Gnolls everywhere have the habit of domesticating coyotes. If you just look at the heads, there is almost no difference in appearance between a jackal and a coyote. Therefore, there is a theory circulating in the Disa League. A mother Gnoll gives birth to two cubs in a litter. The healthy cub grows up to be a Gnoll; the other stunted cub degenerates into a hyena and becomes the Gnoll's companion.
This is definitely a rumor.
Jackals are an intelligent species, and hyenas are beasts. Although wolf-shaped creatures all share a common ancestor, they have each embarked on a different evolutionary path and are not the same species. The gnolls domesticate coyotes to help with hunting and alerting, and they can also use coyotes as backup rations when necessary.
In fact, gnolls generally resent being compared to coyotes, which demeans their status in the group and belongs to the "backup ration" class.
As the descendants of the ancient giant beast "Gluttony Monarch", gnolls have unique values. Simply put, they eat the weak and the strong, including eating the weaker ones. This situation is relatively rare. If there is an extreme lack of food, the gnolls will eat the coyotes first, and then the weaker compatriots to ensure the continuation of the group.
In another situation, there is a war between two groups of gnolls. They invade each other's territory, capture each other's members, eat their bodies, and then stick their heads on wooden stakes to show their strength and Taunting and intimidating the opponent means that they are all weak "food" and must surrender as soon as possible, otherwise they will be eaten all.
Vertok absorbed part of the memory of Huor, the King of Gnolls. Following the Gnoll method, he cut off his opponent's head and inserted it on a wooden spear to vent the anger in his chest.
However, the gnolls among the orc bone collectors are all servants of the goblin nobles and are not from a single gnoll family or clan. They feel nothing about the tragic death of their own kind, but panic and confusion are inevitable.
The scar-faced jackal was the last one to arrive at the scene. When the other jackals saw it, they all hunched their backs and stepped aside, showing "surrender alertness."
Scarface walked over with a swagger, as if he was not worried that someone of his kind would attack him from behind.
This is the body language of the jackals. Surrender is fake, and alertness is real. If given the chance, they will indeed sneak attack the leader. The leader must be confident enough and not afraid of sneak attacks by his fellow tribesmen, otherwise he will really be besieged.
Scarface has been able to independently activate the bloodthirsty talent. According to the life level classification standards of the Disa Alliance, he is a fourth-level ferocious jackal. The companions have reason to fear Scarface, as he can decide to eat weaker members if food is scarce.
As the strongest Gnoll of the group, Scarface doesn't need to listen to his own kind. It walked up to the decapitated Gnoll corpse, sniffed it vigorously with its nose, and carefully examined the Gnoll head stuck on the wooden spear. It was also very confused.
Judging from the method of beheading demonstration, the murderer of this unfortunate companion was undoubtedly a jackal. But the murderer did not take away the body of the victim. It is not the habit of jackals to discard prey at will.
What's even more strange is that Scarface didn't smell the murderer's scent.
Jackals have a very sensitive sense of smell, but if they want to distinguish thousands of smells at the same time, even a hundred heads are not enough. The worthless smells in the environment are automatically filtered out by the gnolls, and they only sniff out unfamiliar smells. Mind touch is a magical ability. Wiltok left his scent nearby, but the gnolls just ignored his scent.
When Vertok killed the gnoll, he flew more than ten meters in one step, leaving very few footprints. The jackals didn't know how to protect the scene. They stepped on their paw prints everywhere, causing Scarface to misjudge.
It suspected that an Outland Gnoll who had awakened the blood of the Storm was operating nearby. Only the Storm Gnoll can lock his scent and prevent it from leaking out, and then use the Wind Blade Claw to cut a flat wound on the unlucky guy's neck.
There is a saying in the Goblin Kingdom that ordinary gnolls have a high chance of awakening the rare storm bloodline after eating the flesh of a storm gnoll. Scarface was convinced of this, but he didn't know that this was just a trick by the Goblin King to eliminate the threat of gnolls. All orcs with the potential to be kings, such as the Storm Gnoll, the Cyclops, the Four-Horned Sheephead, etc., were all under the Goblin King. on the kill list.
Scarface couldn't stop being excited, pointing to the headless corpse of his companion, and said to the other gnolls: "You eat it, and I will go to the master to report the situation here."
Jackals are worthy of being the blood descendants of the Gluttonous Lord, and it is their custom to bury the bones of their companions in their bellies. The gnolls believe that this will make them stronger, but Scarface only wants to capture the storm gnolls in the outer realm, and he now has no regard for the flesh and blood of ordinary races.
Goblin nobles who kill storm gnolls will be rewarded by the goblin king. To an orc bone collector, a new target is obviously worth more than a band of stranded adventurers.
Even Wiltok didn't expect that one of his raids would lead to unexpected results. But there were some changes inside the half-elf camp because of his departure.
Captain Rhodes sat by the campfire, wiping his sword and gun with a piece of cotton towel. This is a rare and strange-shaped weapon, five feet long, and needs to be held with both hands; the end of the sword is edged on both sides, like a sharp dagger; the sword body is an edgeless gun shaft made of fine gold, which has good elasticity , able to withstand pressure without breaking.
The sword gun is suitable for slashing, and the swing speed is very fast, and it can produce arc-shaped sword lights with amazing lethality.
It is not easy for a professional swordsman to use swords and guns proficiently. Rhodes spent ten years diligently practicing sword and spear skills, and has reached the level of proficiency.
Although he is only a third-level swordsman, with his lightning-fast sword and spear skills, ordinary fifth-level sages also turn their attention to him. Just because the attack speed of the sword and gun is so fast, it is difficult to dodge and parry.
The agents selected by the famous Yinpanjiao family did not have level 4 professionals. Rhodes practiced sword and spear skills hard to protect himself, but he regrets it now. Extreme sword and gun skills are not suitable for long-term battles. If the orc bone collector launches a siege, he may not be the first to die, but he will definitely be the first to exhaust his energy.
Rhodes was depressed, which had a lot to do with Wiltok's sudden departure. He pinned his hopes of escape on Wiltok, and now he has to reconsider what he should do to escape from the deadly crisis.
After Rhodes considered it for a moment, he finally asked: "Mr. Harker, Mr. Wiltok hasn't come back yet. Could he... have an accident?"
The so-called accident may be that he was killed by a jackal; it is more likely that he abandoned others and escaped alone.
No one believed that Wiltok really went out to kill a jackal, not even Max. He thought that Wiltok actually had another purpose when he went out, but it was just not convenient for the Iron Cross to know. But Huck absolutely trusts Wiltok, and there is no reason to argue.
Hack thought for a moment, grabbed the shield blade and a one-handed sword beside him, stood up and said, "I'm going to find Lord Wiltok."
Rhodes and the professionals of the Iron Cross Regiment were dumbfounded. If Huck, the strong man with the heart of the mirror, also left the team, their chances of survival would be slim.
Rhodes was just hinting at the possibility of Wiltok escaping alone and using other companions as bait. Why can't Huck understand?
Max didn't have so many dark thoughts, he said directly: "Huck, don't mess around... Will dare to go out alone, he may not be in danger. Where are you going to find Wiltok? If you take yourself in, we will I can’t save you.”
Huck looked stern and said decisively: "Lord Wiltok may need assistance. You ask me to wait here, I can't do it!"
Rhodes quickly stood up, stopped Huck, and said seriously: "If Mr. Wiltok doesn't come back, can you find him? Even if you want to find him, you should wait until dawn."
Huck glanced at the leader of the Iron 10th Regiment sideways and asked coldly: "You said I won't come back? What do you mean?"
Feeling the pressure from the Mirror Heart expert, Rhodes took a step back, raised his hands with a wry smile, and said, "What I mean is, no matter what happens, we should wait until dawn... Now is the time when the jackals are most active. .”
Huck looked around at everyone with a fierce look on his face and said: "You all heard the screams of the jackals just now. Lord Wiltok must have killed a jackal. He may be being chased by other orcs now. We need to Our aid. I’m going to help him, which one of you is with me?”
The half-elf professionals looked at each other in confusion. Only Max raised his hand with a playful smile and said, "Count me in."
This is absolutely merciless ridicule. The professionals of the Iron Ten Regiment did not pay attention to a crippled secret hunter. However, due to Huck's intimidation, they did not dare to target Max openly.
Archer Lisen coughed dryly and explained forcefully: "Master Harker, before Mr. Wiltok left, he asked us to wait for him here... Moreover, it is dark now, and we can't see things that are too far away. I think, we It’s better to wait a little longer, it will be dawn soon…”
The Archer's reasons obviously did not convince Huck. Rhodes took a step forward and said seriously: "If Mr. Wiltok has the ability to escape, we can't ask him to stay. He has no obligation to accompany us in misfortune. Captain Harker, we have to think about what to do next." ?”
The words of the leader of the Iron Cross Regiment reached everyone's heart. Wiltok had no obligation to them, and they had no obligation to Wiltok. The reason why everyone sticks together is because of the same situation.
——Their physical strength and speed are not enough to escape from the ferocious jackals.
If any one of them had the ability to break out alone, would he still want to stay?
Rhodes' words were so beautiful that they eliminated Wiltok and made it impossible for anyone to find fault. He believed that Huck could not get rid of the Jackal, and hoped to unite the strong mirror-hearted people in the team.
However, Huck wouldn't listen at all. He was already dead, but it was the master of the mind that reshaped his soul and will, giving him new life and a mission. In other words, Huck is not the same Huck, and absolute loyalty to Wiltok is a basic condition.
Without saying a word, Huck turned and walked out of the camp. When he was about to go out to find his master, Wiltok came back.
He was like a ghost, escaping from the darkness and appearing silently within the shadow of the campfire. He threw the captured Jackal leather armor and mace on the ground, and his shining ice-blue eyes scanned the crowd, raising his eyebrows and asking. Said: "Are you talking bad about me?"
