Chapter 73

"Actually, the reason those people were attacked without discovering the enemy might not be because the enemy is good at hiding, but because the enemy is skilled at long-range attacks, which makes people mistakenly think they are good at hiding... meow." Wenlong said.

"Long-range attacks?" In Catherine's memory, the only long-range attack she had seen was the beaver's skill of throwing mud, so she couldn't understand how far one would need to be to knock down a hunter without being noticed.

"Um, simply put, it means the enemy can attack before the target even sees them... It may sound unbelievable, but some monsters can indeed do this," Wenlong explained while carefully observing the surroundings, not daring to relax for a moment.

The reason Wenlong was so cautious was twofold: first, according to the survivors' reports, Wenlong and Catherine had now entered the area where the mysterious creature had been sighted. If the monster they were investigating was still there, it could attack at any time, so they had to be on high alert.

The second reason was that they didn't know the exact location of the monster, so Wenlong hoped to find some useful clues by observing the surroundings.

"As long as this monster is still in the forest, it will definitely leave some traces. It hasn't rained for several days, so the footprints in this valley should be well-preserved. But why haven't we found any clues after walking for so long?"

Just as Wenlong was feeling puzzled, he suddenly heard Catherine shout.

"Hey, Mr. Cat, look here!"

"What's the matter? Don't make such a fuss... meow." Wenlong walked over and saw not the traces of the monster, but a series of human footprints.

"Footprints?" When Wenlong saw the footprints, he was initially stunned, then said, "There have been several attacks recently, and the Hunter's Guild has already designated this area as off-limits to non-mission takers... Under these circumstances, no one else should be here. So these footprints most likely belong to that guy named Claude... meow."

"Mr. Cat, since the other party is also here, could they discover the monster before us?" Catherine asked, somewhat worried.

"It's possible," Wenlong said nonchalantly, "Although I have a good idea of the monster's identity, the one called Claude might have more detailed information from the witnesses, after all, he was specifically sent by the Hunter's Guild to investigate, meow."

"Eh, Mr. Cat, won't our mission fail if the other party discovers the target first?" Catherine suddenly became anxious, her voice rising several octaves.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Wouldn't it be better if the other party discovers it first? They can help attract the monster's attention. Even if they find the target, it doesn't mean they will win. They still need to provide evidence to prove their discovery. Otherwise, how can anyone know if their investigation is genuine? Meow?"

Although Wenlong explained this to Catherine, he was also feeling a bit anxious inside.

Based on his understanding of the target, Wenlong had already determined the most likely location of the mysterious monster. The route he chose was the one most likely to encounter the monster, which he believed would give him an advantage over the other party.

After all, the Valley of Dawn was vast, and if they could start on the right path from the beginning, it would undoubtedly give them the upper hand in this bet.

However, Wenlong now realized that the hunter named Claude was also on this route and was even ahead of him, which made him reassess Claude's capabilities.

"Could Claude also know the habits of this target? Is he as knowledgeable as I am? No, that shouldn't be possible. Otherwise, he would have already identified the mysterious monster by now..."

With this doubt in mind, Wenlong scanned the surroundings again and discovered another series of human footprints nearby.

Wenlong was startled and thought to himself, "Two people? And from the size and depth of the footprints, it seems to be a woman. Since she isn't carrying hunting equipment, she must be lighter, so the footprints are shallower. This person is definitely not a hunter."

Seeing this, Wenlong understood, "I see, he must have brought an assistant, probably a Royal Scholar who specializes in rare monsters. Otherwise, how could he know to take this route like me?"

This realization brought a new sense of urgency to Wenlong.

Wenlong didn't know how much the other party knew about the target. If they had the same knowledge as him, Claude, who was ahead, was more likely to identify the monster first.

"Damn, we can't wait any longer. Since someone is scouting ahead for us, we don't need to be so cautious. We should speed up and catch up to them as soon as possible."

With this in mind, Wenlong immediately shouted to Catherine, "Woman, hurry up, we need to speed up! Meow!"

As he said this, Wenlong took the lead and rushed forward...

As Wenlong had expected, the ones ahead of him and Catherine were Claude, who carried two swords on his back, and a young woman wearing glasses.

The young woman with glasses was the knowledgeable Royal Scholar, Lindis. She held an old notebook in her hand, filled with densely written ancient texts copied from the Royal Library.

On the way, Lindis carefully observed the surroundings, frequently comparing them with the notes in her notebook, and continuously gave Claude directions.

"Is it really this way?" Claude asked, somewhat impatiently.

"It should be this way..." Lindis pushed up her glasses, but her answer lacked confidence.

"Should be? Isn't it certain?" Although Claude was dissatisfied with Lindis's answer, he couldn't express it, so he kept it to himself.

After all, they had been in the dangerous area for four hours, and Claude still hadn't found anything, which made him increasingly anxious. His trust in Lindis was also gradually waning.

"After walking for so long, we haven't even seen a single hair of the monster. Is this mission going to be another failure?"

Although Claude had failed to identify the mysterious monster in previous investigations, he didn't want to wait any longer this time. If he failed again, he might lose the chance to get the Ailu cat, Wenlong.

Moreover, the slow pace of the Royal Scholar, Lindis, made Claude even more frustrated.

"This woman walks so slowly. She's used to sitting in the library studying, and her walking speed in the wild is unbearable... If we keep this up, won't that woman and Wenlong catch up to us?"

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