Top has very keen senses; it doesn't bark without reason. There must be some kind of animal lurking nearby that could threaten our safety.

I put down my load and instinctively reached for the shotgun on my back. I didn't see any of those black ants this time, so I figured it was better to be cautious.

The visual impact of those sand monsters was too great; even now, holding a powerful firearm in my hand, I still can't calm myself down.

Although a shotgun offers one more firing opportunity than a crossbow, it only offers two opportunities, and can cover a maximum of two areas.

If you're facing a cunning animal like a sand monster, this shotgun might not be able to suppress it.

My gaze swept across the nearby mountains, and the road was flanked by shrubs and waist-high grass.

The fog here hasn't completely dissipated after the rain; it's like a thin veil shrouding the mountains on both sides.

If a ferocious beast is hiding in the dense vegetation, it will be impossible to spot it from the outside.

"Top, which direction is the sound coming from?" I asked Top, who was standing next to me, while holding my gun.

Top straightened up and stood up, his ears twitching as he listened intently to the sounds around him. After a moment, Top pointed without hesitation to the mountains on my right and chirped twice.

Top pointed out a location without any doubt, proving that the other party was large in size and single in number.

The larger the animal, the louder the sound it makes when moving through the grass. Although I might not be able to hear it, for a monkey like Top, which is fully adapted to jungle life, hearing even the slightest sound and sounding an alarm has become an instinct.

If there were many of them, Top would point to several places, but now Top is definitely pointing in one direction, which means that the one coming is most likely a lone predator.

Could it be...? No way!

Thinking about this makes my scalp tingle. I still clearly remember the look in the eyes of the wounded and fleeing leader of the Sand Beasts yesterday. It was a fierce look of relentless revenge.

"Top, come quick!"

Thinking of this, I quickly called Top back. The enemy was in the shadows while we were in the open, and our situation was extremely passive. I still had a shotgun for self-defense, but Top was no match for these ambush hunters.

The previous encounter with the Sand Beast was entirely due to the Sand Beast's lack of information about us, which led to its choice to engage us head-on, thus giving us the opportunity to get close.

The leader of this sand beast is already very cunning, and it's also wary of me, so it's difficult for it to show itself easily. But dealing with Top only requires one encounter, and Top will be bitten to death by the other party.

Hearing my urgent call, Top knew he had encountered a tough opponent this time, and quickly rushed back to my side.

Top clung to my leg, staring intently at the direction we had just left, but after watching for a long time, I didn't see any change in Top's expression. It seemed that Top himself was starting to feel a little confused.

I clearly heard a faint sound of movement coming from inside just now, but now it's completely gone. Could it be that they've left?

Seeing Top's puzzled expression, I frowned as well. I rarely saw Top look puzzled; usually, his answers were either affirmative or negative.

But situations like today are extremely rare, which means that Top is also unsure whether the contents are still in their original positions.

I took out the crossbow and attached a wooden arrow without a metal arrowhead to the quiver. The arrowhead had two small holes, each about one centimeter in diameter, at its conical tip.

This arrow was not intended to kill animals, but rather it was a whistling arrow that emitted a piercing whistling sound.

When I first made this arrow, I wanted to use the loud noise to scare out prey hiding in the woods so that I could shoot them with my crossbow.

The Sand Beast has never seen anything like this before. Using it unexpectedly might have a surprising effect and scare it out of its hiding place nearby.

I aimed at the direction Top had pointed earlier and pulled the trigger on the Xuan Blade.

"Chirp!"

A piercing whistle ripped through the sky, and the arrow sped off in the direction Top had pointed, quickly disappearing into the grass.

I saw the grass nearby sway slightly, then immediately return to its previous stillness.

Upon seeing this, I was greatly shocked. If before I only had doubts, now I was almost 80% certain that the ferocious beast lurking nearby was the Sand Beast leader that I had wounded yesterday and had come for revenge!

"Damn it! I didn't expect it to be so persistent and follow us all the way here!"

I gritted my teeth and stared at that spot. Now I was certain it was no longer there, and I had no idea where it had hidden itself again.

However, one thing is certain: it will not let me go easily, otherwise it wouldn't have followed me all this way to this ambush.

The Sand Beast now knows that the crossbow in my hand can damage it, but what it doesn't know is that the shotgun in my hand can do even more damage.

I didn't know how this cunning fellow would deal with my crossbow, so my shotgun, which could fire two shots in quick succession, became my last resort.

"Top, stay close to me and don't wander off. That beast is probably watching us from nearby."

I spoke to Top, who was beside me. Having cooperated with me many times before, Top knew the stakes involved and stayed close to me, his ears perked up, listening to the sounds around us.

I held my gun at the ready and watched the direction to my right. The ground was a bit muddy after the rain, and my footsteps left footprints of varying depths.

After walking for a while, I found that nothing unusual had happened, as if the mysterious animal had never appeared at all.

Did it really run away?

My doubts deepened. Based on my understanding of these sand beasts, they wouldn't give up until they achieved their goal, especially since I had wounded one of them with an arrow. How could they possibly let me go so easily?

But there was indeed no movement from the sand monster. Not only did I not find any movement, but even Top, who had been on guard, did not sound the alarm again.

I don't know what this guy is up to, but this area is definitely not safe to stay in for long; who knows what other wild beasts might suddenly appear.

Top and I returned to where we had put the loads, picked them up again, and continued on our way.

This time, instead of hanging the shotgun back on my back, I held it in my left hand and rested the barrel on a shoulder pole made of bushes as I continued on my way.

This way, if I encounter any unexpected situations on the road, I can quickly drop my load and raise my gun to fire.

Faced with such a cunning hunter, I wouldn't feel it's too much to be a hundred times more cautious. With a heavy heart, Top and I walked quite a distance further.

Not long after Tang Yi and the others left, there was another commotion in the bushes where Top had previously noticed the commotion. The figure that had escaped right under their noses vanished into the dense jungle.