Chapter 011: Land of Death

Walwei knew how to behave properly. Three million—for them, it wasn’t much to use to curry favor with a duke, especially one who was just rising to power. A young and promising man like Du Fan, whether he could govern the Rose Province well or not, wouldn’t have much impact on them. If he failed, it could be attributed to his youth and inexperience; he could always try again in the future. Besides, he had the Green Family backing him!
What would become of the Rose Province was another matter. As long as they could gain Du Fan’s favor, they could turn to him for help with other matters and just give him more gifts. Without today’s incident, they wouldn’t even be able to offer gifts! So, in every way, they stood to gain nothing but profit.
Walwei respectfully placed the three-million-dollar diamond card on the table in front of Du Fan. “Then, we won’t disturb the Duke any longer. We apologize for disturbing your rest today!”
With that, they left, making sure to close the door carefully behind them.
Du Fan felt relieved after resolving a business issue, and he slept very well. The next day, when he woke up, luxurious and exquisite game dishes were already prepared. They looked exquisite yet retained the authentic flavor of game meat, which was quite rare.
Du Fan enjoyed them thoroughly before slowly going downstairs.
However, things were a bit different from what he expected. Walwei and his men hadn’t failed to recruit anyone—on the contrary, they had brought quite a few: two Level 8 warriors, five Level 7 warriors, and nine Level 6 warriors. They hadn’t brought others because, after all, sending them would be suicide, and they would have to pay heavy compensation.
Du Fan was the last to arrive. Although they didn’t know his identity, the constant commotion that morning, all for Du Fan’s sake, made these proud warriors somewhat dissatisfied with him. Lina wasn’t very friendly toward Du Fan either, mainly because he had teased her the previous day.
But Lina was worried about her father, so she quickly brought out the chair that Du Fan had punctured with gold coins the day before. “This is the hole… he made. What do you all think?”
Lina almost mentioned Du Fan’s name. He had come here alone, though no one knew why. But Du Fan clearly didn’t want others to know his name, so she didn’t dare to mention it lightly. She just wanted Du Fan to play the role of a strong warrior, while also testing his strength to some extent.

Two at level eight, five at level seven, and nine at level six—sixteen in total. When they saw that hole, they fell silent; there was no trace of complaint left. Having reached such a level, they were all people deeply committed to their strength, especially those like them who trained while adventuring. The strongest ones were truly admirable. None of them could match Du Fanlu’s skills, so they said nothing more.

They waited quietly for Du Fan to come down. Although there were many people in the bar, it was far quieter than yesterday. Everyone ate in silence before leaving promptly.

When those sixteen people saw Du Fan, they were surprised by his youth. They introduced themselves one by one, along with their levels. Only then did Du Fan realize he had misunderstood—these people had just not been here before, which led to his confusion. It seemed the story about obtaining the Fiery Fruit was true, and even finding level eight warriors was quite difficult.

Once everyone was gathered, Liana started acting like a spoiled lady again. As a level three swordsman, wouldn’t she just cause trouble for them? If that was the case, what was the point of having her? They were there to adventure, not to play!

But Walwei couldn’t persuade her no matter what. Seeing that it was getting late, Du Fan said, “If Miss Liana is willing to go, that would be great.”

Liana was pleased at first, but Du Fan’s next words made her feel as if she were in an ice cave. “Actually, I’m still not used to sleeping outdoors. It wouldn’t be bad to have a woman to vent my frustrations to and keep me warm.”

Liana pointed at Du Fan, using “you” repeatedly, but said nothing else.

She left in frustration, and those temporarily assigned to accompany her prepared to take her back. As for who should be the top commander, it posed a dilemma for Walwei. He had come to be the leader, but Du Fan’s status made it impossible for him to give orders to Du Fan.

Du Fan noticed Walwei’s difficulty, but since Walwei had solved one of his problems, he was in a good mood and didn’t make things harder for him. “Arrange things however you see fit. I’m just here to collect some materials, so you don’t need to worry about me. Just make sure you get to the Snake Valley quickly. I need some time to gather poison.”

Walwei nodded and told the others to help gather as well, promising to give them extra money when they returned. The others had no objections—it was just a favor, and it wouldn’t hurt to give it.

So the group got ready. Du Fan handed a bottle of medicine to Walwei, “Give this Sleeping Night to Miss Lina. Otherwise, she’ll follow us secretly again.” Walwei took the medicine and gave it to Lina. Only then did the group set off. The further south they went, the sparser the trees became, and puddles appeared on the ground, growing larger until they formed vast areas. Du Fan left magical markers on the ground to prevent them from getting lost. But what if he got separated from the group? It was only when they reached the swamp that he understood why it was called the Land of Death. There was almost no sign of life here; everything was desolate. Occasionally, swamp creatures like rat snakes could be seen, but they were quite ordinary-looking. Yet none of the group underestimated these small creatures, for each one carried deadly venom. Even a single one could poison a giant like a ground dragon. The plants growing by the puddles were also poisonous. It could be said this place was a paradise of toxins! Apart from spiders, snakes, and rats, no other creatures existed here, and any other creature that entered would surely die. This was just the outer swamp; further in, there were clusters of low shrubs, among which danger often lurked, and some larger creatures lived there. One such creature was called a “Qiaqia,” with four extremely large feet, almost as big as its body. They used the tension from their huge feet to float on the water. Though these creatures were less than half a meter long, they posed a deadly threat. They were highly aggressive and would not allow others into their territory unless it was breeding season. They would even fight among themselves, let alone outsiders. The Qiaqias had extremely sensitive ears; they could hear anyone approaching, even from a mile away. They could walk straight across the water without choosing a route. With their already fast speed, moving in a straight line made them a nightmare for everyone. No matter how fast you ran, you’d find the Qiaqias always behind you. Their strength was roughly at level five, and since this was their home territory, they could exert 100% of their strength. However, the adventurers, constrained by the environment, could only rely on a fraction of their strength.

The only thing to be grateful for was that Qiaqia were solitary creatures. For some reason unknown, no one bothered to study them. But exceptions exist—what appeared before Du Fan and the others was a group of Qiaqia. A quick estimate showed that fifty of them were gathered together. Du Fan had never seen the power of Qiaqia; he knew everything about the swamp from books. He had come to the small village to restock supplies in hopes of finding a guide, as even with his strength, he didn’t know how he would survive here otherwise. Yet faced with a swarm of Qiaqia, he still felt no sense of danger—only confusion.

Unlike Du Fan, who was a pampered young master, each of them had entered the swamp before and carefully followed the experiences of those who had gone before. They had also encountered Qiaqia before; facing one or two wouldn’t scare them, but a whole group…

Except for Du Fan, everyone’s face turned pale. Here, their strength would be reduced by at least two levels—those who were originally eighth-level warriors would now be only sixth-level. Two sixth-levels, five fifth-levels, and ten fourth-levels against over fifty fifth-level Qiaqia—how could they not feel fear!

Moreover, those fifty Qiaqia could easily encircle them, deepening the pallor on their faces. With the wisdom they usually displayed, they would surely attack them!

Du Fan still didn’t realize the severity of the situation. Looking around, he frowned and said, “Weren’t Qiaqia solitary creatures? How could there be as many as two hundred?”

Two hundred…

“Boom!” Everyone’s mind exploded—how could there be two hundred!! Could they even return alive?

At first, Du Fan was just puzzled, but seeing the others’ expressions, he knew things were bad. He stepped forward and slapped Walwei first. Of all of them, he was closest to Walwei, and he knew Walwei wouldn’t resent him for hitting him. If not him, then who?

“Look at yourselves! What have you become?” Du Fan struck hard, spinning Walwei around. The others, seeing his action, turned to look at him. “What? Going to die already? It’s just two hundred beasts! No matter how strong they are, don’t forget—you’re the top warriors of the empire! Have you forgotten your dignity as warriors? Better die standing than die on your knees! We haven’t even started fighting yet, and you’re already retreating. I think there’s no point in continuing.”

As he spoke, Du Fan snatched the sword from Walwei’s hand and threw it on the ground. “Stop fighting! Throw away your weapons and wait for death! As strong warriors, I’m truly ashamed for you!”
Hearing Du Fan’s words, everyone’s face turned red. They wanted to retort, but they didn’t know how, because though his words were harsh, they were true. Moreover, he was saying this for their own good. If it weren’t for his harsh words, they wouldn’t have realized it.
Anyway, since they had already encountered this situation, if they backed down first, it would only make them die faster!
They gripped their weapons tightly, staring at Du Fan with determined eyes, as if to say, they were not cowards!