Less than five minutes after the Griffin left Chen Yu's sight, a tragic eagle cry echoed from afar.
The direction of the sound was precisely the direction the Griffin had departed.
Chen Yu was curious what creature could hunt a Griffin flying in the sky.
But no matter what magical creature it was, it was certainly very dangerous.
Should he follow to see, or avoid the dangerous route and explore in another direction?
Chen Yu fell into deep thought.
His purpose for entering the Forbidden Forest this time was twofold: first, to find a magical creature to try, to see if the energy extracted from ordinary meat using the Carnivore skill was the same as that extracted from magical creature meat.
Second, he wanted to broaden his horizons and gain combat experience by fighting magical creatures, to avoid panicking and being flustered when encountering danger later.
Practice makes perfect; theory and practice are, after all, two different things.
He tightened his grip on the Serpent Spell in his left hand, which kept him in an invisible state.
Chen Yu finally made up his mind to follow.
He had learned so many spells, including the three Unforgivable Curses, and was in an invisible state the entire time. He felt that as long as he didn't encounter Quirrell and Lord Voldemort, even if he met a fire dragon, he could retreat safely.
He used his wand to cast a Cleaning Charm on himself again, removing the dust and sweat accumulated along the way.
He cautiously approached the direction of the eagle's cry once more.
Upon reaching the scene, the area was a mess.
Chen Yu hid behind a giant tree to observe the crime scene.
He saw that the area was covered with thick spider webs, and four enormous spiders were devouring an Occamy that had originally been captured by the Griffin.
These spiders were massive, each body only slightly smaller than a Griffin. They were covered in thick black fur, had eight eyes, and occasionally made an audible clicking sound with their chelicerae.
These were Acromantulas, notorious creatures in the Forbidden Forest.
They were gigantic, ferocious, and venomous XXXXX-class creatures.
Chen Yu saw the Griffin; it was now incredibly miserable.
It was trapped in a spider web, its feathers matted with blood, dishevelled and utterly dishevelled, a far cry from the valiant appearance he had seen before.
Its wings were stuck together with thick silk, and its limbs were twisted to varying degrees, making it impossible to fly.
An Acromantula, even larger than the four currently devouring the Occamy, was biting the Griffin's neck with its chelicerae, injecting venom.
Aside from the slight rise and fall of its chest as it breathed, and the occasional twitching of its limbs, Chen Yu would have thought the Griffin was already dead.
Unless a miracle happened, this Griffin was beyond saving.
He had initially hoped to watch the tigers fight from the mountain and perhaps pick up a bargain, but he hadn't expected a one-sided massacre.
Chen Yu felt a little disappointed.
With five adult Acromantulas hunting, let alone a Griffin, even a fire dragon could be taken down if it wasn't careful.
Seeing these monsters, Chen Yu began to have second thoughts.
He was here to gain combat experience, not to seek death and challenge his limits.
Just as Chen Yu was about to leave this dangerous place, a sudden sense of dread surged through him.
Cold sweat instantly broke out on his forehead.
I'm going to die! I'm going to die! I'm going to die! I'm going to die!
Not far behind him, two slightly smaller Acromantulas crawled down from a tree.
"Strange, I heard some movement here just now, but now there's nothing?"
One of the Acromantulas spoke, its voice like a female spider.
The other also spoke, also a female spider: "Sister, did you mishear?"
"No, that's not right. I smell a faint human scent here."
Hearing this, Chen Yu's heart tightened even more.
He had indeed worked up some sweat rushing here, and he hadn't expected it to potentially expose his location.
"Humans? Their tender skin and flesh are indeed delicious... But now, besides werewolves, Centaurs, and giants, what other humans would wander in the Forbidden Forest? They're not easy to provoke!"
Listening to the female spider's words, Chen Yu thought to himself: Perhaps in the eyes of Acromantulas, any creature with 'human' in its name and roughly human-like physique counts as human?
"Have you forgotten the Little Wizards living in the castle outside the Forbidden Forest? What if some bold Little Wizards from there wanted to come play in the Forbidden Forest? How interesting that would be..."
Chen Yu watched the two female spiders, conversing while their sixteen eyes scanned the surroundings, as if they wouldn't give up until they found Chen Yu.
After a while, Chen Yu felt his body become stiff.
He heard one female spider say, "There's no human here... Did the human leave already? Besides, our leader Aragog doesn't allow us to attack humans."
"Hmph! Aragog is old, senile. How long has it been since he hunted? He won't be around much longer, and you still listen to him?"
The other spider retorted.
If one only listened to their voices and not the content of their discussion, closing one's eyes, Chen Yu might have thought it was two young university students chatting cheerfully at school.
But seeing the two spiders discussing with their clear female voices, Chen Yu felt a deep sense of incongruity.
"Let's go, it seems there's no one here."
One female spider gave up and turned to leave.
"Perhaps you're right..."
The other female spider also prepared to turn and leave, but as she did, she unconsciously swept her hind leg in a frustrated manner towards Chen Yu and the grass around him.
It was like a child seeing a perfectly sized pebble on the roadside and kicking it away.
It was like picking up a twig and happening to be next to a lush cornfield.
The female spider's unintentional swipe forced Chen Yu to roll away.
Unless he wanted a close encounter with a thick leg covered in long black hairs.
"Damn!"
Chen Yu immediately rolled to the side.
And that roll exposed him!
"Aha! I knew someone was here!"
The female spider's eyes lit up when she saw the grass beside her indent out of nowhere.
She quickly aimed her abdomen at the indentation in the grass, and a fist-sized stream of spider silk instantly shot out.
"Shield Charm!"
Chen Yu quickly used his wand to cast a Shield Charm in front of himself.
An invisible wall blocked the path of the spider silk.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
Chen Yu cast the Levitation Charm on himself again.
The purpose of casting it was not to make himself float, but to reduce his body weight, allowing him to escape the scene faster.
The other female spider, hearing the commotion, immediately turned around, scanned with her eyes, and charged directly towards Chen Yu, her entire body crashing into the air wall.
The Shield Charm collided with the female spider; the invisible wall held for two impacts before being shattered by the female spider.
The Shield Charm, which he had only learned yesterday, could only block two Acromantulas for three breaths of time.
In those three breaths, Chen Yu had already moved to another spot.
With the boost from the Levitation Charm, Chen Yu felt like Duan Yu, who could use Qinggong, leaping several feet high, landing silently, leaving no trace in the snow.
Only the direction was difficult to control; he needed to practice more.
Chen Yu was not one to suffer in silence; he believed in reciprocating courtesy.
After feeling relatively safe from the two female spiders, Chen Yu unhesitatingly used Snape's invented Sectumsempra.
"Sectumsempra!"
The two spiders were simply too large; there was no need for precise aiming.
An invisible blade sliced across the abdomen of one female spider, causing the spider, who was searching for Chen Yu's position, to howl in pain.
"Oh no!"
Chen Yu instantly realized his mistake.
He should have used the Killing Curse directly; the female spider's howl would directly attract the other Acromantulas.
Indeed, hearing the female spider's wail, the other five spiders immediately rushed to the scene.
Chen Yu decisively left the area; he did not want to fight seven Acromantulas simultaneously.
"He's over there! Kill him! Kill him!"
The female spider's painful wails echoed behind Chen Yu.
Chen Yu quickly cast a Cleaning Charm on himself to remove the scent he was emitting again, and fled in another direction.
Without the guiding scent of Chen Yu's sweat, the Acromantulas quickly lost track of the invisible Chen Yu.