Chapter 6: Obtaining the Map (Part 1)

It was a hunter wearing leather armor. This was easy to tell—most hunters wore leather armor under light brown linen clothes, carried backpacks, had short swords or daggers at their waists, and usually held weapons in their hands. The man had the typical look of a hunter, holding a spear, with several others dressed similarly following behind him.

Mei Li asked coldly, “Are you talking about me?”
Even Lian Hache felt an extremely icy presence sweep by. He glanced at the man and thought, “I can’t even avoid this, and there are still such reckless folks bothering Mei Li… Well, it’s good for diverting her attention. Hehe.” Unscrupulously, he said, “I guess it’s you they’re referring to.”

Li Ran smiled and stepped back. Since someone had provoked her, he had no objection to letting Mei Li teach them a lesson. Qi Wu Zhen acted as if he hadn’t seen anything, quietly lost in thought. Zhen Wu Ji, Ge Ha, and Yao Ze Bu Song also paid no attention, whispering to each other as if they hadn’t noticed the conflict.

Aizek glanced at the opponent and ignored them outright. Since his wife wanted to teach them a lesson, let her do it. Those were just ants—certainly no match for Mei Li.

Guo Shier also stepped back, leaning against the stone wall with his arms crossed, watching the scene like a spectator.

The man had no idea what kind of person he had provoked. As hunters, they constantly struggled for survival. Once back at Edlu Castle, they relaxed completely, leading to frequent arguments, quarrels, and even fights. In Edlu Castle, no one intervened in fights—as long as no one was killed.

So the man wasn’t afraid at all. He said, “You long-tailed monster—that’s definitely you!” His companions burst into mocking laughter.

Guo Shier couldn’t help but laugh. If that long-tailed guy got angry, the entire Edlu Castle might be destroyed. At that moment, Li Ran calmly said, “Don’t kill them…”

Mei Li snapped at Li Ran. Li Ran looked at her with a smile, his eyes cold. Mei Li immediately gave in. According to her, eating such provocateurs was the best way to vent her anger. Since she couldn’t eat them or kill them, then she’d just fight them.

If it weren’t for Li Ran’s words, those people would have been dead. But now, it seemed better for that man to be dead anyway.

In a flash, her beautiful figure appeared in front of that man, reaching out to grab one of his arms. With a crackling sound, his thick arm was crushed to pieces. The man screamed in agony as his spear fell to the ground. Still valiant, he drew a short sword from his waist and frantically stabbed at her.

Though she did not kill, Beauty was even more terrifying than a killer. When the man’s sword pierced her abdomen, it felt as if it had struck alloy steel, even sparking a few sparks. Beauty grinned, revealing all four of her canines, which had previously retracted.

Crack! Crack! Crack… Argh!

With her arms and legs, she crushed the man completely, leaving him limp like noodles, emitting ear-splitting screams.

The man’s companions launched an attack. Beauty sneered and rushed into one of them’s arms. The moment they touched, the man was thrown back as if hit by a truck, his bones breaking in half. Beauty punched and kicked like a tyrannosaurus, and in just a few moments, those seven or eight hunters lay sprawled on the ground.

She crouched down beside the man who had provoked her first, gripping his jaw with one hand and saying, “What did you say just now? Can you repeat it?”

Terrified, the man stammered, not knowing what to say. He never expected her to be so powerful, able to defeat their entire hunting party alone. Such strength was beyond his imagination; he didn’t even have a chance to struggle.

“Stop!”

Guo Shier glanced over and said, “Isn’t that their legion leader, Ya Buya? Heh, he finally can’t hold back…” He thought these people were here to test her strength, but Ya Buya didn’t need to do that—could someone who could fly in the air be weak? He had come with his men after hearing a report.

Beauty raised her head and glanced at him disdainfully. Suddenly, she applied force, snapping his jaw with a crack. Then she stood up calmly, looking defiant.

Ya Buya said, “Inside the castle… no killing!”

Beauty ignored him, walked away, narrowed her eyes, and said nothing.

Li Ran stepped forward and said, “We didn’t kill anyone. Heh, it was just a skirmish. Nothing serious. Those people are still alive. You… no need to worry.” He spoke nonchalantly.

Those people wouldn’t die, but they were all seriously injured. Some would be disabled even if they survived.

Ya Buya suppressed his anger and ordered his men to take away the severely injured hunters. He was decisive too, knowing these people were not easy to deal with and having no intention of bringing disaster to Edlu Castle. With his keen insight, he realized that if a large-scale conflict broke out, perhaps the entire Edlu Castle might not be saved. He was no ordinary hunter; his knowledge was much broader.

Li Ran and the others were waiting for Ya Buya to lose his temper, but he simply turned and left with his men. Li Ran was stunned for a moment before stepping forward and saying, “Wait!” Then he went in front of Ya Buya.

Ya Buya’s expression turned slightly cold as he asked, “What is it?”

Li Ran smiled faintly and said, “There are some matters for which I need the help of the legion commander.”

Ya Buya said, “Follow me…” Then he ordered, “Disperse everyone who is gathered here.” His soldiers immediately drove away the crowd.

The group followed Ya Buya deeper into the passage.

Guo Shier whispered, “Brother Li Ran, why did you go after him?”

Li Ran replied in a low voice, “To gather information. Haven’t you noticed? The hunters here don’t know much. After all, this guy is the military commander here, so he must know more. Asking him will be faster than us gathering information on our own.”

Guo Shier nodded and said, “I wonder if he’ll agree.” Given their aggressive and unfriendly attitude, it would be difficult to get their cooperation.

Li Ran smiled faintly and said, “He’s a smart man. Heh, it was obvious from the start, and it’s even clearer now. Heh, smart people usually live longer.” In other words, the unsmart ones have already died. If this guy wasn’t smart, death would await him.

The group followed Ya Buya into a huge stone cave. Countless torches were still stuck in the stone walls, and many soldiers were resting inside. Ya Buya led them to the stone wall, where a soldier stepped forward to open a stone door. Ya Buya said, “Please come in.”

It was a small stone room with a dozen or so seat cushions made of woven grass on the floor. Ya Buya waved for his soldiers to leave before saying, “Please sit down.” He sat down on one of the cushions with an expressionless face, though he was extremely uneasy inside. These people were clearly not easy to deal with, their strength terrifying. He felt like he was playing with fire—one wrong move and he could be reduced to ashes.

Li Ran and the others sat down. Guo Shier asked curiously, “Do everyone here live in such stone houses?” He spoke in the local language, so Ya Buya understood, though he found Guo Shier’s tone a bit strange and awkward.

Yabuya said, “Most people live in stone houses, but… who exactly are you?” He still mustered the courage to ask about his doubts.
Li Ran smiled and said, “I already answered that at the beginning—we’re just passing by. Hehe, don’t worry; I have no hostility toward you, nor do I want any trouble.” He understood what the other party was concerned about.
Yabuya felt greatly relieved. He said, “Alright, you’re just passing by…” But he was also frustrated—what did it mean to be passing by? He added, “How long do you plan to stay here?” That was the real concern for him. He wished these people would leave quickly; they had already maimed seven or eight people as soon as they arrived—it was terrifying.
Li Ran said with a half-smile, “You want to drive us away?”
Yabuya cursed inwardly but said aloud, “No, I’m just asking.”
Li Ran replied, “It’s easy enough to make us leave… I need some local information, like a map.”
Yabuya was stunned for a moment before realizing that maps were strategic resources in this world, inaccessible to ordinary people, especially maps of the continent. But he quickly figured it out—to get rid of these bastards, he had to satisfy their demands. After all, he didn’t need to be responsible for everyone on the continent; he only needed to be responsible for Edlu Fort.
“Sure!”
Li Ran was pleased, and smiles appeared on everyone’s faces. On such a primitive continent, finding a map was extremely difficult; ordinary people didn’t have such things—only armies and nations did. As long as Yabuya agreed, they could get some basic understanding of the area.
Yabuya called over a soldier, who soon handed him a rolled-up linen cloth. Unfurling it, he said, “This is the map.”
Li Ran opened the linen cloth. The map was drawn using dyes like minerals, and its simplicity left him speechless. However, from the map depicted on the linen, it seemed to cover a large area. A long mountain range was shown only as a short stretch on the map, with Edlu Fort located in the southwest corner.
Guo Shier moved his seat closer to Li Ran, peered at the map, and couldn’t help but say, “So crude?”
Yabuya turned pale with anger. He said, “This is our most detailed map!”

Guo Shier laughed and said, “Oh, hehe, I see. The most detailed map… Let me take a look.” In his heart, he disdained it greatly—this map was far inferior to those from his past life. Even the maps of the Talismans Continent were countless times better, as they were recorded using jade talismans, while this one was made of linen. Even parchment maps were slightly better than this.
Ya Buya sulked, muttering to herself: Where the hell did these bastards come from? Not only are they extremely powerful, with strange looks and clothing, but they’re also absolute assholes.
After looking at it for a while, Guo Shier said, “It can only be used as a directional map… Hmm, Ya Buya, where is this place? Is it part of Edlu Castle too?”
Ya Buya held back her anger, leaned in to take a look, and said, “This doesn’t belong to our Edlu Castle. It’s Ek’s territory, Ukashel.”