Chapter 003: Deadly Ambitions

As soon as Du Fan finished speaking, he couldn’t help cursing himself for being foolish. A pair of fair arms seemed to sweep past before his eyes, and Du Fan suddenly stood up, pointing at the barbarian chief. “Rinne! Rinne! Your daughter is Rinne!”
The barbarian chief seemed quite pleased with Du Fan’s reaction—or perhaps he had expected such a response all along. He laughed heartily and said, “Didn’t Rinne say she was a man either? Or does Young Master Du Fan feel too humiliated to have lost to a woman?”
Du Fan was at a loss for words. No matter how much he had planned, he never expected that the highly skilled shaman priest would actually be a woman. If he had known this earlier, it might have been different. After all, that damned Rinne had been around him for so long without him ever suspecting her gender. Perhaps she had hidden it too well?
Seeing Du Fan’s expression, the barbarian chief laughed again. He tapped the ground and said, “Kid, sit down. This isn’t a big deal in our Kara tribe. For us, as long as you have strength, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a man or a woman.”
Du Fan nodded slightly, but his mind was in chaos. He sensed something vaguely but couldn’t figure it out. The banquet that followed was quite entertaining as several powerful barbarians fought each other. In the end, they used their secret techniques to fight fiercely. Du Fan glanced at them briefly but lost interest and stayed there aimlessly until midnight.
Finally, the rather grand banquet came to an end. The barbarian chief politely consoled Du Fan a few words before entering his sacred palace. Naturally, warriors took Du Fan back to his residence.
Du Fan sat on the bed in his room, frowning slightly.
This seemingly ordinary banquet of the barbarians had invited an outsider like him. Du Fan couldn’t believe there wasn’t some deeper meaning behind it. Unfortunately, he was completely clueless about the barbarians’ ways, otherwise he wouldn’t be so confused. At this moment, he didn’t even have anyone to discuss things with. He couldn’t make sense of this strange situation, so in the end, he had no choice but to give up.

Thinking that he would have to be taken by that damned ringing sound to some sacred palace tomorrow, Du Fan couldn’t help but feel worried. After pondering for a while, he couldn’t think of any other motives these barbarians might have besides his own two tactics. In the end, Du Fan could only sigh and slowly fall asleep.

In the middle of the night, Du Fan suddenly felt a chill all over as he lay in bed. He sat up quickly, scanning the surroundings warily before frowning. Just before falling asleep, he seemed to sense some inexplicable murderous intent. Although he was now sitting up, he still felt a chill down his spine. Only after fumbling in his storage ring and pulling out the Silver Moon Sword, turning it in his hands a few times, did he feel a bit more at ease.

The house was quiet. Though somewhat dark, the starlight and moonlight streaming through the windows illuminated most of the interior, allowing it to be seen clearly. Du Fan scanned the room for a while and found nothing but a wooden bed and a few old-looking pieces of furniture.

But for some reason, his heartbeat quickened, and he felt a sense of unease. He had never experienced this before—it was the first time—but he vaguely felt that it might be due to his integration of the divine essence, giving him an indescribable sense of perception, perhaps similar to what strong people call intuition.

He continued to scan the surroundings, and the sense of unease grew stronger. The oppressive air around him made it feel as though he couldn’t breathe. Unable to bear it any longer, he pushed open the door and stepped outside, looking around.

The house where Du Fan was located was on a raised platform. Though not as high as that so-called sacred palace, it still allowed him to see most of the village of the Moon-Inviting Tribe. The once noisy village was now completely silent; aside from the starlight and moonlight, there wasn’t a single light.

Du Fan closed his eyes and listened carefully, hearing various sounds coming from all directions: the rustling of leaves in the wind, the gurgling of rivers, the crawling of insects in the soil, someone’s murmuring in their sleep, and even faint moans filled with moisture…

All kinds of sounds were perfectly normal. Du Fan listened carefully for a while but couldn’t help shaking his head, inwardly sighing that he was becoming overly suspicious. At a time like this, even if those barbarians wanted to do something to him, there was no need to act secretly. They could simply issue an order, and thousands of barbarians would rush at him, leaving him with no choice but to close his eyes and wait for death.

Du Fan sighed and walked back into the house, pulling the door shut behind him. He sat on the bed, about to lie down again…

But just then, something strange happened!!! Du Fan felt all his hair stand on end, a sense of fear deep in his soul arising for no apparent reason.

Then, it seemed as if a piercing gust of wind struck toward his head. The sensation was extremely faint; if not for his extremely strong mental power, he might not have even noticed it. Du Fan instinctively shrunk back and rolled aside. Before he could fully dodge, he heard a soft “swish” sound—the wooden bed he was sleeping on was split in two.

Du Fan didn’t even manage to see what had split the bed in half.

Without hesitation, he quickly stood up. With a slap of his left hand, he drew out his Phantom Wand, while his Silver Moon Sword circled around him. Soon, a Wind Shield spell took shape. Seeing the pale blue wind shield surround him, Du Fan felt somewhat relieved.

He watched cautiously around him, inwardly cursing. That attack had been completely silent. If not for his enhanced sensitivity after merging with the Divine Origin, his head might have been split in two just like the bed!

“Who’s there?” Du Fan finally couldn’t hold back and called out softly. He scanned the surroundings under the moonlight and starlight but still saw nothing.

Everything was eerily quiet, as if nothing had happened. Du Fan’s heart pounded wildly. He didn’t know what to do, but his reason told him that shouting for help was impossible—this wasn’t his territory. Even if those barbarians really came to save him, he wouldn’t know if they were friends or enemies. In this situation, the only one he could rely on was himself.

As he was thinking, suddenly a gust of wind blew. The moment Du Fan sensed it, the Wind Shield already blocked it.

But all that could be heard was a crisp “ding” sound—the wind shield created by this third-level magic vanished silently into powder. Du Fan was horrified. Just as he tried to react, a gust of wind cut through his shirt on the left side of his chest. Without hesitation, he leaned back immediately, then, as if performing acrobatics, stepped back several times in quick succession.

Yet his movements were still a bit slow. His shirt was torn, and there was now a deep wound on his chest that reached the bone. Du Fan could feel a strange burning sensation at the wound, with blood flowing continuously. The wound was neat, clearly caused by a sharp weapon.

Thinking of that strange sensation, Du Fan’s heart turned cold… It seemed the person who had attacked him shared his preference for poisoning weapons…

“Who on earth is this?” Du Fan muttered under his breath, reciting a few spells. Waving his phantom wand in his left hand, several small fireballs appeared around him before shooting off in all directions. Seizing this opportunity, Du Fan dashed to the window. It was impossible to open the door and run now, but leaning against the wall by the window, with the light of stars and moonlight, he might still have a chance.

Soon, the small fireballs hit various parts of the room. Fortunately, the building was highly fire-resistant, so it didn’t catch fire, though the air became filled with a burnt smell.

At this moment, Du Fan had no time to worry about these things. He didn’t even dare to look at his chest wound. Instead, he strained his eyes to look around, sending out his mental energy to figure out who could have bypassed his surveillance.

But after scanning the room, it seemed there was no one else besides him. Du Fan inwardly cursed. He suddenly realized the attacker must possess some kind of stealth or invisibility technique and was far stronger than him, which explained why his mental senses couldn’t detect anything.

But damn it! Stealth? Invisibility? Aren’t those skills reserved for assassins in legends? With the barbarians’ capabilities, could they really train assassins?

Or maybe the political enemies of the Green family had sent someone to assassinate him?

Nonsense! This wasn’t the Green family’s territory! It wasn’t the Duke of Green’s manor! It wasn’t a church! It was just a backward barbarian tribe…

But assassins appearing in such a place? Great Light God, are you kidding me?