Chapter 12: Hard Bristle Brush, Sheep Flock, and Ancient Castle

Travel in this world was clearly not as safe as in modern society.

In fact, even in the 21st-century Earth, there were many countries and regions that were not recommended to visit.

However, if driving, the risk was still within an acceptable range.

With the rugged appearance and tonnage of the G300p, it should be enough to persuade most monsters and robbers to retreat. As long as he didn't encounter a behemoth like the giant bear last night, Mali felt that there was a certain guarantee in terms of safety.

At least it wouldn't be lower than those small and medium-sized chambers of commerce and travelers and farmers gathered together. If it really didn't work, he could also step on the accelerator to save his life.

But what truly made him make up his mind was another important piece of information revealed by Xia'er.

—Animal communication potion had a time limit.

It would expire in a day.

A remote small village like Baimu Cun naturally didn't have magic potions for sale. If Mali didn't intend to return to sign language communication, then a trip to Yingzui City became very necessary.

And since he had to go, the sooner the better.

For one thing, he could bring reinforcements back before those goblins chose a new chieftain, solving the crisis of Baimu Cun, and for another, it would be best to enter Yingzui City before the animal communication potion expired, ensuring a seamless connection.

Thinking of this, Mali didn't delay any longer, quickly finished the coffee left in the thermos, and started today's work.

He and Xia'er each grabbed one leg of the goblin chieftain and dragged the corpse out of the bull bar, and then Mali checked the chassis and tires again.

The half-elf girl went to fetch a bucket of well water and cleaned the blood on the front of the car.

Perhaps because she had eaten quite a few cans from Mali, Xia'er performed very hard. After brushing the bull bar, she took the initiative to brush the car body.

However, she used a hard bristle brush. The bristles were plucked from a wild boar hunted before, bundled with rope, and combined with her not-so-low hand strength, every wipe was done with all her might.

Fortunately, Mali discovered it early and stopped it in time.

Although bumps were always inevitable when driving in the wild, Mali chose the G300p because he valued that it wasn't so delicate and was relatively durable, but there was no need to artificially increase the intensity for the car paint.

After simple maintenance, the two set off again.

Compared to when they came, because it was already daytime, the road was clearly much livelier.

Smoke was drifting over many small wooden houses, and occasionally he could meet a few farmers carrying hoes preparing to go to the fields or women preparing to go to the forest to pick firewood.

Three days ago, Aunt Milagelosi was attacked by the goblins of the Wolf Tooth Tribe. Although the militia team arrived in time to save her, the atmosphere in the village became quite tense for a while.

Many people didn't dare to approach the forest anymore, and after the firewood at home was used up, they could only chew cold bread. Now that the crisis was temporarily lifted, the first thing was to collect firewood.

They also met a shepherd on the road, driving the flock of sheep across the ridges. Those four-hoofed creatures with horns on their heads weren't afraid of the car, still chewing the wild grass nearby slowly, and occasionally would steal two bites of wheat seedlings in the field when people weren't paying attention.

A few even curiously gathered around and surrounded the car.

Fortunately, the shepherd knew that the two had important matters, and soon waved his whip, driving the goats to the other side of the road, leaving a path for the off-road vehicle.

Xia'er poked her head out of the car window and waved goodbye to the shepherd, "Uncle Pawa'er, we are leaving, we will soon bring people back to kill those hateful goblins!"

Since learning how to raise and lower the glass under Mali's guidance, the girl would basically roll down the car window and shout like this every time she saw someone.

Mali originally thought the half-elf girl was cheering for the villagers, but later gradually realized that she might just be showing off in front of people.

Otherwise, there was no need to roll up the car window every time she finished shouting.

She always insisted on completing the whole process of raising and lowering the car window in front of the fellow villagers, just to see the shock on those people's faces.

Although Xia'er herself refused to admit this.

Soon the forest and the village were gradually left behind in the rearview mirror. Ahead were rolling mountains and hills, and above them were the pure and ethereal sky like blue sapphire and the boundless sea of clouds.

Mali also saw an abandoned castle on the hill on his left.

The half-elf girl said that it was built by an ancestor of the Morales Family. At that time, he was expanding his territory southward, but he angered a troll clan in the Endless Forest, and then a war that lasted for nearly ten years broke out between the two sides.

Trolls weren't like goblins. Although their numbers weren't large, they were generally tall, three to four times the size of humans, and possessed skin as hard as rock and terrifying recovery abilities.

Ordinary swords could only leave shallow scratches on them, and they could often recover in the time it took to eat a meal.

These guys were also good at night operations and would retreat back to the forest before dawn.

And this stone-built castle was to resist their sneak attacks.

In short, this long tug-of-war left both sides exhausted, yet unable to get out.

Finally, the trolls, annoyed and angry, came out in full force and surrounded this small castle.

They fought from dusk to dawn, breaking the stone walls of the castle with huge wooden sticks (in fact, they were nearby trees, which were pulled out by the roots).

That ancestor of the Morales Family led six knights and more than twenty militiamen to engage in a desperate fight with those trolls relying on the broken walls and ruins, swearing to defend this newly opened territory.

In the end, most of them died in battle.

However, those trolls were also blinded by hatred and blood, single-mindedly wanting to wipe out this group of annoying humans, to the point that when dawn arrived, they did not retreat into the forest as they usually did.

And the reinforcements of the Morales Family arrived on the battlefield at this time!

The leader was the patriarch of the Morales Family, seen wearing mithril armor, holding an elf treasure sword, looking majestic, and wherever he passed, the trolls changed color.

But for them, the greater crisis actually came from above.

When the first ray of morning sun fell, their skin, as hard as rock, quickly began to soften, and their proud self-healing ability was also greatly restricted.

The situation on the battlefield changed suddenly, and human warriors regained the dominant position, while the trolls began to flee in all directions. However, their huge size became the last straw that broke the camel's back at this time.

Their slow movement speed made it impossible to shake off the pursuers behind them. The trolls fell one by one, their heads severed, chests sliced open, and hearts pierced, never to return to their home in the forest again.

This war finally ended with a great victory for the Morales Family.

However, the high price they paid, as well as the awkward cold reception when recruiting residents for the new territory later, made many people in the family begin to question whether this was really a cost-effective deal.

After all, most people didn't want to settle by a forest full of monsters, let alone that it was the southernmost tip of the Gongguo, far from the protection of the town. Even with tax incentives and the Morales Family's promise to clear out monsters regularly, not many people were willing to go.

Even the knights didn't want to accept this place as their fief.

In the end, the Morales Family's ambitious southward expansion plan could only end hastily. Although they didn't give up on conquering this vast and wild forest behind them, they had already turned to the east. ===== CHAPTER 13 =====