Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
It was important to kill the Bronze-Fang Hillmen. These Hillmen knew how to fight in formations under the commands of their leaders. Therefore, it was necessary to take out their leaders first!
“Is that the one you were referring to?” Shao Ru pointed at the roots. A Hillman was hiding inside a gap between them.
The battle below was too messy. It was extremely difficult to pinpoint a target accurately. Mo Fan was surprised when he saw the creature that Shao Ru was pointing to was exactly the Bronze-Fang Hillman he was looking for!
The Bronze-Fang Hillman was hiding instead of engaging the enemy. However, its position was quite close to the captain of a troop nearby. It seemed to be waiting for its chance to ambush the captain.
“That guy only knows to sneak up to its target. How did you find it?” Mo Fan asked.
“Heartbeats. The other Hillmen have rapid heartbeats, but that creature is different. I’m good at hearing heartbeats. There’s barely any living creature that can escape my hearing,” Shao Ru said.
“You’ve done a great job!” Mo Fan glared at the Bronze-Fang Hillman. He could finally get his revenge. He swore he would make the creature feel the pain this time!
“Zhao Manyan, escort them to the army. It’s safer there. I’m going to take out that creature!” Mo Fan said.
“Screw you, why am I the nanny, while you go and act like a hero?” Zhao Manyan snapped.
“Fine, I’ll escort them to safety. You go take out the Bronze-Fang Hillman!” Mo Fan replied.
“I’ll be the nanny instead…”
—
Mo Fan was very confident in Zhao Manyan’s defense. Even if the group had to travel across the battlefield, it would take at least seven Bronze-Fang Hillmen or thousands of Hillmen to break through his defense!
“I’ll go with you,” Shao Ru said with a firm expression.
“Are you sure? How are your injuries?” Mo Fan asked.
“I’m fine.” Liu Xiaojia’s Healing Magic had been enough to heal Shao Ru’s wounds.
Mo Fan knew Shao Ru was strong. It would be easier for him to travel across the battlefield with the Sound Maga’s help.
“Mo Fan, be careful,” Lingling suddenly said with a stern face.
“What is it? Are you having a bad feeling about this?” Mo Fan said.
Lingling was a super genius. She was able to analyze most situations, but when a situation was too complicated even for her, or if she did not have enough information, she would come up with different speculations, and some of them were clearly not in their favor. She would always warn Mo Fan to be careful whenever she was struggling to understand something.
“Mm, there’s something I can’t figure out yet. Anyway, just be careful!” Lingling said.
“Alright, I promise you I’ll run as soon as I realize something isn’t right,” Mo Fan smiled and pinched the little adorable girl’s chin.
To his surprise, Lingling was not angry at him. It did not necessarily mean she had given Mo Fan permission to pinch her face. She was just too preoccupied with her thoughts.
—
Mo Fan and Shao Ru took another direction. They were planning to reach a spot above the Bronze-Fang Hillman along the tree and attacked the creature with an element of surprise from above.
However, they would have to go through the demon sparrows’ territory. That being said, with Shao Ru’s Sound Element, they could easily sneak past the demon sparrows without alerting them.
“Run as soon as something doesn’t feel right? Is that something you always do? Aren’t you supposed to be a hero?” Shao Ru suddenly turned around and asked. She seemed a little familiar with Mo Fan’s achievements.
“Let me tell you, heroes don’t really exist in this world. Most of the time, it’s like a situation where a person is drowning, and the only ones nearby are a dog that can’t swim, a cat that simply ignores the cries for help, a woman who keeps screaming on the shore, and you who aren’t really that good at swimming. You have no choice but to go and save the drowning person. The truth is, I always find myself struggling between someone who just can’t afford to watch someone die before me, and a selfish person who’s not willing to risk his life to save the person,” Mo Fan said.
“What kind of reasoning is that?” Shao Ru snapped.
“In simpler words, if there’s someone better than me around, there’s no way I will volunteer myself like an idiot. If it’s obvious that I’m going to die for sure, I’ll be the first to run!” Mo Fan said.
“But I heard what happened in the Ancient Capital was pretty grim too, yet you still stepped forward, didn’t you?” Shao Ru said.
“Oh, I was going to die either way, I just chose to die in glory,” Mo Fan replied forthrightly.
“…” Shao Ru was lost for words.
Shao Ru had been wearing a cold face all along. She did not seem grateful, even though Mo Fan had saved her life. As a matter of fact, Shao Ru had known who Mo Fan was for a long time. She knew his Innate Talent was ranked fifth, she knew what he had achieved in the World College Tournament, and she also knew he was declared the hero who had saved the Ancient Capital during the calamity. Shao Ru always imagined the man to be righteous and courteous. Every action he did should have had the demeanor of a trustworthy leader. Otherwise, how could he possibly achieve so many remarkable deeds…
She never thought she would meet the legendary man when she was dying from serious injuries. To her surprise, the man was no different than the usual perverted men. He even acted like a hypocrite. She was left speechless most of the time after hearing his words. It was even worse when he was speaking to his friend Zhao Manyan.
As a result, Shao Ru’s impression of the two reputable representatives of the national team had crumbled completely. Her eagerness to duel Mo Fan and her curiosity toward him had dropped by more than half. She initially thought she could defeat a few national representatives to prove herself…
“Someone like you managed to resolve the calamity that even Forbidden Mages struggled against. How lucky were you?” Shao Ru had to ask.
“It’s not luck,” Mo Fan was displeased by Shao Ru’s words. He knew many people were biased against him. He said, “It’s just that people have the urge to bind an achievement to a specific person and purposely make him a hero so everyone else can remember what happened. I just happened to win the World College Tournament, so when Han Ji revealed it to the public, many people just thought I was the person that saved the Ancient Capital. Do you want to know what happened exactly?” Mo Fan replied as they continued on their way.
“Sure,” Shao Ru was indeed interested.
“The Clock Tower Magic Association was planning to kill ten authorities in order to get their hands on Salan. We are speaking of ten Super Mages with superior status who have contributed greatly in the past… They were willing to sacrifice them just because it was their best chance at getting rid of Salan, the Red Cardinal of the Black Vatican! However, the Black Vatican was willing to compromise. They told us the secrets of the Dark Abyss in exchange for Salan’s life. It was a glimpse of hope for the Ancient Capital. In order to make our way to the Dark Abyss, we did something very inhumane. We sacrificed innocent lives to bait the undead just so we could clear a path; those people were not even Mages. They were defenseless against the undead. They sacrificed themselves just to serve as a distraction. Meanwhile, the troop clearing a path to the Dark Abyss only had a plan on how they were going to reach the Dark Abyss, but they never planned how they were going to make it back to the city. My friends and I were in the center of the troop. They did not allow us to use a single spell. They only asked us to try our best and find the ancestor of the undead in the Dark Abyss. As we made our way to the Dark Abyss, people just kept dying around us, including Intermediate, Advanced, and Super Mages. I don’t remember many of their names, but I do know that human lives were the lowliest at that time. They could not even afford to cast an extra glance at their closest comrade who died… I can never be like them. I was more afraid of dying than any of them, but unfortunately, I was the one being protected, just because I was allowed to enter the Dark Abyss…
“So many people died, but not many people are going to remember them. They were all volunteers, even though they didn’t even know one another’s names. They died, I lived, so I ended up becoming the hero. It was like I was the only person contributing… screw that, there’s no way I could do it on my own. I’m only proud that I was able to crush the opponents from all over the world during the World College Tournament. As for the Calamity of the Ancient Capital, I don’t think it was my doing. Besides, I’m not the person who saved the Ancient Capital. They won’t mention that person’s name even now.”
Shao Ru was stunned after hearing Mo Fan’s words. She turned around and looked at Mo Fan. His face had a grim expression, even though he was explaining the details with a calm voice.
“I’m sorry,” Shao Ru said softly.
“You seem to be particularly interested in what happened at the Ancient Capital. Did any of your close ones die there?” Mo Fan asked. He knew Shao Ru was placing a lot of attention on the topic.
“My father was there. He wasn’t a Mage. I kept hearing things about you, and every time I hear your achievements, it reminds me of the letter he left for me…” Shao Ru said.
“What did the letter say?”
“He said that he had made a decision that a man should make. It did not feel significant, but he did not regret it,” Shao Ru said.
“Was he one of the people that was sacrificed as bait?” Mo Fan quickly deduced.
“I went to the Ancient Capital. I wanted to kill the person that came up with the idea of using civilians as bait. I spent a long time searching for the person, but I eventually found out that the man had also volunteered as bait… from that moment on, I knew it wasn’t easy surviving the Calamity of the Ancient Capital,” Shao Ru said.
Mo Fan understood why Shao Ru seemed to be holding a grudge against him, even though he had saved her life.
Her father had died namelessly, but he had ended up with all the glory!
She was apologizing for being biased against him.
“Let’s discuss it some other time. We should focus on the problem at hand for now,” Mo Fan pointed down.
They had gone past the territory of the demon sparrows and reached the spot right above the Bronze-Fang Hillman. The creature had no clue that two pairs of eyes were watching him closely from the branch above it.
“We’ll strike when there are fewer Hillmen around it,” Shao Ru said.
“Mmm, you should be careful, too. Just like Lingling, there’s something that keeps bothering me…” Mo Fan murmured.
“What is it?”
“It seems like the Hillmen aren’t responsible for all the Dandelion Grass that is flying here… so, the question is, who’s helping the Hillmen hunt the humans?” Mo Fan wondered aloud.
