TGA Chapter 118

Liu Jun finished counting the people, and the group prepared to return.

Outside the cave, several vehicles were parked together. Besides the Chinese personnel, the area was desolate and uninhabited.

Xu Zaiyuan had safely escaped from the cave. As he walked toward the cars with the others, he began to talk about what he had discovered inside: “When I went in to place the key just now, I found that the cave contains a formation meant to injure—it’s likely not just protecting the site…”

Liu Jun was about to open the car door when he suddenly caught a glint of light in the rearview mirror. His eyes narrowed sharply with alertness, and he immediately ordered, “Zaiyuan, wait a moment.”

“What is it?” Chu Qianli’s fingers twitched instinctively. She immediately sensed that something was wrong, no wonder Liu Jun’s expression had changed so drastically.

Mei Rujing and Tan Muxing were also momentarily stunned, using their peripheral vision to scan their surroundings.

All around them was deathly silent—nothing but vast whiteness from the snow, with occasional black rocks exposed—seemingly devoid of any human presence.

Liu Jun signaled to the nearby armed police officers with his eyes. They promptly went out to investigate. He decisively switched to a different vehicle, opened the door of a five-seat off-road car, and commanded, “You all take this one—get in, now!”

Chu Qianli and the others didn’t dare delay. They quickly jumped into the car, slamming the doors shut with swift movements.

Liu Jun also got into the driver’s seat and gestured to the remaining armed police.

The next second, gunshots rang out—chaos erupted!

Three or four unfamiliar off-road vehicles surged out from hidden spots and began attacking the archaeological team. But they hadn’t anticipated that the Chinese personnel were already prepared.

Liu Jun stomped on the gas pedal. He decisively drove the car away, bursting out of the battlefield with his passengers under cover fire from his comrades!

Mei Rujing sat in the backseat and looked behind at the others. “What about them?”

A fierce gunfight was clearly about to break out behind them. The once silent snowfield now echoed with relentless gunfire.

“The key in your hands is the real target!” Liu Jun said. “As long as we escape successfully, they won’t fight to the death.”

Pan Yicheng had already warned them that various factions were stirring, and had told Liu Jun to stay on high alert. Now, it was unclear which group was provoking them.

Xu Zaiyuan sat in the front passenger seat, helping to check their direction. He said, “We can head east, toward the embassy.”

“No, they know we’ll try to go east. These people can also use divination and deduction…” Chu Qianli frowned. “Heading back now would lead us right into a trap.”

“I’ve already called for reinforcements, but it’ll take a bit more time,” Liu Jun said, watching the black vehicle trailing them in the rearview mirror. His voice was low and steady. “As long as we shake off that one, we’ll be fine.”

Most of the attackers’ vehicles had been held back by the armed police. Only one black off-road vehicle pursued them persistently. Judging by its unwavering course, it likely held skilled diviners who had determined that the vehicle with Chu Qianli and the others was the most crucial.

Liu Jun had also arranged for companions to drive a seven-seater vehicle as a decoy, but the black vehicle seemed fixated on them.

Moments later, the sound of sharp impacts rang out on the roof and back of the car, like a torrential rainstorm lashing against the windows at night. Chu Qianli shrank her neck in alarm.

She hadn’t eaten pork, but she’d seen pigs run—she wasn’t naive enough to think this was rain. It was obvious someone was shooting at their vehicle!

Someone on the black off-road vehicle had leaned out and taken aim, trying to stop them from escaping.

“Persistent bastards,” Liu Jun muttered, gripping the steering wheel. He signaled to Xu Zaiyuan, “Open the drawer, hand me one!”

Xu Zaiyuan immediately obeyed. Inside the drawer, firearms gleamed coldly, exuding a chilling, metallic luster like ice.

As soon as Liu Jun took the gun, he responded with experienced precision, firing back without hesitation to intimidate the pursuing black vehicle!

The remote snow-covered roads were slick and not suited for high-speed driving. Chu Qianli could clearly feel the car swaying and panicked. “We’re not going to flip, are we?”

“That’s hard to say. The road itself is slippery,” Liu Jun said. Not only did he have to drive on an icy road, but he also had to dodge the hail of bullets coming from behind the car, clearly making things even more difficult.

The car wheels sped over the residual snow, but they still couldn’t shake off the black ghost following behind.

Two vehicles sped one after another toward the edge of a cliff. Tall trees surrounded the area, casting eerie shadows.

Tan Muxing, seeing the giant snow-covered trees on either side of the road, suddenly lowered the car window, reached toward the person in the front seat, and said softly, “Please hand me one.”

Xu Zaiyuan reflexively handed him a gun. Only after he had given it did he realize the person behind him wasn’t Liu Jun.

Liu Jun was focused on driving and couldn’t turn around to stop him, so he hurriedly said, “Hey, that’s a real gun…”

But Tan Muxing had already leaned out to shoot. He moved swiftly and fired several shots—not at the black SUV behind them, but at the tree branches that were about to connect.

The next moment, snow from the trees collapsed in an avalanche-like fashion, directly falling on the black vehicle behind and blocking the driver’s view!

The driver of the black vehicle quickly turned his head, trying to follow their direction, but due to the slippery ground, the car swerved uncontrollably and finally flipped over at the edge of the slope!

The black SUV tilted and slid down the slope. The people inside hurriedly abandoned the car to save themselves.

Liu Jun seized the opportunity and made a sharp turn, then quickly sped off through a shortcut, successfully shaking off the pursuers.

Glancing in the rearview mirror, Liu Jun saw the black car in chaos and said admiringly, “Nice one! You actually know how to shoot. Even though you missed the car, that was a lucky accident!”

Liu Jun thought Tan Muxing was trying to shoot the car but accidentally hit the tree instead, which happened to help them escape. After all, shooting accurately from a moving vehicle is extremely difficult—nearly impossible for ordinary people.

Mei Rujing looked surprised. “I’ve always had a feeling you have some sort of bodyguard attribute.”

The last time Tan Muxing had gone berserk and punched a strong man had already left a strong impression on Mei Rujing.

Chu Qianli’s eyes lit up as she exclaimed, “Xingxing is self-taught!”

Tan Muxing obediently returned the gun to its place. Facing the admiring gazes of everyone in the car, he said quietly, “Well, not exactly…”

“Was it something you learned during military training?”

“No, actually, my family used to push me to lose weight. So I ended up attending some scattered training sessions,” Tan Muxing said, lowering his head awkwardly. “I picked up some skills that aren’t really useful in our country.”

Back then, in their effort to help Tan Muxing lose weight, his family tried all sorts of unconventional methods. They even sent him to do rock climbing and wilderness survival training. Since such activities were rare domestically, they enrolled him in overseas summer camps, which naturally led him to a shooting club.

If it had been any other kid, they might have complained endlessly. But Tan Muxing had a gentle personality and endured everything obediently—though the weight didn’t come off, he ended up acquiring a few skills that most people would never use.

“Well, they came in handy this time, didn’t they? It was worth coming here after all,” Liu Jun said as he glanced at the car’s navigation system. “We’re pretty close to the compass key point now. Some of our people are stationed there—let’s go meet them.”

Since they’d shaken off the black SUV, it wasn’t wise to return to the embassy right away—they might get ambushed again. So instead, they headed for the base where the compass was located.

Moments later, after a bumpy ride, Chu Qianli and the others reached their destination. Liu Jun sent a message to Pan Yicheng and the team, then quickly got an update on the situation.

“There’s one good news and one bad,” he said.

“The good news is, those people didn’t chase us for long. Once they saw things weren’t going their way, they fled by car. Some of our people sustained minor injuries, but overall things are under control.” Liu Jun frowned. “The bad news is, the person holding the Rune Stone was captured. But fortunately, he had already placed the key before being taken. Now, four of the seven stars are aligned.”

Abner had originally assigned the Rune Stone to Joe, given its intricate connection to the runes. Joe was indeed the most suitable person. No one expected him to be ambushed.

Today, both Joe and Abner went to place keys. After Xu Zaiyuan successfully placed the peachwood sword, Joe and Abner completed their tasks one after the other.

Chu Qianli was shocked. “Was it that Guardian God again? Why is he always the one getting unlucky?”

Mei Rujing added, “Last time he got randomly beaten up too.”

“It’s said someone also tried to steal the pendulum, but the person holding it managed to escape into the ruins and avoided being caught,” Liu Jun said. “We were lucky to stay together and not split up—otherwise, we might not have made it.”

Chu Qianli and the others had just finished dealing with the Three Pure Bells and then came by car to see the peachwood sword, effectively bringing the core team together.

Abner had even used the pendulum to divine Joe’s whereabouts. His life wasn’t currently in danger, but they couldn’t determine where he had been taken. The attackers clearly had someone skilled in divination techniques—good at both finding people and locating objects—so they naturally had countermeasures in place.

“Professor Pan has gone to negotiate with Mondson to investigate where those attackers came from.”

Country H is vast and sparsely populated, so it’s possible someone deliberately crossed the border to disrupt the exploration of the ruins. Of course, the Chinese side also suspected Mondson of crying thief while being one himself—but since the missing key originally belonged to them, it didn’t seem like they had a reason to do so.

“If the key to the ruins is completely lost, then the gate must be opened within seven days, or there won’t be another chance,” Xu Zaiyuan said calmly.

Joe and the Rune Stone had been taken away, and it was hard to say when they’d be found. If the ruins weren’t opened within seven days, gathering the keys again might become a distant possibility.

Chu Qianli calculated on her fingers, then mused, “The problem is, there are seven slots, and even if all the keys are placed, there’s still one slot left.”

The crystal ball had been placed atop a stone pillar in front of the Gate of Truth. After it was placed, they saw the alignment of the seven stars and also noticed seven empty slots. Even after placing the remaining six keys, there would still be one missing. It was unclear where the discrepancy came from.

Chu Qianli tried to divine the origin of the last slot, but each time she did, she got a headache. The images of the corridor left a lasting impression on her, somehow suppressing her usual abilities.

Tan Muxing noticed something was off and asked worriedly, “Is it hurting again?”

Xu Zaiyuan added, “The texts and images in the tunnel yesterday might have had a transformative effect.”

“Transformative effect?”

“That’s right. Someone wants to enlighten us through that path, but we just haven’t been able to comprehend it yet.”

When the time isn’t right, enlightenment is useless; once the opportunity passes, the connection is gone. The headaches they get while trying to deduce the secrets of the ruins might indicate that they’re simply not skilled enough yet.

“When I placed the key, I saw quite a few Taoist spells,” Xu Zaiyuan said. “There were chants for teaching and also arrays meant to harm. It seems the builders had conflicting intentions.”

Logically, items like the Three Pure Bells were passed down by patriarch-level figures of various sects. If they had known their successors would come, they should have treated the later generations more kindly. Yet the ruthless traps showed no mercy at all.

“So if your abilities aren’t strong enough, you don’t even get to try opening it?” Chu Qianli rubbed her temples to ease the pain. She then rummaged through Tan Muxing’s bag and pulled out the compass, searching for the entrance to the key placement point. “Since we already have four, let’s make it five.”

Tan Muxing was taken aback. “You mean place it today?”

Originally, they had planned to complete the compass and tarot key placements tomorrow. They hadn’t expected an ambush in the evening.

Now that Joe’s whereabouts were unknown, it signaled increasing danger ahead—and placing the remaining keys might become even more difficult.

“We’re already here,” Chu Qianli said, holding the compass and lowering her head to confirm the direction. She added, “Five hundred years of imperial exams, three hundred years of mock tests—we might as well take a look at the test bank our ancestors left behind.”