Chapter 133

Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW

Chapter 133: Ambush and Ambushed

Jesse refused the goblin’s harpoon and instead took the stick wrapped in cloth from himself and held it in his hand.

The cloth wrapped around the surface of the magic wand was now soaked through, making it a bit heavier than before, but Jesse still felt safer holding it.

Seeing the open doorway, knowing that someone was waiting in the darkness on the other side, but still needing to face it, was really unpleasant.

Five people lined up in a row, walking between the cabins on the lower deck of the ship, with three leading the way, Greed at the back, Jesse second to last, standing close to Greed.

The guy at the front was a man with a shaved beard, bare-chested with a rope on his back, completely unprotected and holding a long spear straight ahead, his muscles tense all over.

Jesse held his now damp notebook, looking at the blurry words of the spells he had written down earlier, silently reciting them to remember in case he forgot at a crucial moment.

"Hey, look at this," the leader said.

There was a goblin’s body on the stairs leading to the lower cargo hold, one of the men who had gone down earlier to hunt the panther.

His back bore two deep claw marks, one of which had cut through his abdomen, spilling his insides out. It seemed he had crawled here with serious injuries before dying, with only this one corridor leading from the hold.

From the wounds he had suffered, even if he managed to climb out, he would find it hard to escape death.

The fate of the others was not likely to be much better – either they would be killed, or they would hide somewhere unknown. Otherwise, surely someone would have run back to the deck seeking help.

The leading man bypassed the bodies and walked down the stairs, peering inside to make sure there was no danger nearby, then waved his hand.

After they all entered the hold, amidst the chaotic sounds of waves and rain striking the hull, a faint murmur could be heard coming from a distance.

All five of them had a change of expression, clearly having heard the sound.

Greed looked toward the source of the sound and asked softly, "Can anyone make out what it is?"

"Help?" said the man with a ponytail, holding a fishing net and a short stick. "I heard someone shouting for help, sounding like a human."

As he said this, Jesse also felt like someone was shouting for help.

However, none of the five moved, because they all knew what this sound was meant for.

The evil beast hiding under the ship will not let go of the injured person without reason, it must want to use his voice to attract others to come and rescue, then ambush the rescuers.

There are animals on Earth who are skilled in luring, not to mention the cunning wild beasts on Azeroth nurtured by Arcane magic. Experienced hunters are present and will not fall for such tricks.

"I will go take a look," Greed said. "I have a shield, I can use it as bait to attract the black panther to attack me, and then hold him down… You all seize the opportunity to capture him!"

"Are you sure?" Jesse asked.

"Of course I am sure. Why else would I suggest it? Stop talking nonsense, Jesse," Greed muttered.

"Go ahead, dwarf," the man with a ponytail said. "We will cover you."

The shirtless man also nodded.

The woman with a stick warned, "Be careful, dwarf. If things get tough, just run away, don’t risk your life."

"Don’t say such unlucky words, darn it," the dwarf said unhappily.

"Watch out behind the box, Jesse warned."

Greed nodded, adjusted his grip on the shield, and walked toward the sound cautiously, peeking ahead step by step to avoid being ambushed suddenly.

The group followed, stopping at a distance where they could launch a quick attack, watching Greed enter a dark corner with no light.

The ship swayed, the movement now more intense than on the deck earlier. The woman held onto the cabin wall, watching the dwarf closely, while the man with a ponytail leaned against a wooden crate.

The shirtless man crouched by the wall with a spear at the ready. In the dim light, a vague white figure could be seen on the ship’s bottom. The sailor who had previously worn a white shirt with chainmail over it seemed to have shed the chainmail layer.

Jesse was concerned about Greed. He had prepared spells for various situations, not bothering about the possibility of these people discovering his use of Shadow Magic in this tense moment.

Greed was nearing the person in white, but the leopard had not appeared yet.

Jesse said, "We need to get closer. Otherwise, if he’s attacked, we won’t be able to support him immediately."

"Right," the shirtless man lifted his rear and moved forward crouching, with the others following his footsteps.

Jesse looked back at the other end of the cabin, where rows of various boxes and completely wet tarps mixed together in the dim night. Suddenly, a flash of lightning lit up the empty aisle, making it look eerie white. Jesse thought he might see a monster lurking in the shadows, like in a classic horror movie, but there was nothing there.

The man with a ponytail grabbed the window ledge, his hair blowing wildly in the wind. He followed Jesse’s gaze and said, "We should also watch our backs, in case someone is waiting for us from behind."

The shirtless man nodded and glanced behind them. Just then, a series of thunder roared after the lightning bolt. Greed shouted ahead, "This man can’t be saved! He’s missing half his body! Damn it!"

"Holy Light," the man with the ponytail sighed. "Tell me, where is that leopard?"

"Even Holy Light might not find him now," the shirtless man looked around and said. "Maybe we were overthinking it. The leopard just hurt this man, thought he was dead, and left. This warehouse isn’t as big as we thought, so if it was here, we’d definitely see some clues with our instincts!"

The whole cargo hold was filled with the scent the leopard emitted, but it was hard to tell where it was strong or faint. The cage remained in its place without being moved, perhaps just the smell of feces in the cage.

The shirtless man was right; this cargo hold couldn’t hide much, unless that black leopard could turn invisible.

But as far as Jesse knew, this world didn’t have the "stealth" ability like in games, where you could directly turn invisible and only be seen as a semi-transparent shadow up close.

As the group hesitated on what to do next, the cabin suddenly shook without warning, causing Jesse to lose his balance and cling to the nearby wall.

Suddenly, there was a roar nearby. A figure flashed and then disappeared. He tried to turn around but couldn’t because the boat was rocking.

"He… huh!"

The shirtless man shouted something but bumped into the outer wall, then got up and shouted, "There was something just now!"

When everyone came to their senses, the man with a ponytail was gone, leaving only a stick behind!

Did they take him away?!

"It’s the one with the hair tied up that was taken!" The woman raised the stick in her hand towards behind her, saying, "I didn’t see anything… there’s nothing behind me, I was watching behind me the whole time!"

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Greed ran to the crowd and said, "He just disappeared like that?"

"Didn’t you see it?" Jesse asked.

"It was pitch black where I was. I was squatting, looking at the person’s wound, and then got knocked down. How could I see what was happening over here?"

"He was captured very quickly, we couldn’t compete with him at all. He’s waiting for us to make a mistake!" The man with no shirt on said, "We should go back and wait for daylight. This ship is too big! We’re not the hunters anymore, we’re the prey!"

This monster was even more patient and adaptable than they thought.

Jesse really wanted to release Saenor right now. This imp was much better at sensing hidden dangers than them, after all, its eyes were like those of a demon. Even though the creature could hide itself, it was still a living being full of life force…

Casting a Shadow Magic spell could at least let them know this was arcane magic, fooling these non-spellcasters. How could a brazen demon suddenly appear? "Can we survive and find our way back?" the woman asked.

"Get your act together," Greed said as he tapped the shield with his stick. "There’s one less person to split the money with now! Shouldn’t you be more excited? Stop thinking about capturing alive, use all your skills, we need to kill this wretched creature!"

"Agreed," the man with no shirt on said, "I agree to kill him!"

"The most important thing now is to find out where that black panther is," the woman said. "Since you’re all experienced hunters, shouldn’t we plan how to trap it?"

"I’ve only hunted in the forests of Stranglethorn, never from a ship," the man with no shirt on said. "We should definitely not split up now, it would be certain death!"

"Alright," the woman said, "but it’s also crucial to locate this monster. Let’s figure out what really happened just now."

A loud noise came from above, sounding like a battle, but more like something falling in the cabin.

The sea breeze howled like a ghost, making a few people jump in fear.

The woman looked up and asked, "Should we go upstairs?"

"But what if it’s a false alarm again?" the shirtless man said helplessly.

Now, the remaining four people couldn’t decide whether to go back up. What if they went up and found nothing again, like being fooled by the beast?

Jesse thought, if the black panther wanted to catch someone, why not go after the isolated Greed? With the ability to snatch one person among the four, even if the panther stealthily approached Greed while the ship rocked, the others wouldn’t stand a chance to react from this distance.

What stopped them from attacking Greed and instead targeting this group of people?

Jesse looked towards the dark corner where the body lay, then back to the moonlit area on this side.

Windows, they are windows!