High School of Demon Hunting
Chapter 447 - 116: Chasing the Deer_1

Chapter 447: Chapter 116: Chasing the Deer_1

Unlike the carefree and bustling atmosphere of the crowd in the stands, the small world of the hunting ground is much quieter and somberer.

But most of the time, the quieter the atmosphere, the more terrifying it appears.

The wilderness is no exception.

The silent surroundings are filled with hidden dangers.

Whether it’s the hawks circling in the high sky, the vultures flapping at low altitudes, the pack of wolves playing in the waterhole, or even the spiders weaving their webs amongst dried branches and rock crevices, they all hold potential danger.

Every creature in the wilderness is silently honing its hunting skills.

A lone leopard lazily wanders through the grass, occasionally glancing at the black spotted antelope in the distance. Unlike its relative, the cheetah, it is a hunter that relies on ambush and surprise to catch its prey, so it must manage to get within a few meters of its prey unnoticed to stand a chance of catching it in a sudden attack.

Suddenly, the leopard halts and flicks its ears.

It senses unease.

This intuition has saved its life many times before, so the leopard gives up on the black spotted antelope. With a flick of its tail, it leaps gracefully onto a nearby acacia tree.

The low trunk and dense branches of the acacia provide the leopard with easy steps. Soon, it climbs to the upper layers of the tree canopy. The view from there has the widest range, perfect for observing the surrounding environment.

Then, the leopard witnesses an odd event.

Not far from the acacia tree lies a plump roe deer — although this creature is rarely seen in the plains, almost never before, its blood urges it on, telling it that this is a delicious meal awaiting it.

However, this meal is no longer of any concern to the leopard.

The big cat lounging in the branches gives an exasperated yawn at the sight of the secretive figures closing in on the roe deer, giving up on swooping in at the last moment.

The ones hunting the roe deer are a pride of lions.

A pride of kings of the plains.

In the open plains, if they were simply chasing after prey, it would be tough for the lion pride to kill agile, swift running gazelles and wild deer. Hence, they usually work as a team, adopting a method of encirclement over a simple chase.

A few minutes ago, the female lions pleasantly discovered a foolish prey appearing on the plains — unlike other antelope or deer who were constantly on the edge, ears on alert, and lift their heads three times for every mouthful of grass — this dumb prey actually loafed around in the grass, seemingly dozing off?

After a brief round of creeping movements, the lion pride could no longer suppress their instincts. They suddenly sprung into action, rushing towards the plump deer in the grass.

The leopard, watching from atop the branches, sighs deeply and licks its lips.

It’s all over.

The mouth-watering deer meat and the sweet blood, combined with the smell of grass, a feast would soon be far from it.

However, just as it was about to lick its lips, it stiffened and widened its eyes involuntarily.

The lion pride pouncing on the roe deer seemed to hit an invisible blade in midair and were dismembered — The kings of the plain couldn’t even let out a final roar but ended up as pieces of flesh, scattered and falling back to the ground.

Fine droplets of blood falling like rain struck the arid grass.

Those ants and other bugs are going to feast tonight, the leopard dazedly watched the rain of blood with this thought emerging involuntarily in its mind.

The pieces of flesh falling from the sky seemed to finally waken the dozing roe deer.

The plump deer lazily stands up and shakes its multicolored fur, shaking off the blood and bits of flesh that had just been tainted.

It slowly lifts its leg and takes a few steps in the grass. Leaning down, it cautiously sniffs the blood and flesh on the ground.

Then, disgusted, it shakes its head.

The round deer’s antlers draw graceful arcs in the air. The roe deer lifts its head, tilting its brain, and glances at the acacia tree not too far away.

The leopard on the branches panics to find that its body has stiffened and it’s unable to move at all.

Under the sunlight, the eyes of the roe deer sparkle with a captivating luster, like two transparent rubies.

...

...

"The prey has appeared, you have the last three minutes to place your bets!" Half-Face whispers excitedly, the notes in his hand crunching noisily.

"That’s the deer?" Zheng Qing holds the telescope, staring at the odd behaving roe deer, mutters to himself.

The advantage of the external ’Heavenly Eye’ finally begins to show up.

By utilizing the god-like overhead perspective, the audience on the stands effortlessly notice some unusual phenomena—whether it’s the abnormal presence of a roe deer on the tropical grassland, the strange deaths of the lion pride, or the dispersing performance of wild animals around the deer, they all seemingly attest to a certain fact.

"Bingo!" Half-Face snaps his fingers and shrugs, "But it’s a pity, no prize..."

Zheng Qing’s hand that holds the telescope wavering slightly.

It seems that right after the lion pride met their end, several hunting teams have already shifted their exploration focus to this corner of the grassland.

"One minute left!" Half-Face shouts out nervously. "Is there anybody planning to test their luck and judgment at the last moment?! This is the last opportunity before the ’Deer Pursuit’ game fully starts..."

"I’ll choose one too then." Zheng Qing finally couldn’t stand the shoutings of the vendor. He helplessly reaches out his hand and adds, "And also for the previous bet on the rookie game... you haven’t gotten me the contract yet."

"Oh, really?" Half-Face flips through his notebook while pulling out the parchment contract, directing Zheng Qing to sign at certain spots while adding, "The rookie game is not urgent... we still have plenty of time... but, if you want to buy now, that’s fine too... here, sign here."

"This contract is colored? I thought it was supposed to be a white contract?" Zheng Qing smooths out the parchment in his hand, questioning.

The black ink on the parchment glows bizarrely under the sunlight, forming a gorgeous cursive script.

"White contracts have no fixed format, nor any agencies to back it, and its binding force comes from the curses codified within it, and the capabilities of the both parties who signed it." Xiao Xiao was watching the game through his telescope and quickly jotting down notes, as he rapidly explains, "... based on the color of his white contracts, what’s attached is the ’Five Aggregates Curse’. Judging by the depth of the color, it seems to only last about a month, so I wouldn’t suggest placing a highly valuable bet."

"I see." Zheng Qing takes the feather pen, mutters to himself, and signs his name.