Chapter 001: The Barbarian’s Banquet

After talking with that barbarian chieftain, Du Fan felt even more puzzled about his situation. If things had gone as planned at first, he would have ended up here merely because the shaman priest Ringtone saw through his “Word Spirit” and “Space Tear Slash” techniques—those two abilities were the reason he was captured.
Now, it seemed that his identity had undergone some strange change at some point. He had prepared himself for countless tortures upon arrival here, but now Ringtone seemed to have forgotten his initial purpose and never mentioned those two techniques again, treating him as if he were a distinguished guest.
This strange change in attitude seemed to have started when he revealed his identity. If he was right, being the third young master of the Green family meant he had somehow gained some advantage without even realizing it…
Yet, the Green family should be the barbarians’ mortal enemies by any standard. It was normal for them to torture him, but treating him like this was truly unusual.
Du Fan thought for a while but couldn’t figure out the key to it, so he decided to give up for now.
By then, Ringtone had taken him to a relatively clean wooden house near Guangzhou. After bringing him there, Ringtone didn’t leave right away. Instead, after staring at Du Fan for a moment, he suddenly said in a low voice, “Kid… there’s something I want to warn you about…”
Du Fan frowned and said, “Lord Ringtone, just say it directly…”
Ringtone thought for a while before saying, “Please stop saying those things you said to your father last time. How could the water from the Submerged River be used for farming?”
Du Fan nodded. “Is it related to the quality of the water in the Submerged River?”
“No,” Ringtone replied harshly. “The Submerged River is our Karan people’s sacred river. It’s the last barrier left by the great gods to protect us. How could we dare touch it? Moreover…” His tone lost some of its strangeness and took on a hint of sorrow. “Moreover, throughout our history, many of our people have had such thoughts. But no matter who tries to use the water from the Submerged River experimentally, their fate is already sealed the moment they reach into the river…”

Du Fan was momentarily stunned, but quickly understood. Most barbarians still lived in an age of slash-and-burn farming; to grow crops, they naturally had to draw water from rivers. Given the peculiar properties of the Submerged River, anyone who went to fetch water would likely be pulled straight into it, their bodies turning into piles of white bones on the riverbed. The countless layers of bones he saw today must represent many who died while trying to get water. Du Fan sighed inwardly several times—now he could somewhat understand the meaningful smile on that chieftain’s face.

Rinne shook her head, smiled at Du Fan again, and said lightly, “Rest here properly. It’s best not to wander around. Although the people of our tribe aren’t that hostile toward the Rolandians, some of them still have hot tempers. If you get separated and discovered, it would be bad for you. Also, to welcome such a distinguished guest as you, our father has decided to invite you to our Kara tribe’s banquet. Please do honor us by attending, Lord Du Fan!” After saying that, the shaman priest closed the door and left.

Du Fan walked to the window and glanced outside, then looked at the barbarian warriors clearly stationed to watch over him. He couldn’t help but sigh bitterly—his status as a “distinguished guest” was truly limited! With that, he gave up on other plans. He glanced around the room briefly before sitting on the bed and closing his eyes to rest.

A moment later, Du Fan gave a faint bitter smile. He could sense that after that battle with Rinne, not only had his mental strength become more refined, but his combat energy and magic also seemed to have made progress. At this rate, with a few days of focused training, he should be able to reach level four. However, facing an entire barbarian tribe in such a place meant little unless he was a saint-level powerhouse. Though he thought so, having more strength in such a dangerous environment naturally meant better chances of survival. Du Fan sighed softly and slowly closed his eyes…

He first tried to contact Chenchen, but whether it was due to him or Chenchen, their deep soul connection didn’t work this time. With no other choice, he gave up. With his eyes closed, he sensed the various magical elements around him, clearly hearing strange languages coming from all directions. And just like that, a day passed quickly.

As night fell, Du Fan was still resting when someone came knocking on the door. Slowly opening his eyes, he got up and went to open the door, only to see several barbarian warriors standing there. One of them said in a strange tone, “Lord Du Fan, the chief has invited you to our Inviting Moon Tribe’s banquet.” Du Fan already knew about this. Curious to see what this so-called banquet was like, he didn’t refuse but simply nodded slightly. Soon, led by those barbarian warriors, Du Fan arrived at the square where the so-called temple was located. The square was already crowded with people. In front of the temple, there was a huge fire pit, and by its side, some people were roasting what seemed to be wild beasts. There were also barbarian men and women, roughly in their twenties, dancing and singing around the bonfire, with constant sounds of merriment. Unfortunately, though Du Fan was naturally intelligent, he couldn’t understand the barbarian language right away. After listening for a while, he became even more confused, only vaguely guessing that this must be some kind of major event among the barbarians, and as an outsider, he couldn’t get involved. At that moment, the barbarian chief sitting in front of the temple seemed to notice Du Fan. After doing something, two barbarian warriors “courteously” invited Du Fan to join them. What could Du Fan say in such a situation? Of course, he obediently went up. Once on the platform, he saw that, led by the barbarian chief, seven or eight people were sitting on the ground. Apart from the two shaman priests he had seen earlier, the rest were strangers to him. Judging from their attire, they seemed to be warriors among the barbarians. The two shaman priests also removed their masks, revealing their faces. Du Fan glanced at them secretly and noticed that both of them had deathly pale faces, which explained why the shaman priests always wore masks. However, Ling Yin and Stuart were not present. Though puzzled, Du Fan didn’t ask too much and simply bowed slightly to the barbarian chief as a greeting. The barbarian chief smiled at Du Fan and gestured to the seat next to him, saying, “Come, young master Du Fan, please sit.” Du Fan nodded and walked over to sit down slowly.

He could sense that everyone else, aside from those two shaman priests, was staring at him with extremely strange looks. Yet he seemed undecided and merely gave a faint smile to the barbarian chieftain. The barbarian chieftain nodded slightly and pointed at the scene before them, saying, “Young Master Du Fan, what do you think of our Kara tribe’s banquets compared to yours, the Roland people’s?” Du Fan smiled and replied, “Different customs cannot be compared.” The barbarian chieftain laughed heartily and said, “Indeed, they can’t be compared. But you, Young Master Du Fan, are quite lucky. We hold such events only once a year, and it’s truly rare that you happened to encounter one after arriving here!” Du Fan curled his lips, thinking to himself, “You sent people out not long ago to prepare an attack on City Rui—how can you tell me this is an event that happens only once a year? No way I believe that.” But Du Fan understood the principle that everyone wants their share, especially since he was half a prisoner. So he could only nod and say, “It’s indeed rare. I just wonder what this banquet is celebrating.” The barbarian chieftain smiled strangely and said, “No need to rush, no need to rush, Lord Du Fan… you… will soon find out…” Du Fan smiled but didn’t respond, instead following the chieftain’s gaze. At that moment, the flames in the square had dimmed somewhat, and the various wild beasts being roasted around emitted waves of meaty fragrance. Those in charge of roasting first selected the fattest and tenderest one and respectfully brought it to the platform. Meanwhile, groups of people had spontaneously formed around the square, each group bringing a few roasted magical beasts—clearly, these were the main dishes of the banquet. The roasting workers had retreated, leaving the square empty, as if waiting for something. The barbarian chieftain, while using a dagger he carried to cut a piece of meat from the roasted beast in front of him, watched with a smile. Du Fan glanced at the roasted creature—it seemed to be a cow, but not quite; he guessed it must be some kind of cow-like magical beast. Feeling disgusted, Du Fan could only shake his head and turn to look at the chieftain, saying, “Lord Chieftain, is this so-called banquet just for eating these things?”