Following his usual route, Tang Zheng moved forward. Aside from the normal birdsong, there was little movement from ordinary beasts in the forest.
"It's a little too quiet."
Tang Zheng took the waterskin from his hand and hung it back at his waist, listening carefully to the sounds around him.
His expression remained unchanged as he continued onward.
Since he had confirmed that someone was watching him, he naturally had to be even more alert to changes in his surroundings.
Hm?
Tang Zheng's ears suddenly twitched. There was movement!
That direction... northwest?
Tang Zheng fell into thought, but his feet did not stop moving. He turned and approached the source of the noise.
As he drew closer, the sounds became clearer. They were the roars of beasts, mixed with Goblin shrieks.
Very soon!
A large group of Goblins entered Tang Zheng's field of vision.
With a single glance.
There were more than twenty Goblins!
At that moment, the twenty-odd Goblins were surrounding and attacking a massive black bear.
"Roar!"
The black bear opened its bloodied maw and roared as it bit down on a Goblin.
The bloody scene did not frighten off the numerous Goblins around it. Instead, it seemed to stir up their ferocity.
They shrieked and howled, repeatedly striking the black bear with their crude weapons and even hurling stones at it.
After suffering casualties of nearly half their number, the black bear, drenched in blood, finally collapsed to the ground!
The remaining Goblins excitedly shouted as they lifted the black bear and headed deeper into the jungle.
The Goblin corpses left on the ground were casually dragged along by the other Goblins as they returned together.
Just moments ago, they had been companions hunting the black bear. Now, the dead Goblins were nothing more than food in the eyes of the living ones.
Standing behind a large tree with his arms folded across his chest, Tang Zheng watched the Goblins gradually depart, and a cold smile suddenly curled across his lips.
The direction in which those Goblins were heading clearly led to a Goblin settlement.
"So this is the trap they prepared over several days."
"It's even the same kind of trap?" Tang Zheng's eye twitched.
How could he not understand now? The six Trolls that had attacked him earlier had clearly appeared because he had unwittingly been lured into a trap.
And now they were using the same method again.
Tang Zheng felt that he might have overestimated the Wisdom of that mutant Goblin individual.
However!
A special Goblin individual capable of influencing Trolls interested Tang Zheng greatly.
"It has never revealed itself. It really is cautious."
"If I don't make it completely lower its guard, it probably won't expose any flaws." Tang Zheng raised his head slightly and followed the Goblins.
As he gradually ventured deeper.
Sure enough, a somewhat dilapidated Goblin settlement appeared ahead.
But Tang Zheng was not focused on the Goblin settlement itself. His attention was on the terrain of this area.
The ground on both sides was clearly higher, causing the trees to the left and right to be noticeably taller than those in other areas.
The two raised hills formed the Goblins' route into a narrow passage shaped like a sunken gourd, with the Goblin settlement located within it.
"They picked a good location."
"If these Goblins lead me into terrain like this, escaping as easily as last time will be difficult once I'm surrounded."
"No... that isn't entirely right."
Tang Zheng continued forward with a blank expression, pretending to notice nothing. "With the Wisdom of ordinary Goblins, they clearly cannot cooperate in something as complicated as this kind of 'act.'"
"Are they planning to sacrifice this Goblin settlement? How ruthless."
Tang Zheng's gaze turned cold, and he let out a low sneer.
"Come to think of it, I still haven't fully adapted to this world. Humans aren't the only ones with Wisdom."
"Some Demi-Human Species are no less intelligent than humans. It's only natural to suffer losses if I treat them as creatures without much intelligence."
"I need to adjust my mindset. I still instinctively overlook the fact that humans are considered a disadvantaged group in this world."
Tang Zheng lightly shook his head and muttered to himself.
Ever since entering the Great Forest of Tob, he had actually been traveling eastward the entire time.
Once they had figured out his general direction of travel, it would have been easy to make preparations along the road behind him. This was something he had not considered at first.
Of course, the greater reason was that the jungle environment was too complicated. It was best to keep to a fixed direction while traveling so as not to get lost.
Behind him!
The figure that had been trailing far behind Tang Zheng cautiously poked his head out from the bushes.
Watching Tang Zheng enter that narrow jungle passage, the tension and fear on his green face slowly eased into relief.
That human was too strong.
A powerful Troll had actually been split in half with a single slash. He had never seen strength like that before.
It was not as if he had never seen humans fight Trolls, but usually several humans had to join forces to kill a powerful Troll.
"Damned human!"
"You killed so many children. You dared enter the Great Forest alone, so I'll definitely... definitely make you accompany them in death."
The green figure crouched on the ground, clenching his fists as he muttered in a slightly shrill voice filled with fury and resentment.
If Tang Zheng had heard that this Goblin could actually speak, he would certainly have been astonished.
As Tang Zheng completely entered the narrow jungle passage under the Goblin's gaze, excitement and bloodthirst immediately appeared in his tiny black pupils.
His cowardice faded.
The Goblin completely lowered his guard, rose from the ground, and followed after him.
He had to watch this human die at the hands of the many Trolls.
That human's flesh would definitely taste delicious.
Thinking of the food Tang Zheng ate every morning, which gave off a uniquely sweet aroma, the Goblin could not help licking the drool from the corner of his mouth.
Elsewhere.
Tang Zheng advanced at an unhurried pace. When he reached roughly the middle of the narrow jungle passage, he suddenly stopped.
Since it had been secretly following him all this time, now that it had seen him enter the prepared trap, it would definitely have relaxed its guard.
Then—
Without the slightest hesitation!
Tang Zheng abruptly spun around and sprang into motion.
This time, he did not care at all about causing a major disturbance. He turned and charged toward the rear at full speed, his gaze locked tightly on the jungle behind him.
At the same time!
"I see you!" Tang Zheng suddenly shouted.
Bzzz—
"First-Tier spell 'Camouflage' discovered. Required Caster Level: 1–7. Current conditions met." "Consume 1 Skill Point to learn?"
Found you!
Tang Zheng saw the information appear on the status panel and grinned.
Before you continue