Chapter 017: Guests

Du Fan saw everything clearly but asked nothing. He merely smiled slightly and said, “Then I won’t be polite… By the way… I’m not very easy to settle at night. If there’s any noise tonight, Priest Lingyin, please don’t be too surprised. It would be bad to disturb your rest.”
With that, Du Fan nodded slightly as a greeting before slowly stepping out of the tent.
Outside the tent, that barbarian warrior who had angered him earlier—his name seemed to be Stuart—was standing there with a respectful expression, as if nothing had happened before.
Du Fan was secretly surprised. According to Rolandian rumors, barbarians were known for their irritable temper. It was precisely because of this that this highly powerfulpeople had always been “exiled” to these northern lands… Thinking of the word “exile,” Du Fan felt a strange sensation, though it vanished quickly…
He stared at Stuart for a while and couldn’t help but think: This Stuart seems simple-minded with strong limbs, but he was able to stay so calm in just a short time. He’s probably not as simple as he appears… Those so-called scholars of the empire all claim barbarians are simple and easy to deal with… Hmph… It seems they all hide their true abilities…
After thinking for a while, Du Fan couldn’t help but smile bitterly. If barbarians were really that simple, he wouldn’t be in this situation now. As a prisoner, still thinking like this—he was indeed overconfident…
But then he thought that, at least for now, Priest Lingyin seemed to regard him as a distinguished guest. Though it was a guest followed everywhere, it was still a far higher status than before.
With this in mind, Du Fan wanted to tease Stuart a bit. He cleared his throat and said, “Hmm… Isn’t this the mighty Stuart? Why are you standing here with a dark face? Could it be that someone dares to challenge you?”
Stuart didn’t look up and only said in a low voice, “Lord Du Fan, you’re joking…”
Du Fan was slightly shocked and asked, “What’s wrong with you, mighty Stuart? Weren’t you always arrogant when you saw me? Why suddenly like this? Could it be that anger has ruined your mind?”

Stuart looked up and said indifferently, “Lord Du Fan, it’s better not to make jokes at my expense. The high priest has already ordered that a proper place for you to stay be prepared tonight. Please follow me.” Du Fan smiled coldly but said nothing, merely nodding slightly. Under Stuart’s guidance, the two walked through the camp for a while. Along the way, Du Fan observed the surroundings carefully. When he realized that most of the tents were set up haphazardly without any order or pattern, he felt slightly relieved. After walking a bit longer, they finally reached a corner of the camp. Stuart pointed to one tent that seemed relatively clean and said, “This is where Lord Du Fan will stay tonight. I’ll arrange for someone to keep watch over you. If you need anything, just give the order. If you feel bored, you may walk around, but be sure not to leave this valley—otherwise, who knows what might happen.” As he spoke, Stuart gave Du Fan a deep look, then snorted before retreating with a respectful expression. Du Fan frowned inwardly. Although Stuart clearly disapproved of him, he still managed to act respectfully. It seemed not only that the shaman priests had a great influence on the barbarians, but the barbarian warriors themselves also possessed remarkable composure. Yet at this moment, Du Fan had no time to worry about such things. He nodded casually and entered the tent. The tent seemed airtight, with dry straw spread on the ground—relatively dry, though still far worse than living in a prison cart for so many days. Du Fan had never slept on such a straw bed before, and he couldn’t help but smile bitterly at the thought. It seemed that if the barbarians weren’t truly poor and backward, then they were probably trying to take their revenge by pretending to obey orders. But now wasn’t the time to worry about such things. Having finally gotten a chance without anyone watching, Du Fan quickly searched through his storage ring, secretly relieved that those barbarians dared not harm him due to the command of that bell. Otherwise, if his ring had been stolen, he would have had no chance at all.

He fumbled around in his storage ring for a while and pulled out a bunch of potions. After taking a look, he sighed bitterly—both magic scrolls and holy water had already been used up by him, leaving no time to replenish them. Of the potions he had now, aside from a few with slight healing effects, most were poisons or similar. He couldn’t understand how that damned Chenchen could have come up with such things.

With a gloomy expression, Du Fan swallowed those few healing potions, thinking it was better than nothing. He then sat cross-legged to rest for a while. By the time he opened his eyes again, night had fallen.

Perhaps out of respect for Ringo’s orders, none of the barbarians came to disturb Du Fan. But when he went to the edge of the tent and peeked outside, he couldn’t help but sigh bitterly. Stuart was quite shrewd—although he hadn’t come in person, at least five or six campfires had been lit outside, along with countless people hidden in the shadows. It seemed impossible for him to escape, no matter what.

Originally, Du Fan had planned to take this opportunity to cause some trouble for those damned barbarians, but seeing the situation now, he knew it was absolutely out of the question. If those guys got angry and killed him, everything would be ruined…

Having no backup plan was truly frustrating.

Thus, another silent night passed. For the first time in days, Du Fan was able to sleep soundly. When he woke up, he felt refreshed. He tested his abilities secretly and found that his combat magic and energy had recovered by about 60%, while his mental strength had largely returned, even seeming purer—though he couldn’t describe exactly how. He attributed it to the effects of the Divine Origin and left it at that.

Soon, Stuart came to ask Du Fan to set off. Seeing Du Fan’s appearance, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. “Lord Du Fan, did you rest well last night?”

Du Fan nodded slightly but didn’t say much.

The group set off again. That day, after leaving the valley, the barbarian guide somehow turned into a narrow canyon that could only accommodate one person at a time. Du Fan’s prison cart couldn’t fit in, so the barbarians had no choice but to abandon it and push Du Fan to the middle of the group.

The terrain within that canyon was extremely treacherous; in some places, not even one person could walk. At such times, one had to move sideways, and with the uneven ground covered in rocks of various sizes, Du Fan was exhausted within just an hour of walking.

But now, he dared not let others know that his combat energy and magic had barely recovered; he could only grit his teeth and persevere.

After walking through that narrow canyon for a day and night, by the end, Du Fan felt his scalp tingling and his feet weak. Those barbarians seemed to have no sense of reason—they neither stopped to eat, drink, or rest nor said a word.

Since others didn’t stop, Du Fan naturally couldn’t say anything either; he could only keep walking in silence. By the time he emerged from the north side of the canyon the next day, he felt completely weak.

After leaving the valley, that mysterious bell sound reappeared before Du Fan somehow. Pointing at the canyon behind them, it said, “This is a natural fortress bestowed upon us barbarians by the Great God. No matter what enemies we face, as long as we defend this valley, we will never be defeated.”

As it spoke, the bell sound glanced at Du Fan several times, intentionally or not.

Du Fan pondered for a moment but couldn’t help feeling a chill. If entering the barbarians’ stronghold required passing through this valley, then even an army of a million wouldn’t help, let alone 100,000. But what if they went from above?

Looking up at the towering mountain crevices, Du Fan couldn’t help sighing inwardly.

It seemed the bell sound had seen through his thoughts. With another smile, it said, “Above these peaks live a large number of flying magical beasts. Usually, they’re not a problem, but if anyone disturbs their rest, even someone as powerful as a Saint might be killed by them. That’s why we don’t rest or make noise while walking inside.”

Hearing this, Du Fan could only smile bitterly. It seemed he had fallen into a trap, and escaping would be difficult.

With this realization, Du Fan began searching for an opportunity to flee in the following days, but everywhere he went was nothing but barren mountains and harsh terrain. If he tried to run, he probably wouldn’t need anyone to chase him—he would starve to death in the mountains within days. This place wasn’t like the northern ice fields, where he had maps and guides. This was likely part of the Twilight Mountains that stretched across Roland Continent from north to south. Getting lost here meant there was a possibility he might never escape…

It seems I’d better just behave as a so-called “guest” and take things one step at a time…