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After leaving the Weidu government office, Chen Nan originally planned to gather a hundred soldiers to go with him.

Ke Hongming had finally gotten a chance to be alone with Chen Nan, so naturally he didn't want anyone else to disturb them.

Chen Nan didn't hesitate. With his Grandmaster cultivation, protecting Hongming wouldn't be a problem.

Moreover, Happy Forest is only thirty miles away from the main camp. If there is a real need, Wu Xu can make a quick round trip without wasting much time.

The three of them rode their horses out of the capital and headed south.

Half an hour later, a lush forest appeared before them.

There is a quiet path in the middle of the woods.

Hongming pointed to the road and said, "If you follow this path for about two or three miles, you'll reach Happy Forest."

"Because the terrain here is complex, and they did not cause any damage to the imperial court."

"They even pay taxes to the Weidu Prefecture every year, so the imperial court can be said to have tacitly approved of the existence of this place."

After some explanation, Chen Nan finally understood why such a strange place would appear around the capital.

As the group ventured deeper into the woods, the once quiet forest began to rustle and whisper.

Soon, as they ventured deeper into the forest, Chen Nan discovered a magnificent building inside.

The building has four floors and occupies a huge area, so large that you can't see the end of it.

After the three dismounted, a waiter came forward and asked warmly, "Welcome to Happy Forest, esteemed guests. Would you like to stay at the inn?"

Hongming shook his head: "No need. We heard there's an auction today, we're just here to take a look."

"Alright, do you need a guide? I'm very cheap, only one or two taels of silver a day."

Upon hearing such an outrageous price, Chen Nan's eyes widened.

He said the service fee was one tael of silver per day, and that was very cheap.

It should be noted that an average family of three might not even be able to spend a single tael of silver in a year.

In their eyes, one or two taels of silver was merely the guide's fee.

Hongming was very generous, taking out a tael of silver from his pocket: "Here you go, take us to the auction."

The waiter's eyes lit up the moment he saw the silver. He quickly stuffed it into his pocket and patted it as if he was afraid of losing it.

He smiled broadly and said, "Alright, distinguished guests, the auction will be held on the first floor, in about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea."

"Of course, since our esteemed guest has paid, my time today belongs to our esteemed guest."

"My name is Gousheng. If you need anything or have any questions, please feel free to ask me."

"Please wait a moment, esteemed guest. I'll go and tie up the horse first."

With that, Gou Sheng led the three horses to the side.

Soon, when Gousheng returned, his expression was rather unpleasant, and his clothes were covered in dust.

Chen Nan saw all of this, but Hong Ming was so focused on attending the auction that he didn't notice Gou Sheng's change.

Just as Gou Sheng returned to the three of them, he put on that same smile again: "Gentlemen, the auction is about to start, let's go in quickly."

Hongming was already anxious, and upon hearing this, he strode into the restaurant.

Behind him, Chen Nan asked curiously, "Gou Sheng, did something just happen?"

Gou Sheng was stunned. He hadn't expected that someone as insignificant as himself would receive such care from someone like Chen Nan.

She smiled shyly and said, "It's nothing, thank you for your concern."

Seeing this, Chen Nan didn't say anything more and followed Hongming's steps.

As the group arrived at the tavern entrance, the guards on either side approached with smiles and extended their hands: "Gentlemen, if you want to enter the Happy Forest, you must first pay!"

Hongming turned around and looked at him with displeasure: "Gousheng, what's going on? Didn't I just give you the service fee? Why do you want more money?"

Her words made Gou Sheng feel awkward.

The latter quickly stepped forward, smiling obsequiously as he explained, "Brothers, these three are my honored guests. I would be grateful if you could do me a favor."

As he spoke, he took out twenty copper coins from his pocket and handed them over.

One of the guards flashed two rows of teeth: "Oh~ so you're a distinguished guest!"

Immediately afterwards, he threw the copper coin in his hand at Gou Sheng's face, then his expression changed and he began to curse.

"Damn it, I've never known what a distinguished guest is."

"Either leave ten taels of silver to go in, or go back to where you came from."

The sudden turn of events made Gou Sheng so anxious he was almost in tears.

"Brothers, wasn't it our established rule that each person should receive ten copper coins? Why is it suddenly so much?"

Hongming only gave him one tael of silver, but now the two guards are asking him for twenty taels. Even if they sold him, they wouldn't get that much.

If Gou Sheng himself knew the situation, how could the two guards not know?

The two men's eyes lingered on Hongming, a lewd smile playing on their lips: "No money? That's easy, just have your benefactor behind you pay for it."

This group of people spends their days in this lawless area, and you can tell at a glance whether someone has money or not.

Unfortunately, they only saw that Chen Nan and his group were wealthy, but they overlooked the fact that such people were not people he could afford to offend.

Chen Nan glanced at Hong Ming and shook his head helplessly. He had already anticipated this scene when he arrived.

People in places like this don't care whether you're royalty or not.

Unless you suppress them on the spot, nobody will listen to you.

Although he had anticipated this, he did not intend to take action to punish Wu Xu. Instead, he gave Wu Xu a wink.

Wu Xu then approached the two guards, casually took out two silver ingots, and solemnly placed them in their hands.

He sneered, "Gentlemen, you'd better take good care of these twenty taels of silver. Don't end up with the money you have to take but not the chance to spend it."

The moment they saw the silver, the two of them no longer cared about Wu Xu's threats.

After securing the silver, he returned to his seat, closed his eyes, and pretended not to see anything.

Just then, the system's voice suddenly echoed in Chen Nan's mind.

The Happy Forest has existed near Weidu for a long time, causing immense suffering to the people living nearby.

[The system is issuing selective tasks.]

[Option 1: Completely annihilate Happy Forest and restore peace to the surrounding people. Upon completion of the mission, the host can designate 10,000 people to receive the system's baptism!]

[Option Two: Let Happy Forest go unchecked, rewarding the host with a calm and ordinary heart; from now on, the host's heart will remain undisturbed!]

"Is there even a choice? Of course, we'll choose number one!"

Chen Nan was utterly speechless. There was no reason not to accept a benefit that was offered to him so readily.

Chen Nan glanced at Hongming and smiled slightly: "You go in with Gousheng first, I'll say a few words to Wu Xu."

Hongming looked at him with a puzzled expression, not knowing why Chen Nan would suddenly want to tell Wu Xu something.

Only after Chen Nan gave her a reassuring look did she feel relieved enough to follow Gou Sheng inside.

After watching Hongming go inside, Chen Nan pulled Wu Xu aside.

He instructed, "Go back and tell Mo Bai about the situation here."

"Tell him to put aside the affairs of the government office for now and bring his troops to Happy Forest first."

"Once you arrive, don't come in yet. Hide in ambush outside the woods and don't let anyone spot you."

"You can come in after the notification arrives."

Wu Xu naturally understood that his lord intended to completely eradicate Happy Forest.

Nodding, he said, "Your Highness, could I personally take care of those two guards?"

Chen Nan raised an eyebrow. It was the first time he had ever discovered that Wu Xu actually harbored a vengeful heart.

He laughed loudly: "Alright, you can have those two guards."

After watching Wu Xu leave, Chen Nan felt relieved.

It's not that he lacked the ability to destroy Happy Forest.

There's no reason not to use the people under my command.

Moreover, since we've chosen to destroy Happy Forest, let's do it thoroughly.

Mobilizing a large army here can also prevent malicious individuals from causing trouble or letting any threatening people escape.

He didn't want to live a life where one eye was always on guard while he slept.