The wicked female is extremely fierce, but she's pampered by her seven beast husbands.

Chapter 195 Being followed
"Don't worry, these forest crocodiles can't jump in the swamp."

Su Weihua stood on the opposite tree branch and waved to Zhilu.

However, after glancing at the clearly restless forest crocodiles below and thinking for a moment, he still reminded them, "But you still need to be careful. This swamp is not only home to forest crocodiles; other animals also live here, though they are not as aggressive as the forest crocodiles."

Zhilu's face almost turned green. She gritted her teeth, muttered something under her breath, and still gripped the vines tightly with both hands before jumping down from the height.

Using the vines, she swung in an arc in mid-air. However, as she approached the top of the swamp, many bubbles suddenly appeared in the swamp below. Since she couldn't change direction now, Zhilu had no choice but to grit her teeth and lift her feet to maintain her current posture.

Ling Chengen keenly sensed Lin E's unusual movement. He jumped up and instantly appeared on another tree. He spread his feet to stabilize his body, drew his bow and nocked an arrow in one smooth motion, and the arrow shot out of the bowstring with an extremely explosive sound as it flew rapidly towards Zhi Lü's direction.

"Fuck, what is that?"

The gibbon-like beastman in the hunting party, with one arm hanging from a high tree branch, stared intently at the gray mud shells emerging from the swamp.

After Mudshell opened its eyelids, which resembled withered branches, it revealed a yellowish-green eye.

The small forest crocodiles that were originally huddled in the swamp suddenly stepped onto the back of the giant creature that had just emerged and whose entire body could not be seen. Suddenly, it left the swamp and pounced on Zhilu with incredible speed.

Zhilu's eyes widened in fright. She cursed under her breath, released her left hand, and shot out a strand of spider silk from her palm, intending to entangle the nearest tree branch, change her course, and try to save her life.

But before she could even launch the spider silk from her hand, an arrow that pierced through the air had already reached her feet.

The small forest crocodile, which had only slightly raised its upper body, was caught off guard and had its neck pierced by a metal arrow.

A small forest crocodile, about 1.5 meters long, was sent flying backwards in mid-air and pinned directly to a tree trunk.

Zhilu breathed a sigh of relief and swung her arm to the horizontal branch in front of Su Weihua's picture, where he grabbed her arm.

After regaining her footing, Zhilu looked back at the crocodile whose head had been pierced by an arrow, then glanced up at Ling Chengen, who was standing high on the giant tree to her left. Her eyes were filled with gratitude, as well as a sense of relief at having survived a calamity.

Su Weihua let go of her hand, grabbed the vine that almost slipped out of her grasp, and pointed behind her: "Go to the back, too many people can't stand on this branch."

Zhilu frowned as she looked down, a hint of worry in her eyes. "Are we still going this way? What if those forest crocodiles attack again?"

Su Weihua said calmly, "If they pounce on us, then kill them."

There are no other routes.

“If we take the long way, we will not only fail to hunt prey or find a safe place to rest before dark, but we may also be targeted by a group of wandering orcs in the vicinity.”

Zhilu didn't say anything more. She leaned on the tree trunk and walked to other branches. She glanced at the dead forest crocodile. Blood dripped from its body into the swamp, attracting its hungry brethren. Once they reached the corpse, they began to frantically tear at the unfortunate companion's body.

Zhilu glanced at the quiver at Ling Chengen's waist, which contained only about ten arrows. She found a good position, decisively flicked out her spider silk, and wrapped it around the dark gold arrow that was still stuck in the crocodile's corpse. She then pulled hard with her backhand.

No pull.

Zhilu stood there awkwardly, and tried to pull a few more times, but still couldn't budge it.

Ling Chengen said with a smile, "Someone will come to collect the arrows in a little while, so don't worry."

Zhilu sighed, somewhat helplessly, "I thought I could pull it."

Ling Chengen did not explain. The giant spider beastman's strength was indeed quite great, but it was still somewhat inferior to hers. Moreover, in order to save Zhilu, the arrow was imbued with her spiritual power, which enhanced its speed and strength, making its destructive power astonishing.

Ling Chengen didn't dare to hold back, otherwise that arrow might not have killed Lin E.

The first arrow had an exceptionally significant deterrent effect.

These forest crocodiles are not mindless, lowly beasts; they do have a sense of fear when faced with a powerful threat.

Apart from tearing apart the dead crocodile's carcass, the other smaller crocodiles did not dare to pounce on their companions by stepping on their bodies as they had done at the beginning.

However, they did not leave, but lingered in the same place, as if waiting for a good hunting opportunity, or waiting for the prey to make a mistake and fall directly into their encirclement.

Su Weihua, Ling Chengen, Bai Qingyu and Wu Zhuo who were guarding the vicinity of the swamp were all on high alert.

To ensure that if someone accidentally falls, rescue and support can be provided immediately.

Half of the orcs in the group had already jumped over. Ling Chengen frowned in confusion and asked Zhilu beside him, "Did you hear any strange noises?"

Zhilu didn't hear it at first, but she trusted her young clan leader's abilities and believed he wouldn't speak without reason.

So, while Ling Chengen was staring at the swamp, she pricked up her ears, paying attention to all the sounds coming from the woods.

The sounds were mostly of insects and birds, and they were mostly small birds that were not aggressive.

As another orc crossed the swamp, Ling Chengen suddenly drew his bow.

But the arrow missed its mark.

Her dynamic vision was the best in the whole team, but at first she could only catch a grayish-white afterimage.

When the shadow flew out from the shadows of the woods again, she finally saw it clearly this time.

Although her eyes could spot it, her arrows could not keep up with the incredibly fast, mid-air-changing bird.

After the arrow missed its target, the orc hanging on the vine was struck head-on by the large gray-white bird and plummeted straight down into the swamp below.

Wu Zhuo reacted extremely quickly, immediately flying like an arrow off its string towards the area below the orc's fall trajectory. However, the forest crocodiles and the bird below the swamp coordinated perfectly, already gathered at the landing point, their mouths agape, waiting for their delicious takeout to be delivered to their door.

Ling Chengen nocked another arrow, but his first instinct was that it was too late.

Although Wu Zhuo was able to catch his falling companion, he would definitely be bitten by the forest crocodile.

At the same time, a metal plate appeared somewhere where the crocodiles were gathered.

Just as the forest crocodile opened its mouth to bite at the mist creature that had caught its companion, the thick metal plate suddenly separated into several pieces, which precisely wedged into the forest crocodile's gaping maw.

The crocodiles were forced to keep their mouths wide open, unable to close them, and angrily thrashed about in the mud, bumping into each other, trying to shake off the nasty thing in their mouths that had caused them to miss out on their beloved snacks.

Wu Zhuo, carrying the orc on his back, narrowly escaped from the jaws of the forest crocodiles. As he flapped his wings to gain altitude, he said with lingering fear, "My goodness, we almost died."

Dia, kneeling on his back, wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, took a deep breath, and said, "Thanks."

Wu Zhuo grinned and said, "Hey, it's nothing, consider it repayment for helping me escape before."

Diya looked at Wu Zhuo, who had just escaped from the crocodile's jaws and started joking, and felt a mix of emotions.

When she came to her senses, Dia had already landed on the tree.

He watched Wu Zhuo fly back, then suddenly frowned and asked Ling Chengen, "Has Wu Zhuo not awakened his special ability yet?"

"He's been looking forward to it every day. If he really wakes up, he'll probably tell everyone around him as soon as possible."

Ling Chengen was also a little puzzled. Logically speaking... Wu Zhuo's aptitude was quite good. Especially his physical fitness and mental state, which were actually very good.

Moreover, although this kid usually seems a bit silly and cheerful, he is actually quite smart, but he just hasn't awakened yet, and the training methods she gave him haven't worked.

It almost made her doubt whether there was something wrong with the training method for awakening superpowers that she had taken.

However, that training method proved remarkably effective when applied to other people in the tribe.

Dia lowered her head and pondered for a moment, then reached out and rubbed her side, which was sore from being hit by the medium-sized bird, while thinking about the strange thing she had just discovered.

Wu Zhuo himself probably didn't notice, and neither did the young clan leader...

However, now was not a good time to discuss this matter, so Dia swallowed back the words she was about to say.

The medium-sized bird that knocked Dia down from mid-air was a hornbill, a bird unique to this woodland swamp area.

This bird and the forest crocodile have a symbiotic and mutually beneficial relationship.

The hornbill can assist the forest crocodile in hunting within this woodland swamp.

Furthermore, they can share the prey killed by the forest crocodile.

The two have always maintained a very stable cooperative relationship.

So far, no orc understands why two completely unrelated animals can cooperate so well.

In a world where giant animals are common, the Great Hornbill was considered a medium-sized bird.

The adult hornbill is about 60 to 80 centimeters long, which is similar to the size of the common domestic goose in the previous generation.

However, the beak of the Yanhui rhinoceros is very large, and it is exceptionally hard and sharp. In addition, its skull is very hard. Furthermore, it flies very fast and is very good at using the bushes and branches in the forest to hide. It often catches its prey off guard and can knock small animals unconscious or kill them directly.

Dia had just been ambushed on the side by the hornbill. Although it didn't manage to create a large hole in his side, he wasn't in much better shape.

The persistent pain caused Diya to lean against a tree branch, rubbing her bruised side with her hand, her forehead covered in sweat.

After everyone had arrived, Ling Chengen noticed that his face was a little pale. He beckoned to Dejin, the wood-type beastman in the center of the group, and said, "Take a look at Dia. He should have been injured in the abdomen by the Swallow-Returning Hornbill."

Su Weihua walked ahead of Ling Chengen, turning back to look at Wu Zhuo, who had caught four or five swallow-like hornbills and was flapping his wings as he flew over.

“Sorry, I didn’t think the Swallow-Returning Hornbill would be appearing in the woodland swamp recently.”

In the past, when he led his team to hunt in the mountains in August, he had never encountered a hornbill attacking the orcs.

Because the breeding season of the hornbill is in August and September, and they often hunt in woodlands and swamps, other animals in the forest will kick the eggs out of the nest and let them smash to pieces if they come across them.

Some animals on the hornbill's diet will even hunt hornbill chicks as revenge.

Over time, the hornbill will move to other places to build nests, mate, and lay eggs every August and September to prevent its unborn chicks from being harmed by the claws of enemies.

Generally speaking, August and September are the quietest and most peaceful time in woodlands and swamps.

After listening to his explanation, Ling Chengen glanced at the energetic Wu Zhuo and looked at the five half-dead hornbills in his hand. He asked in confusion, "If it were just one or two, that would be fine, but how did you catch so many in such a short time?"

Wu Zhuo instructed Zhi Lü to bind the wings and feet of these hornbills with spider silk, and even wrapped it around their beaks to prevent them from breaking the silk and escaping. Only then did he spare the energy to answer, "I'm not quite sure either, but I know where these hornbills in the Lolu Mountains go to breed every year."

"How did you know?"

“Of course I’ve seen them before.” Wu Zhuo hung a string of hornbills on a tree branch, slung it over his shoulder, and said cheerfully, “Hornbills may be a bit small, but their meat is still very delicious. They fly fast, so their meat is very firm. I caught a few lone hornbills near the tribe before, and I even got their eggs. Their eggs are delicious, but they have to be unhatched, not eggs that have hatched into chicks.”

“The hornbills of the Lolo Mountains like to build their nests on the other side of the rocky outcrop where I live.”

As soon as Wu Zhuo opened his mouth, it was clear that he was very experienced: "It's on the north side of the mountain. The cliff there is a sheer drop, very steep. So ordinary animals can't climb up there at all. They use their beaks to carve out crevices and then build their nests in the crevices."

That place was dangerous for other orcs, but for the flying Mistwalker, it was just a takeout stall on his doorstep.

It's the kind where you can do everything yourself.

So he got excited when he saw these hornbills.

After everyone in the group crossed the wider swamp, he excitedly caught a few, planning to have them as an extra meal that evening.

His eldest son made him beggar's chicken a while ago. Although he didn't quite understand why it was called that, it didn't stop him from craving the taste of beggar's chicken. The taste... one bite and it was heavenly.

"If we can get back before November, we can still go to the north side of the mountain to collect hornbill eggs. Based on my many years of experience collecting eggs, I can say that hornbill eggs after mid-November are no longer edible because there are already chicks inside. But if we are lucky, we can still collect a batch before mid-November."

The group listened patiently as Wu Zhuo shared his experience of catching eggs. After he finished speaking, Ling Chengen whispered to Su Weihua beside him, "The return of the swallow to the hornbill is not normal. Pay more attention when you lead the way. I feel like something is not quite right."

"If all else fails, we'll leave the Luolu Mountains tonight."

The dangers of the Lolu Mountains are well known to all the tribes in the vicinity.

However, due to the abundance of mountain and forest resources, it attracts many hunting teams every year to take the risk of going into the mountains to explore, hunt, and collect supplies.

After all, it's better to take a chance and get resources here than to freeze or starve to death during the cold season.

Wealth and wealth are found in danger.

This principle applies everywhere.

Dejin had already cast a healing spell on Dia, and after checking Dia's condition, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's a minor injury. I cast a healing spell on you. Rest for another day, and you'll be fully recovered."

The ribs were not broken.

That's considered quite lucky.

In the past, some warriors in the tribe's hunting teams were injured by the hornbill, and their injuries were much more serious than Dia's.

Not only were his ribs broken, but his internal organs were also ruptured. His side abdomen was ripped open by the beak of the hornbill, and blood was gushing out.

It looks particularly creepy.

After confirming that Diya's body was not in any major condition, Ling Chengen returned to the front of the group and habitually spread his mental energy again to screen the surroundings.

This time, her expression suddenly turned serious, immediately silencing the group.

Su Weihua's ears twitched, but she didn't hear anything particularly noticeable, so she looked at her in confusion.

"Someone is following us, keeping a certain distance and concealing their presence."