In the nighttime wilderness, a knight-rank Guizu aura mass was not something to be trifled with lightly.
Yet Red Pine's "four plus one" team was hardly intimidated.
"Then add the ghost-dispelling powder!" Namuzha stated bluntly. "We have ghost-destroying mines. Worst comes to worst, we fight both sides together."
His disdain for the barbarians had become glaringly obvious recently.
Kenpa was the first to back him. "Let's do it. It's high time these barbarians learned a lesson!"
The female archer chimed in immediately after. "I can't let my eyes go to waste tonight... Hopefully our luck is good enough to yield some loot."
With three already in agreement, the proposal was automatically approved, and Wu Youren immediately began setting the fuses on the explosive packs.
"These oversized ones?" Manna glanced over and couldn't help muttering.
Before her words had even settled, three explosive packs were already hurled out by the youth. "Shield yourselves with battle qi, quick!"
Shouting this, he ducked low and flattened himself against the vehicle seat—theoretically, he had no battle qi.
Twenty-odd seconds later, three deafening roars echoed from behind, followed by shrill, agonized screams.
Namuzha wrenched the steering wheel, and the off-road vehicle carved a semicircle, wheeling around to charge back.
There had originally been twelve barbarians remaining behind them—four knights and eight apprentice knights.
The three heavily packed explosive packs instantly wiped out more than half of their numbers; three of the four knights were wounded.
The one charging at the very front had even suffered critical injuries.
"Bastards!" The barbarian survivors glared with eyes nearly tearing at the corners, furious enough to burst a lung. "That's not a weapon for slaying Guizu!"
The mindset of these fellows was truly this bizarre.
When they dragged other teams into danger, they felt not the slightest twinge of guilt.
Yet if the other party fought back with weapons made for killing humans, it became an unpardonable atrocity!
"The Liang natives are deliberately exterminating our tribes!" a barbarian knight roared. "Brothers, take revenge!"
The moment he finished yelling, his body jerked sideways and he sprinted away from the battlefield for all he was worth.
In pitch-black darkness amidst such chaotic surroundings, no one should notice him. *I'm a damn genius!*
With his shout, some barbarians were actually duped into rushing forward to fight to the death.
However, the Red Pine five-person group was genuinely not to be trifled with.
Like chopping melons and slicing vegetables, they swiftly cut down the barbarians and turned to face the incoming Guizu aura mass.
"Just as I said—fighting both at once is no problem at all," Namuzha sneered.
Yet the very next moment, he exclaimed in horror, "What... what on earth is that? An illusion?"
Inside the Guizu aura mass ahead, over a dozen faintly visible black misty spheres floated, each the size of a wagon wheel.
Inside each black sphere, a human head drifted, bobbing up and down.
Some had distinct facial features, some were pale and swollen, some dripped with fresh blood, and some... were already thoroughly rotten!
Though seen merely with the naked eye, the stench of decay was practically visible, showing just how great a visual shock it delivered.
"It really is corpse Guizu," Kenpa sighed softly. "Those bastards truly deserved to die."
"No time for talk—strike!" At the critical moment, Manna did not hesitate in the slightest, throwing out a ghost-destroying mine with a flick of her hand.
"Charge, everyone! Don't let us know no peace even after death!"
Corpse Guizu, also known as corpse-piece Guizu, usually did not appear as whole creatures, but as severed body parts.
For martial artists, this was the most abhorrent variety of Guizu, as well as an end to life that none of them could bear to accept.
In the next instant, Namuzha flashed away in pursuit of the fleeing barbarian knight. "Intentionally luring corpse Guizu here—you deserve to die!"
He actually abandoned the battlefield entirely to take out his fury on the barbarian!
"Heh," the female archer chuckled softly, loosing a rapid barrage of arrows in succession. "Manna, this junior brother of yours is quite interesting."
Her tone was breezy, yet against the backdrop of wailing Guizu, it carried a heavy undercurrent of veiled mockery.
"I don't have a junior brother," Manna answered offhandedly, trailing long blade glows from her paired scimitars as she slashed toward the Guizu aura ahead.
At the same time, she did not condemn Namuzha's action. "The barbarians might launch a sneak attack while we're engaged. They're entirely capable of it."
"Mm," Kenpa grunted softly, cleaving forward with sword qi. "Watch out. Wherever corpse Guizu appear, grand-knight-rank Guizu are likely to emerge!"
Some people thought themselves clever, but how could petty schemes fool anyone else?
When severed limbs and detached parts could actively attack people, the bizarre nature of corpse Guizu far surpassed that of ordinary Guizu.
Namuzha had gone after the soft target, his real intention being to keep an appropriate distance from the battlefield to avoid any grand knight Guizu that might appear.
Everyone understood this clearly, but... the barbarians truly might launch a surprise attack while they fought the Guizu.
Most barbarians gave no thought to factions; the prospect of gaining wealth by killing Liang natives was reason enough!
Namuzha's move bordered on cowardice, but could not be called outright evasion—after all, a barbarian knight was still a knight.
The female archer scoffed. She could not be bothered to dwell on it. "Focus on the battle! Are you ready?"
The last sentence was shouted toward the youth nearby.
"Ready! Fall back!" Wu Youren flickered into motion, dashing toward the rear.
Hearing this, the three knights ahead also sprang away, sprinting in his direction with extraordinary speed.
As they abruptly disengaged from the battlefield, the pursuing Guizu aura mass hesitated for a moment.
Guizu possessed a degree of intelligence, and corpse Guizu even more so.
First subjected to explosions, then halted by an interception—this was clearly an organized fight.
Yet it was only a momentary pause.
The massive Guizu aura mass behind slammed forward, so the vanguard could not stop even if it wanted to, swept along in the surging tide.
And precisely because it had just taken damage, the Guizu aura's pursuit actually tended to accelerate.
Just as the Guizu closed in on their heels, another explosion erupted ahead.
The shockwave caused by this explosion was not very powerful, but in the next instant, countless agonized wails rang out.
The Guizu aura closest in pursuit shattered instantly, scattering into a wide swathe.
When the trailing Guizu aura crashed into the area, waves of shrieks rose one after another—this time it wasn't an explosive pack, but a ghost-destroying mine.
The Guizu aura mass realized it had encountered its nemesis, but it had charged too fast to brake.
Just as it tried to brake violently, another boom sounded—a second ghost-destroying mine detonated!
This one lay behind the first, not far off, situated right where the trailing Guizu aura had fallen into chaos.
Then came a third boom, further back still, right at the center of the Guizu aura mass!
Hammered by successive heavy blows, the colossal Guizu aura mass split into pieces in an instant, and several human-head Guizu vanished into ashes on the spot.
In particular, those pursuing at the very front and suffering the heaviest injuries were of the elite caliber.
Most of the remaining Guizu elites were positioned right in the center of the mass.
The three ghost-destroying mines detonated in sequence, shattering the massive ball of Guizu aura with pinpoint precision.
"Charge!" The youth who had fled the fastest spun around just as swiftly.
Brandishing his long saber, he charged into the scattered Guizu aura. "This was a merger of multiple Guizu aura streams!"
The three knights subconsciously traded glances: *Holy crap, a mere apprentice knight is fiercer than a knight?*
In their minds, the youth was skilled at perception and decent with contraptions, but as for his strength... at the very least, his combat style leaned toward cowardice.
The three truly had not expected Wu Youren to possess such ferocious valor.
"No wonder he dared to hunt Guizu alone!" Manna bounded forward, slashing two streaks of blade glow into the mist ahead. "Attack!"
"Multiple streams of Guizu aura!" The female archer even put away her bow, drew her waist saber, and charged in.
At this moment, she chose to trust the youth's judgment.
Those barbarians had fought while fleeing earlier; the noise of their battle had likely attracted other Guizu aura.
Merging Guizu aura masses was not difficult, but it required some time.
Now, before the multiple streams could finish merging, they had been blown apart. Not only could they fail to coordinate, but they actively interfered with one another.
This was the best opportunity to strike!
At the same time, Kenpa plunged into the Guizu aura as well—Wu Youren himself was charging at the very front, so how could it possibly be false?
Blade glows and sword glows crisscrossed, casting a faint luminescence through the pitch-black night.
Amid the billowing Guizu aura, wave upon wave of ceaseless wails rose, carrying far across the nighttime wilderness.
Faintly, there were also chirping bird cries: *Ji-ji*.
Two kilometers away, three figures stood quietly, listening to the indistinct commotion in the distance.
"What ferocious fellows," the middle figure sighed softly. "Whose people are they?"
"Milord, there's no need to reinforce them," a person beside him spoke up. "It's an utter brawl. No point in..."
It truly was an utter brawl. The four within the Guizu aura could sense one another, but could not see each other.
All they could be certain of was that everyone was giving their all to slay Guizu.
Manna was rather straightforward by nature. After fighting for a while, she couldn't help shouting, "Xiao Wu, can you hold out?"
The ghost-destroying mines had not killed all the knight-rank Guizu; the two she had just finished off were only wounded previously.
"Yeah," the youth grunted without elaborating, his voice drifting and making it hard to pin down his position.
Yet from another direction, two faint chirps echoed: *Ji-ji*.
"Focus on the fight!" Kenpa barked in a deep voice.
His voice was also elusive, conveying the sensation of rapid movement. "Watch out for hallucinatory Guizu!"
A dozen seconds later, the female archer let out a grunt. "This human-head Guizu is tough to kill... Whoa!"
In the next moment, the Guizu aura visibly surged toward one direction.
Manna cried out in alarm, "Loot dropped! Come support me, quick!"
"Protect yourself!" the middle-aged knight answered first. "Coming right now!"
The four fought bitterly for over twenty minutes. As the Guizu aura gradually dissipated, the three finally caught sight of the youth's figure.
Wu Youren was panting heavily, yet his eyes shone exceptionally bright. "Exhilarating! Another ghost-destroying mine to completely cleanse the area?"
"Agreed," Manna was the first to concur. In this battle, they had acquired two Guizu relics, which was already a handsome haul.
There was another crucial factor: "After cleansing, sweep the battlefield so we don't miss any spoils."
After a muffled boom, the remaining Guizu aura was swept clean away.
There were still faint wisps of Guizu aura drifting out toward the surrounding wilderness, but nothing could be done about those—and no one could manage them all anyway.
The decision to scour the battlefield truly paid off. Wu Youren found another slightly brownish Guizu relic.
Judging by its color, it didn't quite look like a resentment crystal, yet it didn't attract Guizu much either; in that respect, it somewhat resembled a resentment crystal.
Chapter 170