Fang Yuan looked in the direction the voice had come from.
The ten Wolf Hunters who had originally gone out to scout had all returned to the main city without a single one missing.
The squad leader at the front had an excited gleam in his eyes.
Because every one of the men beside him had brought back a first-rank Gray Wolf.
The Wolf Hunters had transformed from ordinary infantry into Wolf Riders capable of riding wolves.
"The mission I assigned was reconnaissance."
"They actually took the opportunity to equip themselves with mounts."
"Looks like this mission went exceptionally smoothly!"
Fang Yuan said in a deep voice.
"Come in!"
"Yes, my lord!"
The Wolf Hunter squad leader did not even wait until he had come to a stop.
He eagerly said,
"My lord, this time, while we were carrying out the mission to scout the Gnoll Tribe,"
"we encountered ten patrol teams from the Gnoll Tribe and no fewer than ten Gray Wolf Lairs along the way."
"Here are the patrol routes, as well as the locations and levels of the Gray Wolf Lairs."
Fang Yuan took the intelligence report.
The Lord's Mark soon finished reading it automatically and synchronized the information to the map.
Judging from the intelligence,
the ten Gray Wolf Lairs looked like satellites guarding the Gnoll Tribe.
Fortunately, their levels were not high.
The highest was only level three.
The patrol routes of the Gnoll Tribe overlapped heavily with the locations of the Gray Wolf Lairs.
This made it possible to determine that the Gray Wolf Lairs were subordinate to the Gnoll Tribe.
To attack the Gnoll Tribe, they would first need to capture the ten Gray Wolf Lairs.
With his current forces, he could completely afford to split his troops into ten groups and push forward simultaneously.
Then, he could surround the Gnoll Tribe with overwhelming forces.
The Gnoll Tribe's level was also about what he had guessed.
It was a small level-five tribe.
Its quality was not high, only blue.
There were roughly five hundred adult Gnolls inside.
The young and elderly ones did not count.
The adult Gnolls were blue, fifth-rank creatures.
Their level looked fairly high, but their quality was too low.
They would never be a match for the Purple Units.
Even if there were a blue, leader-level Gnoll among them, it would be useless.
Fang Yuan silently calculated.
If he sent out his troops now, he could finish the battle and capture the Gnoll Tribe in at most an hour.
He would complete Stone Spring Village's rescue mission and obtain the reward at the same time!
After that, he could enter a period of rapid development.
Just as Fang Yuan was pondering,
the Wolf Hunter squad leader below suddenly spoke.
"My lord, there is one more thing I must report to you."
Fang Yuan raised his head at the sound.
He asked curiously,
"What is it?"
The Wolf Hunter thought for a moment before saying,
"During this scouting mission,"
"besides obtaining intelligence on the Gnoll Tribe,"
"we also captured a prisoner!!!"
Upon hearing this,
Fang Yuan frowned slightly.
"A prisoner?"
"A Gnoll prisoner?"
"These are all creatures corrupted by the War Mist."
"Wasn't it said that there was basically no chance of communicating with them?"
"What use is a prisoner?"
Fang Yuan asked in confusion.
But the Wolf Hunter's next words genuinely shocked him.
"My lord, he can communicate."
"And the reason we captured him was because he took the initiative to ask us for help!"
Upon hearing this,
Fang Yuan said in shock, "What?"
"Tell me exactly what happened!"
"Yes!"
"My lord, we discovered him outside the Gnoll Tribe."
"At the time, we had just finished scouting and were preparing to withdraw."
"Suddenly, we saw the gates of the Gnoll Tribe open."
"Several Gnolls walked out, beat another Gnoll half to death, dragged him out, and prepared to kill him."
"When they came out, they happened to discover us."
"With no other choice, we attacked and killed those Gnolls."
"Just as we were preparing to kill the last one,"
"the other party suddenly spoke."
"He asked us to save him."
"He said that he was a family guard of the Golden Flower Family!"
"He also demanded that we take him to meet you."
"We did not dare make a decision on our own, so we brought him back first."
Upon hearing this,
Fang Yuan furrowed his brows, and a sense of vigilance rose in his heart.
"Could it be some kind of dark spell?"
"No!"
"We should be careful."
"Bring Lilith and Christian here."
They had both once been natives of this land, and their ranks were not low.
With them present, they should be able to identify the danger quickly.
Even if there was some danger,
the two of them could quickly eliminate it.
Soon, the two heroes appeared in Fang Yuan's Lord's Hall.
"Greetings, my lord."
Seeing them arrive,
Fang Yuan immediately felt much safer.
He then looked toward the Wolf Hunter squad leader in the distance.
"Go and bring the prisoner here."
He then explained the situation regarding the prisoner to the two heroes.
After spinning her staff for a moment, Lilith said,
"Living beings from before the Great Calamity could not possibly still be alive now."
"Even we cannot withstand this War Mist."
Christian, standing beside her, nodded.
"So it is very likely that this is some kind of Earthbound Spirit."
"An Earthbound Spirit exists because of an obsession."
"Only after its obsession is dispelled will it leave."
"There may very well be an item connected to the Golden Flower Family inside the Gnoll Tribe."
"That item bears an immense obsession, which ultimately formed an Earthbound Spirit."
"This so-called Gnoll prisoner is merely a vessel for the Earthbound Spirit."
The two truly lived up to their status as high-rank heroes.
Not only were they powerful, but they were also extremely knowledgeable.
After hearing their analysis, Fang Yuan felt that it made sense as well.
Before long, the Wolf Hunter squad leader brought up the prisoner.
"My lord, after we rescued the prisoner, we discovered that he had already suffered severe injuries."
"It looks like he cannot hold on much longer."
Fang Yuan did not take it to heart.
Instead, he looked toward the two heroes beside him.
At that moment, Lilith stepped forward and spun the magic staff in her hand.
A flame flickered for a moment before she said, "There is an aura of an Earthbound Spirit."
"But unfortunately,"
"the Earthbound Spirit has already left."
"Clearly, this Earthbound Spirit can only remain within the Gnoll Tribe. Once it travels too far away, it will automatically dissipate."
"Until it awakens again and possesses another body."
"To find out exactly what the Earthbound Spirit's obsession is, we have to go to the Gnoll Tribe."
Christian nodded from the side as well.
"This Gnoll is already dead."
"The Earthbound Spirit took his life."
"But my lord, you said earlier that the Earthbound Spirit claimed to be a family guard of the Golden Flower Family."
"Before the Great Calamity, I once traveled throughout the world."
"In the territory of Gondor, I once exchanged blows with a direct-line knight of the Golden Flower Family."
"Afterward, we even became friends."
"As far as I know, the Golden Flower Family was one of the most powerful knight families in Gondor."
"Their territory had always been in the empire's core region."
"Together with another family, the Thorn Flower Family, they guarded the imperial family."
"They!"
"How could they have appeared in the Northern Frontier?"
"Strange!"
After hearing the two heroes' conversation,
Fang Yuan was immediately delighted.
"One of the most powerful families!"
"Powerful knights!!!"
He immediately realized something.
This Earthbound Spirit!
It was very likely a high-grade wondrous item.
An item capable of unlocking higher-level quests.
And this item was very likely connected to the native faction known as the Golden Flower Family.
"This is truly a pie falling from the sky—and landing right on my head!"
"I absolutely have to get this Earthbound Spirit!"
Fang Yuan clenched his fists.
Then he abruptly stood up.
"Stop guessing."
"Capture the Gnoll Tribe, and the truth will be revealed."
He immediately opened the map.
"There are ten Gray Wolf Lairs along the route to the Gnoll Tribe."
"Lilith, take fifty Flame Mages and move along the left route."
"Christian, lead fifty Wolf Hunters along the right route."
"Advance separately and clear out these Gray Wolf Lairs."
"Finally, join forces and conquer the Gnoll Tribe!"
"Remember!"
"Our target this time is the Gnoll Tribe, so we must move fast!"
"Leave no survivors along the way, and don't farm the lairs."
"Destroy the Gray Wolf Lairs immediately after conquering them."
"After taking the Gnoll Tribe, you'll have an even more important mission."
"Find the Earthbound Spirit!"
"You!"
"Can you complete it!!!"
Lilith pursed her lips and chuckled softly.
"Lord, rest assured. An Earthbound Spirit of this level is well within my grasp!"
Christian, however, solemnly saluted.
"I swear to complete the mission assigned by the Lord, even at the cost of my life."
Fang Yuan also stopped wasting words.
"Good!"
"Raise the troops!"
"March!!!"
Before you continue