Before he could finish speaking, 20 jackal soldiers suddenly sprang out from the snowstorm and ran toward Jiang Hao and his companions. Their gleaming broadswords were cold and menacing. Just as Jiang Hao was about to make a move, he suddenly felt someone touch him. He turned his head and saw Yun Xinghe gently shaking his head at him.

Jiang Hao didn't understand what he meant, but he had no choice but to give up the idea of ​​resisting. The ten men were instantly surrounded by the twenty jackal soldiers.

Outside the encirclement, rows of gnoll soldiers paid no attention to what was happening here. They marched straight ahead without looking to the side. Their steps were neat, and the spears in their hands gleamed coldly. Jiang Hao saw their strength and found that they were all silver-level.

The gnoll procession ahead had already disappeared into the snowstorm, but more gnolls continued to appear behind them, seemingly without end. Accompanied by the muffled sound of horns, their footsteps were like the beating of drums, each step sending chills down one's spine.

Jiang Hao then understood why Yun Xinghe had stopped him from making a move. Facing so many Silver-level gnolls, he himself could easily escape, but what about his teammates? Jiang Hao could at most break through with one or two; the rest would surely die!

The gnolls pointed their broadswords at Yun Xinghe, but thanks to Zhu Lin's magical shield, they couldn't control him. Seeing two gnolls raise their swords, about to strike the shield, Yun Xinghe hurriedly cried out, "Sir, sir, don't cut! Don't cut! If you break it, I'll freeze to death! We're willing to be a suicide squad! We're willing to be a suicide squad!"

Unexpectedly, a gnoll to Jiang Hao's left, who looked like a minor leader, kicked at his rear. However, when the foot hit the magic shield, the shield caved in slightly, then bounced the foot away. The gnoll's kick was powerful, and even with the magic shield's protection, Yun Xinghe was sent flying, sliding a considerable distance across the snow to Jiang Hao's right.

Laughter erupted from the gnoll soldiers all around.

The gnoll leader scoffed, "You? Don't you even know your own strength? With so little health, you think you're fit to be a suicide squad? I could kill you with a single fart! Keeping you around would just be a waste of military rations. Come on, drag him over here and chop him up! I haven't had any fresh human flesh in ages."

Seeing two gnolls rush over, raising their broadswords to strike, Yun Xinghe scrambled to his feet, pulled out something, and then said with an arrogant expression, "If I take out this, how will you deal with it?"

The two gnolls who ran over seemed to be frozen in place for a moment, their raised swords unable to fall even an inch.

The gnoll leader who gave the order walked towards the location, cursing as he went, "Useless! What scared you all like this? Damn it, are you as brave as a jumping sheep? How come I usually..."

Just as he pushed aside one of the gnolls, the gnoll leader himself froze. His words caught in his throat, and he couldn't utter another word.

Jiang Hao was very curious, wondering what that guy had taken out.

However, Yun Xinghe was completely hidden by the three jackal-men, so Jiang Hao couldn't see him at all.

“Take me to see your General Ling Shun.”

Yun Xinghe's voice bypassed the three jackalmen and reached Jiang Hao's ears.

"Um... envoy, our general hasn't arrived yet. May we go see our vanguard general, Lord Jingyu, first?"

"Are you out of your mind? How dare a mere vanguard general lay a finger on the secret letter I have? Since that kid Ling Shun isn't here, I'll just wait here."

As Yun Xinghe spoke, he kicked aside the gnoll leader and walked outside the encirclement. Then he kicked aside another gnoll who lacked common sense, and walked back into the encirclement.

The gnoll leader rushed over, kicking his men aside as he hissed, "Get out of the way! You little brats, how dare you point knives at the envoy? Don't you value your lives?"

At the signal of their leader, the twenty jackals lined up neatly in front of Jiang Hao and his companions, seemingly intending to protect them.

Jiang Hao was completely stunned.

The gnoll leader cautiously stood behind Yun Xinghe and pointed at Jiang Hao and the others, saying, "My lord, who are these gentlemen?"

Yun Xinghe frowned impatiently and said coldly to it, "Even if they are my slaves, it's not something you can inquire about with your status."

Yun Xinghe smiled slightly, patted the jackal chieftain on the shoulder, and said, "Even if I were willing to tell you, would you dare to listen?"

The jackal chieftain quickly retreated several steps, repeatedly saying, "No, no, even if I had a million heads, I wouldn't dare to pry into the envoy's private affairs."

Yun Xinghe raised an eyebrow and said, "Private matters? We, the Imperial Expeditionary Force, have dedicated our lives to the Empire. How could we have private matters to speak of?"

The jackal chieftain knelt down in the snow with a thud, kowtowing and throwing snowflakes far away as he stammered, "I deserve to die, I deserve to die, I'm so stupid and clumsy, I shouldn't have spoken ill of the envoy, I deserve to die, I deserve to die, please spare my life, please spare my life, envoy."

After the jackal chieftain kowtowed eleven times, Yun Xinghe said calmly, "Get up. If you do it again, you will be executed without mercy."

The jackal dared not stand up, and his tone became even more respectful as he said, "I still have military duties to attend to. How about I come to invite the envoy over after the general arrives?"

Yun Xinghe nodded and said, "After the General arrives, remember to report to me immediately, otherwise, if military intelligence is delayed, your entire family will be wiped out!"

The gnoll leader repeatedly said, "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare." Then he scrambled to his feet, as if Yun Xinghe were a demon, and led dozens of his men, the ten-man human team, and the gnoll guards who had been watching the area, running off towards the gnoll army's rear camp. Only Jiang Hao and his ten-man team remained, standing alone beside the gnoll vanguard.

Jiang Hao breathed a sigh of relief and was about to ask Yun Xinghe what he had shown earlier when Yun Xinghe hurriedly whispered, "Don't ask anything, don't say anything, just follow me and hurry up, or we'll be doomed!"

Yun Xinghe turned and walked out of the camp, looking very relaxed, as if he were inspecting the area, but in reality, he was walking quickly. Jiang Hao and the others didn't dare to linger and hurriedly followed.

After walking several dozen steps, they finally saw an ice wall. The top of the ice wall was hidden in the heavy snow, its height unknown. Just as the group was about to follow the vanguard of the gnoll vanguard out, a sharp shout suddenly rang out overhead: "Who goes there? Retreat to camp immediately, or you will be killed without mercy!"

Jiang Hao felt a chill run down his spine.

Yun Xinghe seemed to have known all along that there were people above him. He reached out, took out something, held it above his head, and said without looking up, "The Imperial Preceptor's secret order, I cannot disclose it."

He then swaggered out without pausing for a moment.