Strongest Scammer: Scamming The World, One Death At A Time-Chapter 597: A Distant Clan

The Fatui Clan was small. Far smaller than expected for a clan with a Nascent Soul patriarch.

Around two hundred members. No particular field of excellence. Ordinary cultivation heritage. Their Blood Moon Continent reputation was considered lower-mid tier.

Han Yu’s brows knitted.

’A Nascent Soul patriarch, yet a clan only two hundred in number?’ That was incredibly odd to him.

Nascent Soul experts could build sects with tens of thousands of followers, even on the Great Continent. Here, this clan seemed barely held together.

Something did not match.

He kept reading.

The booklet made excuses: traditions, long-standing isolation, low birth rates. But none of the explanations felt convincing. Han Yu had spent enough time in the Blood Moon Continent to know which clans hid their true power behind false appearances. This clan did not seem like one of them.

He flipped another page.

It listed the main figures of the clan: the patriarch, a couple of elders, and the head alchemist who was supposedly struggling with their pill production.

Nothing suspicious at first glance.

The next section showed the map.

It traced the route from the sect to the Harrow Mountains, then deeper into the mountain chain. And deeper still. And deeper.

Han Yu’s calm expression finally cracked.

"...What the fuck?"

He traced the line again. Then a third time. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

His eye twitched.

He stared at the map for a long, silent moment before whispering a curse under his breath.

"All the way there? That far? Are they joking?"

The Fatui Clan’s location was practically on the other side of the Harrow Mountain range.

The Harrow Mountains stretched across nearly a thousand kilometers, a sprawling maze of jagged peaks, deep ravines, unpredictable weather, and countless spirit beasts. Most clans stayed near the outer edges or nestled in one of the middle valleys.

Not the Fatui Clan.

They were tucked behind the farthest mountain wall, behind the central ridge, behind a secondary chain of peaks that were practically unexplored by normal disciples.

Han Yu let out a slow breath.

"They may as well have written ’leave the continent’."

This was not a normal assignment.

Even without any tricks involved, the journey alone would be exhausting. Dangerous. Inconvenient. Time consuming.

Exactly what a petty retaliation mission would look like.

Zhao Liumen had gone to great lengths.

Han Yu folded the map slowly, forcing himself to calm down.

He checked his surroundings. No one was near.

He took out the booklet again, scouring it for hidden clues, inconsistencies, traps. He flipped through until the end. There were no extra pages, no secret slip, nothing that gave away further intent.

Only the large red warning on the last page:

"Deliver the sealed letter intact."

Han Yu’s gaze fell to the sealed letter in his ring.

He could not open it without triggering the talisman.

But something about it itched at the back of his mind.

What message could Zhao Liumen have slipped inside?

Was the letter even written by the Administration or had Zhao Liumen pulled some strings there too?

Were there Orders for the Fatui Clan?

A trap?

An accusation?

Instructions to kill him?

Something else entirely?

Han Yu’s face remained expressionless, but his mind moved at full speed.

He could not open the letter.

But there were ways to sense the exterior of the talisman, the type of sealing array used, the grade of the paper, the blood essence in the wax.

He made a mental note to check it tonight, after finding a hidden cave to rest.

For now, he needed to move.

He took one last look back in the direction of the sect, imagining Xuan Qing seated quietly with her empty eyes and Meng Jueyan trying to hide her pain.

He muttered quietly.

"I will be back."

Then he turned toward the mountain horizon, the jagged peaks silhouetted by crimson dawn.

Han Yu began his long journey toward the Harrow Mountains.

Toward the Fatui Clan.

Toward whatever trap Zhao Liumen had set.

And toward danger he could no longer avoid.

A couple minutes later...

"This clan is bumfuck out of nowhere."

Han Yu cursed again, long and hard, as he stared at the map and the distant mountain range on it.

He had expected the mission to be annoying. Perhaps troublesome. Perhaps out of the way. But not like this. Never like this.

The Fatui Clan was practically on the opposite edge of the Harrow Mountains, which themselves were at least five hundred kilometers away just from where he stood. That was only the beginning.

Once he reached the base, he would still need to go deeper, past several ridges and valleys, then climb another set of peaks, only to descend into a hidden basin on the far side. It felt more like a pilgrimage than a mission.

And the worst part was not the distance.It was the intention behind the assignment.

Zhao Liumen’s scheme was clear as day.

He wanted Han Yu to exhaust himself. He wanted him to push through miles upon miles of mountains, rivers, and spirit beast territories. He wanted to wear down Ju Fan’s body, to drain his stamina and spirit Qi, to isolate him far from the protection of the sect until the perfect moment came to strike.

Han Yu let out a long breath and forced himself to calm down.

Once anger rose, it was hard to suppress. And right now the last thing he wanted was to start this journey in a foul state of mind.

He sat under the blackscale pine for a few more minutes, then rose to his feet.

"The mission says it will take at least three months. And that means there is no upper limit."

That sentence was both the safety net and the danger.

The task had no deadline. Zhao Liumen could very well strike while Han Yu was in the mountains, week after week, and claim it was a bandit attack. Or spirit beasts. Or an accident.

Han Yu frowned deeply.

He needed to think rationally. He needed to plan ahead. And since he was already being forced to travel, he might as well take advantage of it.