After entering the mountains for so long, everyone had only detoured a few hundred meters. Anyone with an ounce of temper would have been seething with frustration by now.
However, the knight on the left did not charge out; instead, he looked at Wu Youren. "My job is to protect you. Can you handle a heavy machine gun?"
The Jin youth shook his head blankly. "I've never touched one."
The next moment, the knight from Red Pine came to his side as well. "I'm protecting you too. Heavy machine guns are very easy to learn."
As he spoke, he tore open a wrap, revealing rows of cartridges, each as thick as an index finger.
Crucially, most had white tips etched with fine patterns—large ghost-vanquishing bullets.
In addition, there were some green-tipped rounds, which were tracers, and a scarce few red-tipped ones—signal flares!
There was not a single conventional round.
While the instructor sorted the ammunition, the knight on the left deftly set up the heavy machine gun, explaining things rapidly as he made adjustments.
The explanation was secondary; once everything was dialed in, it was just a matter of pulling the trigger.
Yet Wu Youren was somewhat dazed. "I'm the one who aims and pulls the trigger?"
"Of course it has to be you," the instructor answered without hesitation. "You know where the Guizu are, so you won't hit our people."
With white mist filling the air, only having him aim could set everyone's minds at ease.
This was why the burly man had arranged it this way—with these large ghost-vanquishing bullets, even if a knight took a hit, they would end up dead or crippled.
Therefore, aiming and pulling the trigger had to be entrusted to the right person!
The problem was... I'm not the right person! Wu Youren was at a loss for words.
In a daze, he seemed to see a massive wave of experience points smiling at him: *Boss, come have some fun.*
Forget it. Wu Youren twitched the corner of his mouth, finding a grudging justification: *In a conflict between humans and Guizu, of course I stand with humankind!*
Yet a faint reluctance lingered in his heart: *If we lose to the Guizu, Great Jin might not perish; but if we lose to Great Liang, our nation and people truly could be wiped out.*
Heretics were more hated than pagans—everyone knew that!
Still, after turning it over in his mind, he ultimately decided: as long as there was room to sweep through the Guizu, he should try his best to avoid friendly fire against fellow humans.
After all, these large ghost-vanquishing bullets would not cause too much harm to grand knights.
If he really fired wildly and those two survived, it would be... hard to explain.
Even if merely to live in peace and safety, it was better not to entertain wicked thoughts.
These calculations took long to describe, but in reality, they occurred in the span of a single thought. Then he nodded. "I'm ready."
"Be careful! Try not to get bogged down in combat!" the knight on the left shouted, drawing a long saber and adopting a defensive stance.
The Red Pine instructor acted as loader. "Don't be stingy! The military has money!"
"We still need to conserve them," the knight on the left retorted. "Ammo is fine; the Liangyuan Chamber of Commerce can foot the bill."
"But you have to consider how long this battle might drag on!"
"I understand," Wu Youren nodded with a smile. "I'll definitely use them sparingly."
While they spoke, battle cries and the wails of Guizu already echoed nearby.
Yet everything was shadowy and indistinct, hardly clear at all, even though the distance clearly was not that far.
Wu Youren adjusted his angle, intending to start with a three-round burst... Well, his control slipped, and it became a four-round burst.
The effect of the large ghost-vanquishing bullets was extraordinarily potent; red light filled the sky, ripping straight through the dense white mist.
With just four bullets, four gaping transparent holes were punched out. Through the large openings, visibility instantly leaped to several hundred meters.
Any farther would be difficult, as a scattered drizzle was still falling, and the sky had begun to darken.
The next moment, two figures flickered past within the opening; their faces were indistinguishable, but both wore military uniforms.
"Nicely done!" One of them flashed a thumbs-up toward the opening, having clearly noticed the change.
"Holy crap!" The Red Pine instructor gasped in surprise. "So even sound can travel through now?"
Earlier, everyone had suspected that this white mist was unnatural, that the environment had likely been affected by Guizu aura.
Once a Guizu domain formed, martial artists inside were like people blundering into a maze; sight, hearing, perception, and combat power all plummeted.
Previously, everyone had been a bit suspicious: fine if the white mist blocked their vision, but how could they not even hear any commotion?
Just now they had heard faint sounds, but were completely uncertain of what was happening.
Now it was confirmed: the area was indeed affected and had begun turning into a domain.
The effect was not severe yet; more than three or five people had biguijue, and none had given a clear warning.
Yet that was precisely the most terrifying part—it unknowingly warped your senses, doing so through shifts in the broader environment.
The next moment, the sounds of fighting and furious roars drifted over from the other side, exceptionally fierce.
At the same time, however, the large holes punched out by the bullets began to slowly contract—evidently the environment's self-repair mechanism at work.
"Holy shit," the burly grand knight's roar boomed over. "You're actually treating this place like a full-blown domain to build up?!"
"Kid, nice shooting! Keep it up!"
"Keep it up my ass! Run!" Wu Youren scooped up the heavy machine gun and bolted.
The praise from across the way was sincere, but as an experience harvester, he knew all too well what it meant to draw aggro!
His reaction was indeed timely. The very next second, several wisps of dark Guizu aura swept toward them with astonishing speed.
That sinister coldness—some were relatively weak, but others were formidable, feeling extremely difficult to withstand.
The two knights guarding him were not slow either, following on his heels to relocate and narrowly escaping disaster.
It truly had been a close shave; even though the two knights possessed considerable strength,
the tricky part about Guizu lay not only in their powerful and bizarre attacks, but also in their invisible taint!
Given the choice, no martial artist wanted to become entangled in prolonged combat with Guizu.
The reason people often chose close-quarters combat was simply that it was more efficient for slaying Guizu!
High efficiency meant high risk; there was no denying that.
After Wu Youren repositioned, he fired another three-round burst, followed by a four-round burst, then another three-round burst.
Having finished firing, he scooped up the heavy machine gun and relocated again... Why did this feel a bit like pure modern firearm combat?
"He's truly army material," the knight on the left could not help marveling. "This fighting style... impressive!"
After several rapid relocations, the white mist had been blasted full of holes.
Yet simultaneously, the surrounding Guizu aura surged frantically inward—no one liked defeat!
Wielding a horse-chopping saber, the burly man slashed with sweeping, ferocious strokes, vaguely locked onto an exceptionally powerful cluster of Guizu aura.
Instructor Hong flickered in and out of sight, behaving entirely like an assassin.
From time to time, her hand cannon went off—not only targeting that powerful Guizu, but also striking down knight-level Guizu.
One could truly say she was popping a kiddo with every shot.
Among the dozen or so figures, however, there was another person worth noting: a sullen-faced thin man.
Among adult Liang citizens, one rarely saw anyone overly skinny; even if not fat, they were at least sturdy and thickset.
This was an effect of the environment: Liang was a bitter, frigid land, and anyone with a frail build would struggle to survive the frequent extreme weather.
Yet this fellow was truly gaunt—standing around 180 centimeters tall and weighing a mere 108 jin, looking as though a gust of wind could knock him over.
Even more surprisingly, he was dressed in a military uniform and had three or four people guarding him.
He struck rarely, but whenever he did, it was a string of small fireballs.
Though Wu Youren was constantly repositioning and shooting, he soon noticed this man.
This was the first time he had seen a legendary ability master with his own eyes.
The fireballs this man unleashed were remarkably potent, possessing slightly greater efficacy in obliterating Guizu aura than the attacks of a knight.
Compared to a grand knight's lethality, however, the gap remained glaringly obvious.
Instructor Hong's assessment had been correct: merely an apprentice ability master.
Even an apprentice, however, was equivalent to a knight, and ability masters were far rarer than martial artists.
Meanwhile, Wu Youren's gunfire had caused massive destruction to the Guizu aura, drawing Guizu attacks toward him.
The two knights stood guard at his side, exerting their full strength to fend off strikes from all directions.
Under such circumstances, Wu Youren was still able to maneuver nimbly without being significantly impeded, which was quite remarkable.
Crucially, while firing, he could keep track of weak points in the surrounding Guizu aura, cradling the machine gun as he slipped through every opening.
The two knights tasked with protecting him not only had to resist the Guizu aura but also had to divide their attention to follow his moves, leaving their actions somewhat reactive.
Yet neither of them harbored any complaint. In fact, Wu Youren's performance thoroughly stunned them.
That the youth could sense the strength of Guizu aura was something they had already learned.
But to seize opportunities so sharply and relocate—to say nothing of decisiveness, his footwork alone was one in a hundred among apprentice knights.
As for how he avoided being corrupted by Guizu aura during these shifts, the two could only assume that the biguijue on his person was relatively potent.
Then again, all the three could do was provide effective support to the main battlefield.
If all the Guizu aura converged on the three of them, their only option would be to run for their lives, and the outcome likely would not be pretty.
Fortunately, the other side was the main battlefield in this clash, drawing the vast majority of the aggro.
Not to mention the two grand knights' attacks, the team they were rescuing had fled all the way out; how much hostility had they attracted?
Furthermore, the apprentice ability master's attacks were startlingly lethal to Guizu.
That formidable Guizu was severed again and again, only to reassemble, but the sinister black mist grew progressively fainter.
Finally, it was cleft in two once more, letting out a shrill, piercing shriek. Evidently, it had suffered severe trauma this time.
Instructor Hong's figure abruptly materialized beside one half of the dark silhouette, slashing out three consecutive strikes, each faster than the last.
After three cuts, another wail—verging on a whimper—sounded, and half of the dark shadow instantly dissipated into nothing.
Barring any surprise, this had slashed away more than half of its strength, dealing it a truly crippling blow.
The next moment, however, the other half of the dark silhouette rapidly vanished.
Undoubtedly, it had chosen to flee on its own initiative, melting away into the vast expanse of Guizu aura.
Completely killing a grand-knight-level Guizu was no easy feat.
Chapter 75