Suspicion! Hunter or Prey?

The number of beasts active at night during this period seemed to be quite high.

As long as they did not provoke him, Tang Zheng could not be bothered to care.

He had gained quite a lot of experience, so his mood was fairly good today. Besides, there should be a Goblin settlement somewhere in this area.

Tang Zheng planned to search the area carefully tomorrow.

He did not know why.

Tang Zheng always felt as if he had overlooked something, but whenever he thought about it carefully, he found that there did not seem to be anything he had missed.

The only thing that concerned him somewhat was the time he had been besieged by the Trolls. However, ever since he had escaped that group of Trolls, nothing similar had happened again.

The night wind blew past.

The cool breeze caused the lush green leaves throughout the jungle to sway slightly.

Tang Zheng's nose twitched. Carried along by the breeze was a faintly familiar smell.

At first, Tang Zheng did not pay much attention to it. But just as he was preparing to go back to sleep, his eyes suddenly snapped open.

That smell—

Goblin!

That was right. It was the smell of a Goblin, a rotten stench like a pair of foul socks that had not been washed for decades.

The slight confusion in Tang Zheng's eyes instantly vanished, replaced by clarity.

He had always felt as if he had overlooked something. Only after smelling this scent in the air did he suddenly realize it.

It was the smell emanating from the Goblins!

During his half-month of friendly exchanges with the Goblins, Tang Zheng had long since grown accustomed to it, which was why he had subconsciously ignored it all this time!

And over the past few days, this faint smell had been drifting over every night from the places where he had been sleeping outdoors!

In the darkness of night.

Tang Zheng did not know what expression he currently wore, but it certainly could not be a pleasant one.

The creatures that had frequently passed beneath his tree during this period were not beasts at all, but Goblins!

Although the Goblin race possessed Night Vision, they actually followed the same schedule as humans, staying active at night and resting during the day.

Unless it was necessary, even Goblins would not hunt at night in an environment like the jungle.

He had been targeted!

Damn it!

He had only realized it now.

Tang Zheng could not help cursing inwardly. The faint sense that something had been wrong all this time finally became completely clear at that moment.

After raising the Sword Saint to max level, perhaps because there were no longer any Monsters in this outer region that could threaten Tang Zheng, he had become less vigilant.

Even Trolls posed no danger to Tang Zheng unless they appeared in sufficient numbers.

This caused Tang Zheng to lose the caution he had possessed at the beginning. Throughout the entire process, he had actually failed to notice the Goblin watching him from the shadows.

No!

Beneath the Black cloak, a glint flashed in Tang Zheng's eyes.

With the intelligence of an ordinary Goblin, it was impossible for it to handle such meticulous surveillance.

Could I really be lucky enough to have encountered some kind of mutated Goblin? This thought surfaced in Tang Zheng's mind, and he could not help licking the corner of his mouth.

Even if he had lowered his guard, it was impossible for him not to notice an ordinary Goblin secretly following him.

Ranger? Forest Priest? Druid? Thief? Tracker?

All these Classes excelled at tracking, especially in complicated environments such as forests. Without detection magic, it would be even harder for someone to notice them.

Tang Zheng calmed down again. The Goblin that had targeted him most likely possessed one of these Classes.

Then what was the other party's purpose?

Tang Zheng furrowed his brows.

That Goblin was not merely following him. It also confirmed his location every night, which clearly meant it had some kind of purpose.

The reason he believed there was a strong possibility that the other party was a mutated Goblin rather than a Troll was simple.

The Troll's body was far too large. Moving around would create quite a commotion, making it completely unsuitable for tracking someone.

"Is it a trap?"

Tang Zheng recalled what had happened over the past few days, and he already had a vague guess.

He had encountered pitifully few Goblins during this period. It was only today that the number of Goblins had suddenly increased.

If he had not suddenly discovered the suspected mutated Goblin hiding in the shadows, he really would have suspected that his luck had worsened. But now that he thought about it, it was clearly the other party's doing!

Having figured this out.

Tang Zheng continued pretending that he had noticed nothing and leaned against the tree to sleep as usual.

Since he had discovered the other party, the identities of "hunter" and "prey" between them were about to change!

The moonlight and stars gradually faded away.

The morning birdsong rang out through the jungle as sunlight streamed down between the leaves.

Tang Zheng stretched and jumped down from the tree, looking completely refreshed.

Not only had he not slept poorly the previous night, but his Sleep had actually improved considerably.

Since the suspected mutated Goblin had not attacked him despite following him for so long, that meant its strength was far inferior to his. Otherwise, it would not have merely followed and monitored him until now.

As usual, Tang Zheng took out rye bread stuffed with cooked pork. He ate large mouthfuls while carrying the Iron Sword and continued forward.

At the same time, he observed the surrounding movements from the corners of his eyes. Just as he had expected, he discovered nothing.

Seeing this.

Tang Zheng at least confirmed one thing: the other party was definitely not too close to him.

This also made Tang Zheng abandon the thought of finding the other party immediately. If the other party truly possessed any of the Classes he had guessed, tracking it down in the jungle would be quite difficult.

"Then let me see the trap you've specially prepared for me. It'll be just the thing to flush you out." A glint flashed in Tang Zheng's eyes as he thought inwardly.

About ten minutes after leaving the area.

A figure with green pointed ears appeared where Tang Zheng had stood earlier. It looked similar to a Goblin, but its body was a full two times larger than that of a normal Goblin.

The difference was not limited to its size. Even its eyes were clearly different.

A Goblin's eyes were narrow and long, resembling those of a beast. This figure's eyes, however, were about the size of human eye sockets. Most of each eye was pure white, with only a tiny Black pupil at the center.

Its gaze was filled with caution and wariness.

The figure sniffed the air with its slightly sunken green nose, then looked toward the crushed leaves and snapped twigs ahead.

Those were the traces left behind by Tang Zheng as he walked.

After pausing briefly.

The figure once again followed the traces onward.

What was astonishing was that wherever the figure passed, the grass, bushes, and even the dense, interwoven branches blocking the way ahead automatically parted to make room for it.

Moreover, not once during the entire process did it make a sound!

Before anyone realized it, it was already noon.

Tang Zheng took out his waterskin and gulped down several mouthfuls. Through the gaps between the leaves, he narrowed his eyes slightly at the vertical shafts of sunlight spilling down.

He had more than one waterskin. While preparing his supplies, he had bought over sixty waterskins, each with a capacity of roughly five kilograms.

At an average of two per day, that was enough for an entire month!

As long as he was only drinking water, he had absolutely no need to worry about running out.