A small grenade should be enough to blow this mule's head off, right? No matter how strong it is, it's still flesh and blood... Huh?
That's what Zheng Yichen thought, but this one-horned mule agilely dodged the grenade launched from the hand cannon as if it knew that Zheng Yichen would make such a sudden move. The small grenade hit the ground and exploded without affecting the mule, but the noise it caused made the animal somewhat agitated.
The one-horned mule's green eyes stared fixedly at Zheng Yichen, launching another attack. Its nearly half-meter-long horn thrust viciously at Zheng Yichen, who had a black spear more than two meters long in his hand. Faced with such a straightforward jab, it should have landed... but it missed.
His usually successful stabs when bullying small animals failed against this mule, which nimbly evaded the attacks, almost poking him in the arm with its sharp horn.
After several attempts, Zheng Yichen realized it was tough for him to hit the mule. It seemed to possess the ability to avoid danger. The hissing sound it made occasionally harassed Zheng Yichen, continuously affecting his mental state.
Although the creature was adept at evading danger, several consecutive exchanges left some wounds on it. Ultimately, he went back to where his backpack was, lifted it from the ground, and took off the nozzle attached to it.
The mule, which was licking the blood off its horn, froze, its green eyes staring at Zheng Yichen with a reluctant gaze. Then it decisively ran off.
"? Damn it, don't run!" Watching the fleeing mule, Zheng Yichen couldn't bear it. He had taken so many hits, and now this thing wanted to escape? He wouldn't let it go without leaving something behind!
It ran, and he chased... but he couldn't catch up.
The average physical fitness in this world is quite strong. Let's put it this way, Earth's fastest 100-meter sprint is 9.58 seconds, while in this world, a normal athlete without extraordinary abilities can do it in 8.8 seconds... Zheng Yichen hadn't cared about this before, but after someone broke the 9-second barrier recently, the news exploded.
He glanced at it and remembered it, which also explains that the human race in this world has a very robust physique. Zheng Yichen wasn't sure if he counted as a person from this world or had such a physical foundation after transmigrating and growing up again.
But now, he was sure that even if he did have it, at the moment, he couldn't outrun a one-horned mule, an extraordinary creature with four legs, even though he himself also possessed supernatural abilities and could be considered an extraordinary creature.
A shotgun slug hit the mule's behind, but the tough-skinned creature didn't even look back and ran even faster, soon disappearing from Zheng Yichen's sight. The forest wasn't suitable for a chase.
On his way out of the forest, Zheng Yichen grumbled as he reloaded his gun with ammunition. Birdshot wasn't powerful enough against that thing; a shotgun slug would be better, but he was afraid of missing.
The mule ultimately did not reappear. Instead, it was Hunters drawn by the noise who appeared. Nearby Hunters had rushed over after hearing the commotion. Experienced Hunters could tell what had happened with a glance at the scene's traces.
Inspecting the injured Zheng Yichen, they didn't let down their guard, as this was the outskirts of the city. The tension only eased when Zheng Yichen showed his Hunter's license. It had to be said, the license was quite useful. Besides making dealing with extraordinary creatures legal and proper, it was also good for proving one's identity.
Mainly because the area had network access. Just by looking up the number on the license, they could find detailed official information.
Such as the registered name, personal mission records, and other details that could be publicly disclosed.
As someone with only one mission record, Zheng Yichen was undoubtedly a novice hunter in their eyes, not warranting too much vigilance.
"Are you guys also here to catch that... mule?"
"Mule? Isn't it a horse?"
"That thing's a horse? Looks more like a donkey to me." Zheng Yichen's words got several Hunters talking, and one of them coughed lightly and stepped forward.
"That's one of our goals, I guess. Many people who come here take on these kinds of commission tasks, but our main objective is still to patrol." He stopped there, obviously the rest concerned their own mission.
"That donkey... the Extraordinary creature is cunning, rarely attacks groups of Hunters, always targets ordinary people or those who are alone. Let's leave this place first."
On the way out, Zheng Yichen realized that the half-eaten roasted rabbit he had dropped on the ground was gone, likely picked up by some animal.
The patrolling Hunters had plenty of time on their hands in the middle of the night and began casually discussing the mule. It had appeared ten days ago, and compared to other Extraordinary creatures that occasionally strayed from the southern forest, this one was particularly cunning.
Even when some Hunters set up traps and laid out high-quality bait, it never fell for them, always managing to avoid pursuit or simply not showing up where an ambush was laid out. They had taken on this commission a week ago, but had pretty much given up by now.
The main issue was that the mule's strength wasn't weak; acting alone as bait could easily lead to being killed instead. A few days ago, a powerful Hunter had shown up, and then the mule stopped appearing; that Hunter couldn't stay here forever.
He left today, and then the mule showed up and attacked Zheng Yichen.
"That thing is indeed very cunning and could silently approach very close to me." Zheng Yichen recalled when the mule first attacked him, realizing it had gotten close without him noticing. A slower reaction might have meant a massive problem.
"Alright, if you want to go toe-to-toe with that beast, make other preparations, because your current equipment... is not quite up to par." A Hunter looked at Zheng Yichen, not in mockery but in all seriousness. They had not stayed here long; they still had to patrol. Running into a novice hunter like Zheng Yichen who had been attacked was a reasonable excuse for slacking off; after that, it was no longer allowable.
Zheng Yichen thought for a moment, looking at the wounds on his body. He had a new idea in his mind. After taking so many hits from the mule without managing to retaliate successfully - both a single man and a mule primarily using thrusting attacks - he ended up getting injured in a failed fencing attempt.
This... shouldn't he prove himself again?
"Is this place really open all day?"
"It's open all day." At Dusk Cathedral, a nun was tending to Zheng Yichen's wounds. It was the same nun who had checked his body before, her milk-white hair leaving a deep impression on him: "No need for stitches on non-severe wounds, you'll recover quickly."
"Your blood has an attraction for Extraordinary creatures; it can be used to craft bait to lure them in."
"? This is possible?" Zheng Yichen clicked his tongue, now interested: "How do I learn? Does it cost money?"