Chapter 159: Descent

"Uncle Raymond, are we done for?" A pale-faced young man murmured despairingly, looking up at the azure sky, as if asking the person beside him.

This was a young man, or rather, a teenager, with a high nose bridge and light blue eyes. His lips still had faint traces of downy hair, which might become as prickly as steel needles in a few years, though he doubted he had that much time left.

His limbs had been broken, and his blood had soaked his light wooden armor. A few hunched gnolls were carrying him with delight through a not-so-dense forest.

He, Burton, was just an ordinary civilian a few days ago and had become a low-level adventurer today. Then, following his uncle Raymond, he embarked on his first adventure, leaving the city to gather herbs at the edge of the forest.

Now, he was captured by a group of low-level monsters, gnolls. Heaven knows, this was his first time encountering such low-level monsters, and he was caught.

"Burton, don't lose hope. We still have a chance," said a somewhat corpulent middle-aged man beside the inexperienced youth, equally disheveled but still trying to comfort his nephew with a calm face.

"Uncle Raymond, stop lying to me." The greenhorn youth slightly turned his head, looking woodenly at his uncle's scruffy face, "I should never have agreed to your coaxing to become an adventurer."

"Burton, believe me, we really do have a chance. These are just low-level gnoll meatheads." The middle-aged man, wearing tattered leather armor and looking somewhat overweight, explained to his nephew.

"They haven't killed us yet, which means we have a chance to survive. And if we're alive, there's a chance to escape. Believe me, Burton, we can definitely make it back to the city.

When we do, I'll take you to the Blackbeard Tavern and find you a few of the hottest chicks, letting you become a real man."

"The hottest women." Burton repeated, a glint of hope in his eyes. Then, a breeze blew, rustling the leaves in the forest and carrying the gnolls' stagnant scent into the young man's nostrils.

The disgusting smell sobered the young man, who was fantasizing about women at the brink of life and death. He observed the gnolls carrying him, striding energetically through the forest, and a question arose in his heart: could he really make it back to the city alive?

In the sudden attack that had just occurred, he realized that even low-level monsters like gnolls were not something an ordinary person without any combat aura could contend with.

Gnolls might be short, but their scaly skin acted as natural armor, and their strength far surpassed his.

The middle-aged man, seeing a glint of hope on the young man's face, proudly recounted his "legendary" experiences of being captured by gnolls multiple times but surviving each encounter.

The first time, he was rescued by a passing adventure team.

The second time, the gnoll tribe that captured him clashed with a goblin tribe of similar size, resulting in both sides suffering losses, and he survived.

The third time, a hungry fierce tiger came to the gnolls' settlement and ate all the gnolls, sparing him who was being boiled in a pot.

The fourth time, a green dragon flew over the gnoll tribe that had captured him, and the gnolls, as if mad, threw him aside and followed the dragon's departure direction.

"I've seen a giant dragon, Burton," the middle-aged man boasted with pride, "Though it was just a glimpse from afar, I'll never forget that powerful silhouette."

"This is my fifth time being captured by gnolls," the middle-aged man said with a sigh, looking at his nephew who was staring at him in disbelief, confidence brimming on his face, "Believe me, we can definitely make it back alive."

The young virgin Burton was first amazed by his uncle's "legendary" story, then his reaction was:

"Uncle Raymond, even if you're making up stories to comfort me, you don't have to exaggerate so much. Captured by gnolls four times, surviving each time, and the last time even seeing a legendary dragon.

Even a bard wouldn't make up such a story, and no child would believe it. Stop lying to me."

"I know it's hard for you to believe, but this is truly my real experience. You'll see soon enough. I can definitely take you back to the city, and then, I'll treat you well."

Seeing his uncle's solemn promise, young Burton couldn't help but waver. What if his experiences were true?

Even if they were true, his uncle had been lucky the previous four times. But now, could Uncle Raymond still be so lucky? If not, their fate... Gnolls were also known to enjoy eating humans.

...A dozen gnolls, carrying Uncle Raymond and nephew Burton, walked cheerfully towards the depths of the forest, occasionally looking up at the duo, then swallowing their saliva with difficulty. They restrained their appetite.

"Uncle, these ugly creatures want to eat us, right?" The young man, seeing a gnoll beside him swallowing saliva, also struggled to swallow his own, scared.

"Of course, for many monsters, humans are a very delicious food," Raymond explained calmly, "Seeing them wanting to eat us but forcefully restraining themselves.

I guess there must be stronger gnolls commanding them above. These gnolls might belong to a large gnoll tribe, perhaps their leader is a gnoll shaman awakened with dragon blood."

"Gulp!" The young man swallowed hard, the sound quite loud, "Uncle, I think you're right."

"What?" The greasy middle-aged man turned his head, then froze. A massive valley appeared before them, filled with gnolls' crudely built huts, looking chaotic, dirty, and disorderly.

At the entrance of the valley, there was a makeshift wooden wall about three meters high and a dilapidated wooden gate. Dozens of gnoll patrols carrying various prey or poor-quality weapons moved in and out, making the scene noisy.

"This is a named gnoll tribe, and there's definitely more than one gnoll shaman inside!" The middle-aged man showed a hint of anger, "What are those guys in the city doing? A gathering of over a thousand gnolls has appeared near the city, and they haven't noticed."

"Uncle, now's not the time to talk about this." Young Burton turned pale, "With such a scale, there probably aren't any goblin tribes of similar size nearby, right? And would a hungry fierce beast dare to come here for food?"

The principle of "the strong prey on the weak" applies universally. When gnolls reach a certain number, even higher-level monsters hesitate to provoke them.

"Maybe, a green dragon will fly by in a while?" The middle-aged man also started to lose his composure, comforting himself.

"Uncle! It's been hundreds of years since any dragon sightings have been reported here."

The young man despaired, regretting why he had listened to his blustering uncle's coaxing to become an adventurer. Being an ordinary person, living a mundane life, would have been fine too.

"Boom!" Just as young Burton was starting to despair, the blue sky cracked open, revealing a black rift. Then, a column of lightning-engulfed light shot out, striking directly into the gnoll tribe's valley.

In that instant, terrifying energy vaporized everything it touched—dirt, rocks, trees, gnolls, huts... The earth shook, and the gnolls carrying the uncle and nephew were instantly flipped by the blast wave.

Because they were far enough away, the gnolls and their captives weren't harmed, but the gnolls, regaining their senses after being flipped by the explosion's aftermath, didn't bother with the fallen Raymond and Burton.

Instead, they knelt on the ground, trembling with fear. They didn't dare to stand up because these low-order creatures, rumored to have dragon blood, felt the overwhelming bloodline pressure that came with the column of light.

They couldn't stand! They could only crawl!

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