Monster Hunt: Notes from a Hunter

After eating and drinking, adjusting to their condition, and checking their equipment and luggage for the last time, Gordon and his party left the camp.

Pork chops and fish roe were still responsible for exploring the path, but compared to the half-joking "exploring a thousand meters" before, Gordon's order this time was finally normal.

Explore two hundred meters.

The target of this investigation is the Kirin, which is the least dangerous among the ancient dragon species and has a relatively docile temperament. However, the ancient dragon species is the ancient dragon species, and if you laugh too much, something will happen.

The group followed the route planned by Alva and made some discoveries after traveling less than two kilometers.

The soil layer of the continental coral platform is very thin, and few green plants can survive. It is not easy to leave footprints on such a landscape.

But on a piece of soft coral, Gordon found a hoof print.

Different from the footprints of other large monsters whose size is measured in meters, this hoofprint is less than the size of a palm and fell into the groove of soft coral. It is extremely inconspicuous. The pork chops and fish roe responsible for exploring the path are all I did not notice.

If it is in a cold zone like perpetual frost and permafrost, snow deer may also leave similar footprints.

But this is a terrestrial coral platform, and the only ungulates that live here should be the elf deer, and the hoof prints of the elf deer are much smaller than this.

Using the elimination method, it is self-evident who the owner of this footprint is.

——The fantasy beast Qilin.

Alva was holding a portable camera and lying next to the hoof prints. The camera lens almost hit the ground, and he didn't know if he could get the focus right this way.

As an ancient dragon species with relatively many sighting records and hunting records, humans have conducted quite in-depth research on Qilin, but for him personally, this was the first time he had personally come into contact with the footprints of a fantasy beast.

The whole person seemed very excited.

Gordon winked at Ted, who grinned widely and picked up the excited scrivener team members from the ground.

Gordon came to the hoof print and squatted down, took out his peeling knife, and picked off a piece of coral from the edge of the print.

"Ah!! I haven't had time to make a rubbing yet!" Alva screamed.

Gordon ignored him and put the specimen into the insect guide cage. Sure enough, the cologne breath attached to the coral was extracted, and the guide insect emitted a burst of blue light.

Gordon stood up satisfied.

He glanced at Alva who was crying, and said angrily: "What are you crying for? It's just a footprint. If you really have a chance to see Qilin later, why don't you pounce on it?"

Alva blinked, thinking the same thing.

This time, I shamelessly followed Gordon and the others out, and the probability of seeing Qilin and the mysterious ancient dragon suspected of being a Mingbosaurus was not low.

There is really no need to regret a hoofprint.

"Ahem, it seems that the range of activity of that unicorn is wider than we thought." Putting away the camera and adjusting his clothes, Alva analyzed:

“The straight-line distance from here to the highest peak of the Coral Platform, which may be home to another ancient dragon, is only about ten kilometers.

In terms of the ancient dragon's territory, it was too close and a little abnormal. "

"Indeed, but similar situations seem to be more common in the Dragon Crystal Land?" Aziz, who was in charge of the alert, asked while looking around.

Alva's expression was a little helpless, "Don't forget the reason why the Dragon Crystal Land was formed. That place itself is synonymous with 'abnormal'."

"That's right."

Gordon interrupted the discussion between the two, "Anyway, we have entered the area where the ancient dragon is active. Be vigilant and move on."

A group of people walked among the colorful and diverse coral reefs on the mainland coral platform.

After traveling for several kilometers, they made another discovery.

There were a few pale manes hanging on the tree-like coral bushes on the roadside, with tiny electric arcs faintly jumping on them.

There is no doubt that this is what Qilin left behind.

Pig Chop and the others also discovered this trace and made a conspicuous signal near the tree-like coral.

After completing the extraction of breath, Gordon raised his head and met Alva's expectant gaze.

Most of this naturally shed hair is incomplete and of average quality. It cannot be used as equipment material and is looked down upon by hunters. However, it is a very good research specimen for scholars.

Gordon threw it to him casually.

Alva carefully put the few bristles into the empty test tube he carried with him, feeling that the trip was well worth it.

Just as they were about to move on to see if they could find more traces and improve the guide insects' perception of the unicorn's breath, the pork chops and fish roe who were exploring the path in front came flying back.

"A body was found, meow." Pork Chop came to Gordon's side and whispered.

Gordon was slightly surprised, and Alva looked like he was about to fly, blurting out a series of questions.

"What corpse? Whose corpse? It shouldn't be the corpse of Qilin. Could it be the corpse left by Qilin when it preyed on other creatures?

No, there has never been any record of Kirin preying on other creatures in the data. Is it a turf war? Or some other reason? "

Pork Chop didn't know how to answer for a moment, so Gordon waved his hand.

"Just go and have a look."

The group speeded up and soon arrived at the corpse in Zhupa's mouth.

This is the carcass of a Mistyclaw.

The originally scarlet body was scorched black, obviously struck badly by lightning.

The real fatal wound was on the chest. Its chest was penetrated by some sharp object. The wound was extremely deep, but because of the severe carbonization, almost no blood seeped out.

Gordon squatted down and checked the wound and the state of the body. "The body is very fresh, and the time of death is estimated to be only a few hours.

The 'murderer' should be the Qilin. It looks like the Qilin's horn pierced its chest, and the high voltage current burned its internal organs. Then it was struck by lightning.

It can be said that it died quite peacefully.

Well, the thunder before, couldn't it be because of this guy? It seems to be about the same time.

I remember that Qilin rarely takes the initiative to attack or even kill other monsters, so the Claw Dragon is the one who caused trouble?

Well. Taking the initiative to attack the ancient dragon, this is incredible for other monsters, but it seems... not surprising for the Claw Dragon."

Ted grinned and kicked the charred body of the Claw Dragon. "Why did you provoke it? It is weak to lightning. Are you looking for death like this?"

Az also had a "tsk tsk tsk" expression.

The hunters didn't think too much, only Alva frowned more and more.

"What?" Noticing his abnormal expression, Gordon asked.

"Something is wrong. The Decaponaurus is fierce and manic. It is true that they are fearless, but they are not crazy people who bite everyone they see. Otherwise, they will not be able to reproduce."

"It's almost like they are not crazy people. Except for the special case of Tyrannosaurus, Decaponaurus can almost be said to be the most aggressive monster, right?

The Decaponaurus that I have encountered will pounce on me directly." Ted retorted.

"No, no, you have a misunderstanding about Decaponaurus."

Alva squatted beside the corpse of Decaponaurus, taking pictures of the fatal wound, and continued to explain: "Decaponaurus lives in the miasma valley with a harsh environment. In order to ensure the survival of the tribe, they will hunt non-stop.

In addition to hunting, conflicts with other large monsters are generally to snatch food, compete for territory, and show that they are not easy to mess with.

As a tooth dragon monster whose size and strength are not outstanding, this is their way of survival.

But again, they are not crazy people. Everything they do is for survival."

At this point, Alva stood up again and looked around.

"The Qilin is not a male fire dragon, and it doesn't have the habit of roaring and intimidating other monsters when it sees them.

There is no competition in terms of diet. Even if it is a scorpion, it shouldn't take the initiative to attack the ancient dragon species like the Qilin, which has a strong breath but is harmless and passes by quietly."

"Is it possible that this scorpion is particularly crazy?" Zhucho muttered in a low voice.

"Maybe." Alva shrugged, "It may be that the Qilin is crazy, and somehow stimulated this scorpion.

The scorpion, which has never been afraid of anything, couldn't stand this, and rushed over in a fit of anger, and then"

Alva pointed at the charred corpse, "It became like this."