To be honest, Feng Chou was a little shocked by the strength of this caravan. It was only a 50-60 kilometer journey from Fegesack to Antalya, and there was a Baron and three Knights in between. There was no need for such a powerful guard force at all.
Although Feng Chou had followed the caravan on this road more than once, he had never paid attention to it before, nor did he have the ability to distinguish the strength of the caravan.
Feng Chou raised his doubts to Simon in private.
Simon told him, "In the wilderness, it's not that the more remote a place is, the more dangerous it is. Sometimes, a prosperous trade route means an increase in danger. Just like the road from your father's territory to Fegesack, we didn't encounter any danger. That was because the road was too deserted to support the wilderness bandits. But the road in front of you is different. There are many caravans coming and going here, and the profits are rich. This will attract some wilderness bandits to occupy the area near the trade route."
Feng Chou asked, "Wilderness bandits?"
Simon said, "They're just some intelligent creatures that make a living by plundering."
"I used to go through this trade route often. Why didn't I encounter the wilderness bandits you mentioned?"
Simon said, "Not every caravan will encounter bandits every time. Perhaps for a caravan, they won't encounter bandits even once in ten times. But you have to know that you have to be fully prepared this time. Otherwise, you will pay a terrible price …"
Since they had nothing to do, Feng Chou and Simon chatted about their experiences in the wilderness.
With people chatting, time passed quickly. Unknowingly, it was noon.
The caravan drove the carriage to a clearing in the forest beside the road. They surrounded the carriage and began to rest and cook.
Lunch was very simple. Jerky, potatoes, black bread, wild vegetables by the roadside, and salt were stewed into a large pot of thick soup.
Everyone had a bowl of thick soup. No one was special, including the two guests, Feng Chou and Simon.
Of course, Feng Chou and Simon did not mind. They had been drinking mushroom porridge in the underground city for a long time. This thick soup, which was hard to swallow in the eyes of others, was delicious to the two of them.
Most of the mercenaries were from the bottom rung of society. Feng Chou's extravagant aristocratic attire, coupled with his face that would make any man uncomfortable, made the mercenaries feel uncomfortable. However, in this world, there was a clear hierarchy. Aristocrats were high and mighty. Even though Feng Chou's bodyguard looked weak and weak, the mercenaries did not dare to find trouble with him.
Originally, the mercenaries wanted to see how this pretty boy would look like if he couldn't eat, but he ate with relish. Some of them wanted to disgust him.
Feng Chou was eating when he heard someone say, "Hey, Wayne, did you know?
That stingy Walter brought the Bear Goblin we killed back home and made jerky. This time, he took it out for us to eat. "
Wayne was very amused. He immediately said in a shocked and disgusted tone, "What did you say? I'm eating Bear Goblin meat?
Oh, I've had enough. Last time, it was Jackalans. This time, it's Bear Goblin. Can't he make some normal meat? "
Hearing that, Feng Chou forked a large piece of meat and stuffed it into his mouth. He chewed carefully for a while and said with certainty, "This isn't Bear Goblin. It might be beef, but it's definitely not Bear Goblin."
The first guy who spoke asked, "How do you know it's not Bear Goblin? Have you eaten Bear Goblin before?"
After he said that, the mercenaries beside him couldn't help but laugh.
Feng Chou also laughed. "That's right. I've eaten Bear Goblin before. Bear Goblin meat is very thin but also very tough. It's a bit like venison, but it's finer and tougher. You won't be able to chew it if your teeth aren't good enough."
Hearing that, the mercenaries couldn't help but laugh. However, their captain, the level-seven warrior named Walter, heard Feng Chou's words and suddenly stopped eating. He raised his head and looked at Feng Chou in surprise. He asked, "Have you really eaten Bear Goblin before?"
Hearing their captain's question, the mercenaries suddenly remembered some legends about their captain and looked at Feng Chou in shock.
Feng Chou shrugged and said, "I can't prove it to you."
Walter looked at him deeply and said, "You've already proven it."
After saying that, he glanced at the mercenary who wanted to disgust Feng Chou and said, "Vik, if you want to eat Bear Goblin, I'll treat you next time."
Vik hurriedly buried his head in the bowl and started eating crazily. The mercenaries laughed loudly again.
Feng Chou smiled and continued to eat the soup in the bowl.
He had just eaten two mouthfuls when his body suddenly froze.
Back in the Underdark, Simon had seen Feng Chou behave like this more than once. This expression and action undoubtedly meant that Feng Chou had discovered something.
Because Feng Chou had never made a mistake in this aspect, Simon had developed a reflexive superstition toward this ability of his.
Simon threw away the wooden bowl in his hand without hesitation and pulled out his scimitar. He asked Feng Chou, "What did you discover?"
Simon's violent reaction gave everyone a fright.
Just as everyone was bewildered, Feng Chou suddenly threw away his bowl and said, "Gnolls, a lot of Gnolls!"
It turned out that just now, a Gnoll Ranger had suddenly entered Qiankun Pagoda's detection range.
Ranger was a very ancient profession that originated from nature elves. This profession had many different names. The elves called this profession Ranger. The human Ranger inheritance came from the elves, so they naturally inherited this name.
Some wilderness races also had Ranger inheritance. In these races, Rangers were called Hunters.
In Qiankun Pagoda's detection, this Gnoll Hunter wasn't very strong. It was about level 4 or 5 and wasn't worth too much attention. Just as he stopped eating and hesitated whether to warn everyone, Simon, who was familiar with him, had overreacted.
It was this moment of hesitation and delay that allowed several Gnoll Hunters to enter Qiankun Pagoda's detection range.
In most intelligent races, professionals were always in the minority. Of course, this included Gnolls. The appearance of Gnoll Hunters one after another undoubtedly indicated that there must be a larger race behind them.
Gnolls were a kind of intelligent wilderness creature that was born with three biological levels. Moreover, this kind of creature had both strength and agility. They were also extremely fierce and warlike. Among the level 3 species, they were very difficult to deal with.
If a Gnoll Hunter led five or six ordinary Gnolls, even if Feng Chou didn't warn them, they wouldn't be much of a threat to the caravan. However, when five or six Gnoll Hunters appeared in a row, the situation became a little dangerous.
Feng Chou hurriedly threw away his bowl and reminded everyone, "Gnolls, a lot of Gnolls."
Looking at everyone's doubtful faces, Simon said, "You'd better believe him."
Seeing that everyone was slow to react, Feng Chou leaned over and grabbed a bow from the mercenary's side. He took an arrow from the mercenary's quiver, knelt on one knee, bent over, and shot an arrow from the bottom of the carriage.
The arrow flew twenty meters away and was suddenly knocked to the ground by a short knife that suddenly appeared.
A Gnoll wearing inlaid leather armor and holding two short knives appeared in front of everyone.