Chapter Forty-Four: Amber's Thoughts

"Haimei!" As soon as Tina's shout echoed, someone inside the valley responded loudly, and the rain of arrows abruptly ceased.

Soon after, a group of oddly dressed humans from another world appeared, holding bows and spears, their eyes fixed nervously on the two enormous triceratops standing just before the valley.

"Tina!" Among them, someone recognized Tina perched atop the triceratops and cried out in surprise.

"Amber!" Tina's expression brightened with joy as she saw the young man step forward.

Jia Zhengjin leapt from the back of the triceratops and reached up to help Tina down as well. The werewolf, Wolf, jumped down at the same time, moving behind them to take hold of the two triceratops.

"Tina!" The young man who recognized her hurried over, grasping Tina's hand with delight.

"Amber!" Tina's face glowed with happiness.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Jia Zhengjin strode over hastily, forcefully separating their hands and pulling Tina into his arms. He shot a provocative look at the young man. "How dare you hold my woman's hand right in front of me? Do you want me to wipe you out in a minute? What are you staring at? If you keep looking, I'll eat you!"

"Tina, Nomohamani Shu?" The young man called Amber looked confusedly at Jia Zhengjin, uttering a string of unintelligible words.

"Amber, Damahaniduwa, Keene!" Tina laughed happily, holding Jia Zhengjin's hand. However, he could only make out the names Amber and Keene from her words.

It seemed Amber was asking Tina who Jia Zhengjin was, and Tina was introducing him. But how exactly had she introduced him? Jia Zhengjin was curious. More than that, he wondered about Amber's relationship with Tina. They seemed so familiar—could he be her ex-boyfriend? But if that were the case, shouldn't he keep his distance?

Regardless, Jia Zhengjin felt a surge of jealousy. "Tina, who is he?"

"Amber." Tina gestured energetically and explained in broken Mandarin for quite a while before Jia Zhengjin finally understood. The young man named Amber was Tina's neighbor and close friend; they had grown up together, so their relationship was indeed quite good.

"You mustn't get too close to him!" Jia Zhengjin said, even though he had understood, "And you mustn't get too close to other men either!"

Tina wasn't entirely sure what he meant, but she noticed the jealous look on his face and couldn't help but laugh, covering her mouth.

The other humans from the other world came over, engaging Tina in lively conversation. Several pointed to the two triceratops and asked questions, to which Tina responded by pointing at Jia Zhengjin and smiling. Afterward, all of them, including Amber, looked at Jia Zhengjin with eyes full of admiration.

Some even approached to greet him, but Jia Zhengjin couldn't understand their words at all, so he could only smile awkwardly and shake hands.

As for Wolf the werewolf, he was aloof, barely acknowledging anyone who tried to greet him.

After a while, Tina conversed with these people again. Something one of the elders said made Tina suddenly look shocked and anxious. The others all wore serious expressions, sighing heavily.

"What is it, Tina?" Seeing the cheerful atmosphere vanish and his beloved looking so worried, Jia Zhengjin hurriedly asked, "Did they bully you?"

"Papa, Mama! Papa, Mama…" Tina clutched Jia Zhengjin's hand, anxiously repeating those words.

"Is something wrong with your parents?" Jia Zhengjin asked in concern.

"Yes!" Tina thought for a moment, then mimed being locked up, and then seemed to gesture about someone, finally pointing to herself, her face deeply troubled.

After spending some time together, Jia Zhengjin and Tina often communicated with gestures, so he could roughly guess her meaning. "You mean your parents have been captured? And the ones who took them want you to come?"

Tina nodded vigorously.

"Tina!" Amber looked at her and spoke a long string of words, then shook his head, pointed at Jia Zhengjin, then pointed outside.

Tina shook her head forcefully.

Jia Zhengjin guessed that Amber was urging Tina not to go back, and suggesting he take her away. But Tina refused to agree. Seeing this, Jia Zhengjin's hostility toward Amber lessened somewhat.

Tina communicated with the group again, and it seemed everyone was trying to persuade her not to return. But she could not abandon her parents, and turned to Jia Zhengjin, holding his hand and pleading with tearful eyes.

"Don't worry, Tina!" Jia Zhengjin embraced her tenderly. "No matter what happens, I'll always stand behind you! Let's go and find out who dared to capture my father- and mother-in-law. Whoever it is, I'll make sure they regret it!"

With Wolf the werewolf and two triceratops, Jia Zhengjin felt no fear at all. Their fighting power was more than enough.

Jia Zhengjin nodded, and Tina relaxed. She turned and spoke at length to the others, finally convincing them. After a careful glance at Wolf and the mighty triceratops, they nodded and led the way.

On the journey, Tina held Jia Zhengjin's hand tightly, chatting with Amber as they walked—probably catching up on what had happened during her absence. Amber noticed Jia Zhengjin's possessiveness toward Tina, so he no longer acted as friendly as he had at first. After all, he didn't want to provoke more jealousy in Jia Zhengjin, a man who seemed unable to speak their language and whose origins were unknown, but whose strength was obvious—possibly even a high-ranking officer in the military. In this world, triceratops belonged to the ground dragon class; ordinary people would never dare provoke such fierce creatures. Only the military, deploying special units, could hope to hunt them, seize their eggs, and raise them from hatchlings to become mounts or weapons of war.

Ground dragons were precious pets, rarely seen in such remote regions. Even the largest local mayor's house had never had a triceratops as a pet.

Perhaps this man was a royal from some kingdom, or at least a noble. It seemed Tina had lucked out: after so many days missing, she had become a nobleman's wife! From a country girl to a noblewoman—that was a stroke of fortune few could ever dream of.

He wondered if this noble was in need of officials, and as Tina's close friend, whether he might have a chance to serve under him.