Chapter 3: The Enemy (Part 1)

Guo Shier had not felt such tension in a long time; his heart was pounding wildly. He had come to regard Luo Jie and the others as his family, and in less than a year, he had fully integrated into this group. Watching the flying vehicles in the sky attack recklessly below filled him with rage.
“Who are they? Why are they attacking us?”
Chen Bing bit her lip tightly and forced out a word through gritted teeth.
Guo Shier kept muttering, “I hope Master and the others can escape… I hope…” He didn’t even consider resisting. His instinct told him that Master and the others were no match for those three flying vehicles.
There were only eighteen people on the three vehicles, but their equipment was top-notch—almost all things Guo Shier had never seen before. Especially the flying vehicles, which could actually fly in the air, which seemed unbelievable to him. He had seen flying machines before—in his past life, there were not only airplanes but also rocket ships in the sky. But this place was different; it was a highly backward world, and the flying vehicles before him far exceeded his imagination.
Even if Luo Jie reached the level of a great spellcaster, he could only hover a few meters in the air and couldn’t fly freely. The flying vehicles were extremely fast and very agile in chasing their prey. Those on the ground, whether humans or beasts, found it difficult to fight back, as they were attacked from above, leaving the fleeing ones with no choice but to dodge and unable to resist.
It was a frustrating way of fighting. Through the cracks in the stone, Guo Shier could clearly see the people on the vehicles shooting spears one after another. Those spears were like rocket launchers from his past life—whenever they hit a target, it would explode violently. Soon, he heard a shrill scream; he didn’t know who had been hit.
Guo Shier’s expression grew darker, his breathing grew heavier, and his body trembled slightly. Seeing this, Chen Hong thought Guo Shier was scared, but in fact, he was furious. She reached out and grabbed his wrist, trying to comfort him. Guo Shier glanced at Chen Hong and immediately understood what she meant, shaking his head slightly. Chen Hong was shocked instead, as Guo Shier’s eyes were red.
Huo Bao looked eager to jump in, which annoyed Guo Shier greatly. He whispered, “Let’s retreat back to that basement! This place is too dangerous! If we get hit by those spears, we’ll all be finished!”
“We should go help them!”

Guo Shier pushed him hard and whispered, “Nonsense! Just by not dragging them into this, you’re already helping the most! Find a way to get me back!”
Huo Bao was also frightened by Guo Shier’s blood-red eyes and muttered softly, “Let’s go then. Why be so fierce? Uh, why is Shier so angry…” Strangely, he didn’t even think of resisting and quietly followed Guo Shier as they retreated. The group moved very carefully, trying to hide in the bushes and grass as they sneaked forward.
Before they could go far, a blue light wheel rushed toward the hunting cart—Luo Jie had finally taken action.
Thorn Sky Wheel!
Luo Jie used his most powerful single-target attack right away. Three Thorn Sky Wheels flew straight at the nearest hunting cart, the most aggressive one among them.
The Thorn Sky Wheels were incredibly fast, hitting the cart in the blink of an eye. Luo Jie timed his attack perfectly, hitting it directly. The Thorn Sky Wheels crashed heavily onto the cart, causing countless talismanic lights to flash as they tried to resist its impact. But even though they managed to neutralize one Thorn Sky Wheel, two more followed, instantly breaking through the cart’s defenses and causing it to explode.
The five people on the cart leaped out. It turned out that the spirit of the talismanic beast pulling the cart, under the command of the cart driver, quickly lifted the five people who had jumped out. After a brief pause, they landed safely on the ground. Suddenly, a loud shout rang out: “Shoot!” Countless talismanic arrows flew at them like swarms of locusts.
This kind of coordination was the result of years of：understanding. between Luo Jie and his team. There was no need to speak—once Luo Jie took action, the others knew exactly how to respond.
Fortunately, Xiao Feng had warned them in advance, so Luo Jie and the others quickly hid, but they didn’t have time to inform everyone. Another squad was discovered by the people on the cart, triggering an attack. Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan were furious. They had planned everything carefully before launching the ambush.
Luo Jie suddenly struck, destroying one of the opponent’s carts first, then continued with three more Thorn Sky Wheels, targeting another approaching cart. His timing was impeccable, truly astonishing.
When the second cart exploded, the third cart quickly dodged, never daring to approach recklessly again.
This was a life-or-death struggle with no possibility of peace—either you killed me or I killed you. As soon as the people on the cart landed, talismanic arrows flew at them like arrows, causing screams of pain as some were hit.

The opponent’s equipment was excellent; it was unclear what kind of rune armor they wore, as their entire bodies glowed with the light of runes. Whenever rune arrows touched the armor, countless runes surged forth to counteract the impact of the arrows. Yet they hadn’t expected such a large number of arrows to be fired. When the armor couldn’t fully neutralize them, they inevitably got hit and injured.

Two chariots were destroyed, and twelve people fell, landing in two separate places. Although not far apart, it wasn’t easy for them to reunite. At that moment, Qi Nanshan went berserk. He and Luo Jie became furious because two rune warriors had died, both killed by spears—this was what prompted the two elders to launch an angry attack.

Qi Nanshan shot forward like an arrow, racing along the ground toward the six people nearest to him. He held a long sword, a relatively rare high-grade rune weapon. With a roar, he swung the sword horizontally, creating a huge silver fan-shaped blade, attempting to slice through his enemies in one strike.

Those men also had extensive combat experience. Seeing Qi Nanshan’s sword swing toward them, two of them suddenly stepped forward, each producing a massive rune shield. The blade struck the shields with great force. Those two never imagined how powerful that strike would be.

Bang! Bang!

With two loud explosions, the two shield-wielders were sent flying like inflated balls, rolling through the air before spewing blood. Great rune warriors weren’t ordinary weaklings; even if they weren’t among the best, they were still formidable opponents. That single strike severely injured them.

Qi Nanshan roared, “Die!”

This time, he targeted the young man who had thrown the spear most viciously earlier. He brought down his sword with a clean, decisive swing, like a curtain of light. The old man beside the young man suddenly jumped up and kicked him away, but slightly too slowly. The young man was still hit by the blade, losing one foot as he let out a pained scream.

With one slash, a foot was severed. The young man writhed in agony, clutching his thigh. That old man, the one who had been driving the chariot, lunged at Qi Nanshan, shouting, “You deserve to die!” The two collided head-on, and with a loud crash, they both flew back. Qi Nanshan managed to stay steady, but the old man couldn’t—there was still a gap in their strength—as he too spat out blood.

Qi Nanshan was incredibly strong. He steadied himself slightly and charged at them again.

Suddenly, someone screamed and stumbled away, it was a woman’s voice. Qi Nanshan did not chase after her; instead, he rushed toward the old man, not believing that this guy could be stronger than himself. Two martial artists nearby pursued the fleeing woman. Qi Nanshan rushed at the old man like the wind and swung his sword without hesitation. The old man screamed, “How dare you kill us… Ah!” Before he could finish his threat, Qi Nanshan beheaded him with a single strike. Qi Nanshan sneered, “Once you start fighting, you must be prepared to die!” He lunged at the other man like a storm. The man turned pale with fear and cried, “Stop! Stop! You…” Qi Nanshan swung his sword backward with force, causing a loud explosion as the attacker was flung aside. Unfazed, he continued his charge, crashing into the man before he could finish speaking. There was a series of cracking sounds as the man’s bones shattered completely; he flew through the air before crashing to the ground, his fate unknown. For anyone to be attacked up close by a powerful martial artist was an extremely terrifying thing. In just a few dozen seconds, six people were dead or severely injured. The six people on the other side were in just as bad shape—they were surrounded by a group of martial artists. Instead of engaging in direct combat, they kept firing magic arrows. Luo Jie used long-range attacks to quickly end the battle. Seeing these twelve people wiped out, the only remaining vehicle in the sky fled in panic and soon disappeared over the horizon. Luo Jie said seriously, “Clean up the battlefield. We need to find the twelve!” He knew things were bad—those three flying vehicles were manned by people whose strength was comparable to, or slightly weaker than, that of the martial artists. But they had powerful equipment, and it was clear these were just three groups. If there were a dozen such groups, the situation would become serious. “Let’s go!” Qi Nanshan’s expression was grim. Two of his martial artists were dead, one was seriously injured, and a few were lightly injured. Although they had killed over a dozen people who had attacked them without reason, he was still extremely angry. In this secret realm, it was rare to encounter enemies who attacked recklessly without any reason. “There’s still one alive!” one of the martial artists reported. Qi Nanshan said, “Kill him!” Luo Jie shouted, “Wait, capture him and take him with us!” Qi Nanshan was furious. He said, “Old man, do we really need to spare his life?” Luo Jie replied, “It’s not about sparing his life. I want to know who they are! We forgot to ask earlier. Luckily, there’s still one alive.”

Qin Nanshan nodded and said, “I also forgot to kill them. Damn it… Who are these people? They just attack without asking questions. Do they really think we’re prey?”
The group quickly retreated. Guo Shier and the others were caught before they could return to the basement. Luo Jie shouted, “Shier, are you okay?” He stepped forward, grabbed Guo Shier, and examined him from head to toe. His worried expression moved Guo Shier deeply, making him realize the old man truly cared about him.
Guo Shier said, “Master, I’m fine! Next… where to go? We can’t stay here!”
Apart from Guo Shier and the five children, the others here were all seasoned veterans who weren’t afraid of battle. Luo Jie nodded and said, “Let’s enter the forest; maybe we can hide there.”
A vast forest surrounded the ruins. Guo Shier stared thoughtfully at the ground beneath his feet.
Luo Jie asked, “What’s wrong?”
Guo Shier replied, “The traces we left are very obvious. They can easily track us!”