Chapter 012: For You

As he spoke, Du Fan’s hand groped behind the woman’s head for a moment before a “snap” sound was heard—the ox tendon broke in two, and immediately, the silver bar fell out of her mouth.

The woman wore a look of disbelief, but she reacted quickly. Staring at Du Fan, she shouted in a voice that was almost a roar, “You damned nobles! I warn you—let me go now, or I’ll never spare you! You bastards, scum, hypocritical beasts, idiots who can’t even have sons with decent backsides, trash who turn daughters into prostitutes…”

A torrent of vulgar insults poured out of this beautiful woman’s mouth. Just from this, one could tell of her violence. Yet her voice had a strange magnetism; despite her loud screaming, it was quite pleasant to hear.

She cursed fast and in large quantities. In less than a moment, she had said no less than a hundred insults, none of which repeated.

Throughout his life, Du Fan had only encountered pretentious nobles. Even commoners who met him would speak to him with deference and flattery. No one dared speak such words in his presence. So, for once, Du Fan found it utterly novel. But no matter how novel the insults were, hearing them too often was still annoying.

Although Du Fan had been prepared, he still saw some use in this woman. He had planned to wait until she finished cursing before saying anything, but judging by her attitude, it seemed she could keep cursing for days without repeating a word. Frustrated by the noise, Du Fan finally couldn’t hold back and slapped her.

“Snap!”

All the noise was silenced by that slap, forcing it back into her mouth. She stared at Du Fan, stammering, “You… you actually hit me…”

Du Fan laughed coldly. That question was quite amusing. His expression remained unchanged, and he leaned down to look at her, saying, “Girl, don’t forget your current situation. What does it matter if I hit you? Not to mention hitting you—even if I took great advantage of you, all you could do is scream. One should know their place. If you still can’t even understand your own status… it would be better if you died sooner…”

The woman was stunned and murmured, “I… I am… one of the Four Great Powers of the North…”

“Snap!”

Before she could finish speaking, Du Fan slapped her again.

Du Fan shook his slightly numb hands. After stroking the two palm prints on the woman’s face for a while, he leaned in close to her ear and whispered, “Little girl, have you forgotten? Right now, you mean nothing. I don’t care what rank you hold among the Four Greats—even if you’re the wife of one of the continent’s four greatest archmages, here you have only one identity: a plaything, a man’s plaything, a plaything given to me by that City Lord Gabriel… In other words, here, I control your life and death. I can do whatever I want to you. Even if I strip you naked and throw you into the barracks of those city guards, no one will say a word against me… Do you understand?”
The woman was momentarily stunned and unable to speak.
Du Fan gently stroked her face with incomparably tender hands. “So, just answer me whatever I say. Don’t say anything you shouldn’t… You see, I’m actually a man with a good temper. If it were someone else right now, they would have already torn off your clothes and taken what they wanted. But I, considering your feelings and not wanting to be forceful, am being polite with you. Shouldn’t you be a little more obedient for that? Otherwise, I really don’t know what I might do if I get angry!”
The woman trembled slightly. She actually understood her situation, but as an adventurer, who could endure such humiliation? She had been attacked without reason, nearly lost all her men, lost the goods she had worked so hard to obtain, and now couldn’t even control her own fate. If she didn’t vent her anger, she feared she would suffocate. But now, after those slaps from Du Fan, she was awakened.
This woman also had a fierce streak. She knew that given her appearance and figure, it was unlikely she could escape unharmed from those greedy and shameless nobles. Although this young noble lord seemed young, falling into his hands was still far better than falling into those fat, old nobles’ hands.
With a firm resolve, she thought to herself: Fine… I’ll just… treat it as enduring a nightmare once. I’ll close my eyes and endure it…

Moreover, she had even begun to think that these young nobles, unlike the old nobles who were nothing but old foxes, could be deceived. These young nobles might be tricked easier; if she managed to please them, perhaps… perhaps she would have a chance to survive, or maybe they would take her with them. In that case, she would only need one chance to escape and avenge her dead companions. Even, if she could find a way to please this young noble and get him to exterminate the entire family of that bastard city lord for her sake, it wasn’t entirely impossible.

At this thought, the woman regretted her previous actions, but she was quick-witted and already began considering how to seduce this young noble. Should she pretend to be extremely delicate to satisfy his sense of conquest, or act pitifully to earn his sympathy? Or perhaps… include a hint of resistance? Some nobles with twisted minds loved such coercive tactics…

After quickly weighing her options and considering the man’s behavior so far, the woman decided to go with the delicate approach. Given how gentle and weak this young noble seemed, he probably wouldn’t like violent games.

Soon, she decided on what to do. Her expression softened, and she deliberately wore a pale, weary smile, twisting her body weakly as she said in a low voice, “Y-yes… young… young master, I’ll do whatever you say… even if you want… you want to…”

At that point, she gently bit her lip. Her delicate teeth against her pale yet rosy lips were truly striking.

Du Fan, watching her expression, felt anger rise in him, but he quickly figured out what this adventurer’s girl wanted. Since it was rare for her to cooperate, Du Fan didn’t want to ruin the atmosphere.

He reached out and lightly lifted her chin, smiling gently and saying, “Girl… tell me first… what’s your name?”

After hesitating for a moment, the woman replied in a low voice, “I… my name is Selina.”

“Selina?” Du Fan smiled slightly. “What a nice name… Alright, Selina, can you tell me what kind of goods you’re carrying that made Baron Gabriel send the imperial city guards after you? If I’m not wrong, it must be something quite important, right?”

Selina couldn’t believe Du Fan would ask about such things. She hesitated, but after struggling for a moment, she gritted her teeth and said, “It’s mithril… We found a batch of mithril in an ancient ruin. That damned Gabriel sent people to attack us because of it.”
“Mithril…” Du Fan was slightly surprised. Mithril was extremely valuable—just a piece the size of a fist could be worth hundreds of thousands of gold coins. What Selina and her group had found surely wasn’t that little. Given Du Fan’s understanding of Gabriel, it wasn’t surprising at all that he would take action…
After thinking for a while, Du Fan suddenly smiled mysteriously and said, “I suppose, for that batch of mithril, everyone in your adventurer group except you must be dead, right?”
A hint of hatred flashed in Selina’s eyes as she whispered, “Yes… A few managed to escape… but I think the odds are now heavily against them.”
Du Fan smiled faintly and said, “Your guess is correct. Given Gabriel’s character, he definitely wouldn’t let those people go. As for you, I think if it weren’t for the fact that you happen to be a woman, and a beautiful one at that, you’d probably be a cold corpse by now… And I dare say… if it weren’t for me… your fate might have been even worse. You must know better than I do what kind of fate awaits a beautiful woman in a place like this. But… I can change that fate for you. Do you believe that?”
Selina was momentarily stunned. She understood what Du Fan meant, and her heart rate quickened. After hesitating for a moment, she couldn’t help but ask, “So… are you going to let me go?”
“Let you go…” Du Fan smiled faintly. “My dear lady, I think you’ve misunderstood me… I have no intention of letting you go… But I do want to avenge you by beheading that Baron Gabriel… What do you say?”