The green paste of herbs bubbled nauseatingly. Afura's first plan had been successfully executed. She intended to make these jackals experience the true meaning of "every bush and tree seems to hide an enemy."
Sharpened wooden stakes and sharp grass leaves soaked in venom were cunningly arranged into traps. When the jackals arrived here, attracted by the firelight, Afura had already vanished.
They began searching the area when suddenly one of the jackals leaped into the air, startling his companions. He lifted his leg, grumbling as he pulled out a sharp stake from his foot. Soon after, the jackals left this area, following the scent again, disappearing into the dense forest.
A careless jackal stepped on a fragile dead branch, and an inconspicuous small branch nearby suddenly sprang up, viciously sweeping across his face, leaving several bloody scratches. He cursed furiously but didn't pay much attention.
After half a day of tracking, they eventually lost Afura's trail. The miasma in front of them made them hesitate. Just as they were getting angry and frustrated, a jackal suddenly fell down, and a group of companions immediately surrounded him, then fell into panic.
The fallen jackal's face became particularly grotesque, with white, turbid liquid seeping from the strange wounds on his face. He groaned, mumbled nonsense, gasped violently, convulsed all over, and finally fell into a coma.
The jackals tried various methods, but they were helpless. They knew how to treat simple snake venom, but this poisoning was completely different from before. Just then, another jackal fell down. Unlike the previous injured companion, he was conscious, but the intense pain made him wish to lose consciousness.
His leg hair began to fall off, and disgusting pus kept gushing out. The blood vessels gradually turned black and spread up to the abdomen. The feeling of sour, numb, itchy, and painful was like countless ants gnawing at his leg. The jackals were terrified, and they panicked.
One after another, several more jackals fell down, and it didn't stop until the fifth one. These minor wounds caused a situation that made the jackals, who had lived in the forest for many years, feel unprecedented fear. They looked at the dark forest with apprehension.
A jackal screamed, pointing to the miasma area not far away. His pupils were filled with terror. The other jackals turned their heads and saw a faint flame in the miasma rapidly expanding. Panic-stricken screams rang out, and the flame came like a fire dragon, with high temperatures roasting the air and making everything start to distort.
Two jackals who couldn't dodge in time were swallowed by the flame. One of them screamed and died on the spot, and the other, although not dead, was also dying. The big leader decisively drew his knife and ended the pain of the severely injured person. Then he turned his gaze to the other poisoned companions. The knife swung continuously, taking away five lives. The remaining jackals walked out of the forest with a gloomy face.
Although they were unwilling to admit it, they were indeed scared, and they couldn't stay here any longer. However, just as they were about to leave, their steps suddenly stopped. The sound of breaking air came one after another, like hail hitting them unexpectedly, causing a scene of head injuries and blood. A few jackals who were walking in front and not wearing armor were the most miserable. Even with a strong body, they were killed on the spot.
Hidden in the flying stones were more vicious blow darts. Seven or eight jackals were hit, and the toxin made them dizzy and their combat effectiveness greatly reduced. Unlike the jackals who liked close combat, the goblins were good at long-range ambushes. Those with great strength made slingshots with simple cloth pieces, while those who were skillful made blow darts and attacked with poison.
"How dare you..." The jackal leader's eyes widened, looking at the shadows behind the trees. As a partner and oppressed object for many years, he was very familiar with the other party's style and quickly guessed who was doing it. But guessing was useless. There were only 20 tired jackals around him, while the other party had many people, waiting in ambush, and occupying a favorable position.
In response to the leader's roar, there was an even more fierce rain of stones. This was not a solution, and they could only break through by force. The price was high, but compared with life, it was irrelevant. The leader made up his mind, showed a heartache expression, gritted his teeth and jumped up, and shouted: "Follow me to break out!" After that, he protected his head and face with both hands and rushed out.
The other jackals also followed, howling and rushing out. What they met was a hard stone and a poisonous blow dart. It seemed that the leader took the lead in the charge, but in fact, he himself was not in danger. He wore a leather armor inside, a chain shirt outside, and a layer of iron plate-made armor outside. The defense was extremely strong. Wearing an iron helmet on his head, covering his head and face, no matter what stones or blow darts hit him, they just made a clanging sound and could not break through the defense.
Those small leaders and strong jackals also had similar equipment, but ordinary soldiers had a big disaster. Some wore a layer of leather armor, some wore nothing, and faced the locust-like stones, they were instantly beaten head injuries and blood. In an instant, two soldiers fell to the ground.
The screams continued to come from behind. The leader rushed out regardless of everything. When he rushed out of the encirclement, more than half of the 20 people fell, and the rest were almost injured. The leader gritted his teeth and pulled out the blow dart inserted in his palm, and his brain was dizzy. Fortunately, he was strong and resisted the toxin.
"Damn goblins, you will settle accounts sooner or later. Sharp teeth! Sharp teeth!" He called twice without responding. The leader suddenly turned his head, and his angry eyes immediately cooled down, and his pupils shrank to the size of a needle eye. The other jackals were also silent.
Sharp teeth were a smart little leader, following closely behind the leader and not seriously injured. But now, he stood on the ground with his head down in frustration—ignore the sharp stake that penetrated his body and nailed him to the tree.