A Guide to Surviving the Mysterious Dungeon and the Twelve Talismans

"How could Instructor Zhou and Aunt Wang, such good people, have given birth to such a useless son?"

"Yes, it has completely disgraced the Zhou family and our entire village."

"I heard that I'm going to be sent to the wilderness to be a tower guard. That's a tough job."

“A tough job? That’s impossible to survive. The watchtower won’t last more than a few days.”

"If we had enough fire, it would be possible, but unfortunately..."

The villagers were all thin and weak, and they were all talking in hushed tones.

Zhou An followed the two men step by step to the edge of the village, and finally got into a horse-drawn carriage.

He didn't say a word the whole time, he just kept looking around the village.

The village has an unusual layout; it is circular and built around a giant bonfire platform at its center.

There wasn't even any fence or wall on the outermost edge.

This is completely illogical.

“Eternal Night Continent, Eternal Night… and what those villagers said about keeping the watchtower lit, the flame…” Zhou An vaguely guessed some information.

I have too little information in my head right now, that's a fatal flaw, there's nothing I can do about it.

At this moment, Zhou An's gaze fell on the man watching him from the side.

"Should we intervene and restrain them, then interrogate them about the situation?"

As soon as the idea came to him, Zhou An immediately abandoned it.

He had just entered the instance and had no information at all. If he acted rashly, it would be bad if he caused trouble.

This instance was completely different from the instances he had experienced before; nothing could be deduced from common sense.

"Let's complete the first phase of the mission first." Zhou An already had a preliminary plan.

After the first night, Zhou An could simply run back to the village.

Zhou An looked up at the sky; the sun had just risen not long ago.

I don't know when we'll get to the watchtower.

But judging from what they say about the border, it's probably not close.

An hour later.

"Whoa! Da Niu, you drive the carriage, I'm taking a break." Tie Shan stopped the carriage.

"Tieshan, it's only been half an hour..." Da Niu said irritably.

"It's so hot in this weather, and there's no shelter to block the heat. Let's switch every half hour." Tieshan didn't care about anything else and climbed directly onto the car behind.

Although it is a horse-drawn carriage, it is not the kind of passenger carriage with a canopy, but a cargo carriage.

There were two bags of grain on the cart, which were probably for Zhou An to eat.

The two quickly switched places, and the carriage started moving again.

"Brother Shan, how far is the watchtower?" Zhou An, who had been silent the whole way, finally spoke up.

Tieshan looked at Zhou An in surprise and said, "Zhou An, you've finally spoken. You haven't said a word the whole way, and I thought you were mute."

"We should arrive in about an hour and a half."

The carriage had traveled for half an hour before, and there was still one and a half hours left, which meant the total distance the carriage would need to travel for two hours.

The carriage was traveling at about 20 kilometers per hour, which means that the watchtower was a full 80 kilometers away from the village.

"The talisman hasn't been drawn yet; it should be drawn when we get to the watchtower."

"Let's see what kind of talisman I can draw this time." Zhou An couldn't help but feel a little excited.

Any talisman, except for the sheep talisman, can be very effective.

The three of them remained silent throughout the journey, simply continuing on their way.

Finally, at noon, the carriage arrived at the so-called border.

Zhou An also recognized the so-called boundary area at a glance.

Before them stretched a vast, boundless black continent, devoid of any vegetation.

In contrast, Zhou An was surrounded by lush and verdant forests that stretched as far as the eye could see.

It's as if there are two different worlds between them.

Between these two worlds stands a watchtower ten feet tall.

The watchtower was covered with terrifying claw marks, clearly inflicted by some unknown entity.

At the very top of the watchtower is a glass bead the size of a foot basin.

The glass surface is also covered with some peculiar inscriptions.

Of course, glass here should be called glazed glass.

Not only are there inscriptions on the glass beads, but there are also inscriptions on the tower itself, but for some reason, they have become blurred.

"We've finally arrived." Da Niu and Tie Shan breathed a sigh of relief.

"Get off the vehicle, get off the vehicle, and take your food with you."

The two of them urged Zhou An on.

Zhou An immediately stepped forward and took the two bags of grain down.

Immediately afterwards, Da Niu and Tie Shan drove away without stopping for a moment.

Clearly, they didn't want to stay here any longer.

Upon seeing this, Zhou An curled his lip and immediately carried two bags of grain to the watchtower.

The watchtower door wasn't locked, and Zhou An pushed it open and went inside.

A strong smell of smoke and dust wafted over.

Zhou An looked around and saw that the space inside was not small, and there were quite a few things inside.

There was a bed, a table, and even a stove in the corner, complete with pots, pans, and utensils.

There is also a spiral wooden staircase on the side, leading upwards.

[Host detected entering the instance. Draw a talisman?]

"Extract." Zhou An's lips curled up slightly as he silently recited the command.

[Talisman drawing in progress... Congratulations, host, you have drawn the Monkey Talisman]

"Is it a monkey talisman?" Zhou An was slightly taken aback.

【Monkey Talisman】: Can transform any target, including oneself, others, or objects, into various forms.

Zhou An's lips curled up slightly; this dungeon was going to be quite interesting.

With the Monkey Talisman, Zhou An can transform into any form, whether it be rocks, soil, grass, trees, or animals.

It can even transform into eerie creatures and monsters.

Moreover, this is not just a simple transformation, but a fundamental change that cannot be detected; at most, the strength cannot be altered.

Should the Monkey Talisman be equipped?

Another notification sounded in my mind.

"Yes." Zhou An immediately began assembling the equipment.

In the next instant, a white light flashed and landed on Zhou An's chest, transforming into a monkey talisman rune.

The runes quickly disappeared into Zhou An's body.

A surge of power welled up within me.

With a thought, Zhou An transformed into the shape of Iron Mountain.

He pinched the muscles on his body; they were real, not fake.

Moreover, he did not feel any discomfort.

Then Zhou An transformed into a bull, a horse, a bed, and later even a car.

"Powerful, this monkey talisman is very powerful." Zhou An came to this conclusion after reverting to human form.

With a thought, Zhou Anxin's benevolent and malevolent forms emerged from his body.

"You two clean this place up, I'll go upstairs and take a look," Zhou An instructed.

Neither the malevolent nor the benevolent entity said anything; they simply took action.

Zhou An, on the other hand, went up the stairs.

Before long, Zhou An reached the highest point.

There was a door with an iron bolt. Zhou An pulled it open and walked out.

This is a lookout tower where you can see into the distance; it's surrounded by railings.

There are also some supports above, which hold the glass ball at the highest point.

Zhou An looked up into the distance, where a desolate continent stretched out before him, its atmosphere heavy with oppressive clouds.

Zhou An turned his head to look at the other side, where lush green vegetation was very pleasing to the eye.

"It seems the danger tonight comes from this desolate continent." Zhou An withdrew his gaze and then looked at the glass sphere.

Zhou An thought for a moment, then climbed up the support and reached out to touch the glass ball.

[Fire Seed]: This is the fire seed that shines with light. As long as the fire seed is extinguished, evil spirits cannot invade. It is just a pity that there is very little power left in it, and it can only last for one day at most.

Zhou An frowned; this thing was almost out of power.

"Wait a minute... I have a horse talisman." Zhou An's eyes lit up, and he immediately pressed it to activate the horse talisman.

The next instant, a flash of white light disappeared.

The spark instantly transformed into a crimson fireball.

No, it's not a fireball, but a spark filled with power, which manifests as flames.