NovelEnglishChapter 201 Traces in the Forest
Aubrey’s POV
At ten o’clock the next morning, we set out right on schedule with Brook. But despite following his
lead through the forest for hours, we still found nothing.
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To avoid poisonous insects and pollen, all of us were wrapped up tightly. After eight hours of hiking,
we were soaked in sweat-everyone except me. I'd only broken a light sweat. While we rested and
ate, | stared at the thick mountain forest ahead, lost in thought.
“Should we keep going?” Perry handeda bottle of water as he asked.
1 glanced at Brook, who looked exhausted and disheartened, then shook my head.
“Based on what they said, that man left around noon and cback by noon the next day.
Factoring in how far he could travel and how fast he could move, this area is probably the farthest
he could’ve reached. And he cback with a high fever from the virus, so there’s no way he
moved quickly. If he cthis way, he definitely wouldn’t have gone any farther. We must've
passed it already.”
The forest here was so dense that it wasn’t surprising we’d missed something. Perry nodded.
“You're right. After lunch, we can search one more hour ahead. If we don’t find anything, we double
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtback and sweep the area we already passed. Sound good?”
“Yeah.” | nodded and sat down to eat.
Just then, something rustled in the bushes. One of the guards spotted it and called out with excitement, “A
deer!”
We'd seen animals on the way, but they’d all been too small. A spotted deer like this? That was something worth
getting excited over-fresh meat for dinner.
As soon as | heard the commotion, I looked faster than anyone else. Thanks to Ella’s presence, my eyesight was
better. | caught sight of the deer-and noticed faint traces of blood on its coat. My pupils narrowed instantly.
“Catch it! Don’t touch the blood!” I barked.
“Yes, ma’am!”
Perry quickly dispatched two warriors. A moment later, they returned with the deer slung between them, its neck
cleanly snapped.
| frowned. “You didn’t touch the blood, right?”
They shook their heads. “No.”
Only then did | pull on my gloves and examine the body. The blood could mean one of two
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Chapter 201 Traces in the Forest
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things—either the deer was wounded, or it had brushed up against something-or someone- already
injured.
If it had someone else’s blood on it, that could be dangerous. Brook’s father had cout here and
never returned. If he’d died of the Lupine virus, and the deer had cinto contact with his blood,
anyone who touched it could be at risk. But luckily, the virus was so aggressive that animals
typically died immediately upon infection. So the chances were low-but | wasn’t taking any risks.
I rolled the deer onto its side and peeled back the fur on its belly. That’s when I found the source of
the blood. The wound wasn’t deep-just a bolt wound from a crossbow.
Many omegas used homemade crossbows for hunting. The damage was decent, and the materials
were easy to find-plenty effective for small game.
“Brook.” | turned to the boy with a smile. “What kind of hunting tools do people use around here?”
He answered quickly. “Most omegas use crossbows they make themselves. Suse traps too. But
my dad said he didn’t want any mix-ups with other hunters, so he made his arrowheads in a cross
shape instead of triangles.”
On the way here, Brook had mentioned his dad went hunting three days ago and never cback.
He’d joined us hoping to find him and bring him home.
“Good boy,” | praised him with a smile, then lowered my gaze to the cross-shaped wound on the
deer’s body. At the very least, this proved his father had been here.
“And how good of a hunter is your dad? As an omega, | mean.” | looked back up at him and asked.
1.2K”
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