Chapter 1459 - 939: Wilderness Tracking (Part 2)

Chapter 1459: Chapter 939: Wilderness Tracking (Part 2)

The smell was more intense and pungent, the mix of rust and irritating glandular stench nearly suffocating.

Around the feces, traces of urine left dark patches on the moss, emitting a sharp ammonia smell.

These excretions were distributed near a rocky area by a stream, forming a small "marking circle," clearly showing the prey’s declaration of territorial sovereignty.

Legolas combined the direction of footprints, feces locations, and changes in wind direction, quickly constructing the prey’s activity range in his mind:

An irregular area centered around a cliff upstream of the stream, with a radius of about three kilometers.

The prey seemed to prefer the intersection of highlands and water sources, with its patrol route covering steep slopes and dense forest edges, fully confirming the description in the notes of "patrol range far exceeding territorial needs."

However, despite many traces, they were unusually vague and hard to distinguish.

Footprints often obscured by thick fallen leaves or washed away by rain overnight appeared faintly visible;

The scent fluctuated unpredictably in the mountain wind, sometimes strong, sometimes weak;

Feces and remains scattered sparsely, as if the prey deliberately concealed its trail, handling it skillfully.

Legolas had to repeatedly return, scrutinize closely, even climb tall tree trunks to overlook the terrain, spending nearly half a day to barely delineate the core area.

"Indeed tricky," he thought to himself, sweat sliding from his brow, "This beast is more cunning than expected, handling traces like a seasoned assassin."

Just as he was carefully searching along a steep rock wall, a low and threatening roar suddenly tore through the forest’s silence.

Legolas instantly lowered his body, blending into the dense ferns as if merging with the environment.

Fifty paces ahead, a giant beast stepped out from the shadow—at just a glance, Legolas’ pupils constricted: This was not the target!

This creature was nearly four meters long, shoulder height above a person, covered in dark brown thick scale armor, with sharp bone spurs rising from its spine.

Its head resembling a lizard and a crocodile, three-toed giant claws deeply embedded in the soil, leaving deep three-toed marks consistent with the notes with every step.

The biting strength was also astonishingly matched—it was using saw-toothed horrific sharp teeth to tear a sturdy fallen log, the cut gaping and horrifying.

The scent was strikingly similar: intense rusty smell and glandular stench coming right at him.

But key differences were equally prominent.

The "massive shadow" in the notes should bring a "frenzied wind pressure that shakes the giant trees," while the beast before him, although moving heavily and powerfully, lacked that astounding and destructive momentum.

Though its body size was large, it was slightly smaller than the "warhorse-sized" implied in the notes, more resembling an enhanced giant lizard.

Most critically, its eyes shone with fierce yet straightforward killing intent, lacking the mysterious aura and invisible pressure mentioned in the notes’ "phantom-like traversal."

Legolas held his breath, observing for a moment, suppressing the instinctive impulse surging within a hunter’s bones.

The path of hunting values focus and respect—this journey’s goal is clear, rashly attacking this subordinate predator not only desecrates the spirit of hunting but may also waste precious energy.

Its scale armor was solid and resilient, and an armor-piercing arrow might not kill it in one shot.

In a prolonged battle, unexpected injuries or wasted arrows would seriously impact the subsequent pursuit.

Plus, he did not need it for food at the moment, so hunting it would be unprofitable.

However, this beast occupied a rock slope location that was excellent, adjacent to a water source, with a wide view, clearly a local overlord.

"Perhaps it has territorial conflicts with the target?" Legolas calmly pondered, "If the target is stronger and more ferocious, it will surely suppress or dispel it."

Thus, he quietly retreated, expanding the search range, heading towards deeper unexplored areas of Howling Wind Valley not marked by this giant beast.

Three days passed in tense and exhausting search.

Legolas traversed between rugged cliffs and deep secluded valleys with astonishing endurance, his footprints covering dozens of miles of treacherous mountain paths.

He discarded secondary clues, focusing solely on finding the "perfect traces" that fully matched the notes.

Deeper, larger footprints, more frenzied and thorough biting sites, a more intense and pure "rust-gland" odor mass.

Finally, on the east side of the valley, in a rarely visited, perpetually mist-covered dense forest, he discovered a decisive turning point—a series of brand-new three-toed footprints deep as a bowl, astonishing in span, next to an ancient oak tree requiring two people to embrace was bitten in half, with saw-toothed cut like the fangs of a terrifying beast.

The scent in the air was no longer fleeting, but rather condensed into a substance-like damp decay and intense rust stench, the glandular odor was so strong it stung the eyes, nauseating.

Legolas’ spirit revived, weariness swept away: "This is the true quarry!"

But the high-intensity tracking had exhausted his physical strength.

The intense hunger cut into his stomach like a blunt knife, his limbs trembled slightly from continuous tension.

Hunting is a prolonged battle, he urgently needed to replenish energy.

Legolas cautiously retreated to an extremely concealed rock slope at the edge of the misty forest, choosing a natural cave halfway up the mountain as a temporary camp.

The site selection was extremely meticulous.

The cave entrance was narrow, only allowing one person to enter sideways, windward and sunlit, overlooking the valley’s movements below.

Inside the cave was dry and clean, the rock walls without seepage, the ground level.

The hanging vines at the entrance formed a perfect natural curtain.

The setup process was swift and efficient.

He first used a hunting knife to cut tough vines, deftly weaving them into a simple fence to block the lower part of the cave entrance, preventing entry by small nocturnal predators.

Collected dry moss to meticulously lay on the ground as bedding, insulate dampness and keep warm.

Picked up dry branches to stack into a small fire pit in a sheltered corner inside the cave, igniting the campfire with flint to dispel cold and dampness.

The leaping firelight was cleverly concealed by the hanging vines, not easily visible from outside.