Uerga

The six female elves in the squad, Arenia and her four personal guards, were veterans of military campaigns; traversing mountains and ridges was second nature to them. Jinli, as a scout, was even more proficient in infiltration techniques, treating steep cliffs as if they were flat ground.

They brought Kalei with them, reaching the mountainside in less than half an hour and arriving at the edge of the cliff behind Bearclaw Valley.

At this moment, the dark clouds in the sky had dispersed, and the light of the White Lady poured down, illuminating the front of the cliff as if it were broad daylight.

The group hid in a thicket of trees behind the cliff, quietly observing through the gaps in the branches—the cliff edge was empty, without even a single patrolling Furbolg. Clearly, the Furbolgs had focused all their attention on the valley entrance, completely neglecting the defense of this area.

"It seems luck is on our side," Luna whispered.

But Arenia did not lower her guard. She shook her head, "Don't be in a hurry to act. The Furbolgs' vigilance is at its lowest during the early morning hours. We will wait until then to descend; it will be safer."

The group nodded in agreement and was just about to find a concealed spot to wait when a crisp "crack" suddenly came from under an oak tree not far away—as if someone had stepped on a dry branch.

Hearing this sound, the group was startled, thinking they had been discovered.

This operation concerned the safety of Bristlelimb Village and absolutely could not afford any mistakes.

The group instantly entered combat mode and took immediate action.

Jinli reacted the fastest. Gripping a scimitar in each hand, her figure darted out like an arrow released from a bow. A blur swept through the forest, and in the blink of an eye, she had circled behind the oak tree.

Kalei watched, dumbfounded—he had never imagined that in this world filled with magic, someone could train their physical speed to such a degree, so fast that even the afterimages were difficult for him to track.

The "uninvited guest" behind the oak tree clearly hadn't reacted either; he had just snapped the dry branch underfoot when a cold scimitar was already pressed against his neck.

The fellow was so frightened that he sat down on the ground with a "thud," trembling all over. A pair of round, wide eyes stared blankly at Jinli, and he let out a whimpering whine from his throat.

Jinli frowned and was just about to swing her blade to sever the opponent's head when Arenia, who had followed closely behind, hurriedly shouted to stop her: "Jinli, don't act yet!"

Jinli asked in confusion, "This is just a little Furbolg. Shouldn't we kill him?"

Arenia said, "This little thing is different from those Furbolgs. This little Furbolg is normal; look closely."

At this time, the others also ran over from a distance and examined the little Furbolg before them.

Indeed, the little Furbolg in front of them was completely different from the corrupted Furbolgs in the valley, who were covered in dark green light and had fierce, malevolent eyes.

Its fur was dark brown, fluffy and soft, and its skin showed no signs of corruption. Its round body looked like a ball of fur, and its pair of dark, bright eyes were filled with fear. It didn't look scary at all; rather, it looked somewhat foolishly cute.

Jinli waved the scimitar in her hand and frowned, "Even so, there's no guarantee he isn't in league with those Furbolgs. In my opinion, it's better to kill him to avoid bringing trouble upon ourselves."

The little Furbolg, who had just thought he had saved his life, was so frightened upon hearing this that he hurriedly scrambled up from the ground and began kowtowing "thump, thump" to the group, while continuously letting out whimpering pleas for mercy.

The sight made the group unable to hold back their laughter. The previously tense atmosphere instantly eased, and their murderous intent faded.

Arenia said, "Keep him for now. Perhaps we can ask him about the situation in the mountains."

The little Furbolg clearly understood Arenia's words. He climbed up from the ground, moved away from Jinli, and came before Arenia.

Seeing this, Jinli smiled and said, "In that case, I'll spare your life for now. This is our sentinel squad leader. She wants to ask you questions now. You had better answer well, otherwise..." As she said this, she used the blade in her hand to make a cruel throat-slitting gesture, which made the little Furbolg nod hurriedly.

Arenia thought for a moment and asked, "Do you speak Darnassian?"

Darnassian was the language passed down by the Night Elf from ancient times.

In ancient times, the Furbolg had once formed an alliance with the Night Elf, and many Furbolgs had learned their language in order to communicate with them.

The Furbolg nodded slightly and, in a hoarse voice, said a word repeatedly: "A little... a little..."

Hearing this word, the group laughed again. Darnassian sounded as beautiful as singing when spoken by the Night Elf, but the same language sounded like pig grunts when spoken by a Furbolg.

Seeing the group laughing, the little Furbolg didn't realize they were mocking him and thought they were encouraging him, so he laughed along with them.

Seeing him so innocent, the group felt embarrassed to keep laughing.

Arenia used a gesture to stop the group's mockery and continued to ask, "Which tribe are you from?"

The little Furbolg thought for a moment, struggled for a long time, and spat out two words: "Bristle... limb."

Upon hearing the words "Bristlelimb," the expressions of the group turned serious, but they did not interrupt again.

Arenia continued to ask, "Do you have a name?"

The little Furbolg thought again and said a word.

Arenia said, "You mean your name is Urga Bloodclaw?"

The little Furbolg grinned and nodded.

Arenia's heart stirred, "I remember that the chieftains of the Bristlelimb Tribe have used 'Bloodclaw' as their surname for generations. Could you be the chieftain's child?"

The little Furbolg nodded again, a look of pride appearing in his round eyes.

Everyone felt quite surprised; they hadn't expected this little Furbolg to be the son of the Bristlelimb Tribe chieftain! This was undoubtedly an unexpected joy. The group immediately became interested and urged Arenia to continue questioning him.

After a difficult conversation, the group finally learned from this little Furbolg the cause and effect of the mutation that had occurred in the Bristlelimb Tribe.

It turned out that seventeen or eighteen years ago, the Bristlelimb Tribe had a conflict with another large group of Furbolgs—the Timbermaw Furbolg.

The current chieftain of the Bristlelimb Tribe, Ugo Bloodclaw, did not want to conflict with a tribe that was also Furbolg, so he took his people and left the forest behind Bristlelimb Village, coming to the former holy land, Bearclaw Valley, to prepare to start life anew.

The Bristlelimb Tribe spent over a decade of peaceful days in Bearclaw Valley, but unexpectedly, nine years ago, the Furbolg Priest Wumu quietly brought a Satyr from the outside.

With Wumu's help, this Satyr dug up the Night Elf ruins buried beneath Bearclaw Valley and found the seed of a magic tree within the ruins.

Subsequently, the Satyr used some unknown method to pollute the magic tree's seed, cultivating a corrupted magic tree. This corrupted ancient tree emitted powerful shadow energy, secretly corrupting many Furbolgs.

When the little Furbolg's father, Ugo Bloodclaw, noticed something was wrong, more than half of the tribe had already been corrupted. For the future of the tribe, he led the remaining Furbolgs to engage in a fierce battle against the corrupted ones.

Unfortunately, Ugo was defeated in the end, leaving him no choice but to flee to the high mountains with his son and the remaining clear-minded Furbolg.

For the past few years, Ugo and the other Furbolg had been hunted by the Ebony Priest, forcing them to hide in the mountains.

According to Uerga, his father, Ugo, was bitten by a corrupted Warrior several months ago, and the wound has yet to heal.

Uerga was in a foul mood today, so he snuck out of the cave to play, which is when he happened to see Kalei and the others coming up from the foot of the mountain.

Uerga often listened to his father tell stories of the Furbolg's past, teaching him that the Furbolg were a wise race, not beasts, and recounting the great feats of their ancestors, Ursoc and Ursol, in their battle against the Burning Legion.

From these stories, Uerga learned of the Night Elf, knowing they were once their allies and a powerful race.

Seeing that his father's wound would not heal no matter what they tried, he took the risk of coming down to find the Night Elf, hoping they would save his father for the sake of their former alliance.

Upon hearing Uerga's plea, the group immediately realized this was an opportunity—a perfect chance to win over an ally! If they could persuade Ugo to lead the remaining clear-minded Furbolg to join them, they would not only gain insight into the valley's defenses but also secure additional reinforcements.

In the end, the group discussed and decided to take the risk of following Uerga to see if they could convince his father to help fight against the corrupted Furbolg at the foot of the mountain.

Uerga was overjoyed; he let out two loud howls and began hopping and skipping his way up the mountain to lead the way for the group.