Chapter 018: Inviting the Moon

Du Fan originally thought he still had days to endure in this desolate place, but after less than half a day, he noticed the surroundings improving. Though not as beautiful as the landscapes in the southern regions of the Gavin Empire, it was still quite pleasant.

Finally, they reached the end of the path, where a vast open area came into view. Amid the mountains lay a rather large basin. Although there was a towering peak in the center of the basin, the areas around it were flat plains. From afar, clusters of settlements appeared connected to each other. Though not bustling, they certainly weren’t in ruins either.

Du Fan was shocked. Looking at the smiles on those rigid barbarian faces, he realized he was in trouble—he had arrived in their territory, a barbarian tribe!

A barbarian politely came over and invited Du Fan to move to the front of the group. After joining them, Du Fan glanced around and couldn’t help frowning. A small river seemed to flow around the basin. He didn’t know where it originated, but following its course, he saw it winding its way into the mountains, disappearing beyond sight. This river separated their location from the basin, meaning that crossing it meant entering barbarian territory.

Ringtone stood at the front of the group. When he saw Du Fan approaching, he waved his hand and smiled oddly, saying, “Lord Du Fan, welcome to our Inviting the Moon Tribe. You are the only guest to have reached this place in hundreds of years…”

He emphasized the word “guest” clearly. Du Fan frowned slightly and asked, “Is it true that no one else from Roland has ever come here besides me?”

“Of course there have been others,” replied a voice. Du Fan turned to see it was Stuart. “But those others were our captives. After all, how could they compare to your noble status, Lord Du Fan?”

Ringtone coughed and said, “Stuart… don’t talk nonsense…”

Then he turned to Du Fan with a smile and said, “Please don’t mind his nonsense, Lord Du Fan…”

Du Fan felt frustrated, but he knew he had no choice but to endure such treatment. He nodded silently, his gaze fixed on the river, lost in thought.

Seeing Du Fan’s expression, Lingyin knew he must be frustrated. He quickly pointed to a narrow stone bridge spanning the river and said, “Lord Du Fan, once you cross this bridge, you will officially enter the territory of our Yueyue Tribe. As a distinguished guest, you will receive the best treatment here. However, there are some areas within the tribe that are off-limits. I will send someone to accompany you, Lord Du Fan. Please don’t mind that…” With that, he waved his hand and said, “Please, go ahead.”

Du Fan glanced at the stone bridge and asked, “Why don’t you build another bridge across the water? With just one bridge and so many people having to cross it, it must take a long time.”

As soon as Du Fan said this, the barbarians nearby showed extremely strange smiles. The shaman priest Lingyin also smiled lightly. He picked up a fallen leaf from the ground and said, “Lord Du Fan, watch closely…”

With a casual wave of his hand, the leaf rose above the river. But at that moment, it seemed as if there was some kind of suction force in the water, instantly pulling the leaf down without even creating a ripple.

Curious, Du Fan couldn’t help but ask, “What… is going on here?”

Lingyin smiled and said, “This is our barbarians’ protective river, the last barrier bestowed upon us by the Great God. Anything that passes over this river cannot float. Even if water is poured into it, it will sink immediately. That’s why this river is called the River of Sinking Water… Be careful later, Lord Du Fan. If your body leaves that stone bridge, you will be instantly pulled into this River of Sinking Water. By then, not even I, nor the shaman priests of the Great God’s Temple, will be able to save you.”

After Lingyin finished speaking, Du Fan couldn’t help but take a few more glances at the river water. Although it was turbid, it was still possible to faintly see what was inside. After focusing for a moment, he realized most of it consisted of human or animal/magic beast skeletons. He was shocked—many of the skeletons still looked fresh, likely pulled in recently. Beneath this River of Sinking Water, there were countless bones. After seeing this, Du Fan believed Lingyin’s words to a large extent. He guessed that Lingyin wanted to extract those two secrets from him, and such a person would never lie to him.

Seeing Du Fan’s expression return to normal, Lingyin nodded slightly and made a gesture. Then Stuart took out a bamboo flute from his bosom, blew into it for a moment, and immediately a sharp sound rang out. After a while, a faint howling sound could be heard as hundreds of men rushed over from the direction of the villages. Each of them had strange runes painted on their faces, wore leather armor, and carried weapons at all times. After reaching the other side of the Submerged River, those hundreds of barbarians stopped and parted aside, allowing dozens of men to lead out a particularly tall barbarian. This man was not wearing leather armor but instead a black robe. Although his face also had runes, they were very light in color. His hair was gray, and he seemed to be in his fifties. He held a long wooden staff, his gaze distant yet filled with authority. The barbarian warriors on this side of the Submerged River all knelt down at once upon seeing him. After shouting something in their strange language, they stood up again. Only the shaman priest Lingyin did not kneel. He whispered in Du Fan’s ear, “This is the chief of our Moon Inviting Tribe, and also my father.” Du Fan couldn’t help but frown but said nothing. Lingyin continued, “I’ve already informed my father about your visit to our Moon Inviting Tribe. I didn’t expect him to come in person to greet you. It seems you hold quite a high status.” Du Fan sneered inwardly and thought, “High status? Perhaps it means my death is near.” Yet he smiled slightly and said, “You’re too kind, Lingyin.” Lingyin didn’t say much more. Instead, he waved his hand and said, “Then please… Since my father has come in person to greet you, that’s the highest honor. Only you, Du Fan, may cross that one-person bridge first!” Du Fan snorted. He took a breath and didn’t hesitate. Instead, he quickly crossed the so-called one-person bridge without even glancing at the Submerged River. When he reached the so-called chief, he sneered inwardly but still bowed according to the customs of the Roland Continent and said, “Du Fan Green, the third son of the Green family of the Gavin Empire, pays his respects to the chief of the Moon Inviting Tribe!”

The tribal chief glanced at Du Fan from head to toe, then gave a slight nod and raised the wooden staff in his hand. Immediately, the barbarians began to emit strange cries and jumped around like madmen. Du Fan watched silently for a while and realized this was likely some kind of barbarian ritual. Whether it was an act of welcome or not, he really had no idea. At that moment, Ringtone and Stuart also came over. It was clear that these two held high status in the Moon-Inviting Tribe. They stepped forward, bowed to the tribal chief, and stood respectfully beside him with their hands lowered. The tribal chief nodded, but his gaze shifted to Du Fan. After a moment, he spoke in an aged voice, “Since such a distinguished guest has arrived, let’s hold a banquet to welcome you tonight… You are Young Master Du Fan, right? Please…” With that, the barbarian didn’t even look at Du Fan and turned away as if trying to appear profound. Ringtone stepped back a few steps, came to Du Fan’s side, and whispered, “Sir Du Fan, please go ahead…” Du Fan knew that such a superficial gesture was already quite good considering him a “distinguished guest.” However, he didn’t understand what significance Space Tear Slash and Speech Spirit held for the barbarians to warrant such a reaction… As he thought this, Du Fan followed Ringtone. Along the way, he saw no farmlands; instead, large areas of grassland were left empty. After walking for a few minutes, they finally arrived in front of a village. The village seemed to be enclosed by huge wooden structures, somewhat resembling a fortress. The village gates were wide open, and the barbarian warriors standing on both sides raised their weapons at the same time. Du Fan glanced at them and frowned inwardly. With the barbarians’ current manufacturing skills, it was impossible to produce such high-quality steel. He wondered where they got their weapons from. Upon entering the village, he found it much larger than it appeared from afar. Most of the houses were wooden, with a few stone houses scattered among them, all looking quite old. Barbarians of all ages were coming and going, and almost everyone wore leather armor, with weapons on them as well. But these weapons were much more worn out compared to those of the warriors. What surprised Du Fan was that only the men seemed to have runes painted on their faces, while the women’s faces were completely clean.