The lone goblin was easy to deal with. It tried to resist with a short spear, but Ye Zi knocked it down with a light tap and a pull. Shi Hao and Li Tianrui pounced on it and quickly tied it up like a dumpling with a safety rope.
"What kind of monster is this? It stinks." Ye Zi pinched her nose and stepped back a few steps. She had just fought with the goblin twice, and the foul smell on the goblin made her choke. She covered her mouth and asked in a muffled voice, "I caught a stinky thing. What should I do?"
Zhang Sicheng and Shi Hao looked at each other, unsure of what to do.
"There is actually such a new species." Professor Lin Youping came over to take a closer look and was amazed. He took out his camera and took a few photos, scaring the goblin to scream. He sighed, "If this little thing were on Earth, I could fill the entire Nature magazine. Well, I think we should take it back and study it."
"Teacher, our major is botany. Besides, this thing is so dirty, it won't spread any disease, right?" Zhao Rui reminded.
Lin Youping said, "Young man, don't be so cautious. When you reach my age, you will know that some things cannot be relied on by caution, but by luck. Besides, we should study the body structure of goblins so that we can fight them better."
At this time, Ye Zi raised his hand and whispered, "Teacher Lin, I don't think we need to do any research. We can just use this gun to poke its head... poof, it will definitely be solved."
"Ahem." Xiao Chen held back his laughter and pulled Awad aside and asked, "Tell us what's going on with the goblins?"
Awad was very angry. He kept staring at the goblins and cursing in a low voice: "God damn goblins are here again. They are all thieves, robbers, and devils! They are worse than locusts and more disgusting than maggots. Damn them, they are all damnable. God will punish them and destroy them!"
Xiao Chen patted him and he woke up: "Master, Master, I... I hate these bastards so much. When I was young, four people in my family died at their hands. Goblins are more hateful to the old people around here than the Imperials."
Xiao Chen asked him carefully and found out that more than 30 years ago, several goblin tribes lived around the mountains and forests here, often looting the surrounding villages and towns. These goblins looked weak, but there were so many of them that ordinary villages and towns could not resist them at all. They caused great losses to the local people. At that time, the king and nobles were busy fighting the war with the northern neighbor, the Purple Eagle Empire, which lasted for hundreds of years. No one cared about these troublemakers. It was not until the war with the empire came to an end that the Iberian Kingdom had the energy to encircle and suppress the goblins. At that time, the Hundred Battles Army entered the forest and killed the goblins to almost extinction. For nearly 20 years, no one had seen a goblin again. Unexpectedly, there is another one here now, which means that there is a very likely migrating goblin tribe nearby.
"In my opinion, we have to return to the camp and report this matter to the committee as soon as possible." Zhang Sicheng said immediately after listening to Xiao Chen's translation.
"But we know nothing about the specific situation. We don't even know where the goblin tribe is or how many goblins there are. What's the use even if we warn the school about such a situation?" Ye Zi asked.
"Then what do you think we should do?" Shi Hao asked back.
"We should at least find out the situation first, so we can know the basic situation of this tribe. Otherwise, the school will have to send someone, and by then it might be too late. Besides, our expedition team is composed of elite soldiers and we don't need many people to investigate the enemy. You and I are enough." Ye Zi said confidently.
"This is a bit risky. After all, we are unprepared." Zhang Sicheng still disagreed with this idea.
But at this time Xiao Chen agreed: "I think what Xiao Ye said is still necessary. If we can know ourselves and the enemy beforehand, even if there is a conflict, we will have a greater chance of winning. We just happened to run into the goblins today, and they probably don't know we exist. If we wait until they are on guard, it will be difficult for us to investigate. But if you want to go, you have to count me in." Others didn't know that Xiao Chen's confidence came from the scroll in his pocket.
Zhang Sicheng pondered Xiao Chen's words and felt that they made sense. He finally decided, "If we really want to go, I'll lead the team. Ye Zi and Xiao Chen will take the goblin with me. Shi Hao and Li Tianrui will protect Professor Lin and Xiao Zhao. The guide will lead us back the same way. We'll meet on the hillside where we can see the school. If we're not back by four in the afternoon, you can go back to school directly."
Shi Hao obviously disagreed with this arrangement, but Zhang Sicheng persuaded him: "We all have good physical fitness. Even if there is danger, we can always escape. Professor Lin has a heavier burden, so I will leave them to you to protect."
"Xiao Zhang, remember, no matter what situation you encounter, don't try to be stubborn. Retreat when you should and leave when you should. After all, you still have the school supporting you." Professor Lin advised when they parted.
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"Take us to your tribe, or we'll die." Xiao Chen said with a fierce look on his face, holding Zhang Sicheng's dog-leg knife and gesturing at the neck of the goblin. Awad told him that although the goblins were stupid, they could still have simple conversations.
The goblin seemed to be frightened and didn't dare to move. He looked at the knife with his eyes slanted and trembled. Xiao Chen put the knife to its neck again and said sternly: "If you understand, nod your head, otherwise, you will die!"
This time the goblin felt pain from the knife and nodded tremblingly.
"It seems to have worked." Zhang Sicheng picked up the goblin from the ground, tied it with a rope, and picked up its original wooden short spear. He poked it in the back a few times and shouted in the local dialect, "Go!"
This time, Xiao Chen and his friends were much more careful when walking. Everyone looked around carefully while walking, guarding against other goblins suddenly rushing out. However, after walking for nearly half an hour, there was no sign of other goblins. The goblin leading the way was also honest. Without Xiao Chen's urging, he walked forward diligently. The three of them and the goblin walked deep into the forest.
After walking for a while, Ye Zi also relaxed a little. She followed Xiao Chen and asked in a low voice: "Senior, I didn't expect you to be so fierce when you show off your power. You really looked like a villain in a movie just now, but... hehe."
"What is it?" Xiao Chen felt that his face was still tense. He was not used to the posture just now and felt something was wrong. However, due to the language barrier, no one else could do the job.
"It's just that you have thin arms and legs. At most, you look like a military advisor. You can never act like a gangster boss." Ye Zi said with a smile.
"Ha." Xiao Chen was also amused. He looked at the girl with some appreciation and found that she was really strong. She could still laugh even when the situation was tense and dangerous.
"Shh! Be serious. Do you think this is walking on the street?" Zhang Sicheng, who was walking in front, looked at them with some annoyance and gestured for them to shut up.
Ye Zi stuck out his tongue and asked Xiao Chen in a slightly lower voice, "If it hadn't reacted just now, would you have really killed it?"
Xiao Chen hesitated for a moment, shook his head and said, "No, they look like intelligent creatures, so killing them is no different from killing people. I'm not an executioner, so it's not that easy for me to kill them."
"That's true, but Awad said they are all demons and cannot be treated as human beings."
"All our knowledge of goblins comes from Awad. We haven't seen it with our own eyes, so we can't trust it completely."
"You don't trust Awad?" Ye Ziqi said, "When you recommended him, you said he was honest and reliable."
"His story may be true, but people are always prejudiced, especially since he has a deep hatred for the goblins. If other goblins can be as obedient and cooperative as this one, why must they fight and kill each other?"
Xiao Chen and his companions went deeper and deeper, higher and higher. Gradually, the sun began to move westward, and the sky slowly darkened. Zhang Sicheng looked at his watch several times, and finally stopped, "We can't go any deeper. We have walked about four kilometers to the north. If we go any further, we will not be able to meet up with Shi Hao and his companions in time."
Xiao Chen walked up to the goblin and asked it coldly, "Tribe, how far is it?"
It looked very scared but docile. After talking for a while with gestures, Xiao Chen thought for a while and said, "It said the tribe's camp is on the other side of this mountain. We're almost there."
After discussing, the three of them were unwilling to give up halfway, and decided to go up a little further. They should be able to see the other side of the mountain after they climbed over the top. Even if they couldn't figure out the situation from close up, they could at least observe the goblin camp from a distance.
They quickened their pace and walked for nearly half an hour before finally climbing the ridge of the mountain range. Xiao Chen walked in front, braving the mountain wind, pushing aside the dense grass and looking down at the valley below. The valley was no longer illuminated by the sun, and it looked gray and cold. The entire valley was nothing but dense forests and high mountains in the distance, and nothing else could be seen.
There was no campsite, no campfire.
"Damn it, we were fooled. There is no tribe of them in the valley at all." Xiao Chen said angrily. He was about to grab the goblin to settle the score, but he saw that the goblin had already run to the edge of the mountaintop while the others were looking at the valley. The goblin saw Xiao Chen rushing towards him angrily, grinned at him with his ugly mouth, and said in a strange tone: "Idiot." Then he rolled forward and fell down the hillside. Zhang Sicheng didn't react for a while, and the rope holding the goblin slipped out of his hand. The goblin was small, and after rolling a few times, he was hidden by the trees and could not be seen. Seeing this, Ye Zi wanted to chase him down the hillside, but was grabbed by Xiao Chen, "It's too steep, don't go down, forget it."
Zhang Sicheng took off his bow, but he had no target, so he said in a rough voice: "Awad said the goblins were stupid. The three of us were fooled by them for the whole afternoon."
"I said goblins are also intelligent creatures. Look at this guy, smart and brave. He dares to mock me as a fool and even leads us astray." Xiao Chen patted his forehead and sighed, "He is simply the Wang Erxiao among goblins!"
Several people had to hurry back along the same route, trying to meet up with Shi Hao and others at the scheduled time. However, when they were about one kilometer away from the meeting point, several gunshots suddenly rang out in the forest.
"Oh no, Shi Hao and the others must be in trouble." Xiao Chen ran, and the other two followed closely. But the gunshots didn't last long, after a dozen or so shots, there was no sound...