Chapter 315 - 207: Deer God Bartel

Chapter 315: Chapter 207: Deer God Bartel

’Should I go take a look?’

Theoretically, any prey that hadn’t been caught was fair game.

But in practice, as professional Hunters, each Hunter was responsible for a different area during a hunt.

They had the right to go after any prey found within their assigned area. But once the prey ran into another Hunter’s territory, for the sake of fairness and safety, the other Hunters were forced to stop.

It was because of this custom that he disdained operating near Lin Chen’s shelter, let alone snatching resources that belonged to Lin Chen.

The only exception he’d make was for virtually inexhaustible resources like mango or orange trees.

Since that unidentified deer was already being chased by another contestant, according to the Hunters’ professional code of conduct, he couldn’t interfere now. Unless the other contestant met with an accident or showed signs of giving up, only then could he legitimately join the pursuit.

Just as he was staring at the forested hillside from afar, the black shadow that had disappeared suddenly shot out from the woods lower down. It bolted down the slope, then made a great leap, using its momentum to run a few steps along the steep earthen wall on the side of the incline.

With a push from its four hooves, it jumped straight down from the seventy or eighty-degree slope, landed steadily on the ground, and used the momentum to run toward him.

In the span of just a dozen breaths, he watched the creature land on the ground from the ten-meter-high slope as if it were performing an acrobatic stunt and then sprint toward him at incredible speed.

As it got closer, he finally recognized what it was.

A black-tailed deer!

Black-tailed deer look similar to white-tailed deer, but their fur is a relatively darker color. The most significant difference is the color of their tails.

As the name implies, it’s black.

He narrowed his eyes, staring at the black-tailed deer’s coat.

’No white spots like a sika deer. This should be a young deer that’s not yet an adult but has passed its fawn stage.’

On the black-tailed deer’s ear, he could clearly see a white, ring-shaped object with a white card attached to it.

The moment he saw the card, he froze for a second, then realization dawned on him.

’So it’s prey released by the production team. That explains it. Black-tailed deer are highly adaptable and widespread, found almost all over North America, but their territory shouldn’t have spread to Central America yet.’

As he stared intently at the black-tailed deer, his piercing gaze also caught its attention.

It skidded to a halt, its large, dark eyes, the size of longans, warily watching the human in the distance as it slowly backed away.

Andre looked up at the spot where it had just jumped from. The other contestant’s figure was nowhere to be seen on the hillside. If nothing unexpected happened, they were probably still in the forest searching for the creature’s trail.

Black-tailed deer are just as cautious as white-tailed deer and are skilled at running and jumping quickly. It would probably take some time for the other guy to realize what had happened.

If he hadn’t been blocking its path, the creature would have already made a successful escape.

It was a long way from the Lake Agobayano community, where the production team was based, to the coast. Unless they had changed the release location, for this little one to have made it all the way here, it must have been running non-stop.

Unlike him, who had planned his strategy in advance and knew to travel in a straight line, it had most likely been driven here by accident while fleeing from the pursuit of other contestants.

Factoring in the morning’s rainstorm, its stamina must be nearing its limit.

While he was subconsciously analyzing the little creature’s origins, the wary black-tailed deer had already turned and started running toward the nearly vertical earthen wall at the bottom of the slope.

As it ran, it kept glancing back in his direction and then up at the top of the slope, on guard against any potential danger.

In the process, it rapidly approached a dark cave up ahead.

After running past a small mountain of bamboo and nearing the cave entrance, it spared a glance ahead and finally noticed two humans leaning against the entrance.

It was shocked and frantically tried to stop, but the ground here was mostly dirt, with only the top layer dry while the soil underneath was still damp. Its slender hooves couldn’t halt its forward momentum.

As it tried to brake, its hooves plowed deep grooves into the ground.

"Ugh..."

Lin Chen groggily opened his eyes, feeling as though he’d just heard a lot of noise.

He had barely opened his eyes a slit when he saw a small deer running right at him, but in a strange posture, a bit like a character in Tom and Jerry braking with its rear end.

’A deer?’

He froze for a moment, then immediately noticed the man-made tag on the deer’s ear.

While he was stunned, the deer tripped on its own hooves, which had dug into the dirt to slow it down. It tumbled a few times on the ground, coming to a stop just over a meter in front of him.

Thinking he was dreaming, he didn’t hesitate. He instinctively grabbed the bamboo blade at his side, shot to his feet, and swung it down hard.

SQUELCH

The sharp blade instantly sliced open the black-tailed deer’s neck. Warm blood splattered across his face, and even spattered onto the face of Erica, who was leaning against the cave entrance.

The black-tailed deer, its stamina already at its limit, let out a mournful cry. It struggled with its limbs, trying to get up from the ground, but it couldn’t stand no matter how hard it tried. The joint of the front leg it had tripped on was even bent at a strange angle.