Infinite Hunter

The country bumpkins started yelling and cursing. One of the guys, who looked like the dog's owner, pulled out a knife, and the others pulled out sticks, trying to beat Cheng Yijiu up for rescuing the mastiff. Cheng Yijiu couldn't let them rescue the mastiff. If these guys tried to attack him, plus the mastiff, Cheng Yijiu felt it would be too dangerous. So he decisively grabbed the dog's shoulder with his left hand and exerted force with his right hand...

Everyone heard a snapping sound as the mastiff's neck was twisted and broken, its twitching body thrown to the ground. Cheng Yijiu shook his hand—his right hand was covered in blood, and it might be slippery if he gripped the knife. He looked at the country bumpkins. The college students and Barton were useless, like livestock, while the country bumpkins were basically wild beasts. Cheng Yijiu was a hunter who hunted wild beasts...

The little guys rushed forward, especially the dog's owner, who was the first to rush forward after a scream. Cheng Yijiu could kill the dog, but he couldn't kill the person, so he easily knocked the man's knife-wielding hand away, then threw him to the ground on the lakeshore with a simple over-the-shoulder throw, leaving the country bumpkin unable to get up for a while. By this time, Cheng Yijiu had already faced the second and third people. His reaction and strength were top-notch among humans.

He was more like a cat than a human. The two men behind him were knocked down incredibly quickly—in the movies, there's a lot of back-and-forth, but in reality, a single punch or kick is enough to knock someone to the ground. Cheng Yijiu took the initiative to attack. He didn't touch the two country girls among the four guys behind him, but the two men were all knocked down. "Yeah, it has to be fair," Cheng Yijiu muttered, and he knocked the two women to the ground as well—they were holding knives.

The first bumpkin to be knocked down let out a roar unlike any human, and like a madman, he tried to get up from the ground again—but a boot stepped on his head, his entire face almost crushed into the mud. As for the knife in his hand? He had already let go in the intense pain, and Cheng Yijiu stepped on his hand, forcing him to let go of the knife. Cheng Yijiu simply stepped on him, not wanting to ask any questions, because there was nothing to ask.

"If I were you, the best option right now would be to pack up and drive back. The vacation is over." Cheng Yijiu's tone was quite cold, and he spoke to the six college students. "If you must take a vacation, go to the crowded beach. This place is no longer suitable for you. The smartest thing to do is to leave quickly—get back to the city as quickly as possible!" Then Cheng Yijiu looked at Barton and Li. "If you can take them both with you, I'd be very grateful."

Patton and Li didn't understand what was going on. "Let's leave quickly. I think people in this place are more dangerous than stinking apes. I will go back by myself. You guys should follow the college students and leave first." Cheng Yijiu made a quick decision.

Although they still didn't understand the situation, Patton and Li finally obeyed and didn't insist on staying. After all, they were just partners with Cheng Yijiu and couldn't give him orders. The group began to quickly pack up, and Cheng Yijiu hit each of the country bumpkins several times so that they couldn't stand up. "Take my tent with you, too. Just wait for me at the RV camp." Cheng Yijiu picked up his rifle and ammunition box, and took his backpack. As for the tent mat and sleeping bag, he let Patton and the others take them.

Twenty minutes later, the SUV drove away. Only then did Cheng Yijiu squat down, grab the lead dog owner, a country bumpkin, by the hair, and lift his face up. "You, are you feeding human flesh to the dogs?"

When the mastiff appeared, Cheng Yijiu had already noticed something unusual. When the mastiff barked and Cheng Yijiu made contact, he was certain that the mastiff had killed people and must have eaten human flesh - this was his intuition as a hunter who had been dealing with man-eating beasts for many years. So he didn't ask for an answer to this question. The country boy stared at him fiercely, and through his cracked lips, he said, "You killed my dog! I'm going to kill you!"

"Killed your dog? You want to kill me? I don't want to become a murderer yet, so I'm giving you a chance. Get out of here right now!" Cheng Yijiu considered killing the seven boys and girls, but when he thought about the parents of these country bumpkins who must have been feeding the dogs, he didn't believe that these boys were the only ones who did it. Killing those backpackers might even become a way to make money in this place.

There was no need to kill them all. Just observe and select a few who looked wealthy and kill them secretly—you could just report them missing. This was what Cheng Yijiu was thinking. Wasn't this the kind of country road horror story you see in American horror movies? And weren't those six college students the typical setting for a B-grade youth horror film? The reason Cheng Yijiu spared those seven little bastards was to use them as bait. Maybe he could hook the stinky ape.

Even if he failed to catch the stinking ape, at least he might have gained the pleasure of hunting humans for the first time - as a hunter rather than a predator...

Chapter 13 Discovery

The boys and girls were left on the lakeshore. Cheng Yijiu felt they could leave on their own after catching their breath. After all, he hadn't broken any bones, or even caused any muscle sprains or bruises; a little pain wouldn't be a big deal. Once they caught their breath, they'd be fine.

Cheng Yijiu shouldered his backpack, grabbed his gun, and vanished into the jungle in a few steps. Cheng Yijiu had no training in jungle warfare; all he knew about it came from the Rambo films, his experience as a hunter, and his experience as a man-eating tiger.

Cheng Yijiu's windbreaker flickered as he advanced silently through the jungle, quickly turning a corner and facing the lakeshore again. This was downwind, with the wind blowing from behind him. If a stink ape tried to steal a chicken from behind him, it would definitely be smelled. The country bumpkins on the lakeshore couldn't smell Cheng Yijiu's scent. Not to mention that he wasn't a white stink ape and didn't have any body odor, even if there was, the mastiff that could have smelled it would have been killed by Cheng Yijiu.

Animals that have eaten humans are usually not allowed to be kept alive, although this also depends on their rarity. If there are only five or six tigers left in the world, and one of them kills a human, the most they will likely do is be imprisoned. However, mastiffs are an exception. These dogs can be extremely dangerous, even to their owners.

Standing in the jungle, Cheng Yijiu raised his binoculars and calmly watched those country bumpkins get up from the ground - "He is indeed a madman." He muttered, because the owner of the mastiff actually picked up a dagger after getting up, stabbed the body of his beloved dog viciously, and finally cut off the head and took it away.

This kid's face was filled with rage, the look of a murderer. Cheng Yijiu followed these people silently from a distance of several hundred meters, constantly checking to see if any of the stinking apes were following them. After tracking for about a kilometer, Cheng Yijiu suddenly felt something. He stood still and turned around to look at the lakeshore through a telescope.

"Damn it!" he cursed silently. Through his telescope, he could see a long-haired, brown figure quickly moving away, seemingly carrying the dog's corpse. He couldn't quite make out its appearance, but it was moving incredibly fast, disappearing into the woods in the blink of an eye.

Cheng Yijiu was so regretful. He really shouldn't have followed these country bumpkins. Now it seemed that this monster - let's call it a stinking ape - was most likely a scavenger. Cheng Yijiu was really considering killing two country bumpkins and leaving them here to lure the stinking ape out.

"It seems that this monster at least has very sharp senses. It will be difficult to catch it." Cheng Yijiu recalled the glimpse he just had. Based on the headless mastiff corpse being carried and the height of the tree, he estimated that the size of this stinking ape would not be much smaller than a brown bear.

It was probably about two meters tall, certainly at least as tall as an adult. It was a shame I only saw the back, not the front. "Since these creatures have survived to this day, there must be more than just three or five of them. Well, let's just follow those country bumpkins first." Cheng Yijiu thought for a moment, then bit the boys and girls from a distance.

The swamp wasn't very large, especially since the lake was only near the exit—otherwise, the college students wouldn't drive here to play. So, soon, the group reached the outside of the swamp. They weren't heading towards the town, but towards another road. Cheng Yijiu could vaguely see a few houses in the distance.

This was a typical American farmstead. It was likely the only family within dozens of kilometers, each owning a farm. "It's the standard American road-trip thriller," Cheng Yijiu muttered. Furthermore, there was a ferocious barking of dogs coming from the farm, suggesting there were more than one.

Soon, Cheng Yijiu saw a car driving out, and it seemed that someone was shouting in the house. Then several people rushed out and ran to the side to release the dogs. "Every one of them has at least two guns? It's really lawless, right?" Cheng Yijiu said calmly, then turned and walked away.

It was already past noon. Cheng Yijiu ate his food and drank water as he walked. He moved very quickly through the jungle and returned to the lakeshore in just over an hour. "There's still plenty of time. Let me see if there are any traces left."

There was a faint stench in the air. "Smells like rotten eggs. Hydrogen sulfide? No, maybe cadaverine?" Cheng Yijiu sniffed the remaining odors in the air, trying to identify them. "This is simply the stench of decay, the kind of decaying corpse. Is this thing really a ghoul?" Cheng Yijiu was also a little confused.

He squatted by the lakeshore, checking for footprints. This was a rare sandy lakeshore, so it would be a good place to play, but he found no footprints, not even a trace of blood. Cheng Yijiu stood up and followed the direction he remembered the monster leaving. "Sure enough!" he muttered with great joy.

Here, on a muddy lakeshore covered in reeds, were four distinct footprints. "Although the edges are blurred by the mud, the general outline is still recognizable," Cheng Yijiu exclaimed happily. "This thing actually moves on all fours?" Cheng Yijiu exclaimed in amazement.

The footprints were large, much larger than those of an average person. Cheng Yijiu could barely make out the monster's toes, and in front of them, there were concave marks—Cheng Yijiu knew at a glance that they were the backs of three forelimb fingers. "This thing moves like a gorilla?" Cheng Yijiu thought of this. "Then it must be quite large."

Unfortunately, the footprints couldn't fully prove where the monster had gone. Cheng Yijiu expanded his search area but couldn't find any new footprints. Tracking the stench in the air also failed; it disappeared right there. Cheng Yijiu looked at the reeds before him and thought the monster had likely gone directly into the lake. This would explain why it left so few traces.

Cheng Yijiu stood there, then gradually backed away until his back rested against a tree. He heard the barking of dogs in the distance. "Oh, they're coming," Cheng Yijiu said calmly. Fighting in the jungle might really require his experience as a man-eating tiger. "We need to kill those mastiffs first." Cheng Yijiu knew exactly what to do.

He didn't mind killing people. These country bumpkins were all bad people. If he hadn't intervened at the time, these college students might have really died, and even Patton and the others who were present might have died - money didn't work here for the time being.

Chapter 14: Going in Circles

Swampy jungle combat was the specialty of the Vietcong and American berets like Rambo. Cheng Yijiu also drew considerable inspiration from the Rambo films, particularly the Second and Fourth Bloods. Of course, that was mostly nonsense... Would he really lie in wait in a muddy swamp like Rambo? The most likely outcome would be a body riddled with leeches or other insects, resulting in his death.

He actually had experience in tropical warfare, from hunting pythons, from being a tiger and a python. So, to Cheng Yijiu, the Tennessee swamp was just an ordinary little forest, probably only slightly more difficult than the so-called summer swamp outside St. Petersburg, Russia.

Cheng Yijiu gripped the rifle tightly. It had a white light sight, but it was quite delicate, so he had to be ready to fire with it at any moment. As for the other guys, they probably had semi-automatic weapons, a variety of long and short guns. Cheng Yijiu even suspected they had automatic weapons.

Although automatic weapons are illegal now, they are legal as long as they were produced and sold before 92. Considering the personalities of these country bumpkins... Cheng Yijiu thought about it carefully and felt that it was unlikely that they would own them - because this thing is very expensive.

Cheng Yijiu's only regret now was that he didn't bring a pistol with him. He really should have. If he hadn't been too lazy to explain to the police, he could have brought a pistol. Fortunately, it didn't matter. He could easily shoot those dogs from a distance, so he wasn't too worried about the gang's shooting skills.

"Stinky Ape... How many people were killed by the stinky ape, and how many were robbed by these country bumpkins?" Cheng Yijiu found this question very interesting. He raised his rifle. From this angle and distance, he would be able to see the owner of the barking in about a few minutes.

The brush moved wildly, and the distance as straight as a line was over six hundred meters. Cheng Yijiu pulled the trigger the moment he saw something rushing out. He didn't stay to observe his results, but decisively sheathed his gun and turned to head deeper into the jungle swamp. His light military boots trod through the waterlogged grass without a sound, and he moved at an extremely fast speed.

He certainly didn't need to watch the results of his attack—the bullet traveled six hundred meters in less than a second, piercing the shoulder of the first mastiff to emerge from the brush. The bullet rolled through the dog's body, destroying a series of internal organs before exiting through its abdomen. The dog immediately fell to the ground, foaming at the mouth, and was clearly dying.

There were angry curses in the distance behind Cheng Yijiu, but he could hardly hear them - such high-frequency tones could not be transmitted far. If they used low-frequency curses, they would probably be able to travel far, but human ears could not hear them. But Cheng Yijiu heard the gunshots coming from behind him. "They gave that dog a quick death? So it seems that I hit it."

The hunter moved nimbly through the jungle, taking in information with more than just his eyes—in places like this, eyes are sometimes not as good as ears and noses. "They brought at least six dogs. It seems we've killed one, so there are still five left." He quickly turned an angle in the jungle.

"Take them in circles, and I have a feeling that we should hurry to the place where the dead dog was found. There should be a surprise there." Cheng Yijiu felt that if this was the case, he should have brought a dead deer and dumped it here. Perhaps this would have been successful.

Cheng Yijiu was still almost a kilometer away from the country bumpkins. He had already returned from the other side to the side where the gang had shot the dog. Unfortunately, when he raised his binoculars and looked three hundred meters away, he found that the dog's body was still there. There were some filthy scavengers like lizards, opossums, and other small animals trying to gnaw on the carcass, but there was no sign of the stinking ape.

Cheng Yijiu stayed for about ten minutes, but he didn't feel any attention, so he turned and left again. He couldn't let the country bumpkins following him get too close, otherwise, with their shooting skills, Cheng Yijiu felt that he would be in trouble.

This time, there were about thirteen people, some young and some strong. Each of them looked hateful and didn't look like a good person at all—their rough temperament was completely exposed. They cursed and cursed the person who followed Cheng Yijiu. "Despicable outsider!" This was the common opinion of these wild people, so such outsiders must be killed and fed to the dogs. "What a coincidence! I also want to use you to lure the stinking ape." Cheng Yijiu had a certain common language with them in some aspects.

He simply hadn't made up his mind to kill anyone yet—he'd been able to decisively kill the armed men when he'd shot the Gustav Crocodile, because that place was a lawless place. But now in America, Cheng Yijiu had some reservations—if he was going to kill them, he had to make sure none of them could return. It would be best if even the bodies weren't found—perhaps he could ask the stinky ape for that.

After Patton and the others leave, they might call the police, but most likely nothing will happen.

The second hound was lost about five minutes later—Cheng Yijiu had casually set a trap with spikes pointing upwards. He didn't dig a pit; he simply used his hunting knife to carve a few spiked sticks and inserted them into the hollows in the ground. He also hollowed out a section under a fallen tree nearby. Stepping on it would tilt due to the weight, which was generally fine, but the slippery surface of the wood could cause trouble.

So the yokel with the dog was in trouble. His mastiff slipped on the log and fell headfirst into the hollow below, where several sharpened sticks managed to pierce his dog—thanks to him, for he had fallen on it. What had been a minor wound became a fatal one, and the middle-aged, dirty farmer was now forced to free his dog with his gun, while his curses startled the waterfowl.

So he vented his anger and fired at the flying birds. Two birds were hit by the shotgun and fell into the swamp. At the same time, gunshots rang out on the other side. The third mastiff fell to the ground, the bullet accurately blowing off its skull...

After making a long detour, Cheng Yijiu had already made up his mind about the group's character. "Farmers and butchers, to put it simply, amateurs." They might be good hunters, but Cheng Yijiu still considered them amateurs. Thanks to the dogs, they were following closely, but Cheng Yijiu moved so quickly in the jungle that they couldn't close the gap.

This time, Cheng Yijiu calmly shot the second dog. He didn't notice that another dog had died. All he saw were a few reckless men firing indiscriminately. The straight-line distance between them was about 400 meters, and Cheng Yijiu was also seen by these people. There was a burst of gunfire, but Cheng Yijiu had already turned and left.

Chapter 15 Preparing for the Night

Hundreds of meters away, and in the jungle, there was no chance these country bumpkins' bullets would hit Cheng Yijiu, so he showed no fear and quickly turned and disappeared into the jungle. The guys behind him fired randomly, and Cheng Yijiu shook his head, "What a waste of bullets." These amateurs were so skilled that they wouldn't be afraid even if they aimed. Next, Cheng Yijiu wondered if these guys would realize their power and leave quickly.

Run away and call the police? Cheng Yijiu knew that places like this, especially small ones like this, were like those small towns along the Midwest Highway in the United States. The local police and residents were basically in cahoots against outsiders, except for the state police. "Whatever," Cheng Yijiu muttered, sitting on a fallen tree. His sense of smell told him there were no wild animals nearby. The dogs the men were carrying were still barking, at least three hundred meters away from Cheng Yijiu.

There were no people in the jungle, but the dogs could still find them by following the scent. "What's interesting is how they found my scent?" Cheng Yijiu thought about it, but couldn't think of anything he had left behind that the dogs could smell. Cheng Yijiu was in no hurry to leave. He played with the hunting knife in his hand. Although he still wanted to kill the dog first, it seemed that he would most likely have to start killing people.

This group of country bumpkins are lawless. They murder people on a daily basis, and this time they are definitely going to kill people when they enter the jungle. Cheng Yijiu picked up the gun and disappeared into the woods like the wind. There are many hidden water holes in this place, so when walking, you must not only pay attention to the branches of the trees in front of you, but also pay attention to where you step. Cheng Yijiu found a fallen tree and set up the gun there, and by the way, marked the scale in the scope.

This time, his target wasn't just dogs.

The furious gang appeared in Cheng Yijiu's sight. Cheng Yijiu could clearly see their faces through the scope, and for a moment, he felt a little bored. "It's not even as interesting as hunting brown bears..." So Cheng Yijiu randomly chose an uglier-looking guy and pulled the trigger. With a crisp gunshot, the bullet created a splatter of blood on the guy, and the country bumpkin fell to the ground.

Winchester Magnum bullets are designed for hunting large targets; even an elephant wouldn't be able to withstand a single shot. A mere human, after one shot, would essentially fall to the ground, awaiting imminent death. Furthermore, Cheng Yijiu aimed for the torso. Unless it was a graze, hitting the triangular area wouldn't give the target more than two or three minutes to survive. Cheng Yijiu calmly pulled the bolt, unloaded the round, and then, after a brief aim, fired again. The second man felled instantly.

Cheng Yijiu quickly put away his gun and left the ambush. The enemy, having undoubtedly reacted, fired their weapons and released their dogs. Mastiffs were far more adaptable to this environment than humans, and they quickly caught up with Cheng Yijiu. While moving, Cheng Yijiu also drew his hunting knife—a long gun wasn't very effective at this distance, so he decided to use a knife.

The two mastiffs, both short-haired, Mastiff-like, lunged forward, one in front and one behind. Cheng Yijiu's reaction was incredibly fast. He crouched down and leaped, his hunting knife in his right hand. As they passed, the knife had already cleaved one mastiff in half. Then, with a twist of his fingers, he flipped the knife into a reverse grip and stabbed the other mastiff's head into the ground. The strength displayed in this movement was truly remarkable.

Wiping the blood off the mastiff's fur, Cheng Yijiu quickly left. He still had to make a detour to see if he could catch the stinking ape. "This time it's a human. I wonder if a human corpse can lure these monsters out." He didn't care about those country bumpkins at all. It seemed like killing them would only take a dozen minutes. A few more shots from long range would be enough.

"They are even harder to catch than man-eating tigers." This is what Cheng Yijiu thinks.

The two bodies weighed heavily on the men, some frightened, some furious. But they all shared a common concern: what to do with the bodies? Leaving them there wasn't an option. So, to carry the bodies back, they had to construct a wooden frame to haul the two unfortunate creatures away. The barking of the dogs had ceased, suggesting the foreign scoundrel had killed them. This only intensified the fear, and some even engaged in arguments with two or three of the still furious men.

Regardless, there were the bodies and the question of whether that guy would come and kill them too. This was a serious problem. Cheng Yijiu crouched in the distance, his form hidden by the bushes. He calmly watched the dozen or so people bicker for half an hour, then, with resentment, he fashioned a simple stretcher out of his clothes and carried the two bodies onto it, preparing to leave. What the hunter didn't know was that he was becoming less and less likely to show his expression while hunting—much like the Bengal tiger once was.

"At this time, it will take at least until night to get out. I think there is hope." Cheng Yijiu stared at them from afar. Unfortunately, until night fell and they walked out of the jungle swamp, Cheng Yijiu still did not see the stinking ape. This made Cheng Yijiu very disappointed, and this disappointment made him wander in the woods - he was not afraid of getting lost. Cheng Yijiu was not reckless. In fact, he always walked within sight of the lake.

Then, in the darkness, he smelled a foul odor. Cheng Yijiu didn't turn on his flashlight; he could see at night with the moonlight. He saw a cross in the woods, a figure entangled in barbed wire. He didn't need to get closer to see; the figure was already dead, and the death was horrific. Even with the body nearly rotten, Cheng Yijiu could tell they had been tortured to death. Who could have done this? Was there even any need to ask?

Cheng Yijiu also made a decision, "I don't want to spend the night in the jungle." He walked quickly towards the farm.

On the farm, the middle-aged country bumpkin was still furious, ranting about the damned outsider who had killed one of their people and threatening to gather more people to kill him tomorrow. His son, the dog-raising kid, had a bruised face and nose, likely from a beating by his father, and ate dinner through the pain of a cracked lip. His mother, also with a black eye, carefully hid to the side. Any other children had also gone into hiding.

Cheng Yijiu climbed over the fence, easily leaped up and grabbed the eaves, using the force to flip to the second floor. He hung on the corner outside the second floor, slightly peeking out the window to see what was happening...

Chapter 16 Solution

From this angle, one person could be seen, a boy. The boy, with bruises on his face, stood on the second floor, cautiously looking down. Cheng Yijiu could hear the cursing and roaring from outside the house. Cheng Yijiu didn't continue watching, because he didn't want to be seen by the boy. He retreated and did a pull-up, standing on the edge of the roof. Cheng Yijiu waited, waiting for the right moment to act.

This situation wasn't exactly suitable for a rifle. Cheng Yijiu strapped his rifle to his back and pulled out his hunting knife—a Rambo blade crafted from cold iron and alchemy. It was incredibly sharp and strong, slicing through the bones of two mastiffs without a single dent. The reverse-edged tip was perfect for piercing and cutting, making it perfect for taking lives. Cheng Yijiu wasn't about to leave anyone alive. They were all in the same group, so he had to kill them all.

The United States, a country of psychopaths, is teeming with insane individuals—producing the world's largest number of serial killers. If he spared anyone's life, there was a high probability that they would not become a normal person, but rather a "psychologically traumatized" psychopathic killer. So Cheng Yijiu figured he had to either not do it or do it thoroughly.

He sneaked in about half an hour later. He could hear the sound of a television downstairs—the middle-aged man must be watching it. His wife was working downstairs, and the eldest and second sons had already returned to their rooms—perhaps also watching TV. He entered the house through the window on the side of the hallway—although it was closed, the hunting knife could still easily pry the latch open. Cheng Yijiu landed silently, the moonlight casting a long shadow in the hallway.

Cheng Yijiu easily opened the door of the dog-raising bastard's room and, in just two strides, he was already in front of the little bumpkin sitting on his bed watching TV. Before he could even scream, he'd already punched him in the stomach, the force of the blow causing him to grunt and pass out. Cheng Yijiu didn't even consider whether his internal organs would rupture or whether he would die if he didn't get to the hospital. After his successful strike, he came out and knocked the kid in the next room unconscious as well.

Cheng Yijiu, carrying one person in each hand, reached the stairs and halfway down when he threw the two limp people out. He then flipped down the stairs from the side and kicked the woman against the wall, choking her breath. He then faced the middle-aged country bumpkin who had staggered to his feet from the sofa. "Hey, hello," Cheng Yijiu said. Seeing the guy's face up close, he truly looked like a typical American country bumpkin thug.

"Dirty, ugly, cruel, and ignorant." This was Cheng Yijiu's feeling. The smell in the whole room was not good. From Cheng Yijiu's point of view, it was similar to the distant ancestors of this group of people - living with pigs or other livestock... The other party tried to howl, but a punch turned the howl into vomiting, and then a blow on the back of the neck made the man faint.

Cheng Yijiu wrinkled his nose and dragged the four people to the door of the basement. After he opened the door, the first person he grabbed was the middle-aged man. Before kicking him down, he stabbed the side of his neck with a hunting knife. With the sound of snapping strings, the guy tumbled down the stairs. Cheng Yijiu did the same thing and soon reunited the family in the basement. "Family should die together." Cheng Yijiu muttered, he washed the floor with a hose, picked up the phone and called Barton, "Oh, it's okay. I may be back to the parking lot in a couple of days."

Cheng Yijiu pulled clean sheets from his room and slept soundly under them. At daybreak, he washed up and opened the family's refrigerator. "Hmm... not great, but decent enough." He chose bacon and eggs and treated himself to a meal. He locked the door before leaving—it seemed the stinky ape would have to find another way. Or perhaps he'd just have to search the swamp thoroughly.

When will the bodies of these people be found? That depends on how good or bad their relationship is with the neighbors. Now it seems that they didn't call the police when two people died yesterday. I wonder if they will come to the jungle to look for him again today? But this is none of Cheng Yijiu's business. Cheng Yijiu knew that Barton and the others had left. This person talked about some local rumors on the phone in a vague way, so he said regretfully that he had to leave first.

"I'll call him when I have time..." Cheng Yijiu muttered, and he reentered the jungle. He decided to search for at most one more day. If there was no hope, he would drive away. New England wasn't just home to stinking apes; there were also legends like the Mothman and giant owls. And if he left, the case would only be reported to the FBI—because by then he would have been across state lines.

The swamp remained the same, with the most troublesome little bugs flying around. Cheng Yijiu wandered silently through the woods—he found the footprints of various creatures, observing deer, wild boars, lizards, wild dogs, and even coyotes, but he found no new stinking ape footprints. With his rifle tucked under his arm, Cheng Yijiu didn't stray far from the footprints he had discovered. It seemed that this creature really liked to stay close to water. Maybe it was an aquatic creature as he had previously imagined.

Cheng Yijiu found a wooden block on the shore and sat down, rifle across his knees, staring out at the lake. "Damn it..." he muttered, his ears twitching slightly to confirm there were no larger creatures nearby. "Ghoul? Or water ghost?" Cheng Yijiu pondered this, considering he'd rarely seen aquatic primates. After all, humans are the only primates most agile in the water.

"Sea Ape Theory..." Cheng Yijiu pondered. The body, tied to a cross with barbed wire, likely that of the unfortunate tourist, remained where it was. He had simply lit a fire—he had already dug a firebreak, so this would simply burn the body clean. "Huh?!" Cheng Yijiu spotted a strange ripple appearing in the lake across from him, about three hundred meters away. He stood up, retreated to the higher reaches of the lake, hid behind a tree, and peered through the telescope.

He has always been quite awed by monsters in the water, much more so than beasts on land.

The ripples gradually spread. Cheng Yijiu had shifted his position because he feared a predatory animal in the water would suddenly rise up and drag him under. Something swam through the telescope, stirring the water. This creature, resembling a large fish, was swimming towards the opposite shore and might reappear in a minute. Cheng Yijiu had a feeling that he might achieve his wish, and his heartbeat quickened. He didn't put down the telescope or raise his gun, but decided to get a better look first.

Chapter 17 Shooting

Through the telescope, as the waves neared the shore, something gradually rose. It looked like a German coal scuttle helmet, and Cheng Yijiu almost knew what it was. "This sagittal ridge structure is well-developed. This thing must have an incredible bite force." A head emerged from the water. Currently, Cheng Yijiu could only see the back of its head, with brown hair cascading down from it.

The creature gradually emerged from the water, its neck, upper body... With the sound of splashing water, the monster was almost completely exposed. The smell hadn't yet wafted over, but Cheng Yijiu had already confirmed that it was a primate creature - and it was definitely not a person in a costume. He picked up the rifle, began to take aim, and quickly pulled the trigger. "Damn, I missed?"

Cheng Yijiu thought it was impossible. There was nothing between him and the monster, and the distance was no more than 600 meters. He had no problem killing a mastiff with a single shot at 600 meters before, so there was no way he would miss the target when shooting at a target larger than a mastiff. So he fired a second shot. The monster was already running, but Cheng Yijiu clearly saw that he had hit it. "What kind of vitality is this!" The monster was still running.

Cheng Yijiu had a clear look at the creature. It certainly looked like an orangutan or gorilla, with the same build as a gorilla. Its arms hung to the ground, and it ran on all fours. "What the hell is this? A giant North American gorilla?" Cheng Yijiu cursed, firing again, a shot that clearly hit the target. However, the monster crashed through brush and branches and disappeared into the jungle.

Cheng Yijiu stood there, sighing a few times. He looked at the map and chose what should be the fastest way to get there. He didn't need to run, because if the beast was safe and sound, he wouldn't be able to catch it whether he ran or not. If the beast was seriously injured, he could just walk slowly and collect the body. It took more than an hour, but Cheng Yijiu finally made a detour to reach the place where the monster had come ashore and was hit.

There was still a lingering stench, the stench of decay, and it was definitely the Stinky Ape. Cheng Yijiu saw no traces of blood. Following the direction the Stinky Ape had moved, he found broken branches and some smelly hair, but no traces of blood. "Such large footprints! No wonder they're called Bigfoot." The monster rushed into the woods, and from the looks of it, it didn't care about the swamp at all, simply passing through it with ease.

Cheng Yijiu pulled the bolt to eject the remaining two bullets and put them away. He took out a magazine from the cowhide box. The five bullets on it had silver-white bullet heads. These were the alchemical bullets that Cheng Yijiu brought with him, specially used to shoot dark magic creatures. He fixed the magazine, used his thumb to force the five bullets into the magazine, pulled out the magazine and inserted it on the side of the cowhide box. "I should have changed to this one from the beginning. I didn't expect that Zhubocabra would be careless because he didn't need this kind of bullet."

The monster slithered through the woods, its stench lingering from the lake on the other side. "Did it flood here?" Cheng Yijiu retreated to a higher point and sighed. He decided to leave—if he continued waiting, he might not have a chance. He had to quickly return to the car and sketch the monster in front of him in his notebook. Cheng Yijiu had already determined that the monster was most likely a ghoul, but he didn't say that a ghoul had to look like a crawling corpse.

A ghoul could easily resemble a gorilla, and its stench and near-immunity to ordinary bullets were perfectly natural. This creature was already "dead." Cheng Yijiu even suspected it might dissipate into a black shadow or smoke. "Vampires might..." he muttered, then decisively turned around and prepared to leave the swamp.

He walked, his thoughts on the stinking ape absentmindedly. Suddenly, a black beast emerged from behind a large tree ahead, lunging at him with a pungent stench. Cheng Yijiu had no time to raise his gun and fire—if he did, he'd hit his target and get knocked down, too, which was unacceptable. So, decisively, he rolled over, quickly drawing his hunting knife and preparing to strike back.

"Damn it, a biological weapon!" What made Cheng Yijiu so difficult to resist wasn't the ape's incredible strength, but the stench it carried. This stench made him dizzy and even caused all kinds of discomfort—nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, and irregular breathing. As the monster approached, it was over two meters tall and indeed resembled a large gorilla, but its face was much more ferocious than that of a gorilla—skin and bones.

Its fangs were so long they protruded from its mouth, and its eyes weren't like living creatures, more like dark red charcoal balls. Cheng Yijiu suppressed his nausea, quickly reversing his grip on his hunting knife and slicing through the monster's outstretched claws. The stink was even worse now, the stench of burnt protein adding to the already rotting stench. As he sliced, black smoke erupted almost instantly from the cut.

"It's a dark creature indeed! No wonder it's so hard to spot and there's no record of it being hunted!" Cheng Yijiu cursed, but he still didn't dare to breathe. To deal with this kind of creature, you need a demon hunter, not a hunter, let alone a scientist. Anyway, after he cut through the big hand, he continued to roll over, and the next moment the hunting knife stabbed directly into the monster's thigh. Cheng Yijiu threw away the knife - the place where the knife was inserted was smoking, and the sound made by the stinky ape was completely inaudible, but it made Cheng Yijiu feel that his internal organs were vibrating, he was dizzy and nauseous, and he could hardly lift his hands.

"Low-frequency sound waves!" Cheng Yijiu knew he didn't have much time left. The knife stuck in the monster's leg was smoking and burning, temporarily preventing it from turning and attacking with that leg. He only had a few seconds left amidst this low-frequency roar and the stench of toxins. He swung, slid his shoulders, grasped the gun, rested the butt of the gun on his shoulder with his left hand, and half-knelt to position himself. Cheng Yijiu didn't even aim—it was only a few meters away, was there any need to aim?

As the gunshot rang out, Cheng Yijiu rolled backwards, driven by the recoil, trying to get as far away from the stench as possible, at least to catch his breath. The bullet struck the monster's torso, and around that same moment, the hunting knife, having slipped out of Cheng Yijiu's hand and lacking the mental energy to replenish it, lost its ability to break evil. But even that brief moment was enough for half of the stinking ape's thigh to turn to white bones, its rotting flesh and fur turning to a foul-smelling black slime that dripped down...

The bullet exploded after it hit...

Chapter 18 Mystery

The specially designed bullet was about to explode the moment it struck the ape's flesh, and by the time it actually exploded, it had already penetrated more than ten centimeters into the monster's body. The bullet had created a clean, transparent hole in the ape's body, over thirty centimeters in diameter.

The edge of the hole was still burning, its diameter constantly expanding. "It's true." Cheng Yijiu pulled the bolt to eject the shell, but that was all he could do. Nausea made him dizzy and he fell to the ground. Cheng Yijiu began to vomit, "Damn it! Am I going to pass out?"

Fortunately, the situation of the stinky ape was not too good. Its foul-smelling long hair was burning. The debris flying out from the broken bullet immediately formed fire points as soon as it touched the hair. The flames continued to devour the long hair. The stinky ape wanted to move over and crush Cheng Yijiu to death, and it seemed that it would succeed.