Chapter 187: Chapter 187: The Hunt Begins

“Wow, there are quite a few guests this time… but they’re kind of ugly. And smelly, too.” Chang Xia gripped her bow, eyeing the approaching Rotting Flesh Hyenas with clear distaste.

They really lived up to their name.

The closer they got, the stronger the stench of rotting meat became.

“Chen Rong, I heard that Rotting Flesh Hyenas have a chunk of rotten meat on either side of their spine. Is that true?”

A living creature, yet it carried its own rotten flesh.

It all sounded a bit fantastical.

It reminded Chang Xia of a food-themed anime she’d watched in her previous life, where the creatures were all sorts of bizarre—like roast pigs, crab-pigs, and even screaming apples.

Unfortunately, Rotting Flesh Hyenas were nothing like roast pigs.

Forget eating them—the smell alone was unbearable.

“It’s true!” Chen Rong replied.

Hearing this, Chang Xia grew excited, swallowing hard as she looked at Chen Rong with anticipation. “Chen Rong, have you ever seen a wild boar that roasts itself? Or tasted pork that’s a mix of crab and pig flavors? Or tried wild fruit that screams when you eat it?”

“…” Chen Rong’s expression turned odd.

He looked back at Chang Xia, his face a picture of speechlessness. A wild boar that roasts itself, pork that tastes like crab, and screaming wild fruit… Did such things really exist?

“Chang Xia, did a shaman tell you these things?”

“Uh, no! I just made it up.”

She couldn’t exactly say it was from an anime she’d watched in her past life.

The Qinghai Plateau had magical ice crystal grass, and the East Sea had foundation stones. So why couldn’t the Twilight Forest have self-roasting wild boars?

Too bad—there really weren’t any.

While the two of them chatted idly, they never let down their guard. Out of the corner of their eyes, they kept watch on the Rotting Flesh Hyenas gathering around them. The closer the beasts got, the stronger and more choking the stench became.

Rotting Flesh Hyenas, along with Rotting Flesh Vultures, were known as the Grim Reapers of the grasslands—probably thanks to their overwhelming stench of decay. Just the smell alone was enough to make one gag. They must have feasted on plenty of carrion.

“They eat rotten meat, so why are they attacking living creatures?” Chang Xia asked in surprise.

“They do eat carrion, but Rotting Flesh Hyenas will also go after fresh prey. It’s just that, compared to other predators, their attack power is pretty low, so they don’t have many options and end up eating mostly carrion,” Chen Rong explained. “But in terms of being troublesome, they’re even worse than grassland wolves. Once a pack of Rotting Flesh Hyenas targets you, they won’t give up until one side is wiped out. The only solution is to kill the entire pack.”

Rotting Flesh Hyenas hunted in groups, usually six to thirteen in a pack. Sometimes more, sometimes less.

Hiss—

The hyenas bared their fangs, revealing rows of sharp, white teeth.

Disgusting drool dripped to the ground as their yellow, bloodshot eyes stared hungrily at Chang Xia and Chen Rong.

“Chen Rong, your kin are ugly and smelly!” Chang Xia raised her bow and loosed an arrow at the farthest hyena.

Her aim was true. The ironwood arrow pierced the hyena’s neck, pinning it to the ground. It twitched, unable to move.

Chen Rong hefted his spear, listening to Chang Xia’s teasing. He nearly stumbled and fell.

Rotting Flesh Hyenas—how were they his kin?

Sure, they were both “wolves” in name, but he was a sapient beast, a completely different species from these wild, rotting hyenas.

Besides, his own beast form was majestic and powerful—nothing like these disgusting creatures.

In a flash, Chen Rong moved.

When he stopped, two hyena corpses were skewered on his ironwood spear.

With a flick, he tossed them aside and, moving like a hunter through the wind, swiftly dispatched the remaining three hyenas.

Chang Xia felt a twinge of regret.

But seeing Chen Rong’s fluid, effortless movements, her eyes filled with admiration and awe.

If only she could hunt as skillfully as Chen Rong—then the tribe would never worry about her venturing into the forest alone.

“Beautiful!” Chang Xia lowered her bow and praised him.

On the grasslands, there was never a shortage of prey.

Rotting Flesh Hyenas were vicious, and if you didn’t kill them in one blow, they’d become even more dangerous. Chang Xia didn’t try to compete with Chen Rong for the kills—she was simply too slow.

“You did well too,” Chen Rong replied.

After finishing off the pack, Chen Rong led Chang Xia away quickly. The smell of blood would soon attract other beasts.

Besides, the meat of Rotting Flesh Hyenas was inedible, and their hides and bones weren’t worth much. Both of them chose to leave the carcasses behind.

Of course, if it had been grassland wolves or other beasts, they wouldn’t have passed up the chance to harvest them.

“Chen Rong, are grassland wolves as ugly as these hyenas?” Chang Xia asked. The Rotting Flesh Hyenas were the size of newborn calves, over a meter tall, and quite intimidating—at least, Chang Xia didn’t dare underestimate them.

Chen Rong shook his head.

“Grassland wolves are a size bigger than Rotting Flesh Hyenas—about two meters tall and nearly five meters long. They’re much stronger, in a completely different league.”

Thankfully, they’d only run into Rotting Flesh Hyenas. Grassland wolves would have been much more troublesome.

“…” Chang Xia fell silent.

She’d actually hoped the animals of the Twilight Forest would be like those from her previous life.

A two-meter-tall grassland wolf would tower over her. No wonder there were strong and weak tribes among the beast clans—their beast forms were all massive.

Of course, Chang Xia was an exception.

Even among the chinchilla tribe, her beast form was on the small side.

There was really no comparison.

Chen Rong’s beast form was even more imposing than a grassland wolf’s. Among the wolf clans, the Battle Wolf tribe was second to none.

Ordinary grassland wolves didn’t even register as a threat to Chen Rong.

But today, the main goal was to help Chang Xia get familiar with the forest, not to hunt.

Just before sunset, the two of them finally managed to reach the forested hills they had spotted earlier. From a distance, the woods looked like a lush green button pinned onto the vast grasslands.

It wasn’t until they got closer that Chang Xia could see the forest’s true face.

This woodland was several times larger than the previous Baiguo Forest. The hills rolled on and on—if you didn’t know better, you might mistake them for a mountain range.

Most of the trees growing here were ginkgo, though scattered among them were other species that looked familiar to Chang Xia, though she couldn’t name them.

The undulating forest stretched across a corner of the grassland, and at a glance, its boundaries were nowhere in sight.

“Chen Rong, do you think this forest connects to Wei Mountain?” Chang Xia asked nervously.

She had promised the tribe not to enter Wei Mountain. Besides, if the grassland wolves were really as huge as Chen Rong claimed, she was genuinely worried about what kind of terrifying beasts might lurk inside Wei Mountain!

“You’re overthinking it. This is just an ordinary grassland forest. There’s still some distance to Wei Mountain. Haven’t you noticed we haven’t seen the small river yet? That’s perfectly normal,” Chen Rong reassured her.

The tribe had taught them how to distinguish between the Wei River and the smaller streams.

The surface of the Wei River had a strange, dark gray color, completely different from other rivers.

The beastfolk suspected this was due to the influence of Wei Mountain, which caused the river’s color to change.

[Thanks to: Book Friend 533*514, Superfoodie, Fenghua Luanwu, Book Friend 140810180348276, “(^-^)” and others for your monthly votes and recommendations! Thank you all so much~~]