: Becoming a Barbarian

After a simple breakfast, the team began packing up the campsite.

Ye Wei'an walked to the luxurious tent and touched each item inside: the exquisite silk cushions, mahogany bathtub, and folding bed disappeared without a trace. In the end, even the tent returned to his system inventory, leaving only a faint mark on the ground.

Three soldiers were also packing their luggage.

Eileen went to help. While Ryan was struggling to carry the box, the girl easily lifted it onto the horse's back with a little effort, without even breaking a sweat.

This scene made him scratch his head, muttering, "Young Master, do you think it's too late for me to apply to be your bodyguard? I want to become that strong too..."

After being glared at by Kane, he sheepishly shut his mouth.

"Let's go." After getting ready, Ye Wei'an mounted his horse.

Logically speaking, Eleanor, who has awakened to the level of a martial monk, already possesses agility and balance far exceeding that of ordinary people, making it effortless for her to ride a horse.

But when Kane led a docile mare to her, the girl seemed not to see it, her big eyes glistening with tears as she looked at Ye Weian.

"I...I'm still a little scared." Her face was flushed and her voice was soft. "I think I used too much force when I was practicing. My legs are still weak...It's okay if I fall off. It's not a big deal if I get hurt, but it would be bad if I caused trouble for the young master and everyone else."

Kane listened from the side, his eyes twitching almost imperceptibly:

When you were carrying that box with your bare hands, I didn't see the slightest sign that your legs were weak.

This time, however, the honest knight wisely chose to remain silent, turning around naturally and pretending to be focused on inspecting the horseshoes.

"So, what are you going to do?" Ye Wei'an found it somewhat amusing to look at the young maid in front of him, whose acting skills were still immature but who was trying hard to maintain a "weak" appearance.

"Can we... do it like yesterday?" the little maid blinked.

How could Ye Wei'an not see through her little scheme?

"Come on up."

"Yay!" Ellen cheered, and with a light push of her feet, she leaped onto the horse's back in the blink of an eye, landing in front of Ye Weian—no longer showing any signs of "weak legs".

Then, like a kitten that has found its nest, she nestled in Ye Wei'an's arms and closed her eyes contentedly.

And so, the group set off again.

With the help of the mini-map, today's itinerary went as smoothly as yesterday's.

Led by Ye Weian, they traversed the forest, avoiding all potential troubles and without even a single encounter.

Although they were on a more rugged path, their speed was no different from that of a smooth highway.

"Young Master is practically the master of this forest," Harold whispered to Renn. "Following him, I feel like we could sleep all the way to the Baron's castle."

As the setting sun painted the sky a poignant dark purple, a small town built against the mountainside appeared on the horizon.

We've arrived at Firefall Town.

This small town is strategically located at the entrance to the canyon on the main eastward route, and is the only way to cross the edge of the Hurek Forest and reach the Firefall Valley, the territory of the Xiaxing family.

At this moment, the town was already dotted with lights, which looked warm and inviting in the twilight.

For the soldiers who had spent the entire day in the damp, sweltering forest, those lights represented hot soup, dry beds, and a secure perimeter.

"We've finally arrived!" Ryan wiped the sweat from his forehead.

The shirts under the three warriors' armor were already soaked with sweat. What they longed for most now was to rush into town, find a tavern, and gulp down several large glasses of ice-cold ale to wash away the thirst and dust from their throats.

"Wait a minute!"

Just as Renn loosened the reins, preparing to head towards the town, Ye Wei'an stopped them.

Kane felt a chill run down his spine and almost reflexively raised his hand to make a tactical gesture.

Raine stopped running and, together with Harold, spread out to both sides, forming a loose fan shape to protect the horses and Yevian in the center.

"Young master, is something wrong?" Kane asked in a low voice, his eyes scanning the fortifications at the town entrance warily.

Ye Wei'an did not answer immediately; his gaze was fixed on the mini-map.

At the entrance to Firefall Town, and in several blind spots along the street, three or four red dots stand out conspicuously among a large number of neutral yellow dots.

Considering that he had never been to Firefall Town before and could not possibly have any enemies here, the identities of these red dots were almost self-evident—who else could they be but spies or thugs planted by "Grey Raven"?

Ye Wei'an was not surprised by this.

Firefall is the territory of Baron Summerstar, and "Grey Raven" is the Baroness's personal male servant.

Using this identity, it would be incredibly easy to plant a few spies and recruit some thugs here.

However, he didn't point this out, but instead offered a different explanation:

"That mastermind has collaborated with 'Butcher' Grumman more than once. To maintain a long-term partnership with the largest bandit group in the area, he can only be a local tyrant in Firefall. If we just walk right in, it's practically telling them: the ambush failed, and we've delivered ourselves to their doorstep."

Kane suddenly realized what had happened, and then felt a little scared: "Luckily, the young master reminded us, otherwise we would have almost made a big mistake."

"It's normal that you're not familiar with these intricacies because you've been in the military for so long," Ye Wei comforted her.

"Then... how do we get in?"

"Don't worry, I was prepared."

To Kane's astonishment, Ye Wei'an took out a heavy greatsword and a studded leather armor that only covered the lower body from his system inventory—it was the Butcher Grumman's equipment.

"Aren't they waiting for 'Butcher' Grumman to return and report?" Ye Wei'an weighed the heavy greatsword in his hand and smiled slightly. "Then I'll disguise myself as Grumman and give them a 'surprise'."

Having said that, he began chanting the incantation:

"Transformation Technique"

As the last syllable fell, a faint "crackling" sound came from inside his body.

Under the pull of magic, the bones stretched and deformed, and the delicate face was as if it were being kneaded and reshaped by an invisible hand. The cheekbones protruded, the chin widened, and the skin became rough and dark, with several hideous old scars on it.

His once slender and well-proportioned body swelled up, his solid muscles bulging and stretching his clothes taut. In just a few breaths, the handsome young nobleman had transformed into a burly barbarian with a face full of scars.

"This...it looks exactly like that bandit leader." Kane and the two warriors stared in disbelief.

Even knowing it was the effect of magic, the lifelike transformation before their eyes still shocked them.

"Kane, take off your armor and put on these." Yevian—or rather, "Grumman"—pulled a few spare, dusty, coarse cloth garments from his backpack and commanded in his hoarse, rough voice.

"Also, put away your swords and replace them with those broken knives and axes you've taken from the bandits. Remember, you're not soldiers now, you're just my lackeys trying to make a living!"

Looking at the "Grumman" before him, whose expression and tone were perfectly replicated, Kane decisively carried out the order.

The three removed their conspicuous standard armor and longswords, changed into dirty coarse cloth clothes, and smeared mud, ash, and grass clippings on each other's faces and hair.

Of course, for a few professional soldiers to disguise themselves as bandits, simply putting on makeup and changing clothes is not enough.

Ye Weian provided them with professional guidance:

For example, give up the habit of standing tall with your chest out, deliberately bend over, don't focus your eyes so much, and try to appear more relaxed...

According to Ye Wei'an, who has expertise in acting, their performance still had many flaws, but it was more than enough to deal with the spies and thugs.

After all, Ye Wei'an himself is the main character in this drama.

Finally, it was Ellen's turn.

Ye Wei'an reached out and ruffled her neatly combed, smooth long hair, making it a mess. He then tore several rips in her beautiful maid dress, leaving dust on the hem and cuffs, and even revealing a small section of her dirty ankles.

"Eileen, just bear with it for a moment." Ye Wei'an loosely tied a hemp rope around her wrist. "From now on, you are my spoils of war, a terrified little slave girl."

Instead of being afraid, Eileen was actually quite eager to try.

She blinked hard, trying to make her large eyes mist over, then hunched her shoulders and pretended to tremble: "Young Master... no, Chief, is this alright?"

"great!"

Ye Wei'an slung the exaggeratedly large sword over his shoulder, a standard, sinister grin spreading across his face:

"Let's go back to town and collect our reward."

The bandit leader and his gang swaggered away from the edge of the forest and headed toward Firefall Town.