Chapter Forty-Three: The Road Home

Wolf’s combat prowess was truly formidable; that much had been evident from the night he confronted the skeletal triceratops head-on. A living triceratops might feel pain and fear, but an undead creature knows nothing of such sensations, making it an even more relentless combatant. Thus, the skeletal triceratops was even more powerful than it had been in life.

If Wolf could hold his own against such a monstrous adversary, it was no surprise he could handle a solitary living triceratops with ease. Thanks to his outstanding performance, they managed to lure one triceratops away, and under a barrage of kobold crossbow bolts, it was seriously wounded, lost the will to fight, and was herded all the way to the beast pen.

Jia Zhengjin seized the opportunity to begin the taming process and sent Wolf to lead another team to drive a second triceratops back. Both creatures required over twelve hours to tame, and even after that, they still needed treatment.

It was not until the following morning that they finally had two powerful mounts at their disposal. Naturally, the saddled triceratops were reserved for Jia Zhengjin himself and Tina. The other was given to Wolf, the werewolf.

“Once we’re gone, stick to the usual routine: mining and hunting every day,” Jia Zhengjin instructed the kobold chief responsible for guarding the camp. “Pile the ore as high as you can on this open ground. As for the game, throw it straight into the ice cellar and wait until I return to deal with it.”

“Awooo!” The kobold chief replied with a howl, indicating his understanding.

“Kneel down!” Jia Zhengjin turned around and called out to his triceratops. The tamed beast immediately bent its four legs and lowered its massive body to the ground. But even so, it was still rather high off the ground for an ordinary person.

“Tina!” Jia Zhengjin first lifted the light, golden-haired girl with care, helping her onto the triceratops’ saddle. Then he vaulted up behind her, wrapping his arms around her. “Let’s go! We’re off to visit your parents!”

He had taught Tina this phrase, so she understood him. Instantly, her cheeks flushed red, and she shyly leaned back against him, nestling into his arms.

Wolf, meanwhile, mounted the other triceratops with ease—he was the only bodyguard Jia Zhengjin was taking along this time.

“Which way do we go?” Jia Zhengjin kissed Tina on the forehead and asked gently.

Tina pointed westward, her face turning red as she buried her head in his chest.

“Let’s move out!” At Jia Zhengjin’s command, the two massive triceratops stood up and started off in the direction Tina had indicated, their heavy steps shaking the earth.

A band of strange, horned apes scattered in alarm, leaping from tree to tree as the group passed. This road teemed with all sorts of dangerous creatures from another world. Before long, they encountered a pack of wild kobolds. Yet, faced with two triceratops, the kobolds wisely kept their distance, not daring to provoke them.

It wasn’t just kobolds—the giant soldier ants and massive beetles they passed were also clever enough to clear the way, lest they be crushed into pulp by the lumbering behemoths.

Without the triceratops, traveling on foot would have meant fighting their way through every step. Even with the powerful Wolf as their bodyguard, it would have been almost impossible for all three of them to escape the forest unscathed.

Tina’s survival until her capture by the kobolds had indeed been a stroke of luck.

The road out of the forest was long and arduous, fraught with peril at every turn. Ordinary people would never survive such a trek.

With the triceratops clearing a path, their journey was unimpeded, and they encountered no further threats from magical beasts. Their luck was indeed remarkable.

Even so, by the time afternoon arrived, after traveling since dawn, they still had not left the forest behind.

“Tina, how much longer will it take to leave the forest?” Jia Zhengjin asked, gesturing with his hands to help her understand.

Tina thought for a moment. “One day, one night,” she said, struggling to express herself fully in his language.

“You mean, if we were walking, it would take a day and a night?” Jia Zhengjin clarified.

Tina nodded happily. “Yes!”

“If it takes a day and a night on foot, then riding these, we should be out of the forest before nightfall,” Jia Zhengjin concluded after a quick calculation.

“Look, over there!” After traveling a bit farther, Tina suddenly pointed excitedly at a patch of shrubbery beside the road.

Puzzled, Jia Zhengjin followed her gaze and saw a roughly woven bamboo basket among the bushes, with some dried-up wild fruit scattered around it. “A basket?”

Tina patted her chest and looked at Jia Zhengjin. “Mine!”

“Oh, your basket?” Jia Zhengjin quickly caught on. “So you were picking wild fruit when the kobolds attacked you?”

Tina only partly understood, but she nodded all the same.

“Wolf! Help grab the basket,” Jia Zhengjin called.

With a single leap, the werewolf landed from the triceratops’ back, snatched up the bamboo basket, and tossed it up to them.

Tina threw out the dried wild fruits with delight and hugged her basket, her face beaming with happiness.

“No need to thank me,” Wolf said as he vaulted back onto the triceratops.

They continued forward, and after about half an hour, the forest suddenly gave way to a lush, green plain. The wind swept across the grass, creating rolling waves that soothed the soul.

A herd of furry creatures, their bodies resembling sheep but with catlike faces, frolicked in the grass nearby. Not far from them, several odd patches of mud, swollen like balloons, bounced and hopped around—resembling slimes from a video game.

“There…” Tina pointed toward a barely visible mountain valley in the distance.

“Is that where your home is?” Jia Zhengjin asked.

“Yes!” Tina nodded eagerly, hope lighting up her face.

She had been away from home for so long. She wondered if her parents had searched for her or if they believed she was already dead. All she wanted was to hurry home, to be reunited with her family and let them know she was safe and sound.

Seeing her longing, Jia Zhengjin smiled gently and stroked her hair. “Don’t worry, we’ll be home soon.”

Tina looked up at him and returned a smile as radiant as an angel’s.

The two triceratops marched one behind the other, heading straight for the valley. As they drew near, a sudden hail of arrows rained down upon them.

Jia Zhengjin reacted instantly, raising his shield to protect himself and Tina. The arrows bounced harmlessly off the shield, and the triceratops’ tough hides were impervious to ordinary arrows.

Startled, Tina cried out at the top of her lungs.