The Tragedy of Fago

After a short rest, his head no longer ached as badly, so he stood up. That Goldtooth was indeed formidable, relying on its agility to hold out against the siege of the Golem and Skeleton Warrior, though it had no strength left to use its shortsword to wound the Golem. Li Shaolin pointed at the corpse of a Kobold Diviner on the ground, chanted a spell, and a brand-new Skeleton Warrior rose amid the creaking of bones. With an attack command issued, it too joined the encirclement of Goldtooth.

With the Clay Golem and two Skeleton Warriors, Goldtooth was soon in dire straits. Parrying left and blocking right, it was clearly on the verge of being overwhelmed. Seizing the moment, Li Shaolin pointed a finger, and two teeth spun through the air toward Goldtooth.

With two sharp "hiss, hiss" sounds, one of Goldtooth's arms went limp.

With a fierce howl, Goldtooth leaped into the air, barely breaking free of the encirclement, and lunged at Li Shaolin outside the battle. Even a Kobold with little intelligence now understood that the weak human behind these three terrifying creatures was the one calling the shots—only by killing him first could it hope to escape.

"Damn it!" Li Shaolin never expected Goldtooth to charge at him, and he couldn't dodge in time—the shortsword was already upon him! In a panic, he threw himself to the ground, rolling away in a clumsy tumble. Though he avoided a fatal blow, a large gash was cut across his right arm, blood gushing out.

Goldtooth had used all its strength in that leap, and with its old force spent and new force not yet gathered, a heavy "thud" sounded as the Clay Golem arrived first, its fists slamming into Goldtooth's back!

"Ptoo," green blood splattered everywhere, followed by two flashes of white light, and a Kobold's head flew into the air!

"Finally dead! That thing was a real pain!" Li Shaolin let out a long sigh, only to feel another pang of pain in his head. He quickly sat down, tore off half his sleeve to bandage the wound, and ordered the Clay Golem to purify Goldtooth's corpse.

The Clay Golem slowly circled the spot, leaving the ground bare, while a shortsword, a gold tooth, and a necklace glittered on the floor. "Isn't this the necklace quest that Jack and the others took from Bonis Stonefield's aunt?" He quickly picked them up: "This thing can't be fake, right?" The gold tooth shimmered with light, likely seventy percent genuine.

The shortsword seemed slightly better than his own Infantry Sword, so he swapped it out. Just then, a large wooden chest in the back caught Li Shaolin's attention.

"Goldtooth's treasure chest?" He walked over and lifted the lid lightly, and the chest swung open.

Some cheese, bread, and a few pieces of linen lay quietly inside.

Seeing the bread, his stomach let out a loud "grumble," betraying him again. "Can I even eat these Kobolds' food?" he muttered, but his stomach kept sending waves of hunger. "Whatever, disgusting or not, it's better than starving!" Gritting his teeth, Li Shaolin picked up the bread from the chest and wolfed it down.

After two loaves of bread, he felt much better. Though the bread had a fishy smell unique to Kobolds, once he tore off the crust, the texture was actually decent. As he rummaged through, a green flash caught his eye from the corner of the chest!

He shook out the linen, and two green gems reflected the faint firelight, momentarily lighting up Li Shaolin's eyes with green!

"Could this be the Malachite from the legends in World of Warcraft?" After all, there were only a few low-level gems, and though he'd never seen real Malachite, it looked exactly like it came from the same mold as in the game. Looks like I've hit the jackpot, hahaha.

Overjoyed, he quickly dumped the copper coins from his pocket and stowed away the two Malachites.

Taking a break, he ordered the Golem and the two Skeleton Warriors to press on.

After wandering through the cave for a while without seeing a single Kobold, he went deeper and deeper until it gradually turned pitch black.

In the darkness, only the sound of Li Shaolin's footsteps echoed "pat, pat" through the empty cavern, reverberating outward. The further he went, the more uneasy he felt, with a stifling heaviness in the air, as if countless breaths were coming from all around!

"Buddha, Bodhisattva, please protect me!" He wiped the sweat from his brow and muttered under his breath.

A faint glimmer of firelight flickered in the distance, starkly visible in the dark, damp mine shaft!

Li Shaolin's heart leaped with joy: It looks like someone's up ahead!

He quickened his pace, but before he could reach the firelight, a loud "sizzling" sound erupted, and torches lit up one by one in the darkness, filling the mine with a dim, yellow glow!

He found himself in a massive mining hall, with torches held in the hands of Diviners. At a glance, they were packed tight—all Kobolds! Their squinting eyes, accustomed to the mine's gloom, gleamed with a murderous light! There had to be at least several thousand of them!

A chill ran down his spine, and Li Shaolin forced a bitter smile: Buddha, you've taken this joke too far!

"Uh, wrong way, wrong way—carry on, this is just a mistake!" he said, stepping back as he prepared to retreat.

"Aoow!" A long roar rang out. A figure in full iron armor, four meters tall, with a massive claw gripping a giant battle-axe, its waist slightly hunched, black bristles standing on end, a wolf's head with two protruding fangs gleaming white in the torchlight! Above its head, two faint golden characters read: Hogger!

Wasn't Hogger a Gnoll? What did it have to do with Kobolds? And wasn't this guy supposed to be ruling the southwest corner of Elwynn Forest? How did he end up in this godforsaken place? A flood of questions hit him, but before he could make sense of it, Hogger swung its axe, and the Kobolds in the cave let out a unified shriek, surging toward Li Shaolin!

The level-seven Skeleton Warrior swung its Bone Blade heavily, cleaving a Kobold that had just reached it in half, blood splattering everywhere! The short, sturdy Clay Golem shoved its way in, blocking several Kobolds, and smashed its fists into a head, crushing it like a watermelon! The newly summoned Skeleton Warrior sidled up to the Golem, slashing at the blocked Kobolds.

At least the pets were doing their job, but with this many, even an iron rod would be ground down to a needle. Before he could lament, the massive Hogger let out a roar, leaped into the air, and came crashing down toward their position!

That leap stirred up a gust of wind that slammed into Li Shaolin, making him stumble back several steps!

"Whoosh!" The giant axe flashed as it fell, and with one blow, "crack, crack, crack," both skeletons fell apart, and the Clay Golem was shattered into pieces!

"So brutal!" Li Shaolin was stunned! This damn Gnoll was way too terrifying! Then, a piercing, bone-deep headache struck, as if his brain was about to explode, a sharp pain searing through his head—the backlash from his summoned creatures' deaths! His legs gave way, and Li Shaolin collapsed to the ground, clutching his head. Through blurry eyes, he saw the Kobolds swarming in!

A mournful wail, like something from hell, echoed out! Amid a swirl of black mist, a man clad in black armor, wielding a pitch-black greatsword, appeared before Li Shaolin, blocking the Kobolds.

"Hogger, long time no see!" A deep voice rumbled as if from a thousand layers of hell, reverberating through the cave. The man pointed his greatsword, and a black ripple spread outward! With that wave of darkness, thousands of Kobolds collapsed backward, as if their souls had been drained. Hogger, however, swung its axe, leaped into the air, and charged at the man with a roar!

Dazed and groggy, Li Shaolin felt the man's voice was strangely familiar, and that armor even more so—wasn't it the Frostmourne armor of Arthas the Death Knight from World of Warcraft? But this guy definitely wasn't Arthas, for one simple reason: that pitch-black greatsword could never be Frostmourne. Seeing the man kill thousands of Kobolds with a single move sent a chill through his heart—so powerful!

Sword and axe clashed with a deafening "clang," and as the echoes faded, Hogger stumbled back several steps, blood trickling from its mouth. Before it could react, the man waved his hand, and a green skull wreathed in mist shot forward with a piercing shriek, slamming into Hogger's chest!

"Boom!" Hogger's chest, as if torn by some savage beast, was corroded into a massive wound along with its iron armor, revealing a beating red heart. Hogger fell backward!

Seeing Hogger fall, Li Shaolin could hold on no longer. His head drooped, and he passed out.

"When will I get to fight your true body?" the deep voice said to the fallen Hogger. It glanced at Li Shaolin, pushed its hand forward, and dark energy radiated out, forming a massive space gate topped with a black skull: the Ebon Gate! Then, raising its greatsword to the sky, it released black deathly aura that seeped into the thousands of Kobold corpses. As if tainted by hell, ghouls crawled out from the bodies one by one, filling the mine! This was the Death Knight's signature skill: Army of the Dead!

"Take care," it said to Li Shaolin, then turned and stepped into the Ebon Gate. The thousands of ghouls, under its command, rampaged outward toward the mine's entrance! In moments, the Kobolds that had been hiding or sleeping were slaughtered by the frenzied ghouls, turning the place into a river of blood!

Who that man was, why he used Death Knight skills, and why he helped Li Shaolin, remained unknown. This massacre in the Fargodeep Mine wiped out tens of thousands of Kobolds without a single survivor, and also claimed the lives of nearly a hundred nearby professionals. The reason became an unsolved mystery in later history, known to no one—perhaps even the true Hogger himself was left in the dark!