Chapter 41: Further Discoveries

Seeing that the Moon Spirit Leopard had lost all ability to resist, Arson shook his head and asked Elena, "Do you need me to help you?"

"No!"

Elena bit her lip, rejecting Arson's kindness. At this moment, she seemed to have lost the firm determination of a hunter displayed during the battle, leaving only the fragile side of an elf.

The Moon Spirit Leopard lay on the ground, its excessive blood loss leaving it with almost no strength to move, forcing it to let Elena slowly approach.

Elena knelt beside the beast and gently stroked its head with her slender hand, as tenderly as if she were tending to a loved one. The green light from her hand slowly seeped into the creature's body.

"Rest in peace. All pain shall leave you. May you find forgiveness and tranquility in the Goddess's divine kingdom."

The Moon Spirit Leopard seemed to sense Elena's kindness and sorrow. It ceased its final struggles, its bright yellow eyes fixed silently on her. Li Si even felt that a profound sense of grief was revealed in those eyes.

What is this? Why do I have such a feeling?

Li Si felt a bit strange. This was, after all, a man-eating magical beast.

Just as everyone thought the hunt had finally come to an end, the Moon Spirit Leopard suddenly summoned its final strength to lift its head and let out a roar toward the small hill behind them.

Just as Li Si and the others thought the beast was experiencing a final surge of energy before a desperate counterattack, its massive body collapsed heavily onto the ground, and the last glimmer of light in its eyes faded away.

Arson breathed a sigh of relief, lowered his weapon, and stepped forward to pat Elena on the shoulder in consolation.

Yar also knelt beside Elena, whispering words of comfort. For an elven hunter, killing a holy beast of the tribe—a hunter’s best companion—was perhaps too cruel.

Li Si, however, was curious. He felt no sentimentality over the death of the beast. He simply walked over, crouched down, and carefully examined the pitch-black, slender high-level magical beast.

Something is wrong!

After only a cursory glance, Li Si noticed something around the leopard’s neck. He knelt beside it and reached out, feeling something cold and hard hanging there.

Pushing aside the black fur, a black chain collar came into view. The bottom link had been broken; it looked like a specialized device.

It seems this Moon Spirit Leopard has a complicated background. It wasn't a wild magical beast, but one that had been captured, tamed, and then escaped. No wonder it appeared in the heart of the Fess Kingdom, thousands of kilometers away from the Navia Forest.

Li Si did not disturb Elena but beckoned to Arson. Seeing Li Si's cautious demeanor, Arson walked over, startled to see the black collar as well.

He, too, realized that the origin of the Moon Spirit Leopard was problematic. The two of them began to inspect the corpse without drawing attention.

The pungent scent of blood filled the air. Ignoring the gruesome wound on the beast’s abdomen, Li Si carefully checked its other parts.

Sure enough, he found numerous scars all over the leopard’s back. They were numerous and appeared to have healed only recently.

*Sigh*, it seems this beast had just escaped from a cage. I wonder why it came to Baron Tony's territory.

No wonder it attacked humans. It seems it wasn't just for food, but perhaps more out of revenge against humanity.

Li Si shook his head. There are always people—whether driven by greed or malice—who do things that cross the line. Forget capturing and imprisoning a Moon Spirit Leopard; those black-hearted merchants wouldn't even spare their own kind. How else could such a massive slave market exist?

Of course, human nature is complex, and Li Si was no saint; he wouldn't let this sway his emotions. Even so, the creature's plight made him suspicious. To go to such great lengths to transport a rare and powerful magical beast to the heart of the Fess Kingdom—Li Si could already smell the scent of a conspiracy.

The main storyline of the game "God's Revelation" ran deep. The schemes of the kingdom, the plots of demons, and the resolutions of the gods were all still lurking beneath the surface, quietly waiting for a fuse to be lit. Even Li Si, who had experienced it all, could not know every single event that would transpire.

This was a real world, and the secret plots and schemes were countless. Everyone was calculating for their own interests. However, Li Si did not want to get too involved in these matters. Not doing anything beyond his own capabilities was his personal code of conduct.

Still, he wondered if Elena might become even more radical after this experience.

Li Si left it to Arson to inform Elena about the trouble they had discovered, then looked up at the small hill where the leopard had been hiding.

Something still felt wrong. The leopard’s behavior just now had been very strange, as if it held some special significance.

Li Si clapped his hands. Why overthink it? Why not just go and see?

"I'm going to take a turn around the hill to see if I can find anything," Li Si told the group.

The others didn't pay much mind. The beast had been hunted; there shouldn't be any danger left. But the cautious Arson still had Lumbus accompany Li Si.

Without further words, while Yar helped Elena clean up the scene, Li Si headed toward the hill with Lumbus.

When they reached the boulder where the leopard had been discovered, they searched around but found nothing unusual.

No, that's not right!

Li Si cast "Fly" on himself, hovering in the air to carefully observe the hidden corners.

The leopard’s lair was not here. That shouldn't be; if it had been entrenched here for a long time, how could it not have prepared a place to rest?

After a moment of thought, Li Si decided to try his luck and chanted an incantation for a new spell.

"Detect Life!"

This was a second-circle spell that could detect the location and strength of living beings within range. Its only drawback was the inability to detect creatures with strength greater than his own, which was why he hadn't used it earlier.

As an invisible wave rippled outward, the entire small hill was quickly scanned.

Li Si closed his eyes, the information fed back by the spell appearing in his mind. Tiny, white, flickering dots simulated the hill in his head; these dim, weak lights were birds, insects, and rodents lacking supernatural power.

Soon, Li Si noticed a faint cyan light on the back of the hill. It was a living being with supernatural power, though it felt extremely weak.

This must be it!

Li Si landed and gestured to Lumbus, and the two hurried toward the spot.

Finally, in a patch of low shrubs on the back of the hill, Li Si found a small cave—or strictly speaking, a crevice formed by two overlapping rocks. The irregularly shaped entrance was hidden in the shadows of the bushes, and had Li Si not known the exact location, it would have been hard to find.

He held his breath, stooped down, and walked inside. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw the creature he had detected and was taken aback.

Could it... really be like this?