Chapter 120

With Liu Mao gone and the new Garrison Commander not yet arrived, the government office lost its temporary master, making it the perfect landing spot. Swinging her riding crop, Chen Shu flew over the vast Yushui River just as she had done in Zhanglin Village, landing everyone directly inside the office.

The courtyard was deserted; even the usual guards watching the prison had vanished—after all, all the prisoners had drowned overnight in the great flood, so even if any magistrate’s men remained, they were likely lazing at home, enjoying the leisure.

Xu Yuan seemed a bit stiff, while Yun Shen, now “used to” Chen Shu’s bumpy carriage, showed no discomfort upon descending.

Of the remaining two, He Yu was nearly frightened out of his wits. Though the others had stepped out, he remained shaken. Yan Ji, too, felt some unease but steeled himself, spending half the journey in the carriage laughing at He Yu. At this moment, he naturally lingered inside, waiting for He Yu to recover his composure before stepping out and leading the horse expertly to the stables in the office.

Though barely a month had passed, Diancang Pass had been rebuilding from disaster. Returning now was like stepping through lifetimes. Not only had the streets and houses slowly been fixed, but the city’s drowned trees and scattered poultry now seemed to spring anew from the barren earth.

Looking out at the streets, the scene was deeply peaceful. Perhaps after surviving great calamity, anyone with a decent heart felt gratitude, so lost items lay unclaimed, doors stayed open at night, and shouts, cries, and laughter filled the air uninterruptedly.

Coming out of the office, one or two townsfolk recognized Chen Shu without her makeup and tried to greet her. How could Chen Shu manage them? She just offered an obliging smile, turned, and grabbed Xu Yuan to ask, urging him to lead everyone quickly to the talisman cultivator’s lodging.

So they hurried along and reached the first stopping point described by Xu Yuan, before the sky had dimmed.

It was no other place but a small residence within Diancang Pass.

The courtyard was quite noticeable. As soon as one entered the street where the courtyard’s entrance was located, the most eye-catching building stood out from afar.

It was not for any particular reason, but because of its exposed bricks and the half-collapsed low wall.

Indeed, the flooding at Diancang Pass had caused this talisman cultivator’s small courtyard to be washed away. Over the past two weeks, perhaps the occupant had been careless, too lazy to rebuild, or perhaps he had been busy with the Martial World Alliance and hadn’t had time to repair it. Such a small courtyard could have been cleaned up in three to five days, yet it was left in this state.

While the neighbors had all built new houses, this place still displayed the aftermath of the flood, as if time had reversed, taking them back to that day of chaos.

“Do we still need to search?” He Yu asked uncertainly.

The others exchanged glances, but only Chen Shu, disregarding everything, rushed straight into the courtyard, leaving behind a clear voice: “Search! Why not search?”

Behind her, Yun Shen followed, carefully stepping over the collapsed wall and walking into a ground littered with bricks and tiles. The remaining three exchanged looks, and before long, a shared laughter echoed between them as they all entered this dilapidated courtyard together.

Inside, there was indeed not a trace of human presence, so quiet that even the distant cooking smoke seemed dimmer.

Although it was called a small courtyard, it was truly tiny, squeezed between new walls on either side, allowing almost no sunlight to enter. The whole area was filled with rubble, and not only was there a lingering dampness after the flood, but months without activity had left a layer of dust everywhere. Just a glance made the shadows feel stifling.

They thoroughly searched the entire small courtyard, even digging three feet down and opening the damp cellar, rummaging through one half of the house after the other.

It was clear that this old man had devoted “his whole life” to the Martial World Alliance; even in his not-so-wealthy home, there were only trivial records of things related to the Alliance. The rewards and savings he had gained over the years were not much, especially considering that this waterlogged small courtyard felt quite empty.

But when everyone opened the cellar, even Chen Shu could not help but gasp in surprise.

In the dim light, only a corner’s sunlight spilled through the wooden door onto the ground in front of them, faintly illuminating the room’s setup. However, with that sliver of light, they could see the painted talismans made with vermilion and even some items that exuded an eerie aura, clearly not ordinary objects.

This man was indeed a genuine talisman cultivator.

But if he had not returned to Diancang Pass, or let’s say, if he had not returned to this small courtyard he owned and had lived in for many years, where else could he go?

Despite being clever, this talisman cultivator hadn’t lost his worldly desires; at least, from this situation, it seemed he hadn’t—did he go to such great lengths to steal valuables only to find joy in a deep mountain and old forest, day after day, among those moldy and dusty treasures?

As Chen Shu leaned forward to examine those talismans, perhaps recalling this thought, Yun Shen, the second one to descend into the cellar, silently turned to look at Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan likely understood his implication. After pausing for a moment, he said, “If this person hasn’t returned here, then he must have another place to go. After all, he has worked for the Martial World Alliance for many years. Most of those places are the outposts of our Martial World Alliance at various major sects and towns. He already had my permission, and in a hurry, he knew I wouldn’t be able to issue orders to stop him, so it’s possible he fled to another location.”

“And those outposts…” He Yu asked.

Inside the cramped cellar, his question echoed, almost stirring up the dust, causing even Chen Shu, who had reached the back, to turn around, her bright eyes fixed on Xu Yuan.

“There is one at Diancang Pass,” Xu Yuan said, then paused again before adding, “But I think he wouldn’t dare to stay directly at Diancang Pass… After all, this place sees many people coming and going. If he isn’t careful, he could easily give himself away.”

“That makes sense,” Yun Shen replied, glancing at the talismans in the room before turning and saying, “I wonder if there are… any other spots nearby besides Diancang Pass.”

“Yes, yes,” Xu Yuan replied. “I was just going to say that, besides Diancang Pass, there is also an outpost of the Martial World Alliance in Xian City nearby. Because it is the location of my Xu residence, that outpost is larger and more organized than others. I often stay in Xian City, and since he worked with me, he often stayed at my house, so he would be more familiar with Xian City.”

Yan Ji raised an eyebrow and hadn’t even stepped into the room yet before stepping aside, ready to leave at any moment. “Then let’s set off for Xian City right away.”

“But what if this person is at Diancang Pass? Wouldn’t we be missing him by just a hair?” He Yu hesitated.

“That puts us in quite a dilemma,” Xu Yuan said with a chuckle, speaking candidly. “Given the current situation, if we say we aren’t in a hurry, that would be disingenuous. But in this scenario, we can only manage to go to one place; the other may not be reached in time…”

“Why can we only go to one place?” Chen Shu, having examined the talismans on the wall, casually tore off two more, carefully inspecting the inscriptions, suddenly interjected.

“Because if this person is…” Xu Yuan began, pausing as he spoke, using a tone that he himself did not fully believe, “a ‘talisman cultivator’? He must be much faster than us. Being behind him, we’d already fallen half a day behind in the chase…”

“With so many of us, can’t we split into two teams?” Chen Shu barely listened to his reasoning, tilting her head and asking directly.

Xu Yuan halted his words, realizing and responding with an awkward smile, “That’s true.”

With this decision made, there was nothing more to find in the small courtyard. One by one, everyone crawled out from below, their faces covered in dust and dirt. When it was Yun Shen’s turn, he turned back to look at Chen Shu and seemed to notice that her gaze still lingered on the wall. He paused and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“…I just feel like some of these characters look familiar to me,” Chen Shu said. After speaking, she seemed to find it funny, shook her head, and walked forward, smiling at Yun Shen, “Never mind, it’s probably just that I haven’t seen these talismans often, so every one feels similar.”

Yun Shen’s eyelids twitched, and he couldn’t help but glance at the wall, its surface blotchy, the script scrawled like ghostly scribbles that grew more unsettling the longer he looked. His sudden sweep clearly revealed nothing, and finally, he followed Chen Shu out, chiming in as he walked, “Indeed. For such talismanic papers to have any effect, wouldn’t their characters need to look broadly similar?”

As the two finally left, shutting the door behind them, the lone shaft of sunlight into the cellar was completely blocked by the heavy wooden panel. Cool and gloomy, the cellar reclaimed its deep silence.

It seemed none had spared a moment to marvel at how this basement, buried beneath the earth, had remained so impeccably preserved amidst Diancang Pass’s great flood and the collapse of buildings overhead.

—

For a division into two groups among these treasure seekers, Xu Yuan was absolutely pivotal. Without him, the group heading to Xian City would find it impossible to locate the Martial World Alliance’s base, much less conduct any investigation.

And besides Xu Yuan, Yun Shen naturally followed Chen Shu. Though seemingly arbitrary on the surface, all five had wordlessly accepted this arrangement.

Among the five, only Chen Shu and Xu Yuan possessed martial skill sufficient to confidently confront a talisman cultivator.

Thus, Chen and Yun inevitably remained within the more familiar confines of Diancang Pass. The crux of the division then rested on He Yu and Yan Ji.

Logically, the closer ties lay with He Yu, after all he, Yun Shen, and Chen Shu had encountered each other spontaneously in Zhanglin Village and journeyed together through Ping Chao Kou. Shared experiences had forged deep familiarity. Yet as the group convened at the inn to eat lunch, before anyone could speak, Yan Ji proactively raised the matter.

“I’ll stay behind with the small macaque and Brother Yun,” he said, smiling slightly. “I’d like to see how Diancang Pass has managed to rebuild itself after the flood.”

What did the rebuilding of Diancang Pass have to do with an unscholarly martial wanderer like him? The statement was plainly a pretext.

Hearing this, He Yu’s brows even twitched in surprise. He shot Yan Ji an almost interrogative look, as if about to question him, but Chen Shu answered without a moment’s thought. Stuffed with food, she agreed casually, “Fine! Just the three of us then. After eating, Alliance Leader and Big Brother He can leave the city right away. We’ll get three rooms right here in the inn. Later, we’ll just find out where exactly the city’s Martial World Alliance base is – the place you mentioned before, Alliance Leader, right?”

“Right,” Xu Yuan said, seeming somewhat uneasy, adding, “Due to the recent chaos, Diancang Pass doesn’t have many personnel stationed. So be cautious while you investigate.”

“Just keep a low profile and be careful. Simple enough,” Yan Ji answered. Midway, however, he paused and gave Yun Shen a meaningful look. “Speaking of which, Brother Yun, those fine robes are rather eye-catching. I happen to have spare ordinary clothes, along with something to conceal one’s face. Why not change after the meal? Better safe than sorry.”

Hearing this, Yun Shen lifted his head in puzzlement before glancing down at himself. Perhaps realizing the splendid robes Chen Shu had carefully chosen for him truly did attract attention, even he gave a small laugh and shook his head. “Fair enough.”

Chen Shu, who’d been ready to defend the robe she had picked, swallowed her protest at Yun Shen’s agreement and merely retreated glumly back into her meal.

At the table, only He Yu wore an expression of inexplicable worry. He exchanged a glance with Yan Ji, pursing his lips.