Chapter 3: The Enemy (Part 2)

Luo Jie couldn’t help but smile bitterly. He rarely hid his movements outside, as his strength as a great talisman master meant he feared no one. But this time was different. Though he had killed those attackers, he knew that if seven or eight more chase vehicles showed up, he wouldn’t be able to handle them, especially those explosive javelins, which were truly terrifying.

Qi Nanshan said, “Followed us here? Perfect—let me kill them!” He hated those mysterious guys to death.

Guo Shier said, “Let’s head into the forest first. It’s too open here. If those people’s flying vehicles arrive, we won’t even have a place to hide. It’s too dangerous!”

Luo Jie decisively said, “Alright, let’s go!”

Qi Nanshan said, “Luo Zhan, carry Shier on your back. Xiao Feng, take a few people to take care of Xiao Bao and the others. Hurry up!”

In just a few minutes, everyone rushed into the forest. As soon as they entered, Guo Shier shouted, “Stop! Stop!”

Both Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan valued Guo Shier’s opinions greatly. His words carried weight now, so everyone stopped immediately. Luo Jie asked, “Shier, why do we stop?”

Guo Shier smiled and said, “Master, Grandpa Nanshan, wait a moment. Uncle Luo, Uncle Xiao Feng, help me!” He directed the talisman warriors to dig pits here and holes there, peel tree bark, and so on, leaving everyone confused. Then he took out disposable talismans and placed them inside, using a trigger mechanism. Luo Jie immediately understood and said, “Shier, is this a trap?”

“Yes, it’s a trap!”

Luo Jie said, “The power of disposable talismans is too weak. They might not even hurt them.”

Guo Shier laughed and said, “I never intended to hurt anyone. Of course, it would be better if they could. Unfortunately, I don’t have highly powerful disposable talismans. Hehe, the purpose of setting this trap here is just to give us a warning, so we know those people are coming and can prepare in advance!”

Luo Jie said, “I have a few decent disposable attack talismans. Hehe, I’ll give them all to you.” He took out six talismans and handed them over. Guo Shier didn’t hesitate and buried two of them right away. He kept the other four—talismans that his master deemed good must be excellent, so he didn’t want to use them all in the trap.

It took about fifteen minutes before Guo Shier finished setting everything up. He said, “Okay, it’s done. Master, let’s go.”

They didn’t head toward the mountains but continued deeper into the forest, changing direction slightly—from east to northeast.

After rushing about a hundred li, Luo Jie said, “Stop! Search the area and find a suitable place to rest.”
Luo Zhan set down Guo Shier and said, “Shier, you’re getting heavier again…”
Guo Shier looked at him with an innocent expression and said, “My bones are heavy… Uncle, this little weight won’t affect you much, right? You can run faster than a rabbit!”
Luo Zhan was speechless for a moment before saying, “You little brat, you’re the rabbit…” He couldn’t help but laugh first.
Guo Shier shrugged playfully, turned to his master, and said, “Master, we can’t stay here too long. Even if we rest, we should leave soon.”
Luo Jie nodded and said, “We captured a prisoner. Let’s interrogate him first to find out who they are.”
Qi Nanshan sneered and said, “I’ll go!”
Guo Shier immediately followed, saying, “I’ll go too!”
Luo Jie nodded, “Okay, go together. I want to know who they are too.”
It was a young man in his twenties, dressed in gorgeous clothes embroidered with many talismans and adorned with numerous small talisman pieces. A delicate talisman belt was tied around his waist, and there was a headband on his forehead with a beautiful talisman in the middle.
Qi Nanshan said calmly, “Shier, you ask him!”
Guo Shier was surprised, “Me?”
Qi Nanshan nodded, “I’m afraid I might lose control and kill him right away!”
Guo Shier wasn’t afraid. He had also interrogated prisoners in his past life. “Okay, I’ll do it!” He went up to the prisoner and said, “Give me your water bag!” He drank some water and spat it in the man’s face. The shock of cold water made the man wake up immediately; he had been unconscious before.
Qi Nanshan, Luo Jie, and a group of talisman warriors gathered around to see how Guo Shier would interrogate the prisoner.
As soon as Guo Shier spoke, everyone broke into cold sweats.
“What’s your surname, big brother?”
It turned out the kid called everyone “big brother” right away. It was normal to call one’s own people “big brother” or “uncle,” but no one had ever seen someone call a prisoner “big brother.” Everyone looked at Guo Shier curiously, wondering how he would deal with the prisoner.
“Bastard! Let me go!”
Guo Shier said, “Good kids don’t swear!” He grabbed the man’s hand and twisted his little finger. He didn’t have Qi Nanshan’s ability to crush bones instantly, but his method was more effective—he bent the finger backward. With a crack, the first joint of the little finger broke.

The man let out a shrill cry; having a finger broken was extremely painful. Guo Shier asked again, “Elder brother, what’s your surname?”
Everyone felt a chill down their spines. A nine-year-old child could be so calm and cold-hearted—it was rather terrifying.
“Ugh… Hah… You… I’ll kill you! I’ll skin you alive…”
Guo Shier raised his hand and took out the talisman knife used for dismembering beasts, saying, “Elder brother, how about I skin you first?”
Of course, the man recognized the talisman knife in Guo Shier’s hand and knew it was used for gathering and disassembling materials. Fear flashed in his eyes as he realized Guo Shier was a talisman master. He roared, “You can’t get away! Even if you kill me, you still can’t escape… You’ll be sold as slaves… Aaaah… Just wait…”
Guo Shier frowned and said, “I hate it the most when people threaten me, hehe.” He added, “If I dig out your eyes, I wonder if you can still be healed… Or maybe I should cut open your eyelids to expose your eyeballs?” He gently slashed across the man’s eyelids with the talisman knife.
With that single move, the man collapsed and said, “You… you win! Ask whatever you want. I won’t hide anything. Either kill me or let me go… Don’t torture me!”
Guo Shier nodded and asked, “What’s your surname? What’s your full name?”
“Fuye Jie! My name is Fuye Jie!”
Guo Shier was puzzled. “That name is quite strange! Are there anyone with the surname Fu?”
Fuye Jie replied, “It’s not Fu as a surname. It’s Fuye. I belong to the Fuye family!”
Guo Shier was a bit confused. He asked, “Master, have you heard of the Fuye family?”
Luo Jie said, “I’ve never heard of a family with such a compound surname.”
Guo Shier asked, “How many of you are here? Why do you want to kill us?”
Fuye Jie sneered and said, “Hmph, you must be from the Lower Talisman Continent, right? We’re from the Higher Talisman Continent. Unlike you, we don’t need to wait for the right moment or rely on luck to enter the secret realm—we can enter at any time. This secret realm is a training ground, and large numbers of people come here to train from time to time! This time… just our family brought over three hundred hunting carts! If it weren’t for us leaving the main group… Hmph!”
Guo Shier continued, “Why attack us?”
Fuye Jie replied coldly, “In this training ground, anyone who isn’t from the Higher Talisman Continent is an enemy. If we encounter someone from the Lower Talisman Continent, hehe, they become loot—our slaves! So, there’s no reason not to attack you!”

Guo Shier also sneered, “But you’re our prisoner now, our slave!”
Fuye Jie laughed loudly, “Haha, you’re dreaming! You can’t escape! A total of tens of thousands of hunting carts came in this time! Plus the supply troops, there are a hundred thousand people in total—how can you possibly run away? Haha…”
Guo Shier asked, “Does everyone here have a talisman gate?”
Fuye Jie replied, “A talisman gate? Only our family has large-scale talisman gates. How could an individual have one?”
Guo Shier glanced up at Luo Jie, both of them showing a hint of surprise and confusion. Guo Shier continued, “Are individual talisman gates rare?”
Fuye Jie said, “Individual talisman gates? Do they exist? I haven’t even heard of them! Besides, people from your inferior Talisman Continent surely can’t have such things.”
Guo Shier asked, “How big is this secret realm? Do you have a map?”
Fuye Jie’s expression changed slightly. “No, we’re just disciples here for training. How could we possibly have a map?”
Guo Shier knew this guy was lying but decided not to expose him for now. He said, “Is your strength considered quite poor among the training disciples?” He deliberately provoked him.
Fuye Jie showed a strange smile and said, “You don’t need to test me. Let me tell you… I’m not the worst disciple. There are at least ten thousand disciples with strength similar to mine, and at least another ten thousand who are stronger than me. Hehe, if our elders were here… they’d be ten times stronger than us! I hope you can enjoy their ‘hospitality’!” The hatred in his words made everyone’s backs turn cold.
Guo Shier calmly asked, “How can one distinguish… people from the higher-tier Talisman Continent from those from the lower-tier one?”
Fuye Jie replied, “Stop dreaming! You can’t pretend to be from the higher-tier Talisman Continent!”
Guo Shier laughed, “So smart! You figured that out?” He stood up and said, “Master, I’ve finished asking questions.” Qi Nanshan smiled and said, “Everything that needed to be asked… Shier has already asked. I have nothing more to ask. Old man, do you have any questions?”
Luo Jie asked, “Where is your assembly point?”
Fuye Jie replied, “In the east.” Then he added, “Stop torturing me. Just kill me!” Knowing he had no chance of survival, he didn’t struggle and only wished for a quick death. After all, it wasn’t easy for those captured by them to even ask for death.
Qi Nanshan nodded and said, “Good. You know what’s best!” With a swipe of his hand, he killed him on the spot.
At that moment, a rumbling sound could be faintly heard in the distance.