Despite the countless psychological hints Henry Clark had given himself along the way—that his territory was a barren land—when he actually saw human figures appear, Henry Clark was still so shocked that his mouth hung wide open and he couldn’t close it. The cane he had been using as a so-called magic staff also slipped from his hand with a clatter and fell to the ground.

Chapter 3: The Desolate Territory (Part 2)

Is this really my territory? On a stretch of barren land, over a hundred shabby shacks were piled together in utter disorder, looking just like a chaotic marketplace—except it was a marketplace in extremely harsh conditions.

The best of those shacks merely had some grass fully covering the roof, not a scrap of cloth in sight. There were no walls at all, just four things that looked like ordinary sticks propping them up. Needless to say, even a slightly stronger wind—or so it seemed—could blow those so-called shacks over with just a single breath.

Around the shacks, only a sparse few people stood nearby. Perhaps it was working hours, so there weren’t many people here. But the few dozen people present were all elderly, weak, sick, or disabled.

While Henry Clark was stunned, those dozens of people were looking back at him with eyes no less astonished than his own. Both sides seemed frozen in place, neither saying a word.

After quite a while, it was as if those people suddenly realized something. One of them let out a sharp scream, and the crowd scattered in an uproar, instantly vanishing into the mass of shanties, disappearing without a trace. In front of Henry Clark, not a single person remained.

But Henry Clark himself seemed to have been so frightened by the series of scenes he had just witnessed that he could hardly believe his eyes. He squeezed his eyes shut, then rubbed them hard before opening them again, staring fixedly in that direction.

What shocked Henry Clark was not the desolation and poverty here, but the people he saw. Henry Clark was sure he wasn’t seeing things from exhaustion, but he had clearly seen a group of double images just now—what was going on?

While he was still surprised, an old man slowly poked his head out from the shanties, looking toward Henry Clark. Seeing that he was alone and not doing anything special, the old man gradually stepped out, moving very cautiously as he shuffled toward Henry Clark. Behind him, more people peeked out from their hiding places, watching warily.

“Hello, honorable mage,” the old man said. His health was poor, and he walked with a shaky gait. As he bowed to Henry Clark, he nearly lost his balance. Fortunately, Henry Clark was close enough to catch him in time, preventing the old man from falling.

“May I ask, honorable sir, what brings you here...?” The old man didn’t dare finish his sentence, afraid that the young mage before him might misunderstand.

“If this is Huangsha Town...” After saying this, Henry Clark himself felt a bit uncertain. However, that count—whose name he still couldn’t recall—had said that three days’ journey in this direction should be his territory, and it seemed there were no other towns nearby.

“If this is Huangsha Town, then this should be my territory.” Henry Clark finally finished his sentence, then looked carefully at the elderly man, wanting to see his reaction.

“Heavens!” the old man cried out almost in excitement, then his legs gave way. Luckily, Henry Clark was still supporting him under the arm and managed to hold him up in time. After the exclamation, the old man came to his senses, slowly knelt down, and respectfully kowtowed to Henry Clark, calling out excitedly, “My lord!”

“My lord?” The old man’s voice clearly carried into the shanties, and immediately a chorus of similar exclamations rang out from within.

Henry Clark was not at all used to being knelt to, especially by someone much older than himself. He hurriedly helped the man up, apologizing repeatedly, “Please, sir, there’s no need for such formality.”

But the old man ignored Henry Clark’s support. It was as if he had suddenly become decades younger; the trembling from before was gone, and now he almost leapt up, shouting excitedly to those behind him, “We have a lord now! We have a lord!”

The excitement in his voice made Henry Clark almost think something was wrong. But when he heard the cheers coming from the shacks in response to the old man’s shout, he realized what he was seeing was real, not an illusion.

“How strange, it’s just a lord—do they really need to be this excited?” Henry Clark couldn’t help but mutter to himself. What he didn’t know was that, as a town, Huangsha had never had a noble willing to come here as lord. Even if someone held the title, no one would ever show up in person in this godforsaken place. For these people to see a local lord with their own eyes was truly something to be excited about.

The cheers came in wave after wave, but judging by the voices, they were all elderly people, just as Henry Clark had seen before. Henry Clark couldn’t understand their feelings and could only stand there waiting to see what would happen next.