Feng Li glanced at the gate of the mercenaries' trade union, feeling curious about this thief that was leaving in a hurry. It was his first time hearing Ji Huo give such a compliment to someone.
"Your intuition might not be reliable," said Feng Li. That guy might simply have had a stroke of good luck. All he had shown them were the high-level items on him.
"My intuition has always been accurate," Ji Huo said steadfastly while shaking his head.
"Let's forget about him since he has no interest in teaming up with us. We should go carry out our task," said Xue Rong.
Xiao Yu got out of the small town. According to the coordinates provided by the mercenaries' trade union, the desert hunters should be located somewhere around the desert plateau, which was about three kilometers away from the small town. It would take him 20 minutes to get there.
"It's indeed difficult to deal with a level-5 boss." Though he had no idea what strength a level-5 boss had, Xiao Yu figured it must be more powerful than those monster leaders. He couldn't find any information on boss monsters on the forums. He couldn't come to any conclusions about the strength of a level-5 boss. The most he could do was speculate about it.
In order to save time, Xiao Yu went around the scattered monsters when he encountered them and went straight to his destination.
After passing the rising and ebbing sand dunes, Xiao Yu arrived at a desert plateau. Some sand vultures had respawned in the vicinity, but Xiao Yu had no interest in dealing with them at the moment.
"The coordinates are 23939. 38509. 23859. That's somewhere near here." The desert's layout was rather complicated in this spot, and sand windstorms would occur from time to time, reducing the visibility considerably. Xiao Yu slowed his steps while searching for traces of the desert hunters.
"Desert hunters… human beings hunting with bows… level-5 boss… moves quickly and good at setting up traps… special skill is calling upon the wolf packs…"
After studying the information provided by the mercenaries' trade union, Xiao Yu furrowed his brows. These desert hunters were obviously the boss monsters for hunter monsters, and they could travel fast and call upon the wolf packs. These two traits made them a difficult target to deal with unless Xiao Yu could control his opponent long enough until the opponent was dead.
"I hope this hunter won't be too powerful." Xiao Yu moved his right hand and continuously rotated the dagger between his fingers.
Hunters were actually the archenemy of thieves. They had the ability to call upon other animals and could detect stealth travel. They also had strong fighting abilities in one-on-one combat out on the wild field. Thieves had only a three out of ten chance to beat hunters at the same level. Moreover, hunters had formidable tracking abilities, making it harder for thieves to escape from them. Hence, hunters were one of the few professions that thieves tried to avoid.
As he was thinking of all this, he stopped his right foot in midair for a second and then brought down his foot carefully.
Xiao Yu backtracked a few steps and then surveyed the ground in the area.
The sand in his surroundings had some little marks, meaning that it had been disturbed. Along with these marks, he looked up at the sand dune beside the marks and found that something was seemingly buried by the edge of it. It might be some sort of attacking device.
"That was a close call. I almost stepped on a trap." Xiao Yu felt lucky that he didn't step on it.
He had no choice but to dismantle the trap. Looking around, Xiao Yu found a sand fruit tree not far away. A few hardy fruits as big as a basketball hung on the small tree.
"I've got an idea." Xiao Yu went before the sand fruit tree and cut down one fruit with his dagger. He brought the fruit back and threw it at the trap. Then he ran to a place a bit further from the trap and sheltered himself in a safe place.
The hardy sand fruit flew in a curve in the air and landed on the ground that had been disturbed.
Clank!!!
It seemed that some sort of mechanism was triggered.
Whoosh!!! Whoosh!!! Whoosh!!!
More than 10 cold flashes shot out at the hardy sand fruit. Along with a few thudding sounds, the hardy sand fruit was pierced by five or six arrows, making it look like a cactus rolling on the ground. A white liquid seeped out from its surface that was pierced by the arrows.
Seeing the rolling sand fruit on the ground, Xiao Yu thought that was truly a close call. If he had stepped on the trap, he would have been pierced like a porcupine.
"I will be fine once I learn how to dismantle traps at level 12," thought Xiao Yu.
He looked closely at the site around the trap because he was fully aware that a hunter was usually never far from the trap they set up. Since he had triggered the trap, the hunter should show up pretty soon.
As expected, six figures were rushing over from the edge of the sand dune. One of them was a hunter holding a long bow, and he wore a gray cloak for protecting himself from the sandstorms. The other figures turned out to be five white wolves whose heads reached waist-level on the hunter. They looked rather fierce and menacing.
"This desert hunter called five white wolves. I'm in big trouble this time." Seeing the five white wolves beside the desert hunter, Xiao Yu felt a pang in his heart. He thought that he was capable of killing a boss who was two levels lower than himself. But the presence of five white wolves dampened the plan. This was likely an impossible task for Xiao Yu to complete, as he would have to deal with a level-5 boss and five level-5 monsters all at once.
"I'd better leave this place first," Xiao Yu told himself. He intended to hightail the site after the desert hunter left. As for the task, he had to think out another plan.
The desert hunter squatted down and picked up the hardy sand fruit. He swept his sight around and fixed his gaze on the sand fruit tree not far away. The sand fruit tree was so far away from the trap that it was impossible for its fruit to land squarely on the trap to trigger the mechanism. It was evidently something done by a human. Looking at the stem of the hardy sand fruit, he found a mark that must have been caused by a sharp tool. The person must've rushed over as soon as the trap was triggered. As such, the person who triggered the trap definitely hadn't gone far.
It was then that a white wolf uttered a low growl. The desert hunter patted its head and muttered something to the beasts. The five white wolves started to sniff the ground and slowly headed in the direction of where Xiao Yu hid.
"Damn! I'll be discovered." Xiao Yu evaluated the ground in the area and found that the sand hills were rather intricate. This offered an opportunity for him to escape. However, if he started to flee, his whereabouts would be revealed, and the desert hunter would surely notice him. Desert hunters were pretty good at traveling at a fast speed and tracking their target. Could he escape from this desert hunter?