The young officer now had not a trace of authority left. His once-smooth clothes were more damaged than anyone else’s, his face covered in sweat and dirt, yet his eyes still held a look of disdain. “Now you know how terrifying the snake demon is, right? I have a way to get out of the forest safely.”

“You?” Jack stood before him with hands on hips. “If you had a way, you would’ve escaped by yourself already.”

The officer stood up, about the same height as Jack, and didn’t look particularly sturdy. “That’s because you all took my things.”

“That’s not stealing. You’re a prisoner, so your things belong to us. Didn’t you take all our stuff when you caught us?” Jack retorted immediately. The other boys all agreed with him—even though the “spoils” had already been discarded, they insisted on their simple right.

The officer had a stomach full of words, but in the end, it all came out as a short snort. He’d always considered himself an adult, too proud to argue with children. “Fine, the stuff is yours. But do you know how to use it?” His gaze swept over them and landed on Brian Smith. “Do you still have those paper talismans?”

“Paper talismans?” Brian Smith patted himself down and pulled out the stack of papers. “These are called paper talismans? Are they worth anything?”

The officer didn’t answer Brian Smith’s question. His eyes shifted between Jack and Eric, trying to figure out who was the leader of the group. Finally, he said to Jack, “Give me back the paper talismans, and I’ll lead you past the snake demon and out of the forest. That snake demon seems a bit strange to me—maybe it’s already been corrupted by a demonic seed. The farther away from it, the better.”

“Why didn’t you use the paper talismans in the first place?” Jack eyed the young officer warily, remembering his earlier viciousness toward both himself and Grace.

The officer’s dirty face didn’t change expression. “Well… the talismans can only be used to evade demons, not to kill them. Give them back to me. The snake demon will catch up sooner or later—this isn’t a place to linger.”

Jack reached out to Brian Smith. “Give them to me.”

Brian Smith hesitated a little. “There are quite a few—give you all of them?”

“I’ll just hold onto them for now. They’ll still be yours later.”

Only then did Brian Smith hand them over to Jack with relief.

Jack counted them—twelve paper talismans in all. The paper was white with a faint yellow tint, and the symbols on them were jet black, as if freshly written. He couldn’t even recognize normal characters, let alone these mysterious symbols. “Tell me which one to use, and how?”

The officer laughed. “You must be joking. Even the most basic talismans can’t be used by people like you. Besides, these are all high-quality talismans…”

“What’s wrong with people like us? Are we missing an arm or a leg? Didn’t we catch you and make you a prisoner?”

The officer shook his head slowly, but seeing the unfriendly looks around him, he changed his tune. “The third one is an invisibility talisman, the seventh is a direction talisman. Hold it between your index and middle fingers, give it a flick up and down—don’t use too much force. If the talisman can catch fire, it’ll release its magic. If it doesn’t burn—then you can’t use it.”

Jack picked out the seventh one first and tried flicking it as the officer described. The talisman just rustled—there wasn’t even a spark.

“Let me try.” Bruce Smith said, but the result was the same. The boys took turns, and the talismans were quite sturdy, not damaged in the least, but they didn’t burn as the officer had said.

Grace peeked out from behind Jack and whispered, “I don’t think that’s how you use paper talismans.”

“You know how?” Eric, now impatient with flicking, handed the talisman to Grace.

Grace didn’t take it. “I don’t know either, but I read in a book that you’re supposed to burn them with some kind of ritual fire, not just flick them around.”

Eric turned to the officer, growling, “Is lying fun for you? Hand over the ritual fire.”

The officer’s trick was exposed on the spot, but he didn’t care at all. He spoke in a lecturing tone, “Ritual fire can’t be handed over. You have to learn to use it yourself. For people like you… even if you’re smart, it’d probably take ten years to learn.”

Eric punched him, knocking the officer to the ground, then straddled him and started pummeling him with both fists. “That’s what you get for lying…”

All the boys were stunned. Grace shrank back behind Jack in fright. After a while, Brian Smith and the others rushed over and forcibly pulled Eric off.

Eric gave him one last kick and repeated, “That’s what you get for lying.”

The officer didn’t move. Bruce Smith bent down to look for a while, then raised his head and said timidly, “I think he’s dead.”

As soon as the word “dead” was spoken, the mood changed instantly. Even Eric looked a little scared, swallowed hard, and mumbled something no one could make out.

Brian Smith checked the officer’s nose and mouth. “He’s still breathing, just passed out.”

Eric was still angry and wanted to go hit him again, but his friends held him back tightly.

“Let’s rest for now. We’ll talk when he wakes up,” said Jack.

The boys split into two groups: Jack, Grace, Brian Smith, and Bruce Smith sat on one side, while Eric, Lance, Puppy, Paul, and Sam sat on the other. They hadn’t really played together before, and now they felt even more distant.

The sky grew darker and darker. True night had fallen. All around was silent, and the forest seemed even more treacherous. Jack suddenly stood up. “Let’s get a fire going first.”