Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

Chapter 413 The Tragic "Transportation Captain"

In the Nightmare Forest, a goblin cautiously looked around. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he hid behind a tree and took out a piece of bloody jerky from his pocket.

"This tastes like this," the goblin quickly stuffed the jerky into his mouth and chewed it vigorously, but his face didn't show much satisfaction, but rather a slightly disgusted expression. "It's much worse than what I ate back in the Feathered Serpent Kingdom."

Despite saying that, the goblin still pricked up its ears, listening carefully to the sounds around it, afraid that something unexpected might happen.

He only ate less than half of that piece of jerky.

"Baldy." A voice called out from behind, and the goblin quickly stuffed the jerky into the bushes beside him.

"You're here? The gnolls are looking for those goblins who came from the west. Didn't you go?" A goblin with sparse hair on its head pushed aside the grass and slowly walked over.

"We didn't go," Baldy stretched his neck, trying to swallow the jerky in his throat as quickly as possible. "Why are they looking for us again? Didn't they already lead the way?"

"I don't know," the sparsely haired goblin shrugged, then stepped closer and sniffed slightly. "What's that smell? Blood?"

"No, I just cut my hand," Baldy said immediately. "Shorthair, is there anything else?"

"It's nothing. Oh, by the way," as if remembering something, Short Hair suddenly squatted down and approached Baldy, "When I was grooming those gnolls, I heard that two more gnolls were eaten by Quetzalcoatl."

"Hmm." Baldy nodded absentmindedly. He had come here from the former Feathered Serpent Goblin Kingdom, originally intending to follow in the footsteps of the Feathered Serpent God. However, he did not expect that after arriving here, he would find that the Feathered Serpent God did not choose the goblins, but instead bewitched a group of gnolls. They, the original "cavemen," had no choice but to join the goblin tribe and become the gnolls' "bird shepherds."

Those large birds were enormous, with snake-like tails. Compared to the petrified lizards they had previously bred, these birds were much more irritable. Whenever the goblins chased the birds into the forest to forage, they would do so in groups, using long wooden poles to drive them away.

If it weren't for the large bird feathers tied to the top of the wooden pole, these guys wouldn't have been so obedient; they might have just turned around and pecked the goblin open.

"Why does the smell smell stronger?" Short Hair squatted down and sniffed again. Then, just as Baldy was about to move to block the jerky in the grass, he spotted the bloody piece of jerky first. "Wow, big bird meat! Baldy, are you out of your mind?"

"Shh, don't shout." Baldy quickly reached out and covered the goblin's mouth next to him.

Shorthair pushed the other's hand away, glanced at him warily, and then whispered, "You dare steal big bird jerky? Aren't you afraid of being killed by the gnolls?"

"I—" Baldy hesitated. He wanted to say that he used to eat better than this. As a promising caveman, he used to be the first to eat every pot of food and had the best location in the cave. But here, he had to rely on luck to get enough to eat every day.

Goblins are creatures that value seniority. If you're an outsider goblin, you'll naturally be the last to eat. Although everyone rushes around the pot to grab food, outsiders rarely manage to get much. The "natives" will unite and kick them out first.

"Give me half." Short-haired man didn't speak loudly anymore, but blinked, giving a "you know what I mean" look.

Baldy could only sigh, reach into the grass and take out the piece of jerky, then immediately put it in his mouth and tore off a piece.

He had just handed out the remaining jerky when Short Hair snatched it away and then forced the other man to put the jerky into his mouth.

"You said before," the short-haired man chewed on some jerky, his words muffled, "that in the Feathered Serpent Kingdom, you could eat a lot of good food?"

"Hmm," Baldy glanced at the other person, somewhat absentmindedly. The jerky he had managed to steal from the gnolls had almost a third of its original quantity gone in the blink of an eye, which made him feel a little distressed.

You see, those gnolls have a very keen sense of smell; they would never let goblins eat dried bird meat. In their words, "Goblins can only eat insects."

"What's good to eat?" Short Hair asked as he leaned closer.

"There's fish, grouse—" Baldy listed a few items, then sighed again.

The goblins here don't get much good food, at most some insects and rats. The larger prey has already been hunted by the big birds, while the gnolls eat the eggs and meat of the big birds.

This area is used to raise these large birds, which has led to goblins having little surplus food.

As outsiders who originally didn't have to worry about food, the contrast of their baldness is even more striking than that of the local indigenous people with their short hair.

"Growler meat, what does it taste like?" Short Hair immediately became interested. "I saw some big birds hunting grouse before, but we didn't dare to get close when the birds were feeding, otherwise we might get eaten ourselves."

"The taste is just so-so," Baldy mumbled. To be honest, he had almost forgotten what the forest pine chicken tasted like, and now all he could think about was the bloody smell of this kind of dried bird meat.

To be honest, the meat of this large bird is just average and quite dry. Compared to the forest grouse that tries to gain weight during the winter, the meat of this large bird is indeed inferior.

But now, other meats are a luxury; finding some wild fruits to eat is already a blessing.

"It should be pretty good." Short Hair squatted on the ground, looking up at the sky. He thought the dried bird meat he had just eaten tasted really good. Although the flavor was a bit strong and it was a little difficult to swallow, it was a whole piece of meat after all, something that the local goblins couldn't get.

Not to mention, the gnolls were watching very closely and wouldn't let the goblins touch the meat at all.

However, Shorthair felt that this was already good enough. He had heard from other goblins that living conditions were much worse in other places. Not only did they have to find their own food, but they also had to be careful of adventurers. If those guys had their eyes on them, they would be lucky to escape with their lives.

Moreover, it seems the adventurers planned it all out, coming to "sweep" the cave every now and then; no one knows how they found it.

As this happened more often, some timid goblins began to abandon their original hunting grounds, even ignoring the sticks with skulls stuck in them, and fled directly into the forest.

"When will I be able to taste what grouse meat tastes like?" Short Hair whispered.

But Baldy ignored the goblins around him and looked around warily. He had taken advantage of his trip to chase away birds to sneak here and eat jerky. If he didn’t hurry back, other goblins might come looking for him.

Each goblin group is kept in a controlled number. In the words of the gnolls, "Goblins are also important assets. Only with enough goblins can the big birds breed better."

"Don't think about that. You came to me about that thing we talked about before?" Baldy patted his tattered clothes, but accidentally used too much force, and a gray feather flew out from the seam of his clothes.

These feathers all belong to those large birds. The gnolls are quite interesting; after killing the large birds, they only collect the patterned large feathers from their backs. As for the other small downy feathers, since they can't be used as decorations, they simply discard them.

This actually benefited the goblins, who were surprised to find that stuffing these down feathers into their clothes made them even warmer, ensuring they wouldn't have to suffer through the entire winter.

Of course, this also makes the goblin look like a deflated balloon, loose and somewhat bloated.

The gnolls, being covered in fur, were less concerned about the winter cold and instead mocked the bloated goblins, comparing them to dried-up "wild ducks."

"Yes, when I was grooming the gnolls, I heard them talking about their previous failed operations. Getting lost left them like headless flies in the forest." Shorthair nodded, recalling what he had heard.

Gnolls have a lot of fur, which requires frequent grooming; otherwise, parasites will breed over time, and the fur will become tangled, making them uncomfortable.

So some goblins took on the job of grooming the gnolls. They not only had to help the gnolls unclog their fur, but also clean out parasites. Some gnolls would even have the goblins trim their long hair to make them more comfortable in the hot summer.

As for the short-haired ones, because of their excellent grooming skills, they are often "requested" by the jackals to groom their body hair.

"But this time," he thought for a moment before whispering, "it seems Quetzalcoatl used some method to directly guide them westward, saying they wouldn't get lost again."

"Quetzalcoatl has made a move?" Baldy was taken aback and asked.

"Hmm," Short Hair nodded, "However, those gnolls also said that if we fail again this time, Quetzalcoatl will probably get angry again. If he gets angry, we'll just sacrifice the goblins to Quetzalcoatl."

Baldy didn't say anything this time. He had seen this kind of thing before. Back in the kingdom by Lake Dallen, they would sacrifice some goblins to Quetzalcoatl every now and then.

"But they also said," Short Hair lowered his voice again, "that the sacrifices will begin with these foreign goblins."

"Outsiders?" Baldy's eyes widened, then he pointed to himself. "Us?"

Shorthair nodded again. "They said that the foreign goblins are terrible at herding big birds, and also—"

As he spoke, he glanced at his bald palm, the bloodstains from the dried bird meat still wet on it. "He'll steal food too, he's always up to no good."

"These guys," Baldy said fiercely. He didn't know if he was referring to the gnolls or the other cavemen, but he knew in his heart that his peaceful days were coming to an end.

The high priest once said in the kingdom that goblins are too weak and must rely on a powerful creature to survive. In the Nightmare Forest, the Feathered Serpent God is undoubtedly a good choice.

Although they are required to make regular offerings, as the cave chief, he doesn't have to worry about being chosen.

Now, the power that had been attached to them has directly changed sides. The goblins that had followed them have been abandoned, and they themselves are about to become "sacrifices" instead of being the ones who have attached them.

This was something that Baldy found hard to accept at first.

He wanted to tell the high priest, "You are wrong. No matter who a goblin is loyal to, there will be a day when they are abandoned."

However, he felt like he had heard those words somewhere before. Baldy thought hard and realized it was from the leader of the opposing goblin tribe. The leader had said that goblins had to survive on their own strength.

Thinking of this, Baldy chuckled. How could that be? If goblins can survive on their own, what about creatures like Quetzalcoatl? Would they let go of goblins?

"Thank you." He gently smoothed his worn-out clothes and stuffed the fuzz that had sprouted back into them.

Then, he stood up, supporting himself on his knees. "I will go see those gnolls. Even with Quetzalcoatl's guidance, they will still need a guide."

If the gnolls fail again, they will surely sacrifice these "outsider goblins" to Quetzalcoatl. But if he takes the initiative to get to know the gnolls and offers some advice to prove his usefulness, then perhaps the gnolls will spare his life.

After all, in Baldy's mind, these gnolls weren't exactly smart.

It is nothing compared to what the high priest used to say—"wisdom".

When Short Hair saw Baldy stand up, he also stood up and followed him, asking him about his past experiences.

Baldy answered half-heartedly, still thinking about how to deal with the gnolls, since their strength far surpassed that of the goblins.

Just then, his clothes were pulled by the short hairs behind him, and with a "rip," the already tattered clothes were torn open, and gray down feathers flew out and scattered around.

"Don't move, stand to the side," Short Hair whispered a reminder, and Baldy immediately understood and quickly moved to the side.

Soon, several large birds filed in, with the first bird coming directly to the two goblins.

A cold snort rang out, and Baldy and Shorthair lowered their heads, not daring to raise them.

Then, the flock of large birds lined up in a straight line and walked right past the two of them.

Once the big bird had flown far away, Baldy raised his head and looked at the group not far away, a hint of fear in his eyes.

On the back of a giant bird, over two meters tall, sat a group of gnolls dressed in various outfits. The cold snort just now belonged to the gnoll captain at the head of the group.

Baldy knew that these were gnolls patrolling their territory, and they would ride these large birds into battle.

And they call themselves "cavalry," a word Baldy has never heard of before; it seems to originate from the human world.

"What's so great about them?" he muttered. "They were just driven into the forest by the human kingdoms."

After he finished speaking, the short-haired guy next to him pulled him again, "Let's go, let's go sign up with the gnolls."

95

"They should regroup."