Breaking Out of the Sea of Fire

Flames leaped in the fierce wind, crackling like demons cackling viciously, sending chills down one's spine.

More terrifying still, ghostly figures with faces old and young, male and female, wailed in agony within the raging inferno as they sprinted forward uncontrollably.

Under the scorching blaze and the impact of the violent yang energy, the ghosts of Guo Family Village were reduced to ash every moment.

Yet in stark contrast, protected and surrounded at all costs by the ghosts of Guo Family Village, Asu—her hair disheveled and her expression crazed—suffered almost no harm.

Li Hai, who had been following closely behind and hitching a ride on the wind, likewise relied on the sacrifices of the ghosts ahead to avoid much of the searing heat, keeping himself in far better condition.

But every development had its end.

After crossing the vast sea of flames, every ghost from Guo Family Village apart from Asu was ultimately annihilated. Not a single one remained.

Asu, along with Li Hai following some distance behind her, finally reached the edge of Ghost Forest.

"Guo-lang... how could your heart be so cruel..."

"Guo-lang... how could your heart be so cruel..."

Outside Ghost Forest, Guo Huaijin listened to the mournful voice drifting from deep within the blazing inferno, and his face turned frighteningly pale.

"How? How is that possible?!"

His pupils contracted and his voice trembled. "Asu... That's Asu's voice!"

Muttering to himself, Guo Huaijin staggered backward in quick steps, his legs trembling so badly that he no longer resembled a martial artist.

But he could no longer care about any of that.

Crushed by boundless terror and guilt, Guo Huaijin wanted only to flee this place, to escape somewhere no one could find him.

Ignoring the astonished looks of Steward Liu and the Musket Squad, Guo Huaijin ran wildly toward Guo Family Fort like a panicked beast, soon vanishing from sight.

"What happened to the master?"

Though utterly perplexed, Steward Liu could only set the matter aside for now with the Musket Squad still present and continue guarding Three-Fork Junction.

Time quietly passed.

At some point, the Musket Squad that had been stationed there for so long, along with Steward Liu, suddenly felt an intense chill rise in their hearts. They could not help shuddering in unison.

Then, to their utter horror, they saw a female ghost whose entire body was charred black and ragged burst out of the fire and appear beneath the bright daylight.

Before the terrified Steward Liu and Musket Squad could cry out, the horrifying female ghost transformed into a gust of black wind and shot toward Guo Family Fort, paying them no heed.

"There are ghosts in that forest!"

"Ghosts! There are ghosts!"

"We burned down the forest... Did we anger the ghosts inside?!"

"It's over, it's over! The evil ghosts will come for all our lives!"

As the Musket Squad began chattering frantically, Steward Liu immediately climbed onto a dirt mound and shouted down at them.

"Don't panic! Everything just now was an illusion. There's no need to be nervous. Even... even if there really are ghosts, we have nearly a hundred men here, and every one of us has a gun. What's there to fear? If you see a ghost, all of you open fire and blast it to death!"

After hearing this, the hundred or so members of the Musket Squad calmed down somewhat and were no longer quite so panicked.

"That's right. There are so many of us, and it's broad daylight. What's there to be afraid of?" someone said, reassuring himself.

"Steward Liu's right! If a ghost really shows up to hurt someone, I'll blow its head off with one shot!" someone else shouted once his fear had faded.

"Steward Liu is our backbone. Without him, the brothers would really have fallen into chaos," others said, seizing the chance to flatter him.

But just as everyone's nerves gradually relaxed, a faint, pallid ghostly figure quietly appeared at the edge of Ghost Forest.

And the first to spot the blurry apparition was Steward Liu, standing on the high ground.

"Huh? What's that?"

Frowning tightly, he hesitated. "Why does it seem... a little like a ghost?"

Before Steward Liu could say anything else, the scattered members of the Musket Squad outside Ghost Forest noticed the ghostly figure one after another.

"Heavens!"

"It's a ghost!"

"The ghost has appeared again!"

"A ghost? So what... I'll kill it!"

Driven by fear, someone finally could not hold back and fired.

Bang!

The bullet streaked forward, passing straight through the ghostly figure without leaving so much as a trace.

But no one paid attention to that.

The instant that gunshot rang out, every member of the Musket Squad seemed to go mad, roaring as they pulled their triggers with all their strength and poured all their ammunition toward the pallid ghostly figure.

In an instant, the deafening, unbroken barrage of gunfire rang out like a chain of exploding thunderclaps. Mixed with the choking smoke spewing from over a hundred musket barrels, it plunged the entire Three-Fork Junction area into chaos.

Yet amid the chaos, a musketeer with cold sweat covering his face suddenly froze, then revealed a stiff and eerie smile.

Still wearing that grotesque grin, he immediately swung his gun toward another musketeer beside him, who had emptied his magazine and was trembling as he reloaded, then fired without hesitation.

Bang!

One shot blew apart his head.

In an instant, red and white matter splattered across the heads and faces of several nearby musketeers, making them scream and vomit in terror.

"A-Yun, what are you doing?!"

"How could you shoot A-Xiao dead?!"

"Have you lost your fucking mind?!"

Listening to the chaotic curses and furious shouts from those around him, A-Yun, the grinning musketeer, said nothing. He raised his gun again and recklessly pulled the trigger in every direction.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Amid the deafening barrage and the screams and cries, more than a dozen musketeers were wounded or killed in a short span of time, collapsing helplessly to the ground.

A-Yun, the culprit behind it all, was struck down by return fire from those around him. His body was riddled with bullet holes, with only a final breath left in him.

"It hurts... It hurts... Aaagh..."

A-Yun, who had been grinning grotesquely moments ago, now lay on the ground with a face full of confusion and pain.

He did not know what had happened. He only knew that he was in unbearable pain, pain so intense that he wanted to die immediately.

"Why... Why?"

Filled with doubt, A-Yun took two more breaths before dying completely, consumed by extreme resentment.

"What the hell was wrong with that brat?"

On the distant dirt mound, Steward Liu stared intently at A-Yun's corpse lying dozens of yards away, unable to understand. "Why would he suddenly shoot and kill his own comrades?"

After pondering for a few seconds, he cleared his throat and shouted loudly at the at-a-loss members of the Musket Squad below.

"Brothers, I've already figured it out. That despicable bastard who ambushed his comrades just now was actually a spy from another fort. That brat—"

"Wait a moment, Steward Liu~"

Suddenly, a rather familiar voice entered Steward Liu's ears. "Could you stop calling me a brat? Call me... handsome, all right?"