There seemed to be quite a few beasts active at night lately.
As long as they did not provoke him, Tang Zheng could not be bothered to care.
He had gained quite a bit of experience, so he was in a fairly good mood today. Besides, there should be a Goblin settlement somewhere in this area.
Tang Zheng planned to conduct a thorough search tomorrow.
For some reason,
Tang Zheng always felt that he had overlooked something, but when he thought carefully about it, nothing seemed to have been overlooked.
The only thing on his mind was the time he had been surrounded by Trolls, but 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, countless leaves in the jungle to sway gently.
Tang Zheng's nose twitched. Carried on the breeze was a faintly familiar smell.
At first, Tang Zheng did not pay much attention to it. Just as he was about to go back to sleep, he suddenly opened his eyes.
That smell—
Goblins!
That was right, it was the smell of Goblins—that rotten stench, like filthy socks that had not been washed in decades.
The slight daze in Tang Zheng's eyes instantly vanished.
He had always felt that he had overlooked something. Only now, upon smelling that scent in the air, did he suddenly realize what it was.
It was the odor emitted by Goblins!
After half a month of friendly exchanges with Goblins, Tang Zheng had long grown accustomed to the smell, so he had subconsciously ignored it all this time!
And over the past few days, there had faintly been that same smell around where he camped every night!
In the darkness.
Tang Zheng did not know what expression he wore at that moment, but it was surely not a pleasant one.
The things that had often passed beneath his tree lately were not beasts at all, but Goblins!
Although Goblins possessed Night Vision, they actually followed the same routine as humans, resting at night and being active during the day.
Unless necessary, even Goblins would not hunt at night in an environment like the jungle.
He had been watched!
Damn it!
He had only realized it now.
Tang Zheng could not help cursing under his breath. The vague feeling that something had been wrong all this time finally became completely clear at that moment.
After raising Sword Saint to its maximum level, perhaps because there were no longer any monsters in this outer region capable of threatening Tang Zheng,
even Trolls could not pose much danger to him unless there were enough of them.
This had made Tang Zheng lose the caution he had possessed at the beginning. He had actually failed to notice the Goblin watching him from the shadows throughout all this time.
No!
Beneath his Black cloak, Tang Zheng's eyes flashed.
With the intelligence of an ordinary Goblin, it could never handle such meticulous surveillance.
"Could my luck really be that good? Did I actually run into some kind of mutated Goblin?" The thought surfaced in Tang Zheng's mind, and he could not help licking his lips.
Even if he had let down his guard,
there was no way he would fail to notice an ordinary Goblin secretly following him.
Scout? Forest Priest? Druid? Thief? Hunter?
All of these classes were skilled at tracking, especially in complicated environments such as forests. Without detection-type magic, they would not be easily noticed.
Tang Zheng calmed down again. The Goblin watching him likely possessed one of those classes.
Then what was its objective?
Tang Zheng frowned.
That Goblin was not merely following him. It also confirmed his location every night, clearly harboring some sort of purpose.
The reason he was fairly certain it was a mutated Goblin rather than a Troll
was naturally because Trolls were far too large. They made far too much noise when moving and were simply unsuited for something like tracking.
"A trap?"
Tang Zheng recalled what had happened over the past few days and already had a vague guess in his heart.
The number of Goblins he had encountered lately had been pitifully small. It was only today that their numbers had suddenly increased.
If he had not suddenly discovered the suspected mutated Goblin hiding in the dark, he might truly have suspected that his luck had worsened. Now that he thought about it, it was obviously the other party's doing!
Having figured that out,
Tang Zheng continued pretending that he had noticed nothing. As usual, he leaned against a large tree and went to sleep.
Now that he had discovered the other party, the identities of "hunter" and "prey" between them were about to change!
The moonlight and stars gradually faded.
Morning birdsong echoed through the jungle as sunlight streamed down through the gaps between the leaves.
Stretching lazily, Tang Zheng leaped down from the tree, looking thoroughly refreshed.
Not only had he not slept poorly last night, his Sleep had actually improved considerably.
Since that suspected mutated Goblin had not attacked him, it meant that its strength was far inferior to his. Otherwise, it would not have done nothing but track and monitor him until now.
As usual, Tang Zheng took out rye bread stuffed with cooked pork. He took large bites as he carried his iron sword and continued onward.
At the same time, he watched the surroundings from the corner of his eye. Just as expected, he found nothing.
Seeing this,
Tang Zheng confirmed at least one thing: the other party was definitely not close to him.
This also made Tang Zheng abandon the thought of immediately finding it. If it truly possessed any of the classes he had guessed earlier, dragging it out in the jungle would be rather difficult.
"Then let me see this trap you specially prepared for me. It will be the perfect chance to drag you out." Tang Zheng's eyes flashed as he thought to himself.
About ten minutes after leaving the area,
a figure with green pointed ears appeared where Tang Zheng had just been standing. It looked similar to a Goblin, but was fully twice the size of a normal Goblin.
It was not merely larger. Even its eyes were clearly different.
A Goblin's eyes were narrow and beastlike, but this figure's eye sockets were about the same size as a human's. Most of its eyes were pure white, with only tiny Black pupils at their centers.
Its gaze was filled with caution and wariness.
Using its slightly flattened green nose, the figure sniffed the scent in the air and looked toward the crushed leaves and broken twigs ahead.
Those were the traces Tang Zheng had left behind as he walked.
After pausing briefly,
the figure followed the trail again.
What was unbelievable was that wherever the figure passed, the grass, bushes, and even the densely intertwined branches blocking its path automatically parted to make way for it.
And throughout the entire process, it did not make the slightest sound!
Before he realized it,
it was already noon.
Tang Zheng took out his waterskin and drank several mouthfuls. His eyes narrowed slightly beneath the vertical shafts of sunlight pouring through the gaps in the leaves.
He had more than one waterskin. Among the supplies he had prepared, he had bought more than sixty water bags, each with a capacity of roughly five kilograms.
At an average of two a day, that was enough to last an entire month!
If it was only for drinking, he did not need to worry about water at all.
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