Chapter 6: The Caravan (Part 2)

The Eagle Demon felt relieved upon hearing this. He smiled and said, “Yes, when I was in the great plains, I would go to the city every once in a while to spend some time there until my mood settled, then return to the plains.”
Soon, the trees around them thinned out, and a small village appeared ahead.
Chen Yuxian shouted, “Let’s push harder! We’ll rest in Xiaomu Village today!” The caravan’s workers and guards responded loudly, their voices filled with excitement. After traveling for seven or eight days on desolate roads, they were extremely tired. Being able to rest in a place for a day and eat some warm food would make things much more comfortable.
The caravan’s speed increased sharply. More than a dozen guards spurred their horses forward to contact the villagers of the small village first.
Soon, the caravan arrived at the village. Guo Shier saw that there were many people in the village. Noticing his confusion, Chen Yuxian explained, “At this time of year, we usually pass by here. People from nearby villages also come over, especially the hunters from remote villages. They bring the furs and goods they’ve hunted throughout the year to exchange for various items.”
The caravan stopped outside the village. The workers immediately started setting up tents, unloading goods, feeding and cleaning the camels and horses. Everyone was busy. Chen Yuxian glanced at Guo Shier with some hesitation, unsure what to say.
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Go and get busy. We have a place to stay; you don’t need to worry about us.”
Only then did Chen Yuxian relax. After apologizing repeatedly, he turned away to arrange the campsite and went to discuss matters with the village chief.
Guo Shier went behind the caravan’s campsite and asked the Eagle Demon to clear a space, after which he released the Symbol House.
Luo Zhan said, “I’ll keep watch here. I want to study the heritage during this time. Shier, you guys go check out the village.” He still lacked a lot of knowledge from the heritage and needed time to learn it gradually.
Guo Shier nodded and said, “Uncle Eagle Demon, we’ll go check out the village.”
Walking into the small village, they saw that the caravan’s workers had already set up their stalls. More than a dozen stalls were arranged along the village entrance, attracting a large crowd of locals. Although there were only a dozen stalls, each one was crowded. The hunters, carrying various furs and goods, began trading with the caravan. Everyone wore smiles—smiles of satisfaction.
Guo Shier sighed and said, “They’re easily satisfied, unlike us professionals… who are so insatiable.”

Eagle Demon couldn’t help but laugh and said, “Twelve, if professionals aren’t greedy, they can’t progress. We’re not ordinary people; we’re satisfied as long as we have enough to eat and wear. We’re professionals!”
Guo Shier raised his head to look at the sky and murmured to himself, “I don’t know what kind of world this is. Each continent has a sun and a moon…”
Eagle Demon said, “What’s so strange about that?” He had long been accustomed to it and never found it odd.
Guo Shier had memories from his past life and his own understanding of the world, but there were many things in this world he couldn’t comprehend, nor did he have the ability to explore their mysteries. He could only passively accept them.
Chen Yuxian hurried over and said, “I’m sorry for the delay.”
Eagle Demon asked, “Are all the tasks done?”
Chen Yuxian replied, “Everything has been assigned. I don’t need to get involved much. Hehe.” As the person in charge, he didn’t need to do everything himself; he just had to give orders to his subordinates.
This village was very small, with only about thirty households, but there were many hunters who came here for trade—several hundred in total, with more on their way. If one missed this caravan, they would have to wait a long time before another arrived.
The noisy crowd made Guo Shier a bit uncomfortable, but he found it familiar and felt at ease among them. The only thing that annoyed him was that people around him would instinctively step aside, as if he were a carrier of plague. He soon realized that his clothing and appearance were very different from those of the locals and also quite different from those of the caravan members.
Both Guo Shier and Eagle Demon wore clothes made from high-quality materials produced on the advanced continents—vibrant and exquisitely crafted, using the fur of mutated magical beasts that emitted a faint glow. Such attire wasn’t noticeable among high-level professionals, but it stood out sharply among ordinary people.
Although the locals had limited knowledge, they knew about professionals. They understood that they were an extremely powerful group beyond their reach. So when they saw Guo Shier and Eagle Demon, they stayed far away, not daring to approach.
Eagle Demon, on the other hand, moved freely. He had learned during his time in the grasslands that once they entered a city, ordinary people would try their best to avoid them, fearing angering them. Angering professionals could be fatal.
Guo Shier shook his head slightly, realizing he couldn’t converse with the villagers here. Suddenly, he stopped and asked, “Is there any other large caravan on this road?”
Chen Yuxian was taken aback and said, “Almost none. We should be the largest caravan on this road. Why?”

Guo Shier said indifferently, “There are about a thousand horsemen coming. Are you sure it’s not a caravan? They’re very close and moving fast.”
Chen Yuxian wanted to question it, but thinking that these people could all fly, he didn’t know what to do. After staying silent for a while, he asked, “Can we be more certain?”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “No need. In a moment, you’ll hear the sound of horse hooves.”
Eagle Demon asked, “There won’t be bandits here, will there?”
Chen Yuxian replied, “Bandits are rare in this area because there’s nothing to rob—just poor hunters.”
Guo Shier said, “As long as you’re sure, it doesn’t matter to us.” Indeed, it didn’t matter to them. If something went wrong, they could just fly away, and they weren’t afraid of large numbers—for advanced professionals, no matter how many there were, it made no difference.
Chen Yuxian was sensible enough to call his subordinates and quickly pack up their stall, taking defensive positions. Guo Shier glanced at them coldly and couldn’t help but say, “These people… haven’t fought before. Their defensive formation is full of flaws.”
Eagle Demon was skilled in one-on-one combat but knew little about tactical attacks, having only encountered them briefly at Broken Bone Gorge. He said, “Maybe they’re not enemies.”
Guo Shier replied, “Whether they’re enemies or not, we should still prepare defenses. There’s no room for luck.”
Eagle Demon nodded and said, “True.” Both of them adopted an observer’s attitude. At their level of strength, as long as it wasn’t a shrine-level expert, even other advanced professionals wouldn’t scare them, because Guo Shier’s Moon Blade already had the nature of a sacred artifact—ordinary advanced professionals simply couldn’t compare.
The rumbling sound of hooves grew louder and louder. The villagers and hunters scattered, with most hiding inside the circle formed by the caravan and a few taking shelter in villagers’ homes.
Dozens of tall horses rushed into the small village. Guo Shier narrowed his eyes and said indifferently, “It’s Talisman Horses!”
Chen Yuxian’s expression changed slightly. He said, “How could it be the city guards? What are they doing here?”
Guo Shier turned and asked, “City guards?”
Chen Yuxian hurriedly replied, “It’s the city guards. Their attire clearly identifies them as city guards. Damn, what are they doing here?” He mounted his horse and led a dozen guards to wait ahead.
A moment later, a large group of cavalry appeared and quickly surrounded the entire village and caravan, turning the atmosphere tense. Guo Shier said, “These people mean trouble! I can sense their threat.”

Eagle Demon nodded and said, “That’s right. Strange—these people are just ordinary folks. Among these city guards… there are many low-level professionals. Well, most of them only have the strength of Rune Warriors, and a few are Rune Masters… True Rune Masters are very rare, and their strength isn’t that great.” His current strength was far enough to look down on them.

Guo Shier said, “It seems there are experts… Well, there are two junior Grand Sage Masters hidden in the group. The rest have very low strength; the highest is at the Master level. Strange—these two probably aren’t locals.”

A burly man in red and black city guard uniforms rode out of the group on horseback. He stopped his horse in the open space outside the caravan’s defense circle. The rune horse raised its front hooves high, blew out two streams of air from its nose, and snorted before the man shouted loudly, “Everyone, listen up!”

“A conscription order! By order of the city lord, men aged between sixteen and seventy are being conscripted!”

Guo Shier growled in annoyance, “Damn it, another piece of crap like this!”

Chen Yuxian stepped forward with a group of guards and shouted, “We’re a caravan and not under your city’s jurisdiction!”

The burly man snorted disdainfully and ordered, “Everyone… must obey the conscription order, or they will be killed without mercy!” This statement immediately caused a stir. No one had ever heard of such a conscription order—even caravans weren’t spared.

Guo Shier said coldly, “It has nothing to do with that city lord. It must be the work of outsiders among the professionals.”

Eagle Demon nodded. “Human trafficking?”

Guo Shier shook his head. “If it were human trafficking, it wouldn’t be this kind of conscription order. I guess they’re being captured to work as laborers. Otherwise, there would be no age limit, and they wouldn’t only target men.”

Eagle Demon said, “That makes sense. It’s just unclear what kind of labor they’ll be forced to do.”

Guo Shier replied, “We can’t possibly know. It must be professionals from the outer continents doing this.”

Eagle Demon asked, “Should we intervene?”

Guo Shier sneered, “If I hadn’t encountered this before, it wouldn’t matter. But since I have, let them suffer!”

Eagle Demon laughed heartily. He also hated such professionals who oppressed others using their strength. He and Guo Shier had been captured and brought here back then, and they were still searching for a way home.

Chen Yuxian kept shouting, “We don’t belong to your city! You have no right to conscript my caravan! Do you want to start a war between cities?”

The city guard burly man glanced at him disdainfully and said, “One last time! If you refuse to comply with the conscription order, you’ll be killed without mercy!”

Chen Yuxian’s spirit instantly withered, as if he had aged seventeen or eighteen years in an instant. He knew that if he resisted, his caravan would be completely destroyed with no chance left. Although there were a few professionals in the caravan, their strength was far inferior to that of their opponents. Feeling desperate, he glanced back at his caravan and sighed deeply, “It’s over!”