Chapter 85: Meeting

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Wen Chu moved a little closer and stopped in front of the table.

A table full of roasted meat appearing in a primeval forest felt wrong no matter how he thought about it.

But it smelled really too good.

Wen Chu hesitated for a few seconds, but eventually followed his heart and picked up the chopsticks.

Wild roasted meat was ownerless roasted meat.

Anyway, he wouldn’t be poisoned to death.

Thinking like this, Wen Chu took a bite of the roasted meat with an “a-woo.”

As the roasted meat entered his mouth, his eyes widened in surprise.

Delicious.

Different from any meat he had eaten in the previous worlds, this unknown meat was very firm, with crispy skin and tender flesh inside. It carried the aroma of fruitwood charcoal and was sprinkled with unknown spices. After one bite, only a mouthful of fragrance remained.

It was as if even his spirit had been satisfied.

【Health +5 min】
【Remaining Health: 3 days, 18 hours, 21 minutes】

Wen Chu looked at the Health Points panel that popped up, dazed for a moment.

This could also increase Health Points?

He stopped eating and looked hesitantly at the large piece of smoked meat and the blue crystal core. Then he remembered to ask the System: 【Do you know what kind of meat this is and where it came from?】

System: 【It’s a sixth-tier magical beast, the Wasteland Ice Wolf. It washed itself clean, cooked itself, set itself on the table, and gave you the crystal core in passing.】

Wen Chu: 【…】

Wen Chu: 【I’m not stupid to that extent.】

System: 【Oh, then don’t believe it.】

The System’s tight-lipped response gave Wen Chu a guess.

But this Wasteland Ice Wolf meat was completely different from any meat he had eaten before, and the spices were ones he had never seen. Just based on this somewhat familiar taste, he couldn’t be sure if Xiu made it.

In short, not poisonous, delicious.

Thank you for the gift from heaven.

Wen Chu held the bowl reverently, no longer hesitating, picked up another large piece of meat, and ate it with the rice beside it.

Even though he had only missed meals for one day, it felt like a century had passed.

Until the bowl of rice was finished and the roasted meat on the table was swept clean, Wen Chu’s Health Points reached 3 days and 20 hours.

He collapsed happily in the carriage, gnawed on a few White Honey berries, rested for a while, and then went out to pick fruits again.

He picked a bag full of berries, and under the System’s direction, picked a dozen hard-shelled fruits the size of basketballs. After hollowing them out and filling them with water, he returned to the carriage.

Bringing the remaining smoked meat and crystal core from the table onto the carriage, Wen Chu set off again.

The location of the carriage on the map began to move rapidly. In just over an hour, he would leave the Moonlit Forest.

The wasteland wasn’t like human cities where one needed to pass checkpoints one by one or take detours. With the attack formation on the carriage, after leaving the Moonlit Forest, the System could drive the carriage in a straight line at full speed.

If the horse ran sleeplessly, he could reach the dragon’s lair tonight.

Wen Chu thought about it and said to the System: 【Slow down after leaving the Moonlit Forest. Let the horse rest as usual tonight. We’ll go find Xiu tomorrow morning.】

Otherwise, looking for someone late at night seemed a bit impolite no matter how he thought about it.

Also, if he was too rushed, he wouldn’t be able to dress himself up properly.

Xiu liked good-looking things; he wanted to appear beautifully in front of Xiu.

【Okay.】 The System agreed.

Full of food and drink, Wen Chu happily organized his remaining supplies in the carriage.

Under the seat of the carriage was a storage box. Wen Chu lifted the seat, put his water-filled fruits in and arranged them well, then padded it with a layer of soft cushions and carefully arranged the unripe berries.

The remaining meat and ripe berries were placed in the carriage as today’s lunch and dinner.

After doing all this, the carriage had left the Moonlit Forest and arrived at the endless wasteland.

It was only then that Wen Chu understood why this place was called “wasteland.”

The parched, scorched black earth was barren. Except for the occasional glimpse of a magical beast, there were no signs of life.

The Moonlit Forest behind gradually grew distant. There was emptiness both ahead and behind; this place was like an undeveloped land of exile.

【This is the ground scorched by dragon fire.】 The System explained at the right time.

【Originally, this was also part of the Moonlit Forest. A hundred years ago, during the war between humans and dragons, the dragons burned half the forest. It hasn’t recovered to this day, becoming an ownerless wasteland.】

Wen Chu was surprised: 【Then wouldn’t the elves hate the dragons very much?】

System: 【No, after that war, only the last dragon remained of the Dragon Race. In fact, they and the Elf Race are both victims of the war. Compared to the dragons, the elves hate the humans who initiated the war more.】

Wen Chu propped his chin, picking up on the System’s words: 【But they couldn’t beat the humans, so they chose to retreat to the Moonlit Forest and cut off contact with the outside world?】

System: 【You could say that. The Elf Race was inherently xenophobic towards any race equally. It’s just that after the war between humans and dragons, their xenophobia became more obvious.】

Wen Chu sighed.

Xenophobic, huh? That would be difficult to handle.

Hearing the System introduce that the Elf Race was skilled in potion making, he had wondered if he could pay the elves to help make sleep-inducing potions.

He could only take it one step at a time.

Wen Chu soon lost interest in the unchanging wasteland. He lowered the curtain and lay back on the bed.

He examined the fist-sized sixth-tier magical beast crystal core in his hand—this crystal core was about the same size as the ones embedded in his carriage.

He asked: 【How much is this crystal core worth?】

System: 【Over a million gold coins, probably. It belongs to the type that has a price but no market. If you want to sell it, it’s best to take it to an auction house.】

“Over a million?” Wen Chu exclaimed in surprise.

He immediately dared not play with this crystal core anymore. Looking at the red and blue crystal cores operating in the carriage, he revealed a bitter smile of poverty.

“Then I’m done for. It seems I owe Overend a bit too much money.”

Before, he had no concept of crystal core prices, which was why he agreed to Overend’s conditions so readily. If he had known they were this expensive, he would have insisted on writing an IOU no matter what.

How much money could selling poetry collections make? This carriage alone might start at ten million.

Wen Chu sighed, carefully putting the Wasteland Ice Wolf crystal core into the storage box under the seat.

He looked at the poetry collection by the pillow.

Overend‘s Poetry Collection · Dragon Race Edition

The poetry collection was hardcover with gold foil, and above the title, a pair of fierce gold foil beast pupils stared out from the book.

At this moment, during the boring journey, out of curiosity about Overend’s financial resources, Wen Chu finally opened this poetry collection.

Behind the title page was the table of contents, on which half a giant dragon wing was drawn. The chapter list was in the center of the wing.

Chapter of Beginnings p3-p21
Chapter of War p22-p67
Chapter of Extinction p68-p79
Epilogue p79-p82

It seemed to be written following the rise and fall of the Dragon Race.

Wen Chu flipped through it casually, only to discover that this wasn’t the original version but an annotated edition. The poetry part occupied less than a third, and the rest was extensive analysis.

And he happened to stop at a poem in the Chapter of War.

Gilded Scales and Glazed Pupils

The spine of the Eternal Mountains ignited
Warfire and Dragon Flame
Gilded scales quenched in the bleakness of tears and blood
Dragon slaying, Dragon slaying
The giant dragon opened its eyes
Glazed pupils reflecting scorched earth and rain of swords
Dragon slaying, Dragon slaying
Arrowheads like locusts pouncing on gilded waves
But shattering into iron filings of light on the scales—
When dusk swallows the light of the battlefield
After the flames burn out, only bone-chilling cold remains
In this battle, no victory song rang out
Giant Dragon, Giant Dragon
Why are your glazed pupils dim and lightless?

Analysis: This is a poem with fantasy embellishments based on history…

Wen Chu didn’t read the subsequent analysis; his hand paused.

He was no longer the little jellyfish who couldn’t even hear the System’s mockery back then. Of course, he could see what this was writing about.

The war between humans and dragons.

Mournful cries filled the wild. The giant dragon fell with a crash, beast pupils open, surrounded by dying dragon flames.

Perhaps because the dragon’s color was too similar to Xiu, Wen Chu couldn’t help associating it with the scene of Xiu falling during the crusade, and his heart clenched.

He would absolutely never let such a thing happen.

Wen Chu pursed his lips, calming his mood before continuing to read the analysis.

The analysis was quite standard, just popularizing the background of the war back then, saying the poem expressed the author’s desire for peace, attacking war, and the idea that there are no winners after the gunshots ring out.

Wen Chu curled his lips. He felt that both Overend and the analysis were wrong.

How were there no winners? The Dragon Race was nearly extinct, and human territory expanded rapidly. The winner couldn’t be more obvious.

Wen Chu felt annoyed reading it, so he flipped down, but the Chapter of Extinction after the war made him even more annoyed.

It roughly said that after the Dragon Race was defeated, the only remaining dragon egg was hidden in the dark, hatched amidst the roars of countless wronged souls of its race, living in nightmares day after day.

Every night when dreams returned, there was endless hellfire, extinguished glazed pupils, and slaughter with scalding dragon blood.

In such endless nightmares, the only dragon walked towards depravity, never seen by the world again.

Wen Chu’s fists hardened as he read.

The earlier parts were stories of other dragons, but the latter part was obviously Xiu’s story.

Regardless of whether what Overend wrote was fabricated or not, the story was based on reality. Xiu must have been greatly affected by the war back then.

This also dispelled some of Wen Chu’s earlier speculation about the source of the magical beast meat.

—If Xiu’s state was really this bad, he simply couldn’t have the leisure to run out and kill magical beasts to cook for him.

Then who exactly was sending him food?

Wen Chu struggled with it for a moment, but soon put this question to the back of his mind.

Because it was noon, he was hungry, and he needed to eat lunch.

No matter who sent the food, as long as it was delicious, it was good food.

Wen Chu tore off a big piece of smoked meat for himself, dealt with lunch with fruit and water, and then covered himself with the quilt to start his nap.

Before napping, his mind was still full of the content in the poetry collection.

The giant dragon falling covered in blood and filth, the dragon egg having nightmares every day, the last dragon avoiding the world alone…

All these swirled back and forth in his mind.

Wen Chu thought groggily: If it’s true, when he gets to the dragon’s lair, he has to find a way to cure Xiu.

No matter the price, he could go to the Elf Race to beg for medicine. In short, he didn’t want to see Xiu endure such torture anymore.

He could sell the magical beast crystal core in his hand first. More than a million gold coins should be enough for now. He could go out to earn money later…

He was a reliable demon who could support a family.

Thinking this, Wen Chu hugged the poetry collection and gradually fell asleep.

Unknown how long he slept, he was woken up by the System.

【Wen Chu, wake up quickly.】

The System’s tone was rarely urgent.

Wen Chu opened his eyes, looking blankly at the roof of the carriage. It took a few seconds for him to wake up: 【What’s the matter?】

The System spoke rapidly: 【Our carriage is being pursued by Wasteland Ice Wolves. There are at least twenty sixth-tier Wasteland Ice Wolves around us. Even with high-level defensive formations, there is a possibility of being breached under such a siege. Do you want to speed up and go forward?】

A pack of Wasteland Ice Wolves?

Wen Chu shuddered and climbed out of bed.

Just as he lifted the curtain to look out, he came face to face with a pouncing Wasteland Ice Wolf.

This was a giant wolf fully five meters long, gray overall, with white mane like spikes on its back. Its claws were sharp, leaving deep scratches on the ground with every run.

“Roar—”

The pouncing Wasteland Ice Wolf was stopped in time by the defensive formation, baring its ghastly white teeth at Wen Chu from less than a meter away.

When it stood up and pounced, it was almost the size of the carriage.

Wen Chu had no doubt that without the defensive formation, his fragile little broken carriage would have been torn through by a single claw of the Wasteland Ice Wolf.

Having failed one attack, the Wasteland Ice Wolf resentfully slapped the protective shield, then quickly jumped away before the carriage’s automatic attack fell.

It had a large build, but moved like a ghost. The fireballs emitted by the carriage’s attack formation only blasted deep pits into the scorched ground.

And there were more than twenty such Wasteland Ice Wolves, tightly surrounding the carriage.

“Roar—Roar roar—”

“Awooo—”

Seeing Wen Chu show his face, the Wasteland Ice Wolves were obviously more excited, and wolf howls were incessant.

Every time they howled, large ice cones would spit out from their mouths, smashing straight onto the carriage’s protective shield.

Hundreds of ice cones smashed down, and the protective shield began to flicker.

Wen Chu couldn’t help taking a step back: 【What’s going on? Why are there suddenly so many wolves?】

The System was also puzzled: 【I don’t know. The route I took you on directly avoided dangerous areas. This isn’t an activity zone for high-level magical beasts, nor is it the habitat of Wasteland Ice Wolves. But they appeared suddenly, rushing straight for you in a pack.】

Seeing another wave of ice cones falling, Wen Chu hurriedly lowered the curtain and said: 【Then speed up quickly, shake off this pack of wolves as much as possible.】

If it were just two or three giant wolves, Wen Chu was confident he could handle them.

But these were wolves that could spray ice cones, and more than twenty came at once. Even if Wen Chu had great strength, he would definitely get injured in such a melee.

He had pain perception now; he was afraid of pain.

Thinking of the Wasteland Ice Wolves’ sharp claws and cold ice cones, Wen Chu felt phantom pains starting.

He would hurt to death if scratched once.

It was useless even if he recovered quickly. In such a large wasteland, bloodstains couldn’t be cleaned up. He didn’t want to meet Xiu covered in wolf blood at all.

Thinking of this, Wen Chu became increasingly nervous. Looking at the unfinished meat on the table, he suddenly had an epiphany: “Is it because I ate their meat?”

System: 【Possible.】

Wen Chu felt wronged to death. He picked up the unfinished meat on the table and threw it out: “I knew there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.”

Who exactly killed the Wasteland Ice Wolf and threw the aggro onto him?

A whole piece of smoked meat was thrown out of the carriage. The Wasteland Ice Wolves thought it was some weapon and subconsciously dodged.

After smelling the meat on the ground, they paused for a few seconds, then let out even angrier roars.

Under the System’s control, the carriage had broken through the encirclement during these few seconds of pause.

Wen Chu wasn’t idle either. He put the most valuable things in the carriage—five first-tier magical beast crystal cores and one sixth-tier Wasteland Ice Wolf crystal core—into his pocket, stuffed a few berries, hugged a hard-shelled fruit for water storage, and prepared to jump out of the carriage to escape at any time.

The scorched black ground of the wasteland vibrated.

A small carriage sped past at an extremely unreasonable speed, inhumanly embedded with more than ten crystal cores, countless formations shining with golden light.

Behind the carriage, a pack of Wasteland Ice Wolves roared angrily in pursuit.

Mighty and menacing, low-level magical beasts within a hundred miles scattered upon hearing them.

Wen Chu wanted to cry but had no tears: 【Why don’t I have magic?】

Human Grand Mages could raise their staffs and cast spells backwards in this situation. Even demons could condense demonic energy like Louis.

But him? He could only rely on rapid recovery ability and strength for melee combat. His only skill was eating dreams.

The Wasteland Ice Wolves behind were so energetic; obviously, they wouldn’t suddenly fall asleep while running.

Even if they really slept, eating their dreams would only cause 0 damage.

System: 【Why don’t you throw the Wasteland Ice Wolf crystal core too? They might be coming for the crystal core.】

Wen Chu struggled for a moment, ultimately reluctant to part with a million gold coins: 【Throw it when we really can’t escape, okay?】

The System didn’t refute, just continued driving the carriage at high speed.

Fortunately, there was no cover in the wasteland. The carriage just needed to gallop wildly according to the route. Under the acceleration enchantment, the horse ran so fast it left afterimages.

An hour passed; the distance between him and the Wasteland Ice Wolves didn’t shorten.

Two hours passed; the little white horse began to foam at the mouth, and the Wasteland Ice Wolves were getting closer and closer to him.

【If this goes on, the horse will die of exhaustion.】 The System said.

Wen Chu was covered in cold sweat. He took one last look at the crystal core in his hand, closed his eyes, and prepared to use all his strength to throw it far away.

Money is precious, but life is more valuable.

However, the moment he lifted the curtain, the sky suddenly darkened.

A violent wind rose for no reason in the wasteland. The Wasteland Ice Wolves, who had been in hot pursuit, suddenly stopped, whined with their tails between their legs, and ran back as if they had seen a ghost.

Wen Chu: ?

“Clatter—”

Before he could question it, he saw the little white horse in front of the carriage trembling and kneeling down. The carriage stopped completely.

Even under the siege of the Wasteland Ice Wolf pack, the little white horse hadn’t been this terrified.

Wen Chu: …

Good news: the Wasteland Ice Wolves ran away.

Bad news: he seemed to have provoked an existence more terrifying than the Wasteland Ice Wolf pack.

Wasn’t it just a sixth-tier magical beast crystal core? Who exactly wanted to harm him?

Wen Chu made a prompt decision. While hugging his luggage and jumping off the carriage, he threw the sixth-tier magical beast crystal core far away.

He took to his heels and ran: “Crystal core is given to you! I don’t want it anymore!”

The shadow in the sky seemed to pause for a moment.

Then, an even greater gale swept over.

Wen Chu’s nerves were taut; almost every inch of his perception reminded him of how dangerous the existence above was.

The combat power of creatures in this world was higher than in any world he had experienced, and the unknown creature above his head now was even more terrifying.

The fluctuation of magic power was incomparably intense. If the opponent used the magic of this world, Wen Chu definitely couldn’t win.

If he couldn’t win, he had to run fast.

He hadn’t seen Xiu yet; he couldn’t die on the road.

Wen Chu used almost all his strength, running for his life.

“Whoosh—”

The sound of flapping wings rang out.

In less than half a second, the shadow above caught up with him.

Scorching breath sprayed from behind, almost blowing Wen Chu away.

Before Wen Chu could react, he felt his collar tighten.

He rose directly into the air.

Watching the ground gradually receding and the carriage becoming smaller, then looking at the sharp claws beside him, Wen Chu finally looked up in belated realization.

He met a pair of transparent blue beast pupils.

Just these eyes alone were half the size of his body. Wen Chu froze in place.

Clear transparent blue, pupils like glazed glass. Under the sunlight, the giant dragon’s golden scales emitted a luster like gilded gold.

It was a dragon.

It was Xiu.

The heart that had been beating wildly from fear suddenly settled at this moment. Even though he was being grabbed by a giant dragon and was high in the sky, Wen Chu felt incredibly safe.

Xiu, on the other hand, looked at Wen Chu with confusion.

The image of the Dragon Race in the hearts of the world was truly too terrifying, but his current state was very unstable, making it impossible to approach Wen Chu with an illusion.

Otherwise, he couldn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t uncontrollably reveal his original form one day.

This was the method he had thought hard about last night.

Satisfy all of Wen Chu’s requirements, and be a hero saving the beauty.

As long as he used his dragon form to save Wen Chu from distress and had a romantic meeting with Wen Chu, Wen Chu should change his view of him a little, at least not thinking his original form was too scary.

And if Wen Chu could accept his terrifying original form, then seeing his human form later, under the contrast of the broken window effect, he wouldn’t think his human form was scary. He could also slowly influence and keep Wen Chu.

Therefore, Xiu had been lurking in the rear, watching the ice wolves chase Wen Chu, and appeared at the perfect time.

The carriage had enchanting formations he personally drew. As long as Wen Chu didn’t leave the carriage, there wouldn’t be too much danger.

But Xiu never expected that Wen Chu would abandon the carriage and run away directly when he appeared.

And even threw away the crystal core he gave him.

Thick confusion emerged in the dragon’s gigantic pupils.

Why?

Because the crystal core wasn’t big enough, wasn’t pretty enough?

But he saw that Wen Chu didn’t hesitate to dig with his own hands for a few first-tier magical beast crystal cores. He thought Wen Chu liked crystal cores.

Or was it because there weren’t enough?

Thinking that Wen Chu had dug out five first-tier crystal cores at that time, Xiu felt this explanation was the most well-founded.

Thinking this, Xiu grabbed Wen Chu and suddenly turned around.

In just a few seconds, he caught up with the fleeing pack of Wasteland Ice Wolves.

“Roar—”

Fiery red dragon flames spewed from his mouth.

Wen Chu, caught in the claws, was startled, thinking Xiu wanted to eat charcoal-grilled demon.

But the next moment, the dragon flame swept over his head, attacking straight towards the pack of Wasteland Ice Wolves.

The Wasteland Ice Wolf pack instantly caught fire. All the wolves howled and rolled on the ground, even spitting ice cones to attack themselves in an attempt to extinguish the fire on their bodies.

But no matter how hard they tried, it was of no avail.

The air was first filled with the aroma of roast meat, then turned into a burnt smell. After a short ten seconds, the flames extinguished.

Only a pile of black ash and piles of blue crystal cores remained on the ground.

Wen Chu was dumbfounded.

The sound of wings flapping behind him suddenly quieted. The giant dragon carried him slowly down beside the ashes and loosely released his claws.

Wen Chu didn’t understand, subconsciously raising both hands: “I have no malice, don’t burn me.”

The giant dragon tilted his head to look at him and let out a low roar.

“Roar—”

He swung his tail, a little anxious, smashing the ground into cracks with one tail slap.

Wen Chu: “…Don’t hit me either qwq”

The giant dragon shook his head vigorously, finally extended a claw, raked the crystal cores on the ground into a small hill, lowered his head, and pushed the crystal cores in front of Wen Chu.

…Ah?

Wen Chu was confused.

Just the dragon’s head alone was as tall as him.

Wen Chu met those transparent blue beast pupils, looked uncertainly at the behemoth in front of him, and an incredible guess arose.

He asked carefully:

“Do you mean, giving them to me?”

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Note:
The poem “Gilded Scales and Glazed Pupils” is translated to capture the imagery. “Glazed” refers to liuli, often used for colored glass or glaze, implying a translucent, gem-like quality. “Gilded” refers to liujin, gold-plating.