The footsteps in the darkness didn't sound like they were coming from one or two people. They didn't even feel like they were human, because they were too light and too fine.

At the same time as the footsteps, there was a sound similar to the barking of dogs. Just listening to the movement, it felt like a large group of dogs were barking and rushing towards them.

A feral dog colony in the sewers?

By the way, are there really wild dogs in the sewers?

Wild dogs don't know how to use arrows, right?

A series of questions suddenly appeared in my mind, but no matter what it was, if I met someone with an arrow, it would definitely mean that the person who came was evil.

Pei Renli rubbed his neck and hurriedly drew three runes. The magic defense formed by the spell called Mage Armor protected him.

Eve next to her also immediately used protective spells to protect herself, so in addition to the illumination of the light spell and dancing light spell, the magic aura when activating the spell also lit up.

In battle, prioritizing armor stacking for yourself is more important than prioritizing output. After all, a DPS that cannot stand has no output.

Kaya rushed to the front like a whirlwind and drew her long sword. Korra also took a half step back, took off the short bow on her back and aimed at the sound surging in the darkness.

After a while, the footsteps stopped one after another, but you could still hear sounds like barking dogs in the darkness not too far away, like whispers. Pei Renli and the others could only see a lot of people in the darkness.

Sparkling eyes.

Eve, who had used defensive spells, made a gesture in the distance, and a dancing light ball floating beside her quickly floated over, illuminating the creatures hidden in the darkness.

Unexpectedly, that thing was neither a human nor a dog, but a lizard that walked upright and was about as tall as a normal human calf.

When the strong light dispelled the darkness around them, these little lizards became obviously panicked, but they still stood there as if they mustered up the courage to do so, their claws holding the rough spears and missing bows and crossbows trembling slightly.

Seeing that it was them, everyone was obviously relieved. Korra even put down her short bow, once again pulled Pei Renli's cloak, and said excitedly:

"Look, look! It's a kobold!"

"I saw it! Let go!"

These little lizards that walk upright do not have the heads of dogs, but because their barks sound like dogs, they are called kobolds.

Strictly speaking, they can be considered a kind of intelligent creature, but their IQ is generally inferior to that of goblins, and in terms of fighting ability, they may not be able to defeat goblins in one-on-one situations.

Kobolds usually live in caves. Surprisingly, they are excellent miners and can dig very complex and solid caves.

Sewers are also a favorite environment for kobolds. In most cities with sewers, there are rumors of kobolds appearing.

The kobolds living in the sewers will occasionally sneak into residents' homes at night and steal some shiny tableware or filling food. When they are discovered, the kobolds will not resist, but will run away quickly. They know very well that they cannot hurt them.

People, because that would lead to a large-scale siege.

Generally speaking, these guys are a group of little lizards who are a little bad, but not completely bad.

There are very few traces of kobolds in the wild. Their living environment is squeezed by monsters such as goblins. Many adventurers have never seen a kobold. There were even rumors that seeing a kobold would bring good luck.

Rumor has it that this is why Korra is so excited.

Of course, Pei Renli has never seen one. Everything about kobolds comes from the monster illustrated book in the library.

Facing a bunch of barking lizards, Kaya didn't find it strange at all. She held the hilt of her sword and shouted at them:

"Do any of you speak Common Tongue?"

Kobolds can learn common language. After all, they are considered intelligent creatures and can communicate. There are even rumors that mages appear among kobolds, but I don't know if it is true.

But maybe they encountered a group of stick dogs. Kaya shouted twice, but the only response was a barking sound.

At this time, Pei Renli took a step forward, and to the ears of others, he let out a dull growl, like some kind of wild beast, which did not sound like a human voice.

Miraculously, after the low roar, the kobold side suddenly became quieter.

Eve, who rarely changed her tone, said in a slightly surprised voice:

"You actually know dragon language?"

"I understand a little bit."

After all, it was difficult to explain where his ability to understand any language easily came from, so Pei Renli could only make a few modest remarks.

The kobolds claim to be born from the blood of the five-color dragon queen Tiamat, but it has not been confirmed so far. It feels more like these little lizards are bragging.

However, the language of the kobolds is indeed dragon language. The barking sound like a dog can be seen as a very heavy accent...

What surprised Eve was that although Dragon Language was one of the required courses for mages, it was limited to words. The pronunciation of Dragon Language was very difficult and required a certain amount of talent and long-term practice.

From the first day Pei Renli entered school, his classmates had guessed that even if he was not a noble boy, he must be from a family of scholars.

After all, his skin is too white, and there are no calluses left by manual labor on his palms, so the other three are just surprised rather than surprised that he can actually speak dragon language. They regard it as the result of elite education in his childhood.

Pei Renli roared twice, and the kobold on the opposite side also barked. At first glance, this kind of conversation between a chicken and a duck can actually be established.

But no matter what, being able to communicate will save a lot of trouble.

"These kobolds will attack because we accidentally entered the territory. Relax a little. If we are too nervous, we will irritate them."

To explain to others, Pei Renli said in dragon language:

"We don't mean any harm, we're just passing by. Can you send a representative to talk to me?"

To others, it sounded like the kobolds were just barking, but to Pei Renli, it sounded like a bunch of people giving garbled answers, which made his head spin.

There was another heated discussion among the group of small lizards walking upright, but soon a kobold holding a spear (according to their height, it was considered a spear) came out.

"Shasha is the representative, you can talk to Shasha."

The scales of this kobold called Shasha are different from other kobolds. The scales are light green, and the back is slightly raised like a hunchback, as if there are wings waiting to grow below.

Under certain special circumstances, kobolds can indeed grow wings. The reason why their language is Draconic with a strong accent is because they are related to dragons.

We will talk about the dragon part later. Upon seeing this, Pei Renli said:

"We are chasing a man who escaped into the sewers, did you see him?"

"Shasha didn't see it."

After all, everyone had already strayed far from their original direction, so it made sense that these kobolds didn't see them.

Pei Renli was about to ask where the nearest exit was when he heard Shasha say:

"But Shasha knows that there is a place where there are many humans, and miserable noises often come from there, which makes Shasha very scared."

Miserable noise?

Could it be that human trafficking organizations lock people in sewers?

This sentence caught Pei Renli's attention, and he immediately asked:

"Tell me more about it."

"Shasha doesn't know the details. Shasha and her tribe generally don't dare to get close. Moreover, since those humans came, highly toxic wastewater has often been discharged near Shasha's territory. Many baby dragons have died because of the wastewater."

The whelps the kobolds talk about are not real dragons. They are used to calling their newborn babies whelps.

After all, these guys have always been proud of having dragon veins.

When he heard it say this, Pei Renli felt puzzled.

What is the situation with toxic wastewater? Isn’t this a matter of human trafficking?

It is said that with the current productivity level and technical standards, industrialization cannot be achieved. Besides, even if it is possible, there is no need to build chemical plants in sewers?

Where did the toxic wastewater come from...

"Shasha and her tribe tried to resist, but humans are too strong and we can't defeat them."

This sentence made Pei Renli recover from his brief thought and continued to ask:

"Have the wastewater and miserable screams you mentioned been there recently?"

Shasha scratched her head with her paw:

"It seems to be gone. I haven't heard any sound in the past few days. Although some wastewater is still flowing down, it is much less than before."

"Can you take us there?"

As he spoke, Pei Renli painfully took out a copper plate from his pocket, quickly drew a rune, and stuck the light spell on it, which made the copper coin glow as if it was on its own.

He shook the copper plate in his hand:

"If you take us there, it'll be yours."

A very enthusiastic discussion immediately broke out in the lizard-men community, and the conditions offered by Pei Renli made them particularly excited.

Kobolds like shiny things, and a piece of broken glass will be regarded as a unique treasure by them, so it is enough to fool them with a copper plate with the light spell attached.

It can be seen that the 'shining' thing is really attractive to the kobolds. They are timid and just briefly discussed a few words. Shasha immediately agreed:

"We agree that Shasha can take you there, but Shasha will not go in. Shasha needs your guarantee."

"Okay, I promise I just need you to lead the way."

As he said that, Pei Renli threw the coin over, causing the kobolds to grab it.

"How did the conversation go?"

Others couldn't understand what Pei Renli said to the kobold. Seeing that it seemed to be coming to an end, Kaya asked quickly.

"Although these kobolds have never seen the person we are chasing, they seem to know where the human trafficking organization keeps the meat stamps."

"Are they locking people in the sewers?"

"It should be right."

Korra looked at Pei Renli holding his chin and frowning:

"Isn't this good news? Why are you looking a little sad?"

"Because I think this is more than just human trafficking."

At first, Pei Renli thought that this mission was very simple, just to catch a horseman and deliver it. In fact, it went smoothly at first.

But something went wrong with the next development, especially now that he recalled all the details of the recent past. To be honest, Pei Renli had a premonition that he seemed to be involved in some trouble...
Chapter completed!