The bloodstains on the ground had dried, and scattered brown fur lay about. Lu Heng found a dry branch and poked at the ground, picking out two more scales from a snake-dragon beast.
"This is a canine beast. They probably came here to drink water, or to hunt other beasts that were drinking."
The demon wolf looked at the reinforced trap nearby. If it hadn't seen the snake-dragon beast processing its prey here yesterday, it wouldn't have noticed that a trap had been dug here.
Not far from the bloodstain, some stones and dead branches covered a trap.
Lu Heng waved his hand, and the covering over the trap was blown away by the wind, revealing a trap more than a meter deep.
Many sharpened stakes were inserted diagonally within the trap, their outward-facing sides all sharpened to a point. Almost every stake had dark red, dried blood on it.
It seemed they had hunted many prey with this trap and were still using it, which also indicated that the intelligence of many beasts here was not very high.
And these snake-dragon beasts were truly like humans in ancient times, using the most primitive methods to hunt prey.
"Master, if we disturb this, they'll find out."
"What are you afraid of? We'll be leaving soon, and they're not likely to come back today."
Lu Heng was certain that this trap didn't catch prey every day. At least, its companions from yesterday, who were with the captured demon beast, would definitely not come back here.
"Then don't we need to help set it up again?"
Seeing Lu Heng turn to leave, the demon wolf followed behind him, asking hesitantly.
Their intelligence was really not that high. It had been revealed, so who would help restore the trap to its original state?
"Let's go." Xue Lang glanced at the demon wolf and quickly followed behind Lu Heng.
For the entire day, Lu Heng led Xue Lang and the others along the riverbank, searching for demon beasts to contract. Lu Heng specifically looked for demon beasts that could be paired with his existing contracted animals.
Although the demon beasts here were somewhat different from the animals in the apocalypse, there were still similarities.
If the pairing was successful, their offspring would not take up Lu Heng's contracted animal slots, allowing him to freely bring the next generation of animals into his space for his use.
This way, Lu Heng could build his own animal army, and the most loyal subordinates.
Well, except for the fox and the cat, which were a bit special, Lu Heng hadn't found any similar demon beasts for now. As for the tortoise and the hawk-beaked beast, Lu Heng didn't plan to look for them here. For the other contracted animals, he had found similar demon beasts.
He didn't know if these demon beasts could be paired with the animals from the apocalypse. Perhaps after spending a long time together, these animals could develop feelings, and he could have Pang Hu teach them some experience in this regard.
Looking at the newly acquired demon beasts, Lu Heng felt that this trip was truly worthwhile. Imagining his future demon beast army, Lu Heng couldn't help but smile slightly.
"Master, it seems there are demon beasts fighting over there," Lu Bai said, twitching his ears, addressing Lu Heng, who was lost in thought.
"Mm, you guys go back to the space and rest first." After a busy day, the sky had begun to darken. Lu Heng recalled all his pets into his space.
Standing beside a large rock, Lu Heng could now smell the scent of blood drifting in the air.
It seemed the fight over there was quite fierce, with a lot of blood shed, otherwise, Lu Heng wouldn't be able to smell it from so far away.
Concealing his aura, Lu Heng moved silently towards the direction from which the smell of blood was coming. The closer he got, the clearer the sounds of fighting became.
Lu Heng seemed to hear the sound of metal scraping against hard objects. Could it be that human cultivators had appeared here?
Soon, Lu Heng saw the truth. It was a familiar figure; a snake-dragon beast was fighting a giant python by the riverbank.
The giant python he saw this time seemed even more robust than the one he had seen in the Cloud Mist Forest. It was coiled up, with a snake-dragon beast coiled within its body.
The giant python's tail continuously struck the ground. Its body had many wounds, and many scales had been stripped off, revealing the skin beneath. As the snake's body exerted force and tightened, the injured areas continuously oozed blood.
However, the giant python did not stop tightening its body despite the bleeding. It wanted to crush the snake-dragon beast within it to death.
Both were aquatic creatures, but the snake-dragon beast had evolved human-like arms and a face. The snake-dragon beast currently coiled in the middle of the giant python's body was desperately using its crude weapon to stab at the giant python's body.
But in the areas with scales, the weapon, which didn't look very sharp, couldn't penetrate the giant python's body at all. It only caused dull thuds against the scales, and the snake-dragon beast was gradually falling into a disadvantage.
It seemed the snake-dragon beast wasn't that formidable either, not as exaggerated as the demon wolf had said.
Lu Heng hid behind a tree, observing the battle. He thought that after they were both injured, he would come out to deliver the final blow.
He could also tell that this giant python, like the snake-dragon beast, was a level ten demon beast. Such fierce beasts contained demon cores within them.
Hmm? Why does this snake-dragon beast still have the mind to look towards me?
Just as Lu Heng was watching the spectacle, waiting to reap the benefits, the snake-dragon beast, being crushed by the giant python, suddenly looked towards Lu Heng's direction.
Lu Heng was startled. He looked behind himself as well. He had concealed his aura and felt that the two demon beasts opposite him shouldn't be able to detect him.
There were no creatures behind Lu Heng or around him. Lu Heng had also specifically taken out his thermal imaging helmet to check again.
But it made sense. With two high-level demon beasts fighting here, normally, no other demon beast would dare to come nearby to watch the fun like Lu Heng.
The snake-dragon beast stared intently at Lu Heng. Lu Heng could actually read a plea for help from its face.
Alas, they couldn't communicate. If only Lu Heng could read minds, he would know what this demon beast was thinking.
But that look? Hiss, why is it even crying?
Lu Heng felt his eyesight was too good, he could even see the other party's eye boogers.
Does it want me to save it?
I'm not a saint. I was planning to wait until one of you died to extract your demon cores.
Lu Heng looked at the snake-dragon beast, which seemed to have given up struggling. He quickly returned to his space. He had been discovered, and if the snake-dragon beast exposed him later, it would be troublesome for him to sneak attack the giant python.
"Master, I think that snake-dragon beast seemed to want you to save it," the Bureau Chief said to Lu Heng, who had returned to the space, looking at the two demon beasts still fighting.