Chapter 4

I don't know how big this world is, but judging by the spiritual energy in the air, it must have nurtured quite a few rare treasures.

At this thought, Jia Kedao felt an urge to leave the cave and explore.

Of course, reason made him stop in his tracks.

This was an unfamiliar world, and unfamiliarity meant potential dangers and unexpected events. Venturing out here empty-handed would likely result in his body lying in the wilderness before long.

Jia Kedao, who had lived deep in the mountains for a long time, understood this.

Back at the Taoist temple, Jia Kedao found a piece of yellow paper, wrote a few large characters on it, and stuck it outside the temple gate.

"Due to the abbot's absence on business, we temporarily decline visitors."

When Jia Kedao stepped through the black light gate again, he was wearing long boots, gaiters, and a worn-out backpack on his back, which contained ropes, roast goose, water, and other miscellaneous items.

Of course, in addition to these, Jia Kedao also brought a stack of blank yellow paper, cinnabar, a writing brush, and over ten prepared talismans. He also carried a machete in his hand.

To be honest, Jia Kedao, dressed in his Taoist robe, looked quite out of place. If the villagers from Jia Shan Village saw him, they might think that this Mingyang Taoist had gone mad.

Leaving the cave, Jia Kedao headed towards the distant wheat fields.

Without a doubt, where there were wheat fields, there were people. Jia Kedao needed to find someone to ask about the situation here.

After walking through two wheat fields, a small path appeared between them. Jia Kedao looked at the traces left on the path, chose a direction, and followed the path between the wheat fields.

There were more than a dozen suns in the sky, but the weather wasn't too hot, which made Jia Kedao feel somewhat relieved. If it were like the sun on Earth, this place would probably be a hell.

The wheat was in the grain-filling stage, which suggested it was around early May, a bit different from the time on Earth.

As he walked, when Jia Kedao started to sweat a little, he saw a wisp of smoke in the distance, which made him smile. It seemed he wasn't far from where people lived.

After a short run, Jia Kedao left the wheat fields. However, to his great surprise, when he emerged from the fields, he realized that the smoke wasn't from a kitchen but from a small town, where thick smoke was rising.

In front of Jia Kedao, the small town was engulfed in flames, and the sounds of battle were deafening!

Without hesitation, Jia Kedao turned and retreated into the wheat fields.

Perhaps due to the abundant spiritual energy, the wheat in the fields was much stronger than the varieties on Earth, nearly as tall as a person. Even standing up, Jia Kedao's head barely protruded above the wheat, so he didn't have to worry about being discovered.

Several hundred meters away, the small town was enveloped in thick smoke, with screams and battle cries echoing from time to time. Dozens of cavalrymen circled outside the town, continuously throwing short spears with burning materials over the walls. Over two hundred infantrymen with long spears were scattered around the town, seemingly to prevent the enemy from escaping.

Occasionally, a few archers would appear on the town walls, shooting arrows.

The town's resistance was already in a futile stage.

Although the cavalrymen were only wearing ordinary leather armor and their horses were fast, it was difficult for the arrows from the walls to hit them. The cavalrymen's counterattacks were extremely sharp; any archer who showed their head and reacted slowly would be hit by several short spears and fall from the wall.

This was the first real battle Jia Kedao had ever seen. Since he was at a distance, he wasn't afraid and watched with great interest. He also had a preliminary understanding of the world he was in. From the architecture of the town and the attire of the cavalry and infantry, it seemed to be a world similar to medieval Europe, at least in this region.

He never thought he would end up in a world of barbarians. Jia Kedao watched the battle with a hint of disdain.

Unlike his peers who admired Western and Japanese cultures, Jia Kedao was a complete Sinophile. Apart from his daily rituals, meditation, and talisman drawing, his favorite pastime was reading history books at the village primary school library, especially those that recorded the glorious victories of the Han and Tang dynasties over foreign tribes.

Stories like Wang Xuance's single-handed conquest of a country and Chen Tang's defeat of the Xiongnu were classics he never tired of. The idea of the Tang Dynasty as the center of the world, with all nations paying homage, made his blood boil.

Whenever the newspapers mentioned international affairs, Jia Kedao would inwardly scoff. Japan and South Korea had begged the Chinese Empire for mercy hundreds of years ago, and the Western countries were nothing but barbaric lands filled with savages!

Of course, Jia Kedao's mindset was entirely shaped by the old abbot, who had instilled in him a deep appreciation for ancient texts and Taoist classics. Even if he had any thoughts of admiring foreign cultures, they were quickly suppressed by the old abbot.

I've digressed a bit. Jia Kedao arrived a bit late, and soon the battle in the town entered its final stages. After all, a town with fewer than five hundred people couldn't resist dozens of cavalrymen and over two hundred infantrymen for long.

The archers on the walls were quickly killed by the cavalrymen's short spears. After a while, not a single person could be seen on the walls. Even if a few archers remained, they didn't dare show their heads to become targets.

"Praise the great Aikansi!"

A cavalryman holding a long spear, who seemed to be of high rank, shouted and then spurred his horse toward the town gate.

Jia Kedao noticed that although the man's words were strange and unfamiliar, he could understand them. However, the next scene changed his perception of this barbaric world a bit.

The cavalryman, who appeared to be the leader, approached the town gate, less than fifty meters away. He took a short spear from the saddle, raised it high, and a white light flashed on his right arm as he threw the spear.

In an instant, the short spear, with a loud whistling sound, pierced the wooden gate.

With a loud explosion, the wooden gate, as if hit by a rocket launcher, shattered into pieces.

Although the wooden gate wasn't very thick, the fact that a short spear less than a meter long could easily shatter it wasn't something that should happen in an ordinary world.

Seeing this, Jia Kedao felt a chill run down his spine.

Damn, are these even humans? They're like human rocket launchers.

Jia Kedao calculated that he could dodge such an attack, but if several such powerful cavalrymen attacked him simultaneously, he would find it hard to escape.