and went to another mountain. It stopped and raised its head slightly as if sniffing something in the air.
It smelled a scent that it liked, and then shuttled through the woods like the wind until it arrived at where the smell came.
There was a trap there, similar to the one that was taken down by the tribes the other day, but this time it was crafted with much more detail. Inside the trap, there was a small handful of grass. This was where the smell came from.
The figure paused here for a while before it slowly walked towards that side.
The next day.
The slaves from Rock Hill City routinely inspected the traps and found that among the traps set here, the grass that was tied onto them were gone. All the traps were triggered, but the prey escaped each time.
The people from Rock Hill City reported to Shi Shi, and he was very happy. Even though they didn’t catch anything, there was news. He immediately commanded them to increase the number of traps and the area their traps covered. He also told them to check the traps to see why they had failed to catch the green-faced fanged beast. He wanted to see if there were any problems. If it didn’t work, then they had to change the material they used to make the trap.