Chapter 176: Prey and Hunter
"After hearing the safety training, I might choose to start by checking for traps."
Nina smiled.
"Jake might be a good partner."
"Cut! Very good!"
Michael nodded.
"After entering the forest later, we will shoot another set of shots of 'searching for traces of Mountain Men'."
Nina nodded, got up, and returned to the assembled team.
Michael found William: "Mr. Priest, I'm ready here."
After the training just now, William asked everyone to gather in one place.
He released the captured Mountain Man and demonstrated the weaknesses of these monsters to everyone.
After ensuring that everyone simulated an attack once, he distributed the task for this time.
"Capture Mountain Men alive. Once encountering danger, prioritize your own life."
William said holding the set megaphone.
"Set off!"
Everyone was fully armed and entered the dense forest in a combined triangle formation.
William commanded from the center.
This could expand the search range, and in case of danger, nearby companions could also respond quickly.
Originally, Michael planned to let each squad search separately, but he was strictly rejected by William.
Never give the enemy a chance to catch anyone alone.
Sizzle...
A burst of static noise came from the walkie-talkie.
"'Don't Be Curious' Squad testing, everything is safe so far!"
"'Double Tap' Squad testing! No traces of Mountain Men found."
"'Run Away' Squad testing..."
Reports from various squads came from the walkie-talkie.
An amulet was tied to the transceiver; these were all 30-year vintage holy artifacts.
To prevent the device signal from being interfered with by evil forces, each squad received one before departure.
William looked at his phone with no signal; at this time, they had walked a distance.
And as they went deeper into the forest, the power entrenched in it became thicker and thicker.
The low-quality holy artifacts on William's body had lost their effect at this time.
He observed with [Holy Eye] and found that the Holy Power inside was drawn and floated towards the depths of the forest.
"This seems to be some kind of power-stripping magic." He thought to himself.
But since the walkie-talkie could be used normally, it meant that holy artifacts at the "Sacred Relic" level would not be affected.
In the "Don't Be Curious" Squad, Nina and Jake held tools respectively, checking the ground vigilantly.
Passing a patch of fallen leaves, Nina suddenly reached out and pulled Jake.
The latter's raised foot was about to land, but stopped suddenly a few inches from the ground.
"Help us watch the surroundings."
After signaling to other squads not far away, Nina squatted down.
Jake slowly withdrew his raised foot, then helped Nina cover important parts.
Nina picked up a branch and gently pushed aside the leaves in front.
Then, a rope device was revealed.
Following the direction, she found a trap on the tree trunk.
Just as she was about to destroy it, Nina remembered what Mr. Priest said during the previous training.
"Don't rush to act when encountering a trap; observe for a while longer. Maybe there is more than one danger..."
Nina hurriedly opened her eyes wide, and sure enough, she found two more rope devices nearby.
If she had chosen to act just now, she would definitely have fallen for it.
These Mountain Men are really cunning!
Whoosh... whoosh.
Several sounds of breaking air rang out, and the traps on the tree were completely destroyed.
Nina and Jake nodded to each other, then disappeared into the bushes.
Under a big tree not far from the two.
A Mountain Man with no upper lip was hiding here.
"!"
It held a longbow and aimed at the backs of the two for a long time, but finally gave up.
That human man always used a wooden board to guard the blind spot, which gave it no opening.
Thinking of what happened just now, "No Upper Lip" smashed the tree trunk hard.
As an expert in catching people in the tribe, it had some experience in setting traps.
Seeing those two humans approaching just now, No Upper Lip's eyes lit up instantly.
Thought this was another suspense-free hunt.
Even No Upper Lip was prepared to catch the female human back to serve as a breeding tool for its generation.
But the opponent actually discovered its trap.
Even the second set of traps hidden nearby was destroyed.
This made No Upper Lip extremely irritable.
Before today, this group of humans was clearly not so alert!
Such scenes were also happening in other squads.
Before long, some figures of Mountain Men began to appear in the dense forest.
Obviously, they couldn't hold back anymore.
On the other side, Run Away Squad.
Thwack~
A sharp axe flashed through the air and sank deeply into the tree trunk.
Then a human head poked out from behind the tree.
Jones's throat rolled; the axe was only a few centimeters away from him just now.
If he hadn't ducked in time, his head would have been split in half by now.
"When walking in the forest, be able to find cover at any time. When hearing movement, get down immediately..."
Jones wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
"Fortunately, I listened to Mr. Priest, otherwise I would have died here today." He thought to himself.
"Hey! Check if that guy is gone!"
Elena lay on the ground and tugged at the former's hem.
At this time, this hot beauty had long put on long clothes and also put some protective gear on the outer layer.
This time the two were assigned to the same squad.
Originally Elena's target was Dale or Jake.
But after the training class, everyone disliked her for being just a flower vase (pretty face), and only Jones took the initiative to approach her.
Although knowing this guy had bad intentions, Elena could only compromise.
"Hmph! You guys, I will definitely make you pay!" She raged inwardly.
Jones looked around for a moment and found a Mountain Man behind a tree.
"Those guys are still guarding!"
Elena frowned: "Can we find a way to catch that guy!"
She didn't like this feeling of being hunted.
Jones's eyes rolled: "Mr. Priest once said, to make the enemy let down their guard, deception is always a good choice."
He thought for a moment and soon had an idea.
Jones took out a plastic bag from his backpack, which contained a calf.
This was taken from the Mountain Man at the camp.
"Oh! Ugh..."
Opening the bag, a foul smell gushed out instantly.
Jones and Elena hurriedly pinched their noses.
"I'll smear this blood on my body later..." Jones whispered.
After synchronizing with other squads, Jones began to act.
Painful groans soon rang out in the dense forest.
Not far away, that Mountain Man's eyes lit up.
It thought it missed, but it seemed to have hit the target.
"..."
It squeezed out a few strange sounds from its throat, then ran down the slope.
Before long, sure enough, it saw the figure of the prey under a tree.
The smell of blood in the air made the Mountain Man even more excited.
It quickened its pace.
But in the next moment, it found its body falling forward.
Seeing the target fall, Elena smashed the Mountain Man's joints hard a few times, ensuring the latter couldn't get up in a short time.
Aside, Jones also got up immediately, took out a rope, and tied up this monster.
Due to prior agreement, other squads just watched from a distance and did not intervene to help, to avoid being caught off guard by Mountain Men.
Thud!
The Mountain Man was brought back to William.
"Oh my God! You really caught a Mountain Man!" Michael sounded excited and immediately aimed the camera at the Run Away Squad.
"Of course, this is all thanks to me using traps..." Jones struck a victory pose.
"These stupid guys never look at the ground..." Elena also squeezed in front of the camera.
Taking advantage of the gap while the two were being interviewed, William carried the Mountain Man aside.
After questioning with [Atonement Persuasion], he raised an eyebrow.
"Captured passers-by; all males are eaten, and females become tools for breeding offspring."
"Children born will stay on the outskirts of the forest, while those born between Mountain Men will be sent deep into the forest."
William rubbed his chin.
The reproduction method of these monsters seemed more complex and outrageous than in the original work.
At the same time, he discovered another thing.
This Mountain Man seemed less strong than the one encountered on the highway earlier.
But due to limited information, it was difficult for William to draw any conclusions temporarily.
Confirming that this Mountain Man could not provide other valuable information.
William asked the other party to identify the traps it set.
Then this guy also became part of the spare bait.
Next, the squads in the dense forest sent back good news one after another, and quite a few Mountain Men were brought to William.
"Sure enough, as long as one is consciously guarded, these monsters in American horror movies will find it hard to succeed." He thought to himself.
In subsequent questioning, William learned some other information.
This group of Mountain Men living on the edge of the forest called themselves "First Generation Servants."
They were mainly responsible for hunting passing "Lucky Ones" and providing food for the depths of the forest.
And the "First Generation" referred to the offspring of Mountain Men and normal humans.
They were strictly forbidden to step into the forest and could only guard the periphery for life.
William pondered inwardly.
"Judging from the above information, this group of Mountain Men seems to have some kind of bloodline screening custom."
As for what was special about Mountain Men with purer bloodlines, these guys in front of him didn't know.
Memories related to this were also erased.
And judging from "Servants," obviously there was also a demon behind this group of guys.
But so far, William hadn't found any symbols or marks related to it.
Besides the above, there was another piece of information that caught his attention.
"There is a wooden house in the forest where a higher 'Generation' Mountain Man lives."
From their description, that Mountain Man came from the depths of the forest and had a very high status.
All Mountain Men living on the periphery had to listen to that guy.
Besides, that Mountain Man was very powerful.
"Tall and sturdy, can crush a big tree with a gentle grip, tail can stop the healing ability of the 'First Generation'."
William recalled the description of that guy. "This is somewhat similar to the cannibal mentioned by Jenny's father."
At the same time, that powerful Mountain Man would enter the depths of the forest every once in a while.
At that time, it would bring food and newborns.
But when returning, the figures of those deformed children were gone.
And today, it happened that a female Mountain Man reached her due date and was waiting for the birth of the child in that wooden house.
William immediately asked everyone to change direction and head towards the cabin in the woods.
Not long after they left, a slender figure appeared on a tree trunk.
She was wearing a gray cloak and had a long narrow box tied to her back.
A breeze brushed past the treetops, and the branches and leaves collided with each other.
And that figure had disappeared.
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