Chapter 020: The Grand Event Begins

Oldas tightly gripped the long sword at his waist, his eyes blazing with fury. The cavalry behind him also wore expressions of rage; it seemed they would charge out at once to kill Young Master Du Fan at his command.
However, facing Du Fan’s mocking smile, Oldas calmed down somewhat. If he attacked Du Fan now… well, unless he could kill everyone present, otherwise, humph, the consequences would be far more serious than just an assassination attempt. By then, the Holy Church and the Green Family would surely retaliate mercilessly. Even Roland Academy might not be able to protect the Berlinger family! There were at least three thousand cavalry here. Even if he had the chance to kill Du Fan, he wouldn’t stand a chance of escaping alive. Moreover, Du Fan wouldn’t just sit there waiting to die. Given his nature, unless he could lure him into a hunting ground, who knew what other tricks he might have in store…
But to turn the people of my Berlinger family into prey for me to hunt… Du Fan… you truly have clever tactics!
Oldas’s mind raced, while his expression remained unreadable.
But Du Fan had guessed that he wouldn’t dare act here on the spot, so he wasn’t too worried. Besides, the real show had only just begun.
He sneered and gave a signal to the soldiers of the Northern Legion.
“Listen up, all of you!” a soldier with a loud voice shouted so that everyone could hear. “Listen carefully! You are all assassins who attempted to kill our third young master. Normally, you should all be thrown onto the burning stake, but our third young master is merciful and decides to spare your lives!”
As he spoke, the soldier made a gesture, and another soldier immediately pulled a torch from the burning campfire and handed it to him. He took the torch, planted it firmly in the ground, then sneered again and continued, “Start running now. As long as the torch burns, no one will harm you. But once it goes out, the hunt begins… If you’re lucky enough to reach the edge of this forest, someone might let you go. But if you can’t escape, then sorry… you’ll become our prey… So run, run as fast as you can. This could be your last chance!”

As he spoke, he drew the saber at his waist, and immediately a group of soldiers stepped forward. With a series of “click” sounds, the shackles on these girls’ hands and feet were all cut off. Although these girls had received assassin training, Xue Lan had brought them not because they were skilled in combat magic, but to conceal her identity. They had never seen such a scene before, so they were all terrified. Some kept kowtowing in Du Fan’s direction, their foreheads bleeding, while others, in a state of confusion, began shouting at Aldas, saying things like “Young master, save me!” and “Master, I don’t want to die!” The nobles watching this scene were also speechless. The men were somewhat better off, as most of them had guessed that these assassins belonged to the Belinger family, and that Du Fan’s actions were meant to intimidate Young Master Aldas. As for the women, despite the tragic scene before them, they couldn’t help but feel sympathy. But seeing Du Fan’s mocking expression, who would dare to plead for them? Although Du Fan’s methods were brutal, the nobles saw no reason to object, as nobles had always used harsh tactics against assassins targeting them. Du Fan’s willingness to give them a chance at survival could even earn him the title of the most merciful in history. Du Fan watched the girls crying one after another, his expression unchanged. He had already drawn a crossbow arrow from his quiver and loaded it onto the crossbow, ready to strike at any moment. His smile didn’t waver as he looked at the burning torches on the ground. Aldas, observing the girls’ reactions and remembering his promise to Xue Lan, hesitated for a moment before gritting his teeth, glancing at Du Fan, and suddenly drawing his long sword from his waist. He mounted his horse and rushed toward one of the girls, slashing down with his sword while shouting, “Stop crying! Your crying is annoying me! If you want to live, run away quickly!” The girl, seeing her master’s sword coming down—though it wouldn’t hurt her at all—seemed to suddenly understand something. She quickly got up in panic and stumbled away toward the forest.

With the first one, there was the second, the third… Soon, all these girls ran over, completely naked. As they ran, their feet were quickly pierced by sharp stones, and their bodies were cut by thorny vines. Just to survive, these usually delicate girls couldn’t even care about such things…
What did all pretense and pain matter in the face of death?
Du Fan deliberately glanced at the long sword planted in the ground by Aldas, then laughed and said, “Young Master Aldas, you truly cherish beauty, don’t you? Which one of them caught your eye? If you like her, just take her back. Although I, Du Fan, don’t have much money, I can still give away a few women.”
Aldas snorted but remained silent.
Du Fan laughed again, glanced at them a few times, and after a moment said, “Good. All these girls have gone into the forest. Everyone… it’s time to hunt. Just remember, whoever catches the most will receive a huge reward from me, Du Fan… So don’t hold back—just go ahead and strike.”
After saying that, Du Fan glanced at Aldas again and said, “Young Master Aldas, since you’ve come from afar, it’s your turn to treat first! Everyone knows how to hunt in the capital, but hunting others is fun… yet hunting one’s own people is even more enjoyable, right?”
Du Fan spoke these last words very softly, but Aldas still heard them. His expression changed, and he couldn’t say a word.
Seeing that Aldas dared not act now, Du Fan casually raised the crossbow in his hand and aimed it at the last girl, ready to shoot as a warning to Aldas.
But Aldas suddenly said, “Young Master Du Fan, wait a moment.”
Du Fan frowned and asked, “What’s the matter? Do you really like this last one?”
Aldas’s expression changed as if he wanted to explode, but after a moment, as if remembering something, he smiled lightly and said, “Since it’s a hunt, there should be some difficulty, right? If we strike right away, it’ll be boring. But if we wait until they run farther away before acting, it’ll be much more interesting.”
Du Fan smiled faintly and said, “Young Master Aldas, you do make some sense!”

“It seems that Young Master Aldas still can’t bear to part with them after all!” Allen suddenly sneered from the side. He casually took down his long bow from behind, nocked an arrow, and then said, “But then again, running farther away does indeed increase the fun… Yet sometimes, you need to teach them a lesson before they run faster. Otherwise, wouldn’t it be boring?”
As soon as he finished speaking, Allen released the arrow, which shot out like lightning. Before Aldas could stop it, a scream was heard—the girl at the back had been pierced by the arrow and pinned to the ground.
After doing all this, Allen said indifferently, “This is the first one… Young Master Aldas, how about we see who can hunt more?”
Aldas grunted but said nothing further.
Du Fan laughed heartily and said, “Second brother, I think we’d better not… Young Master Aldas is so tender-hearted. I doubt he’ll dare to hunt today. But then again… My hatred for being assassinated still lingers. I simply can’t ease this anger unless I kill seven or eight of these people! So, I’m leaving first. Young Master Aldas, if you’re interested, feel free to catch up! Hahaha…”
With that, Du Fan flicked his horsewhip, and his warhorse rushed forward swiftly. Several cavalrymen from the northern legions saw his move and quickly followed.
Aldas’ expression changed. After hesitating for a moment, he also flicked his whip and followed. Dozens of cavalrymen behind him wanted to follow as well, but Allen raised his hand, and hundreds of cavalrymen rushed out, surrounding them.
The lead cavalryman, furious, said, “Lord Allen, what does this mean?”
Allen smiled faintly and said, “It means nothing. Look, my third brother has already gone in, and your Young Master Aldas has followed as well. If I let you in too, it would be as if I’m allowing you to bully my third brother!”
The lead cavalryman drew his long sword from his waist and said, “Lord Allen, since you put it that way, I must ask you—why can your Du Fan have followers, while our young master can’t?”

Allen sneered and said, “Your young master Aldas is a genius of the capital. Does he really need help for a simple hunt? It’s simply ridiculous! As for my third brother, he’s just a third-level warrior. What if he’s assassinated by your young master without any guards? Moreover, never forget—this place belongs to our Green family right now! When will it be your turn to talk so much?”
The cavalry were furious, their faces turning blue, but they didn’t dare act for the time being.
Allen didn’t even glance at them. Instead, he turned to the nobles behind him and smiled, saying, “Well, the hunt has begun. There’s no need to be polite. Just enjoy yourselves!”
With that, he stepped aside.
The nobles looked at each other, but under such circumstances, who would dare to go? Who could?
Book 15: Seeking Love Across the World