The Chaotic Swamp Tavern wasn’t too far from the Xia Wang Tribe, so after flying for a while, Shu Bao arrived at his destination. From a distance, he could see the familiar door, and a sense of warmth and familiarity washed over him.
As Yinzi descended, Shu Bao eagerly returned the dragonling to the bracelet. There was no other way, as the dragonling was simply too large to fit through the door and had to be carried inside via the bracelet.
Pushing open the wooden door and stepping inside, the long-missed sunlight instantly poured over him, causing Shu Bao to squint his eyes.
Back in his familiar bedroom, the first thing the mouse did was hop onto the windowsill and push open the wooden window, intending to greet everyone in the camp. However, as soon as he opened the window, a gust of wind mixed with a flurry of snowflakes rushed in, making Shu Bao shiver and nearly freeze in place.
Looking out, the world was a vast expanse of white. The blinding sunlight reflected off the snow, almost dazzling the mouse.
Struggling to close the wooden window, Shu Bao shut out the howling wind and cold, and the room gradually warmed up. He sneezed, only now realizing that a considerable amount of time must have passed in the real world since he had left.
Yinzi, inside the bracelet, was unaware of what had happened and was calling out to Shu Bao, expressing its desire to come out quickly.
Shu Bao hopped down from the windowsill and obediently walked out of the room, then sprinted downstairs. In his haste, he began jumping down the stairs step by step, resembling a bouncy, fluffy ball rolling down the staircase.
Pushing open the door to the first-floor hall, Shu Bao was once again met with the chill of winter. However, to his surprise, he saw a striking black warhorse galloping swiftly across the snow in the distance, its excited whinnying echoing through the air.
Seeing this, Shu Bao waved his paw. “Feng Shou~ Long time no see!”
In the blink of an eye, Feng Shou was right in front of him. With the warhorse’s sudden stop, a flurry of snow was kicked up, completely engulfing the waving fluffy ball.
Feng Shou quickly lowered his head, nudging the spot where the fluffy ball had been, and then picked him up in his mouth. He used his hoof to clear a small patch of snow before gently setting the fluffy ball down.
Shu Bao landed safely on the ground and immediately shook his fur, scattering tiny snowflakes onto Feng Shou’s face. Feng Shou didn’t mind at all.
The mouse reached out to pat Feng Shou’s big nose, then hugged it and rubbed against it affectionately. “I know you missed me. I missed you too!”
Feng Shou responded with a cheerful whinny, accompanied by a lazy meow from the cat on his back.
Shu Bao looked up and saw a white cat face peeking out from atop the horse’s back. He quickly waved his paw. “Of course, I haven’t forgotten you either. I missed you too.”
The pure white kitten, looking down with an air of superiority, replied with a dignified meow.
Feng Shou and the white cat’s actions naturally drew the attention of others. Someone shouted excitedly, “The deity has returned!”
The quiet base instantly erupted with activity. People rushed out of their tents, eagerly searching for Shu Bao, and soon gathered around him.
“It really is the deity!”
“The deity has returned!”
“This is wonderful! The deity has returned!”
…
Word spread quickly, and soon the entire tribe knew that Shu Bao had returned. The high priest, filled with emotion, emerged from the crowd and approached Shu Bao, bowing deeply. “Deity, you have finally returned!”
Shu Bao, feeling a bit embarrassed, scratched his head. “I stayed in the Chaotic World a little longer than expected this time.”
“It doesn’t matter, as long as you’ve returned! We never doubted that you would come back to us. We’ve been waiting for you,” the high priest said with great emotion, even kneeling in the snow, preparing to perform a foot-kissing ceremony.
Shu Bao quickly declined, saying there was no need. The mouse didn’t want to do the splits right after coming back. “Let’s talk inside. It’s too cold out here, and everyone should go back to their tents.”
Although the tribe members were eager to stay by the deity’s side, they eventually chose to follow Shu Bao’s instructions. Reluctantly, they returned to their tents, turning back every few steps to glance at him.
Shu Bao felt a bit puzzled by their enthusiasm. Though he had been gone for quite some time, their reaction seemed a bit excessive.
With these doubts in mind, the mouse followed the high priest to his tent. The high priest’s tent, naturally enchanted with temperature control, was warm and comfortable inside.
Compared to when Shu Bao first arrived, the food available during winter was much scarcer. The high priest placed a few pieces of dried meat and some dried fruit in front of Shu Bao, then sat quietly, waiting for Shu Bao to ask questions.
Seeing the high priest sitting there like an obedient giant child, Shu Bao hesitated, pulling back the paw he had extended to grab the dried meat. “Is something wrong?”
The high priest shook his head repeatedly. “Nothing’s wrong. I just want to look at you, deity. I’ve missed every single one of your whiskers.”
Shu Bao: “…”
Trying to ignore the high priest’s intense gaze, Shu Bao picked up a piece of dried fruit and began to nibble on it. “Did anything major happen at the base during the few months I was gone?”
The high priest paused, clearly surprised by the question, then carefully corrected him, “It wasn’t a few months. It was one year and five months.”
Shu Bao immediately choked, coughing. “What? One year and five months!”
The high priest nodded sincerely and obediently. “Yes.”
Shu Bao quickly calculated. He had definitely not spent more than a month in the Chaotic World, yet over a year had passed in the real world. It seemed that the flow of time between the Chaotic World and the real world wasn’t consistent. It was even possible that a single day in the Chaotic World could equate to a year in the real world.
“What happened in the tribe while I was away?” Shu Bao asked, noticing the worried expressions on the high priest and the tribe members. It seemed that the base hadn’t been peaceful during his absence.
As expected, the high priest’s expression became somewhat somber as he began to recount the events of the past year.
When Shu Bao first left, the tribe members continued with their usual lives. Although they missed and worried about their deity, Shu Bao had informed them in advance that he would be gone for a long time, so the tribe didn’t panic.
However, the neighboring Long Tribe, after a period of quiet, began to stir up trouble again, occasionally harassing the Xia Wang Tribe. Fortunately, with the Rain Girl’s presence, they weren’t too concerned about the dragon attack.
As time passed and the weather cooled, the tribe harvested their crops, their wild chickens laid eggs, and they began hunting to stockpile food for the winter. Everything seemed orderly, and they eagerly awaited Shu Bao’s return, hoping to show him their progress.
But as the autumn leaves turned yellow and fell, Shu Bao still hadn’t returned. The Xia Wang Tribe members grew anxious, though they tried not to show it. They continued working hard, gathering resources to surprise Shu Bao upon his return.
However, when the first snowfall arrived, Shu Bao was still missing. Instead, the Rain Girl fell into hibernation.
Yes, as the temperature dropped, the Rain Girl went from yawning and barely staying awake to finally collapsing into a deep sleep, unable to be awakened no matter how hard they tried.
With the Rain Girl in hibernation, the Long Tribe’s fire dragon became a significant concern. The Xia Wang Tribe members constantly feared an attack from the dragon. Surprisingly, the fire dragon seemed to have hibernated as well, as it disappeared with the onset of winter.
Instead, the Long Tribe’s chief sent a team to scout the Xia Wang Tribe. Not wanting to cause trouble during such a precarious time, the Xia Wang Tribe didn’t engage them in combat. However, this confirmed to the Long Tribe that Shu Bao was not at the base, and soon after, they led a full-scale attack.
The result was predictable. The high priest and Mu Bao’s fireball spells made the enemy accuse them of cheating before they were soundly defeated. Although the Xia Wang Tribe members didn’t understand what “cheating” meant, they knew that the Long Tribe wouldn’t give up easily.
As expected, after that, the Long Tribe would periodically patrol the area near the base. They did not attack but only conducted investigations, observing the situation for a long time before sending teams to persuade the Xia Wang Tribe.
They continuously brainwashed the tribe members, insisting that their deity must have died in some unknown place; otherwise, why would they neglect their own tribe? Alternatively, they claimed that they had been abandoned by their deity and had become a forsaken tribe. Only by joining the Long Tribe could they hope to survive.
In addition to the Long Tribe, another tribe appeared in the south of the Xia Wang Tribe. This tribe had strange appearances and immense strength, which made the Xia Wang Tribe members very fearful. However, after observing them secretly several times, it was clear that this tribe had no intention of attacking. Thus, the two tribes maintained a peaceful coexistence.
Notably, a year after Shu Bao left, a tiger arrived at the tribe, wanting to become the new deity of the Xia Wang Tribe. Seeing that the tribe’s development had stalled, the high priest gathered the tribe members for a vote.
The high priest was both relieved and concerned to see that nearly 90% of the tribe members chose to continue waiting rather than worship a new deity. As for those who wanted to worship the tiger deity, the high priest, like Shu Bao before, allowed them to leave.
Thus, aside from the suddenly appearing tribe and the already existing Long Tribe, a new Tiger Tribe emerged nearby.
The Xia Wang Tribe, with their warhorse Feng Shou, the deity’s white cat, their mages, and arrows produced by the wood processing factory, managed to deter all other forces from attacking. However, the harassment continued day after day.
“If you don’t come back soon, I don’t know how many people will be left in the tribe,” the high priest sighed in the end.
Learning that the tribe’s population had not increased but instead had decreased by several people, Shu Bao was not discouraged. He understood even more clearly that the next time he left, he needed to make thorough preparations and ensure that the base could develop independently, rather than relying solely on him.
Although he was revered as a deity by the tribe, he was not a true deity. Only by having the tribe’s own development momentum could they ensure their future.
“You are truly the best companions! I am lucky to have met you! As long as you still need me, I will always be here,” Shu Bao comforted the high priest, who looked guilty.
The high priest’s eyes welled up with tears of gratitude. “Really?”
Shu Bao nodded. “Really. If you have any needs, just let me know! I’ll do my best to fulfill them!”
The high priest wiped away his tears and said, “I’d like a new leather skirt. This one has become a bit tight.”
Shu Bao glanced at the high priest’s leather skirt and suddenly asked, “You haven’t been wearing it for a year and a half, have you?”
“No,” the high priest shook his head.
Shu Bao breathed a sigh of relief, only to hear the high priest add, “It was damaged one day, so I haven’t worn it since.”
Shu Bao: “…” The issue of the tribe’s hygiene awareness definitely needed to be addressed soon.
The high priest cautiously asked, “Can I still request leopard or tiger pelts?”
Shu Bao generously nodded, “No problem!”
