Chapter 001: The God of the Northlands

Du Fan frowned slightly and didn’t rush to answer. Instead, he glanced back and saw that the group of over a thousand riders all had weathered faces. Most of them rode fine horses native to the northlands, clad in silver-colored armor. The design of their armor differed from that of most imperial armies—each wore a sacred cross emblem on the chest. They held long spears in their hands, crossbows at their waists, and their pure white cloaks flapped in the wind.

Having spent many years in the imperial capital, Du Fan had keen eyesight. He immediately realized that these cavalry did not belong to any imperial army but were members of the Holy Temple Knights under the Sacred Church. Their equipment was far superior to anything he had seen before, clearly belonging to the elite among elites. Moreover, none of the riders wore helmets, yet their solemn and sacred expressions were identical, as if carved from the same mold.

When the cavalry saw Du Fan ahead, they all pulled back on their reins and shouted in unison, “Is that not Young Master Du Fan of the Green Family?”

Du Fan’s heart skipped a beat. He wasn’t sure whether to respond. From what he knew, such a powerful group of Holy Temple Knights represented most of the Sacred Church’s strength within the Gavin Empire. How could such a force appear in the northlands out of nowhere?

While Du Fan was pondering, the entire cavalry unit had already reached him. The horses stopped neatly in the snow without a single sound, aside from the occasional rustling of their flapping cloaks as the north wind blew.

“This must be Young Master Du Fan!”

With that question, the leader of the thousand-strong group—a knight wielding a sacred cross sword—dismounted swiftly and approached Du Fan. He appeared to be in his twenties or thirties, with gentle facial features and slightly narrowed eyes. Unlike the other riders, he wore only a pure white knight’s robe, looking spotless. If not for his black hair and eyes, one might have thought he was entirely white.

He stepped forward, bowed slightly, and performed a knightly salute, saying softly, “Young Master Du Fan, thank you for your hard journey.”

Du Fan was stunned. By now he understood that the other person had seen his appearance and most likely recognized him. Judging from their attitude, they seemed to have no ill intentions, and their black hair and eyes also won him immediate goodwill. He nodded slightly and said, “It is I… May I ask who you are?”
The man smiled faintly and replied, “I am Xiao Yulong, the leader of the Temple Knights in the north of the Gavin Empire. We have come here at the orders of Lord Joshua to search for Young Master Du Fan. It is a blessing from the Light God that Young Master Du Fan is safe and unharmed; otherwise, we truly wouldn’t have known what to do.”
Du Fan was even more surprised this time. Having spent many years in the Holy Church, he was well aware that the Holy Church had long sought to expand its influence into the northern regions, and it was this very Xiao Yulong who was in charge of that task. He was said to be revered within the Holy Church as the “God of War of the North” for his bravery, combat skills, and piety.
Moreover, this God of War of the North, Xiao Yulong, was also a Temple Knight at the peak of level eight. His influence in the north even surpassed that of the northern armies. Yet Du Fan never imagined that such a prominent figure would go to such lengths just because he had gone missing. Judging from his weathered appearance, it seemed Xiao Yulong had taken action right from the moment Du Fan disappeared.
His mind raced, but Du Fan quickly returned the courtesy, saying, “So you are Lord Xiao Yulong, the God of War of the North. How could I, Du Fan, deserve such effort from you? I truly feel ashamed!”
Xiao Yulong shook his head slightly and said, “Titles like ‘God of War of the North’ are just exaggerated praise from my colleagues. Although I have some skills, I certainly don’t deserve such a title. Please stop joking, Young Master Du Fan. But then again, do you know that your disappearance has caused great shock throughout the empire and within the Holy Church? If we still can’t find you, we might have to turn the entire north upside down! Archbishop Anthony, worried about your safety, has sent Lord Joshua to the north. Under these circumstances, I urge you to return to the capital as soon as possible.”
Du Fan was momentarily stunned and asked, “Don’t I need to return to Ruihe City first?”

Xiao Yulong said indifferently, “Of course we need that. Whether it’s the Northern Legion or the Temple Knights, they won’t give up until they see Young Master Du Fan. How about this? I’ll send someone to take the news that Young Master Du Fan has been found back to Rui Gen City, while we can slow down a bit. I think Young Master Du Fan must be tired after these days of travel. Let us take care of the journey. As for him, you just focus on resting.” As he spoke, Xiao Yulong glanced at the dilapidated carriage with a half-smile.

Du Fan knew that Ling Yin couldn’t possibly be seen in her current state by those Temple Knights; otherwise, she would most likely be punished as a heretic. Xiao Yulong must have noticed something as well, otherwise he wouldn’t have shown such a strange expression. Realizing this, Du Fan stopped being polite. After exchanging a few more polite words, he turned and returned to the carriage.

Xiao Yulong sent a few Temple Knights ahead to deliver the message, while he personally stayed around the carriage and ordered others to drive it, slowly heading south. The Temple Knights were extremely efficient. In the snowy lands of the north, they covered most of the distance in less than half a day. By evening, they had arrived at Modo City.

Modo City was the capital of the Kot Province, located directly opposite Rui Gen City, one in the east and the other in the west. When leaving the Dusk Mountains, Isella must have had some intention in leading Du Fan in this direction. Although this place was far from the Dusk Mountains and thus much safer, it would take days to reach Rui Gen City.

Outside Modo City, the Holy Church’s influence in the north wasn’t very strong, but in the capital of Kot, it was still considerable. Xiao Yulong wanted to arrange for Du Fan to stay at the largest cathedral in Modo right away. But Du Fan knew full well that if he brought the “heretic” Ling Yin to the cathedral, he would face even more trouble. So he made up a few excuses and asked Xiao Yulong to find a quiet inn in the city for them to stay at.

Fortunately, Xiao Yulong knew how to behave. After smiling, he sent a few Temple Knights to escort Du Fan to an inn in Modo City, while he returned to the cathedral with the rest of the Temple Knights. Before leaving, he instructed Du Fan not to wander around, saying he would come to provide personal protection after finishing his reports.

Du Fan wasn’t very interested in this personal protection. He replied casually and left it at that.

After arriving at a fairly elegant small inn in Mordo City, Du Fan carried Lingsound down from the carriage and chose a room at random. Of course, along the way, Du Fan had already changed Lingsound’s clothes quite a bit. However, Du Fan’s storage ring was mostly filled with things like priest robes, so he had no choice but to dress Lingsound up as a nun. Although this made her look somewhat strange, it was still a thousand times better than her obvious barbarian appearance. When the Temple Knights saw Du Fan carrying a nun out of the carriage, they were all stunned, as if they had swallowed a fly. They naturally knew that Du Fan was a white-robed priest, but a white-robed priest carrying a nun was still quite unusual. Fortunately, these Temple Knights were highly disciplined; despite their surprise, none of them said anything. As for the inn owner, upon seeing Du Fan’s priest robe and those armored Temple Knights, he also didn’t dare say a word. Although Du Fan hadn’t given any instructions, he was given the most elegant room, which satisfied him greatly. After resting there for a night, the next day, Xiao Yulong sent someone to inform him that the people in Rui Gen City had learned of Du Fan’s whereabouts and were already marching toward Mordo. He suggested that Du Fan, having been exhausted these days, should take the opportunity to rest. Du Fan was somewhat puzzled that Xiao Yulong hadn’t come to see him in person. After pondering for a while in the inn, he roughly understood Xiao Yulong’s intentions. He guessed that Xiao Yulong was afraid that all the credit for finding him would go to him alone, causing jealousy among others, so he secretly sent word to the people in Rui Gen City. Moreover, Du Fan’s disappearance must have had a huge impact, and by avoiding him now, Xiao Yulong was trying to avoid suspicion. After all, although Xiao Yulong held a high position in the North, he still didn’t have the authority to inquire about Du Fan’s whereabouts. Only that Lord Joshua seemed qualified to speak on the matter. As for why Lord Joshua cared so much about his safety, Du Fan understood well—Archbishop Anthony was probably worried about what Du Fan had obtained in the Divine Palace. As for Du Fan himself, if it weren’t related to the Divine Palace, it would be strange for the Holy Church to go to such lengths to search for him!