The night was deep. The stars and moon were hidden, and a faint, eerie wind stirred inside Cloud Piercing Pass.
Outside the camp tent, a dark figure stood silently. It was Chen Wu, the garrison commander who had only pretended to be hospitable.
All warmth had drained from his eyes, leaving only a bone-piercing, vicious killing intent.
He raised his hand and waved. A torch burning with open flame flew from his grip and drifted lightly onto the canvas of the tent.
The dry tent caught fire the instant the flames touched it, and those scattered sparks became a prairie blaze in the blink of an eye.
The night wind howled, carrying the flames as they spread madly. Crimson tongues of fire climbed the tent curtains and ravaged the wooden beams with terrifying speed, swallowing the entire barracks in an instant.
Flames towered to the sky, thick smoke billowed, and the scorching firelight tore through the heavy night.
Inside the tent, the soldiers, drunk and fast asleep, knew nothing of the approaching crisis. The deadly sea of fire had already trapped them all within.
The blaze raged, the smoke rolled, and scorching waves of heat pierced through the tent, sweeping over the hall full of sleeping men.
The soldiers sleeping on the ground were all sunk deep in drunkenness, completely unaware of the catastrophe about to crush them.
Only Huang Feihu, lying inside the tent, suddenly felt his whole body burn with heat. His mind throbbed in alarm, and he jolted awake from his sleep.
This clay-bodied incarnation of his was blessed by heaven, its physique numinous and keen, its perception far beyond that of ordinary soldiers. Even sunk in deep sleep, he could still sharply sense dangerous changes around him.
Huang Feihu snapped his eyes open. Acrid smoke and