Chapter 001: Clashing Forces

A few drifting clouds passed across the sky, and the air carried the fresh scent of grass—undoubtedly perfect weather.
Du Fan looked up at the sky among the trees and suddenly smiled slightly. “The weather is really nice today. If it rained a bit, hunting would be much harder. As it is… it still seems quite entertaining.”
With that, Du Fan casually raised his crossbow and shot an arrow into the depths of the bushes with a “whoosh.” An urgent scream was heard, but it quickly stopped, as if it had vanished abruptly.
Du Fan listened for a moment before saying indifferently, “It seems the prey comes in pairs this time. Go take a look. Since they’re prey, there’s no need to be polite. Do whatever you have to do.”
The few cavalrymen following Du Fan responded and split into two groups, each carrying a spear, before charging into the forest. Moments later, two more screams were heard as they emerged, each carrying a girl on their spear.
The spears had pierced the girls’ chests. Though they still seemed to have some breath left, they were breathing heavily and clearly wouldn’t survive.
Du Fan frowned and asked, “How many have we killed so far?”
One of the cavalrymen bowed and replied, “Young Master Du Fan, not yet ten.”
“Ten, huh?” Du Fan touched his nose and murmured, “It seems Aldas has quite a lot of patience… allowing me to kill so many people right in front of him. Or maybe… he’s also waiting for his chance?”
At that, Du Fan couldn’t help but laugh. What a grand occasion! While he was scheming against Aldas, hadn’t Aldas also been scheming against him?
His laughter didn’t end when a cold voice came from behind, “Young Master Du Fan moves quite fast!”
Along with the voice, Aldas had already ridden up, holding the reins with a cold expression.
Du Fan turned to look at him and smiled lightly. “So it’s Young Master Aldas. But why are your hands still empty? Is your archery skills lacking? Or are you too kind-hearted to kill them?”
Aldas snorted coldly. “I’m a guest. I came uninvited—how dare I take over?”

Du Fan laughed and said, “Young Master Aldas, there’s no need to be polite. If you really can’t bring it off, why not let me help you? If you can’t even bring back a single prey, the reputation of the Belinger family will be in trouble…” At that moment, Du Fan listened for a while before suddenly smiling and saying, “It seems there’s activity ahead. If Young Master Aldas doesn’t mind, shall we go take a look together?” With that, Du Fan pulled on the reins, and his warhorse rushed forward. The cavalrymen, seeing this, quickly threw aside the corpses on the tips of their spears and chased after them on horseback. Aldas stared at Du Fan’s back, then sneered coldly, but he quickly pulled on his reins and followed as well. The vegetation in the early spring forest wasn’t very dense, but it was still abundant. Du Fan was an excellent rider; after galloping through the jungle for a while, he suddenly dismounted, glanced at the traces nearby, and chuckled, saying, “It seems this prey is much smarter than the previous ones. It even learned to hide its tracks. But well… that’s useless.” Saying this, Du Fan made a gesture and said, “You guys, go and drive them out from where they’re hiding. I doubt they can climb trees!” The cavalrymen from the northern army obeyed and, while riding on their horses, used their long spears to poke around in the bushes. Du Fan watched with a smile for a while before hearing screams. A naked girl was driven out of the bushes, her face filled with panic and her back covered in blood. Du Fan smiled slightly and said, “Young Master Aldas, I’ll leave this one to you… Go ahead…” Aldas sneered and said, “Young Master Du Fan, don’t go too far!” “Am I going too far?” Du Fan smiled faintly. “It seems Young Master Aldas doesn’t want my help anymore. Well then, killing this one should make the total a whole number!” With a cold smile on his lips, Du Fan raised his crossbow and gently pulled the trigger at the naked girl. With a whoosh, an arrow shot toward her like lightning, but a figure seemed even faster than the arrow…

In a flash, Ordas appeared in front of the girl. With a slight shake of his right hand, a surge of combat energy erupted, shattering the incoming arrows. Then he grabbed the girl by the waist, ignoring her struggles, and with a leap, returned to his horse. It was only when he placed the girl in front of him that the poor victim let out a panicked cry.

Du Fan watched coldly as Ordas completed all this, then sneered and said, “Young Master Ordas, aren’t you going a bit too far? When I, Du Fan, offered it to you, you refused. Now that I’m taking action, you do this? Although you’re extremely skilled, doing such things probably isn’t right, is it?”

Ordas snorted and said, “What I want, Ordas, has never needed anyone else to give it to me.”

Du Fan laughed heartily and said, “Good! Very good! Young Master Ordas is indeed right! What you need is naturally beyond the reach of a small man like me!”

Ordas smiled slightly and said, “Young Master Du Fan does have some self-awareness!”

Du Fan replied calmly, “Young Master Ordas, you flatter me!”

As they spoke, they exchanged glances, and it seemed as if sparks flew in the air.

Du Fan sneered again, then shook his whip and continued on his way.

From then on, Du Fan showed no more restraint toward Ordas. His immense mental power spread out, leaving no chance for the prey to escape. In less than a moment, he had shot dead three girls who were trying desperately to hide. Although Ordas wanted to rescue them, it was already too late.

After these incidents, the tension between the two grew even stronger.

Yet both seemed to be waiting for some opportunity, so they didn’t fight immediately. Instead, they rode slowly through the forest, with several cavalrymen from the northern army following silently behind, as if unaware of anything.

After riding for a while longer, the prey disappeared. Du Fan frowned and searched for a moment before suddenly laughing softly and saying, “It seems there are no more prey in this part of the forest. The rest must be those with good stamina, probably hiding deep in the woods now! Young Master Ordas, your harvest is so small today. Should I ride in alone to see where those prey are?”

Oldas said calmly, “Young Master Du Fan, you’re too polite. Compared to charging in alone, I’d rather see just how many innocent girls Young Master Du Fan can kill. That account can be settled slowly.”
The temperature in the jungle seemed to drop to freezing point suddenly. Du Fan pulled on the reins and stopped in his tracks. He made a gesture, but the few cavalrymen following him already raised their long spears at Oldas.
Seeing this, Du Fan sneered and said, “Young Master Oldas, what exactly were you saying just now? I don’t seem to have heard clearly.”
Oldas smiled slightly and said slowly, “I said, just how many innocent girls has Young Master Du Fan killed? That account can be settled slowly.”
Du Fan laughed heartily and said, “Very good! Excellent! I thought I could see how long Young Master Oldas could hold back, but it seems you can’t resist now! If you had waited until I killed everyone before acting, I would have truly admired you.”
Oldas replied calmly, “There’s no need… Here, if I want to, those few people you have with you can’t stop me from doing anything. So I think there are many things I need to discuss with Young Master Du Fan!”
Du Fan sighed slightly and said, “Young Master Oldas, do you really think there’s anything left to discuss between us? In my opinion, you probably don’t have time to talk to me here either. If you don’t go and rescue them now, all the girls from your Belinger family will die!”
Oldas said gravely, “There’s no need. As long as their revenge is avenged, whether they’re saved or not makes no difference. Besides, given Young Master Du Fan’s plans, even if I go to rescue them, it’s likely to be a futile effort.”
Du Fan said calmly, “I didn’t expect Young Master Oldas to know me, Du Fan, so well… You even figured out that I have other plans… Then why did you come to this hunting ground? You must have realized that everything I’ve done here today was specifically to wait for your arrival…”
“Why come?” Oldas snorted. “Young Master Du Fan, you must be aware too—what we two need to do isn’t exactly the same, is it? After all these years of grudges, it’s time to settle it once and for all today!”
Du Fan wore a half-smile on his face and said, “Very good! Young Master Oldas, this was exactly what I was waiting for… Then… don’t blame me, Du Fan, for not being polite!”