Chapter 002: Blood-Stained Romance
“Oh, no.” The barbarian chief smiled as he casually cut off another piece of tender meat and handed it to Du Fan. Then he continued, “Food can be eaten anytime, but a banquet like this isn’t held at will. Young Master Du Fan, just watch.”
Du Fan nodded, glanced at the greasy piece of meat in his hand, and could only force a wry smile before taking a bite. He soon realized that some kind of seasoning must have been added to the roasted meat, giving it a very delicious taste. Though different from what he was used to, it had its own unique flavor.
Under this strange atmosphere, the banquet lasted for about ten minutes, yet the square remained empty. Du Fan hadn’t said anything yet, but he could sense that the chief’s gaze now held a hint more of amusement.
“These little ones,” he seemed to murmur, “are getting more and more shy.”
With that, the barbarian chief suddenly stood up, raised the half-used knife in his hand high, and when everyone’s attention was on him, he abruptly uttered a long string of incomprehensible words. Then, he threw the knife violently into the square.
Instantly, a deafening roar erupted. It seemed all the barbarians became extremely excited. A barbarian warrior rushed out from the crowd, ran to the platform, knelt down, picked up the greasy dagger, kissed it lightly on the tip, then raised it and started shouting loudly.
Du Fan felt disgusted. One weird uncle threw away a half-used knife after eating, but that barbarian was even worse—he grabbed it without hesitation and kissed it. Such a taste… it was simply too extreme…
In his past life, he had seen so-called indirect kisses in TV shows and movies, all of which were extremely romantic. But this indirect kiss was truly…
Du Fan almost died of disgust. It seemed these barbarians didn’t like to torment others physically but preferred to break them mentally. Sitting in this VIP seat and pretending to be interested was really tough on him!
Du Fan sighed inwardly several times.
But the barbarian chieftain thought Du Fan didn’t know what he had just said. Instead, he pointed downward and said, “I just said that whoever is willing to be the first to come out will receive this dagger I carry with me. Young Master Du Fan, watch closely—what happens next is truly exciting…” As he spoke, the chieftain’s expression seemed filled with excitement.
The barbarian warrior in the square finally calmed down. He casually put the dagger in his arms, then shouted something loudly. Immediately, more cheers arose. With those cheers, a woman was pushed forward from the crowd by others. Du Fan was secretly surprised, wondering if these barbarians liked to declare their love in public. But he soon wished he could slap himself—after stepping forward, the barbarian woman wasn’t shy at all but instead had a murderous look on her face. She said something rapidly to the barbarian warrior, and suddenly both pulled out their weapons and fought fiercely. Yet in less than a moment, both of them were covered in blood. Their combat skills were no higher than level three, so Du Fan could clearly see that they were fighting desperately, with one wrong move risking death at the other’s hands.
Eventually, the woman kicked the man over and returned to the crowd with a proud air, while the man’s face turned pale. He shouted something loudly into the sky, then suddenly took the dagger given by the chieftain and slashed at his own neck before collapsing. The people around him cheered even louder at this sight. Although Du Fan didn’t have a good impression of these barbarians, their reaction to seeing one of their own commit suicide was extremely strange.
Similar incidents continued to happen—sometimes a man came out first, sometimes a woman. If the one who came out first won, they would pick up the latter and run away somewhere. If they lost, they would immediately pull out their weapons and slash at their own necks. In less than an hour, dozens of people had died below. A few who weren’t completely dead were still twitching on the ground, but the others seemed to ignore them and continued to cheer loudly.
The more Du Fan watched, the more confused he became. Was this a duel between mortal enemies? But it didn’t seem like it at all.
Finally, Du Fan couldn’t hold back and said, “Elder, what exactly is the purpose of this banquet? I just don’t understand.”
The barbarian was enjoying the scene happily when Du Fan interrupted him, which inevitably annoyed him a bit. But he quickly recovered, smiled, and said, “Young Master Du Fan still doesn’t get it? These kids are simply trying to propose!”
“Propose…?”
“Yes.” The barbarian elder gave Du Fan a strange look. “According to our Kara tribe’s rules, there’s only one chance a year to confess one’s love to the person one admires. When proposing, regardless of whether the other person agrees or not, they must accept your challenge, and then the two of them fight. Of course, if the proposer succeeds, he can immediately win the heart of the beauty, and their marriage is considered established. But if the proposer fails, he must commit suicide as an apology to the gods.”
Du Fan was stunned and couldn’t help but say, “Even if you lose, there’s no need to commit suicide!”
The elder snorted and said, “What do you people from Roland know? For us, only the strong deserve respect. If one can’t even assess their own strength and still rashly proposes, and loses, the only option is to commit suicide as an atonement. Our Kara tribe doesn’t need such weaklings.”
Seeing the barbarian elder’s utterly convinced expression, Du Fan felt mixed emotions. This way of proposing was indeed romantic, but sadly, it was a romanticism soaked in blood!
The brutality of these barbarians was deeply ingrained in them. Du Fan wished they would all commit suicide to spare himself the trouble, so he naturally wouldn’t stop them. Yet in such a bloody atmosphere, he couldn’t bear to watch any longer and could only squint his eyes, pretending not to see anything.
This barbaric way of proposing seemed to go on for a long time. By the end, the stench of blood filled the air. What surprised Du Fan was that none of those warriors who seemed strong had been defeated. If they had fallen, perhaps Du Fan could have forced himself to watch a little longer.
Finally, this so-called “proposal” farce seemed to come to an end. The elder stood up and said something loudly, and the barbarians below cheered again.
Du Fan frowned, feeling that the term “barbarian” was utterly inadequate to describe this people. Even something as romantic as courtship was carried out in such a brutal manner—this people truly deserved the label of barbarians! After the barbarian chief finished speaking, Du Fan saw more guards going to deal with the corpses. He watched clearly as they stripped off the dead ones’ leather armor and weapons, piling them up beneath the platform. Du Fan couldn’t help but glance at the chief again. The chief seemed to understand Du Fan’s confusion. With a low smile, he said, “According to the rules, these items belong to the strongest warrior in the tribe. So this final event isn’t courtship—it’s a competition among the strongest warriors of our Moon-Inviting Tribe to claim the title of the tribe’s top warrior. But it’s different from courtship; the loser doesn’t have to commit suicide. After just one loss, they’ll never get another chance to challenge for that title again.” Du Fan frowned and asked, “So besides getting these items, what other benefits does the tribe’s strongest warrior have?” Hearing this, the chief suddenly showed a respectful expression and said, “Only the tribe’s top warrior is qualified to receive gifts from the shaman priests of the Great Divine Temple. And only our Kara tribe’s top warrior can use the barbarian sacred weapon, Flower Heaven Crazy Bone.” Du Fan frowned, sighing inwardly. The rules of these barbarians were truly strange. It seemed he had to be extremely cautious—these savage people might turn on him at any moment. The barbarian chief noticed Du Fan’s strange expression and suddenly smiled, saying, “Lord Du Fan, are you interested in joining the fight in a bit?” Du Fan naturally understood what “join the fight” meant. He quickly shook his head and said, “The chief is joking. How could I possibly be a match for the warriors of your Kara tribe?” “Don’t say that… My daughter said she suffered a heavy loss at your hands. If she can lose to someone like her, I assume Young Master Du Fan is also very strong. How can you not go and show off your skills?” The barbarian chief looked at Du Fan with a half-smile. “Don’t worry, Lord Du Fan. If you’re afraid, I’ll order those guys to be gentle!” Du Fan snorted, “I, Du Fan, am not someone who needs others to be gentle… Wait… You mentioned your daughter? When did I fight your daughter?”