Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
The day the group set out for Taklamakan Desert was surprisingly sunny, even though it was autumn. The warm sunlight felt rather soothing.
Mo Fan arrived at the airport to meet up with the others, following Ge Ming’s instructions.
Mo Fan was only bringing a few people with him. Zhang Xiaohou would be waiting for him at Xinjiang. Since they were taking a plane from Shanghai, they were basically flying across the whole country from east to west.
Those that took the flight would experience the vastness of their country. If it was Europe, they would be traveling across more than ten countries to cross the same distance!
Mo Fan saw someone approaching him when he arrived at the airport. He was actually quite surprised to see the person.
“HAHA, I heard Mu Ningxue mentioned that you guys are paying a visit to Taklamakan Desert. I have to say, Mo Fan, we’re quite fateful with one another. I was planning to go there to look for something too…” Jiang Shaoxu, who always sounded like she was teasing every man she was talking to, smiled at him.
“Why do you want to go there?” Mo Fan asked, confused.
“Something very important; don’t you worry, I won’t be a burden to the group. Besides, won’t you need a Psychic Mage for such a dangerous place?” Jiang Shaoxu did not reveal why she wanted to tag along.
Mo Fan was left with no choice. Jiang Shaoxu had come to the airport to intercept him. It seemed like he had to bring her along.
“Alright, fine, but I have to let Ge Ming know first,” Mo Fan agreed.
He totally didn’t mind Jiang Shaoxu tagging along. A Psychic Mage was useful at all times, be it a battle against Mages or when they were in the demon creatures’ territory. A single Pacify might even avoid a bloodbath at times…
Mo Fan told Ge Ming about it. The man did not seem to be bothered at all.
However, when they boarded the plane, Ge Ming’s men did double takes when they saw Mo Fan bringing three girls along, even though their destination was Taklamakan Desert. It was a great feast for their eyes, yet some among them sneered and mocked him instead.
Mo Fan had brought Lingling, Mu Nujiao, and Jiang Shaoxu with him.
Lingling was an adorable little loli, so adorable that anyone could feel their nose running. Both men and women would find her too cute, and would have the urge to hug her in their arms. She was conspicuous.
Mu Nujiao was the same; the goddess of the Pearl Institute possessed outstanding temperament and gracefulness. She was delicate, pretty, came from a well-respected family, but was natural and unrestrained. Lots of people would turn around to look at her whenever she walked by!
Jiang Shaoxu was a natural beauty. Her glittering eyes and the seductive look on her face never failed to hook the souls of men who lacked self-control…
Any of the three girls that Mo Fan had brought along could easily weaken the knees of a man. Even though Mo Fan was dressed casually, they set off his incomparable charm. However, the people of the Golden Battle Hunters did not seem too happy about it…
Their destination was a desert that could be considered the gates of Hell. Their leader, Ge Ming, insisted on choosing the elites of their Hunter Group. Not only were they extremely experienced, they had spent years walking a knife’s edge.
Even so, they were already feeling nervous while waiting for the plane. They had yet to set foot in the Taklamakan Desert, yet they felt like it was going to be a one-way journey.
They were treating it with utter seriousness, while Mo Fan was bringing three pretty ladies along, like he was going on a vacation!
The elites of the Golden Battle Hunters felt like it was humiliating their determination to put their lives at risk!
Lu Fang, a Hunter Master who was in charge of navigation, sneered, “Kid, do you think you are bringing them on a vacation?”
“I hope you understand what our goal is. If you are treating this trip as a summer holiday homework or using us to earn contribution points, you better find another team! We are all ready to die on this expedition!” a Hunter who was close to Mo Fan’s age exclaimed.
The man’s eyes were saying otherwise while he was speaking. Jiang Shaoxu easily read his emotions.
“Don’t worry, I’m prepared just like you are,” Mo Fan replied calmly.
Ge Ming stepped forward to mediate between the two sides. Ge Ming knew who Mo Fan was, and he also knew both Jiang Shaoxu and Mu Nujiao were members of the national team, so they would not have any problem taking care of themselves. Unfortunately, not every person had watched the World College Tournament. It was obvious that Lu Fang and Zheng Tong did not treat the World College Tournament too seriously. They had placed all their attention on the Hunter Competition.
It was the same for many arrogant Hunters. They always looked down on the Mages that had never experienced the cruelty of the outside world and were only putting up a show in tournaments held inside the cities. Even though they were told that Mo Fan and the others were strong Mages from their institutes, they still treated them like inexperienced kids.
It was not the Hunters being biased. As a matter of fact, many Mages with high positions in cities were extremely weak when they went up against real demon creatures. It was reasonable for the Hunters to despise prestigious Mages who only knew to hide in a city.
Most students ended up working for the government or the Magic Association. As such, the Hunters were looking down on students too, especially someone like Mo Fan, who was bringing three girls along. No matter how they looked at him, they still thought he was just here for show!
“That Zheng Tong is jealous of you,” Jiang Shaoxu whispered.
Mo Fan smiled.
Zheng Tong was the Hunter close to his age. He was a fighter, and kept looking at Mu Nujiao. Even though he was uttering disdainful comments at the girls, Mo Fan knew the man was setting his eyes on Mu Nujiao.
Mo Fan couldn’t have cared less about their questions. They were totally clueless about what he had done and what he was capable of. It was meaningless to boast about his achievements, yet Mo Fan enjoyed the fact that someone was jealous of him!
Mo Fan had gotten used to being ganged up on by the eyes of the crowd when he was with Mu Ningxue. However, he had brought three girls along this time, and the effects were clearly even more effective than bringing just Mu Ningxue along!
——
The group was not taking a civil flight. It was a military jet.
The military jet was guarded by Patrol Mages. They would be traversing unoccupied lands on the flight path the military jet was taking, meaning they would be flying across demon creatures’ territories. Even flying at a great height would not guarantee their safety…
A military jet was necessary for its speed. They had to move fast. If they flew slowly across the territory of a Ruler-level creature, they would be dragged from the sky to the ground within seconds. As such, it was important to move quickly!
——
In less than three hours, the plane landed at the military base that was the closest to Taklamakan Desert.
Zhang Xiaohou was already waiting at the base. He quickly went up to Mo Fan in joy as soon as he saw them arrive.
“He’s going with us too?” Zheng Tong harrumphed coldly.
Zhang Xiaohou was not too tall, and he was quite skinny too. There was a reason why Mo Fan kept calling him Houzi (Monkey). Besides, he had a naive look to his face, giving people a first impression that he was unreliable.
Zhang Xiaohou could not help with his appearance. He was not that young anymore, yet he had looked the same since high school. It did not change much despite his hardships in the military. He normally had the look of a soldier that had spent lots of time at war, but he immediately revealed his true colors as soon as he saw Mo Fan.
Lu Fang could not stand it anymore. He was not particularly happy when their leader mentioned some outsiders would be joining them. The scariest thing when going to a dangerous place was not the powerful demon creatures, but useless and unreliable teammates!
The group was quite infuriated when they saw Mo Fan bringing three girls along, like he was going on a vacation, and now, a naive-looking man was joining the team too! How were they supposed to go on the expedition? How much money did their leader get from bringing them along!?
“Why? I can’t go with you?” Zhang Xiaohou was totally unaware of the conflict between the members of the group. He thought there was something wrong about him.
Zheng Tong grinned with a strong disdainful look in his eyes. “You must be at least a Hunter Master to come with us. Even if you’re not a Hunter, you need to have an equivalent identity still. An intern in the army like you is thinking of going with us? In your dreams. We are going on an expedition, not an excursion that you can write on your resume!”
Zhang Xiaohou was not wearing a uniform. He was short and skinny, and he looked inexperienced, too. He did look like an intern compared to the tall, bulky soldiers.
Ge Ming only told them there were four outsiders. Mo Fan had already brought three girls along. The others decided to let it be as their way of respecting their leader, but now another person had shown up to join the group. Zheng Tong had more than enough reason to stop the man from joining the group, and teach Mo Fan that he should treat the expedition more seriously.
“I…” Zhang Xiaohou was left speechless after receiving the disdainful comments.
A few soldiers that were delivering supplies happened to pass by. They immediately halted in their tracks when they saw Zhang Xiaohou and saluted, “Commander Zhang!”
“Commander Zhang, we are grateful that you and your men got rid of the flying demon creatures at Qinling Mountains. Otherwise, the flight path connecting this place and the coastline would not have been possible!” a soldier said with a hint of admiration.
“Oh, it’s just part of my duty, proceed with your work.” Zhang Xiaohou returned the salute.
Zheng Tong’s face was immediately rich with embarrassment upon seeing this!
-What’s going on here? This naive-looking kid is a Commander?-
The ranks in the army were a lot stricter than the Hunters. Even though a Commander was considered the same rank as a Hunter Master, a Commander in charge of a troop had to be a lot more capable than a Hunter Master, be it in strength, experience, or the ability to command their men…
An Advanced Mage did not necessarily qualify to be a Commander, but a Commander was surely one of the most talented Advanced Mages out there!
Most importantly, this kid was the one that wiped out the flying demon creatures from the Qinling Mountains?
Qinling Mountains was an infamous territory full of demon creatures. If he managed to wipe out an entire nest, he had to be extremely strong!
Zheng Tong had a very awkward face. He was the one more like an intern here, if he was to compare himself to the man. Hunters usually traveled alone in the wild, thus the danger they faced was nothing like a battle against the demon creatures!
Zhang Xiaohou had spent most of his time fighting battles!
“Brother Fan, why do I feel like I’m not welcome to join the group?” Zhang Xiaohou asked.
“There’s no such thing like that. We just didn’t think you are a Commander, considering how young you are. It’s just a misunderstanding. The place we are heading to is very dangerous, so we needed to make sure that everyone in the group is strong enough to take care of themselves!” Ge Ming quickly stepped forward to mediate.
Ge Ming’s eyes glittered when he learned Zhang Xiaohou was a Commander. This young man would surely be a great help to their expedition!
