Chapter 5: Ding, You Have Arrived at the Cave Abode Ruins

At first, Ye Hui only thought about completing the “Sect Enrollment Procedures” so he could monitor his cultivation progress in real time inside the villa...

But the system was uncooperative.

After the anomaly, the system no longer had any spiritual energy-based techniques or skills, and he couldn’t even activate a personal attribute panel.

Ye Hui returned home to put away his bicycle and backpack. As he strolled back, Sakura had already entered the house.

[ Ding! You have arrived at the ancient cave residence ruins. ]

[ You have long heard that the ancient cave is eerie and heavily sealed, and you know that the talented Sakura Kinomoto is very afraid of ghosts, yet you deliberately choose not to warn this favored protagonist by Heaven’s will. ]

[ You wait silently outside, fantasizing about Sakura making a fool of herself. This is all you can do... ]

Ye Hui twitched the corner of his mouth.

......

“I’m back!”

At the Kinomoto household, Sakura closed the front door behind her.

Slipping on her slippers, she hurried inside.

Suddenly, Sakura stopped, as if hearing some noise...

No one answered her call inside.

She approached the door and glanced at the notes on the whiteboard beside it.

“Back by nine... Dad’s coming home late, huh...”

Sakura’s father was an archaeology professor. Her older brother was a high school student who often worked part-time jobs.

Compared to Sakura, a young elementary school student who got home early, the two men in the household had to struggle to make a living.

Momoya had left a note saying he’d be home by seven.

Fujitaka also left a message about heating up curry for dinner and that snacks were in the fridge...

The fridge?

Sakura opened the refrigerator, about to check the pudding’s temperature, but suddenly spun around in shock again.

“Rumble... rumble...”

The strange sound grew louder.

Could it be a beast?

But there was absolutely no way a wild animal could have gotten inside the house!

“Is anyone here?”

Sakura swallowed nervously, feeling scared.

Her brother wouldn’t be home until seven, and her father not until nine.

“Brother and Dad aren’t home...”

Cold sweat trickled down Sakura’s face as her big eyes blinked rapidly.

Tiptoeing, she found her gymnastics baton.

Only then did she slowly and cautiously follow the sound.

“It’s coming from Dad’s study.”

Sakura’s heart pounded anxiously, worried the intruder might be a villain.

Yet, as a sporty girl, she was brave too.

She decided to peek through the door crack first — what if it was just a small animal?

“If it’s someone bad, I’ll call the police!”

---

Sakura gently unlocked the door and stepped into the study.

Fujitaka’s study was spacious, with a staircase right inside the entrance.

Descending the stairs led to the basement, where rows of bookshelves stood tall.

She peered carefully between the shelves, moving cautiously.

At the farthest corner, she suddenly jumped out, raising her wooden baton in defense.

“No... one here?”

Turning around, she still found nothing.

At that moment, a glow shone from behind her, casting light on the opposite wall...

Sakura turned in surprise, her eyes fixed on a book on the shelf, glowing with golden light.

For some inexplicable reason, she slowly stepped forward.

Just as she held her baton in one hand and reached for the book with the other,

The golden glow suddenly went out, startling Sakura into pulling back her hand.

At the same time, she noticed the text on the spine.

“THE CLOW”

Next, Sakura reached out again, pulled the book free. Clutching the baton in her armpit, she used both hands to hold the book and finally saw the cover clearly.

“Ah, this is...”

Sakura gasped, and the baton slipped from her armpit, clattering to the floor.

In the center of the cover was a beast with white wings, resembling both a lion and a tiger, with a red gem on its forehead.

Below, a sun-shaped emblem stretched chains to either side.

The beast was not important — what mattered was that she had found this book!

Just like in her dreams!

“This is that book...”

Before she could finish speaking, the character for “seal” on the book’s side flashed, and the clasp popped open automatically.

If it were Ye Hui, he would have started to suspect why the chains vanished when the clasp opened, and why the fierce lion-like beast on the cover transformed into a cute cartoon creature.

But Sakura had no such thoughts.

She flipped open the cover.

Inside was not paper pages but a hollowed-out compartment — more a box than a book.

Inside lay a stack of cards.

“Cards?”

Sakura flipped over a card showing a magic circle on the back and saw the front design.

It was a white humanoid figure crossing its hands, eyes closed, like a sleeping elf.

Above the image were Chinese characters: “Wind.”

Below, English words. As Sakura walked and read aloud,

her footsteps stirred ripples of energy beneath her...

“W... WINDY?”

As she uttered the word, a brilliant golden magic circle suddenly appeared under her feet.

The energy instantly formed a vortex, howling winds swirling around Sakura, as if she were trapped in the eye of a tornado, unable to move.

Only the cards in her hand glowed blue.

“Ah!”

---

Sakura exclaimed.

She saw the cards inside the book being swept away by the fierce winds — some seemed to vanish into wormholes on the walls, others turned into streams of light flying toward the sky...

Outside the house,

Ye Hui looked upward.

Above the sky, it was as if a firework had exploded, scattering countless streaks of light that vanished without a trace...

“What is this classic pose? Whether it’s Dragon Ball or the Four Souls Jewel, they all scatter like this. Could it be a characteristic of Sakura’s national treasure?”

Thinking carefully, such treasures that scatter often require the protagonist and others to embark on a collection journey afterward.

These treasures might be the ancestors of collectible card mobile games.

“If I pretended to be from the Time-Space Administration and knocked on the Kinomoto residence’s door now, wouldn’t that be more interesting...”

A mischievous idea stirred in Ye Hui’s mind.

After all, since he hadn’t managed to snatch any Clow Cards, at least scaring the innocent little girl might yield some gains.

Yes.

Ye Hui hadn’t gotten a single Clow Card.

He had thought that waiting outside the house would be enough to catch something.

What if a foolish rabbit really jumped in?

But unexpectedly, the “rabbits” had learned to jump high — in less than a few seconds, they soared into the air and scattered in all directions...

As an ordinary mortal with a “mixed spiritual root,” Ye Hui couldn’t cast spells and could only use the talismans he drew for self-defense.

“Sigh, why did I end up taking the ‘archenemy’ main storyline? Clearly, in a children’s world, being a diligent, optimistic hero is the right path.”

Ye Hui sighed inwardly.

In such worlds, shortcuts often backfire, and scheming gets thwarted by straightforward blows.

Becoming the villain comes at too high a price!

“Fortunately, Tomoyo is impossible to truly turn against us. Completing the first stage of the villainous main quest is enough. Grinding Tomoyo’s character side quests for rewards is the real way forward!”

An idea struck Ye Hui.

Though he couldn’t get the Clow Cards, he seemed to have an opportunity to complete side quests.

He put away his spare camera.

These were rare resources that could help him boost emotional points with Tomoyo, his quest companion.

Gaining more emotional and attitude points to exchange for encounters and gift packs might be just as good as having Clow Cards.

Cultivation quests were also diverse.

Jumping off cliffs could lead to meeting senior masters’ caves.

You could find bargains at street stalls.

Occasionally, you’d encounter experts passing on techniques...

The quest rewards might be no less valuable than Clow Cards!

Ye Hui kept reassuring himself that the future was bright.

“Ah, but I still want to hold a few Clow Cards, just to feel them in my hands!”