Chapter 2: Ruins (Part 2)

The backyard was overgrown with weeds and shrubs. Not far away stood a collapsed stone house, left only in ruins. Guo Shieru swung his talisman sword to clear a path. Huo Bao asked, “Shieru, that stone house has already collapsed—there’s probably nothing worth seeing.”
Guo Shieru didn’t reply and continued forward, soon arriving at the collapsed house. He stared at it thoughtfully.
Xiao Feng asked curiously, “Did you find anything?” He had a strange trust in Guo Shieru, feeling that this kid was different.
Guo Shieru smiled, “I’m not entirely sure. Hehe, I have a slight guess, and I need Uncle Xiao Feng’s help.”
Xiao Feng readily said, “No problem. How can I help?”
Guo Shieru said, “Clear away these rocks!”
Xiao Feng laughed, “That’s no small task. Alright, wait here… Baozi, you guys come help too—leave Xiao Hong out.”
The group quickly cleared the debris from the ruins. Xiao Feng handled the larger bluestone slabs, while Huo Bao and the others cleared the smaller ones. In just over twenty minutes, the ground of the stone house was exposed.
Guo Shieru calculated briefly and said, “This corner still needs cleaning.”
Xiao Feng, without complaint, led the three children to clear the debris in the corner. Guo Shieru said, “Xiao Hong, give me the water bag.”
Chen Hong handed him a water bag. Guo Shieru opened it and poured water on the ground. Chen Bing seemed to understand and said, “Are you looking for an underground room?” Everyone suddenly realized that Guo Shieru was searching for a basement—a pretty good idea indeed.
The water flowed toward the ruins and seeped downward. Guo Shieru smiled, “It’s here. Uncle Xiao Feng, it’s your turn! Dig here—there should be a basement below.”
Xiao Feng switched to a talisman stick and struck the ground repeatedly. After a few strikes, the ground collapsed, revealing an opening. He struck a few more times to enlarge the hole, and the stone steps below could be clearly seen in the sunlight.
Xiao Feng said in admiration, “You’re really amazing—finding this too. I’ll go down and explore first. Wait here.” He switched to a short talisman sword and said, “Cast a lighting talisman!”
Guo Shieru had many such disposable auxiliary talismans. He raised his hand and fired a lighting talisman, which immediately emitted a flash, illuminating the steps below.
Xiao Feng slowly descended. After a while, a voice came up, “Come down. There’s no danger below.”

Guo Shier and the others went downstairs. Xiao Feng had already lit the talisman lamp for illumination. As soon as Guo Shier entered, he realized it was a talisman-making hall, basically the same as those used by the Beifu Sect, with only a few differences. He saw tools left on the talisman-making table, many of which he had never seen before.

The underground complex consisted of a talisman-making hall and four rooms. The materials in the material room, aside from minerals and bone-based materials, were all decayed, and the liquid materials had dried up. There was still water flow in the cleaning room. The underground fire room was empty. The last room brought a surprise to Guo Shier—besides a skeleton, he found seventeen talisman scrolls. Unfortunately, no talisman key was found, so they couldn’t be opened for now.

Guo Shier walked over to the skeleton and squatted down to examine it carefully. The person’s clothes were decayed, including the talisman belt around their waist, which had turned to ash, along with remaining fragments of talismans. There was hardly anything of value left.

He noticed sparse talisman patterns on the bones, realizing they were traces left by dark talismans. This meant the person was not a Talisman Warrior but belonged to a talisman-related profession. Guo Shier sighed and stood up. By chance, the tip of his foot touched the skull, causing it to roll aside. The jaw detached, and he saw a talisman card attached to the upper jaw.

It was a red talisman with a peculiar shape—irregular and quite beautiful. Besides several layers of talisman patterns, it also featured a red bird carved on it, appearing as if it were a 3D image hidden within the talisman. Guo Shier habitually placed the talisman on his forehead to determine what kind of talisman it was.

As soon as his soul made contact, the talisman melted and was quickly drawn into his life talisman. Shocked at first, Guo Shier soon rejoiced, realizing this talisman was at least a spiritual talisman. He continued to examine it and couldn’t help but smile. It hadn’t become a broken talisman and still had one more attack left, which could be slowly restored using soul energy.

With his eyes closed, Guo Shier carefully felt the talisman. He intuited that its power was significant, but he couldn’t figure out how it was made. It seemed to seal the spirit of a bird, surrounded by abundant fire energy. So far, his life talisman had absorbed two talismans: one was a spiritual talisman from the Talisman Sect, and the other was this bird talisman.

Guo Shier was almost certain that this must be a talisman of a higher rank than a regular spirit talisman; as for whether it was an ancient talisman, that was unclear. The power of the soul rushed into the bird talisman, and in the blink of an eye, it began to emit a red glow, spinning rapidly around its core talisman. With each rotation, the bird talisman recovered a bit. Guo Shier knew that given enough time, this bird talisman could be restored.

Huo Bao kept complaining, “Sigh, this guy is a pauper—nothing at all. It would be great if he had some high-grade talismans or artifacts…” Hong Shi said with a smile, “There’s no such thing as luck. If not for Shier, we wouldn’t have even discovered this basement. Hehe, I see there are quite a few materials and some talisman-making tools here—so we’ve still gained something!” They still didn’t know that Guo Shier had already found a talisman.

After searching thoroughly, they found nothing else. Guo Shier said with a smile, “Let’s go. We’re lucky today.”

Back on the surface, Xiao Feng said, “Let’s head straight to the stone pillar.”

The group struggled forward toward the stone pillar. Although this place used to be a city, it now resembled a jungle, covered with rubble, weeds, and bushes.

Suddenly, Guo Shier felt a surge of panic—it was the fluctuation of his soul, similar to the feeling of plummeting down a high-speed roller coaster. He whispered, “Wait, something’s wrong…” He urged everyone to hide behind a pile of rocks. Xiao Feng asked curiously, “What’s wrong? Did you notice something odd?”

The group crouched beside a huge green stone. Guo Shier said softly, “I don’t feel right. Wait a moment—I just sense something’s off.”

The others didn’t understand, and Guo Shier himself didn’t know why his soul was reacting so intensely. They looked around, and Huo Bao said doubtfully, “I don’t see anything wrong. Shier, what’s going on?”

Guo Shier couldn’t help but recall his past life, when he had experienced similar terrifying sensations, especially on the battlefield. These instincts had saved him many times. He said sternly, “Stop talking! Wait!” Huo Bao had never seen Guo Shier this serious and immediately fell silent.

“Uncle Xiao Feng, please go to the stone pillar quickly. Go warn my master… I just feel something’s wrong. Don’t ask why. You’re fast—hide here while we keep my master and the others concealed.”

Xiao Feng hesitated, as he was responsible for protecting Guo Shier.

“Go quickly!”

Guo Shier’s angry expression was a bit terrifying. Though he was still a child, his aura was by no means weak. Xiao Feng nodded helplessly and said, “Don’t run around! I’ll be back in a moment!”
Guo Shier grabbed him tightly and said, “Remember that basement from earlier? If something unexpected happens, we’ll hide there. Uncle Xiao Feng, be careful.”
Xiao Feng nodded and dashed off. Without the drag of Guo Shier and the others, his speed increased several times over, and in the blink of an eye, he disappeared into the bushes.
Guo Shier sat down and said, “Let’s rest for a while. Stay hidden and speak in low voices!”
Chen Hong was so scared that her face turned pale. She said, “Shier, what exactly happened? It’s so terrifying!”
Guo Shier couldn’t explain. He sighed and said, “Trust me for once. Wait here. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but it’s definitely nothing good…” He let out a long sigh. A sudden stir in his soul made him look around nervously.
“Look! What’s that?”
Several streaks of colored light flashed across the sky. Just as they appeared, a howling sound came through.
Guo Shier said anxiously, “Hurry up and hide! Don’t show yourselves!” He rubbed his eyes hard, staring at the sky in disbelief, muttering to himself, “Damn it… What is that? Is it a carriage? When did carriages start flying? This is crazy!”
In fact, what was flying in the sky wasn’t a carriage but something that resembled one—a magic chariot pulled by spirit beasts, capable of flying at low altitudes, up to a few hundred meters high, with great speed. If Li Ran were there, he would tell Guo Shier that it wasn’t a carriage but a hunting chariot, designed specifically for hunting.
Guo Shier had sharp eyes. When a hunting chariot flew by not far ahead, he clearly saw the people on it. There were six in total—the chariot was driven by an old man, with five young men standing on it.
Each of them emitted a glow of magic runes, forming a set of magical armor. They stared intently downward, with three of them holding long, thin magic instruments. Guo Shier’s pupils narrowed. He immediately realized those instruments were similar to spears but enhanced with runes, likely very powerful.
Guo Shier prayed silently that Uncle Xiao Feng would reach the stone pillar soon and inform his master and the others in time.
Huo Bao stared at the sky in shock and asked softly, “Who… who are they?”
Guo Shier glared at him fiercely, placed his finger on his lips to signal him to be quiet, and at the same time urged everyone to hide.

There were three hunting vehicles, constantly hovering in the air. Suddenly, one of them flew toward a ruin, and then two javelins were shot down. The javelins glowed with magical runes, and they exploded violently upon hitting the ground. With a loud cry, several figures scattered and ran away from the ruins, and immediately, the people in the hunting vehicles became excited.

Guo Shier said bitterly, “Someone has been discovered!”

Chen Hong asked with a pale face, “Who has been discovered?”

Guo Shier whispered, “I can’t see. I hope it’s not Master and the others. Only Master has the ability to launch long-range attacks. The others… sigh…”