Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 1068 - 183: The Bribed Forest Rhinoceros

Chapter 1068: Chapter 183: The Bribed Forest Rhinoceros

"Um..." Lina swallowed, her voice dry, "I think it’s probably not a baby forest rhinoceros, haha, look how big forest rhinoceros are and how small this one is, how could they be the same creature? It must just look similar, right, haha, exactly, just a bit similar."

"Heh, heh, heh," Pannis chuckled, "Catherine, haven’t you always wondered why there are no other large animals around here? Ha, ha, I think you’ll soon see why firsthand, and even get to participate."

As if receiving some signal, the rhino birds perched atop the five forest rhinoceros flapped their wings and flew off their backs. The forest rhinoceroses, panting heavily, took heavy steps and slowly walked towards the expedition team. Like a little ball of meat, the young forest rhinoceros seemed unaware of what its elders were doing; it made baby-like innocent cries, curiously tilting its head to examine the dozen or so strange creatures in front of it, its feet irresistibly shuffling forward a few steps, its nostrils inhaling deeply to smell these outsiders. The little one, born less than half a year ago, was in its intensely curious phase about the world, easily interested in anything unfamiliar, especially since this was its first encounter with bipedal intelligent beings.

"Um, we’re not too close to it, are we?" Catherine instinctively stepped back, trying to increase the distance from the young forest rhinoceros, but this movement seemed to make it even more curious, approaching even faster. The knight girl could only step back further, feeling her throat dry, "I think, this distance, uh, should still be a safe distance, right? Those big guys shouldn’t mind."

"I think so too, but they don’t seem to agree," Pannis said with an odd expression, nodding towards the five adult forest rhinoceroses. "Look at their eyes and their movements, they hardly seem friendly, do they?"

Indeed, perhaps because they saw no further harmful actions toward the young forest rhinoceros, the five forest rhinoceroses, though not quick, had slowly lowered their heads, aiming their sharp double horns at the direction of the expedition team. Similar to armored bulls, the forest rhinoceros’s strongest form of attack was to charge with its body during a run. When they lowered their heads and aimed with their horns, it meant they were ready for battle. At such times, the adversary had no choice but to flee, as no creature dared to face their horns head-on, not even the few dominators of the Forest of Death’s Core Area.

"But we didn’t get any closer," Catherine said with a wry smile. "It was this little one who came out on its own; it was the one that approached us, we have nothing to do with it, we’re completely innocent."

"Explaining this to me is useless," Pannis said, spreading his hands helplessly with a pained expression, "Maybe we could try explaining what you just said to them?"

"I actually think your suggestion is very stupid," Catherine rolled her eyes, speaking irritably, "They seem to be getting closer; I think we better run away fast."

Though they were slow, the forest rhinoceroses had caught up with the stumbling young one nearing the expedition team. One female forest rhinoceros nudged the youngster with her snout, causing the little one to roll several times on the ground. Yet, even as a youngster, such a collision wouldn’t hurt it; the little one promptly got up and affectionately rubbed against the leg of the forest rhinoceros that nudged it, emitting happy cries. The female continuously nudged the youngster with her snout, and the two forest rhinoceroses, big and small, paid no further attention to the expedition team and wobbled away.

However, the other four forest rhinoceroses did not leave; they kept their heads low, approaching continuously with threatening roars emanating from their throats. For forest rhinoceroses, any creature daring to get close to their young was a potential threat, regardless of whether these beings had any such intentions. Thus, their usual response to potential threats was to attack, nipping the danger in the bud, and they would chase the intruders all the way out of their territory, even if the intruders fled.

However, few knew another habit of the forest rhinoceros: for enemies they chased out of their territory, they generally did not pursue with full force. Their goal was merely to eliminate the hidden danger, not to completely eradicate the enemy. Therefore, they only followed closely behind the enemy to intimidate them into leaving the territory quickly.

"Hello there." As the forest rhinoceroses steadily advanced, everyone also stepped back gradually, with Pannis, being the closest, weakly waving at them and saying, "I think there’s a slight misunderstanding between us, yes, a misunderstanding, many things aren’t as you imagine."

Of course, the forest rhinoceroses did not respond to his foolish behavior; the only reaction was them taking another step forward.

"Look, since it’s a misunderstanding, why can’t we all just sit down and talk?" Pannis whispered as he retreated, saying words even he couldn’t understand, "It’s already the Fourth Epoch, why do we have to attack each other meaninglessly? Haha, communication and development are the mainstream nowadays. Even if you are magical beasts, you should keep up with the trend, otherwise, you’ll become outcasts sooner or later, believe me, I’m not lying to you, what I say is true."

"Huff, huff," the forest rhinoceroses actually stopped, but their nostrils spewed out bursts of white mist, and their hind hooves fretfully scraped the ground, the blood in their eyes growing more intense.

"It seems you’ve understood my words, hahaha, I knew you would get it," Pannis guffawed, hands on his hips, just about to say something when suddenly he felt a tug from behind and was being dragged backward by Catherine in a full sprint.

"Are you an idiot? That was clearly them gearing up to attack." As they passed Vivian, the girl even had Vivian on her back and couldn’t help but exclaim with a mix of laughter and tears, "And you were still chatting with them, I can’t tell if you’re really a fool or just pretending."

"Of course, she is for real." With Catherine leading, everyone turned and ran, Lina muttered angrily beside Catherine, "Can you even find anyone dumber than him?"

"Boom, boom," the ground began to rumble, and the surface trembled. Behind the team, the forest rhinoceroses had adjusted themselves and charged at the expedition team.

"Everyone, run!" At the very back, Pannis, now let go by Catherine, waved both hands and shouted loudly, "These forest rhinoceroses have gone mad, it’s too late if we don’t run now!"

"I think you are the crazy one," Catherine said angrily, "Stop talking nonsense. How fast are they? Can we manage to escape successfully?"

"No problem!" Pannis yelled back, "They aren’t that fast, they definitely can’t catch up with us."

The speed of the forest rhinoceroses wasn’t indeed fast, especially when compared to their distant relatives, the armored bulls, which lived in open areas and could run unabated to catch up to galloping horses. However, since forest rhinoceroses lived in dense forests, many obstacles on the ground made it hard for them to reach such terrifying speeds.

Even so, when the mountain-like forest rhinoceroses charged in anger, any obstacles in their path, be it rocks or trees, were inevitably sent flying. The heavy footsteps caused the ground to tremble violently, and the heavy breathing almost hitting one’s back brought tremendous psychological pressure.

The girls felt they had never run so fast, not even when they were chased by a swarm of rats earlier, which wasn’t nearly as quick. No matter how strong the rats were, there was still a chance to fight back upon being caught, but it was different with the forest rhinoceroses. The enraged beasts carried an aura of destruction that seemed utterly unbeatable, leaving no choice but to run as hard as possible.

Running, sprinting, the girls cared for nothing else. The sound of the wind whooshed by their ears, trees and shrubs blurred in their peripheral vision, the ground flew by under their feet, and even time seemed to slow down in their consciousness. Only now did the girls realize that under enough pressure, they could break limits and achieve such speeds, despite the obstacle-laden environment, where every step could trip them, yet their bodies instinctively reacted to dodge every obstacle in their path, reaching unprecedented speeds.

Unfortunately, the focused girls didn’t have the bad habit of constantly looking back during the chase nor did the other demigods, which is why no one noticed that Pannis, who had been encouraging everyone from the back, was now running side by side with four forest rhinoceroses. He was pulling out a bright red, fragrant fruit from his backpack and casually stuffing it into the huge mouth of a forest rhinoceros. During the chase, the forest rhinoceroses seemed quite relaxed, not only swallowing the fruit but also casually licking Pannis’s hand, showing no signs of an all-out pursuit.

"Quick, quick, the boundary is not far ahead." Pannis pulled out another handful of fruits, stuffing one into his own mouth and, since the nearby forest rhinoceros nudged him dissatisfiedly, almost knocking him over during the high-speed action, he regretfully stuffed the remaining fruits into the mouths of the forest rhinoceroses, all the while yelling anxiously, "Faster, we’re about to get caught."

Driven by Pannis’s urging and the heavy footsteps behind them, the girls nearly unleashed all their potential. In less than ten minutes, they completed the distance that they had estimated would take twenty minutes to cover even at full sprint.

In front of the girls, there appeared a several hundred meters high cliff with no vegetation growing on the sheer surface and no living creatures in sight. The vertical cliff was like an insurmountable barrier, naturally marking the territory of the forest rhinoceroses. However, several ropes hung from above the cliff, just long enough for climbing, clearly the handiwork of Pannis from the day before.