Chapter 116: Fierce Beast Raid

Accompanied by “Swish! Swish!” sounds, low bushes swayed and shook one by one. Immediately after, a head squeezed through the bushes and stuck out; it had deep amber eyes set in diamond-shaped sockets that were “V” shaped at the bottom and curved at the top.

“Huff—Huff—” That head swung left and right, sniffing the scents around with its black nose tip on a straight bridge.

“Woof—Woof!” The hound, which could no longer be called a “little guy” given the size of its head, let out a low bark.

Very quickly, after another series of “Swish! Swish!” sounds, a similar head emerged from the bushes. Immediately after, both dogs leaped out of the bushes at the same time; they had long, tight, and well-muscled bodies. After touching noses with each other, they turned in different directions, lowered their heads, and took small steps as if following a scent to search for something!

About four hundred yards south of this bush, two men wearing brownish-grey leather vests and yellow-green outer garments were carrying hunting bows. Under their folded hats, which were also yellow-green and feathered, were two rough faces, one old and one young, both weathered by years of wind and sun.

“I say, Dad, Lord didn’t drag us all the way from our hometown just for this, did he! No setting snares, no laying traps, and we can’t even ambush at the water source. This doesn’t look like hunting at all! It’s simply tying our own hands and feet,” the young hunter whispered.

The old hunter in front of him turned back and glared at him, saying, “What are you shouting about! Do you think the reward money from the Lord is not enough, or the food isn’t good enough? Since we are here, just do the job as the Lord requires, and don’t think about so many other things. If it weren’t for your old dad here, a cushy job like this wouldn’t have fallen to you!”

“How could I dislike this? I just don’t quite understand, that’s all. Last year, that big wolf that broke into the deep forest we guard was taken care of by the Lord.” As he spoke, the young hunter spread his hands and made a circular gesture, “That wolf was a full eight feet long; even Adventurers passing by outside the forest were attacked and killed by it. Even a good oak stick the size of a fist was bitten into two pieces by that guy; the broken pieces scattered all over the ground, making my hair stand on end just watching.”

“Smack—” Although the old hunter angrily gave him a swipe, he still lowered his voice and said, “You useless thing, they’re just some broken wood pieces! What is there to be afraid of! You really are an unlucky kid with no experience. Remember what I said before? Keep your movements small; do you want to scare the animals away?”

“You can’t say that, I was thinking that if it could bite through a wooden stick like that, what if it bit me? That wolf was wandering in the woods I was responsible for patrolling; if I had met it not knowing when, I would have lost my life.” The young hunter retorted in a low voice; as he spoke, he subconsciously reached out and patted his chest, looking as if he still had lingering fear.

“Look at you, so gutless! With those thin arms and legs of yours, it would surely break whatever part it bit, and of course, the neck too. It’s a good thing you didn’t run into it those days, otherwise there would be no one to look after me in my old age.” The old hunter had an expression of disappointment. “Also, do you think those Adventurers were really attacked just because they were passing by? With my years of experience, those guys were clearly going into the woods to steal the Lord’s property. As a result, they met the big wolf and were chased all the way out of the woods before finally losing their lives.”

“You are amazing, Dad, but the Lord is even more amazing. He went into the woods himself and killed that wolf in less than two days. A lone wolf like that is extremely cunning; finding its tracks is hard enough, let alone killing it. So I just don’t understand, why does the Lord need us for such a simple hunt?” The young hunter finally couldn’t help but voice his confusion.

The older one finally found a chance to show off: “You don’t know this, but the Noble’s Autumn Hunt is actually a performance. Their target isn’t the prey, but to show off their status and power, so even if they are powerful, it’s best not to do it themselves. Otherwise, getting covered in mud and leaves, where is the dignity of a Noble? At times like this, they have to rely on us servants to help; besides, not all Nobles are skilled at hunting.”

The young man flattered him: “Dad, you really know a lot.”

“Of course, even before the Lord was born, I followed the Lord Viscount to the Autumn Hunt a few times. I heard these words from a Knight back then.” Judging by his expression, hearing a Knight talk about such things was like learning a huge secret to him.

The two walked and whispered, suddenly the old hunter in front waved his hand to signal a stop. Then he bent down, first pressed the ground slightly, then stretched out his hands to measure something, and finally picked something up from the ground and sniffed it before his nose.

After doing all this, he first blew the small silver whistle hanging around his neck, and then said to the young man behind: “It should be a stag, no mistake. If we find it, today’s task is basically completed.”

What these two hunters had just done was the preliminary work of the Autumn Hunt, scattering to find traces of prey. As for how to find the traces of prey, of course, it relied on the teachings of ancestors and their own experience, through footprints, droppings, potential nests, etc., and then adopting different combat methods according to the habits of the prey.

Regarding combat methods, let’s give two most representative examples: when hunting deer, the most important thing is to hide one’s scent and sound. Deer eyes have difficulty distinguishing stationary objects, so generally, after finding traces of deer, one tracks, sneaks, and approaches the target from downwind before taking further action. If hunting in normal times, for animals like deer which are relatively large and have strong vitality, ordinary bows and arrows are difficult to kill with one hit. And strong bows and crossbows are not so easy to get, so small Javelins are used more often. But during this Autumn Hunt, of course, dogs were used to drive them out.

As for dealing with cunning animals like foxes. Generally, after finding a fox’s den, hunters will surround several exits, leaving one open. Then they set traps at the open exit, and then one hunter lights a fire at another exit to smoke the fox out. Since there are people guarding the other exits, the fox will rush towards the unguarded exit. And as a Noble, one only needs to ride a horse and hold a bow and arrow, waiting not far from this exit for the prey to take the bait.

And the small silver whistle he just blew was actually a dog whistle of this world; it could produce sounds that most animals, including Humans, could not hear, but dogs could, making it a good helper for training hounds. However, for a Commoner, this was not an easy thing to get! The old hunter’s whistle was passed down in his family for generations; it was said that his ancestor got it in exchange for a meritorious deed.

Sure enough, not long after he blew the whistle, the two dogs mentioned earlier came running from the north. The old hunter held the small black piece he had just smelled before the noses of the two dogs and waved it slightly, then with a wave of his hand, the two dogs ran towards the northwest direction. Not long after, two hounds of the same breed ran back from the west; the old hunter repeated the trick, and those two hounds ran in the same direction as the previous two.

Seeing this situation, the old hunter said without turning his head: “Hurry up and follow.”

Then he ran closely following the direction of the hounds, and the young hunter followed behind. Soon, both of them disappeared into the dense jungle.

At the same time, George and the other two were riding horses on a forest path that should have been trampled by wild beasts. Roads like this were often places where beasts appeared; because the danger was too high, normally experienced hunters would not walk on them. However, George and his group could be said to be bold because of their high skills; walking on this road was using themselves as bait to attract beasts. Actually, this could be considered taking advantage of a loophole in the Autumn Hunt rules; although Nobles could not personally search for prey, it didn’t say they couldn’t take action if prey came to their door.

“Really, I don’t know when the prey will come to us!” Craig on horseback yawned and said somewhat impatiently.

Hiren retorted: “You talk less! This method relies on luck anyway. And the ones that come to attack are fierce beasts, which don’t count towards the Autumn Hunt score. George proposed this method just in case we don’t hunt a stag, having such a result wouldn’t look bad on us. Of course, if luck is really bad, the possibility of having neither is also not small.”

Suddenly, George felt his hair stand on end, as if something was staring at him. However, not feeling waves of coldness, he understood that although there was danger, it should still be within the acceptable range for the three of them to handle.

At the same time, the two hunters searching in the jungle suddenly heard the hounds let out low “Whimper! Whimper!” sounds. Knowing something was wrong, they arrived shortly after and found the four hounds stopped under a large tree. When they looked intently forward, they found the not-yet-fully-rotted bones of a deer.

The young hunter saw the scene before him, took off his hat, scratched his hair, and said: “What is wrong with Tom, Jerry, Kaka, and Dingding today? It’s just a dead deer, is it necessary to act like this?”

The older one seemed to turn a deaf ear to his words and walked straight to the side of the deer’s bones. He squatted down and observed the corpse for a while, then picked up some remains and looked at them. Immediately after, he shivered, and when he stood up, his legs seemed a bit weak, almost failing to get up at once. Then he walked to the young hunter’s side and held on to him so he wouldn’t fall. After taking a few deep breaths and slightly calming his emotions, he said: “Pascal, it looks like we are in big trouble. Now don’t worry about anything else, hurry back and join the Lord.”

“Dad, what exactly happened?” Although Pascal knew things were serious, he still asked, not understanding the specific situation.

The older one said somewhat weakly: “Fierce beast! I’m afraid it’s a fierce beast even stronger than the one killed by the Lord last year. Only by returning to the adults’ side can we ensure our safety. May Prince Muske protect us, I hope nothing happens on the way back.”

After finishing speaking, he finally had the strength to pray a little, and the two men and four dogs hurriedly rushed towards the previously agreed direction.

In the forest, just as George was about to remind Hiren and Craig to be careful and vigilant.

Suddenly, with a loud roar, a large tiger pounced out from the bushes. It bared its sharp teeth, raised its tail, and lunged at the three men in rushes. The tiger’s tail swept against the bushes, making rustling noises, shaking small leaves to fly in all directions. The horses the three were sitting on were so scared they didn’t paw or kick; they hung their heads, stared dead at the pouncing enemy, and let out low whimpers from their noses. Most critically, this tiger looked to be over 20 feet in length, and its front width reached almost 10 feet. Overall, it was more than twice the size of an ordinary tiger.

“Fierce Tiger!” George shouted out the opponent’s type and without hesitation stuffed the Longbow in his hand into the bow case beside the saddle. Then he drew the sword at his waist, and while flipping off the horse, he kicked the horse’s belly. The horse was sensible enough to turn in place and run away. For such a large animal, the effect bows and arrows could play was minimal; in this situation, what George trusted was still the Longsword in his hand.

The “Clack! Clack!” sound of horse hooves was the best signal, reminding the two teammates behind that it was time to start acting.

Just as the two behind were learning from George’s actions. They saw the tiger, whose whole body was covered with brownish-yellow and black stripes, press its two front paws slightly on the ground, pounce upward with its whole body, and dart down from mid-air. While it stayed in mid-air, George could see very clearly that its overall beautiful fur was shining, and there were patches of white fur on its lips, chin, sides, and inner limbs.

The target of its direct attack this time was George at the very front. The Fierce Tiger was different from ordinary tigers; it preferred direct pouncing rather than hiding in the grass to ambush. Of course, when encountering strong enemies, it also had the skill to use ambush, but George and his group clearly did not exist as strong enemies in its eyes.

Looking at the fierce momentum of the pouncing giant tiger, and comparing his own size and possible strength with it. George moved quickly to the right, but unexpectedly, the tiger twisted its waist in mid-air, actually changing part of its direction in the air and still pouncing towards George.

Seeing this situation, George couldn’t care less about his image, so he had to make a forward roll to avoid the tiger’s attack this time. However, George was not a pushover either; just as he used the momentum to stand up and half-squat on the ground, his whole body shook. Immediately after, he exploded with the Qi and blood of his whole body and waved his Longsword to deliver a Steel Snake Strike at the tiger’s left hind leg.

George’s strike was not just using physical strength; while attacking, he also used the Primordial Qi Great Grappling, which he had just started to learn, to borrow force. It could be said that this strike was hitting the tiger to shake its bones.

“Roar—” After hearing a scream. It was seen that this tiger was as if one of its paws had stepped on a hidden beast trap; although it wasn’t severed, it could only hang there without strength. At the same time, its body seemed to be twitching and struggling slightly, probably trying to get rid of the numbness and powerlessness caused by George’s attack just now. But could the side effects caused by the “shock” force and “drill” force carried in George’s attack entering its body when it was unprepared be overcome so easily? No matter how much it struggled, it wouldn’t have much effect; if martial arts passed down for thousands of years could be offset so easily, they would have no value in being passed down.

From behind George’s previous position, two figures rushed out; their speed was so fast they could absolutely be sprint champions on Earth. The exquisite Longswords in both men’s hands were already unsheathed, and the single-handed swords flashed with the cold reflection of steel, even somewhat dazzling.

And George used the recoil from the attack just now to stand up. After calming the Qi and blood that had just erupted within a few breaths. He began to use his own physical Spiritual Qi to relieve fatigue, while accumulating power for a slash, just needing to aim the blade at the enemy and swing it down.

At the same time, a Longsword slashed down like a stream of light. The attack originally aimed at the head turned into a strike at the right palm with sharp claws due to the target’s evasive leap to the right. A sound like leather cutting was followed by the sound of glass cracking. When these sounds reached the three men’s ears one after another, the giant tiger’s right palm had been cleanly cut off by Hiren. After both legs lost their supporting ability, the giant tiger became unsteady and crashed down.

But just as Craig, who was a step late, had not yet entered the attack range, George had already finished accumulating power and slashed the Longsword in his hand towards the giant tiger lying on the ground.

With a “Puchi—” sound of entering flesh, George’s Longsword dodged the defensive attack like an iron whip from the tiger’s tail and very accurately attacked the giant tiger’s anus. Immediately after, George stabbed hard, twisted, and pulled with both hands, thoroughly destroying the tiger’s anus.

After pulling out the steel sword that had been embedded in the giant tiger’s intestine, George temporarily did not make any movement. He was currently in the stiffness from the full-power slash just now—the muscles all over his body hadn’t been able to recover yet.

Facing the giant tiger that was already paralyzed on the ground, Craig mercilessly stabbed his Longsword into its ear—in order not to damage the integrity of the skin, this was the best attack spot. And when he quickly withdrew his Longsword, although the tiger could still make movements similar to the knee-jerk reflex relying on low-level nerves. But there was no substantial threat anymore. To prevent accidents, all three distanced themselves from this giant tiger.

Not long after, this tiger, which stood taller than Hiren, completely closed its eyes.

6 seconds. From the giant tiger’s pounce to the end of the battle, the whole process took only 6 seconds, not counting the final waiting time.

The whole process looked very dangerous, but actually, it could be said to be without difficulty. And only one tiger palm was cut off, while the other leg was injured. Not only were the facial features on the head kept intact, but even the fur could be said to have no major problems. The commercial value of the whole tiger was basically preserved.