Monster Hunt: Notes from a Hunter

Chapter 1316 Burnt corpse
After eating and drinking their fill, and adjusting their bodies, and checking their equipment and bags for the last time, Gordon and his party left the camp.

Pork Chop and Fish Roe were still responsible for exploring the way, but compared to the half-joking "exploring one thousand meters" before, the order Gordon gave this time was finally normal.

Probe out two hundred meters.
The target of this investigation is the Qilin, which is the least dangerous and most docile of the ancient dragon species. However, ancient dragon species are ancient dragon species, and getting into trouble will happen if they laugh too much.

The group followed the route planned by Alva and made some discoveries less than two kilometers away.

The soil layer of the Coral Plateau is very thin, and green plants are rarely seen. It is also not easy to leave footprints in such a landform.

But on a piece of soft coral, Gordon found a hoof print.

Unlike the footprints of other large monsters whose sizes are measured in meters, this hoof print was not even the size of a palm and fell into the groove of the soft coral. It was extremely inconspicuous and was not noticed by Pork Chop and Fish Roe who were responsible for exploring the way.

If it is in a cold zone with permafrost, snow deer may also leave similar footprints.

But this is a coral plateau, and the only ungulate that lives here should be the elf deer, and the elf deer's hoof prints are much smaller than this.

By using the process of elimination, it becomes self-evident who the owner of this footprint is.

——The mythical beast Qilin.

Alva was lying beside the hoof prints, holding a portable camera, with the camera lens almost touching the ground. He didn't know if he could focus.

As a species with relatively more sightings and hunting records among the ancient dragon species, humans have conducted in-depth research on the Qilin, but for him personally, this was his first time to personally come into contact with the footprints of a mythical beast.

The whole person seemed very excited.

Gordon winked at Ted, and Ted, with a big grin, picked up the excited Scribe team member from the ground.

Gordon squatted down beside the hoof print, took out a peeling knife, and picked up a piece of coral from the edge of the print.

"Ah!! I haven't had time to make a copy yet!" Alva screamed.

Gordon ignored him and put the specimen into the guide insect cage. Sure enough, the guide insect emitted a blue light after extracting the ancient dragon's breath attached to the coral.

Gordon stood up, satisfied.

He glanced at Alva, who was crying, and said unhappily, "Why are you howling? It's just a footprint. If you really have a chance to see a Qilin later, why don't you jump on it?"

Alva blinked and thought so.

This time, if we shamelessly follow Gordon and the others, the chances of seeing the Qilin and the mysterious ancient dragon that is suspected to be the Mingbo Dragon with our own eyes are not low.

There is really no need to regret over a hoof print.

"Well, it seems that the Qilin's range of activities is larger than we thought." Putting away the camera and straightening his clothes, Alva began to analyze:

“This place is only about ten kilometers away from the highest peak of the Coral Plateau, where another ancient dragon may live.

Considering the ancient dragon's territory, it's too close, which is a bit abnormal."

"Indeed, but similar situations seem to be more common in the Dragon Crystal Land?" Az, who was in charge of vigilance, said while looking around.

Alva's expression was somewhat helpless. "Don't forget the reason why the Dragon Crystal Land was formed. That place itself is synonymous with 'abnormal'."

“That’s right.”

Gordon interrupted their discussion and said, "Anyway, we have entered the area where the ancient dragons are active. Be alert and keep moving forward."

The group traveled through the colorful and diverse coral reefs of the Coral Plateau.

After walking for a few kilometers, they made a new discovery.

On the tree-like coral reefs by the roadside hung a few pale white bristles, with tiny arcs of electricity faintly jumping on them.

There is no doubt that this was also left by Qilin.

Pig Chop and the others also discovered this trace and made a conspicuous signal near the tree coral.

After completing the extraction of the breath, Gordon looked up and met Alva's expectant gaze.

Most of this naturally shed hair is incomplete and of very average quality. It cannot be used as equipment material, and hunters look down on it. However, for scholars, it is a very good research specimen.

Gordon threw it to him.

Alva carefully put the hairs into the empty test tube he carried with him, feeling that the trip was worthwhile.

Just as they were about to move on to see if they could find more traces and improve the guide insect's perception of the Qilin's aura, Pork Chop and Fish Roe, who were exploring the way ahead, came back running.

"Found a dead body meow." Pig Chop came to Gordon and whispered.

Gordon was a little surprised, and Alva looked like he was about to fly up, blurting out a series of questions.

"What corpse? Whose corpse? It can't be the corpse of a Qilin, could it be the corpse left behind by a Qilin after it preyed on other creatures?
No, there has never been any record of Qilin preying on other creatures. Is it a dispute over territory? Or some other reason?"

Pork Chop didn't know how to answer for a moment, so Gordon waved his hand.

"Just go over and take a look."

The group quickened their pace and soon arrived at the body in the pig's mouth.

This is the corpse of a Carcharodontosaurus.

The originally scarlet body was now charred black, obviously having been struck severely by lightning.

The real fatal wound was in the chest. Its chest was pierced by some sharp object. The wound was extremely deep, but due to severe carbonization, almost no blood seeped out of it.

Gordon squatted down and checked the wound and the condition of the body. "The body is very fresh, and the time of death is estimated to be only a few hours.

The 'murderer' should be the Qilin. It looked like the Qilin's horn pierced his chest, the high voltage current burned his internal organs, and then he was struck by lightning.

It was a pretty peaceful visit.
Hmm, that thunder before, couldn't it be because of this guy? Calculating the time, it seems to be about the same.

I remember that Qilin rarely takes the initiative to attack or even kill other monsters, so the Carcharodontosaurus is the one who is causing trouble?
Well, actively attacking an ancient dragon or something like that would be unbelievable for other monsters, but it doesn’t seem strange for a horrible claw dragon.”

Ted grinned and kicked the charred body of the Traumatoid. "Why did you mess with it? It's weak to lightning. Are you looking for death?"

Az also had a "tsk tsk tsk" expression.

The hunters didn't think too much about it, except for Alva whose brows were getting deeper and deeper.

"What's wrong?" Gordon asked, noticing his unusual expression.

"Something is wrong. The Devil's Claw Dragons are ferocious and manic. It is true that they are fearless, but they are not crazy and bite everyone they see. Otherwise, they would not be able to reproduce."

"He's almost a lunatic, except for the special case of Tyrannosaurus Rex, the Deinocratius can almost be said to be the most offensive monster, right?

Every time I encounter a dromaeosaur, I will pounce on it directly," Ted retorted.

"No, no, you have a misunderstanding about the Traumatoid."

Alva squatted beside the body of the Deinoceratops, taking pictures of the fatal wound, and continued to explain: "Deinoceratops live in the miasma valley with a harsh environment. In order to ensure the survival of the tribe, they will hunt continuously.

In addition to hunting, conflicts with other large monsters are usually caused by competing for food, territory, and to show that they are not easy to mess with.

As a tooth dragon monster with neither outstanding size nor strength, this is their way of survival.

But again, they are not crazy, they are doing everything to survive."

Having said this, Alva stood up again and looked around.

"Qilin is not a male fire dragon, and it does not have the habit of roaring and intimidating other monsters when it sees them.

There is no competition in terms of food habits. Even a hornet's claw dragon should not actively attack a powerful but harmless ancient dragon species like a kirin that passes by quietly. "

"Is it possible that this Deinonychus is particularly crazy?" Pig Chop muttered in a low voice.

"Maybe." Alva shrugged, "It's also possible that the Qilin was crazy, and somehow it stimulated the Devil's Claw.

The fearless Claw Dragon couldn't stand this, and rushed forward in a fit of anger, and then..."

Alva pointed at the charred corpse and said, "It's like this."

(End of this chapter)