Lord Highlander

   Chapter 911 897. Curiosity and cats

  After receiving satisfactory answers, the tribal chiefs left one after another with the grain purchased from the mine market.

   But the upsurge has not completely cooled down, and many young aborigines are unwilling to leave.

  The existing indigenous miners in the mine will continue to work. In the next period of time, the mine will no longer recruit new miners.

  Suldak promised the chiefs of the tribes that every year at the turn of autumn and winter, the quota of recruiting miners would be allocated to each tribe, so that the young natives left the mine with full expectations.

   Currently, Suldak's army temporarily maintains a strength of 3,000 troops.

  1,500 heavy armored infantry, 1,000 cavalry archers and 500 heavy cavalry.

  Young aborigines who joined the army belonged to military service, and there was no military salary to receive every month.

  But these young natives can receive a little allowance, and every time they go out to perform missions or fight, they can get merit. If they accumulate 100 merit points, they can be exchanged for one gold coin.

  So besides actively participating in high-intensity training every day, these young natives who have just joined the army, the only thing they hope for is to be able to participate in field operations.

  However, the heavy armor and weapons worn by the 1,500 heavy armored infantry are still being customized, and all infantry are receiving intensive training in the garrison camp.

  Only cavalry and archers are out on missions.

  …

  Samila has led eighteen thunder rhinos back and forth frequently between the copper mine and the northern canyon of the forest recently. She is obviously more interested in making money than participating in battles.

In order to prevent the old iron trees buried under the moss and dead leaves in the forest from being stolen, she not only left 800 archers in the forest in the northern valley, but also borrowed 200 cavalry from the Andrew Cavalry Battalion. Also stationed on the northern border of the Invercargill Forest to patrol around the valley all day long.

  Samila's idea is very simple, that is to transport out these iron logs as soon as possible, but there are many more iron logs buried under the leaf mold in the forest than she expected.

  Suldak and his party passed through this forest area before, and only saw some iron trees exposed on the ground and covered with a layer of moss.

When Samira transported the old ironwood exposed on the surface of the forest to Dodan Town in sections, only now did he find that many ironwoods were deeply hidden in the forest soil, and some ironwoods were even connected to the roots of these trees in the forest. tangled together.

  Because of its non-perishable characteristics, the iron wood has been buried in the soil for many years. Now only the outer skin has rotted away, but the iron wood inside is quite well preserved.

  These iron trees have been buried in the woodland for so many years by moss and leaf mold, and now they can finally see the light of day.

  Samila worried that once Lei Tingxi shipped a large amount of iron and wood, it would definitely attract the attention of some interested people.

  She doesn't want these iron woods to be stolen...

  …

  Suldak also returned to the northern border of Invercargill Forest.

  He didn't come here to bring back the ironwood buried in the woodland, but to wander around the south bank of the mountain stream with a group of cavalry every day.

Recently, he is paying attention to his neighbor in the north of the territory. The once-in-a-decade animal swarm fills him with a sense of urgency. If this dark worm valley cannot be settled within ten years, his territory will be trampled by thousands of red ants. Razed to the ground.

  If that is the case, long-term investment will not be possible here.

  He has been thinking for the past few days whether he can use this mountain stream to build a new line of defense.

  This forest with dense branches and leaves is located in the northern part of the Invercargill Forest. It is only separated from the Dark Insect Valley by a deep mountain stream. Occasionally, there will be one or two ghost-striped red ants.

  Maybe it's because of the dark bat of the fourth-level monster. The local aborigines only know that this forest area is dangerous, and they don't usually come here.

The mountain stream in the northern part of the forest almost completely separates the Invercargill Forest and the Dark Worm Valley. Although the ghost-striped red ants are good at climbing cliffs, they are very afraid of water. There is a flowing river under the mountain stream. It is this river that separates the red ants from going south.

   It is said that when the beast tide broke out, the ant colony wanted to cross this mountain stream. It was a bridge built by countless soldiers and ants, which was connected to the other side of the river.

When Samira followed Suldak to the south bank of the mountain stream, she also saw some dried ghost-striped worker ants corpses on the cliff at the bottom of the valley. , but the bridges made up of their bodies were completely broken.

  Occasionally, some corpses of ghost ants will fall into the valley below the mountain stream, and the only sound of the river flowing can be heard.

  The last time Suldak came here, the indigenous warriors of the Dakuni tribe took him across this mountain stream, but he didn't venture into the Dark Worm Valley at that time.

  …

  Since the three fourth-level monsters entrenched in the Invercargill Forest were hunted down by the army led by Suldak, there were no monsters in the forest that could threaten the adventure group.

  Everyone knows that the Invercargill Forest is full of treasures.

  After the beast tide ended, there were not many low-level monsters left in the forest, and many monsters migrated back from the Anya Swamp.

  But during this time, a large number of adventure groups rushed into this forest before winter, and the monsters in the forest were almost hunted by the adventure groups.

  There is no room for Warcraft to live in this woodland, and because of this, the adventure group's footprints are moving towards the north of the forest little by little.

  A large number of adventure groups came to the south bank of the mountain stream near the edge of the Dark Worm Valley in the Invercargill Forest, and finally stopped.

  The members of the adventure group found that what stood in front of everyone was not only a deep stream, but also the poisonous fog that could hardly be dispersed in the valley opposite, and the ghost-striped red ants that appeared in the poisonous fog.

  Everyone across the mountain stream, you can see the red ants moving in the dense forest.

  They hardly leave the woodland full of poisonous fog, let alone cross the rushing river valley at the bottom of the mountain stream.

  …

  Across the bank, I saw that there were still many ghost-striped red ants infested in the opposite woodland, and many adventure groups did not want to return empty-handed.

   At this time, some members of the adventure group showed the wild imagination of human beings.

  They began to secretly build a few iron cables leading to the north bank on the south bank of the northern mountain stream in Invercargill Forest, and then these adventure groups launched a special hunting on the bank of the mountain river.

   That is to use various baits to introduce the ghost-striped red ants in the poisonous fog into the forest, and then kill them one by one...

  They peeled off the hard armor of the ghost-striped red ant, hung it on a tree to dry, took out the magic core from the head, and put it in their pockets.

  Originally, many adventure groups had begun to think about leaving here because there were no monsters to hunt in the World of Warcraft Forest. However, some adventure groups discovered the business opportunities here, so many adventure groups began to gather towards the north of the forest.

  In Bailin in October, ant-like magic materials reappeared in the two markets of Copper Mine and Duodan Town.

  …

  The night sky in Invercargill Forest is full of stars, and several members of the adventure group are sitting and chatting in the camp.

  They set up several tents under a rocky cliff, and they have been hunting the ghostly red ants on the other side of the mountain stream for the past few days.

   Don’t dare to camp too close to the red ants. This rocky cliff has to climb over a mountain ridge to reach the mountain stream further north.

  This kind of harvest day will always make people feel happy.

  The weather has begun to turn cold. At night, you can feel the biting wind blowing in through the gaps in the tent. Even if you get into a sleeping bag, the cold wind blows your face a bit.

  The head of the adventure group has already begun to calculate the return date. He doesn't want to wait until the first snow falls before leaving. If that happens, the road in the forest may be even more difficult.

  The adventure group has had a good harvest in recent days, and the members feel a little relaxed. The weather here is a bit cold. In addition to fatty food and spicy food, there are also fruit wines that can keep the cold away.

  After dinner, several members gather around the campfire, share a wine glass and take turns drinking a glass of fruit wine.

   When chatting, there are always people who like to brag, so as to enliven the atmosphere of the chat.

  Tonight's topic is: 'What is on the other side of the mountain...'

  From the boundary marker, everyone knows that the mountain is the northernmost boundary of Viscount Suldak's territory in Invercargill Forest.

   What makes everyone curious is that every intersection in this mountain forest is nailed with wooden boards, and two lines of words are written on them in imperial language and aboriginal language.

  ‘Private territory, idlers are not allowed to enter’

In fact, if you don’t write these words, the **** is the most difficult to walk in this barren mountain and wild ridge. There are thorns, thorns and shrubs everywhere among the tall trees. Maybe the members of the adventure group will not easily go to that area to solve their personal problems. Lin Zi, they are worried that those thorny vines will accidentally pierce their buttocks.

   But there are always those boards near the boundary markers...

  Although the words on the wooden boards are clearly written and the meaning is straightforward, in the eyes of adventurers, those words are more like 'Come in quickly, this place is very mysterious...'

  Now the members of this adventure group are discussing this issue after drinking a little fruit wine.

"Every time I pass by that creek, I always see that wooden plank. I'm just thinking! What's hidden in it? You know, there are no warning signs like this in copper mines!" A young ranger tearing his hands The roasted red ant meat inside, said in a low voice.

   "You said what exactly did they transport back to Dodan?"

A shield warrior sitting opposite put down the whetstone in his hand, inserted the polished one-handed sword back into the leather scabbard, and began to check the belt buckle on the back of the shield. For the red ants who came up, he had to make sure that there were no problems with the weapons and armor.

   "Sneak in and take a look!" A thin ranger with a shiny beard on his lips said frivolously.

  The skinny ranger has the most outstanding appearance in this adventure group, and the leather armor he usually wears is also very elegant. He also has two long legs, which allow him to run extremely fast.

  His bow skills are not outstanding, but he has a flexible mind. He is always responsible for the most important investigation tasks in the adventure group.

   And I can always meet the only female swordsman in the regiment every night.

   This makes everyone a little dissatisfied with him in private, isn't it just a little whiter...

  The female swordsman picked out a steaming red ant leg from the bonfire, pried open the hard carapace with the long sword in her hand, picked out the white and tender red ant meat inside, and handed it to the thin ranger intimately.

  Although she is not very beautiful, this adventure group has not returned to Dodan Town for more than two months.

  In the eyes of everyone...all her flaws are automatically ignored.

  In this wilderness, some people with **** and butts may not necessarily care about gender.

  The group members sitting under the bonfire couldn't help shaking their Adam's apples, and the fruit wine cups they passed were not so fragrant.

   "Look and see..."

  The shield warrior muttered something in his mouth, then raised his head and looked at the night sky.

   "There doesn't seem to be a moon tonight. If we sneak in, we will come back after a quick look. No one should know." The shield warrior said again.

But the young ranger looked at the leader who was sitting by the bonfire without saying a word, and whispered, "It's better not to go, the mountain roads are not easy to walk at night, and it's so late now, don't you have to hunt red tomorrow?" Ants?"

  The captain looked up at the young ranger.

   But everyone's curiosity has been aroused. It is the young ranger who said these words, who cares what he thinks.

   "Walk around, go and have a look, maybe if there is a gold mine inside, you can still pick up gold!"

   "Maybe the entrance to the ancient ruins is hidden. As long as we can pick up a rune tablet, we won't have to come out to take risks in this life..."

  Several members encouraged each other in this way, and stood up from the bonfire one after another.

  Although the skinny ranger didn't really want to go, he was also interested now, and put the long leather boots that were roasted by the fire on his feet again.

  …

   A group of people crossed the boundary marker and sneaked into the territory of Viscount Suldak. This sneaky feeling made the heart beat faster and the whole body couldn't help trembling.

  During the day, several members of the adventure group always passed by this boundary marker. Although they did not enter the depths of the dense forest, they were familiar with the situation near the entrance of the forest road.

   Enter the woodland and walk along the hillside.

  By the night, you can see some huge thunder rhino footprints in the forest road. Thunder rhinos will always leave deep footprints when they step on the soft mulch.

  These footprints can be made into traps.

  Just insert sharp needles underneath, cover with dead leaves and residual soil, and step on it will pierce the sole of the foot.

   Several people walked along the forest road to the top of the slope, but they didn't find anything special.

  However, the skinny ranger quickly discovered something different. Standing in the dark, he hurriedly called out to the other companions: "Come quickly, over here!"

  The adventure group ran over quickly, followed behind the thin ranger, turned over from the top of the slope, and came to the south **** of this woodland.

  The scene in front of me suddenly changed. Many places on the **** were excavated. When I got closer, I found that there was nothing inside.

   A group of adventure group members, you look at me, I look at you.

   "Go further inside," the shield warrior said in a low voice.

  The silence around him made the young ranger feel uneasy.

  He put his hand on the thin ranger's shoulder, and said in a low voice: "I think it's better to forget it. Be careful that there may be traps in the woods."

  The shield warrior pushed the young ranger away with his strong chest, and said in an extremely disgusted tone: "I said, why are you so timid, you are still not a ranger."

   "I'm just not that curious. I just came here to hunt ghost-striped red ants, and I don't want to cause trouble." The young ranger said truthfully.

  The shield warrior ignored him, and asked the thin ranger in a low voice: "Randy, what do you say? Can you lead us to avoid those traps?"

  Maybe the drunkenness has not dissipated, or maybe the earth pits dug in the woods stimulated him, the thin ranger immediately puffed up his chest and assured: "Follow me closely and you'll be fine!"

   "Okay okay, let's go!"

  The shield warrior urged.

  (end of this chapter)