Chapter 016: The Mercenary Guild

Hearing the soldiers’ words, Du Fan headed straight toward the pavilion where his parents often rested.
In Duke Green’s courtyard, there was a pond filled with many colorful lotuses. Usually, when they needed to rest, Duke Green and his wife would sit in the pavilion by the lotus pond to unwind.
Sure enough, inside that pavilion, Duchess Green and Naixiu were chatting happily with a few maids.
Seeing Du Fan arrive, Duchess Green asked, “Du Fan, is Lord Anthony doing well?”
“Yes, Mother. Bishop Anthony is in good health,” Du Fan replied with a smile.
“Oh, look at you. I just invited your Naixiu here, and you immediately followed. Are you going to leave your fiancée like this?” Duchess Green said deliberately.
At these words, Naixiu’s face turned red again.
“Mother, Naixiu is very shy. Jokes like this easily make her blush,” Du Fan said, also smiling as he looked at her.
In less than a day at Du Fan’s home, Naixiu’s heart seemed to fill with warmth—a kind of affection she had long sought. The loving attitude of Du Fan’s parents toward her stirred waves of familial affection in her heart.
“Mother, I came to see Naixiu for an important matter,” Du Fan said seriously.
“Oh, my son. Tell me, what is it?” Duchess Green asked with a smile upon hearing his words.
“Mother, Naixiu’s parents were taken away by humans when she was very young. So we need to find them as soon as possible,” Du Fan explained.
Hearing this, Duchess Green suddenly pulled Naixiu into her arms and said tenderly, “Poor child. You must have suffered a lot over the years.”
These words struck right at Naixiu’s pain point, bringing tears to her eyes.
“Oh, Mother! Why did you make Naixiu cry?” Du Fan scolded his mother out of concern when he saw her crying.
“Silly child. Look at what you say,” Duchess Green gently reprimanded him.
“And you all, go away for now,” Duchess Green ordered the maids to leave as she saw Naixiu crying.

“Du Fan, your Naixiu has been suffering for so long that’s why she cried. How can you blame your mother?” Lady Green said to Du Fan.
Hearing Lady Green’s words, Du Fan finally realized what was going on. After all, having lived two lives, he could understand these things easily with her guidance.
Soon, Naixiu recovered. Du Fan quickly said, “Naixiu, I plan to take two approaches. On one hand, I’ll offer a reward to find Lord Buzhe’s whereabouts. On the other hand, I’ll spread word about searching for him. That way, if Lord Buzhe finds out we’re looking for him, he might come to us on his own.” Seeing Naixiu back to normal, Du Fan hurriedly added, “Okay, Du Fan. Let’s do as you say.” Hearing this, Naixiu replied promptly.
“Du Fan, I’ll talk to your father and use the instruments in our family to search for Lord Buzhe, as you described. But can you tell me what kind of person Lord Buzhe is?” Lady Green asked.
“Mother, Lord Buzhe is the elf who saved Naixiu from humans back then. He’s very famous among the elves—a renowned elf ranger who likes to travel among humans,” Du Fan explained.
“In that case, it should be easy to find Lord Buzhe. Elves among humans are easily recognizable,” Lady Green said with a smile.
“I hope so,” Du Fan replied with a smile at his mother’s words.
“Du Fan, is there anything else?” Seeing that Du Fan was still standing there, Lady Green asked immediately. “Can’t I even talk to your fiancée alone?” she said to him.
“Oh, Mother, that’s not it. I just saw Naixiu arrive in the capital, so I wanted to show her around. You know, if we don’t go now, who knows how many people will want to see me later? Maybe I won’t have time at all,” Du Fan explained.
“Oh, if that’s the case, then go and have fun,” Lady Green said promptly upon hearing this.
Watching Du Fan and Naixiu leave, Lady Green suddenly stood up, sighed, and said, “Once they get married, they forget their mothers. Sigh, I wonder when those two others will bring back their fiancées!”
Fortunately, Du Fan was already far away and couldn’t hear what Duke Green said.

“Du Fan, are you planning to take me there?” Naixiu asked, looking at him.
“We’re going to the Mercenary Guild to post a reward for information about Lord Buze,” Du Fan replied quickly upon hearing her question.
Obviously, Naixiu had no idea what a Mercenary Guild was or what kind of organization it was. So, along the way, Du Fan had to explain it to her.
As the two walked and talked, several fast horses suddenly rushed past them, skimming right by Du Fan!
This was in a busy marketplace, and the empire’s laws were clear: those who dared to ride fast through the market would be punished.
Du Fan, who was walking with Naixiu, became angry at this disturbance. Just then, another horse rushed past him, and Du Fan stretched out his foot, tripping the horse’s back leg.
The horse fell suddenly, throwing the rider high into the air before he crashed heavily to the ground.
The horse’s high speed sent the rider nearly ten meters into the air. Due to the strong inertia, he couldn’t get up right away.
The riders behind clearly saw Du Fan’s move. Soon, four knights surrounded him and Naixiu. The knight on horseback said angrily, “Kid, are you seeking death? Daring to provoke someone from the Lionheart Family?”
Originally, Du Fan just wanted to trip them and leave. But hearing them mention the Lionheart Family, he immediately became hostile.
“You! Haha, kid, you’re quite bold!” The knight grew furious at Du Fan’s words, laughed loudly, and swung his sword at him.
Du Fan didn’t dodge. He grabbed the knight’s sword, pulled him off his horse, and stepped heavily on the knight’s head.
The knight didn’t even have time to scream before his head was crushed by Du Fan’s foot, killing him instantly.

“Aliza!” The knights around him cried out in unison! Soon, the group of knights surrounded Du Fan and Nai Xiu tightly.
“Hurry, send someone to tell the young master to come and help us!” one knight shouted loudly. Clearly, this knight realized that with Du Fan’s skills, those knights had no chance of defeating him. All they could do was surround him tightly, hoping he wouldn’t dare attack them in public.
But these people didn’t even consider that if Du Fan dared kill that knight named Aliza just now, how could he possibly hesitate to attack them?
“Hmph, that guy tried to kill me, but I killed him instead. If you don’t want to die, stand there quietly. Want to call your young master? I’m not afraid either, but I have urgent matters to attend to. If you’re brave enough, tell your young master to come to the Mercenary Guild. I’ll be there handling some business. If he arrives within an hour, I’ll wait for him there,” Du Fan said firmly. Then, without even glancing at the knights surrounding him, he walked away from them toward the Mercenary Guild.
“Dare you leave!” a knight he passed by roared, swinging his sword at Du Fan.
“Seeking death!” Du Fan shouted back.
He reached out, grabbed the knight’s sword, pulled him down, and stepped on his head. With a crack, another knight’s skull was crushed.
“I said it before—anyone who dares attack me dies!” Du Fan said fiercely. He took Nai Xiu’s hand and calmly walked toward the Mercenary Guild.
The knights no longer dared to act, but seemingly fearing Du Fan might escape, they followed closely behind him, about ten meters away.
Seeing the Lionheart family’s cavalry following behind him and Nai Xiu, Du Fan smirked coldly. He took Nai Xiu’s hand and headed straight for the Mercenary Guild without looking back.
The Mercenary Guild was not far from the Magic Guild; the two guilds were diagonally opposite each other. But in terms of grandeur, the Mercenary Guild was far inferior to the Magic Guild!
Upon entering the Mercenary Guild, Du Fan saw a large group of mercenaries, some standing and some sitting, looking lazy as they waited for clients.

Seeing Du Fan and Naixiu walk in, the mercenaries inside immediately perked up. It was obvious that Du Fan was dressed like a noble; such a person couldn’t possibly be a mercenary—he must be here to assign tasks, which meant business was coming their way. Looking at Naixiu, many male mercenaries showed lustful expressions in their eyes. The elves were all exceptionally handsome, and Naixiu was the best among them. Female elves among humans generally served as playthings in noble families, so Naixiu’s appearance immediately made these mercenaries restless. Clearly, they saw her as an elf plaything kept by Du Fan’s family. “Sir, your family’s elves are quite good quality. How much did you pay for them?” one bold mercenary immediately started teasing. Hearing someone speak up, another mercenary said, “Hey, you noble brat, you’re really lucky! That elf girl must be amazing in bed!” Hearing these words, Naixiu’s expression darkened! If she had been an ordinary elf, it might have been fine, but Naixiu had grown up in the very environment those mercenaries knew about, so she understood perfectly what they meant.