Chapter 184: Always Someone Looking for Trouble

“Wu, Daryl!” Ram and Bernar, along with others from the camp, ran over trying to separate them, but Daryl had already let go of Wu Qingsong before they arrived, tears streaming down his face.

He didn’t want to show weakness in front of Wu Qingsong, desperately wiping away his tears, but he couldn’t stop them.

“Crying won’t solve any problems. If you can’t learn to reflect and control yourself, you’ll have plenty more opportunities to cry in the future,” Wu Qingsong said. “Think about that.”

He straightened his clothes and walked towards the camp, pulling Ram along and leaving only Bernar to keep an eye on Daryl, in case he made another rash decision.

Bernar said nothing, just stood nearby, silently watching him. After crying for a while, Daryl slowly calmed down.

“Weren’t your words a bit too harsh?” Ram, who had been quietly observing, asked with some reproach.

Wu Qingsong sighed and shook his head.

Certainly, his words were filled with sophistry, many conceived from a perspective of hindsight. Even for himself, his actions in response to events were often not the most rational or appropriate. However, for Daryl, if it could teach him to think and control his impulses, Wu Qingsong considered it necessary.

Letting him feel sorrow now was better than him causing a bigger disaster later and crying over it.

Deep down, Wu Qingsong didn’t really oppose Daryl’s actions. A sense of justice and a compassionate heart were never wrong. But as a future leader held in high regard by many, how to implement that sense of justice and to whom he showed his compassion were lessons Daryl needed to learn. These were aspects Wu Qingsong felt he might not be able to teach him.

This made him suddenly curious about how Nina had become what she was today.

Concerned about retaliatory attacks, they hardly rested that night. 

As dawn broke the next day and the horses seemed a bit more spirited, they set off again, heading east.

Wu Qingsong didn’t know what impact his words had had on Daryl. On the surface, he seemed no different than before the incident, still silently doing his work and refusing to speak with him.

He hoped Daryl would figure things out on his own. Wu Qingsong sighed softly to himself.

The Haldoge Mountains were far less treacherous than the Tecks Mountains, and a few days later, they crossed the range and entered a relatively flat area of hills.

The environment here was quite similar to that of Esola, but this place was obviously much better developed. Unlike the vast forests and wilderness they had passed before, the roadside now featured meticulously managed oak woods, orchards, olive groves, vineyards, and farmlands, interspersed with densely packed villages resembling slums, as well as a few opulent manors and workshops.

Numerous slaves, under the supervision of mastiff soldiers, diligently performed tasks such as weeding, watering, fertilizing, pest control, and pruning, or labored hard in the workshops.

They often witnessed mastiff soldiers punishing slaves whom they perceived as lazy or destructive. Many were whipped to death and then hung from trees along the fields as a deterrent.

Bodies appeared almost every few dozen meters, sometimes in groups, with crowds of crows perching on roadside trees, tearing at and pecking the corpses.

“This area is directly under the jurisdiction of Duke Sentalus,” Ram whispered to them. “Unlike those nobles who primarily rely on commerce and mining for their wealth, Duke Sentalus derives his income from countless farms and plantations. It is said that over a million slaves tirelessly work for him, and he is also one of the nine most prestigious dukes in the empire.”

“He was also a notorious sadist,” Wu Qingsong spoke quietly, relaying the rumors he had heard.

It was said that the father of the current Duke Sentalus was one of the few legendary mages in the empire. After passing on his title early, he secluded himself in a magic tower to focus on his studies. The Duke himself, besides being a powerful mage-warrior, was also a notorious sadist and hedonist. His reputation was so dire that no elven woman dared to marry him, and legends suggested that his harem was a place of high mortality, from which few ever left.

Of course, for their group, the most direct connection was the increasingly high bounty that had been hanging over Nina’s name ever since she became famous.

This name clearly upset Daryl, and Wu Qingsong felt similarly disturbed. He whispered to Daryl, “Sooner or later, we’ll make him pay for what he’s done.”

Daryl paused briefly but said nothing and then spurred his horse to move ahead.

In this region, it was not feasible to camp by the roadside as they might elsewhere. They were forced to stay at inns established by the Duchy of Sentalus, where the service was poor, the attitudes were dreadful, and the prices were exorbitantly high. Clearly reflecting a singular focus on extortionate profit. Indeed, if it weren’t for Wu Qingsong’s documents for his ennoblement at the imperial capital, their treatment might have been much worse.

No wonder there were hardly any caravans on this road. Everything within sight along their journey belonged to Duke Sentalus, leaving no opportunities for commercial development.

“From here eastward, we’ll reach the imperial capital in about ten days,” Ram told them.

Liuli couldn’t help but cheer.

“That catwoman is quite interesting,” someone suddenly remarked nearby.

“Lord Justin!” 

The innkeeper left Wu Qingsong and his group to greet the newcomer with respectful obeisance.

The one called Lord Justin was a middle-aged half-elf dressed in lavish noble attire, followed by seven or eight towering dogfolk and bearfolk, likely local overseers. He scrutinized Wu Qingsong and the others dismissively and asked openly, “Who are these people?”

“Lord, they are traveling to the imperial capital to be knighted, coming from Riniconia,” the innkeeper replied.

“A knighthood?” Justin appeared surprised, as Wu Qingsong looked no older than forty. Jealousy and displeasure quickly surfaced. “Could it be a deception?”

“Lord, we have documents from the Marquis of Riniconia,” Ram stated confidently.

“A raccoonkin?” Justin’s interest perked up, his expression turning lascivious. “That’s quite rare. What’s your name?”

He extended his hand to touch Ram’s cheek, but Wu Qingsong stepped forward and firmly slapped his hand away.

“How dare you!” Justin’s dogfolk and bearfolk bodyguards immediately roared.