Chapter 156: Mountain-Overlord Path

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, Yang Fan rose early, intending to take a stroll outside. After all, his primary mission upon entering the mystic realm was to gather intelligence.

Once outside, however, Yang Fan felt a bit lost. The Dashan Tribe was by no means smaller than the Kunpeng Tribe. Back with the Kunpeng Tribe, someone had been assigned to guide him, but here, Dashan Mo had clearly left him to his own devices, handing him a token and telling him to enjoy himself...

Choosing a random direction, Yang Fan strolled forward.

......

Sitting inside a restaurant, Yang Fan stared at the exquisite dishes before him, his appetite instantly piqued.

Upstairs, however, a handsome young man was intently watching Yang Fan through the window below!

Staring at Yang Fan, the youth turned to his personal attendant standing behind him and asked, "Is this the person the Patriarch received yesterday? An outsider?"

The attendant replied, "Yes, Young Master. The intelligence is reliable. This man is named Yang Fan, and he supposedly came through the passage from the Azure Plains, which is currently sealed. He was brought back by Elder Hong, and the very moment he returned, he was summoned by the Patriarch!"

The youth nodded, muttering to himself, "Brought back by Elder Hong, so we cannot be hostile. And summoned by the Patriarch, which means he cannot be underestimated..."

The youth continued to observe Yang Fan from upstairs until Yang Fan was nearly finished and ready to pay the bill, at which point he made his move!

...

Downstairs, Yang Fan polished off the remaining delicious delicacies prepared from exotic beast meat and called for the waiter.

As the waiter stepped forward, Yang Fan reached out to pull out the token Dashan Mo had given him to request a free meal, only to be interrupted!

"I'll treat this meal. Brother Yang Fan, I've heard a great deal about you!"

Yang Fan looked at the youth walking toward him while speaking, feeling somewhat puzzled. Who on earth was this?

Keeping his composure, Yang Fan watched the youth quietly. The moment the youth finished speaking, the waiter sensibly excused himself.

Joking aside, the young master of the Dashan path had spoken; if the waiter had lingered, he would have been utterly lacking in tact!

Seeing that Yang Fan did not reply, Dashan Dao continued, "My humble self is Dashan Dao, the second son of Elder Dashan Gui of the Dashan Tribe. To be able to meet Brother Yang Fan here truly fills me with joy! I had long heard my father say that Brother Yang Fan has the brows of a sword and the eyes of the stars, looking every bit a man of exceptional bearing. Seeing you today, you truly are a dragon among men..."

This rapid succession of flattery left Yang Fan feeling a bit lightheaded.

At that moment, Yang Fan desperately wanted to retort bluntly, "Do we know each other?" But the youth before him wore a polite smile and spoke entirely pleasant words. As the saying goes, one does not strike a smiling face, and furthermore, what Yang Fan was hearing felt genuinely comfortable!

Adjusting his mindset, Yang Fan replied, "Young Master Dashan Dao flatters me. How could I possibly measure up to what Young Master Dashan has described? Please don't make fun of me..." With that, Yang Fan waved his hands repeatedly, putting on an embarrassed expression.

At this point, Dashan Dao had already seated himself opposite Yang Fan and said, "Brother Yang treats me like an outsider! I call you Brother Yang, yet you address me as Young Master. Could it be that Brother Yang feels Dashan Dao is unworthy of being your brother?"

Upon hearing this, dark lines nearly appeared on Yang Fan's forehead. What on earth? Is this really necessary? This is the first time we've met! You're not a woman, and it's not like we experienced love at first sight. You're a grown man, and you want to become brothers upon our very first meeting—isn't this brotherhood of yours a bit too cheap?

Though a storm of sarcastic inner monologues raged within him, on the surface Yang Fan played his part quite well. After all, it was just a form of address!

Putting on an embarrassed expression, Yang Fan said, "Ah, Dao-xiong has wronged me. So many people would beg to be brothers with you, and who am I, Yang Fan, to deserve this? I was just dumbfounded for a moment..." After uttering these utterly shameless words, even Yang Fan felt a creeping sense of disgust inside. What was this? How could things be like this? He had been forced into acquiring a sworn brother who was a scion of the Dashan Tribe. Even if it was merely nominal, Yang Fan still found it awkward!

Dashan Dao lacked any such self-awareness. Grinning broadly, he repeatedly said, "Good, good, good, we are brothers now," and similar sentiments.

Yang Fan looked at the smiling Dashan Dao opposite him, but deep down, a sense of doubt lingered!

The Dashan Dao before him gave him a feeling strikingly similar to Dashan Mo, yet with something extra that Dashan Mo lacked, leaving Yang Fan somewhat perplexed.

Dashan Mo gave Yang Fan the impression of a smiling tiger figure, whereas Dashan Dao gave off the vibe of a barking dog that doesn't bite—or rather, a quiet dog that bites deep.

Yang Fan had always known that there was no such thing as ungrounded love or hatred in this world. To approach him out of nowhere and be this overwhelmingly enthusiastic—it was either treason or theft...

Suddenly, Yang Fan wondered if this had something to do with last night's events. The things Dashan Hong had told him last night were clearly intended to undermine Dashan Mo. And what was Dashan Hong's status? One of the Four Great Elders. Meanwhile, Dashan Dao's father was also one of the Four Great Elders, Dashan Gui.

After speaking with him last night, Dashan Gui's son had sought him out today. Could there be a connection between the two?

The more Yang Fan thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

...

Dashan Gui sat across from Yang Fan, watching him wear a smile while his brows furrowed slightly, clearly pondering something deep in thought!

Dashan Dao smiled faintly, caring not a whit. For someone to approach him to build connections in this manner would arouse suspicion in any normal person.

If Dashan Dao knew that Yang Fan was currently wondering whether he had a connection to Dashan Hong, Dashan Dao would have laughed straight from the bottom of his heart!

Today, coming to find this Yang Fan was not because his father or uncle had given him any instructions to liaise with Yang Fan; rather, it was because he had passed by his father's study late last night and overheard his father muttering to himself!

Words about some plan, about someone coming from the outside world... Following that, he made a few inquiries and learned that an outsider had arrived in the tribe yesterday.

This instantly piqued Dashan Dao's curiosity to the utmost.

That was why, upon hearing today that Yang Fan had left the estate, he had hurriedly followed him out!

The opening of the outside passage was a matter concerning the entire mystic realm, and Dashan Dao was naturally curious about what the outside world looked like!

...

What kind of world the Kunlun Mystic Realm actually was had long ceased to be a secret after so many years.

To be honest, the Kunlun Mystic Realm wasn't particularly large—roughly twice the total area of Huaxia. Over the years, every nook and cranny had been thoroughly explored and mapped out.

Historical records of every region had long been cataloged in the libraries of the major tribes. Every newborn child thoroughly studied this history, so even if they had never been to a place, they roughly knew what it looked like just by hearing its name.

Dashan Dao had grown utterly tired of this lifestyle. As the son of a powerful elder among the top twenty clans, there were very few places in the Kunlun Mystic Realm he couldn't visit; he had even been a guest among the top ten clans a few times. He had long since lost any sense of exploratory spirit regarding the Kunlun Mystic Realm.

Now that an outsider like Yang Fan had appeared, Dashan Dao's interest was piqued. The outside world—no matter what kind of outside world it was—had to be far more interesting than this tiny little Kunlun Mystic Realm, in Dashan Dao's eyes...

Dashan Dao looked smilingly at Yang Fan across the table, and Yang Fan smiled back at Dashan Dao. Though each was lost in his own thoughts, their verbal exchange never stopped.

Going back and forth, Dashan Dao called for an entirely new table of dishes, telling Yang Fan that these were the restaurant's signature dishes, which outsiders were usually unable to taste!